Bear's Match (Bear Heat Book 6) (8 page)

“Who are they?”
he shouted over his shoulder.

“I don't know!”
she screamed back, grabbing the back of his seat to prevent herself
from sliding from one end of the car to the other.

“Is that your kid?”
he yelled.

“What?”

“The baby. He's
yours?”

“He is now.”

“What the hell does
that mean? Is he yours or not?” The thought that Nicole had
given birth to another man's baby made his heart clench painfully.

“I'm not his mother, if
that's what you're asking!”

“Yeah. That's what I'm
asking.”

“Sheesh. Men.”

Luke turned to see Nicole
rolling her eyes.

“What?” he
demanded.

“Nothing! Drive
faster!”

“Who is his mother?”

“His mother's dead.
She died, just after meeting me. I, ah, I should have saved her.
It's my fault. She came to me for help, but I didn't take her
seriously. Not at first. I thought she was just, I don't know,
depressed or something. I...”

Nicole was babbling and
crying. Rather, she was trying not to cry. She kept swiping at her
eyes, refusing to let her tears roll down her cheeks as the words
tumbled out of her. “I could have saved her, and Brendon
wouldn't have lost his mom! I...”

“Hey, it's not your
fault,” Luke said, swerving to avoid hurtling up the curb. He
glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw that no one was in pursuit.
He let out a long breath and drove at a more normal, less insane
speed.

“The baby's mother...is
she the client you met this morning?” he asked.

“Anna Ward. Yes. I
promised her I would protect her son. I heard them torture her,”
Nicole said, hiccuping a sob. “She died protecting her son.”

“What do they want with
the boy? He's just a baby.”

“He's a very brave
baby,” Nicole said fiercely.

“I'm sure he is. And
we'll make sure he's safe.”

“We?”

“Yes. You're not
alone,” Luke said grimly.

Luke pulled up right in front
of the Black Bears Building. The Black Bears Group owned the low
building which housed the Group's offices. It was one of the best
investments made by their business-savvy alpha.

Luke saw the Black Bears
alpha and beta, Ethan and Caleb standing at the entrance. They were
flanked by a few team leaders and all along the street, there were
Black Bears standing guard.

Caleb opened the door for
Nicole and immediately, four Black Bears crowded around her to shield
her with their bodies. Nicole and the baby disappeared into the
building.

“I have to go back for
Bax!” Luke yelled to his alpha. “He's...”

Ethan put up a hand. “Bax
punched in a Code Red and activated the tracking function on his
watch. He has enough backup. Two teams reached him in under a
minute. They're cleaning up the trash right now.”

Luke nodded and closed his
eyes briefly. While his main priority was getting Nicole and the
baby to safety, he hated himself for leaving Baxter behind.

The Black Bears never left
anyone behind.

“Bax is fine. He can
take care of himself,” Ethan said. “Park your car and
come to my office, Luke. Now.”

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Nicole sat down in front of a
huge desk, hugging Brendon tightly to her. The tall, imposing man
behind the desk had introduced himself as Ethan Flint. She had heard
his name before. Ethan Flint was the CEO of the Black Bears Group,
and a very astute businessman and investor. She also knew for a fact
that he was a bear shifter.

There were many paranormals
living in the city. Some flaunted their supernatural powers, but
most didn't. The lawyers in Nicole's firm were mostly human. One of
the senior partner's secretary was a witch and it was rumored that Mr
Morgann himself was a werewolf.

Nicole swallowed and eyed the
other two men in the room. Caleb Nash and Thor McKenzie. Caleb was
Ethan's beta and he was the most chatty of the three. Thor was
silent and unsmiling but Nicole knew that the man was sharp and
observant. His dark, mismatched eyes saw everything and missed
nothing. He would make a good spy, she thought.

Ethan's secretary, Tabitha,
came in and put the cups of coffee on the table. She held out a
bottle of milk and clucked at the baby. Brendon gurgled happily and
held out his arms to her.

“You little darling,”
Tabitha cooed.

Tabitha bent towards the baby
but Nicole held on to Brendon possessively and protectively. Tabitha
seemed sweet and motherly, but Nicole was taking no chances. She
wasn't letting anyone touch the baby.

“I'll feed him,”
Nicole mumbled, taking the bottle from Tabitha.

Tabitha simply smiled and
handed the warm bottle of milk to Nicole. She stroked Brendon's
downy hair and left the room.

“Tabitha was four cubs
of her own,” Ethan said, watching Brendon drink greedily. The
bottle was almost half empty. “She loves kids.”

“Cubs?” Nicole
raised her eyes. “Oh, she's a...”

“Bear shifter.”

“You are a bear too,
right?” Nicole said slowly. “I'm sorry, Mr Flint. I
don't mean to be...”

“It's okay. Caleb and
Thor are bears too. But the Black Bears Group is an equal
opportunity employer,” Ethan said quickly. “Most, but
not all, of our staff are bear shifters.”

Nicole nodded. “Yeah.
I know. The Black Bears Group is a great company. I can see that
Luke is very happy working here. And he's not even a bear...”
She trailed off at the look on their faces. “Oh. Luke...”
Nicole bit her lip. “I should have known,” she
breathed. “I sensed that there was something different about
him, but I never thought...”

Nicole swallowed hard and
stared at the three men. “Was Luke bitten, or something? How
did he change...”

“Miss Forrest, we care
about Luke. He's one of us but it's not our place to talk about what
happened to Luke. I'm sure he'll tell you everything when the time
is right,” Caleb said gently.

“What happened to him?”
Her eyes rounded. “Oh God, it's something terrible, isn't it?
He suffered. Oh, why didn't he tell me?”

At that moment, there was a
knock on the door and Luke stepped in.

He took one look at her and
seemed to jerk back.

“Nicole...”

Oh shit, what did he see on
her face? Fear, horror, disgust? She had to get a grip and pull
herself together. This wasn't about her.

Nicole stood up so quickly
her chair would have toppled if Thor hadn't caught it.

“Hi Luke,” she
said brightly and smiled.

“Hi,” he said
carefully. “You...okay?”

“Sure. I...I just need
to figure out what to do next. Those men who were after me...who are
they?” she said, sitting down again. “Can you find out?”

“We suspect those men
are connected to the mob,” Thor said. “The way they
work, the way they killed Brendon's mother, the brutality and
efficiency. I recognize the mob's fingerprints all over the murder.”
When Nicole gaped at him, Thor continued, “I used to work
undercover. I was the right-hand man of a mob boss for years.”

Nicole nodded. “You
are a brave, brave man, Mr McKenzie,” she said sincerely. It
took grit, honor and courage not to break under the intense pressure
and horror of the job.

She saw Thor smile at last.
“My mate, Aubrey, she's the brave one. She's a nurse,”
he said with pride.

“So...the mob wants
Brendon?” Nicole said, shaking her head. “That doesn't
make sense. That's just crazy! He's just a baby, an orphan...”

“Brendon's mother,”
Caleb began.

“Anna Ward's my client.
I helped her with Brendon's adoption,” Nicole said. “She
adopted Brendon from an orphanage. Haven Orphanage.”

Caleb nodded once and turned
to Thor.

“They're doing it,”
Caleb said through gritted teeth.

“Doing what?”
Nicole asked.

Ethan stood up and addressed
Nicole and Luke. “We are investigating Haven Orphanage at the
moment. We have to tread carefully. In the meantime, the Black
Bears will protect you and Brendon,” Ethan said to Nicole.
“You'll stay with one of...”

“I want to stay with
Luke,” Nicole said immediately.

“Of course,”
Ethan smiled. “But I'm thinking it may be good to have another
female around to help you care for the baby. I've spoken to Dylan.
He agreed that you and Luke should stay with Jade and him for the
time being. They have a spare bedroom. If you have no
objections...”

“None. I'll love to
spend time with Jade. Thank you, for...making the arrangements, and
for protecting me and Brendon.”

“You're with Morgann
Hill, Miss Forrest?” Ethan said.

“Yes. I called to take
one week off. But...” Nicole wrinkled her nose. “I'll
have to contact the office to ask the other lawyers to take over some
of my more urgent cases. Mr Morgann won't be pleased. Maybe I'll be
demoted, or fired.”

Ethan smiled. “Jace
Morgann is an old friend. I'll talk to him and let you know your
situation. And if you do find yourself out of a job, you are always
welcome at the Black Bears Group. Caleb and I have been discussing
about setting up a legal department within the Group. We've never
let a client down but what we do is dangerous and risky. Injuries,
damage to property, loss of life and limb...” He blew out a
hard breath. “Things happen. We do our best, but there are
risks we have to take. Comes with the job. We have to deal with
lawsuits, insurance claims, and we don't really have the time to jump
through all these legal hoops. We have a few law firms on retainer,
but it would be great to have an in-house lawyer. You know, someone
on the inside who's really part of the Black Bears Group.”

Nicole blinked at them. “Are
you making me an offer I can't refuse?”

Ethan laughed. “Of
course you can refuse, Miss Forrest. We're just hoping you'll think
about it.”

“I certainly will.
Thank you. And please, just call me Nicole.”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Luke watched Nicole chat and
laugh with his sister, Jade, and the other females who were crowded
around her. They were in Jade and Dylan's apartment, and Cora,
Prisha, Aubrey and Lindy had popped by in the evening to see Nicole
and Brendon. Cora had made the introductions as soon as the women
swooped into Jade's apartment.

“Hi! I'm Cora, Ethan's
mate. And this is Prisha, Caleb's mate. And Aubrey, Thor's mate.
And Lindy, Baxter's mate! We're so happy to finally meet you,
Nicole!” Cora had gushed and hugged Nicole.

Cora, Prisha and Lindy
brought their cubs along for the visit, and the three tots were super
excited to see the baby. They climbed up Nicole's legs and sat on
her lap and shoulders to peer at Brendon. Nicole looked completely
at ease with three lively bear cubs scrambling all over her. She
admonished them gently if they got too noisy or too rough, but
otherwise, she simply let them be. Luke thought she looked like a
confident mama bear.

Dylan was sitting at the
dining table with him, watching the women in the living room.

“Nicole is taking all
this really well,” Dylan remarked. “She's cool.”

“She is,” Luke
agreed wholeheartedly. “I...”

“You haven't talked to
her.”

Luke sighed and shook his
head. “I know. I will.”

Dylan smiled and clapped him
on the shoulder. “Like I said, she's cool. Have faith in
her.”

Luke nodded. Dylan was
right. Nicole deserved the truth. He didn't want to scare her, but
it was clear that Nicole didn't scare easily.

Jade insisted the girls stay
for dinner, but they all wanted to get home to their families. And
the cubs were getting cranky and restless.

“We'll get them out of
your hair,” Cora said, prying her son, Matt, off Nicole. Matt
had shifted to bear form and he growled in protest as his mother
tucked him under her arm. Matt wanted to stay and play with Nicole
and the baby.

“Don't you growl at me,
young man,” Cora said sternly, raising a warning finger.
“We're going home for dinner right now. Daddy should be home
by now.”

Matt stubbornly remained in
bear form but raised his paw to wave when his mother told me to say
goodbye to everyone. Prisha and Lindy gathered their little girls as
well and kissed Nicole and Brendon before leaving.

Jade closed the door behind
them and beamed at Nicole. “You must be exhausted. Those cubs
can be a handful, but you handled them like a champ!”

Nicole laughed. “They're
really cute, and fun. The kids were all so protective of Brendon,
like he was their baby brother. It's...wonderful.”