28. TWENTY EIGHT
TWENTY EIGHT
Bastien
Dad is tense on the drive back from the picnic. He barely said a word to anyone, and once Mom left he checked out. I thought at the very least he might make conversation with Jamie, even if he didn’t have much to say to me.
“Did Linda say anything to you about a headache this morning?” he says out of the blue as we turn onto Main Street.
“Nope.”
He growls, winds down the window, and scents the air.
Feeling like something is off, I immediately reach out for Vera through the bond, but it’s as if someone unhooked the bridge or put a wall up halfway across.
What the fuck?
Dad bolts from the truck as soon as I stop the engine. It takes me a moment to react, and then I’m stumbling out the door, looking for the threat, every sense on high alert.
You would have thought I would have learned by now my dad is the threat. Always has been.
That realization finally thunders through my thick skull when he shifts and charges through the door like there’s nothing there.
Cursing, I tug off my shirt and then a flash of fear from Vera socks me straight in the guts, and suddenly the state of my clothing after I force a shift is the last thing on my mind.
I hit full beast so fast my jeans tear clean in half down the seams and my shoes are left in tatters on the drive. I smash through the door after my dad to find him standing over my mate, growling at her, and something in me just snaps.
I’m bigger than he is now. That thought taps at the back of my skull as I grab him by the scruff of fur at his thick neck and slam him back against the kitchen cabinets.
There’s a crash, and Vera gasps and ducks out of the way as wood splinters go flying.
Dad snarls and rounds on me, snapping sharp teeth at my neck, but he’s not strong enough to break out of my grip.
“Don’t you ever fucking threaten my mate again. Do you hear me?”
He snarls.
I slam him back against the cabinets again with a crunch.
“Where is she? What did she say to you?” My dad obviously has a very thick skull. Even using it for demolition on my kitchen isn’t getting through to him.
What the hell is he even talking about? I can’t see past my rage, but Vera’s hand on my arm stops me. “Linda’s gone, and if she knows you at all, I’m going to bet you won’t find her.”
Dad roars, but I grab him and throw him toward the front door, and he rolls and gets to his feet again, shaking himself off.
“Mom left?” I try to keep my voice controlled, but I can hear the roar beneath the surface and hate that.
Vera nods.
That’s what this is about. To be honest, I’m not sure now why she gave dad a second chance.
It hurts that she would leave without saying goodbye, but I guess I see why she did it.
Is this what it was like when I was younger?
Did they fight like this the first time and I just somehow blocked out how bad it was?
I shudder wondering if I somehow normalised that sort of conflict, made excuses for him.
“This was your idea, wasn’t it, you little bitch?”
Rage blinds me for a moment, and Dad’s thick musk fills the air, dulling my instincts, making me want to lay down, to submit.
I fight it. He doesn’t get to do that to me anymore.
Forcing myself into action, I charge toward him. I wrestle him to the ground and pin him there. “You need to get the fuck out of my house and never come back.”
“Or what?” There’s cold laughter in his tone.
“Or we call the sheriff." Vera comes to stand beside us, arms folded across her chest, completely unfazed or completely trusting that I can protect her.
The musk in the air grows thicker still, and I very nearly let him go. His voice drops into a harsh growl, and every word carries the weight of alpha command. “Let me go and get your mate under control or I will.”
I shut my eyes. Against my will my grip on him weakens, and he pushes forward.
But Vera’s bright citrus scent cuts across the thick musk of Dad’s, and I slam him back to the ground again, infusing my own voice with as much force as I can muster.
“I will never do what you say again. Alpha or not. Some things are stronger than a command.”
His eyes widen.
For the first time, uncertainty paints his scent a sharper, higher note.
I force my arm across his throat, cutting off his air and leaning in close so he knows I’m serious. “Get the fuck off my property and don’t come back. Tell me you understand.”
He says nothing, simply staring at me, eyes bulging out of his head. I don’t even know if he can reply with the pressure I’m putting on his throat. I don’t much care.
I drop my weight onto my arm and watch the tongue loll from the side of his mouth.
“Say it. Or shall I end this now?”
His voice comes out choked. “I… understand.”
For a few more breaths I hold him there, letting him see I’m serious. Then, very slowly, I edge back, releasing him, tensing for another fight.
He gets to his feet, his body shimmering for a moment as he shifts from beast to full bear.
Then he turns his unreadable gray eyes on me and gives me a look I know is gonna stay with me for the rest of my days.
It’s the look you give a stranger. Not your flesh and blood.Just like that he walks from the house, leaving the ruined front door blowing on its hinges and leaving me shaking with pent-up adrenaline.
I was ready to fight to the death, to kill him if I had to.
I hate that a part of me regrets I didn’t get to hurt him more.
“Hey.” Vera strokes my arm. My nostrils flare as I turn, breathing her in, trying to erase his scent from my senses. “Hey. He’s gone.”
I realize I’m still growling, still tense. I’m ready for a fight, but the fight already walked out the front door.
I try to shift back, but my beast won’t let me, refusing to accept that we are safe.
I draw Vera close instead, pressing her smaller body into my furred chest, pressing my nose and lips to the top of her head.
But it’s not enough. I need more. I need the reassurance of the connection of our bond.
When I reach for her she hesitates, cut off from me for a moment just like she was before, and I snarl and pull back, transferring my grip to her shoulders. “Why are you hiding from me?”
“I’m not.”
She’s lying. I shake her, trying to shake some sense into her. “You are!”
“Bas, I’m not. One thing at a time.”
It’s like a slap. One thing? What other thing is there? “Why? Are you leaving too? Are you going to sneak out and go when I least expect it?”
Again she hesitates, just for a fraction of a second. Her scent changes, and there’s something floral and overly sweet that smells like a lie.
What the fuck?
“Bas, you’re upset—”
“You don’t get to leave me! You don’t get to hide from me! Let me in.” I roar in her face. My claws bite into her skin where I’m gripping her upper arms. With my mind I push at the barrier she’s erected between us, eroding her control, weakening the resistance.
Her eyes widen and she draws back, and now her scent is sharp like fear all over again. Fear I caused.
I frightened my mate. I intimidated her. Hurt her maybe.
That makes me no better than the toxic alpha I just evicted from my home.
My hands drop from her arms, and I step back, shaking my head.
Now my beast slinks away, retreating behind the humiliated man, shifting me back into my naked human form.
Vera reaches for me, but I avoid her. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
Doesn’t she get it? Doesn’t she see I’m no better than him?
“I’m sorry, Ver. You should leave. You should stay away from me.” I turn and run from the house, shifting mid-stride into my four-legged bear form, running faster than she can catch up with.
In this small town more folks than not are shifters or monsters, so no one thinks twice about a random animal running down Main Street, heading to the outskirts of town.
I follow my nose until the civilized scents of the town fade and the pine-and-bark scent of the woods grows stronger.
Woodsmoke and cool, clear water and small furry animals darting about in a panic as I go by.
I can’t go back. What if I hurt her? What if I’ve turned out just like him?
Eventually I lift my nose long enough to look around me and see I’m on the road near the eco-cabins where Vera and I stayed a month back. It’s as good as anywhere really, so I let my paws take me on down the track until a growl halts me.
I look up to find a large gray wolf watching me.
It’s only Gryff Evans, the eco-cabins owner, and I have no beef with him. I adjust my course to pass by him, but he steps into my path. My hackles raise, and I have to stop myself from baring my teeth.
I turn again, avoiding him. He can’t fight me. Even a wolf is no match for a bear.
To my surprise, he moves in front of me again, and the wolf ripples, standing on two legs to shift until it’s a man standing before me.
I turn away, twisting to walk back in my original direction. I don’t know what he wants, and I don’t want to.
“I know that scent, Powell.”
I ignore him and keep padding down the gravel path to the point where the trees thicken into scrub, but his next words stop me in my tracks.
“You smell like self-loathing, and I know a whole lot about that. Why don’t you stop a minute?” There’s no command in his tone. His words are unexpectedly soft compared to the way he was when we stayed here.
I stop. I don’t turn around, but my ears swivel and I listen.
“She deserves more from you than running away.”
Now I turn, throwing myself up onto two legs, letting a little of the bear recede until I’m in my beast form. I growl. “Not running. Keeping her safe.”
Gryff just scoffs. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Rage boils in my chest, but there’s just enough curiosity to stop me growling in his face and stalking off.
Gryff looks at me with his rich hazel eyes, and maybe it’s my imagination, but he seems to see right through the fur and my thick skin and deep into my soul with that penetrating stare.
“Look, maybe you don’t want to go back just yet and face this, but at least stick around somewhere she can find you when she comes looking. ”
I hang my head. “She won’t.”
He just shakes his head. “You have a lot to learn about women, my friend.”