Bear Naked (Halle Shifters) (24 page)

Cyn snorted. “You think Glory could find her twin and Super Bear
wouldn’t
find out about it?”

Julian just gave them that mysterious smile that drove Cyn insane. “Let’s take a look at you, sweetie.” He ignored Hope’s quiet protest and knelt at her feet. The silver streak that indicated the Kermode was using his powers slid down his hair, marking him as a Spirit Bear. His dark eyes glittered with silver specks as they focused on Hope. “Hmm. You’ve been sick? We need to get some nutrients in you.” He shuddered hard, gasping as his hair suddenly blazed snowy white. His eyes turned completely silver. “One becomes three.”

“What?” Glory stared at Julian, who’d slumped over Hope’s lap. “What does that mean?”

“The prophecy, the one Bear delivered to Julian.” Ryan’s tone was filled with wonder.

“The same one Fox gave Chloe.” Gabe and Sarah exchanged a quick glance.

“What the fuck is going on?” Hope shoved Julian off of her. “What…prophecy?” She laughed, the sound bitter, unnerving. “Oh, God. I’ve gone from one crazy shifter to a fucking town full of them.”

“Sorry about that.” Emma held out her mug, looking apologetic. “Um. Coffee?”

Glory didn’t blame Hope one bit for the hysterical crying fit that followed.

Chapter Sixteen

It had taken the rest of the night, but they managed to get Hope settled down in Max and Emma’s spare bedroom. They’d all been exhausted, especially Julian, who said he’d gotten an “unexpected call” while healing Hope. When Julian and Cyn left, Julian’s hair had still been mostly white.

Cyn had to drive Julian home. He was shaking too badly to operate a can opener, let alone a car. And none of them, not even Julian, knew how Hope was part of the prophecy, or why Julian had such a strong reaction to her.

So when Ryan pulled up in front of his apartment, he wasn’t surprised to find his father, his mother and his sister all waiting for him in the parking lot. They were shivering in the dawn light, holding take-out coffee cups from Ryan’s favorite place, and chatting quietly with each other.

Ryan got out of the car and approached his family, aware Glory was following closely behind him. “Hi, Mom, Dad.” He hugged them both, then tugged on his sister’s hair, laughing when she batted at his hand. “What are you doing here?”

Ryan’s mom shrugged. “Chloe said you needed us.”

Chloe blushed and hugged Glory tightly. “I don’t know why, but I just knew you were going to want the whole family around you.”

Glory yawned. “Oh. That’s nice.” His mate was exhausted, and Ryan wanted nothing more than to—

“Wait. Did you say the
whole
family?”

Glory didn’t sound quite so sleepy anymore. Ryan bit back the urge to laugh. The panic in her tone was endearing. It wasn’t like his parents were
that
scary, after all. And having the entire Bunsun-Williams clan ready to protect her sister would ease both their minds.

“Yup. Alex and Eric will be here shortly. Uncle Ray and Aunt Stacey are watching over the girls at the shop. Tabby and Heather are there today.”

“And Uncle Will and Aunt Barb?” Ryan let his family into his apartment, taking their coats and draping them over the back of the sofa.

“You have a closet,” Glory muttered, picking them right back up and hanging them behind a door Ryan barely ever bothered to open.

“So I do.” Ryan hung his own jacket, ignoring Glory’s sniff of approval. “Why don’t you go get some rest? I’ll deal with my family.”

She shot him an evil look that was totally ruined by baby-blue curls and red-rimmed eyes. “I can handle it.”

“You can barely lift the bags under your eyes.” He brushed those curls away from her face. “Go to bed, love. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Her brows rose. “Love, huh?”

He smiled, noting she hadn’t kneed him in the groin. Things were looking up. “Yup.” He kissed the tip of her nose, thrilled when she didn’t pull away. “Deal with it.”

“Pfft.” But her cheeks were flushed, her lips turned up with pleasure. He could sense her heart pounding, but smelled no hint of fear, and the zing of arousal nearly knocked him to his knees. “You’re going to have to work harder than that to get me to say it back.”

He threw his head back and laughed.
Mine.
And nothing would ever keep them apart. “That’s my girl.”

“Fuck you, Rye. Like I’m going to bare my soul in front of your parents.” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s just…ew.”

He hugged his mate, ignoring the avid way his family was watching them. “You willing to bare anything else after they leave?”

She made a rude noise and shoved at his shoulders, squealing when, instead of letting her go, he picked her up. “Ryan.”

“Oh, scary.”

She snarled, a fang peeping over her lip. “I’ll show you scary, asshole. Put me down or I’ll let Tabby make your breakfast.”

Ryan flinched and dropped his mate. “You’re evil.”

“I may be evil, but I can operate the coffee machine.” His mate’s usual swagger was gone, her steps barely a stumble as she moved away from him toward the kitchen. She was far more tired than she was willing to admit. “Go sit with your family. I’ve got this.”

And she didn’t want to acknowledge she loved him? She showed it, with everything she did. Ryan could wait for the words.

The feeling was there, apparent to any who looked at her, at them.

“Ryan.” Chloe was clutching his arm, demanding his attention. She’d always been that way, touchy-feely, before the attack. It was nice to see his baby sister returning to herself. “The family wants to help with Glory’s sister.”

He turned his attention back to Chloe and away from his exhausted mate. “How did you know we’d found her?”

“Fox told me.”

Fox. The elusive spirit that ruled over all Foxes, never seen except by those who had a connection to the spirit world. Of those, Ryan had thought he only knew one: Julian DuCharme.

Now, apparently, his sister was also connected to the spirit world. What else could she do that other shifters couldn’t?
Gods and spirits, please don’t let this be harmful.
The thought that something could get in his sister’s head, pull her into a world he barely understood, freaked him the hell out.

How could he protect her from spirits?

“Don’t be afraid. One becomes three. Things are happening that are supposed to, and some wrongs are going to be righted. Balance
will
be restored.”

“What wrongs?” Glory’s voice floated out of the kitchen.

“Fox didn’t say, and I was too terrified to ask.” Chloe shivered. “It’s weird. Fox visits me, tells me something, and I just nod and pray I don’t get eaten.”

“He’s that scary?” Ryan had heard both Cyn and Julian describe Bear. The spirit was large, and calm, but not frightening at all once you got to know him.

“No. That
strong
. He—” Chloe tilted her head toward the front door, and Ryan heard what she did. “Bunny and Eric are here.”

The brothers were arguing in fierce whispers. No humans would hear them, but the shifters in Ryan’s apartment could. Ryan opened the front door and waved to his cousins to come inside. “C’mon in.” He smirked at Bunny. “Glory’s making coffee.”

Bunny moaned. “Oh, sweet Glory. I brought chocolate donuts in tribute to Your Coffeeness.”

Glory’s laugh was evil. “Get your buns in here, Bunny-boy.”

Eric chuckled as Bunny sprinted for Ryan’s kitchen. “He sorely misses his caffeine fix. I don’t think he realized how much of it he drank until Tabby couldn’t stand the smell.”

“The things we do for our mates.”

Eric grunted. “Speaking of which…” He tugged Ryan toward the bedroom, waving at Ryan’s parents and sister before shutting the door between them. “I did some research on one James Woods, doctor of veterinary medicine.”

“And?” Ryan wasn’t above using his cousin’s overprotective streak to keep Chloe safe.

“He’s smart, he’s making a good living, and he used to date the Curana.”

“I knew all that, and I’m pretty sure Chloe did too.” He’d thought Eric would dig up more than that. The Bear had quietly scared off more than one suitor for their female cousins with his blackmail, educating them on the error of trying to get into the girls’ pants. When that didn’t work, his size and muscles had made more than one man turn tail and run.

Lighter skinned than his brother, with short-cropped hair and thick eyebrows, he was considered by a lot of the women Ryan knew to be handsome. He wore a business suit and black-rimmed glasses with the same ease that he sported cargo shorts and a tank top. Eric Bunsun looked at home no matter what he wore, and rarely failed to impress when he wanted to.

And when he wanted to impress upon someone the need to leave, he wasn’t above showing what he could do with those large, accountant’s hands. Eric had never been quite as rough and tumble as Bunny, but only because the man was more subtle. If Eric decided Dr. Jim Woods wasn’t good enough for Chloe, the poor guy wouldn’t stand a chance of getting close to her. Almost as large as Bunny, Eric could be downright frightening when he chose to be. His dark eyes would go ice cold, and the thick muscles that corded his neck would flex. He went from smiling money man to menacing hit man with a simple look.

But Eric didn’t comprehend the siren song of a mate, how hard Chloe would fight to stay by Jim’s side. Chloe would take Jim and run if she thought for even a second that Eric was a threat to him. It’s what Ryan would have done if Eric had taken a dislike to Glory and tried to drive a wedge between them. Luckily, Eric didn’t seem to mind his mate nearly as much as Julian’s. “He’s Chloe’s.”

Eric scowled. “He’s not.”

Ryan chuckled. “Marked or not, trust me. He’s Chloe’s.” He patted his cousin on the shoulder when the man grunted unhappily. “Look. Did you find anything really bad in his background? Anything that would raise a red flag for Mom and Dad?”

Eric fidgeted with his glasses before shrugging. “Not yet.”

“Then trust in the mate bond. Chloe knows what she’s doing.” At Eric’s disbelieving look, Ryan opened the bedroom door. “A mate can’t be denied, no matter how much you might want to. The dreams alone would eventually drive you insane.”

Eric followed him into the living room, muttering under his breath. But Ryan heard what his cousin said. “Then I hope I never meet mine.”

Oh, but Ryan did. And he prayed that, whoever it turned out to be, they got a look at the
real
Eric Bunsun, the one who thought his family hung the moon and the stars. Whoever it was would become Eric’s sun, bringing sunshine to his cousin’s life. Eric needed someone to protect, to turn all that need onto. As annoying as he could be, Eric had a big heart, even bigger than Bunny’s. If—no, when—he found his mate, she’d be utterly adored.

“So.” Ryan pulled his attention away from Eric and back toward
his
mate. Glory was holding out a mug of coffee, yawning so wide he thought her lips might split. She’d managed to clip her waist-length curls into a high ponytail, with two thick curls coming from her temples to brush against her breasts. The hairstyle made her look even more like one of Bunny’s manga characters, and Ryan loved it. “What did Eric the Awful want?”

Behind her, Bunny laughed as Eric rolled his eyes. “I’m not
that
bad.”

“You called Cyn a freak because you didn’t want her around Heather, remember?” Glory shot Eric her best glare. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re lucky I don’t call you Eric the Ball-less.”

“Eric!” Stacy Williams smacked her nephew upside the head.

“Ow!” He rubbed the spot his aunt had hit, staring at her with an outraged expression.

“Wait, wait.” Bunny held up his hands, ever the peacemaker. “Mom and Dad already laid into him for it.”

“Oh.” Ryan’s mom settled back down. “In that case, what can we do for you, dear?” Stacey turned all her considerable charm on Glory, who blinked in shock. “Your sister will need family around.”

“Family that can protect her from a shifter.” Raymond Williams put his arm around his mate, his Bear peeking out and dotting his green eyes with spots of brown.

Before Glory could respond Ryan pulled her close, careful of both their coffee mugs. “The asshole changed her. She’s Wolf.”

“Then we protect her from the rogue Wolf and introduce her to the local Pack.” Stacey sipped her take-out coffee serenely. “I’m sure Belle Lowell would love to meet her.”

Glory went stiff. “I’ve met Belle Lowell. She’s overwhelming on her best days. Maybe we should let her get used to Tabby and being around non-psychotic Wolves, before we introduce her to the Queen of Scream.”

The Queen of…
Ryan started to laugh. Where did she come up with this stuff?

Bunny shook his head sadly. “You
really
think the Curana hasn’t already called her?”

“Bunny’s right.” Ryan held tight when Glory made a move to get away from him. “From what I’ve seen, Emma and Belle are tight. She’d want Belle to know what’s going on, and to hell with what Barney wants.”

Bunny nodded. “Besides, Belle and Rick will do their best to protect Hope, just like they do Tabby.”

“And so will we.” Chloe looked determined, and there was a strangely familiar silver glint in her eye. “Hope won’t live in darkness anymore.”