Bear Naked (Halle Shifters) (28 page)

“Um.” The girls exchanged a quick, uneasy glance. They’d have to educate the man on shifters, thanks to Tabby’s little scene with Alex. “You see—”

Glory was shoved violently to the side as someone raced past her from the break room. A dark-haired man Glory had never seen before snarled, reaching for Hope as Hope screamed in terror.

Jim put himself between Salazar and Hope, holding his arms out and crouching for all the world like he’d fight the Wolf if Salazar took one more step. “Who the fuck are you?”

Salazar grinned, his mouth full of his sharp Wolf teeth. “You’re about to find out, human.”

Tito Salazar grabbed hold of Dr. Jim Woods so quickly none of them could stop him, and bit him right through his shirt.

Ryan raced after Barney, Salazar’s scent barely detectable on the afternoon breeze. The guy had some balls coming so close to the shop during the day. The lure of Hope must have been too strong for the rogue Hunter to resist.

Barney silently pointed, and Gabe broke off, heading down an alley between the Chinese restaurant and the small curio shop Glory loved to splurge in. Ryan stayed close to Barney, aware the other Hunter wouldn’t allow him out of his sight. Until he was fully trained and Barney gave his stamp of approval, Ryan would not be allowed to hunt on his own.

Something was off. Wrong. Ryan sniffed, growling when he realized what was bugging him.

Salazar’s scent seemed to be fading rather than increasing, and Ryan cursed under his breath. Unless Gabe had the scent, they were going to lose the son of a bitch.

Barney stopped, panting and cursing under his breath. He punched the brick wall of the storefront he was standing next to. “It’s a red herring. Gotta be.” Barney sniffed the wall, making a disgusted face as he pulled back. “He fooled me.”

“What you mean?”

“The son of a bitch scent marked the walls.”

Ryan froze.

Shit. He knew about scent marking. Wolves weren’t the only animals who felt the need to mark their territory. Brown Bears would rub their backs up and down trees, marking their territory and warning away other Bears. Ryan, Alex and several of his other relatives had done the same when they changed shape, marking the woods they shared with the Pumas, who thankfully found the whole thing amusing.

If the Bunsun-Williams clan hadn’t been accepted by the Puma Alpha, it might have been a different story. Pumas were just as territorial as brown Bears, and the shifters had the advantage of working in a group, unlike their wild counterparts.

For Salazar’s scent to start off so strong and then slowly fade away, he had to have been marking things for a day or two, only marking the final spot just before Barney scented him. He also had to have been heading
toward
the shop, not away. “He’s going after the girls.”

Ryan didn’t wait for Barney’s response. He took off back toward Cynful at a dead run, praying he wouldn’t be too late. Rounding the corner he caught sight of Alex sniffing the wall and snarling.

Terror filled him, the metallic taste of adrenaline jolting him. “Who’s watching the girls?”

“Tabby. She insisted I come after you, that they were all safe.” Bunny’s voices barely human, his Bear close to the surface.

Nothing more need be said. Both of them started racing back toward the shop, well aware the pregnant Wolf would be no match for a Hunter, even an ex one. And while Glory had gone through her change, she wasn’t a fighter on her best day. He didn’t call Glory Super Grover for nothing. As for Hope, Ryan prayed Hope would run rather than be captured again. It would destroy Glory if anything more happened to her sister.

With a bit of luck, Ryan, Bunny and Barney would arrive in time to stop Salazar before he hurt anyone.

Ryan didn’t want to think about the worst they might find. When this was over, he was going to have a little chat with Bunny. His cousin should have stayed behind despite Tabby’s orders and protected their mates, not chased after Ryan. This wasn’t the first time Bunny had been worried about family, though. It was the memory of what had happened to Heather that had sent Bunny after Ryan. Bunny should know better. Ryan was more than capable of taking care of himself. But there was no way the girls plus one unaware human were going to hold off Salazar.

They slammed through the door of Cynful together, snarling and claws unleashed. What he saw made him want to howl like a Wolf.

Tabby lay on her side unconscious, her arms curled protectively across her middle. Jim Woods was right next to her, bleeding from a gaping wound in his neck.

Glory and Hope were missing.

The bell jingled and Ryan turned with a snarl, claws and fangs extended.

“His scent… Shit.” Gabe held up his hands. “Tell me he didn’t take the girls.”

Bunny was kneeling at Tabby’s side, running his hand through her hair over and over and cursing himself. Ryan could sense his cousin calling on his healing powers, and knew Tabby would be all right.

He wasn’t so certain about Jim. The man was bleeding profusely, and his skin had taken on a grayish pallor. Without Julian, Ryan wasn’t certain they could save the vet, but he had to try.

“We need to see if we can heal him enough to wake him up. We need to know if he saw anything that can help us track the girls.” Barney knelt by Jim and took a deep breath. “C’mon, Ryan. Show me what you’ve got.”

Ryan put his hand near the wound and closed his eyes. He wasn’t as good at healing as Julian, or even Bunny, but he’d do what he could to save his sister’s mate.

Ryan followed the spiral of the healing path, dancing down into Jim’s body, marking the worst of the damage. He began the slow process of knitting together flesh and blood vessels, muscle and bone. The bite had gone far enough, deep enough, to break the man’s clavicle.

“Oh shit.”

Ryan saw it just as Barney cursed. “Son of a bitch.” It looked like Dr. Jim was going to learn about shifters a lot sooner than they’d anticipated, and in a way Ryan wouldn’t have wished on anyone. The bite the Wolf had given him was a changing bite, the same kind he’d given Glory and Hope. Because it wasn’t linked to a mating bite, it would have been horribly painful and traumatic for the veterinarian.

Worse, because Chloe wasn’t here to bite him quickly a second time and claim him, there was no way to stop the process. If any of the Bears bit him, nothing would happen. He’d wind up with two bite marks, but the Wolf would be predominant because it came first.

“Why? It doesn’t make sense to change him.” Barney continued healing the vicious wound, but the puzzled anger in his voice echoed what was going through Ryan’s mind.

Ryan suddenly sensed the presence of his cousin on the healing path. Tabby must be awake, or Bunny would never have left her side. His tone was weary as he asked, “You think Salazar had anything to do with the attack on Chloe?”

“Anything is possible, but somehow I doubt it.” Barney’s tone was absent as they continued to close the vicious wound.

“Ugh.” Tabby’s moan nearly distracted him from the blood vessel he was attempting to patch. “Oh no!”

“What?” Alex was already pulling away from Jim, his attention caught by the distress in his mate’s voice.

“He got between us, tried to protect us from Salazar.”

“Shit. That’s why he got bit.” Barney took over from Alex, fixing the last of the damage to Jim’s clavicle.

“But why make it a changing bite?” He finished closing the blood vessel and began working on the damaged skin.

“Because he’s a sick motherfucker and probably thought it would be funny?” Barney sat back with a sigh, most of the healing done. “Shit. We really need to contact Rick Lowell, let him know there are two new Wolves in town who are going to need a hell of a lot of therapy.”

Ryan swayed, exhausted, as he too finished his healing. Jim would have a horrible scar, but he would live. “Bunny. Sit. Stay. Good Bear.”

Bunny nodded as he crooned to his mate.

Good. That took care of Tabby and Jim. The way he was acting, Alex was probably never going to leave his mate’s side again.

Ryan got to his feet, staggering as a wave of exhaustion rolled over him. If the rogue hurt one powder-blue curl on his mate’s head, Ryan would rip him limb from limb. He scowled at Barney and Gabe, the Grizzly rage that rode all of his kind barely held in check. “Now. Let’s go get my mate back.”

Chapter Nineteen

Glory was freaking the fuck out. She’d come to, ready to fight the man who’d hurt Jim and Tabby, only to find herself stuffed behind the driver’s seat with her arms bound behind her back. She thought of changing, shifting into her Bear, but her Bear whined at the thought. With her arms bound, she couldn’t shift without dislocating or breaking both her shoulders, which would render her useless in a fight. Just because she was a shifter that didn’t mean she could automatically heal anything just by changing into her Bear.

Fuck. A. Duck. Ryan could have filled her in on that little tidbit. Stupid werewolf romances. Why’d they have to get it wrong? The hero or heroine
always
healed by shifting, didn’t they?

But no. Glory wasn’t that lucky, and now she was in a car with the psycho of the month, heading toward Hell and unable to do anything about it.

A small moan had her looking sharply to her right. Hope lay next to her, right behind the passenger seat, equally turkey-tied and still unconscious from the blows Salazar had landed. Hope’s cheek was swollen, her eye bruised, and blood trickled from her lip.

They’d fought. God knew, they’d fought fucking hard, Tabby in mid-shift when the first blow took her out. Hope had been terrified, huddled in a corner away from her tormentor when Glory placed herself between Salazar and her twin. But Salazar had easily taken Glory down, landing two solid blows that dropped her to her knees before he’d knocked her out. Whatever happened to Hope had been done after Glory lost consciousness, but, from the looks of her twin, Salazar had beaten her down as well.

Maybe Ryan was right. Super Grover really
did
suit her. She’d been about as useful as limp spaghetti when it came time to protect her family.

Ryan.

God, why hadn’t she told him she loved him? She was such an ass. She’d die here, at the hands of Salazar, and Ryan would never have heard the words she should have told him long ago. If she lived through this, the first thing she was going to do was finally say it. Her mate deserved the words, deserved to see her as naked and bare as he’d laid himself out for her. He was so much braver than she was.

He deserved a mate who’d fight for him just as hard as he fought for her, and Glory was finally going to be that mate.

The scent of Hope’s blood filled her senses. Without thought Glory reached for her Bear, wanting to heal her twin before the psycho driving the car to fuck knew where realized Glory was awake. Her Bear answered, its anger over her twin’s state and her own injuries nearly causing Glory to shift in response. She didn’t have the control the others had, not even Cyn, who’d only been a Kodiak a few short months.

Hell, if Cyn had been there, Salazar would be scattered into tiny little pieces while Cyn bitched about getting gore in her curtains.

Her Bear liked that thought. It was odd, gentling the creature that lived within her. She assured her Bear that they’d get their revenge on Salazar, but first they had to take care of Hope. Their twin was far more important than the asshole who was going to die no matter what he tried to do to prevent it. There’d be no shifter jail for his ass, no Bubba Bear using him as their personal bitch.

Nope. Rye was going to shred him into itty-bitty pieces when he found them.

If
he found them.

“Stop it.”

Glory jumped, startled, at the deep tone of Salazar’s voice. She scowled at the back of his head, wishing she had the nerve to rabbit kick him until his eyes bugged out. But she could feel how fast the car was going and was terrified she’d take all of them out if Salazar lost control of the vehicle and crashed. “Fuck. You.”

“Sweetheart, I plan on it.”

Glory gagged.

“Shut it. You’re just leverage to get the other Hunters off my ass.” She caught a glimpse of Salazar’s dark eyes in the rearview mirror before he turned his attention back to the road. “Trust me, you’re not nearly as good as your sister.”

Glory froze. He couldn’t mean…?

Her Bear snarled. If Salazar had touched her…had done things to her while she was unconscious, Glory was going to go all SG on his ass. And she didn’t mean Super Grover. A Grizzly versus a lone Wolf, no matter how powerful the Wolf, would always win.

Always.

And somehow, she doubted the rogue had a Pack to call on for assistance.

Within seconds, her Bear settled down, and the knowledge that she remained untouched filled her. Her Bear could sense no tearing, no invasion of her person, easing one worry. Salazar was just fucking with her, messing with her head, possibly in an attempt to keep her off balance. If she was too busy being angry, she wouldn’t be able to heal her twin.

Glory tuned him out, ignoring the sound of his voice and the vile things he was spewing as she focused on Hope. She reached out with her foot, barely touching Hope, but it was enough for her Bear to fully assess Hope’s injuries. Thank God the damage to Hope was minimal. The unconsciousness was because of a blow to the head, and the concussion was the only thing that worried her. Glory healed the damage carefully, aware she wasn’t sure what she was doing but unwilling to wait for Ryan, or even Julian.