Bear Necessities (19 page)

“And
that business would be?”

“Bunsun
Exteriors. Corporate specializes in commercial landscaping and hardscaping, but
I want to start some residential options here. I’m a landscape architect.”

“So
your family is rich?”

Bunny
made a face. “We’re comfortable. Besides, it’s my father’s business, not mine.
If a branch opens up down here, it will be run by my Uncle Steven.” He was
pretty sure Uncle Steven would fall in with what he wanted to do. Hell, he’d
probably put Ryan in charge just so Bunny wouldn’t be forced to do the
paperwork. The last time they’d put an expense sheet in front of Bunny, he’d
drawn big pink azalea bushes on it. Ryan was this generation’s money man. “I
wonder if I could get Eric down here or if he’ll stay in Oregon?”

“Eric?”

“My
brother. Dad left him behind to deal with the business while he’s in town.”

“Ah.”
Gabe pulled into the parking lot and turned off the ignition. “How many of you
are there?”

“Family
or Bears?”

Gabe
frowned. “Huh?”

“Aunt
Laura, Chloe’s mom? She’s a Fox. Her brother, Uncle Ray, married Uncle Steven’s
sister, and they have three kids, one Fox and two Bears. So most of the family
is half Fox, half Bear. Dad is the only one who mated a human, so Eric and I
are both Bears. What makes it even more confusing? Uncle Steven and Aunt Stacy
are Dad’s cousins.” He glowered at Gabe. “And no jokes about rednecks and first
cousins.”

Gabe’s
lips twitched. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He got out of the car and headed to
the diner, not bothering to wait for Bunny. From the set of his shoulders,
Bunny figured he was still fighting a laugh.

He got
out of the car, noting six bikes sitting off in a row. He frowned, something
about those bikes looked familiar. Bunny followed the sheriff into the diner, a
scent tickling his nose he hadn’t encountered in a long time. He smelled Bears,
ones he thought he recognized.

Gabe
was standing just inside the door, his hands loose at his sides, his back
straight and tight. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Back off and leave the
girl alone.”

Bunny
blinked at the hard note in the Sheriff’s voice. “Gabe? What’s going on?” He
looked over Gabe’s shoulder to find six men, all above average height,
surrounding a tiny woman. She held a tray in her visibly shaking hands. “Harry?
Is that you?”

All
six men flinched. “Alex Bu-Bunsun?”

Bunny
smiled. “Well hell, Harry. How’ve you been?” He hadn’t seen these guys in dogs’
years. “Doing good since I last saw you?” That had been, what, ten years ago?

“Better.
Better. Arm’s all healed up, thanks. Gives me fits in the rain, though. Not so
bad off as Barney. He still can’t use his hand.”

Bunny
grimaced. He hated being reminded of Barney. He’d done everything he could to
make up for what he’d almost done to the man, but Barney would have nothing to
do with him. Bunny didn’t blame him. He wouldn’t want anything to do with the
man who nearly killed him either. Last he heard, Barney was in Alaska, owned a
bar, and was happily mated with two cubs. Rumor had it he’d moved there to put
as much distance as he could between himself and Bunny, yet still remain in the
United States.

Harry
swallowed hard. “You, uh, just passing through?”

Harry’s
five gang members backed away from the waitress, wary eyes glued to Bunny. He
shrugged. “Nah, I’m living here now. My, um, fiancée is here.” The human
waitress was looking at them strangely. No way could he use the word “mate”
here.

Harry’s
eyes went wide. He managed to turn even paler. “F-fiancée? You’re engaged.
Congratulations.” He feebly waved at the bikers behind him. They all took a
polite seat at the counter, watching him with fear-filled eyes.

“Yeah,
she’s a tattoo artist.” One of the six men moaned. Bunny thought it might have
been Mikey. Despite his rough look, he’d always been a little more delicate
than the others. You’d think a man with a flaming skull tattooed on the nape of
his neck would be a little less wimpy. “Why, you thinking of getting one? She
does good work.” He’d seen that when he caught a look at Mrs. H’s cross. She
was a true artist, someone whose work he’d be proud to wear.

“Um,
no.” Harry shook his head so hard it should have snapped off his neck. “We’re,
uh, just passing through.”

Lee,
the smallest of the six men, gently tapped the waitress on the shoulder. “Can
we please get that order to go ma’am?”

Bunny
rolled his eyes. “C’mon guys. It was
years
ago.”

“He
took on all of us.
All
of us,” Lee whispered. “He didn’t even get a
scratch.”

Mikey
whimpered. The wuss.

“You
shouldn’t have picked on Heather. She was only ten.” And a Fox, which left her
completely vulnerable to the seven teenage Bears who’d chosen to make her life
miserable. He’d had no choice but to come to his cousin’s aid. The decision to
nearly kill the worst offender was something he had to live with every day. “I
did ask you to stop.” And he’d made each and every one of them apologize to
Heather after he was done with them, even Barney.

It had
taken two years for Heather’s nightmares to stop. All of them had starred her
cousin rather than her attackers. She still eyed him warily whenever the family
got together.

Gabe
was staring at him like he’d suddenly sprouted wings. “And Tabby’s worried
about you facing Gary?”

Bunny
shrugged. He’d tried to tell her he could handle it, but she didn’t want to
believe him. She was too used to Julian. Black Bears would run from a fight
they knew they couldn’t win. Kermode, for all that they were some shade of
cream or white in Bear form, were still a species of black bear.

Brown
Bears, on the other hand, were
a lot more aggressive. They’d stand until they dropped dead. And Bunny was
still considered more aggressive than most. “She’s used to Julian, but she’ll
learn.” The men in front of him twitched. Bunny looked around, noting the
curiosity of the rest of the diners. He smiled, hoping to reassure them. These
people were all potential clients, after all. “So. It was nice seeing all of
you again.”

Food
was plunked down in front of Harry, six large boxes and six smaller ones. The
waitress pulled two bags out from under the counter. The relief in Harry’s
expression would have been amusing if it hadn’t reminded Bunny of just
how
aggressive he could be. That look right there was one of the many reasons Bunny
had learned how not to fight.

He
didn’t like it when people were afraid of him. Of all the people in this room,
only Harry and his friends were truly aware of what Bunny was capable of, and
they were
terrified
. He sighed. He rammed into this every time he saw
someone who knew him from his wild teen years. He decided to try one last time.
Maybe he could still show them he wasn’t the same person he’d been when they
knew him. “Where are you all headed?”

“Um.
West.” Harry picked up the bags and held out a credit card. “We’re going west.
Possibly California.” The five other men nodded their agreement. “Maybe even
Washington.”

Bunny
nodded. There’d be no convincing them he was a changed Bear. “I see. I wish you
well on your journey.”

Harry
signed his receipt and stood. His fellow Bears fell in behind him. “We need to
get going. Losing daylight and all that. Nice running into you, Bunsun.”

“You
too, Harry.” He stepped aside, giving the men plenty of room to get out the
door. “Have a good ride.” He waved, not surprised when none of them waved back.

“What
the hell, Bunny. What was that all about?”

He
turned back to the sheriff. “Long story. I’ll tell you on the way back.” He
knew his cheerful expression wasn’t fooling the other man, but right now he
couldn’t be bothered to put much effort into it. “Let’s get our order and get
out of here.”

“Yeah.
Let’s do that.” Gabe went to the counter and asked for their food. Bunny stayed
by the door and listened to the sound of motorcycles riding off into the
distance.

Ryan
arrived shortly before Alex and Gabe got back and introduced himself to the
Pride leaders. He was just settling in near Simon when Gabe and Alex walked in
the front door carrying their burgers. Gabe had the strangest look on his face,
and Alex looked like someone had run over his dog. Tabby, concerned, sat
forward. “Alex? Gabe? What’s wrong?”

Gabe
shot Tabby a wild look before handing the food over to Emma and Becky.

Alex
shared a long look with Ryan. “Ran into Harry and his buddies over at Frank’s
Diner.”

Ryan
groaned. “Shit. What were they doing here?”

“Heading
west. Far, far west.”

“You
think…?” Ryan let the rest of the sentence trail off.

“Nah.
They’re still terrified. They wouldn’t risk it.”

“True.”

Tabby
looked back and forth between them. There was something there that she didn’t
understand. “What are you two talking about?”

Alex
had the weirdest look on his face. He looked almost apologetic. But why?

“Harry
and his friends harassed one of our cousins years ago. Bunny taught them not to
do that anymore.”

“Taught
them how?”

“He
nearly ripped their leader’s arms off.”

Tabby
blinked.
He did not just say what I thought he said.
“He what?”

Alex
turned on his heel and walked right back out the door.

“Alex?”
She got up and ran after him, ignoring Ryan’s voice calling after her. “Alex!”

He
stopped. “I know you think you understand what’s going on.”

“In
what universe?”

He
turned. He looked harsh, drawn. “Fine. What do you think you know?”

“Other
than the fact that you seem to be turning into an idiot? Not much.”

He
took a deep breath, rotating his neck. “A long time ago, I had anger management
issues.”

She
waved her hand for him to keep going. The fact her mate seemed to have a temper
hadn’t been lost on her.

“Some
Bears went after my cousin, Heather, who’s a Fox like Chloe. She was only ten
years old. They thought it would be fun to see if they could force her to
shift.”

Tabby
winced. That was bad, very bad. Most shifters couldn’t make the change until
puberty started. “Why would they do that?”

“They
were drunk, and…stupid.” He raised an eyebrow at her, his expression turning
even harsher.

“Ew!”
Tabby shuddered. “A ten-year-old?”

“They
tried to force her into puberty. They thought it was a fucking joke. Of course
the idiots didn’t realize that puberty isn’t something you can force. Heather
was terrified.”

“I
bet. What happened?”

“I
found them.” He sat on the front step and leaned against the porch rail. He
looked lost. “I almost killed them. All seven of them.”

“Seven?”

He
nodded. “Seven.” He patted the step and she sat next to him. “I maimed one of
them.”

She
snarled. “Good.”

He stared
at her, stunned. “Good?”

“They
traumatized a
child
. I’d have maimed them too. Did you go for the balls?
Please tell me they aren’t going to procreate.”

His
eyebrows shot up. “Um. No. I tried to rip the leader’s arms off. Then I forced
all of them to their knees and made them beg for forgiveness. When the first
one said no, I snapped his arm like a twig. The rest fell into line after
that.”

“I
bet.” She grinned savagely and wriggled with excitement. “Did they whimper like
little babies?”

His
laugh sounded shocked. “Bloodthirsty little thing.”

She
cuddled up against him. “You protected your family, your Pack. There’s nothing
wrong with that. I’d have done exactly that if given the chance.”

“Then
you understand why I need to protect you.”

She
froze. Damn it, he
would
turn this around on her. “Pain in my ass.”

He
stuck his hand down the back of her jeans. “Yup. And you loved every minute of
it.” He pinched, making her squeal. “Now stop changing the subject.”

“Okay,
fine. You could probably take on Gary and his idiot friends without
too
much trouble.”

“That’s
putting it mildly. Tabby, if Gary so much as gives you a papercut, he’ll be
eating his own ass.”

“Can I
watch?”

He
snorted. “You just don’t get it, do you?”

“Alex.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m
not afraid of you.”

He sighed.
“You will be.”

“Right,
Yoda. Sure I will.” She kicked his shin when he pinched her again. “You’d
sooner chew off your own paw than hurt me.”

“True.”
He pushed until her head was resting against his shoulder. “After lunch I want
some ink.”