He shot Nikki a look, and she actually met his eyes.
Nikki opened her mouth to interrupt, but Sam glared at her, stopping whatever lies were about to fly from that bruised flesh, and she closed it, not arguing.
"Anyways, she called me tonight, but…"
Sam paused and took a deep breath before continuing, directing her next words to Nikki. “You scared the shit out of me!”
She took that last step until the two women stood toe to toe. Nikki was silent, but Sam opened her arms, and Nikki leaned in as Sam hugged her.
Seconds passed, and Bret stood off to the side, feeling helpless and not really satisfied with the explanation. He wanted to know more—mainly the bastard's name so he wouldn’t cause Nikki any more pain.
His fists clenched at his side at the thought. He didn't understand the protective instincts he felt, but he hated to see any woman abused and afraid for her life, and Nikki was terrified. If what he had witnessed and saved her from was any indication, terror didn't even cover it.
Nikki drew back and sighed, looking over at Bret. "Thank you. My name is Nikki Calhoun, and I-I'm in trouble," she said quietly, the first full sentence he'd heard from her. She'd finally confirmed it.
"Who was the bastard in the shipyard warehouse?" With everything coming to light, he didn’t think she had just been kidnapped or that it was random.
Nikki looked over at him, her eyes wide. The fear hadn't left her, and she hunched over even more.
"Who?" Sam demanded, her gaze going back and forth between them. “What bastard? The fucker who hurt you?”
Nikki shook her head. "I don't know. Someone my husband had hired to find me, kill me. I don't know.”
She shrugged as if it was no big deal, but Sam's eyes widened and then narrowed as her wolf threatened to surface. Fine hairs developed on her face and bare arms, and Nikki watched her, seeming fascinated by the change but not surprised.
Interesting.
"Calm down, Sam," Bret ordered, his deep voice commanding. If he hadn’t been allowed to let his beast free, neither was Sam. Childish, he knew, but he didn’t care.
Within seconds, her skin evened out, and the wolf retreated, but her lips tightened as she turned and glared at him.
"Now is not the time to be stupid,” he reminded her before she really lost her cool. It was bad enough that he wanted to kill someone.
He didn't want Sam to go off half-cocked either. If it hadn’t been for Zach, he himself would have, and that knowledge was sort of embarrassing to think about. He owed his cousin a thank you, and those words would stick in his throat come time.
With that, she growled and looked as if she wanted to stomp her feet, but after a moment, she lost the angry look and turned back to Nikki, who watched her without fear, apparently used to her temper.
"He won't give up," Sam said grimly. It wasn't a question, and Nikki shook her head as Bret watched the fear turn to terror.
Sam stiffened and then looked between the two of them again, confused.
"Wait. Why is she here…with you? What man? What warehouse?" she demanded again, having never gotten answers yet.
Bret ran his fingers through his rumpled hair as he explained what little he knew. "I was working late tonight. Well, this morning," he amended. “Zach and I were closing up, and I was heading to bed when we both heard her scream. We ran out the back of the club. The bastard was standing over her about to rape her."
Now it was his turn to control his beast as the shift threatened, the bear in a rage remembering.
Taking a deep breath and ordering his animal to calm the fuck down, he looked over at Nikki. He repeated his promise.
"No one can hurt you here. Let me help you. I can protect you, Nikki." Ignoring Sam’s shocked look, his eyes remained on Nikki, snagging her gaze before she could avoid him.
Her name suited her. It flowed like honey off his tongue, and that analogy was perfect, as his bear loved honey. In fact, they both did.
A burst of spirit flashed in her eyes, surprising and thrilling him at the same time. It was a nice change from the fear that had never left her eyes. He hated the thought of her afraid, of him or anyone.
"It's not your problem. Either of you," she said, including Sam in that statement.
Sam jerked back and turned to glare at her. "Fuck that, Nikki! We've been friends too long for you to pull that bullshit! You called me, remember?”
It was rare when Sam displayed an intense burst of emotion, but when she did, it was best to duck and ask questions later. Nikki had apparently forgotten that part of her friend.
Bret was still confused on the sudden events, but it probably didn’t help that it was going on five in the morning and he still hadn’t been to sleep. In fact, now he was starving.
“I need food,” he muttered.
Ignoring the two women, he walked into the kitchen and started the clatter of pots and pans, finally settling on some scrambled eggs and toast. It wasn’t steak, but it would have to do.
He heard the two women arguing in the front room and shook his head, resigned to not getting any sleep for the foreseeable future.
Without food or sleep, he was a bear and wasn’t afraid to admit it, but at least one major necessity would be done.
The smell of grease filled the small apartment, and ten minutes later, he slid the last egg on the third plate.
He made his way into the living room with the three plates, and Sam chuckled at the amount of food on each plate, one piled higher than the rest.
“Food. No more arguing,” he said firmly.
He handed her a plate and then turned to Nikki, holding out another plate for her.
Hesitating, she took it. “Thank you.”
Her voice quiet, she gave him a tiny smile, her lush lips tilted in a twisted version of a smile as if she had forgotten how, and his heart stuttered and hit his ribs.
Even with cracked lips, he was taken aback by her beauty.
The three sat around his small table in the dining room, and metal clattered against porcelain as they were all silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
Chapter 5
Nikki didn’t know what to make of Bret Axel. He was so big that he made everything else seem small, including her. If he were to hit someone, she didn’t think they would be getting back up, and just that thought froze her for a second; but as she looked at him, looked at the concern in his eyes when he glanced over at her, she relaxed slightly.
She wasn’t the best judge of character at all, but for some reason, a part of her wanted to trust him. The thought unnerved her, feeling impossible and terrifying, but there was something about him.
“Nikki, are you listening to me?”
She looked over at her childhood friend and sighed. “Not really,” she muttered, taking the last bite on her plate. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she looked down at her plate to find it clean, and she flushed. She caught Bret’s eyes and watched a grin stretch across his handsome face.
“Hungry?” he teased.
Flushing even worse, she pushed the empty plate away from her, almost acting a bit guilty. “Maybe a little.”
Chuckling, he finished his own food and then went to grab her plate, but she grabbed it first. “I can take my own plate to the sink. I’m not helpless.”
He raised his eyebrow but then grinned, shrugging. “Fine.”
He stood up, and she was shocked at his large frame yet again, but the fear was missing.
“So what kind of shifter are you?” she asked.
Pausing with his plate in his hands, he looked down at her and winked. “A bear.”
Nikki’s eyes widened. A bear? Holy shit. She looked at his muscular frame and gulped. Yeah, she could definitely see that.
Sam put her own fork down and sighed, leaning back against her chair. “Thank you, Bret. That was delicious. Now…” A gleam entered her eyes as she looked over at Nikki who was gazing after Bret.
“I want you to come out to
the pack house where we can protect you.”
Even before she was finished, Nikki’s attention returned to Sam, and she shook her head. She loved her friend for being concerned, but it wasn’t her problem. It was Nikki’s.
With food came energy and a renewed purpose. It was her problem, and she was going to handle it. She wasn't dragging her childhood friend into her problems. She wasn't putting anyone else in danger. It had been a mistake to call her. He had already taken so much from her. Nikki wouldn't allow anyone else to die, not if she could help it. Sam may have been a shifter, a beautiful wolf, but it didn't mean she was invincible. The pack had given her kindness year ago. She wasn't going to repay that with her shit.
“No,” she said quietly. “I’m going to leave town, disappear on my own. I’ll be fine.”
“Damn it, Nikki! I can help! Quit being so stubborn. This is what I do! I help women in these situations! I have contacts. The pack is strong! They would love to see you,” she added in a pleading tone.
Bret came back into the room and leaned against the wall with his thick arms crossed over his broad chest, watching the two of them, watching her. If she hadn’t trusted Sam so explicitly, his stare may have unnerved her a lot more than it did.
“Why are you being so stubborn?” he asked quietly, interrupting Sam’s next words. “There’s something you aren’t telling us.”
Caught, Nikki froze, their eyes locked. For not knowing her, he seemed to have the ability to see right through her, and she hated that.
Lips tight, she stood up, glaring at them both. “Look, thank you for saving me, but I have it from here.”
There was no way she was putting her friend and her family in danger. Her husband was more powerful than they realized, more brutal and deadly than anyone knew.
If they only knew what kind of monster she was married to—what he was capable of...
No. No one could know. She had to leave before he found out who had helped her. He would kill them.
And before he killed them, he would kill their loved ones right in front of them.
Ignoring Sam’s sputtering and Bret’s intense eyes boring into her, she took her plate to the sink and then returned, still in her blood-splattered clothes. She didn’t have anything else to carry, so her arms useless and empty, she headed for the door, the sun beginning to peek in through the closed blinds.
Beyond tired, it was all she could do to put one foot in front of the other, but she had to leave, had to leave town before he sent someone else after her.
“Bret! Make her stay! He’s going to kill her! Nikki! Damn it!”
Nikki opened the door and turned to look over at Sam, missing the narrowing of Bret’s eyes as he watched her.
“Thank you, Sam, but I’m fine. Tell everyone I said hi.”
With those idiotic words, she closed the door behind her and headed down the stairs to the back alley, away from the water and the shipyard as the fear returned in force, hitting her in waves the farther she got from the safety of the small apartment. She didn’t have money for a bus ticket. She knew better than to go to the bank and withdraw from their joint account. That was the fastest way of tracking her, so it looked like the dangerous aspect of hitchhiking was in her immediate future.
Keeping her eyes alert, she stayed to the retreating shadows of the buildings, the smell of the water washing over her until she made it to the empty street. It was late, or early morning, whichever way you looked at it, but she saw a few shadows moving, homeless people rummaging through trash containers as she made her way to the highway.
Normally, her presence would have raised a few eyebrows, but that side of town wasn’t occupied by the normal visions of humanity, and that’s how her husband liked it. The bar was behind her, but there were many vacant buildings lining the port and surrounding the dock area. She saw a few people milling around and walking, the looks of them drawing an uneasy breath from her as she quickened her steps.
Not much time had passed before she heard a motor behind her and, for a moment, figured Sam or Bret had run after her. Whirling, she saw a black car roaring toward her.
She dove into the ditch just as she felt it rush past her, the hairs on her arms singed by the hot metal of the car.
Hearing tires squealing, she jumped up from the ditch and took off through the woods behind a broken-down building, stumbling on red bricks and debris littering the overgrown grass. The only hope she had was losing them in the forest, the dark. She heard a door slam and crashes behind her.
Sobbing, she tripped over a branch but jumped up and took off again, running through the trees. She frantically tried to get her bearings and figure out which way would lead her back to town. The crashing was getting closer, curses and muttering following those heavy impressions of the terror behind her.
A scream split the air, followed by a gurgling sound, and she froze, terror paralyzing her as the scream faded. She couldn't move, her eyes wild as she looked behind her. A flash of something large and black caught her eyes, and she gasped, the sound carrying on the light breeze. With a sudden burst of self-preservation, Nikki ran, her legs straining as branches nicked her bare arms.
Just then, the ultimate factor of gravity tilted, and she felt herself fall as she tripped. She tried to catch herself, but the ground seemed to cave beneath her, and her head hit. Black spots danced in front of her eyes as she lay there immobile, stunned.
Suddenly, she felt large hands grab her arms, and she screamed, trying to kick out, anything to make contact and escape.
"Nikki! Nikki, it's me!"
Bret's concerned voice pushed through the panic, and she stilled, her ragged breathing choppy.
"Bret?"
A choked sob caught her throat, and she was pulled up into a naked chest, squeezed tightly in strong arms.
"It's okay. I got you, honey. It's okay."
Another choked sob. Nikki found it hard to breathe past the terror that threatened the blackness.
"Why? Why won't he let me go?"
"Shhhhhh. It's okay. I won't let him hurt you. Never again, Nikki."
Nikki let him help her up, and she finally pulled back, gasping at the sight before her. It may have been dark, but she wasn't blind.
"You're naked!" Shocked and blushing, she gaped at him, forgetting for a moment where she was.
Bret chuckled and grinned, his white teeth gleaming as he gazed down at her and shrugged.
"Curse of being a shifter."
At that reminder, her heart started to pound, and she turned her head to look, but Bret stopped her.
"Don't," he said quietly. "You don't want to see that."
Freezing, she avoided the spot behind her, taking his word for it. He helped her up, his strong body beautiful in all its naked glory.
Blushing, she refrained from looking at him, not sure what was going to happen now.
“Come on. My truck is parked by the road. I have a change of clothes in the back.”
Still avoiding his naked body and the bloody mass through the bushes, she let him lead her back to his truck and got in the passenger’s seat as he swiftly got dressed before sliding in behind the wheel. With a flick of his thick wrist, the engine rumbled to life. In silence, they made their way back to town.
Bret spied the large, black truck parked in the alley and wanted to groan.
His Alpha. The man rarely left his pack house, choosing instead to stay close and track the fighting ring that had plagued their territory for the past two years. However, the man had barely left town for his relaxing weekend and now this.
Damn it, Sam. The blasted woman had said she hadn't wanted to involve her brother, but it looked like she had changed her mind.
It was going on six in the morning, but apparently Sam hadn’t cared. She had brought in the big guns and called her brother back to drama.
Hadn’t the man had enough?
“What is it?” Nikki said worryingly, hunched against the truck door.
He shook his head
and sighed, turning to smile over at her reassuringly. Her blue eyes were still filled with fear, and he vowed that when he was through with the fucking bastard that put that look in her eyes, she would never be afraid again.
“Nothing, darling. Just my Alpha paying a call.” The endearment fell from his lips out of habit, but it fit.
She looked over at the truck as they pulled in and parked.
“Travis?”
He looked at her in shock until he remembered that she had apparently grown up with the pack.
A human among wolves. Now that was different.
Like I'm one to talk. A bear among wolves, he thought ruefully, shutting off the truck.
Nodding, he opened his door, but before he could come around and open hers, she was out and standing by the door, staring up at the stairs like she was walking to her death.
He frowned. “I thought you liked the pack.”
“I do, but…”
She paused just as the door opened, and Sam flew down the stairs, almost tripping on the last step.
Before Nikki could get out another word, she was pulled into the arms of her friend and squeezed in a bear hug. Now, Sam was a woman, so the cause of jealousy that sliced through him took him completely by surprise, surprise and shock, because he didn't even know Nikki, not to mention she was a human!
“You had me worried sick!” Sam exclaimed, pulling back barely an inch to glare at her before squeezing her again.
“Sorry,” Nikki muttered, trying to disengage the arms that refused to let her go.
Before Bret could rescue her, another deep voice penetrated the ragged breathing of the three standing by the truck.
“Let her go, Sam. She can't breathe.”
Bret took his eyes off Nikki and saw his Alpha walk down the steps, Vanessa, his wife, beside him.
He tilted his head slightly to the side in a show of submission, and Travis nodded before looking at his sister with a raised brow.
“Now.” The order was soft but commanding, and Sam reluctantly took a step back, releasing her hold. Bret felt Nikki take a relieved breath and resisted the urge to grin.
Bear's Shadow (Vendetta Series Book 2) Page 4
