Love at First Roar (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Werebear Romance) (Grayslake Book 4) (16 page)

A year and a half of pain wasn’t much compared to the years Keen struggled, but it was a fuck-ton more than his eldest brothers. “Sometimes the world doesn’t revolve around you. Sometimes you don’t know shit from sunshine. Sometimes you don’t realize that you need to think about who the hell you’re talking to and that your damned title doesn’t mean shit when you’re standing in front of a male who’ll do anything—
anything
—to ensure his mate’s happiness. That means if you pound on this door again, I’m gonna take your fucking hand.”

With that, he took the clothes his father held and stepped back.

Unfortunately, his dad had to speak. “We need to talk to you.”

Isaac huffed. How did he know his father would say that? Dammit. “Fine. Walk through to the kitchen. Don’t move furniture, don’t dick with things on a shelf, and” —he thought about what else could disrupt Kira’s comfort in her own home— “don’t move things around in the fridge.” He turned toward the nearby stairs and threw his last words over his shoulder. “I’m gonna get dressed and I’ll be back.”

“What is he, a woman?” Van mumbled and the words were quickly followed by the sound of an all-too-familiar smack. “Dad, what was that for?”

“’Cause apparently I raised an idiot with a death wish. Get your ass to the kitchen.”

The shuffling steps of their group reached him and he continued climbing the steps. Of course, that didn’t mean he couldn’t hear the whisper that followed him.

“What the fuck is up with those scars?”

Another slap. At least his dad was on his side.

Isaac ducked into the first room he found and tugged on the worn jeans and equally worn shirt his dad nabbed. A few holes decorated both pieces, but his father knew comfort when he saw it and brought Isaac exactly what he needed.

Outside the guest room, he tilted his head and listened for Kira, tried to discern if she was awake, and was glad to hear she was still sleeping. He wanted her with him, there was no doubt about that, but she needed a nice, healing rest.

It took him no time to get downstairs and to Kira’s kitchen. Thankfully his brothers sat in the kitchen chairs and it didn’t look like they’d messed with anything in the room. Though, the glare his father leveled at each of them told Isaac they’d tried.

“So.” With his brothers and dad sitting around the table, Isaac pushed himself up and sat on the counter, feet dangling above the tiled floor—above tile that’d seen better days but was probably original. He’d see about fixing that for Kira after… He tore his thoughts from that direction. Telling her she belonged to him wasn’t like her accepting him. And he needed to not go there right this second.

He cleared his throat. “What’s going on?”

“We talked to Vanessa and she said…” Ty began and everyone stared at the man. Isaac tried to keep his face blank. It wasn’t his brother’s fault he was a bit of an ass.

Although it didn’t look like anyone else had a problem revealing their emotions because three glares settle on Ty.

“What? I didn’t do anything that time!” Ty raised his voice, now Isaac glared and Ebenezer released a low growl.

It seemed everyone had a problem with Ty, and his eldest brother sighed and slumped in his chair. “Fine,” he grumbled. “You’re gonna make me apologize for being an ass, aren’t you?”

“Pretty much.” Dad shrugged. “An ass. Oblivious. Uncaring.”

“I care!” Ty shot up straight and then flinched when Ebie released another growl. “Can you shut that dog up?”

Isaac looked down at the pup, the animal had gone after Vanessa to protect Kira at the barbeque, stood by her bed when she was hurt, and played with Parker which made the boy happy. He figured Ebenezer earned his bit of retribution.

“Nope.”

Ty moved to stand, but his father forestalled the movement by placing his hand on Ty’s forearm. “Sit your ass down. Your mother is making me do this or I don’t get laid ever again.”

Moans and groans filled the room.

“Dad…”

“Gross…”

“Really?”

“C’mon…”

Dad grunted. “If y’all would get your shit together and quit fucking around, you wouldn’t have to hear about your mother and me doing it.” The old man leveled a flat expression on them all. “It’s not like y’all sprouted from the ground like trees. Little annoying, dirty, smelly trees.”

“I’m telling Mom you said ‘fuck.’” Keen was such a tattletale. He was also grinning widely.

He hadn’t really seen his brother smile before Trista.

Hell, Isaac hadn’t really smiled before Kira.

It made sense that it took a mate to make a male realize nothing else mattered if you had your female. Nothing.

“And she doesn’t give a damn as long as we have this come to Jesus meeting.” Dad curled his lip, exposing a long fang.

Keen, being the ass he was, did it back except his was longer than their father’s.

“Can we not do this in my mate’s kitchen?”

That had the four of them focusing on Isaac. Dad didn’t seem to care. No, he thought the old man might have even smiled. Keen looked happy, Van just shrugged like it didn’t matter and Ty… looked like he swallowed a rotten fish.

“Oh, fuck you, Ty.” He snarled the words.

“I didn’t…” Ty shook his head and finally just leaned over and pressed his forehead to the table.

His dad released a snarl that had them all paying attention to him. “You four are acting like you aren’t brothers. Van gave Ty shit for Mia. You gave Van shit because of Lauren and then all three of you gave Keen shit—”

“Not three,” Isaac raised his hand. “I wasn’t here to care about Trista being half-hyena. Not that I would.” He shrugged. “It’s not like she was, you know,
there
.”

Dad shook his head while his brothers glared at him. Well, glared at him and then focused on his scars. “We’ll talk about that in a minute.” Dad got back to yelling at them. Only thing was he didn’t yell. No, when he was real quiet, saying the words low, they knew they’d
really
pissed the man off. “And now you are all being dicks about this Kira-Vanessa bullshit when you
know
Vanessa is a two-bit bitch who can’t take anyone getting the better of her.”

“Well, she—”

“Get your head outta your ass,” Dad snapped at Ty and Ty glared at Isaac like it was his damned fault his brother was a dick.

“The fact is, you’re brothers. I don’t give a flying fuck why one of you did anything. You stand behind the others. They start a fight, you finish it. They put their trust in someone, they claim a mate, and you better protect that person with your lives. You four are the heart of this clan and if you don’t beat together, you’re not beating at all.” His dad harrumphed. “Now, your girl got any beer in there?” Dad grew serious. “We’re gonna need a drink while we sort out how the she-bitch got her hands on that poison.”

*

Kira stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall, using it to keep her upright. The words were harsh, but she heard the love in each syllable. There were problems between the brothers, obviously, but their father
cared
. Or rather, their mother cared and made their father deal with it, but he wasn’t doing it with claws or fangs.

He shot out a few words that were followed by grumbles and then she heard Isaac pad across the kitchen, his stride unmistakable to her.

Making noise, not wanting them to continue digging into manly relationship stuff and embarrass themselves in front of a woman, she strode into the kitchen.

Anger, sorrow and regret hit her in the nose, but regret rose above everything.

And then… crisp, clean, and sweet, a man reached her. With unerring precision, she found Isaac, the man just reaching for the handle on her fridge. Then his happiness struck her and he smiled, exposing his teeth as his lips separated. She wanted to feel that smile. Without hesitation, she moved to him, depending on him to stop her if she came to an obstacle. But she didn’t and managed to get to him unhindered. He didn’t move, merely opened his arms and she walked into them, sighing when he held her close.

She raised a hand, stroking the side of his face, following the scar on his cheek and on to his mouth. His lips were spread wide, turned up at the corners. The left was slightly lower than the right, his wound tugging at his flesh, but… he smiled.

A gasp that turned into a manly cough came from her left, but she ignored the sound, too focused on Isaac to be distracted. “What’s this smile for?”

He eased closer, his face almost coming into focus the nearer he got. Not entirely, never entirely, but she could see the warmth in his eyes. This man… With his man-noms and good heart and scars and… He was just… Hers. And she needed to accept that.

“You.” She nuzzled his cheek when he got close enough, showing him she didn’t care about his scars. “Just you.”

Then a gag came from one of the brothers trying to be funny, but it was followed by a smack, then a disgruntled “hey” and finally a grunt.

She really liked Isaac’s father.

With a shake of her head, she stepped from Isaac’s arms and tugged on the refrigerator door. “I’ve got beer, but it’s light.”

She ignored the groans and smiled at Isaac’s low growl. Smiling wider when Ebenezer joined in.

Isaac sidled closer, his heat consuming her. “It’s perfect.” He reached past her and snatched a couple of bottles as well as the one from her hand. “If I tell you you’re perfect will you believe me?”

With a shake of her head—and ignoring another gag from the peanut gallery—she turned to face him, eyebrows raised. “Laying it on a little thick, aren’t we?”

She liked that he was. Liked that he followed up his words upstairs with action in front of his family. He… wanted her.

“Maybe. It depends.”

“On?”

“What’ll get me back in your bed.” He dropped his head, voice low. “Naked.”

Warmth suffused her face and she didn’t need to look in a mirror to know she was bright red.

“Quit.” She nudged him. “I’m sure your dad wants to hear about Vanessa.”

Isaac stepped away to give her room and she stood beside the fridge as she waited for everyone to take their drinks and settle down.

Except George nudged Ty before the Itan sat down. “Go sit on the counter.”

“Why am I sitting on the counter?”

“Because your brother’s mate isn’t gonna sit on the counter. She’s gonna sit in your chair. Did I raise you to be an asshole? I swear, I don’t know why your mother thought I could come in here and deal with this shit. I
told
her I should just kick your ass and be done with it, but
no
,” he huffed. “That woman thinks I should
talk
to you four.” He took a swig of his beer. “Putting a few new holes in your head is talking as far as I’m concerned.”

Kira grinned and leaned against Isaac.

“Move your ass.” George nudged Ty’s chair once again and the large male vacated the seat. “Kira, come sit already.”

“I’m—”

George grunted and she let Isaac lead her across the space. She could have made it on her own, but with five large males occupying the small space, it was best to let him lead. Except, when they got there, Isaac sat first and tugged her onto his lap.

“Hey, how come—”

“Because you’re an asshole.” George didn’t let Ty finish the words.

“Is this pick on Ty day?” A growl filled the Itan’s words, but she didn’t sense he was truly on edge. Just annoyed.

“Yes.” George didn’t miss a beat. “It is. Because we don’t have better things to talk about than how big of a dick you are.”

Isaac’s arms around her felt too right to ignore and rather than pull away, she settled against him, enjoying the rightness of his embrace. She’d stand on her own two feet tomorrow. For now, she’d enjoy leaning on someone. Just for a little bit.

Rather than Ty, George began their discussion, his words unhurried and calm while tension thrummed through the rest of the men. Isaac included.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what happened.”

So, she did. From the moment Vanessa knocked on her front door, to the second the woman threw the heavy box of groceries at her and followed that with a rough shove.

Then came the mad race to the back yard, the rush to get away from the female whose body was rapidly transforming from lithe woman to fierce bear.

And the stench…

“Her hands were coated in Carvrix. Also known as Carve.” She turned her attention to Van, the clan’s Enforcer. “She has blisters, right? Maybe around her nails? Casual touch with the drug might sting a little. Like a lemon hitting a paper cut. But she had to have applied it between here and Miller’s, which means she had it on her human skin for a good five to ten minutes. It doesn’t need a lot of time to go to work on flesh. It works best with blood. Practically feeds on it. Skin isn’t as vulnerable.” She took a deep breath, prepared to tell them about the drug that’d haunted her for the last ten years of her life. “It’s usually applied right before a shift or even after if there’s someone around to brush it on. It doesn’t attack nails the same way it does a body. Nails are dead, so it just,” she shrugged. “I don’t know the chemical properties. I just know how it works. I can’t tell you the why.”

“Okay,” George drew her attention again. “Carvrix?” She nodded. “How did you know what it was? How did you know how to treat it? Do you know how she may have come across it?”

Memories rushed forward, burning her from inside out. One fucking drop of the stuff kicked her ass. Two had her screaming. Three had her almost passing out. Four… four took her too close to death. Of course, had they treated her before then, they could have played with her longer. Injure, neutralize, injure, neutralize.

She didn’t say he was the smartest man alive, just the most evil, and she never told them how she managed to live through it all.

Zoey. Zoey was the how. It paid to be smart and have a friend willing to listen to Kira and ask few questions.

“We’ll start at the end. You know it’s an acid laced with a suppressant. It makes you tired so the acid can do its work. There are two ways to get your hands on it. Buy it or make it.”

Isaac’s heavy gaze landed on her, weighing her down with the question on his lips. “You can make it? I thought… It’s a complex process.”