Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
ULY
The next two months passed quickly. We were fully into winter now.
The weather in the mountains was cold and and the peaks were snow covered.
Sixteen inches of snowfall, some powder and some wet and thick, fell in the higher altitudes.
Members of the sleuth came from all over to ski or romp through the drifts.
One member brought some brown bears they’d met, and everyone had a great time.
Even the boys loved it, burying their faces in the piles, then shaking it out.
Me? Normally I despised snow, but watching the boys play gave me a new appreciation.
Even Brent got in on the action in human and bear form.
When he was a bear, he’d join the adults and chase each other through the enormous drifts.
When he was human, he’d gather the kids and make snow families.
It was so plain to see that he was a family man.
That night, after we got home and took some hot showers, we all sat down to dinner and I got to meet Tom and Sandy Bishop, who Brent raved about.
They were the sweetest people, and their brown bear friends were funny and engaging.
It was nice when Brent introduced me as his mate, and Sandy pulled me into an embrace and told me to never let him go. I swore I wouldn’t.
Even though he denied it, I could see the sheen of tears in his eyes when they got into a monster RV and headed out of town.
Which led us to the next problem. And this one? It could have turned bloody.
I was home one day, sitting on the sofa and reading a book while the boys took a nap.
They tried to cajole me into sleeping with them, but the pills had stabilized and I no longer felt as tired after taking them.
Interesting thing I noted was even though they still took a nap, they slept less and less.
My boys were growing up, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
The doorbell rang, and I called out that I’d get it, since I was closest. When I opened the door, I didn’t need to wonder who the man was on the stoop. With the brown eyes and silver hair, he looked like Brent, only older and not nearly as handsome.
“Can I help you?” I asked icily, recalling the stories Brent had told me about this piece of crap.
His nose wrinkled. “You’re human!” he said, his tone sharp and accusatory.
“Nice to see your sense of smell hasn’t failed you. What do you want?”
He sneered at me. “I’m here to see my son.”
“Brent is at work. I can take a message and see if he’s willing to call you back.”
A deep rumble from his throat and he surged forward, slamming me against the door, which banged into the wall. Amelia came rushing out, saw him, and her face, normally sweet and placid, became a mask of rage.
“Get out of this house, Gavin!” she demanded.
“You don’t talk to me like that,” he insisted.
“I will talk to you however the hell I want. This is no longer your home, this is not your staff, and you are not welcome here. Brent made it very clear that you were no longer allowed in town.”
“He doesn’t tell me where I can go.”
I, meanwhile, was lifted off the floor and pinned against the heavy wooden door. I will admit, it was getting a little hard to breathe, what with his fingers wrapped around my throat.
“And since when are humans allowed here?” he demanded.
“Since I’m Brent’s mate,” I said, choking out the words.
His eyes widened. “You’re a liar!” he snarled, then slammed a fist into my face, bouncing my head off the door. Yeah, that was going to bruise.
As I was about to let loose with a snarky reply, a huge hand grabbed him by the back of the head, fingers splayed and digging in.
“One chance. Let him go now, or I will kill you where you stand. Don’t think I won’t do it.”
I was dropped unceremoniously to the floor where I sat rubbing my face and throat.
Brent shoved his father away and knelt by my side, stroking his fingers over the skin I was certain was going to be a damned impressive bruise come morning. “Uly? You okay?”
I couldn’t speak, so I nodded. Brent got up, spun his father around, and smashed him into the same door he’d had me against.
“What are you doing here?”
“Louis called me,” he sniped. “He said the town was going to hell and it needed someone to step in and save it.”
I couldn’t remember who Louis was. I recalled Brent mentioning his name, but beyond that it escaped me.
“Then take Louis and get the fuck out of here. You are not welcome. In fact, I don’t think you were ever welcome. No one here, except maybe Louis, misses you.”
I reached out. “Brent, I—”
“And then you put your hands on my mate? I should kill you for that alone.”
In his rage, I feared he would do something that couldn’t be taken back. I stood, my legs shaky, and moved to Brent’s side. Gavin’s gaze flicked toward me, his lip curled in a sneer.
“Mates don’t exist. You know that. And even if they did, it wouldn’t be a male or a human.”
“No, what I know is you were wrong then and even more so now. Chaim and Benjy are mates. Uly and I are mates.”
His eyes narrowed. “Who will you believe? I was Typhon here for decades. Don’t you think I’d know?”
His gaze went to me again.
“And if it was true, no way would you have a filthy human as a mate.”
Nope, that was not offensive at all.
“Get the fuck out of here, Dad. Don’t ever come back to town. You are officially banished.”
His eyes widened. “After everything I’ve done for you?”
Brent barked a laugh. “After everything you’ve done?
Seriously? You were never a father. You were never a leader.
You bullied and harassed the people, forcing them to be subservient to you.
We work together now. Doing what we can for the good of the sleuth.
I will never let one of my people fail if I can help it. ”
“If they can’t keep up, they should be pushed to the side. Only the strong are meant to survive.”
“We’re not discussing this. You’re leaving or I’ll force you out.”
He gave a sickly smile. “Try it.”
The next thing I knew Gavin had morphed a single hand into a huge paw, lashing out to smash into Brent’s face, knocking him to the floor.
Blood poured from gouges in his cheek. I stepped between them, hands held up in hopes of stopping them and keeping Brent from more harm.
For my trouble I got smacked across the room, crashing into the wrought iron screen and just missing the big blazing marble fireplace.
I tried to get up, but a warm red haze flowed down my forehead and into my eyes.
Brent stood, shifting to his bear form and ripping his clothes, which fell in tatters around him.
His dad was big, but Brent was massive. He growled and stalked toward his father.
That was when everything went to shit.
Two small heads popped around the corner and saw me sprawled out, doing my best to regain my footing.
“Momma!” they screamed, then rushed for me.
Their hands mapped out my injuries, and when they pulled away there was my blood on them.
Brent must have seen it, because he stood on his hind legs and roared, shaking everything in the room.
Then the boys turned, their faces contorted in anger, and shifted.
Their tiny bodies were no match for the old man, but that didn’t stop them.
They rushed forward and tried to tackle him.
They didn’t move him an inch. My heart seized as he swatted at them, as if they were annoying insects, but thankfully he missed them.
“Get the fuck away from them,” came a voice from the door. “Amelia, thank you for the call.”
Great. Chaim was here too. I had hoped to negotiate a peaceful end, but now?
This was going to suck. Gavin turned to him, his eyes widening, then hurtled toward him, snarling.
I figured Chaim would shift, but instead he stood there, arms folded over his chest. What I hadn’t expected was Benjy slamming into Gavin from the side and driving him to the floor.
Then he got between Chaim and Gavin, his maw open, showing his teeth as he roared, sending shivers up my spine.
This was the power of a seriously pissed off mate.
Gavin swiped at him, slamming a paw into Benjy’s face.
It snapped his head to the left, but his body didn’t move at all.
Now Gavin had an enraged Benjy, Chaim, and Brent surrounding him.
The boys dropped back and were guarding me, it seemed.
What happened next shocked the crap out of me.
Doors flew open and in strolled eight more bears, all lining up behind Brent.
This was Amelia with the household staff!
Brent shifted, standing nude, and stared his father down.
“You have no authority here,” he said coldly. He glanced back at the others. “You can shift back.”
Then Amelia and the staff returned to their human form.
Now, I’m not a prude, but there was way too much skin on display.
Brent had said shifters were unconcerned with nudity, but me?
Yeah, I could feel my cheeks heating as I tried to look somewhere there wasn’t a wall of flesh.
“Why are you defending him?” he demanded.
“He has a human here, and a male who claims to be his mate!”
“Because he is,” Amelia bellowed. “He’s been good for Mr. Lockhart and their sons.”
My heart thudded when she called them ‘our’ sons. Old man Lockhart? He had a different reaction. His face went white and he was shaking with what I could only assume was anger.
“Sons?”