Kadenburg Revealed (The Kadenburg Shifters Series, Book 4) (7 page)

“Louisa!” She gasped, hurrying onto the porch.  She instantly remembered she hadn’t put on her shoes and the icy surface of the wooden floor caused her to jump this way or that, trying to avoid the discomfort.  She needed to get to her.  She needed to find out what was wrong.  What caused the poor girl to bear out in the first place?

“What’s going on?” Lorcan asked as he poked his head out the door.  “Holy shit...is that Louisa?”

“Get my shoes, Lorcan,” Presley said, turning her head to glance at him briefly.  “Hurry, please.”

He was back before she knew it.  When Mrs. Bamey said he was faster than any car, she’d meant it.  Presley quickly slipped her shoes on and carefully moved down the steps, making her way cautiously towards the large panda bear sitting beneath the bare apple tree.

“Louisa?” She repeated, reaching her hand out to touch the soft fur of her friend.  Louisa lifted her head and sad golden eyes gazed back at Presley.  Oh.  That wave of heartache was crushing.  It caused Presley to blink back tears as she heard another whimper sound from the female.

‘I’ve got this.’
Lorcan’s voice said in her head.  Presley turned to see the massive grizzly form of her mate and took a step away.  She couldn’t shift, and if they had any hopes of communicating with Louisa, somebody had to be in bear form.

“Louisa, what’s wrong?” Presley asked as she watched Lorcan slowly circle around them.  His eyes remained on the panda as his humungous paws sank into the snow.

Several seconds passed by before Lorcan’s voice sounded in her head again.

‘She saw Greg kissing another woman.’

“What?!” Presley gasped.  No, that couldn’t be!  Greg wouldn’t do such a thing, would he? 

‘She says she couldn’t stop it from happening,’
Lorcan continued.
‘She says she felt safest here and she’s sorry for intruding.’

“Oh, honey, no....” Presley lifted her hand to touch the side of Louisa’s furry face again, watching the tears glisten in her beautiful eyes.  “You are not intruding-ever.  Do you understand me?”

Nearly a minute passed by before Lorcan invaded her thoughts once more.

‘She wants to know if she can stay with us for a little while.  She feels more comfortable with you, Pretz.’

Warmth flooded her soul as Presley peered into Louisa’s eyes.  She nodded slowly, smiling as she rubbed the tip of one solid black ear in an attempt to comfort her.  “Of course you can stay here, Lou.  Our home is your home....but you’re going to have to turn back into a pretty girl before coming into my house.”

‘I’ll go get some of your clothes.’
Lorcan announced as he turned around, allowing his huge paws to carry him around the house before he shifted back into his human form.  They couldn’t very well both be stark naked in the middle of winter, now could they?

“It’s going to be all right,” Presley whispered, resting her forehead against Louisa’s warm, fuzzy cheek.  “Boys suck, Lou.”

The large panda whined in agreement.  Presley needed to find out what the hell Greg Kress had been thinking, and if she didn’t change her mind, she’d ensure he never reproduced.

———————————

“W
hy am I doing this?” Natalie wondered aloud as she put her car into park and gripped the steering wheel.  She stared at the aged sign for Jimbo’s Bar and scowled.  Of course this is where Arnold had ended up after yesterday.  She’d driven him to drinking, hadn’t she?  Oh, Urseth, she was a terrible person.

You need to take care of him. He is ours,
her bear whispered. 

He is not ours,
Natalie reminded her sadly as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out. 
He didn’t want us, remember?

That is not how things looked yesterday.

Oh, funny.  You know the reason for that happening.  Don’t try to get my hopes up.  There is nothing between Arnold and me.

So you say.  You need to stop lying to yourself.  He is our destined mate.  You chose him.  He will accept it.

As much as Natalie wanted to believe her delusional bear’s musings, she knew better. Arnold would never forgive her for everything that had happened.  Even if Presley insisted it wasn’t her fault...Natalie would never be able to ignore the guilt.  No matter what reason stood behind her actions with Breslin Connor, she initially and knowingly allowed herself to be his lover and she’d almost killed her precious niece in the process.  It was sickening.

“Well, good morning, Natalie,” Jim Proffitt stated from behind the bar as he gave her a big, toothy grin.  “I haven’t seen you in a while.  How are you doing?”

“Hi, Jimbo,” Natalie replied as her eyes scanned the dark room.  “Is Arnold here?”

“Uh, yup,” he nodded in the direction of the game room.  “You’ll find him back there.  Can I get you a drink?”

She stared at him as if to say ‘are you serious’?  She politely declined before making her way towards the small room with filled slot machines and other various sources of entertainment.  As a teenager, the room had been a lot of fun, but now she wasn’t so sure she wanted to go in there.

The sound of coins clanking together reached her ears before she even set foot within, and she already knew what Arnold was doing to pass the time-or keep his mind off things.  It was one or the other, and she was beginning to wonder if chasing after him was a good idea.

I promised to take care of him,
she thought as she poked her head through the doorway, staring at Arnold’s back.  He was playing the quarter machines, though how, she wasn’t sure.  He couldn’t see what he was doing.

“What are you doing here?” He asked grumpily.  “Ain’t you supposed to be holed up in your apartment?  Do you realize how many unattached ursithropes are in this town at the moment?”

Natalie blinked, opening her mouth to reply before shutting it hastily.  What did he care about unattached ursithropes?  And who was
he
to tell her she had to be holed up at her place.  Oh, the nerve of this man!

“I came by for a drink,” she lied.  “Jimbo said you were here so I thought I’d say hello.”

“Hi.” He murmured bitterly as he dropped another quarter into the machine.  It landed atop the other coins and he cursed beneath his breath.  Honestly, how did he expect to win if he couldn’t see where the coins were in the first place?

Running a hand through her long hair nervously, Natalie racked her brain in an attempt to think of something to keep the conversation going.  She wanted to talk to him.  She wanted to help him...but how?  It was obvious he didn’t want her to get too close to him, and she could understand that; but he didn’t need to be at Jimbo’s at one o’clock in the day, starting a drunken stupor that would lead him to doing things he’d regret.

“Have you eaten today?”  What the hell kind of question was that?  Obviously her brain was going in the wrong direction.  She wasn’t supposed to be talking about food-she was supposed to be helping him work through this.  They needed to work through it together for the sake of Presley, her unborn cub, and for themselves.

“Had some waffles.” He responded as his palm collided with the side of the machine.  The small alarm went off and both of them had to cover their ears quickly.  Pain pulsated in her brain as she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut.  Damn sensitive hearing!

After ten seconds, the shrill noise shut off and they were surrounded by silence save for the peppy 8-bit tunes of arcade games.  Arnold slowly turned around to face her and his eyes landed on the floor.

“Why do you feel the need to babysit me?” He questioned.  “I’m a grown man, Natalie.  I don’t need you hovering over me as if I’m entirely helpless.  I can do things, you know.  I can make my own food.  I can bathe.  I can dress myself.  Hell, I made it here just fine, didn’t I?”

She studied him closely, noting the dark circles beneath his damaged green hues.  Her heart seemed to shatter all over again as she realized he was wearing the exact same clothes he’d had on yesterday.

“You didn’t even go back home after going to the Bamey’s, did you?”

She watched as the corner of his lips twitched and her mind automatically flew back to that moment when they’d touched the corner of her own.  Her stomach flip flopped as she swallowed hard.  She couldn’t’ think about that right now. There were more important issues to discuss.

“It doesn’t matter.” He said in that deep southern drawl that had a tendency to make her heart melt.  Urseth, she had to stop admiring him and focus! Why was that so hard?

“It matters to me.” She straightened her shoulders and took a step closer to him, only to freeze when he stuck a hand in the air as if trying to repel her.

“Don’t, Natty,” he whispered in a broken whisper.  “Please don’t.”

He was frustrating her.  How was she supposed to help him if she couldn’t be near him?  She understood it would only be like that for a week or so, but that was an awful lot of time to keep her distance from the man she so desperately wanted to help.  She
needed
to be there for him.  Didn’t he understand?

“I’m worried about you,” she managed to whisper as tears brimmed over the bottom lids of her eyes.  “How could you stay out all night?  Where did you sleep?”

Arnold blinked and then frowned.  “Jimbo let me sleep off the alcohol here.”

Unbelievable.  Natalie’s bottom lip quivered and she bit it, hard in an effort to keep herself from breaking.  She couldn’t be weak when Arnold needed her to be so strong.  He could say whatever he wanted to, but she was the thin line keeping him from teetering over the edge of insanity right now.  If she were to be completely honest; he was the same line for her.

Danger would return to Kadenburg.  Some ursithropes were under the assumption that calmness meant safety....but she’d been around Breslin Connor too long; she knew better.  He was the type of man who waited patiently for his enemy’s to set up a false sense of security, and then he would attack-brutally and mercilessly.  She’d seen it happen too many times.

How did I ever allow him to do that?
She wondered as shame clouded her heart. 
How did I stand by and let Breslin kill off my people?

“What’s wrong?” Arnold asked.  “Why is your heart beating like that?”

What?  Natalie blinked rapidly as she tried to make the tears disappear.  Obviously, her body was betraying her on the ‘stay strong’ aspect and now Arnold sensed her distress.  She sucked at being a graceful ursithrope.  She sucked as a person in general, but that was so far beyond the point at the moment. 

“Nothing’s wrong,” she stated quickly as she lifted a hand to knuckle away one stray tear.  “I’d just like to take you home if that’s okay with you.  You need some proper sleep and a real meal.  Waffles?  I don’t think so.  Let me cook something for you.”

“I ain’t hungry and I asked you a question.” Arnold said through thinned lips as he took a step towards her.  Wait.  What?  Why was he getting closer?  Didn’t he just tell her to stay away?

“I’m fine.” She repeated, taking a step away from him.  She would honor his wishes.  She’d stay back and try to keep her scent from reaching him.  It was wrong to drive a man mad with something beyond his control.  Urseth, why did she come here again?

“You’re lying to me,” he stated bluntly as his long legs carried him two paces closer.  He cocked his head to the side and drew his eyebrows together.  “I’m blind, not naïve.”

Urseth! Why was this man so difficult to deal with?  Natalie took yet another step backwards and yelped as her hip connected with the corner of a table.  The brief pain was nothing compared to the panic screaming through her body at the moment.  He needed to stay back.  The last thing she wanted to do was make him angry again for luring him in.  She hadn’t meant to do it the first time, and a second time would surely make him furious.

“I said I’m fine, Arnold....I’m just a little tired.  I didn’t sleep well last night.”  That wasn’t too terribly far off from the truth.  It was his fault, too; but she couldn’t very well tell him she’d been having sex dreams about him.  Glorious, hot, wonderful sex dreams that she very much wanted to be a reality.  Oh, Urseth, if only they could be real.....

“You, too, huh?” He scoffed, shaking his head.  “Woman, I ain’t gonna beat around the bush here.  You drive me crazy and that ain’t a secret.  I’ve spent the better part of my life despising you and everything you stood for....but I’m not so coldhearted as to ignore the emotions rolling off your body right now.  I know it’s partially because of me...but there’s something else you’re not saying.  Have the decency to tell me what’s going through your mind, Natty.  I can’t read it, ya know.”

But he could if we were mated,
her bear said excitedly.
Tell him how you feel!

I have told him how I feel,
Natalie replied heatedly. 
And he sent me away with a broken heart.  He wanted the human.

“Damn it, Natalie,” Arnold whispered as he gripped her shoulders and pulled her closer.  She gasped loudly, stumbling towards him as his fingertips dug into her skin painfully.  “Stop talking to your bear and talk to
me
.  That’s all I’m asking.”

“I...I can’t,” she stammered, watching as his nostrils flared.  Oh no.  He was already sniffing her and it wouldn’t end well.  They couldn’t do this again.  She couldn’t allow it to happen.  She squirmed, trying to wiggle away from his grasp as his arm snaked around her waist to prevent her from putting distance between them.  “Arnold, please.....”

“No, Natalie.  You....please,” he swallowed hard and she could feel his fingers trembling as he tried to keep himself in check.  Urseth, the scent of his desire was dizzying.  “I’m only going to ask you one more time.  Talk to me.”

“I.....” Her voice escaped her again.  It seemed like layer after layer of guilt, fear, and sadness fell away from her all at once as more hot tears spilled down her cheeks.  Why did he have to have this effect on her?  Why couldn’t she just forget him and everything he’d done to her in the past?  Why did she long to be in his embrace so much?

Arnold’s lips suddenly touched her cheek, kissing away the salty tears as a small breath squeezed its way from her tightened lungs.  Everything hurt within, and it felt like her soul was shattering as she sobbed.