Bearly A Squeak (9 page)

“It’s like carpet burn, but with trees,” she explained, shrugging. “It kinda hurts.”

Comprehension dawned in his eyes. “Shit,” he said, straightening up and stepping back, carrying her with him. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he said. “I didn’t think.”

She kissed him lightly. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

“That was pretty awesome, wasn’t it?” He smirked at her. He had totally earned that smug look, so she didn’t bother calling him on it.

“Yeah, I think we can safely say that we’re sexually compatible,” she said wryly.

“I dunno,” he said, a completely fake solemn expression on his face. “I think we should really test that hypothesis a few more times.” A smile played at the corners of his lips.

“I really like the way you think,” she said, kissing him. A rustling sound had her breaking the kiss to look over Alex’s shoulder.

She sighed.

“What?” Alex said with a frown.

“Our furry stalker is back,” she said. The dog from earlier was sitting there watching them.

“So?” Alex shrugged.

“We are not making out in front of the dog,” she insisted.

“I don’t think he minds,” Alex said.

“You are missing the point.”

“Which is?” Alex asked, amusement written all over his face.

“The dog is a bloody pervert,” she hissed. “I don’t want him watching us.”

Alex snickered and she mock punched his shoulder.

“Fine, fine,” he conceded. He lifted her off him and set her on the ground. He was still pretty hard, the joy of shifter stamina, particularly with new mates.

“We’re actually mated,” she whispered, staring at him.

His forehead creased. “Is that a problem? You said it was what you wanted.”

“It was, it is,” she assured him. “I don’t regret it. I guess it’s just going to take a bit of getting used to, that’s all. What do we do now?”

“Well…” he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Not in front of the dog!” she said. “I meant, what happens with us? Do we live together?”

“Of course,” Alex said with a shrug. “What else would we do?”

“I don’t know,” she said helplessly. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. So, do we live at your house or mine?”

“Right now, yours,” Alex said. “Mine currently has my mother in it.”

Fair point.

“After that,” he continued, “we can decide which we prefer. Or even buy a new place. I don’t mind.”

Honestly, neither did she. The important point was that they’d be together. Without any furry creatures watching them. She glared at the dog.

“We should get back,” she suggested.

“I guess,” Alex said.

Hand in hand, they wandered through the woods, back to where they’d left their clothes when they’d shifted. The dog trotted behind them the entire way.

“Alex,” she said softly.

“Yeah, babe?” he answered.

“I swear that dog is staring at my ass.”

“What the hell happened to you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Barry grumbled, using his one good eye to look up at his brother, Geoff. Wait, why were there two Geoffs? Turning his head, he saw two of cousin Lenny, and two of cousin Dave. At least he was being consistent. Looking down at his hands, he saw two right hands each holding a packet of frozen peas. He slapped the peas back onto his swollen eye. He probably had a concussion.

“Did you get her to come back to you?” the two Geoffs asked.

“Does it look like I’ve had a successful day?” he growled. Poking with his tongue, he could feel at least two loose teeth, and tasted blood.

Both Daves looked at him. “Did she do that to you?”

He snorted, feeling his lungs wheeze. Did he have a broken rib? A punctured lung maybe?

“Hardly,” he said. “She’s still a quiet little mouse. Although she does have a mouth on her these days. I’ll have to cure her of that.”

“So it was the other bloke then? The big bear dude?” Lenny one and Lenny two asked. “I wouldn’t like to tangle with him.”

“No,” Barry said, looking down at his hand. Wait, should that finger be sticking out at that angle? He winced as he snapped the digit back into place. “It wasn’t him.”

“So, who?” the Geoffs asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he huffed. No way was he admitting that a tiny little female about twice his age had totally handed his ass to him. He shuddered as he thought about her.

“Do we have a new plan?” the Geoffs asked. “We can’t let her go.”

“We’re not letting her go,” Barry confirmed. “I spent far too long working on her to give up now. She needs to marry me and give me access to her family’s money. After that…” he shrugged. “We’ll see.”

“We need that money,” the Geoffs insisted. “After Dad and Uncle John lost theirs, we have nothing.”

“Stupid tax man,” the Lennys chimed in. “Just because they didn’t pay their taxes for ten years…”

“… and because they possibly committed just the tiniest bit of fraud…” the Daves added.

“… It doesn’t mean they should have been financially ruined and sent to prison,” the Lennys finished.

Barry nodded. It had been such a shock when their families had lost everything. The four of them had grown up rich, attending private school, having everything they wanted. Barry had just finished university, thanks to a few bribes from his father, when it had all come crashing down.

Now this is what he was reduced to. Attempting to marry a mouse of a woman just so that he could survive on her money. It was completely unfair.

“So what do we do?” the Daves asked. “The bear is a problem.”

Barry nodded, and then immediately wished he hadn’t as his vision blurred and nausea rose. He stood up, holding onto the table for support as his leg buckled under him. Breathing through the pain, he fixed his gaze on Geoff. Well, one of them. Oh hell, he’d just stare between the two of them.

“Then the bear is just going to have to go, isn’t he?” he stated.

Somebody spoke then, but Barry couldn’t make out the words. The floor came rushing at him alarmingly quickly as he passed out.

“We need a bigger bed,” Tara announced.

“I like this one,” Alex answered. “It’s cosy.” Nothing beat waking up with his mate. They’d gone to her house to avoid his mother. Not that she wouldn’t be able to track him down eventually. He’d always suspected that she’d had him microchipped as a cub.

His mate snorted at him. “There’s not enough room for us both,” she pointed out, poking him in the chest.

“Sure there is,” he disagreed. “We’re both in it right now.”

“No,” she said. “You’re on the bed. I’m on you.”

He snickered. “I like it that way.” Sure enough, the only way they could fit was for Alex to lie down and then have Tara sleep on top of him. He was totally fine with that arrangement.

“I drooled on your chest,” she said.

He shrugged. “Probably because I’m so tasty.”

She rolled her eyes at him.

“We’ll be getting a bigger bed,” she insisted.

“Fine, fine,” he capitulated. “If it makes you happy.”

She smiled at him. “It does.”

“Know what would make me happy?” he waggled his eyebrows at her.

She giggled. “I’m pretty sure I do,” she said, kissing him briefly. “But I’m also pretty sure that you’re due at work shortly.”

Turning his head, he looked for the clock. Oh shit. No time for a little morning delight. His bear huffed at him inside his mind. Jumping out of bed, he heard a thunk.

“We are definitely getting a bigger bed,” his mate yelled from the floor. Oops.

He was out the door in record time, pausing only briefly to kiss his mate and promise he would call her later.

Striding into work a short time later, he noted a few strange looks being sent his way.

“Hey boss,” Ethan said, waving a half-eaten doughnut at him.

He paused by Ethan’s desk. “What’s with all the looks?”

Ethan smirked. “You’re whistling. You’re smiling. For the first time in ages, you don’t look like you’re about to rip anyone’s head off.”

“So?”

Ethan shrugged. “It’ll take a little getting used to. So, I assume from the bounce in your step that things are going well with Tara?”

Alex felt himself grin. “Yeah, we’re mated.” Satisfaction warmed him.

“Congrats,” Ethan said. “Her ex not causing any more trouble?”

Alex merely shrugged. “Nothing I can’t handle.” He was not even going to think of what may or may not have happened with his mother. If he didn’t know anything, then he couldn’t be accused of anything later. Ignorance was not only bliss, but also the only sensible path to retaining sanity.

“I left some reports on your desk,” Ethan told him. “Seems like a pretty quiet day so far.”

“Good,” Alex responded, walking into his office. He had no intention of working late tonight, not when he had a mate to get back to, so the town better behave itself today.

He sat for a while, concentrating on catching up with paperwork, his thoughts often straying to Tara. When the phone rang around lunchtime, he jumped.

“Hey, Alex.” The caller was an old friend, a fellow cop from a shifter town much like Bearbank.

“Blair” Alex greeted him. “How are you?”

“Oh, not bad, not bad,” Blair answered. “And you?”

“I’m good,” Alex said. He could feel himself grinning. “Recently mated.”

“Congratulations!” His friend sounded happy for him. “That’s excellent news. I assume your mother is thrilled.”

Alex snorted. “Yeah, you know how she is.” Dare he hope that his mother might go and torment, er… visit… his brother now?

“Yeah. Look, the reason I’m calling is about a case I have here. I feel it’s something you should be aware of. I might need your help at some point.”

“My help?” he asked in surprise. Blair was more than capable of handling anything himself. “What kind of case is it?”

His friend sighed. “Assault. Shifter on shifter, so we’re not out to arrest anyone. The guy who got hurt was the one who started it, so no one is losing any sleep over it. He refuses to press charges, and since it’s a shifter matter, nobody wants to take it further and draw attention.”

“So why call?” Alex asked, puzzled.

“The man was beaten pretty badly. I don’t even know what she hit him with, but she did a fair amount of damage.”

“She?” Alex had a sinking feeling. He ran through all the information in his head, trying to remember where his mother had been and when. Sadly, it wasn’t the first time he’d had a call like this.

“Oh, no, I know what you’re thinking,” his friend said quickly. “It’s not your mother. Not this time.”

Alex let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“The woman has recently moved to your area though, so I figured that you should be aware of the situation, maybe keep an eye on her.”

Alex pulled a notepad and pen closer to him. “What’s her name?”

“Sara Evans.”

Alex dropped the pen and groaned.

“Alex?”

“That would be my mate’s sister,” he informed him. “Who did she hurt?”

“A guy called Kevin Mackie. Nasty piece of work who is a bit too free with his fists. From what I understand, he was harassing your sister-in-law, she put him in his place, and he started getting physical. He started it, she ended it. It’s the amount of damage she did that has me concerned. You just need to keep an eye on her.”

“Will do, Blair” Alex assured him. “Thanks for the heads up.”

Call ended, Alex drummed his pencil on the notepad. How could he handle this? Should he talk to Sara or let his mate deal with it? Yeah, it would be better coming from Tara. She knew her sister and would be able to get to the bottom of it.

He reached for the phone to call his mate but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Enter,” he barked.

Leo poked his head around the door. “I just had a call about a woman being abducted from Church Street. Boss, they said it was Tara.”

The pencil snapped in Alex’s hand. Someone had dared to lay a hand on his mate? He stood and walked around the desk. “When?” he growled.

“She was taken just five minutes ago,” Leo said. “Ethan and I are on our way there.”

Alex stalked by him, and strode through the room. A path cleared before him, people scrambling to get out of his way. Sometimes it paid to be the big grumpy bear. It had to be Barry who’d taken her. Whatever his mother had done to the fox, it would be nothing compared to what Alex would do. His bear roared inside his head, drowning out all other sounds. Leaving the building, he rushed to Church Street. He could see nothing unusual. The street was quiet. Normal.

He stopped, sniffing the air. His nose picked up no trace of Tara. Puzzled, he looked along the street. Nobody was around. He was aware of something hitting the back of his head, hard. Then he was falling as his vision went dark.

***

Tara finished icing the cupcakes, her eyes straying to the clock. Cheesecake o’clock. Lunchtime to most people. Oh, she’d be having lunch too, but only after she’d eaten some lovely, lovely cheesecake. It was all about priorities.

“Hey, sis,” Sara called, poking her head around the door. “I’m off. I’ll make myself scarce later. Congratulations again. I’m so happy for you and hot bear dude.”

“Thanks.” Tara smiled at her. “You don’t have to stay away though. It’s your house too for as long as you’re staying.”

“It’s ok,” her sister said, a sad little smile on her face. “You’re newly mated and you need your space. Actually, I’m going to go stay with your friend Fiona for tonight. I’ll still be around if you need me.”

Tara walked over to her and hugged her fiercely. “Someday soon you are going to tell me what’s wrong. I just want to help.”

“I know.” Sara’s voice was quiet, barely a whisper. “Just not yet. I can’t. Go be happy with your bear.”

With that, she slipped out the door, leaving Tara alone with her cheesecake.

She checked the clock. Close enough. She walked over to the counter where she’d left herself a slice of cheesecake heaven… okay, two slices. Quit judging. She had been looking forward to this all morning. She heard the phone ringing and Dana’s voice answering.