Bear Naked Truth (Southern Shifters Book 7) (4 page)

Calder growled. "Stay put," he said to Jessa and moved toward the fighting crowd.

When he got close enough to grab one, a small roar sprang from his throat making all heads turn his way. Some looking at him with abject fear.

Niki also turned and snarled at him. "I said I got this. Now get her out of here so these idiots will calm back down. And before your woman sees something she shouldn't." She ducked to prevent someone's wild swing from clocking her in the side of the head. "Or maybe they won't and I'll get to relieve a little stress by kicking their asses out into the parking lot."

His growl still rumbled in his throat. He wanted to help deflect the crowd even though he knew Niki and Kitty did not need his help. But his bear instincts told him to take care of Jessa first. Protecting the mate would always take priority.

He rushed back over to Jessa and grabbed her hand. "Follow me."

"But-but- What about those guys. Those ladies need your help." She tried to pull free from his grasp and he tightened his grip.

"Trust me, they don't." He skirted around the bar and pushed through the swinging kitchen doors from the back corner. For half a second he thought about leaving her in the cavernous industrial styled kitchen and returning to the chaos out in the bar area to ensure everything was under control.

Fortunately, he liked his balls right where they were.

They exited the kitchen via the rear door and followed a short hallway that led to both the business office and the back stairs for the upper floor apartments.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, pulling a little on his arm.

"Somewhere we can talk."

"I told you I can only talk to Bhric, and I meant it. My situation is serious."

"And I told you both Bhric and his second are not here which leaves Gage and me in charge unless Dean wants to intervene."

She pulled her hand harder trying to break his hold. "Can we just stop a minute? I don't know who any of those people are so taking me to some back room for interrogation isn't going to work."

At the entrance to the office, Calder turned back to her. "This isn't an interrogation, sweetheart. You came here to ask for help, remember?"

Her heavy sigh filled the space around him and made his bear grumble a little in response.

"I'm beginning to think that was a grave mistake." She pulled harder from his grip and this time he let her go so he didn't hurt her. "I'm leaving."

She started to march down the hallway in the direction they'd come from when he called after her. "What are you so afraid of? Or more precisely why are you so afraid of me?"

She swiveled around. "If you knew me you wouldn't have to ask that question."

"Then let me get to know you. You can trust me with whatever is bothering you. Let me show you."

She chewed on her bottom lip as she obviously thought about his sort of offer. Although what exactly he was offering he wasn't sure. His feelings and the attraction between them muddled up some of his thoughts.

If she was, in fact, his mate, and he was pretty sure that was a thing, then he would do anything and everything in this world and the next to protect her. But she wasn't shifter and that made everything more tenuous.

There were enough human/shifter matings happening around him to get an idea of how it would work, but that didn't necessarily mean every human would be the same. It was always possible she wouldn't feel the mating connection right away or at all.

His bear roared in his head.

I know. I don't like it either.

But he wasn't giving up. A mate was far too precious.

"What do you say? How about we start over?"

She looked hesitant as her body swayed between him and the exit.

"I can promise you one thing," he said. "I won't ever hurt you and I won't let anyone else either. You'll be safe with me."

"That's a pretty big promise. Something you probably shouldn't do at this point. You do seem like a nice enough guy, I mean shifter, err—whatever. You know what I mean."

He nodded his head. Her knowledge of shifters disturbed him. There were laws about what a shifter could and could not divulge and while the clans and packs fought tooth and nail over everything else. This they did not.

Humans were not supposed to know about shifters except under extreme circumstances such as a mating. There were consequences for that kind of knowledge.

"Why not stay a little longer?" he asked. "But rest assured this is not an interrogation and you are not here against your will. If at any time you want to leave, you can."

"Not until someone tells me what the hell is going on and why she is back here she doesn't."

They both turned at the dark, rumbly voice.

Shit. Bhric.

Calder had a feeling things were about to go sideways.

J
essa stared
into the dark shadows at the end of the hall trying to see the owner of the scary deep voice. The dark timbre had made the fine hairs on her arms stand on end and now her flight response was in high gear.

Except she had nowhere to go. In front of her stood Calder and behind her in the shadows was a voice that automatically made her fear the shifter it belonged to.

"Hey, boss," Calder greeted.

Slowly a large man walked from the dark corner. Jessa's eyes grew wide and she audibly gasped. He was big. At least the size of Calder. But he was different.

Menacing. And the control emanating from him... She felt it clear to her bones. This had to be the man she was sent to see.

Well, fuck. Someone call a doctor because she was definitely certifiable for coming here for help. This giant of a man didn't give off an ounce of friendly vibe.

"What's going on here?" the man demanded, his voice rumbling through the room. She tried to place the emotion coming from him and couldn't quite figure it out. Not really anger. Something else.

When she took a step backward as he approached, he finally stopped moving several feet in front of her, giving her the first full look at the leader of this group.

Calder had called him boss and that seemed so banal of a term for the man standing in front of her. Alpha? Yes, he was certainly alpha. But she'd met the Alpha of the Blackwood pack and he'd not turned her to jelly with just a look.

"This is Jessa. She just moved here. Rented out old man Jack's cabin up on Shy hill."

"Why?" the menacing mountain asked.

"Uhm—uhh." Apparently she couldn't string words together with his stare unnerving her.

To her surprise Calder came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her, tucking her under his right shoulder.

Bhric raised a dark eyebrow.

"She came here for help. In fact, she was just about to sit down with Gage and me to discuss the situation."

"Actually, I came to see you. I've been told that if I wanted to gain my freedom from the Blackwood pack then I was to come here and immediately find you."

Jessa swore the air in the room stilled. Bhric's expression didn't change, but the muscle in his jaw flexed several times. For whatever reason he didn't seem to like what she'd said.

"Who told you to come here?"

"The doctor there. Simon. He was certain you would want to help. I didn't believe him, but I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"What?" Calder turned her in his arms and grabbed her shoulders to face him. "You talked to Simon. Where is he? Is he okay?" He looked at Bhric. "Fuck. We need to call Rafe."

Jessa didn't know who Rafe was, but the dark cloud across the alpha's face had darkened.

He pointed to Calder. "Clear out and take Gage with you. I can smell him stinking up my office. I will handle this."

This time, Calder shoved her behind him and as hard as she tried to struggle to see around him, he blocked her. "Where ever she goes, I go."

This must be part of the protection that Calder had been talking about. But why would he need to protect her from his leader? Didn't he trust this Bhric?

Now she didn't know what to think. There were so many rumors surrounding the neural zone leader. He was mean. Cold blooded. A killer. He helped people and then punished them. The stories went on and on. But as scary as he was, her gut told her something different. If for no other reason than Calder belonged to his crew.

There was good inside Calder. She'd seen it in the way he interacted with the women. First Sienna at the bakery and then the two female shifters here at the bar. He apparently had an endless protective streak.

So it made no sense that he would stay here if his boss was evil incarnate. Although he certainly had that look down pat. With his dark hair, dark eyes and slash of red lips compressed in a deeply lined frown, she got the impression there wasn't a lot of happiness in his life. Or if there was, he didn't know how to show it.

"Not this time, Calder. You're going to have to wait downstairs. She'll be safe."

"I don't think you understand," Calder growled, the fierceness of a bear coming through loud and clear.

"Really? You think I couldn't see it the minute I saw you two?"

"Then you know I have to stay. I'll go insane waiting downstairs."

Jessa looked back and forth between the two men. She didn't understand what the hell they were referring to. But she didn't like seeing Calder in such distress and had to do something.

She reached up and cupped his cheek. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

His fierce expression softened and he nuzzled her palm. "I'm staying."

"No, you're not." Bhric's words came out cold and flat. She didn't need to be a shifter to know that there was something extra in those words. An Alpha exerting his control.

She again felt the need to diffuse the situation and comfort Calder. She stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I do trust you. I'm not sure why, but I do. Now you need to put that same faith in me. I can take care of myself."

A rumble sounded from his chest, making her press her other hand over the source. A tingle shot through her at the contact, something warm and exciting.

She'd spent enough time with shifters to get an idea of what this might be. Was it possible? Did Calder think her his mate?

No. It couldn't be. She'd failed one pack. And she wasn't about to do it again. Lust. That's all it was. It had been a long time since she'd had sex. Let alone a boyfriend. This kind of attraction may feel exquisite, but she couldn't let it go to her head.

Shifters wanted mates so they could have little shifter babies. Something she could never do.

She dropped her hands and pushed all of those emotions out of her head. "I came here to talk to Bhric and that's what I'm going to do. Please don't mess that up for me."

It was difficult to read Calder's reaction when she wasn't touching him. He kept his face blank as he stared at her before finally turning to Bhric.

"Just this once," he said.

Fortunately, Bhric nodded and Calder walked away from her. By instinct she knew he wouldn't go far, but that didn't stop her from feeling that twinge of sadness that she had to push him away like that.

"Gage, you too," Bhric said, his voice bellowing down the hall and probably into every crevice of the building.

A second later, another gorgeous man specimen emerged from a partially open door. Would she ever get used to the fact the men around here were ridiculously good looking? Despite the scary, or maybe because of it, they'd been blessed with all the best physical features known to man and whoever created them.

Jessa sucked in her lips to keep from smiling. She had a feeling the imposing Bhric would not enjoy her cracking jokes right about now.

"I'm out. Since you're back now, I'll just head down to the bakery to see my ma—uh—woman."

She wanted to roll her eyes. Hadn't they already established she knew shifters? And there was no way Gage hadn't heard every word of the conversation that took place in the hallway. Even a hushed whisper couldn't hide a conversation from their hearing.

Bhric slapped the man on the back on his way down the hall. "Come back in the morning and we'll go over business. I'd like to know when Greer is scheduled to return."

"Wouldn't we all," Gage said. "Ever since he picked up that woman down in Georgia he's been MIA. Probably won't turn up again until she's pregnant."

Bhric groaned. "Good for him. He deserves it."

With that, the man they called Gage disappeared down the stairs and she stood alone with the giant, broody man who suddenly looked tired.

He brushed past her and walked into his office. "Well, come on in and let's get this over with before Calder is breaking down my door to get to you."

Jessa sighed. This situation looked more and more like she'd jumped from one frying pan to the next. She trailed behind him and took the first available seat in front of a large, imposing desk that had every inch covered by stacks and stacks of papers.

He tossed a backpack in the corner and dropped into the brown leather chair behind the desk.

"So what can you tell me about the Blackwood pack? I'm a little surprised you've met Simon."

She squirmed in her seat. This is the part she had been dreading since she arrived in the area. To tell this man anything was an automatic violation of her non-disclosure agreement. This could be the beginning of the end if he didn't want to help her.

"First, you should probably know I signed an agreement with them that I would never divulge any information about my time with the Blackwoods. I'm not sure if I've violated anything yet by running away, but if I get into the details with you, I suspect it's going to cause me and maybe you a lot of trouble."

He nodded. "I would expect no less from those mangy wolves. They have caused me nothing but a shitstorm thus far, why would that change now?"

The rough timbre of his voice took her aback. Not so much the aggravation and annoyance he clearly conveyed, but the weary tone underneath it all. As if he was simply tired of everything.

Despite those emotions, she continued on with her plan. "Before I tell you anything I need some assurances. About my safety I mean. While the legal and monetary consequences are obvious when it comes to breaking the contract, it's my safety I worry about more." She took a slow breath before continuing, hoping her heart rate would calm. "Simon helped me leave. But before I did he told me the truth about how shifters feel about humans. I mean when it comes to knowing you even exist. But since I couldn't live up to my side of the contract, he feared that they would reject me and not in a 'thanks for nothing, now go home' kind of way. He said my life was in danger."

Bhric closed his eyes for a minute and she watched him drag in air. His hands were clenching on the table and it was obvious he was working to manage his control. Fascinated by his movements, she jumped when he opened his eyes and spoke.

"Simon sent you to me directly?" he asked.

"Yes. Why? Is that a problem?"

Bhric nodded. "Probably. However, it is what it is. First, tell me more about this contract you signed. What were you supposed to deliver?"

Jessa hesitated. This was it. The moment she truly went past the point of no return. If she told him the truth, there would be no turning back. The Blackwoods would come after her.

Of course, if Simon was correct, they would anyway.

"And you'll protect me from the Blackwoods?"

Bhric steepled his fingers and said nothing for several long minutes. Just when she was about to crumble under the wait, he spoke.

"Honestly?"

She nodded. Oh my God, of course she wanted him to be honest.

"It depends on how serious this is. The Blackwoods broke off from our councils a long time ago and until lately no one really cared. Now they seem hell bent on causing trouble and I'm feeling a little inclined to give them a taste of their own medicine. So the short answer is probably."

That didn't feel very reassuring. In fact, this was looking less and less like a good idea. She started to stand from her chair and Bhric's eyebrows climbed to his hairline.

"I don't know why I thought you would be any different. I shouldn't have come here."

A sudden growl filled the room. "Miss Baker, I don't know what game you're playing but I don't appreciate it. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt based on Simon sending you here. He's a good man on a dangerous mission and I owe him at least that. But to compare me and my shifters to those of the Blackwood pack is a bitch move."

Jessa sucked in a breath, grasping the back of the chair as she did.

"Now sit down and let's finish this conversation like grown ups. You need my help and I'm willing to give it with certain conditions. The first being I have to know what you were supposed to do for the Blackwoods and why they would be so upset you couldn't deliver. I understand you are worried about this NDA you signed, but if you're hiding from them, I think that ship has sailed."

Her head spun a little. More than likely from fatigue. Leaving the Blackwood pack at a moment's notice and finding a place to stay here, not to mention the repairs the cabin needed to keep it livable had not been easy.

She glared at Bhric. Him implying she was behaving like a child didn't help.

"I don't need you to treat me like shit you know. I could have stayed where I was for that. I mean I knew what the hell I was getting into with them, but I didn't expect it to be so cold and clinical." She threw up her hands. "Hell, I don't know what I expected. All I had was a contract and a check to go on."

He pushed again. "A contract for what?"

"A baby. Okay? I was supposed to give them a baby."