Promising Peter (Bad Boy Alphas) (Shrew & Company Book 6) (9 page)

She narrowed her eyes again and opened her mouth as if to rebut, but before she could get a word out, Bryan reached over and pinched her ass.

“You’re my mate because you are what you are, Tam,” he said. “That’s the way circumstances shook out. As much as I hate to admit it, there’s always a reason Bears imprint on whom they do. We could try to claim that our choices are due purely to lust or mating fever, but the more likely truth is that he has something she needs, and she has something he needs.”

“The shark and the guppy,” she muttered.

Bryan grunted and sipped his coffee. “We always assume the shark has ill intent and that he’ll swallow whole anything he swims upon, but not every shark has the same motive. Who better to protect a guppy than a shark?”

Peter wouldn’t have bet money on the guess, but he was
pretty
sure he’d just gotten Bryan’s blessing…and that he’d been called a shark.

In the scheme of things, that wasn’t so bad. He’d sure as shit been called worse.

“Andrea. Sweetheart.”

Peter’s voice pulled at Drea’s consciousness and, yet again, she tried to find that internal button to press to force her eyes open and her mouth to move.

Doing so seemed even harder than the last time she’d been conscious.

“Are you awake?”

Peter…

Her ever-present inner bear recoiled at Drea’s immediate response to the man. She might have played hard to get, but Drea had never been the kind of woman who liked playing games. She never had the energy.

“I need you to talk to us,” he said. “Bryan and Tamara are here. We’ve come to an agreement.”

Get me out!

They don’t care about you,
the bear taunted.
You’re just one pawn in their numbers game. Every warm body in a clan makes the alpha look stronger. Isn’t that what Gene believes? Bryan probably feels the same way, too.

“Andrea, we all agree that we’ll do what’s necessary to get you healthy. If you want to part from the bear, we’ll get her out. Just tell us you haven’t changed your mind.”

I haven’t changed my mind!

She couldn’t say the words. She couldn’t integrate her consciousness with her body and make her parts move again—not even her eyes or her lips. The bear was in the way of everything, mentally boxing her in and keeping Drea in her pitiful little corner.

The body, pathetic as it is, is mine as much yours,
the bear said.
I’m not going anywhere.

And neither was Andrea. There was no way in hell she was going to relinquish her body to the bear. There were already enough wild animals on the lam in western North Carolina, and she certainly wasn’t going to have a hand in releasing one into the world that had superior intelligence. The bear may not have been much of a predator with Drea along for the ride, but without that human influence, the bear was going to be ruthless. She’d want to make up for lost time. She’d be indiscriminate and savage, and Drea wasn’t going to let that happen.

You don’t get to choose
, Drea said.
It’s my choice.

I think the goddess would disagree
, the bear said blithely
.

This isn’t what the goddess wanted. She didn’t create our race for us to be this way. The human parts of us are supposed to be united with our beasts and acting in one accord. You’ve been separate since the day I started puberty.

Even in the surge of hormones and adolescent uncertainty, Drea had been looking forward to getting to know that part of herself. She hadn’t understood why she’d felt so disconnected from her beast when Bryan and all the other kids in the clan were so certain about theirs. Her clan mates were more confident with their bear-enhanced personalities. Drea, though, withdrew even more. She’d felt like an outsider in her own body.

“Maybe the herbs stopped working,” came Bryan’s voice.

“Yeah, their scent is wearing off by now,” Peter said.

“You mean that lump right there at the end?” Tamara asked.

“The sachet shifted to the end of the pillowcase. Here. I’ll hold her up. Grab that from the pillow. I don’t have time to make another one before San calls.”

The bear was angry. The anger was like hot flames lapping against Drea’s human consciousness, and she had no way to protect herself from burning.
They’re weak and stupid, too, if they’re going to expend all that effort to wake you up. They should cut their losses and leave you here. You’ll wither away in the bed and die, and I’ll move on to a stronger host.

What are you talking about? You make yourself sound like some alien thing that’s hijacked my subconscious instead of a part of my brain that’s been planted since conception. A self-destruct sequence. Ticky-ticky-boom!
Drea gave a mental eye-roll.

Maybe I was just put here to make sure you died before procreating. Such a waste.

“Put it right by her nose,” came Peter’s voice.

Briefly, there was a flash of consciousness—Peter leaning over her looking so concerned and loving, Bryan wearing that worried scowl of his that was so familiar, and Tamara looking as always like the protective big sister with the way her brow was furrowed.

“Hhhh.
Help
,” Drea forced out of her unyielding lungs before she got pulled under again.

So pathetic
, the bear said.
Waste of skin. Waste of life.

I’m not listening to you.

You have no choice but to listen. And you know what? You’ll never forget. Even if I were gone, you’d know I was right.

___

“I don’t care what you say,” Peter said as he checked the time on his phone yet again. “That was consent. She wants help. She wants us to do what needs to be done.”

“I agree that she asked for help,” Tamara said, “but I have to play the devil’s advocate here.” She poured more boiling water over too-damned-many instant coffee granules and then stirred. “Could she possibly be asking us to wake her but not using the extreme means you’re prepared to use?”

“She told me before you and Bryan came that she wanted the bear gone. I don’t think she’d change her mind. She’s spent the past, what, ten years with the animal? I think that’s a long enough time for a shifter to decide if the relationship is a functional and productive one.”

Bryan leaned against the counter and let out a breath. “I’ve never even heard of anything like this happening before.”

“Neither had I until I spoke to my father,” Peter said.

“How many incidences of this sort of dysfunction is Joseph aware of?”

“Five or less. But remember, you’ve never encountered another Bear like Tamara before, either. As the Ridge Bears become less insular, there will probably be a number of shocking scenarios that’ll come to light.”

“I just can’t imagine her not being at Bear gatherings,” Bryan said. “People expect to see her, especially the kids. She was always scared out of her mind with worry, but the kids couldn’t tell. They didn’t have the senses to read her yet. She always made them comfortable when Gene was around. I guess she was sort of like a buffer. As long as she was there, they didn’t get too freaked.”

“Who said she can’t go to Bear gatherings?” Tamara asked. “She’ll still be a born-Bear. She’s still a part of the clan, no matter what happens.”

“I know that, baby, but where shifters gather, there’s always the possibility of attack by outside groups. If she can’t shift, she has no defenses. I wouldn’t want her there.”

“So, you’d exclude me as well,” Peter said.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not a Ridge Bear. My presence around the clan at the moment is solely through my connection to Tamara, but that’s changing. Wouldn’t you agree that through Andrea, my association with the Ridge Bears is somewhat more solidified?”

“I don’t think that’s in question. And I think you know damned well that with or without Drea you could show up to any event we’ve got happening and no one’s going to tell you to go away.”

“But if she’s not welcome, neither am I.”

Bryan closed his eyes and groaned. “I never said she wasn’t welcome. I said that I wouldn’t
want
her there.”

“But you would have children there? And the human mates of some of the Bears?”

“That’s different.”

“No, it’s not,” Tamara said. “What’s the real issue, baby? Are you afraid people are going to ask questions?”

“They’re going to, and I don’t know what kind of lies we can possibly tell them.”

“Why lie?” Peter asked. “Andrea didn’t do anything wrong. She got dealt a bad hand and she’s doing the best she can to mitigate the trouble.”

Bryan straightened up from the counter and paced in front of the ancient refrigerator. “You gotta understand how Ridge Bears think. A lot of folks in the clan believe that being Bears makes us sacred, and for a woman to
willingly
expunge her beast—”

“I thought we’d already decided this,” Tamara interjected.

“Well, we did, but…” Bryan raked his hand through his thick black hair and gave it a tug. “I just worry. I can’t help but to worry.”

“That’s not your job. Don’t worry about all the potential ripples caused by a single action,” she said. “You look at the big picture and let me worry about the small stuff.”

“And you’re not worried?”

She shrugged. “I think the clan is more accommodating than you think. Everyone worries about Drea. They’d want her to do whatever is necessary to keep herself healthy. As much as I don’t like the idea of her not being able to shift, I don’t believe anyone else would think she’s committed some grave sin. If anything, they’ll be relieved that she’s better.”

The alpha rubbed his eyes and let out a long, ragged exhalation. “You’re probably right.”

Tam scoffed and sipped her coffee. “I’m always right.”

“Well, I hope you are this time,” Peter said. “She’s my mate. I don’t want her to feel excluded from the groups she knows. In spite of how and why I brought her here, I’m not so arrogant to think that I’m all she needs.”

“Fine,” Bryan said. “She can choose to go or not go to wherever Bears gather. I won’t make my own sister a pariah, and the decision will be left to her as to whether she’ll speak or not speak on what she had to do.”

Peter nodded. “That’s fair.”

His phone rung at the same time a knock sounded on the apartment door. San was calling.

He hit the button to accept the call and moved through the living room. “Hello?”

“Let me in or not. Your choice.”

He let her in.
Why bother calling?

She breezed into the room dressed in all black as if she were going to a funeral, and carrying two bulging totes. Turning toward the kitchen, she canted her head in acknowledgement at the newcomers, and then turned to Peter. “Well?”

“Yes. She wants it done, and we’ve agreed.”

“Who is this
we
?”

Peter closed and locked the door, then gestured to the Ridges. “The blonde is my sister Tamara. The man is Bryan Ridge. He’s the alpha of the Ridge Bear group, and Andrea’s brother.”

San lifted her chin. “Ah. Welcome to Baltimore, Alpha.”

“I wish I could say I were here for leisure,” Bryan said.

“Some other time, I’m sure.” She turned to Peter. “Are we ready to proceed? This ritual may take some time. I’m using my mother’s notes, so I won’t be as quick about the tasks as she might have been. I’m not going to rush through the parts. This needs to be done right.”

“How long?” Tamara asked.

San grunted. “Could take all night. There’s no way to guess how much recovery time she’ll need between each part. No matter how long the ordeal takes, I’ll be here for the duration.”

“Is the ritual going to hurt her?” Peter asked.

San cringed.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I don’t lie, and you know that. Don’t even fix your mouth to make the accusation when I’m simply trying to find kind words to give you.”

He put up his hands and muttered, “I’m sorry.”

She grunted. “Perhaps at first she won’t feel any pain, but as she reintegrates into her senses, she will most certainly feel that animal part of her being stripped. If the beast is clinging, it may dig in. You may not see the wounds, but Drea would certainly feel them being made.”

“Fuck.”

“She would tell you to proceed anyway,” Bryan said in a rush—almost as if he were still convincing himself of the truth. “She’d want to get the pain over with, so let’s get started before one of us chickens out and comes up with some half-assed excuse as to why we should throttle this thing.”

They all moved toward the bedroom.

San stopped at the doorway and turned. “This is hungry work. Perhaps you should go find dinner and bring it back. Take a long walk while you’re out. Give me some time to set things up.”

“I’m not leaving her,” Peter said. “Do what you have to do with me here.”

San grunted again and fixed her gaze on Bryan.

“Fine,” Bryan said. “I can tell when someone thinks there are too many people in a room.”

“You’ve got big energy, Alpha.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

“Let’s go get some food and check in with Dana,” Tamara said. She looked around Bryan’s body at Peter. “We’ll be back in an hour or two. Keep your phone on. Don’t wait too long to call if anything goes wrong.”

“If I weren’t going to do a good job taking care of her, I would have never called you two in the first place,” Peter grumbled.

Bryan opened his mouth as if to rebut, but Tamara pulled his hand. “I’m in the mood for fish, baby.”

“Go to Sampson’s,” San said as she passed through the doorway into the bedroom. “They fry the best flounder. Bring me back a number four platter and make sure they’re not stingy with the hot sauce packets.”

The pair departed, closing the door softly behind them, and San—still near the doorway—narrowed her eyes at Peter. “You don’t need to be here.”

He edged past her without a word and climbed onto the bed.

“Had to try,” she muttered.

She unpacked some of the items from her bags. Jars, containers, baggies filled with unknown substances. A mortar and pestle. Some black cloth. A knife.

He stroked Andrea’s chin and watched San test the sharpness of the blade with her thumb.

“If you plan on keeping that shirt she’s wearing,” she said, “you’d best take it off her. I never said this was going to be clean work.”

“I’m not going to let you cut her up. She has enough scars already.”

San rolled her eyes. “I need a few drops of blood, not a pint. There’ll be no scars from that. The mess will be from vomit.”

He scoffed. “Well, there won’t be much of that, either. She’s eaten probably four bites in three days. Do what you have to do.”

San nodded and got to work mixing mysterious liquids and herbs, knelt at the bedside. She sang low to herself as she worked, concentrating on pinching and pouring exact amounts into her bowl and seeming to forget that he was there.

He pulled Andrea into his arms and dragged his lips across her burning forehead. “You still in there, sweetheart?” he whispered.

Andrea’s only response was a sharp intake of air.

He missed hearing her soft voice and the way she spun words. People yelled at her all the time at work over the phone, and she always handled conflict so well. She’d deflect the anger, and quickly problem-solve, or else figure out who could solve the problem better. She knew when to call in the big dogs, and though she tried to keep administrative concerns off the desks of the investigation staff, sometimes she had to escalate queries to the others. When she did, the ladies dropped whatever they were doing to take care of her requests. They trusted that she’d do her job so they could do theirs, and there was really nothing
wrong
with her job, in Peter’s opinion. If Andrea didn’t think she could work in the field, Peter didn’t think she should push herself. Businesses were only as enduring as their admin support, and Dana would be showing a decided lack of wisdom if she tried to replace Andrea for her lack of upward ambition.