Brave Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 2) (8 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY

Keeping her eyes on Sal,
Serena quietly inched towards Ashley. She had to get her daughter
away.

Sal was violent,
unpredictable and unhinged. He could plunge his blade into Ashley
and slice her up with just a few strokes. It would just take him a
few seconds. Ashley could be dead in just a few painful heartbeats.

“But even with my wolf
gone, my senses are still intact,” Sal continued with a glint
in his eye.

I don't think so
,
Serena thought but she kept resolutely silent.

“She dropped
something...” Sal chuckled again and held up Ashley's Donna
Doll, her birthday present from Mrs Huang. “Her scent is
very...unique. I had no problem tracking her down.” He licked
his own blood off the blade of his knife and smiled. “There is
one good thing about these dead tissues,” he said, running a
finger down his disfigured face. “With my wolf gone, I don't
have a scent. Not one that can identify me anyway. The smells
around me just sit on the surface of these dead, unresponsive dead
tissues, so I blend right in. No one can scent my presence. I can
come and go like a ghost...” He wiggled his fingers and hummed
a jarring, eerie tune.

Serena kept moving closer and
closer to her daughter. If Sal charged suddenly, at least she could
throw herself over her little girl and shield her.

“I think you know what
I'm going to do,” Sal mused, turning towards the lake. “Water
puts out fire. I'm going to put out her fire. Forever.”

He was going to drown Ashley.

The lake no longer looked
scenic and charming to Serena. The water surface rippled and
gleamed, and it reminded Serena of the cold, deadly blade in Sal's
hand.

With a sudden snarl, Sal
lurched forward and made a grab for Ashley. Serena screamed and
tried to fight him off, but he backhanded her with such force that
she was flung a few feet away. She landed on the hard stones and
felt blood on her hands.

Grimacing, Serena forced
herself up and hurtled towards Sal. He had gathered Ashley up and
was striding towards the lake. The rock swung from Ashley's ankle
like a pendulum. The rock would pull her down to the bottom of the
deep lake, and there was no way anyone could dive down to the bottom
in time. All they would manage to retrieve would be her bloated
body.

Serena screamed and launched
herself at Sal, clawing at his arms and face. Sal spun round and
kicked her viciously in the stomach. Serena doubled over but she
refused to collapse.

She scrambled over the stones
and grabbed Sal's foot. “Don't hurt her! Please...don't hurt
my baby...”

She could feel Sal shifting
his weight as he prepared to hurl Ashley into the dead center of the
lake. She knew that even without his wolf, Sal was still incredibly,
superhumanly strong.

Serena struggled, shoved and
wrenched at Sal with all her might. She couldn't let him throw her
baby into the lake. “No! No...” she shrieked.

Sal's laugh was cut short by
a deafening roar.

Her head jerked up and she
saw Jax rushing at Sal in a blur of movement. Her first instinct was
to save Ashley. Sal tossed Ashley carelessly over his shoulder and
Serena scrambled forward to catch her little girl.

She managed to cushion
Ashley's head as she crashed to the ground. She yanked the rag out
of Ashley's mouth and yelled her name but Ashley remained
unconscious.

As Serena worked frantically
to untie the rock from Ashley's ankle, she heard low grunts and
menacing snarls and growls. Struggling desperately with the dead
knot, Serena glanced fearfully over her shoulder and screamed.

“Jax! Look out!”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

Jax roared with fury and let
his bear rip from his skin. He shifted fully into a large black bear
and charged at Sal. He was going to tear this piece of shit from
limb to limb!

Jax didn't hold his bear
back. He let the lethal predator out and told his beast to go for
the kill. His bear had been prowling uneasily under his skin the
whole morning. It had been warning him that his mate and young were
in danger, but he had shut his bear down and tried to focus on
finishing up the work quickly. The crew was rushing to finish the
project on time, and everyone was working a breakneck speed.

There was no room for any
delay or distractions. But his bear refused to back down. It kept
clawing at him, urging him to go home and go to Ashley's school.
Finally Jax had to put down his power tools and step away from the
work site to avoid inflicting some serious injury on himself and his
mates. His bear was going berserk.

“I...I have to go,”
he'd stammered to Marcus. “It's Serena and Ashley...”

“Go,” Marcus said
at once. “Now.” As he made a beeline for his car, he
heard Marcus yell to Joshua, “Josh! Go with him!”

Joshua had jumped into the
passenger seat just as he sped off. His twin didn't say a word, just
held on for dear life as he floored the gas pedal.

“The park,” were
the only words Jax grated out as he drove. Joshua nodded. He and
Joshua didn't need to communicate in full sentences. Just a word, or
even a syllable, was enough.

As he neared the park, Jax
couldn't control his bear any longer. The beast clawed savagely at
him, wanting out. He was still a few streets away from the park, but
Jax knew he had to get out now.

Stomping on the brakes, Jax
pulled the car to a violent stop just before it slammed into a row of
stationary bikes. He stumbled out of the car and began to run. His
claws were already slicing out and he could feel his eyes glowing
feral. Behind him, Joshua reversed the car quickly and drove off.
Jax knew his brother would bring the car to the nearest parking lot
in front of the park.

He could already scent his
mate's fear and pain. As he leaped over a park bench, he could see
Serena clawing desperately at Sal.

Jax sniffed the air and could
detect traces of Sal's wolf. His senses were heightened in bear
form. The fire had caused Sal's wolf to recede deep into its human
host. It was unlikely that his wolf would ever emerge again. His
wolf was as good as gone.

But Jax felt no pity at all
for Sal. The bastard had preyed on a helpless woman and her young
daughter. He was heedless to their pleas and he would have just
taken what he wanted and left them for dead. He was a robber and a
rapist. He was rubbish, in Jax's eyes.

Jax smashed into Sal and
rolled with him on the ground. Sal struggled free and scrambled away
with a vicious curse. As Jax charged again, he heard Serena's
scream. “Jax! Look out!”

Jax felt a blade cut into his
shoulder. It wasn't a deep cut but it still hurt like a bitch. Even
his thick fur couldn't protect him from the pain. Sal wrenched his
pocket knife out and backed away from Jax.

Raising his hands, Sal said
slowly, “I'm not a shifter. Not anymore. I'm just a
disfigured burn victim. I'm only defending myself. I'm not the bad
guy here. I'm the victim. You wouldn't hurt a helpless man, would
you? No, you wouldn't. You're not a rogue shifter.”

Victim? The bastard was
actually trying to paint himself as the victim here?

Jax snarled and prowled
towards him. Sal back away, with one hand still up. “I don't
mean any harm. Look, just let me go. I won't come back. I promise.
What can I do anyway? My wolf is gone. I'm maimed, handicapped for
life. I've suffered enough. I'll just go, okay?”

Sal swallowed, and Jax had to
admit that the guy was a pretty good actor. He actually managed to
look frightened and ashamed.

But Jax wasn't going to let
him off. The guy would come back, and he would try to hurt Ashley
and Serena again. He fully intended to kill them.

He was going to murder an
innocent five-year-old girl in cold blood. And he would be equally
ruthless in dispatching her grieving, defenseless mother.

Jax knew that he was dealing
with a stone cold killer here. There was no remorse at all in Sal's
narrowed eyes. If Jax showed Sal any mercy now, he knew he would
live to regret it.

His bear roared.
Finish
him!

Jax abhorred violence and
bloodshed but in this case, his bear was right. His bear wanted
blood, and his bear would get it.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

Jax saw his brother running
to Ashley and Serena at the corner of his eye. Joshua gave a low
growl and Jax growled back. He didn't need any backup. He could
take this piece of shit down on his own. Josh just needed to get
Ashley and Serena to the hospital.

Jax faced Sal, who was
glancing angrily towards Ashley. The girl was being rescued. Sal's
mouth twisted into an ugly scowl. His prize was slipping away from
him. He had been about to make her pay for what she did to him, but
now, she was being carried away to safety.

With a guttural cry, Sal ran
at Jax. His hand appeared from behind his back, and there was a long
dagger in his fist. The sharp blade flashed as it plunged towards
Jax's throat.

Jax rolled away and the
dagger nicked his ear. Jax roared and flew straight at Sal. But Sal
was still fast and strong, even without the power of his wolf. He
twisted nimbly out of Jax's way and spun the dagger in his hand.
Catching the hilt neatly, he threw the dagger straight at Jax.

Jax roared as he felt a sharp
pain in his leg. He turned his head and saw the dagger buried in his
hind leg.

He bellowed but not with
pain. His bear was maddened beyond reason now. With a thunderous
roar, he reared up and slashed at Sal. His blows came hard and fast,
and he felt the satisfying rip of skin under his claws.

Sal screamed in pain and
stumbled away. But Jax kept coming at him. He tore into Sal's
chest, and raked his claws down his limbs. Sal grabbed a jagged rock
and smashed it into Jax's side but that didn't slow Jax down.

Jax kept delivering blow
after blow, taking out chunks of skin and flesh. Sal was screaming
and begging, but Jax could no longer hear anything. He could only
hear the anguished roar of his beast as he moved in for the kill.

With a final, powerful swipe,
Jax tore out Sal's throat. Clamping his jaws down, Jax snapped the
man's neck and lurched away, panting in pain and exhaustion.

His bear receded and Jax
dropped to the ground.

“Jax!”

It was Serena. She was
running towards him, her tear-streaked face pale but determined.

“Ashley...” Jax
panted.

“Joshua is carrying her
to the car right now,” Serena said as she grabbed his arm and
threw it over her shoulders. She held his waist and supported him as
he limped forward. The dagger dug into his calf muscle and Jax
winced as he tried to move as quickly as possible.

“Josh should just drive
off straightaway,” Jax grated.

“We'll go to the
hospital together,” Serena said firmly. She was struggling a
little under his weight, but she never released her grip on him.
“You're hurt.”

“Nah...”

“Don't you nah at me.
You and Ashley are so important to me,” Serena said, and her
voice quavered a little but she blinked her tears away quickly. “I
want both of you safe and healthy, and we will be a family...”

“We
are
a
family,” Jax said and managed a smile.

Serena nodded and walked
steadily with him, leading him to the car. Joshua had the engine
running, and once he saw them, he raced to his twin and supported him
on the other side.

Joshua stuffed him into the
passenger seat and Serena hurried to the backseat and held her
daughter. Josh threw the car into gear and burned rubber all the way
to the hospital.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

Serena grinned as Ashley and
Jeremy fidgeted in front of her. Jeremy was tugging at his tuxedo
and scowling at everyone who told him how handsome he looked. Ashley
clutched her flower basket tightly and leaned back to whisper to
Serena, “You look beautiful, Mummy!”

“So do you,”
Serena whispered back and Ashley giggled.

“You ready?”
Marcus beamed at her.

“Yes.” Serena
took a deep breath. She was getting married, today, right now. She
almost couldn't believe that she was doing this. She was getting
married to the man of her dreams.

Once Ashley had recovered
fully, Jax had gotten down on one knee in front of the whole family
and asked her to marry him.

Serena took Marcus's arm just
as the doors to the ballroom were thrown open. All the guests stood
up and clapped as she walked down the aisle with Marcus.

Jax was standing on the stage
beside his twin brother, smiling happily at her. As they walked up
to the stage, Jax held out his fist to Ashley, who promptly ran up
and gave him a fist bump. “Daddy!” she grinned.