Read The Witness and the Bear: (Werebear Shifter Romance) Online
Authors: T. S. Joyce
Hannah held up her chained arm, attached to the wall. “Where am I
gonna go?”
Nothing save for the
tink, tink
of the chain at her wrist sounded as she paced. Minutes drifted by and still nothing.
Maybe this was their game. Scare her witless
and then leave her here, chained to the wall and forever tortured by the idea of them coming back at any moment. She pulled against the manacle, stretching toward the table of blades. She was about three feet shy of reaching them. Stretching her leg out, she tried to touch it, but still, she was short. Nothing else she could use as a weapon was in reach except for the chain. Maybe if she could get it wrapped around their throats…
The door crashed open and she jumped so hard, her back
hit the wall. Riker stood there, panting as blood dripped from a gash across his forehead. “You okay?”
“Riker?” Of course it was him, but he’d been the last person she’d expected to walk through that door and right now, all her shock would allow was lame questions.
“Come on. We need to get out of here.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Killing Stone’s men.”
“But I thought—
”
“
Exactly what I wanted you to think. Hannah,” he growled, the word tapering to a feral rumble. “I was never betraying you. We have to go.”
Frozen in place at his admission, a hopeful smile ghosted her lips. He hadn’t just handed her over without a plan then. Her mate had…what? Used her as bait? Roiling emotions churned inside of her but Riker was right. They needed to leave this den of death and quick. She’d have to sift through the slew of pissed off and relieved feelings later, when she wasn’t chained to a wall.
She lifted her hand, the metal clinking with her movement. “Do you have the key?”
Hands on the
links, Riker clenched his teeth and snarled as he pulled them free of the wall. Sheetrock and an old splintered two-by-four came with it, but he picked up the dragging end like it was weightless and pushed her out the door.
Up the stairs and down the corridor, past the office and into the great front room, Riker didn’t let her slow until they reached the pile of bodies near the wall. Dane stared back at her with dead, empty eyes
, his neck twisted the wrong way, and she turned away as bile clawed its way up the back of her throat. A rustling sounded and moments later, Riker jammed the key into the manacle that ensnared her arm. He wiped the rough surface of the metal clean of fingerprints with the edge of his shirt, then tossed it in the corner. With a steady grip, he pulled her by the hand through the front door and into the open night air.
Sneakers pounding the pavement, she ran as fast as she could behind him and ducked into the waiting car. The engine turned and as soon as it caught, Riker’s boot was on the gas.
Inhuman eyes shone from Riker’s face in the illumination of the passing street lights and he gripped the wheel with every turn.
Utterly shocked, she stared at the
road stretching in front of them. At the night sky, speckled with stars that she’d never thought to see again just minutes ago.
She was alive.
Hannah wanted to trash the hotel room in a blaze of rage, rock star style. The hotel staff would have to deal with her questionable behavior though, so guilt kept her hands clenched into the covers of the soft, gold colored duvet.
This might be the nicest hotel room she’d ever stayed in. Patterned beige papered the wall, and even the framed watercolor prints that likely graced every room were interesting and well done. A seating area with a giant television sat near the
king sized bed, and there was even a kitchen.
Still. A hotel mansion wasn’t going to
stifle her anger, so if Riker’s plan was bribery, well, he was going to have to try harder.
She felt used. Pride at his
cunning plan was stifled by the more immediate urge to verbally ream him for not letting her in on tonight. He’d let her think she was expendable. If he hadn’t looked like he was about to turn into a bear in that tiny rental car, she would’ve thrown one epic verbal whoopin’ on the drive to the hotel. As it stood, the air had been so charged with supernatural magic mojo, she could hardly draw a breath to curse him out. It had been a relief when he checked them into a room and said he’d be back soon. Maybe he was changing into a bear in Central Park.
A smile cracked her face
at the vision of his bear streaking past the hot dog stands and she shook her head to rid herself of the happy tendrils wrapping around her. He was still in trouble and if she accepted this kind of behavior now, their future together was going to get messy.
The room lock beeped and Riker shoved the swinging door open, toting a giant pizza box.
Eyebrows cocked like pistols, she set a snake-like glare onto him. “We need to have a serious talk. And what is that?” The delicious smell of pepperoni and melted mozzarella filled the room.
“You told me
once the thing you missed most about home was Ray’s Pizza.”
If he was trying to butter her up, he was doing a damned fine job of it.
She’d maybe underestimated how clever the man was.
The cardboard scuffed across the table as he set it down. When he lifted his eyes, they were raw, tortured, and he took a step toward her. And another.
“Stop.” She held her hand up but still he came. Her lip trembled. Less strong, she pleaded, “Just stop.”
“Never,” he said, his voice deep and harsh. “Not until you understand why I had to do this to you.” He pulled her from the bed and dragged her to the hard planes of his chest.
Not ready, she pushed away far enough to hit him in the ribcage. “I spent the entire day thinking I would die in some horrible way.” She hit him again and his eyes sparked with anger. “You let me feel unimportant and used. You let me think I’d be tortured again after you knew what the first time had cost my soul.”
She pushed and pushed, but he only held her tighter until, weak and exhausted, she gave in and
grieved against his shirt.
“
Jeremy told me this was the only way you’d let me save you.” His voice was thick but tender. “If you didn’t believe I was really trading you in, you wouldn’t have let me take the risk. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me Jeremy was wrong.”
Oh, she wanted to deny it. The last few hours played back in an instant, but no. If she knew he was going to follow her and
wage war against those psychopaths on her behalf, she would’ve tried to come up with a different plan.
At her hesitation, he said, “Dane was the one organizing the hits, Hannah.
Stone is on his last legs with the outside world and Dane is the last man he has with enough power to hire men to come after you. In prison, Stone is dealing with his enemies while his allies are being cut off. Two of the men you testified to put away were killed last week. Jeremy kept his head while Stone’s men had him and he told me everything he was able to piece together. Stone’s line to the outside world is shrinking and I needed to end this tonight, while they were weak. To do that, you had to believe I’d betray you or you wouldn’t have acted like you did when I brought you to them, and our cover would’ve been blown. You did just as I needed you to.” His hands tightened in her hair. “I was so proud of you. Of your strength and selflessness. You went in there knowing you’d get hurt to protect our people.”
“Our people?” Hope washed over her and she clung to the thin fabric of his shirt.
“Our people, Hannah. You’re my mate, always. You belong in Bear Valley just as surely as I do. Hey,” he said, easing back to look at her. He ran a thumb over the tracks her tears had made. “You’re safe. You don’t have to worry about Stone anymore. No more looking over your shoulder or worrying that your past will get the people you love hurt. It’s over.”
It was over?
The words sounded too good to be true. After running for so long, she didn’t know how to feel anything other than scared. But standing here, looking into Riker’s smoldering inhuman gaze, how could she feel anything other than safe? Her mate was strong and clever, and had likely suffered right along with her over the last few days. He and Jeremy came up with this elaborate plan that involved keeping her in the dark about Riker’s intentions, but it was so he could save her from the terror that had taken over her life. Even if it had been the worst day of her life, feeling betrayed by him and frightened of the pain that would surely follow, the result was the greatest gift he could’ve ever given her.
“When can we go back home?”
His smile was slow and reached his eyes. “I have plane tickets for tomorrow morning.”
“Who knew about your plan?”
“Me, Jeremy, Blaine and the council. We couldn’t tell Jenny or she’d give it away before we even left. She’s going to whoop my ass when we get home.”
Hannah laughed and wiped her tears with the palm of her hands. “Yeah, she is.”
His eyes drifted to her lips. “Can I kiss you?”
He’d never asked before, just taken what he wanted but the days since
Stone’s men attacked the Valley had hurt them both. She understood. Shyness crept over her too.
Standing on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and
brushed her lips against his. A soft animal sound rumbled from his throat, and he canted his head, drove his tongue into her mouth and dragged her against his hips.
It felt like forever since she’d been held by him, possessed by him. She’d missed the taste of him and the feel of his hard skin moving beneath her fingertips. She’d missed his warmth, but more than anything else, she’d missed the blanket of safety that covered her and stifled her fears and insecurities when he was near.
“Hannah,” he rasped against her throat.
“Yeah?” she breathed,
trailing kisses across his cheek.
Retreating by inches, he held her face gently in the palms of his hands. His gaze
, churning with emotion, held hers. “I love you.”
She’
d known the truth of his admission already. What man would risk everything for a woman he didn’t love? But his surrender of those words was the sweetest stroke of sound that had ever brushed her ears.
She’d had to leave the human world to find a man strong enough to handle her past and
give her a future. She’d had to become the human consort and mate to the alpha of an ancient clan of shifters to find herself.
Forget the muck of her past.
Against all odds, she’d found Riker, and he’d chosen her back.
She was the luckiest.
His smile, slow and crooked and only for her, captured her, emboldened her with the knowledge that he’d do anything to protect her, and she’d do the same for him. Her mate had given her a home and a place with his people, but most importantly, he’d given her a second chance at life.
She leaned her cheek against his chest, over the steady thrum of his beating heart.
“I love you back.”
T. S. Joyce
A writer of hot shifter romances, T.S. Joyce is devoted to telling stories readers can connect with on a heart level.
A native of Texas, she's spent a good deal of time in the wilderness of her family's land, which has given her a wealth of experience to draw from when writing stories.
For more information about
T. S. Joyce and her work, visit
http://www.tsjoycewrites.wordpress.com
.