Dark and Damaged: Eight Tortured Heroes of Paranormal Romance: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (17 page)

Sean was there at once, in human form, the huge sword of the Guardian in his hands. The feral struck out at Seamus, his hands bear claws, then he fell back, spent, blood gushing from his torn throat.

Sean raised the sword high and brought it down, straight into the bear’s heart.

The feral cried out, a keening that shattered the air. Then the bear shuddered once, whispered, “Thank you,” let out a little sigh, and died.

His body shimmered like dust motes in sunshine, and then with a hiss, he disintegrated to nothing. A breath of wind stirred the dust and ashes, and all was silence.

Katie came out from under Cherie, sat down on her haunches, and howled. Her nose lifted to the sky, her grief clawing at Seamus’s heart.

Francesca’s howl twined with Katie’s, Francesca mourning the loss of a fellow Shifter. The Shifters inside and outside of the house joined the cry, a shared sound of grief that one had been taken from them too soon.

Sean bent his head over the sword, his chest moving with his distressed breath. Seamus flowed back into his lion, and roared.

Seamus absorbed the grief of them all—Katie, Francesca, Sean, all the Shifters—pouring it back out in his own voice, feeling himself breaking apart.

A warmth stole through the terrible pain, the feeling of arms around him. Bree had come to his side and wrapped herself around his lion’s body, burying her face in his mane.

The touch of a mate
. The weight of her against him, her nearness, soothed the pain, grief, and madness. Anything feral in Seamus flowed away and was gone.

Seamus shifted back to his human form, closed Bree into his arms, and held on tight.

***

No one knew the bear’s name, where he came from, or what his clan was. The next morning, Bree saw the compassion of the Shifters as they gave this crazed, unnamed, wild bear a send-off to the Goddess.

All of Shiftertown gathered in the green behind the Morrisseys’ bungalow, forming concentric circles around the brazier in the middle. Seamus held Katie while Francesca placed the wooden box that contained the bear Shifter’s ashes onto the flames.

“God and Goddess, receive thy child,” Liam Morrissey said, his voice hushed, his face sober.

Another collective howl went up, this one more subdued than had been the cries of grief last night. The feral bear had fought for his cub and fought well. Now he deserved his rest.

Seamus walked back to Ronan’s house with Bree, the two of them hand in hand. Bree had borrowed clothes from Carly this morning, a gray top and pencil-thin black pants that Carly couldn’t wear at the moment. Bree’s Shifter-groupie look was gone.

Seamus had set Katie down to walk on her own. She was accompanied by her now-faithful Olaf, as his polar bear cub. Francesca was never more than a step away from them, and Rebecca and Walker kept near as well. Katie would be well cared for here, Bree concluded.

Seamus was much more at ease with himself today than Bree had seen him be so far. Last night after the cleanup from the fight, she and Seamus had fallen back into bed, touching, kissing, and drifting into hard slumber.

They’d woken curled around each other, aware and wanting, but Ronan had banged on the door and told them the ritual to send the bear to the Goddess would start immediately.

No time to talk, to kiss very much, or to make wild love as Bree wanted to.

And who knew if they’d ever have time? Now that the threat to Katie was gone, what would Seamus do? Would Bree have any part of his decision? His life?

Or would she go back to being new girl in town, trying to find a job at a mechanics shop where they might let her do more than just the paperwork and making the coffee? Trying to take care of her mom, grieve for her brother, and forget she’d ever met the hot-bodied man with lion eyes.

Nope, forgetting Seamus was out of the question.

Seamus’s hand tightened on hers as they neared Ronan’s house. He knew this was journey’s end as much as she did, and that decisions would have to be made.

Dylan was waiting for them in the big dining room. So was Tiger, with Carly. Tiger was human now, his eyes as golden as Seamus’s. He’d pulled his chair next to Carly’s and had his arm around her, as though daring anyone to try to keep them apart.

“Hey, sweetie,” Carly said to Bree as she dropped into the chair Seamus pulled out for her. “You all right?”

“Tired.” Bree tried not to feel empty when Seamus left her and went to Sean, who’d accompanied them here.

Rebecca, Bree’s mother, and Ronan’s mate, Elizabeth, came out of the kitchen with plates piled with muffins, scones, and other good things. They set them out, Nadine fussing a little, which Bree knew meant she was jonesing for a cigarette. She wouldn’t smoke around the cubs or Carly, but her fingers kept twitching.

Nadine stopped to smooth Bree’s hair and kiss the top of her head. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll go home, and you can have a hot bath and sleep all day. At least, until the hammering starts. That Dylan said he’d send his Shifters over to fix the attic and the ceiling. Isn’t that nice of him?” She plopped into the chair next to Bree. “Of course, I’ll believe it when I see it. Repairmen always say they’ll show up, and then you wait three days.”

“I think they’ll come,” Bree said. Shifters kept their word.

“Well, I’m just glad Remy was there to help out. I told you he was.”

Bree hid a sigh. “It was a broken water pipe, Mom.” Or had it been? If so, it had broken at a very convenient moment. Bree decided it would be nice to believe, with her mother, that Remy was still watching over them. One day, she’d take Seamus up to the attic with her to investigate—ask him about his theory that the house was on a ley line with a gate to the Fae lands ... That is, if he was around for her to ask.

Nadine shrugged, reaching for a scone and tearing it open on one of the little plates Elizabeth was handing around. “You see it your way; I see it mine.”

Bree decided not to argue with her. She’d let her mother be comforted by Remy’s presence—real or imagined. And with the weirdness they’d experienced the last couple days … well, who knew?

Dylan cleared his throat. He barely made a sound, and yet all conversation ceased and all eyes turned to him.

“Sean,” Dylan said to his son. “What did you find out?”

“That Seamus
is
our clan,” Sean said. Pride rang in his voice. “A cousin—very distant—and from Scotland, but we can forgive him for that in time.” He grinned. “The Guardian network doesn’t lie.”

Seamus said nothing. He didn’t look happy to be included in the Morrissey family, but not unhappy either.
Bewildered and in shock
was a better way of putting it, Bree decided.

“What about the bear?” Dylan asked.

“He could have been one of many, unfortunately,” Sean said. “Those who didn’t take the Collar and were left to themselves often went feral. But Katie’s mum, she was a bear from a clan up in Manitoba, from a Shiftertown. She’d run off with this un-Collared bear, and the Shiftertown didn’t know where. Poor lass obviously didn’t make it in the wild, and Katie’s father already must have been on his way to feral, or the mum wouldn’t have died alone. Seamus found Katie ... and the rest we can guess. The father went looking for Katie, couldn’t find her, since Kendrick’s Shifters were so good at hiding. But he couldn’t give up, no matter how long it took.”

Seamus drifted from him to stand behind Bree. His warmth cushioned her, the chair moved with his strength as he rested his hands on its back.

“Not all un-Collared Shifters go feral,” Seamus said in a quiet voice.

“We know that,” Sean said. “I mean, we’re learning that. Knowing more about you would help us a lot.”

Seamus’s hands tightened on the chair. “I’m not a lab rat. That’s one reason we refused to come in twenty years ago—the experiments. Dissections.” Francesca made a noise of agreement.

“No, no,” Sean said quickly. “Shifters don’t do that to other Shifters. You’re family now. And Francesca and Katie, our guests. You’re welcome in Shiftertown as long as you want to be here. No Collars. No needles. No drugs.”

Tiger gave Sean a growl, as though reminding him,
You got that right
.

Broderick, who’d come in with Dylan, asked the question Bree wanted to. “What about Seamus thinking he was going feral? He was really worried about it. I was too, if you want to know.”

“Not feral,” Tiger said at once. “More like me.”

“Oh, great,” Broderick grimaced. “You mean he’s another crazy?”

Tiger growled again, but more in a mock-threatening way, as though the two went back and forth like this all the time.

“I’m not sure,” Dylan said, his blue eyes on Seamus. “I’ve never met one, and I might be wrong.” His gaze sharpened. “I think you, son, are a Shifter empath.”

Seamus went completely still. “What the hell is a Shifter empath?”

Dylan didn’t look away. “You pick up the emotions of other Shifters. Use them to help the other Shifter—either by drawing it off, or at least understanding what they’re going through. You weren’t becoming feral. You were perfectly fine when you were in Bree and Nadine’s house with us. You knew there was something wrong at your safe house in the middle of nowhere when your normal Shifter instinct said you were safe. Francesca didn’t notice the problem, did she?”

Francesca shook her head. She watched Seamus, gray gaze wary but interested. “I thought Seamus was being overly cautions, though I didn’t disagree with him.”

“You found Katie,” Dylan went on. “In the entire wilderness, you just happened to find her in time to save her life. I think you homed in on her distress.”

Seamus’s hold on the chair tightened even more until Bree was surprised the wood didn’t splinter. “If that’s true, why haven’t I noticed it all this time? I think I would have at some point, don’t you?”

Dylan shrugged. “Maybe it only flares when the anguish of the Shifter is great enough to pull you in. Maybe other times, it’s subtle enough that you think it only natural compassion. I notice you haven’t been able to stay away from Bree. You found her and you’re hanging on to her.”

Seamus said nothing. He bent to Bree, touching his lips to her neck, and didn’t answer.

“What does all this mean?” Bree was getting a little tired of Dylan’s profound announcements. “That you’re going to make Seamus stay here while you watch him and see what he can do? He spent all this time successfully
not
being trapped, and now you want him to lock himself in with you so you can study this empathic ability? Or are you going to let him go? I think you need to answer, Mr. Dylan Morrissey. Right now.”

Seamus felt Bree’s anxiousness and anger.
Felt
it, for real, coming up into him. He also felt her desire, both physical and emotional. For him.

Empathy? Or a Shifter knowing his true mate?

“My daughter asked you a good question,” Nadine said, plucking another scone to pieces. “Well? What’s it going to be?”

Sean and Dylan looked only at Seamus, no one else. “We discussed it,” Sean said slowly. “Me and Dad and Liam. And we decided ...” He let out his breath. “That we’d be sorry excuses for Shifters if we made Seamus stay. You’re free to go, lad. Anywhere you wish. We’d like to hang on to Katie, but only for her own protection until she’s of an age to decide for herself, but you ... ” Sean lifted his hands. “It’s whatever you want. Francesca, you too.”

Now everyone was staring at Seamus. The many pairs of eyes on him—the intense blue ones of the Morrisseys, dark ones of Ronan and Rebecca, the light blue of Walker, interested ones of Carly and Bree’s mother, gray of Broderick and also of Francesca—made Seamus a little cagey. They were waiting to see what he’d do. Accept? Or run?

Francesca said, after drawing a breath, “I’m staying with Katie.”

Seamus figured she would. Katie was hers now.

The only person who didn’t look at him was Bree. Seamus didn’t want to have the conversation he needed with her in front of all those stares, so he lifted her to her feet and stilled her startled questions by pulling her out of the room.

None of the others followed or called after them. They knew.

Seamus took Bree up the stairs to the room they were sharing. Behind them, he heard the Shifters and their human mates burst out talking at once, the crowd making enough noise to drown out an army. All the better.

Seamus led Bree into the bedroom and closed the door. She faced him in the middle of the floor, her lake-blue eyes enormous.

“What are you going to do?” Bree asked him.

Seamus stripped off his shirt. “Right now? Make love to you like I can’t stop. Like I’ve wanted to since I met you. Like I would have if we hadn’t kept getting interrupted.”

He growled the last words as he kicked out of his jeans. He’d put on underwear today in deference to the ceremony, and that came off too.

Bree didn’t snap her gaze away, or scream, or try to run. She looked him up and down. “Nice.”

“Glad you like it. Join me if you want. Your choice. I would never force you.” Seamus took a step toward her, tenderness sweeping through him along with need. “I would never hurt you.” He brushed Bree’s hair from her face, reveling in the silken touch of her hair, her skin. “Never.”

Bree ran her fingers up his chest to the hollow of his throat. “And after?” She studied his collarbone, not meeting his eyes. “Are you going to disappear forever?”

“I haven’t decided.” Seamus’s heartbeat sped, the warmth in him becoming surging heat. “Whatever I decide, I want it to be with you. I can’t offer you a damn thing—life in a bedroom in Shiftertown, or hiding out in a safe house ... somewhere. It would suck.”

“That all depends. I really liked that bungalow you found downtown. It’s cute. Or will be after we fix it up.” A sparkle lit Bree’s eyes, then dimmed. “What I don’t want is for you to be caught because you stuck around to be with me. I don’t want to watch you be rounded up, or whatever it’s called, arrested because you don’t have a Collar, forced to wear one, or killed.” She pushed against his chest and stepped away. “I won’t be the cause of that. I’d rather know you were out there—free—even if it means you can’t be with me.”