Bear it All (15 page)

“You mean those bears? Don’t worry, they won’t come for you. You’re just a simple little piece of pussy. Not even a good one if you ask me, but I wouldn’t touch you, Master commanded it.” Billy had started to run a finger down her face close enough for her to smell the heavy aroma of alcohol on his breath. When he closed in enough, Cece turned her head and bit his finger. The metallic taste of blood made her want to gag, but it made Billy cry out. Releasing him, she spit the blood in his face. As much as she wanted to hurt him, the move seemed to have angered him quickly and she prayed he would just kill her and leave Lily alone. The blows came swift and hard. But she didn’t cry out, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Over and over he punched and kicked her until her eyes swelled and her vision blurred.

“You’re lucky I can’t kill you, you damn bitch.” Billy’s breathing was heavy and labored. She had no feeling left in her, the pain stopped, and everything once again turned black.

*****

“Millie, you have to contact her for us. Becky won’t be able to locate her and we need help,” Tiny was pleading with the tiny fairy as she looked sick and had just finished puking.

“I will do my best, but I really don’t know how to contact her. You have to find her and quick. Cece has always been there for us. And Lily, she, damn,” and the woman puked again.

Grey growled, but it only earned him a glare from Axel who was hovering over his mate. He wasn’t mad at her, he just knew every minute was important to save Cece.

Sam had woken up and was now pacing around the small house. They both felt caged in and needed to run and eat something, preferable Billy. But he needed his mate back.

“What the fuck do we do? We can’t sit here with fingers up our asses and watch the world go by.”

Just as he was about to say something when a weird light like before floated in. This was Xandria, Millie’s mother.

“We don’t have much time. I cannot help you, but I have found her. A small cabin outside the forest. You must go and get her back before he comes. Should he get her, then I won’t be able to help.”

“Who the fuck is he?”

“He calls himself the Master, but he is very old and powerful. He has had this plan in place for a long time, and it seems he has started to rise again. You cannot defeat him, not yet. It will take all of the pack and the combined power of all to stop him. There is much left to do. Go now, he is coming for her.” Grey and Sam didn’t need to be told twice and it was Axel, Tiny, and Emerson who followed them. Gage stayed behind to help with Millie, while Dmitri and Nik stayed with their pregnant mate who looked panicked.

“This time I will kill him,” Sam growled, and it was a silent command to let everyone know Billy was his kill.

Chapter Eighteen

Grey saw the cabin and everything in his body was shaking with rage. The smell of blood and anger radiated everywhere. He couldn’t see Cece or Lily, but he could smell them. Sam had already shifted, taking his bear form, not able to hold back his anger anymore.

“We need a distraction to get in there,” stated Tiny. He knew they did, but for the life of him he couldn’t think straight.

“How many are there?” He had to know before he sent someone into a world of hurt.

“Looks like we have five wolves, three humans, and a hyena outside, but I have no clue who is inside.”

“Okay, Sam, guess you’re up.” Grey hated that Sam was going to go in charging, but he needed to draw them away from the cabin so he could go and get the girls.

Everyone nodded knowing what to do. Emerson stayed as Axel and Tiny took their places for the ambush. Holding his breath, he gave Sam the signal and then the chaos began. Sam roared running halfway, then standing on his two back paws, drawing attention to him. He grabbed one wolf, quickly snapping him in his jaws around his middle before flinging him into a large tree trunk. The others came at him, Sam took off to the tree line drawing them away from the house. The sounds of snarls, whimpering, and growling could be heard in the still of the night. Keeping low in the darkness he and Emerson made their way to the cabin. He could hear one voice inside yelling at someone and the sound of screaming followed. His steady resolve snapped and he busted through the door only to be halted in his track. Before him was a frazzled Billy holding a gun to what looked to be his mate. Blood, welts, and bruises covered her body and her eyes were swollen shut. The sight of her mangled body nearly broke him. He had to save her and never, never let anyone touch her again.

“Put the gun away, Billy,” he growled. The knowledge that no matter how fast he was, he couldn’t save her from a bullet to the brain in a matter of seconds.

“No, I don’t think I will. He is coming. The Master wants her, I have to give her to him. When he has her, he will kill you, all of you fuckers.”

Grey was running out of options and quickly looked around the small cabin and spotted Lily. She didn’t look too bad, thank God. She had been hit across the face but she laid crumpled, tied to a heater. Emerson stood next to him growling and knew the man's puma was on edge like his bear was.

He took a step closer and the gun barrel was pressed into her skull making her cry out. Her voice was horse.

Sam made his way to the cabin after killing the stupid fucker who shot at him. Thankfully it was only a flesh wound to his side, but the bitch hurt. Taking the gun with him after he changed back to human, he found the cabin. Crouching low he spotted Billy holding Cece, but the fucker had a gun to her head. He knew Grey was losing it as his eyes changed and his fangs peeked out. Emerson had started to sprout fur, but Sam knew that neither one of them could outrun, or stop a bullet that close. With the gun in his hand, he took slow deep breaths and dropped down to the ground. Granted it was a small handgun, but it would work for what he needed it to. Calling on all his training, he aimed and shot the son of a bitch in his leg making him fall and drop the gun. Grey ran to Cece before she fell and Emerson charged Billy as he shifted to a puma.

Running inside he stood next to Grey who was holding a mangled Cece. She had a pulse, but everything else was broken. Unsure of what to do, Sam grabbed a blanket off the small cot and let Grey wrap her up. He didn’t care anymore about Billy. Emerson was making a meal of him. Tiny and Axel came in and checked on Lily.

“Damn it, man, there is nothing let of him,” Tiny yelled at Emerson who stopped breaking Billy apart. “We need your help, man.” This seemed to snap him out of his puma state and he shifted back, running to check on Cece.

“We need to get her out of here and fast. She is losing some blood, and I don’t know how bad she is. Hurry.” Running out of the house everyone was stopped short when a man in a hooded cloak appeared.

“This isn’t over, not by a long shot. I will have you all.” And just like that, he disappeared.

“Not now, we need to get out of here.” Emerson pushed past him followed by Grey holding Cece and Tiny with Lily while Axel took the rear making sure no one followed.

“Head to the hospital,” was the only command given as they took off.

*****

Cece woke feeling as if she had been put through a meat grinder and then fried on an open fire. Wanting to open her eyes, she found it rather difficult.

“No, baby girl, you need to rest. Go back to sleep.” The soft lips of Sam hit her forehead and like that she was out again.

*****

The urge to pee woke her up again. Trying to sit up she winced at the pain that shot through her. Her arms hurt and she couldn’t put any weight on them.

“Oh, love, you need to lay still.”
Lay still my ass
, she thought, she had to pee. Shaking her head she tried once again.

“Cece, you need to not move.” The commanding voice of Grey made her want to laugh.

“Pee,” she croaked out.
Damn was that her voice?

“Shit, okay, umm, let me get someone.” Opening her eyes, she saw she was in a hospital bed. This was new. She had always seen everyone being taken to a house or something to heal, not a hospital. She could hear hushed words being said and then Becky’s mom, Lisa, came in smiling at her.

“Hey, pumpkin, let’s see what we can do to make you feel a little better, okay?” She went to say something, but was hushed before helped up and moved into the restroom. Her legs were shaky and it made her want to cry like a five year old who was just punished for coloring on the wall. After she finished her business and stood to wash her hands, Lisa came in again, this time Sam was there to help lift her. But even that hurt. Soon she was laying back down in bed.

“How bad?” she managed to say.

The sad look on Lisa’s face, and the really pissed off look on Sam’s face, lead her to believe it was pretty bad.

“Well, you’re alive, that’s important.” Lisa kissed her forehead and then left. Turning she looked at Sam, and was happy to see Grey sitting on her other side.

“You almost died, Cece,” Grey said in a tone that chilled her.

“But I didn’t.”

“He took pleasure in breaking a ton of your bones, you have been in and out of consciousness for the last five days. Emerson has been in and so has Lily and Xandria. It took all of them. ALL. OF. THEM. TO. SAVE. YOU.” Each word was said slowly threw gritted teeth, though she could tell the pain behind it. “He beat you to an inch of your life. Never again will I allow that to happen. Do you understand me?” Sam snapped.

Staring at him dumbfounded, she could only whisper “yes” to try to reassure him. But what happened next startled her more. Sam sat on her bed, rested his head on her stomach, and cried. This man, who was larger than two of her, was crying, for her. Unable to stop herself she ran her fingers through his hair trying to calm him while he held her waist gentle crying into her.

“I’m sorry.”

Big gold eyes snapped up and looked at her. “You’re sorry, baby girl, you scared the shit out of me, I died ten time since now and I, I love you so damn much. The thought of not having you is something I don’t ever want to face.” She smiled the best she could, wiping away his tears. Risking a quick glace she saw that Grey too had teary eyes as well.

Taking a deep breath, she was able to whisper, “I love you both too,” smiling shyly at them. It seemed to ease some of Sam’s tension and he just held her kissing her eyes, her nose, her jaw, her chin, and lastly a tender kiss on her lips.

*****

“Sam, I can walk you know.” Sam did know, but she had been in the hospital a whole week after she woke fully and home for four days now. She was better at walking, and because of whatever voodoo magic Xandria and the others did, she was almost completely healed. However, that didn’t stop him from carrying his mate around the house.

“I know, baby girl, but humor me this time. I like having you in my arms. It feels right.”

“Okay, Sam.”

“He still babying you, love?” Grey asked as he walked into the kitchen from outside.

“Yup, but its okay. I understand. If something happened to you I would do the same thing.” Sam set her down on a chair and went to get her a drink of juice.

“Well, how about we go out tonight. I know a few people who are dying to see you.” Sam knew the girls were nervous about seeing Cece. Becky especially. It seemed she felt it was her fault for not catching any issues sooner, and Millie thought the same thing. Despite what their mates told them, Sam didn’t think they would be satisfied until Cece herself told them she was okay.

“Sure, can I walk then?” smirking at them, before she drank her juice.

“Well, okay I guess.” With everyone laughing, it seemed things were starting to pick up.

*****

Grey helped Cece walk into Becky’s parents’ house. He was happy she stuck to simple flat shoes, but a dress that he wanted to peal her out of. As much as his body and bear craved her intermittently, he knew it was best to wait a little bit to make sure she was fully recovered.

“I should have brought something over.” He watched as she fussed with her dress and hair. She was simply adorable. Her concern was always about others instead of herself. While she was in the hospital she needed to see Lily to make sure she was okay and that Billy hadn’t harmed her, then she wouldn’t settle until she knew that Axel and Tiny didn’t get hurt fighting for her. Thank goodness Emerson told her to chill out or he would keep her ass in longer, she settled down.

The night dragged on in the normal fashion, well minus alcohol for the women, which he heard was odd. He would have loved to have seen what it would have been like to see those three causing trouble together. He thought they were bad now, but he couldn’t imagine them drunk on top of it. As the night wore on, Cece started to tire as did the other woman. He scooped up his mate and thanked everyone before heading home. He had never been so thankful to everyone for helping with the bar while they were out.

Setting his now sleeping mate inside the truck, they made their way home.

“You think she is really all right now?” Sam asked from the backseat.

“Emerson assured us she was. We just need to move on. We have a bigger threat ahead of us, and we need to make sure everyone is aware of things. One day at a time, man, that’s what I am going to do.”

“Sounds like a game plan, one day at a time.”

“I like that too. Love you,” Cece mumbled in her sleep. She was a treasure and one he was glad he found. Pulling into the driveway he took a deep breath.

Home—a word with meaning now. It wasn’t a house, but a real home. One that he would make with Cece and his best friend. What more could a bear want?

Epilogue

The Master looked out over the compound. Things were coming along, but he wanted the final pieces to come out and reveal themselves. The Keeper was needed, as well as the others. Not many knew who was left, but he would acquire the witch, the half-breed, and the breeder. All would be his to create his army. As he watched, he knew the breeder was coming home. The stupid bitch didn’t even know who her father worked for. All would be revealed soon, and then the town, the pack, and everyone would bow down to the Master and he would be the ultimate power.