Bear My Heart: A Small Town Paranormal Romance (14 page)

Olga tasted bile in her
throat. She forced herself to remain still and expressionless as she
concentrated on breathing. The air in the car was stale and
suffocating, and she felt she was going to be sick.

Simon's face twisted
suddenly. “I would have let you go, you know. I appreciate
beauty and I create art. I would never have wanted to destroy
something as beautiful as you, Daniella.”

His eyes narrowed in hate and
fury. “But you ruined everything. You ran from me and
destroyed everything we'd built together. You destroyed my trust, my
drawings, my art. You destroyed my soul, Daniella!”

Olga held onto Leo as Simon
swerved suddenly, sending them smashing against the side door.

“So here we are.”
Simon stomped on the brakes and gave her an ugly smile. “We're
going to pick up right where we left off.”

CHAPTER
FORTY-ONE

Troy scowled as he sped along
the never-ending stretch of highway. He hadn't passed a single
vehicle.

He hadn't caught up with the
Artist, but he was on the right track.

“Are you sure?”
Brandon asked again, squinting into the distance. “He may have
gone the other way...”

“No. He would have
taken this route. There are hardly any cars along this road. He
wouldn't risk being seen and caught. Not when he's finally gotten
his hands on her,” Troy snarled.

Brandon nodded once and asked
quietly, “Can you scent her, Troy?”

Troy grimaced. “No.”

“You said she's your
mate.”

“She is.”

“You claimed her yet?”

Troy gave a terse nod.

Brandon flashed him a quick
smile. He paused and gave Troy a long look. “You can't keep
your bear leashed all the time. Cut yourself some slack, Troy. You
won't lose control. Trust your bear and have more faith in
yourself.”

Troy gripped the steering
wheel tighter.

“I almost went rogue
after those shits killed my dad,” Brandon went on. “I
wanted them to pay with their lives. They murdered my dad and all
they had to do was pay a fine. A goddamn fine! There was no
justice, and I wanted to exact my own justice. A shifter life is
worth much, much less than a human life. That's the message.”

Troy gave a bitter laugh.
“Minorities have it tough. I just never realized how tough.”

“Well, that's life.
Some things we can't control. What we can control is our response to
what life throws at us.”

Troy slanted Brandon a look.
“You getting all philosophical on me?”

“Nah. What I'm trying
to say is—” Brandon turned to face Troy. “You
stopped me from doing something that would have made my dad ashamed
of me had he been alive. If I turned rogue, it would have killed him
if he wasn't dead already.”

“You're not a rogue,
Brandon.”

“Neither are you.”

Troy reached over and clapped
the younger man on the shoulder.

“My dad told me that a
bear can track its mate for miles,” Brandon said. “I
don't know if that's true. I don't have a mate.”

The guy lifted his big
shoulders in a shrug. “But Dot...I mean, Olga, is your mate,
Troy,” Brandon went on earnestly. “She's a part of you.
I'm sure your bear can find her. Seriously, you don't let your bear
out often enough.”

“That's what Olga
said.”

Brandon was about to reply
when Troy swerved sharply. Brandon's eyes widened when he saw what
Troy was staring at.

There was an abandoned motel
off the side of the highway. A rusty broken sign proclaimed that the
Artisan Motel was open seven days a week. The Artisan Motel had once
been very popular with tourists and visitors to Bear Cove but now all
that was left was a gray, peeling, sad-looking building. It was a
pity because everything was still in place. Almost all the doors and
windows were intact.

“I see it, I see it!”
Brandon yelled. “There's a black car parked at the back of the
motel!”

CHAPTER
FORTY-TWO

Olga lunged forward and
screamed, “Don't touch him! Leave him alone, you bastard! Let
him go!”

She clawed at the collar
around her neck and strained as hard as she could but the chain
wasn't long enough. She couldn't reach Leo.

Simon had prepared
everything. He had chosen one of the rooms on the second floor of
the old motel and tidied it up. It was obvious that he had spent
quite a lot of time in the abandoned Artisan Motel. He had
painstakingly pushed all the broken furniture into a corner, leaving
just a single chair in the middle of the room. There was a carefully
sharpened pencil and sketch pad on the chair.

“Our cabin,”
Simon had announced dreamily. “Remember our cabin, Daniella?
I'm sorry I didn't have enough time to find something better for you.
This motel hasn't been used in years but it'd do.”

There was a brand new
electric drill on the floor. Simon had managed to bolt a length of
chain to the wall and hook it to a collar.

Olga had seen the collar the
instant Simon shoved her into the room. She had tried to fight him
but he overpowered her and clamped the collar tightly around her
neck.

Simon was humming softly as
he tied a rope around Leo's neck. The boy's hands were tightly
bound behind his back. Leo stared at Olga with large, frightened
eyes, and sobbed. He kicked furiously at Simon but the man was much
bigger and stronger than him.

Olga knew why he had left
Leo's legs unbound. He was going to hang Leo from a hook in the
ceiling, and he wanted her to see the boy kicking out in terror and
desperation and he fought for his life.

Olga squeezed her eyes shut
so Leo wouldn't see her tears. She didn't want Leo to see how scared
she was.

“Hey, Daniella.”
Simon whistled.

She kept her eyes shut.

“Daniella,” Simon
repeated. He sounded angry now. “Open your eyes.”

Olga inched backwards until
her back hit the wall. She kept her eyes firmly closed.

Silently, she slipped her
hand into her pocket and felt the tip of a pen.

“Daniella! I said open
your eyes and look,” Simon snapped.

She shook her head defiantly
and made an angry, muffled sound of protest.

If he wanted her to open her
eyes, he would have to come over and force her eyes open himself.

She heard him curse
viciously. Something hit the wall but she refused to open her eyes.

She heard his approaching
footsteps.

“Don't disobey me,
Daniella,” Simon hissed and grabbed her face. She felt his hot
breath on her cheek and she tightened her grip on the pen.

Simon dug his nails into her
cheek. “Don't make me hurt you, Daniella.”

Olga snapped her eyes open
and wrenched the pen from her pocket.

She raised her arm and saw
Simon's eyes round in shock when he saw what was in her hand.

With a tortured cry, she
plunged the pen straight into Simon's eye and shoved him forcefully
backwards.

“Run!” she
screamed to Leo. “Go!”

Leo scrambled up, tears
streaming down his face. His hands were bound behind his back but
his legs were free. He stared at Simon in horror as the man
staggered sideways and smashed into the wall. A pen was sticking out
of his left eye and one side of his face was covered with blood.

Frozen with fear, Leo stared
helplessly at Olga.

“Run, Leo! Just go!”
she yelled at him.

“What about you?”
he cried.

“I'll be fine. Go!
Keep to the road and keep running!” She turned and saw that
Simon was stumbling towards her. “Go! Now!”

CHAPTER
FORTY-THREE

Troy bolted from his truck
even before the truck had skidded to a stop. He charged through the
broken back door of the motel and kicked bricks and wooden planks out
of his way as he ran towards the staircase.

He raced up the rickety
stairs and skidded on the dusty floor when he heard a scream.

“Olga!” he
roared.

Troy let his bear rise and he
felt his claws slicing out of his fingertips. He was still in human
form but his senses were fully feral. He could feel the power and
rage of his beast slamming through him like a tidal wave.

The rotting floorboards
almost splintered under his feet as he pounded down the corridor.

Slashing the door with his
claws, he put his fist through the wood and tore the door right off
its hinges. His roar was answered by a scream. It was a child's
scream.

“Leo!”

Troy staggered back as Leo
ran into his arms. “Uncle Troy! Uncle Troy! Save her!”
Leo wailed.

Troy saw Olga struggling with
Simon at the back of the room. The bastard had Olga pinned against
the wall. Simon was screaming as he slammed Olga's head against the
wall again and again. His scream didn't sound remotely human.

Troy grabbed Simon by the
collar and flung him backwards. Troy jerked back when he saw the
man's face. He saw the pen sticking out of Simon's eye socket and he
smiled despite himself.

His Olga was one hell of a
fighter.

She had protected herself and
Leo.

Troy glanced over his
shoulder and saw Brandon scoop Leo up and shield the boy's eyes from
the gore and violence. With a nod at Troy, Brandon ran from the
room. He would get the boy to safety.

Simon was crumpled in a heap
on the floor. Groaning and cursing, he pushed himself up slowly.

But Troy was already at
Olga's side. He tore the collar from her neck and helped her up.

Her eyes widened as she
stared behind him. “Troy, look out!” she shrieked.

Troy whirled round and caught
Simon's wrist. He had a knife in his hand and he was aiming it at
Troy's throat. The knife trembled in Simon's fist but he refused to
let go. The point of the blade quivered just inches from Troy's
neck.

Troy kept twisting until
Simon finally released the knife. With a blood-curdling scream,
Simon fell to his knees, cradling his hand to his chest.

Troy kicked the knife to a
corner and grabbed the chain. Snarling, he yanked the chain free,
sending nails flying out of the wall and scattering across the floor.

Swiftly, he wrapped the chain
around Simon's wrists and bound his arms securely behind his back.

Troy stood up and stared at
the Artist. Simon Quinn was struggling weakly and moaning in agony.
But his one good eye glittered with menace as he stared at Olga.

“Daniella,” he
hissed. “You will not leave me. Daniella!”

Troy put his arms around
Olga and led her out of the room.

“Daniella!”
Simon Quinn screamed.

In the distance, Troy heard
the wail of approaching sirens. The Sheriff was here, and from the
sound of it, he had backup.

“You didn't kill him,”
Olga whispered. Despite the bruises on her face, she smiled through
her tears.

“No,” Troy said
evenly. “The law might not respect shifters, but I respect the
law. Let the law deal with him. There's enough evidence in that
room to convict him.”

He took Olga's shivering
hands and said, “The Artist will pay for his crimes. It's
over, Olga. It's all over.”

CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR

Olga hurried to the door when
she heard Troy's truck in the driveway. She opened the door to see
Leo and Logan climbing out of the truck.

“Hello, Aunt Olga,”
Logan greeted her as he skipped into the house. Leo trailed behind
his twin and mumbled indistinctly when Olga put her arm around his
shoulder.

Troy came up to her and
kissed her softly on the cheek. “I missed you,” Troy
murmured.

Olga laughed. “You
just drove to Megan's place to pick the boys up,” she said.
“You've only been gone ten minutes.”

“And I miss you
already,” he drawled.

Olga gave him a quick kiss
and pushed him away gently. “I'll see to the boys,” she
told him. “Aren't you meeting Brandon this morning? Go.
Shoo!”

Troy tried to draw her to him
again but she batted him away and scurried off. He just couldn't
seem to keep his hands off her. They'd been living together for two
months now, and they'd grown even closer to each other. Every day,
their love just kept growing stronger as they helped each other heal
and grow. They had been through so much together, and they
understood each other's strengths and weaknesses, hopes and fears.

They weren't perfect. But
they were perfect together.

Olga hadn't moved back to her
house. Ever since Troy grabbed her duffel bag and drove her straight
to his place, she had been staying with him. Her real estate agent
had been very understanding and accommodating, and he assured her
that he would speak to the owners so she could terminate her lease
early. When she went back to visit Casey and Timmy just a few days
ago, Olga saw that there was a “For Sale” sign in front
of the house. Mr and Mrs Yong had decided to sell their house, and
Olga hoped that Casey and Timmy would have a nice new neighbor soon.