Bear Necessities (12 page)

“Do
you know who my daughter’s mate is?”

Anderson
lifted his head and stared at Aunt Laura. He nodded. “Yeah. I know who he is.”

“And?”

He
straightened up and let go of Chloe’s hand. “He’s not in town right now. Sarah
called him and let him know what’s going on. He told her he’d be back as soon
as he could.” Anderson shifted, looking uncomfortable. “There are a few things
you should know. First, he doesn’t know about us. He’s human.”

They
all nodded. Bunny’s mother had been human, and the stories about how his father
had cornered and claimed his mate still had the power to reduce grown men to
giggles. The fact that Barbra Bunsun had every intention of being caught only
added to the joy of the story.

Still,
everyone knew you had to be careful when claiming a human mate. Not everyone
would respond well to finding themselves furry. In the past, there had been
those who had attacked their shifter mates, thinking them possessed by the
devil.

“Second,
he had the mistaken impression that Chloe and I were dating.”

Bunny
folded his arms across his chest and snarled. Next to him, Ryan growled. They,
too, had thought the sheriff and Chloe were dating. The way Chloe spoken about
him, the bracelet he’d given her for Christmas with the little cats and foxes
on it, had all said
girlfriend
as far as the Bunsun-Williamses were
concerned. Hell, as far as he knew Ryan still thought it, despite being told
Chloe had a mate somewhere out there.

Anderson’s
hands went up. “We
weren’t
. Damn it. My mate still gives me fits about
that.” He rolled his eyes. “But Jim blames both of us. The third problem is he
thinks Chloe’s too young for him. He even told her as much.”

“Will
he come for her?”

Aunt
Laura was still staring at Anderson, her gaze boring into him.

Anderson
nodded. “I think he will. Sarah says he loves Chloe, he just needs to deal with
his issues. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s here before morning.”

“How
would Sarah know this?”

Anderson’s
whole face softened. “My mate is the Omega of the Halle Pride.”

Bunny
was confused. As the Omega, Anderson’s mate should have known exactly how the
man felt, both about her and about Chloe. The way he understood it, Omegas were
the emotional lynchpin of whatever Pride or Pack they belonged to. How could
there have been any confusion over which one he wanted? There was no way, once
he met his mate, that he could confuse it for anything but the mate bond. Had
he met his Sarah after he’d begun dating Chloe, or had it been some sort of
cosmic misunderstanding? Unfortunately Bunny didn’t feel he had the right to
ask the sheriff that question. He barely knew the man, after all, and only
trusted him because he’d helped Tabby.

“Any
idea who did this to my daughter?” Uncle Steve’s voice was low and threatening.
His hand reached out and stroked Chloe’s hair.

“I
have some theories, but until I’m sure, I’m not going to say anything. Don’t
ask me, I won’t tell you.”

And
that was when Bunny realized exactly what sort of man stood in front of them.
Anderson radiated an aura of power he’d only felt once before. “You’re a
Hunter.”

Anderson’s
smile was grim. “Yup. How’d you know?”

“I had
a friend once, James. He’s a Hunter.” It had been a long time since he’d seen
James. He was the Bear Senator as well as a Hunter. He was a charming rogue
with a core of steel. The aura of power faded, leaving Bunny feeling a little
off balance.

“James
Barnwell?”

Bunny’s
brows shot up. “You know him?”

Anderson
grimaced. “The son of a bitch trained me.”

Bunny
snorted. He’d heard more than one person use that tone of voice when describing
James. Hell, he’d heard him called much worse than that.

“He’s
also the reason we’re in this fix with Chloe and Jim, in a roundabout sort of
way. He convinced me not to claim Sarah before I left, Sarah and I almost
imploded and we each turned to other people to get over it. Chloe and I were
friends and we talked a lot. I asked her to keep an eye on Sarah. Sarah started
hanging out a lot with Jim Woods, Chloe’s destined mate, and Chloe got jealous.
I don’t think she even realized what she was doing, but Chloe was the one who
had everyone thinking we were dating.” He shook his head. “If I hadn’t come
back when I did, both Chloe and I could have lost our mates.”

Bunny
winced in sympathy. He couldn’t begin to imagine spending eternity without
Tabby now that he’d had her. But to lose her before he got to claim her would
have been torture.

“It
doesn’t surprise me that James told you to hold off on your mating. He doesn’t
believe Hunters should be mated at all.” Bunny shared a glance with Anderson.
Someday James Barnwell would find his own mate, and when he did, he knew
exactly
how the Hunter would react.

Poor
girl. I hope I get to watch the mighty Hunter fall.
The sheriff was watching him,
a questioning look on his face. “When he finds her, call me. I’ll bring the
popcorn.”

Anderson
shook his hand. “Done.”

“I
hope this Jim person gets here soon,” Uncle Steve said, his hands curling into
fists at his sides.

“I
just hope she responds to him.” Ryan stalked out of the room, his tension
obvious. Watching his baby sister lying motionless in that hospital bed was
hitting the other man hard.

Bunny
held out his hand, pointing to the door Ryan had just walked out. “Could I ask
you a few questions outside?” He led the way after Anderson nodded his
agreement. He made sure the door was shut before asking the question burning in
his gut. “Tabby got a phone call this morning, and I need to know if this
person is a threat to her or not. And before you ask, she’s refusing to talk to
me about it.”

“I’ll
answer if I can.”

“Who
the hell is Gary?”

When
Anderson’s midnight blue eyes turned to gold, Bunny knew the answer.

Gary
was trouble.

“So?”

Tabby
winced. Cyn was behind her, guarding the end of the counter, trapping her
behind glass and artwork. Glory was leaning over the counter, her face full of
mischief. The shop was empty, and the moment she’d been dreading all day was
finally here. Her nosy-ass friends had her cornered. “So what?”

The
two women exchanged a glance. “How was it?”

Tabby’s
cheeks heated up. “It?”

Glory’s
head tipped back, exposing the long line of her neck. “Oh,
Bunny
,” she
moaned. “Bunny, Bunny,” she chanted, each one becoming more breathless, until, “
Bunny!
”

Cyn
was laughing her ass off as Glory faked an orgasm. What neither woman saw was
Ryan right outside the door, his eyes narrowed as he glared at Glory. When
Glory threw her head back and shuddered, his fists clenched, his eyes turning
deep, dark brown.

If
Glory didn’t stop, Ryan was going to do something seriously drastic. She just
hoped drastic didn’t involve Ryan’s claws and Alex’s face.

“Knock
it off, guys.”

Glory
giggled and waved her hands like a hula dancer. “Well? How was the motion of
his ocean?”

“Screw
that.” Cyn propped one hip against the counter. “I want to know about the size
of his boat.” She held her hands at least seven inches apart and waggled her
eyebrows.

The
bell over the door jingled and Ryan sauntered in, his gaze glued to Glory.
“Don’t you dare answer that.”

Cyn
pushed herself back up. “Don’t sweat it, Glory. It’s not like we won’t get it
out of her once we get home.”

Glory
nodded, looking angelic. “Yup. We know her weakness.”

Uh-oh.
Tabby stiffened. “Oh, no, you
don’t.”

“All
we have to do…” Cyn smirked.

“…is
break out the box…” Glory was smiling that innocent pixie smile that fooled
only the very young, the very old, and the terminally stupid.

“…and
hide all her shoes.” The triumph in Cyn’s voice demanded retribution. Too bad
Cyn didn’t seem to
have
a weakness.

Tabby
glared at her so-called friends. “I hate you bitches.” They would, too. The
only hope her poor shoes had was if she got home before they did and managed to
hide them all.

“Is
this a private party or can anyone join?”

She would
have lost it if she hadn’t heard the bell again. “Hey, Julian!”

“Julian
Ducharme?” Ryan held out his hand when Julian nodded. “Ryan Williams, Chloe’s
brother.”

Julian
took Ryan’s hand and shook it. “How’s she doing?”

“She
hasn’t woken up.” The anger and grief in Ryan’s voice was unmistakable. “I owe
you.”

Julian
shrugged uncomfortably. “It was nothing.”

“My
sister would have died on that street if you hadn’t risked your life like that.
My family is in your debt.”

Tabby
saw Julian’s jaw clench for a moment and wondered at it. “Any one of us would
have done the same.”

“You
almost lost your own life in the process.” Out of the corner of her eye, she
saw Cyn start. “That’s not something we’re likely to forget.”

“I
couldn’t let her die.” For a brief second, white flashed through Julian’s hair,
there and gone so quickly that if she hadn’t seen it before she would have
declared it a trick of the light. “Her journey isn’t over yet.”

From
the way Ryan’s eyes widened, he’d seen the flash of Julian’s hair as well.
Whether the Bear knew more of what that meant, she didn’t know. All she knew
was she needed to corner her friend, tie him down, and get some goddamn
answers. “Feeling better, Julian?”

He nodded,
his gaze darting to Cyn before he answered Tabby. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m going to
stop in the hospital, see if there’s anything more I can do for Chloe.”

“No!”
Ryan and Tabby’s voices rang out, startling Cyn and Glory. Tabby coughed. “All
things considered, I don’t think a hospital is a shiny, happy place for you to
be, Jules.”

Glory
inched away from Ryan, who’d been trying to put his arm around her waist. “Why
not? He spent the night there just fine.”

She
shared a look with Julian, raising her brows. Did he want to reveal to the
other two women what he was capable of?

He
sighed, his shoulders slumping a bit. “No, it’s not. It’s fucking horrendous,
but I’ll do what I have to do.” His knuckles rapped on the glass. “I’ll head
there now. Maybe I can wake her up, maybe not, but I have to try.”

Cyn
glared at him, eyes narrowed dangerously. “One of these days you’re going to
tell me what the fuck is up with you,
aren’t you
.”

Tabby
could tell that was a statement, not a question. Cyn was on the warpath and
apparently felt one of her own was threatened. Tabby hid her grin.

Julian
wasn’t going to know what hit him when Cyn decided to let him claim her.

They
shared a long look before Julian nodded slowly. “When everything is in place,
you’ll know everything.”

Cyn
just rolled her eyes and headed into the back room. Julian’s expression was
completely closed off, but the tick in his jaw was back. She’d never seen the easygoing
man look like that. He was staring at that curtain like he wanted to storm
through it and lay siege to the woman hiding behind it.

“I’ll
head back with you.” Ryan tugged one of Glory’s curls. “Be good.”

“Excuse
me?” Glory glared up at him.

He
tugged a little harder before letting Glory’s hair go. “And stop thinking about
my cousin’s junk. I’d hate to have to rip it off.”

Tabby
growled.

Ryan
rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll just beat the shit out of him.”

She
kept the growl going.

Ryan
smiled weakly. “You can nurse him back to health.”

Now it
was her turn to roll her eyes. “Get out of here.” The two men turned to leave.
“Do me a favor? Tell Alex he owes me a new cell phone.” The two men left the
store, shaking their heads. “Glory?”

“Hmm?”

“Could
you give the poor guy a break? His sister’s in the hospital.”

Glory
didn’t try to pretend she didn’t know what Tabby was talking about. “He’s just
too much, you know? Big and overpowering and doesn’t know the term personal
space.”

Tabby
decided to tell a little white lie. “He likes you.” He more than liked her, he
was a man trying to land his mate.

“Maybe
too much.” Glory blew her bangs out of her eyes. “What would I do with him,
anyway? Feed him, water him, build him a tree house? Can bears climb trees?
Should I buy a house and put in a big fishpond? I could put in a fireplace and
let him flop in front of it.”

Tabby
stared at her friend. She crooked her finger at Glory. “C’mere.”