To Save A Bear Page 7

  Since Boomer found himself a mate, they liked to pretend this group of monsters could be some sort of dysfunctional family. The only ones who knew how to behave themselves were Morgan and Dominic. How, Reid would never understand. Did they not know what it felt like to tear themselves apart from the inside out? To wage a war against the second voice in their heads?

  “Dude,” Orion began, “you need to get laid.”

  Reid shot up from his seat. He nearly threw himself at Orion before the sound of laughter filled the air. He paused and looked down to find Addison near tears as she clutched her belly. She fell onto her side in the sand, face scrunched as she snorted and cried. It was a mess of a sight and still, it managed to capture Reid’s heart.

  When he looked up, Orion wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making Reid want to tear the shifter’s face off all over again. At his feet, Addison’s laughter slowly died. She wiped at the tears that streamed down her face, looking up at him as she lay on her back.

  Reid hungered for her to look at him like that every day. The soft smile of joy that touched her face lit something inside him, a place that had been dark for too long. Unable to express what the sight of her happiness meant to him, he flopped down in his chair once more.

  “I hate all of you.”

  “We love you too, buddy.” Orion darted away before Reid could even try to chase him.

  It was a long while before Reid dared look down at Addison again. She still lay at his feet. Had there been no one else at the beach, he might have lain down beside her and thrown caution to the wind. He was thankful for the presence of the other shifters. They helped him keep his wits about him in her presence.

  “This was a lot more fun than I thought it would be,” Addison whispered. “Do they always pick on you like this?”

  Reid grunted. “No. I think today was a special show just for you.”

  “I’ll have to send them all a thank you card. It was definitely the best gift I’ve ever received.”

  He cut a glance at her in the sand. “Even better than the desk I made you?”

  Her cheeks darkened, and her lips pursed. Addison looked away, but still responded in a low tone. “Maybe.”

  Chapter Nine

  Addison couldn’t stand looking at the same walls every day of her life. After a while, the wood walls became nothing but soul-sucking shadows. She was probably exaggerating, but the effect still felt the same. She missed the sun on her face and the fresh air of the wide outdoors. Yeah, she could open the windows, but she couldn’t move the windows to capture the sunlight.

  She peered out the window, searching for signs of trespassers or bears. The coast seemed clear. Since she’d moved in with Reid, life had become a strange sequence of events. Things seemed to go from great to awful in a matter of minutes. One second, she’d received gifts, the next she’d discovered she was being filmed. One second, she was running from bears, the next she was laughing on a beach.

  It’d been a wild ride, one that had fueled a good number of pages in her book. It was starting to come together. Soon, she would have a first draft to rework. It would be nice to start submitting to agents, but the book was nowhere near ready for shelves. It was embarrassing to even think of anyone reading what she had written.

  With a bag of chips in hand, she crept out onto the back porch. Nearby was a wooden porch chair. She didn’t know how to tell if it was handmade or store-bought, but she suspected Reid had made it himself. It wasn’t like her great big blond oaf ever went out. He had to do something with his spare time.

  Pausing with a chip halfway to her mouth, Addison realized she’d thought of Reid as hers. Perhaps the wording had been a bit mean, but she definitely laid claim to him. The idea of anyone else touching him sent a trill of jealousy rippling through her. It made her stomach queasy and her fingers curl into fists.

  When had this happened? Had it been the kiss in his doorway, heated and full of repressed passion? Or, had it been the beach party where he’d defended her book and she’d laughed at his friend’s barbed jokes?

  She didn’t know when it happened, only that she needed to pull herself back. It was obvious that Reid was confused. She’d fought against herself and the position they put themselves in only because she barely knew what kind of man Reid truly was. Given the time they’d spent together, he’d wormed his way into her heart. It turned out, he was exactly the kind of man she would have been happy to love.

  Addison was so lost in her thoughts of love and lust that she didn’t realize what stood in the yard until it let out a guttural sound. Her stomach dropped, just like the bag of chips in her hand. She scrambled to her feet and raced to put the door between them.

  Again? She couldn’t believe her naivety. Of course, there would be bears. If one had shown up before, it would likely come back.

  Addison’s heart was pounding, trying to escape her chest before the bear came and ate them both. She could barely believe it. There was a bear prowling the yard. The same one from the other day was back. It was unlike any other grizzly she’d seen, bigger than a truck, golden like wheat.

  The thing would have been beautiful if she wasn’t afraid of it trying to get inside. She strained to listen, waiting for it to go after the bag of chips she’d dropped, but nothing happened.

  When Addison heard the rumble of a car in the driveway, she lurched to her feet, thinking it was Reid. Instead, she watched Emmy jump out of a truck. Addison’s heart clenched. Emmy was alone with the bear.

  She raced to the front door, shoved it open, and flew down the steps toward Emmy. The woman’s eyes went wide. A question was poised on her lips, but she had no time to get it out before Addison was dragging her back toward the cabin. Once inside, Addison closed the door and pressed her back against it.

  “Look out the window,” Addison hissed. “Did it follow us?”

  Emmy raised a brow. “You’re acting like this is some sort of horror movie. Are you okay?”

  Through clenched teeth, Addison repeated herself. Emmy rolled her eyes and peeled back the nearby curtain.

  “I don’t see anything.”

  “No bear?”

  To this, Emmy laughed. It didn’t seem like a laughing matter to Addison. Bears were dangerous, stronger than any human. The door wouldn’t stop it if it decided it wanted to get inside.

  “Bear, you say?” Emmy marched through the house toward the back door.

  Addison scrambled after her. Her heart thundered as she watched the back of the dark head of hair drift away from her. Emmy threw the back door open and descended the steps. Addison wanted to call out, to reach for her, but found herself stuck in the doorway. Her feet wouldn’t budge. Not like they had when Emmy arrived.

  Because now, the bear watched them. The golden grizzly bear paused, eyes on Emmy and the cabin. The woman marched bravely up to the grizzly bear, as if it wouldn’t rip her head off the moment it felt threatened.

  Addison opened her mouth to shout, but before she could say anything, Emmy had grabbed the bear by the sides of his head and lowered her face to his. The woman treated the bear as if it were a family pet. The bear didn’t look particularly happy, but it also didn’t look like it would eat her. Emmy continued talking to it in pet-speech, asking if it was a good boy.

  “How do you know that it’s a boy?” Addison slowly descended the steps. She didn’t have the courage to move any closer, one hand on the porch as if it might protect her.

  Emmy paused. “Well, erm, I’ve met this particular bear before. He scared away my ex-husband.”

  She remembered the way Reid had talked about the bears in the area. He spoke about them like circus animals. It’d been strange and not at all what she’d been told as a child growing up near the mountain. She didn’t remember everything park rangers taught about interactions with bears, but she knew it never involved treating them like pets.

  This one seemed annoyed by Emmy’s presence, but not so much that it would eat her. It flopped onto the ground and glared at
the woman. The image reminded Addison of Reid. She couldn’t figure out why. It was the mannerisms, the way it moved. She knew it was a strange thought, comparing a grizzly bear to Reid, but she couldn’t shake the image.

  “Come on over,” Emmy beckoned her. “He won’t bite. You should pet him. Then you can tell all your friends back home that you pet a grizzly bear and it didn’t eat you.”

  “I would tell them if I had any friends.” Addison hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but Emmy only nodded in agreement, as if she felt the same.

  Addison stepped closer, keeping her eyes on the bear in Emmy’s hands. The bear met her gaze and held it. Once again, she was reminded of Reid. There was a solemnness about him, a sadness that was an echo of Reid. Her hand shook as she reached out but stilled when she touched its soft muzzle.

  The bear’s eyes drifted shut and leaned into Addison’s touch until its head was in her lap. It rubbed against her, happy like a dog whose owner just came home.

  “I know what you mean,” Emmy began. Her voice was soft and sad, drawing Addison’s attention away from the bear in her lap. “I had amnesia when the guys found me. I’d thought I’d uncover a family or something when my memories returned. All I got was an abusive ex-husband. These idiots are my only friends. I wouldn’t trade them for the world, but being surrounded by hot-headed men all the time is nothing like having a girlfriend to talk to.”

  The bear rested and let its eyes drift shut, content to be in Addison’s hands. Her time in the mountains had been both wonderful and terrifying, yet the longer she stayed, the more she felt she couldn’t leave. It wasn’t the landscape that held her in place. It wasn’t the view of the city down below.

  It was the people she’d met. It was the memory of Reid’s lips on her own and the company of the woman who’d convinced her to pet a bear.

  “I have no idea what it’s like to have a girlfriend to talk to, but we can go inside, make some cocoa and give it a try.”

  Emmy looked pointedly at the bear. Addison was about to ask her what was wrong when the bear grunted and tossed its head. Without further discussion, the bear meandered away and found a new spot to rest. The great beast plopped onto the ground and dropped its head onto its massive paws, watching them leave.

  Her new friend muttered something under her breath. Something about useless men and work.

  “What was that?”

  Emmy flashed a smile but couldn’t hide the nervousness that creased the corners of her eyes. “Oh, what? Nothing. It was nothing.”

  “Is this some sort of cult? Should I avoid drinking anything you make me?”

  Emmy laughed, a clear and bright sound, so different from her husband’s howl. “I thought that, too, when I first met the guys. If you are what I think you are, you’ll learn.”

  “That’s not cryptic at all,” Addison said with no small amount of sarcasm.

  Emmy said nothing, only rubbing a scar where her shoulder and neck met as she led Addison back inside. They made cocoa from packets in the cupboard and Emmy made lewd jokes when she found the cannister of whipped cream in the fridge, making Addison’s face turn red.

  Chapter Ten

  Her car clunked all the way down the mountain. At any moment, it might fall apart and leave her with nothing but a steering wheel and a seat. Still, she pushed it into town. Her eyes hurt from staring at the screen for hours on end, so she’d decided to print what she had of her manuscript so far.

  There was a printing shop in town. It was right next to a small café, a lure to get writers to linger for coffee. Whatever it was, it worked. Addison claimed the bound sheets of her messy first draft and slunk next door for a cup of coffee because she didn’t want to go back to the house she shared with a very confusing man.

  He was at work, of course, but she could smell him on everything and it made her core do very distracting things. She could only light so many scented candles before they gave her a headache. Sitting at a café table and sipping a cold mocha while the trees dropped leaves outside was a very good option, in her opinion.

  Her pens were splayed out across the table, mixed with highlighters and sticky notes for all the changes she planned on making. When one rolled to the edge of the table and threatened to fall off, Addison reached for it. The pen fell, but another hand appeared to save it.

  She looked up to find an older man wearing reflective sunglasses. There was a thick moustache over his upper lip and a dimple in his chin. He flashed a smile by way of greeting, set the pen on the table, and pulled out a chair for himself.

  Something about him screamed wrong to Addison, and it wasn’t just the creepy moustache. Nor was it the fact that she couldn’t see his eyes. He held out his hand, still grinning as if he belonged wherever he decided he belonged. Addison spared a moment to wonder if she’d rather take a chance with the bear she’d come across the other day before loosely taking his hand.

  He set off every alarm in her head as he claimed the seat across from her as if they were old friends. Addison missed the plexiglass window she used to hide behind. Now, there was nothing between them, and the very thought made her skin crawl.

  “Are you writing a book?” The man asked. “I always wanted to write a book. Oh, the stories I could tell. Perhaps you could help me write it.”

  Addison clenched her teeth. Write your own damn book, creep.

  “Not very talkative?” He pushed. “That’s alright. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. I couldn’t pass up my chance when I saw you drive into town.”

  Alarm shot through her. He’d seen her drive in?

  Addison shifted in her seat, glancing toward the nearby door and wondering if she could make a break for it. She’d have to abandon half her pens, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

  “Now, I’d like to learn a bit about your boyfriend,” the man began as he fingered a pen on the table. Slowly, she watched his hand wrap around it as if it were a dagger.

  “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “Alright. Well, I’d like to know about the man you’re living with. Because I know you share a house with that monster.”

  Monster? Reid was a massive man, but he was no monster. If anything, he was closer to the savior he worked so hard to be. Addison bristled at the man’s tone. The urge to fight back appeared, a feeling she wasn’t used to.

  Before she knew it, he bypassed her hand and gripped her wrist, capturing her. The other day, Reid had held that very same wrist. Then, it had ignited a fire in her, now it filled her with dread cold.

  “What is he? I know he’s not human. Tell me what he is, and I’ll let you go.”

  She struggled against him, but it was useless. He held her so that no one could see her struggle. She could scream and make a scene, but what good would it do? The cops wouldn’t do anything about him. They wouldn’t take him away. He’d just watch her leave.

  “You were behind the cameras,” Addison breathed, realization hitting her.

  The man laughed. “See, you aren’t as dumb as you’re acting. You and I both know there’s no way you can live with a monster without knowing what he is. You’ve lived with monsters before.”

  Her lips curled away from her teeth. “You’re the only monster I see here.”

  His grip on her tightened painfully. Her wrist protested, and a sharp sensation rocketed up her arm. She needed her hands to type. The thought brought a whimper to her lips.

  Someone looked up at them, but the man flashed a smile and told them Addison was mourning the loss of a loved one. The words were foreboding. He wanted to be the person to take the loved one away from her.

  All she could see was the reflection of her own face, drawn with pain, in the lens of his sunglasses. She straightened her spine and tempered her panic, centering herself.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ll be sure to have a conversation with Reid when I get home.”

  The man regarded her for a long moment. She thought he might twist her wrist for
more, not that she had much more to give. Whatever it was he wanted, Addison clearly didn’t know. Which meant Reid was hiding something from her. Much like she’d thought.

  The way he called Reid a monster led her to believe it was less human monster and more…something else. She didn’t know how to explain it. It wasn’t like Reid had tried sucking her blood. He wasn’t a vampire because she knew she’d seen him in the sun.

  “Alright missy. I’ll tell you what. You go home, and you talk to that man. See what you can’t get out of him.”

  “You act like I’m going to run back and tell you.” Her voice was nothing more than a growl. She wouldn’t give this man what he wanted.

  “You might come running once you figure out what he is. I saw his friend take a bullet to the gut and keep on fighting. I cut the man so deep, he should have died on the floor. There’s no denying your man isn’t just like his friend.”

  Suddenly, Addison remembered the bank robbery. The gun had gone off, but it hadn’t hit anyone. In fact, she hadn’t seen it hit anything. The bullet should have hit something, left a hole in the ceiling or floor. Instead, it’d disappeared completely.

  Reid had been hit. Her stomach clenched at the thought. Yet, when she’d seen him the next day to rent the room from him, there had been no bullet wound. He hadn’t even walked like a man who’d been in a fight.

  “Ah, you’re starting to understand.” The man released her wrist. “Go and talk to him. See what the monster will tell you.”

  She cradled her arm, hunching over it. The man dropped a card on the table before he stood and left her alone. Her stomach was sour, and she didn’t know if she could finish the coffee she’d bought. It was a waste of money, but she dumped it in the trash along with the card on her way out.