Reforming the Bear (2 page)

Chapter Two

Liam
pushed down on the clutch and eased the car into fourth. This one had been a total
bitch to fix, but it was finally slipping into top gear without any hassle. He
accelerated just a little more. He loved this particular stretch of road––even
more so at this time of night. Traffic was very light, cops weren’t ever around,
and he could safely use it to test the cars he’d fixed without worry of getting
a speeding ticket or other cars getting in his way.

The
old Mustang now galloped along like a new one. He’d picked it up dirt-cheap,
online, and had put a lot of time and effort into making her shine again. The
engine purred as he headed deeper into the middle of nowhere. He was almost
tempted to keep this one––but he had too many already filling up the garage.
Next week he’d put the Mustang up for sale, and the profits would go toward
expanding the business.

Liam
reached for the button on the radio and cranked up the music. He looked ahead
to the stars twinkling and thought of his old home that had been up there
somewhere. He still missed it and always would. He tapped his fingers on the
wheel, wondering how much he should ask for the car. A big rig roared out of
nowhere and began hogging most of the highway. It passed Liam so fast it sent
up dust and forced him to take the Mustang’s right wheels over onto the
shoulder.

“
What’s your hurry, asshole
?” said Liam,
knowing the driver couldn’t hear him. Still, it felt good to get his
frustration out.

Liam
righted the car and made his way up the hill before heading to the stretch of
road that led into the valley. The stars sure were beautiful tonight, which
reminded him he was taking his nephew to their family group’s stargazing gathering
soon. Sam was going to love seeing where his ancestors came from.

He
momentarily took his eyes off the road to switch radio stations but when he
looked back he noticed something by the shoulder. At first, Liam thought maybe
the rig had just hit a deer. However, before long he saw it was a human and by
the long hair, he guessed it was a woman.
 
Liam swerved so he didn’t run over her arms where she was now crawling
into the road. The car jumped around and the wheels skidded in the gravel.

“Shit,
shit
,” said Liam. It spun around and
Liam found himself facing the other direction before it came to a stop. He
glanced out, thinking maybe his eyes had deceived him … but sure enough, it was
a woman crawling alongside the road.

He
got out of the car and began to run toward her. By the slowness of her movement
he’d guess she was injured. Maybe the asshole trucker had hit her.

“Help,
help me, please someone help me,” he heard her cry out.

He
picked up his pace when he saw her go still.

Liam
went to his knees just in front of her head as she lay on the ground. For one
awful moment, he thought maybe she was dead––but then she looked up at him. The
stars’ brightness offered enough light to see that she had a cut on her left
cheek, and her forehead looked pretty scraped up too. As she tried to sit up,
he also saw the front of her t-shirt was ripped, exposing her bra and part of
her breast.

“Please,
help me … dear God, please get me out of here,” she said, putting her hand out
to him. Its knuckles were scraped and bloodied.

 
He took off his jacket and quickly wrapped it
around her shoulders. Her body felt cold and she was shaking like she had
hyperthermia, even though it was summer.

“It’s
okay. I promise I’m going to help you.”

He
eased her up to a sitting position, hoping he was doing the right thing. She
screamed out as he did so.

“Did
someone run you over?” he asked.

She
shook her head and got hold of his hand, squeezing it like she was scared he
was going to leave her.

“My
car broke down and a trucker stopped, I thought, to help me. Not so much, as it
turns out. I was running away.”

“Yeah,
I think he passed me about ten minutes ago.”

“He
was going to rape me.”

Shit,
if Liam had known that he would have chased after him and shown that dirty
human what bear shifters did to pieces of scum that forced themselves on women.

“Did
he hurt you?”
“Just got a little rough with me … but I managed to get away. I tripped and
fell down a ravine and then crawled back, but I think I’ve broken my leg.”

Liam
bit his lip. He wasn’t much good at first aid or anything like that, but he’d
find someone who could take care of her.

“Here,
let me take a look,” he said.

She
cried out as she spun around so he checked out her leg. He could smell blood
and as he touched her skin she screamed. “Sorry. I’m really sorry,” said Liam.

“It
feels like it’s on fire … I think I’m going to be sick now.”

Just
as she said that she leaned over and vomited. Liam held her hair away from her
mouth as she threw up for the second time.

“You’re
going to be okay now. I’m here and I’ll see you get some help.”

She
now lay across his lap. He lifted his hand not sure what to do but instinct
said to put his hand on her back and rub it. He could hear her heart beating
and the blood rushing around her body. She was nervous and in shock so he had
to get her help … and soon.

“My
car’s just down the road a bit. I’ll carry you to it and then I’ll drive you to
the nearest ER,” said Liam.

“No,
no, you can’t. I don’t have any health problems, so no ER.”

There
was panic in her voice. He could understand reluctance to see a doctor. The
shifters often faced the same dilemma. The fear of being discovered, their
secret exposed. Well, that was until the shifter hospital had opened its doors.
He’d take her there. He knew it wasn’t for humans and taking one there was
risky, but this was a one-time thing. This young woman needed help ASAP.

“That’s
no problem, because I know a private clinic. My nephew’s soon to be stepdad
works as a doctor there. In fact, I can call him and have him meet us there.”

“And
no one will find out about me going there … I mean, no paperwork trails?”

“I
promise you it’s the most discreet of hospitals, and no paperwork. They won’t
even ask your name if you don’t want to give it to them.”

“Okay,
but there’s a bag I have to take with me.”

“Where
is it?”

“Down
the road about half a mile. It’s in my car.”

“I
can go get it while you wait here,” said Liam.

“No,
please don’t leave me … I don’t want to be alone here again.”

Liam
could understand that. Even under the best of circumstances, being out here at
night wasn’t the greatest idea.

“Then
I’ll walk you to my car. We can drive to yours, you can pick up the bag and
then I’ll take you to the clinic. Here … let me help you stand up.”

Liam
wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders and gently eased her up. He heard
her draw in breath and groan as she tried to put her foot to the ground.
“Let me carry you.”

“You
can’t. I’m not the lightest of women.”

“Don’t
you worry … I’m big and strong.”

Liam
wasn’t bragging––he worked out with weights, and was one big tough grizzly. He
lifted her into his arms. She was shaking and he smelled fear. Humans weren’t
very good at camouflaging their fear … it was no wonder so many of them ran
into problems with wild animals. It wasn’t that they were necessarily aggressive,
but the smell of fear made animals uneasy.

He
took another sniff at her and as well as blood he detected a light floral scent
that he actually liked. Most human women used too much perfume and it often
gave him a headache but hers was subtle and kind to his sensitive bear nose.

“Guess
I should introduce myself,” he said as he walked along the road toward his car.
 
“I’m Liam Ahern.”

“And
I’m Lucy Hunt,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. Her nose pressed
against his skin and her hair tickled his chin. They arrived at his car and he
carefully put her down on the ground as he opened the passenger side door.
“Okay, I’ll hold you … just slowly put your butt down on the seat.” She turned
around so her backside faced the seat and grimaced as she sat. Liam, as
carefully as he could, raised her legs up and swung her around until she was
safely in the car.

“It
hurts so bad,” she said.

“The
doctor will get you fixed in no time.”

Liam
got in the car, started the ignition and hoped that the Mustang would continue
to behave. He put it into gear and headed down the road.

Lucy
rested her head on the seat, her hands with their scraped knuckles, gripping
the sides of the leather edging like her life depended on it.
 
She began crying. Liam didn’t handle sobbing
female shifters very well, so humans? Well, he’d never had to actually deal
with a crying human before. He wasn’t sure exactly how they dealt with this
sort of emotion, but instinct told him she needed comforting. He reached over
and touched her hand before thinking that maybe after being almost raped, she
didn’t want to be touched like that. Piece of shit human who’d done this to her.
He’d like five minutes alone with him.

“Is
that your car up ahead?” he asked her.

“Yes,
like I said, it broke down.”

“I
can probably help you with that tomorrow, but for now we’ll get your bag and
then I’ll call Bear … uh, Dr. McWilliams,” he quickly added, just in case she
thought he was a real bear. Well, actually he was, but that was beside the
point.

Liam
pulled the Mustang behind Lucy’s car. “How about I get the bag for you so you
don’t have to get out of the car?”

“The
key’s still in the ignition. I just ran and didn’t think about it.”

“You
sit tight. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Liam
got out of the car, walked over to her car, pulled open the door and reached in
for the key. He noticed her purse sitting on the passenger seat and knew she’d
want that as well as the bag in the trunk. Strange that she’d thought of the
bag and not her purse. He slung it over his shoulder and then walked around to
the trunk, opened it and saw both a bag and a suitcase sitting there. Something
else she hadn’t mentioned, and he guessed she’d want that too so he took the
two pieces of luggage out of the trunk and made sure it was locked up securely.
He’d drive back tomorrow, check out her car and if needed, tow it to his
garage.

Liam
walked back to the Mustang and opened the door. Lucy jumped.

“It’s
okay, it’s only me. I also got your purse,” he said, handing it to her. “And
your suitcase. Okay if I put it and the bag in the trunk?”

“Actually
I’d prefer to have the bag with me,” she said.

 
He passed it to her wondering what was so
special about the bag. Maybe she was sick and her medication was in there. He
didn’t like people prying into his business and tonight he’d take his own
medicine and not ask her any questions. Liam put the suitcase in the trunk and
then dug out his cell phone from his jacket pocket.

He
got back into the car and dialed Bear’s number as he glanced at Lucy who had the
bag cradled on her lap, her arms crisscrossed over it like she was protecting a
baby. Now he was intrigued as to what was inside it. He heard Bear’s number
ringing.

“Hello,
Dr. McWilliams speaking.”

“Bear,
it’s Liam.”

“Hi,
Liam … how are you doing?”

“I’m
doing fine, however, I found a young lady on the side of the road and she’s
hurt her leg. She can’t put her foot to the ground without lots of pain and
she’s pretty badly scraped up. She doesn’t have insurance so I was wondering,
if I brought her by the hospital, could you take a look at her?”

“She’s
human?”

“Yes,”
said Liam moving the phone to his other ear, hoping Lucy hadn’t heard what Bear
had just asked. He probably hadn’t realized she was sitting so close to him.

“You
helping out a human?” asked Bear.

Liam
made a fist. Yes, this was sort of out of character for him. However, he’d
never let anyone, not even a human suffer needlessly.

“Can
you help her or not?” he asked.

“Of
course I can. How soon can you be at the hospital?”

“In
the Mustang? Oh, I’d say about fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll
meet you there.”

“Okay,
and say hi to Sam for me.”

Liam
pressed the end call button and started the ignition. “He’s going to meet us at
the hospital.”

“Thank
you,” she said. Her voice sounded weaker now, almost as if she was about to
fall asleep.

“Just
sit back and relax.”

“You’re
very kind,” said Lucy, resting her head on the side of the car’s interior.