Bared for Her Bear (14 page)

spruces until the dim lights of the bar came into view. Classic rock blasted through the shitty, scarred

door and surrounded him when he walked inside. Cigarette smoke, alcohol, sweat, and sex lingered in

the air. The interior wasn’t big and only held a handful of tables, some busted up chairs, and a few

stained barstools. The sound of breaking glass had him turning and looking to his left. There, in the

center of a loose circle, stood Ford. Bram was holding him back for the time being. An aged, human,

beefy biker stood in front of Ford, his thin lips spreading over his yellow, crooked teeth, and his huge,

rounded belly shaking up and down from his laughter. Ford looked on the verge of shifting, and

Charlie was surprised he hadn’t yet and that Bram was able to keep him under control. Ford’s mouth

moved, and whatever he said had the biker’s laughter dying and his face turning a deep shade of red.

An old and used-up looking human woman stepped up to the biker and whispered something in his ear.

He shrugged her off, peeled his faded, holey leather Cut off his body, and cracked his knuckles.

“Shit.” Charlie ran a hand over his jaw. If that human knew what the fuck he was messing with

he’d turn around right now and walk his ass out the door. Charlie shoved the people aside until he was

standing beside his brothers. The stench of sweat was overpowering. He turned toward the biker and

looked him up and down. He had to give the old human some credit, because there wasn’t an ounce of

fear permeating from him. “Listen, just walk away, man.” He could practically see the steam coming

from the human’s ears.

“What cho say, boy?” He took a step toward Charlie, his fists in balls by his side, and the

sound of his teeth grinding filling the space between them.

“Whatever my brother said to you to get you pissed off, I apologize. He’s drunk and clearly

going through some shit. I’d be happy to buy you and everyone else a round of shots, or beer if you

prefer.” No doubt Charlie and his brothers could have taken all of these humans, but he was tired, and

certainly wasn’t in the mood of any fucking drama. Placating the lot of them seemed far easier. All he

wanted to do was get Ford and Bram back to his truck and crawl back in bed with his female. It took a

moment, but slowly the human’s anger dissipated, and he took a step back.

“All right, but after that your boy needs to get his ass outta here.”

Charlie nodded, because he had intended to do just that.

He and Bram carried Ford out, who didn’t know when to keep his damn mouth shut and yelled

out every curse word in the English language. At least Charlie’s and Bram’s manpower they were able

to drag him to the truck.

“I’m going to buy them some drinks, and then you can tell me what in the hell is going on.”

Bram tilted his chin in acknowledgment. He headed back inside, bought the house a round of shots and

beers as an apology, and headed went back to Bram and Ford. He made it one step before a deep voice

to his right came from the shadows.

“You fucking pussy ass bitch.” Instantly he recognized that voice. The hair on Charlie’s arms

stood up, and his muscles warmed and grew as his blood started pumping fast and hard through his

body. Frank stepped out of the shadows, followed by three more scuzzy and intoxicated looking

humans. The jackal had a bottle of tequila in his hand and a sneer distorting his upper lip. “I
let
you

have that fat bitch. If it wasn’t for me stepping back and letting her go, Ary would still be mine, and

I’d own every thick inch of her.”

Ary wasn’t around to stop him this time. Bram and Ford were around the building where he

had parked his truck, and he knew both of them were too drunk for their senses pick up the shit that

was just about to go down. That was fine by Charlie, because he wanted to take Frank down, and if

these crack-head humans wanted some of his bear, too, than so fucking be it. Cracking his knuckles

and rolling his head on his neck, Charlie grinned at the Frank and the humans. He let his bear flash to

the surface, letting them see exactly what they were about to be dealing with.

“Do you know what you’re messing with?” Any sane shifter fought with an opponent of their

own size. A coyote didn’t fight a lion, and a jackal sure as hell didn’t fight a bear. Even in human form

he was at least double the size of this asshole that kept advancing on him. His goonies behind him

seemed more hesitant. They may not have the keen senses as a shifter did, but they could tell that they

didn’t want any part of this.

“Man, I didn’t sign up to fight no bear,” one of the greasy humans muttered out.

“Yeah, man, you never said anything about us fighting an animal.” The humans took a step

back in sync, and Frank growled in frustration.

“Y’all are a bunch of pansy ass pussies.”

“Hey, we didn’t sign up for this shit. You just told us you needed a little extra hands to get rid

of the asshole that’s been hitting on your girl.”

His girl?
Oh, no fucking way was this jackal motherfucking going to put any claim on his Ary.

Charlie growled low in his throat, which had the three humans turning and booking it in the other

direction. Good, because this fight was between the two of them. A bigger man would have walked

away, but all Charlie could see was Frank’s hands on Ary, and the foul, disgusting things he said to her

earlier in the day. No, this motherfucker wasn’t going to get away with what he did, and he would be

put in his place. When this was all said and done, Frank the jackal would never come near Ary again,

not if he wanted his balls and dick still intact.

Frank laughed, guzzled the last of his liquor, and tossed the bottle against the side of the

building. It shattered, and the noise echoed off the high walls. “I know what you are, but I don’t think

you know who I am.” He rolled his shoulders back. “I’ve taken on bears before, and you ain’t no

different from them those pansy ass motherfuckers.” His voice was slurred and it was clear he was

drunk, but intoxication wasn’t going to save him now. In a move faster than Charlie thought possible

given the jackal’s inebriated state, Frank swung out and connected with Charlie’s gut. The wind

momentarily got knocked out of him, but he straightened to his full height, felt the shift take over, and

grinned for the little fucker. Frank shifted as well. The sound of their bones breaking and realigning,

and their clothes tearing away pierced the night.

There they stood, jackal to bear, and all Charlie wanted to do was rip into him until blood

coated his fur and there was nothing left. Frank made the first move, his actions sloppy and fast. The

rage in him was on the verge of insane and manic. A searing pain lanced through Charlie’s side, and

he roared. He swung his paw out, connected with Frank’s muzzle and sent him flying against the brick

building. For a few seconds Frank was down, but because the asshole was crazier than shit, he got back

on all fours and charged at him again. Charlie was done with this. He charged for Frank and met him

on a head-on collision. He was three times the size and weight of the jackal, and, rage filling every

part of his body because this dick still wanted Ary, he knew there was no chance that he’d lose. Frank

might have gotten in a few shots, but that ended now. Tackling Frank to the ground Charlie used one

big paw to hold his snapping head down and brought his muzzle close to his. Roaring out as

powerfully as he could, he smelled the rotting stench of Frank’s fear finally break through the surface.

Maybe he was finally realizing that this wasn’t a fight he was going to win? He struggled beneath

Charlie for a few more minutes, and Charlie thought how easy it would be just to clamp his jaw on

Frank’s neck and snap the thin bone.

Finally the fight left the jackal, and Charlie shifted back into his human form. It certainly

hadn’t been the longest or most vicious of fights he’d been in, but it had been the most important.

“I’m only going to say this once, so your crazy ass better be paying attention. February is

mine, and will always be mine. I’ll protect her until I can’t breathe any longer, and if I ever see you

near her again, or hear that you’ve been talking about her, I’ll hunt you down and finish this. I will not

offer you another warning. Do you understand?” His voice was a low rumble of repressed anger. It

took Frank a few seconds, but when he finally realized that Charlie spoke the truth he nodded once.

Charlie stood and without a backward glance headed to his truck. He saw Bram leaning against the

side with a cigarette between his lips.

“I was wondering if you were going to just beat his ass already, or if you just planned on

playing with him for fun,” Bram said. “Was gonna join in the fun when I saw what the hell was going

down, but I thought you needed that fight all to yourself.”

Charlie flipped off Bram and opened the back passenger door to grab an extra set of clothes he

always kept. Ford was passed out cold and taking up the entire back seat.

“You taking your truck back, or are you too drunk to drive?”

“Nah, man, I had just as many drinks as Ford, but when I knew it was time to call it a night he

just kept going. Just bring me back in the morning to get it.”

Once dressed in jeans and a t-shirt Charlie climbed in and waited for Bram to do the same.

Once they were on the road and heading back to his place Charlie decided now was as good a time as

any to find out what the hell was up, but before he could talk Bram filled him in.

“Mina called Ford right before you guys showed up. Told him she is back in town for a

wedding.” It wasn’t as bad as Charlie had thought. Yeah, Mina had been the only girl Ford had ever

loved. Hell, he had even talked about mating with her and her having his babies. Ford was never the

same after they broke it off, and instead gorged himself on females.

“Okay, well why in the hell would she call him and tell him she’s in town? She trying to hurt

him all over again? It’s been ten fucking years.”

“Charlie, she called to tell him that she is in town for
her
wedding. She’s getting married to

some doctor or some shit like that, and using her folks’ estate to have it on. She wanted him to hear it

from her first.”

Charlie looked over at his brother and felt his heart breaking for Ford all over again. “Shit. No

wonder he was all kinds of fucked up.” He should have just let Ford kick someone’s ass. At least that

way he would have gotten some of his anguish out. Charlie adjusted his mirror so he could see Ford

lying on the backseat.
Damn, looks like there are going to be plenty more of these nights in the near

future.
As long as Mina was in town, Ford would be a fucked-up mess.

Charlie took his brothers back to his place since he’d have to be driving them back to get

Bram’s truck in the morning. After getting Ford settled in the guest room and seeing Bram to his

room, Charlie went to the master suite. He needed a shower to wash the fight off of him. He was

surprised to see Ary up in bed with the sheets drawn up to her chin. The sight had him chuckling.

“Baby, you look so damn worried it’s cute.” She eyed him, and he knew the moment she

realized he was in different clothes. He held his hand up right when she was about to talk. “I plan on

telling you everything, Kitten. Let me just take a shower first, yeah?” She swallowed, and then

nodded.

He took the quickest shower imaginable and stepped back into the room with a towel slung low

on his hips. Ary was sitting on the edge of the bed and staring right at him. Exhaling and running his

hand over the damp hair at the nape of his neck, he sat down beside her. He supposed he’d start with

Ford’s issues, then move on to Frank. “I had to get Ford because his ex-girlfriend is in town and told

him she’s getting married.” At her confused look he lifted his hand and smoothed his finger between

her eyes. “He was in love with Mina for years, had all these plans of the future with her, but then there

was some kind of misunderstanding and they split up. So he got drunk tonight at Slater’s, and I had to

smooth things over with the human he was trying to fight. He and Bram are staying overnight so I can

take them back to get Bram’s truck in the morning.”

“Oh God. Is everyone okay?” Bless her heart for thinking of everyone else.

“Yeah, baby, they’re good.” Shit, how did he now bring up Frank? He didn’t want to upset her

further, and knew bringing up that prick’s name would do that. Before he could bring it up she told

him what she already knew.

“You saw Frank at the bar, didn’t you? Fought him, too?” At his nod she looked away and

swallowed again. “I smelled him all over you, his blood, too. You’re okay, though?” He smiled when

she started running her hands up and down his chest.