Big Bad Bear (7 page)

Carly went with him as they walked inside and closed the door. She locked it while Zeus called Ares, informing him of the situation and telling him to come quickly. As they waited, Zeus went to work cleansing the gunshot wound and patching it up. To her surprise, the bleeding had already stopped by the time it was bandaged, but when she asked, Zeus just said it had been a clean shot and it only grazed him.

Faster than she would have guessed, Ares came roaring up the mountain in his truck. He strode into the house, carrying what looked like an arsenal of weaponry in a large, black bag, and started to unpack, when Zeus spoke.

“Sorry, Ares, not today. We just need to get out of here quickly. Can we stay at your place tonight?”

Ares halted his unpacking. “Of course. Anything for you, boss,” he said.

“Thanks. Carly, you go get your things together while I grab a few necessities. Ares, wait in the car for us,” Zeus said in his commanding voice. Second by second, he seemed to be getting better, from what she could tell, though maybe Zeus was just so focused right now that he could ignore the pain from the injury.

Carly ran upstairs and gathered her stuff. Thankfully, she hadn’t taken much out since last night when it had been brought to her in the first place, and in less than a minute, she was back downstairs, ready to go.

Zeus had a backpack and one large suitcase and was standing by the door, waiting for her.

“Emergency kit, for situations when I need to leave in a hurry,” he said, ushering her through the door and out to Ares’s large black truck. Zeus tossed their things in the back and opened the passenger door, helping Carly get in before getting in the backseat of the cab.

When they reached town, Ares called 9-1-1 so the police and paramedics could make their way up and tend to the wounded. After a few more minutes of driving, they arrived at a surprisingly large house surrounded by a tall, concrete barrier with a metal gate. With the press of a button, Ares pulled into a private driveway and closed the gate behind them.

They were safe. For now.

T
hey got
out of the car quietly. Ares carried the bags and led the way up his drive and toward the house, which was tall and foreboding, with no decorative frills. Probably two stories high, made of solid concrete, reinforced windows. It definitely stood out in the small town, or would if anyone had the guts to look over the huge concrete barrier that surrounded it.

Ares unlocked and opened the door, and Carly gasped at the difference in the interior. Pure luxury, from the beautiful rugs to the hand-carved furniture that looked much like the stuff in Zeus’s cabin. It made sense, since Zeus had told Carly Ares constructed the furniture.

Right now, she was just grateful Ares had been able to come and help. She was in awe of the way he called Zeus boss and had said he’d do anything for him. Clearly, there was still a lot to learn about the man she was falling in love with.

That’s right. She was already falling in love with him. From the moment he’d touched her, back on their walk in the woods, she’d realized something powerful and dangerous was forming between them. Something she wanted to keep exploring. But first, she had to make sure Zeus was okay.

Ares tried to help him to the nearest couch, but Zeus pulled away, walking on his own to a hard, wooden chair.

“I’m fine,” he said wearily, slumping into it. “I don’t want to get blood on your couch.”

“Fuck it. I can buy another,” Ares said, sitting down and running a hand through his ruffled blond hair. His bag of weaponry sat beside him, making Carly slightly nervous.

“Can you put those back in the safe?” Zeus asked with a raised eyebrow. “They’re making Carly nervous.”

“No, it’s okay—” she said.

But Ares had already nodded and was walking away in the direction of the doorway. Zeus gave her a tired smile, looking her over as if making sure she was okay, when he was the one who was injured.

She walked over to him and reached for his shirt, but he caught her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing it slowly in a way that sent heat sizzling through her. Still, she pulled back and gave him a frown. “I need to look at your wound. I’m worried about it.”

“I’m fine,” he said. “I heal quick.”

“You were shot,” she said. “I don’t understand why you won’t let me look at it and help you. I’ve stitched up my brother before when he fell.”

“I’m afraid this is different,” Ares said, cutting into their conversation as she struggled with Zeus to try and see his injury. Stubborn man was going to get an infection if he didn’t let someone take a look at it. Ares put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. “I got it, sweetness,” he said gently, and she stepped aside.

Zeus let out a low growl, and Ares laughed, kneeling in front of him. “Cool it, big guy. You know I call all women sweetness.”

“Not Carly,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, boss,” Ares said, lifting his shirt and blocking her view of the wound. He let out a low whistle. “He’s gonna be fine. Just a flesh wound.”

“Doesn’t he need stitches? It was bleeding so bad before.”

Ares shook his head and lowered the shirt, gazing at her calmly.

She stomped a foot. “I don’t care how macho you military men think you are. Someone needs to disinfect that thing or he’s going to get an infection.”

Ares and Zeus looked at each other in puzzlement, and Ares sighed. “All right. But I’ll do it when you’re out of the room. Zeus here doesn’t want you to see it.”

“Why, because you think I can’t handle it? I want to help.”

Zeus’s calm blue eyes met hers. “Carly. Please.”

She was angry. Angry that he was hurt, angry that he was keeping her away when all of this was because of her and she desperately felt like she needed to do something for him in return. Angry at being closed off by the two large men. Angry that Ares knew all of Zeus’s secrets and she was barely scratching his surface. Seeing how he fought in the clearing before he went down, she was certain his whole life had been about war until he came to Bearstone Village.

But now wasn’t the time to talk about it, and she would respect his need for privacy. Whatever the reason.

“All right,” she said. “But call me back when you’re done.” In the meantime, she’d go find a quiet place to sit and try not to think about the man she was coming to love running into a hailstorm of bullets and limping away bleeding and hurting.

W
hen Carly was gone
, Ares grabbed wipes from a first aid kit to clean the mostly healed wound. “That was risky, you know,” he said, looking into Zeus’s eyes as he wiped away the blood. “You should have waited for me to come over,” Ares said.

“It was too late,” Zeus replied. “They would have breached the house. I had to protect Carly.” He let Ares put a bandage over the area, just so Carly would be convinced he was fine, and then pulled his shirt down and let out a harsh breath.

“You want to change?” Ares asked. “Or want to go over it now? I want to know everything that happened, from the perimeter breach to when I showed up and everyone was down.”

Zeus sighed. “Damn, I’m tired. I haven’t taken on that many men in a long time, amateur or not.”

Ares’s lips quirked in a smile. “Looks like a dozen men are still no match for our Zeus.”

“More than a dozen,” Zeus said, and the two men shared a cocky grin that most people would never understand. But Zeus had protected what was his. That’s all that mattered.

“So what were you doing that you didn’t notice the initial perimeter breach?”

Zeus felt blood rush into his neck and avoided Ares’s piercing gaze. The other man’s green eyes were unnervingly adept at reading between the lines. “Ah, hell,” he said. “It wasn’t very late. I just didn’t hear the initial beep on my phone. Even if I had, the result would have been the same.”

A slow grin spread over Ares’s face, and Zeus gave him a shove. “Stop thinking about it,” he said, and Ares raised his hands in surrender.

“All right, boss, not thinking about it,” he said.

“What are you not thinking about?” Carly asked, appearing in the doorway.

“Nothing,” Ares said, stretching out on the couch as Zeus settled back into his chair.

He was proud of how she’d handled the situation. She’d stayed out of danger but been ready and waiting for him. Worried for him. She’d feared for his safety, not only her own. And she’d been fiercely protective when she thought he was wounded.

It was all he could ask for in a mate. His bear had chosen wisely.

His bear had also kicked ass.

Zeus gave Ares all the info he could while trying not to look at Carly as she sat on the couch a little ways from Ares. She was so perfect, her brown hair mussed and fluffy, but so soft, her whiskey eyes glittering with emotion as they relived the event. Her rosy lips were pursed as she listened to their thoughts on the matter.

He wanted to just pick her up and take her back to the bedroom and cuddle her until he convinced the animal inside him she was okay. But he had to take care of business first.

“So then I was wounded, and then…” He looked at Carly, wondering how to handle the bear thing. Had she seen?

“Then a big freaking bear came out of the woods and messed everyone up,” Carly said, shaking her head. “I know you two aren’t going to believe me, but it’s all I’ve been thinking about… you know, when not thinking about the fight and Zeus getting hurt. I mean, Zeus said there was a bear up in the woods, but I didn’t think it was friendly to humans.” She put her head in her hands. “Now that I think about it, it’s almost like he was protecting us. I mean, he fought like a demon but never threatened or hurt Zeus.”

Ares’s eyes twinkled as he looked over at Zeus, and Zeus sent him a warning glare. “Now that you mention it, Zeus did say there was a bear up around his place. A friendly one, though,” Ares said.

Carly raised an eyebrow. “Are bears ever friendly? I thought they ate campers and stuff.”

Ares grimaced in disgust. “None of the bears I know.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And you know a lot of bears?”

Ares didn’t miss a beat. “Well, yeah. I grew up in Bearstone Village. Worked summers in Bearstone Park. There are bears around.”

“I see,” she said. “Why do I feel like there’s something you two aren’t telling me?” She glared at Zeus, and he looked away, not meeting her gaze. He could tell her when all of this cooled down. It would be too much right now.

“Anyway, this bear up around Zeus’s place, what did he do?”

She laughed, shaking her head as she remembered it. “I don’t know. He knocked them off their motorcycles, stuff like that.”

“Sounds like a badass bear,” Ares said, grinning.

“But was I hallucinating due to stress?” Carly asked, looking like she was doubting herself. “I mean, why would a bear join a fight?”

Ares’s eyes were doing that twinkling thing again, though his voice was serious. “Maybe it was protecting its territory. Bears are very possessive of what’s theirs.”

“Yeah,” Zeus said, joining in with a gruff voice. “That bear especially.”

Carly looked between them in puzzlement and then laughed. “Well, I’m just glad you’re okay and the bear was on the side of justice.”

“Always,” Zeus said, unable to help himself. “But just in case, probably don’t trust any other bears.”

She waved a hand. “Of course not. Honestly, bears terrify me. I’m not even sure I’d feel safe going back to your cabin, knowing that one’s going to be around.”

Zeus tried not to frown. He knew Carly didn’t know anything about shifters, and bears were naturally scary animals, but part of him was still hurt by that. It made him that much more reluctant to tell her the truth. Could he really hope she would accept him when he did?

“Hey now,” Ares said. “Bears are just like any creatures, including humans. There are some bad ones and some good ones, but most of them won’t hurt you unless you try to hurt them or their family.”

Carly sighed and nodded. “I suppose.” She walked over to Zeus and put a warm, soft hand on his shoulder, calming the animal inside him. She might not know what he was, but for now, she made him feel at peace, at home. Made the animal inside him purr.

He had to hope she would accept him when the time came. He had to trust his bear knew best.

He turned to Ares. “So what now?”

Ares stood. “I’m going out to catch up with the police at the scene, if they’re still there. You know they’re slow to respond. If they ask about you two, I’ll tell them you disappeared into the woods. Make them waste some time sending a search party. That way they’ll be on the wrong trail.”

Zeus nodded. “That gives us time to make plans on how to deal with the Devils in the meantime.”

“Right,” Ares agreed, stretching his shoulders, cracking his neck, and heading out.

“You armed?” Zeus asked.

Ares let out a huge grin that would have looked movie-star bright if it didn’t seem so predatory. “Abso-fuckin-lutely.”

Zeus nodded. “Good.”

“You okay staying here with your lady?” Ares asked.

“Of course,” Zeus said. “When will you be back?”

“I plan to be out all night, most of the morning. If I come back here, they’ll assume you’re here. You know how the security works. No one is getting in without alerting you, and you know where the safe room is.”

Zeus did. He stood with some effort, and he and Ares did a quick shoulder clapping hug before Ares gave them a mock salute and left, leaving Zeus alone with Carly.

S
he looked him over
. “We should get you changed,” she said. “Come on. Let’s find you some clothes.”

He nodded and was amused when she came to him and put a hand around his waist, as if her short, curvy frame could support him. Still, to humor her, and because he liked her touch, he let her walk with him down the hall. He gestured to the guest bedroom that Ares kept ready for him when he came into town, and she walked in with him and made him sit on the bed.

“There are clothes in the closet,” he said. “I sometimes stay here with Ares when I’m in town.”

“What do you come to town for anyway?” she asked, blushing slightly as she pulled some things out of the closet and laid them out on the bed. Her blush deepened as she reached for the hem of his shirt, and he raised his arms to make it easy for her to pull it over his head.

He was tired, but not too tired to be totally turned on by his mate removing his clothing. When she reached for the button of his jeans, he gently moved her hand away. “I got it,” he said, not wanting her to undo his pants and see just how affected he was at a time when he shouldn’t be thinking of it.

She reluctantly turned away with a sigh. “I like helping you, you know. I just… I know I’m not a badass like you or Ares. But don’t shut me out. Let me help. You know?”

He was stunned. He quickly pulled on his shirt and changed his jeans as he dealt with what she’d just said.

He hadn’t expected her to be hurt by him not letting her check out a bloody wound or undo his pants and have to see his raging boner brought on just by being in her presence. He still felt like the luckiest man in the world just to be near her. He didn’t want to do anything that put her off of him.

He and Ares had to get her out of the room so she didn’t see how quickly his wound had healed. Revealing yourself as a shifter to a human who hadn’t agreed to mate you was forbidden and carried serious consequences, up to and including brainwashing and death. He’d only been trying to protect her.

But he supposed he wouldn’t have liked to be sent away when she was hurt either.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve been on my own a long time. I don’t want to bother you.”

“You saved my life. Twice now. Don’t you get that I want to care for you too?”

Zeus was silent. No, he didn’t get that. His job was to protect her and take care of everything. Her job was to be happy and safe. And how could a sweet, friendly woman like her care about a wounded, grumpy warrior like him? Sure, he could take down a dozen men with his bare hands, but that didn’t mean he deserved her love or respect. He had to earn it.

She sat next to him and reached over, playing with the button on his jeans as he felt the blood in his body move to a specific, inconvenient location. “I get you’re a big, bad fighter. I get I can’t charge into battle with you. But it was terrifying being in there, having to stand back and watch, knowing there was nothing I could do, even call the police.”

She shuddered, and he wrapped an arm around her, holding her tight. “No, you don’t have to comfort me,” she said, starting to pull away but giving up when he insisted on keeping her close. “It’s just that when you’re done with that fight, the least I can do is take care of
you
.”

“I don’t fight so you’ll owe me something in return,” he said.

“Why do you fight, then?”

He eyed her quietly. “Because it’s the right thing.”
Because I love you.
But he couldn’t say that.

She looked slightly disappointed with his answer, and he wished he could take it back. But then she brightened. “You’re a good man, Zeus.”

“Thanks,” he said. Her words meant more to him than she could have known.

Despite how tired he was from the fight, he ached to claim his mate. Ached to hold her after the battle and remind himself of what he’d won, what he’d protected.

But he needed to save his strength. They might have to fight again soon. He touched her cheek gently, and she flushed and snuggled against his hand, making him melt inside. There would be plenty of time to please his mate later, after he’d ended every man who tried to come between them.

“I don’t know what it is,” she said. “We barely know each other, but you make me feel more treasured than anyone has in my life.”

That was because she meant more to him than anyone ever had or would. But it ached that he couldn’t say it yet. Still, he could say some things.

“You asked why I came into town. I didn’t answer. The truth is I could do most of my business from my computer at home or on my phone. But there was one thing I couldn’t do at home.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked. “What’s that?”

“See you,” he admitted.

Her eyes widened as she tilted her head up at him. “What do you mean? You came to the bar to see me?”

He nodded.

“Every time?”

He nodded again, glad any embarrassment he felt didn’t show. He wasn’t a hardened warrior for nothing.

“That’s…” She bit her lip and gave him a small smile that heated him down to his toes and made his pants even tighter. “That’s actually really sweet. I always liked seeing you. Unlike some of the rougher guys, you were always so polite. And never let anyone get unruly in the bar.”

He nodded. “I wanted to make sure everyone stayed in line.”

“Nice of you to do that for a waitress,” she said.

“Not a waitress. You.”

“But why?” she asked. “You want me to believe you just walked in and it was love at first sight?”

He pressed his lips into a line and considered how to explain it without his bear in the equation. “You’re beautiful and strong. You’re kind and didn’t act afraid of me because of my size. I was always just trying to get up the courage to speak to you.”

She put a hand to her head and let out a shaky laugh. “I can’t believe this. I couldn’t get up the courage to talk to you either. Something about you just drew me in.”

He pulled her onto his lap, cradling her against him, feeling secure now that she was safe and in his arms. “I’m glad it was mutual.” At least the attraction. He knew her love for him wouldn’t be instant like his was for her, but it could grow in time, as it did for humans.

She reached up and ran a hand along his five o’clock shadow, scratching the stubble there that had sprung up in only one day. Zeus blamed his bear.

“So what should we do next?” she asked. She moved a hand down over his button again, teasing him, and Zeus groaned at the temptation but pulled back, shaking his head.

“Not tonight,” he said. “We need to rest. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want to take it slow with you.”

“It’s a little late for that,” she said, giggling.

“All right, then,” he said. “Let’s do something slow and romantic tonight. What do couples usually do on dates?”

“Well, they usually go out, but we can’t.”

“Okay,” he said. “How about I take you to a movie, then?”

She gave him a puzzled look. “Um, we can’t go out.”

“Right, but Ares’s home theater is pretty kick ass. We can watch one of those chick flicks women like so much.”

She shook her head. “Nah, I’m more of a horror movie fan.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

She nodded. “Come on. I’ll help you pick a really good one. And don’t worry. If you get scared, I’ll comfort you.” She laughed and helped him up.

“All right,” he said, leading the way to the basement. “As long as you stay here with me and protect me,” he teased.

She laughed, and he couldn’t resist swatting her on the butt as she went down the stairs ahead of him.

A horror movie would be perfect. Carly would be disappointed though, because nothing in the movies could ever scare Zeus. Only one thing in the world could, and that was her being in danger. And Zeus would never let that happen.

They settled into the comfy recliners and he put an arm up for her to snuggle under, and they picked out a new zombie movie that Carly hadn’t seen.

With his phone close so he’d hear any alarm, Zeus allowed himself to relax with his mate.