Wild Mate: BBW Bear Shifter Romance (3 page)

Would it be better for Rebecca
to forget him and move on? Once her divorce was finalized, she was
free to move on. She would be happy again, healed and whole.

But Levi knew that he would
never be whole without her.

She might never remember him.
Her brain might have erased that part of her memory forever. Levi
sighed, running a finger softly down her cheek.

She would just have to get to
know him all over again. It had started with a “hi”. He
could do that. He would start with a “hi”.

Levi straightened up and blew
out a breath. So what if she didn't remember him? He would stick
around and create new memories for her, good ones, great ones. He'd
told her that he wasn't going anywhere, and he'd meant every word.

All that mattered was that she
was alive. She was alive, she would heal, and he would keep her
safe.

Levi turned around and headed
for the door. Once he stepped out of the room, he saw Scott and Bryn
hurriedly jerking away from the door and pretending they hadn't just
been eavesdropping and peeping in. Bryn stole worried glances at him
while she pretended to read a message on her mobile phone. Scott
kept shifting his weight and clearing his throat, like he wanted to
say something but couldn't quite get the words out. Levi decided to
put them both out of their misery.

“
She doesn't remember
me,” he announced flatly. “She remembers the attack, but
she doesn't remember that I was there. She thinks I'm just an
Enforcer the PAC sent to guard her. I'm essentially a stranger to
her now.”

Bryn pushed off the wall and
came to him at once. “She can't have forgotten you entirely.
Give her time. She will remember you,” she said bracingly.

Scott was less optimistic but
more forceful. “Talk to her. Tell her! Make her remember.
She has to! Make her remember everything.”

“
I'm not sure that's a
good thing,” Levi said with a heavy sigh.

“
Not a good thing? So,
forgetting you is a good thing?”

“
No, Scott, forgetting
her pain and her past is a good thing. I was part of her past. She
got to know me when she was in the midst of her divorce, at the
crossroads. She's gone past the crossroads now. She's chosen a
path, and she's now in a better, happier place. Once her divorce
goes through, she's free. She's got her whole life ahead of her.
She's only twenty-one. She'll heal and she will learn to love
again.”

“
What do you mean?
She's your mate, Levi!” Scott was practically shouting. “What
do you mean she'll learn to love again? Are you...!”

“
I mean she'll learn to
love me. But first, she has to get to know me—all over again,”
Levi replied with a sly grin.

Bryn's smile was so wide he
could see her fangs. She punched him on the arm. “Go get her,
tiger! I mean, bear!”

Scott clapped him on the
shoulder, but he still looked worried. “You stay strong, my
man.”

“
Yeah. Okay, I've got a
zillion calls and messages to return. And I've got to report back to
the PAC Headquarters before Jett sends some Enforcers after my ass.
You two keep her safe, all right?” He winked at Scott and Bryn
as he walked backwards down the corridor.

Bryn snapped to attention and
saluted. “Aye, aye, captain!”

Scott gave him a two finger
salute, his expression grim.

Levi gave them a big smile and
two thumbs up, before turning and heading towards the lift lobby.
His smile faded as he walked alone towards the lift, his heart
feeling heavier than a rock in his chest. He didn't want Scott and
Bryn to worry for him. Bryn would share her worries with her best
friend, Charlotte Cole, who was a fellow Enforcer and the PAC Alpha's
mate. Charlotte would tell Lucas, and he would have Lucas and Jett,
and the rest of the Council calling him, checking on him, keeping
tabs on him. They would all be on edge, afraid that he might pull
out his own Enforcer gun and fire a silver bullet through his own
head, instead of through the heart of a rogue.

They meant well, all of them.
But he didn't think he could bear to see the pity and fear in their
eyes.

Once he was out of the
hospital building, he pulled out his phone and called Jett.

Jett answered on the first
ring. “Levi, just where the hell...!”

“
I'm at the hospital,
Jett. I'll be at the PAC Headquarters in ten minutes.”

There was a pause. “Ten
minutes,” Jett said, his tone softer. Then he rang off.

Just two words, but Levi could
hear the sympathy in Jett's voice. Did Jett know? Did they know all
about Rebecca's condition and her memory loss?

Levi scrubbed a hand down his
face as he made his way towards the PAC building in the middle of the
city. He scrolled through all the messages on his phone and stuffed
his phone back in his pocket.

There was no need to reply to
them. He would see all of them soon. He had no doubt all the
Council members and a large number of Enforcers would be gathered at
the PAC Headquarters, waiting for him.

He pulled his sunglasses out
and snapped them on. They would protect his eyes from the harsh
midday sun, and shield the pain in his eyes from the inquisitive,
discerning gaze of the Council and his teammates.

With a lingering backward
glance at the hospital building, he walked purposefully out into the
busy city street. These were the streets he patrolled and protected.
He hunted monsters, obliterated them and kept the city safe. He
would hunt the monster who had hurt Rebecca Rose. And he would kill
him.

Rebecca tried to stop her hand
from shaking long enough to push the key into the lock. She had been
standing in front of the door for five minutes, staring at her
peeling, battered front door. The front door to her house, her home,
her supposed sanctuary. Behind this door, in this very house that
was supposed to be her warm, loving home, she had experienced the
worst kind of terror. She had been abused, beaten, threatened and
terrorized by the man she thought she loved.

This wasn't her home. This
was her hell.

But she had nowhere else to
go. She had been discharged from the hospital, and with no hospital
bed to sleep in, she had to come home to sleep in her own bed.

Taking a deep, steadying
breath, she gripped her key tightly and tried again. Muttering
encouraging words to herself, she slowly pushed through the front
door and stepped into her house.

Her eyes darted to every
corner, scanning the dim interior. Her living room looked untouched.
There was a dirty coffee mug on the table, and an old magazine was
lying on the couch where she had left it. The air was stale and
still, and she carefully locked the door behind her before moving to
the windows. Drawing the curtains aside, she let the sunlight stream
through the dusty windows, and watched the dust motes dancing and
twirling in the air.

Dirt could look beautiful in
the right light at the wrong time.

She let out a bitter laugh as
she picked up a cushion and flung it on the stained couch. Phin
Lester was dirt, worse than dirt, yet she had thought him beautiful
when she first met him. Scowling, she turned and saw an old t-shirt
which she was using as a rag lying at the corner of her dining table.
It was Phin's t-shirt, and on the front were the words “I'm
with stupid” printed in bold. Rebecca smirked at her
reflection in the window. How apt and ironic. The truth had been
printed on a t-shirt worn by a liar. She should have read the
writing on the t-shirt.

Stupid.

Yup, that's her.

Opening the windows to let in
some fresh air, she made her way slowly to the kitchen. She froze,
suddenly unable to take another step. This was where it had
happened.

She could still see some dark
stains at the corner of the cabinets and on the tiles. There were
faint outlines of blood splatters on the wall, and a broken chair was
lying in a heap at the far corner of the kitchen. One leg was
missing. It had been used as a weapon.

Rebecca pressed her hand to
her mouth, fighting down the nausea and the fear. The walls seemed
to lean in, closing in on her, imprisoning her. Stifling a sob and a
scream, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut for a moment to block out
the horror.

But still, the images kept
coming at her. She couldn't stop them. She saw herself, crying,
sniveling and screaming as she tried to dodge the objects being
hurled at her.

She saw the scene all too
clearly in her mind. The pain, the horror, the screams. Everything
came back to her, smashing into her and forcing her to relive that
nightmarish scene. Rebecca fell to the floor, and she opened her
eyes to see the dirty floor tiles and her clawing fingers.

They were the same tiles she
had crawled across as she tried to claw her way out of the kitchen.

In a blink, she was back in
her nightmare.

Glass shards rained down on
her back and as she tried to scramble away, a hand wound through her
hair and yanked her back. She choked out a cry as she was hauled to
her feet. Her eyes were wide as she stared into the eyes of her
attacker. She couldn't recognize him anymore. He wasn't the man she
had married. She stopped screaming and suddenly began to cry.

Her realization had come too
late. He was the same man she had married. Only she hadn't married
a man. She had married a monster.

She had been so stupid.
Stupid, blind and gullible.

She cried harder, and he hit
her harder. She pleaded and begged, but her pleas and her tears
seemed to spur him on. The weaker she appeared, the more violent he
became. His roars didn't sound human to her ears. She was fighting
an animal, so if she wanted to survive, she had to fight like one.

She struggled and fought back,
kicking and scratching viciously. She used her teeth, her nails, her
hands and legs, everything. Biting and clawing like a wild animal,
she fought hard for her life.

But he was too strong. He was
mad, murderous. She could feel blood flowing down her face, and she
tasted her own blood in her mouth.

Her vision was blurring, and
her limbs flailed and slapped feebly against him. He was going to
kill her. But she didn't want to die. Not like this. Not now, not
in this stinky kitchen, and definitely not at the hands of a monster.

Mustering whatever strength
she had left, she twisted round and clamped her jaws down on his
hairy hand. Her teeth sunk into flesh and she bit harder, refusing
to let go. She heard his curses, but his voice sounded far away. He
was hitting her and smashing her head against the wall, but she
didn't feel any pain. All she knew was that she had to hold on. She
wasn't going to let go of the brute. She would die, but she would
cause him as much pain as she could. There was a sickening crack,
and her jaw slackened. As she slid down the wall, she felt the world
tilt and her kitchen floor became her ceiling. Blood dripped into
her eyes, and through her blood drenched vision, she saw a beautiful
blond woman wrench Phin away from her. The woman's brilliant green
eyes met hers and she saw them flash with anger. The woman's mouth
widened, but it wasn't in a smile. Rebecca saw fangs, long serrated
fangs. Rebecca gasped. A blood demoness. The demoness kept her
fierce gaze on Rebecca as she sunk those jagged fangs into Phin's
neck. Phin thrashed and screamed like a girl, but the demoness was
incredibly strong. She held Phin down and drank his blood.

Rebecca made a strangled sound
and tried to blink the blood out of her eyes. When she lifted her
face off the floor, she saw that she was alone in her kitchen. They
were gone.

There was a flurry of voices
and footsteps. Her neighbors were rushing into her house, having
heard the commotion. Hands tried to help her up, and an ambulance
was called. But Phin and the demoness were nowhere to be seen.

With a gasp, Rebecca pushed
herself up, and let the horrific scene recede from her.

She was back in the present.
In her house, in her kitchen, alone.

Shivering, she stood up and
stared at the spot where she had seen the blood demoness holding Phin
by the neck. The demoness had saved her life. If she hadn't
appeared and taken Phin away, Phin would have killed her right there
and then.

Rebecca rubbed her arms, and
forced herself to walk the few steps to the stove. She stared out of
the grimy kitchen window, looking out into the quiet street. She
could remember the demoness's face. She was beautiful, with a bob of
blond hair and deep, green eyes. She sighed, wondering if she would
ever see her again. She'd heard that the demoness had dragged Phin
to her demon lord. Phin was supposed to be the demon's supper, but
strangely, the demon lord didn't drain Phin's blood entirely. After
a night in the demon's dungeon, Phin had been brought back to the
city, and thrown into the psychiatric ward. He had been ranting and
raving, snarling and growling like an animal. Rebecca's lips curled.
What's new? He was already an animal before the demoness took him
away.