Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-three
Bayer
Shame made me want to just curl up in bed and not even think about getting up.
I’d refused to stay with Phoenix and Emery when they’d gotten him back from the silver-skins just over three days ago.
I tried to tell myself that they needed privacy and happily bunked down in one of the spare gamma houses.
This one had ten bedrooms, ideally for single shifters but that could be shared, but it was nearly as empty as most of the pack.
There were three gamma houses altogether.
One had been taken over by the remnants of Curtis River, and they’d even been altering it to suit their needs.
Apparently, they were used to the whole pack living in one huge place, with just extra connecting areas for families. I liked that idea.
The second was kept clean but empty, and the third—this one—had two occupants.
Kaylan probably thought I was crazy turning down the alpha’s house, but I needed time to nurse my wounds.
Isla was sharing with a family, but I didn’t think I could cope with being too close to my way-too-perceptive sister.
I glanced at the darkness surrounding the blind, but I instinctively knew dawn would start to crack the black soon.
I got up and headed for one of the showers.
The bathrooms were communal, but the one on the end was larger and easier for me to fit my frame in simply because it was fitted above a bath.
And Phoenix never skimped on the hot water.
They’d used solar panels in a cleared sloping area of ground before sustainable energy became fashionable.
All the hot water had to be heated in my old pack.
I felt a little better every day, and while my shift had healed my injuries, other damage wasn’t as easy to recover from.
Work helped. I’d insisted Isla give me guard duty.
Patrol wasn’t practical because, as a bear, I was hardly stealthy, so I was happy to cover the new barrier set up for vehicles.
Not that the silver-skins would turn up in a car, but as I understood it, Emery’s dad might still be desperate enough to be a threat.
They’d deliberately made the other routes impassable to anyone in any sort of vehicle, so while the wolves shifted and patrolled, I took my turn on gate duty.
It wouldn’t be forever, I supposed, and to be honest, I had no idea what forever would even look like for me, but I was helping. Phoenix and his pack had saved my life. I owed them, and if helping to keep things a little safer was all I could do, then so be it.
By dawn, I was at the barrier. Jazmin was delighted to be relieved early, and I told her to call me if she ever needed help.
In the three times I’d taken over, I’d learned she had elderly parents, and while the pack helped, her dad, in particular, wasn’t doing too well.
We were too stretched for me to take over completely, as most of us were doing triple what would have normally happened before the silver-skins decided to become a greater threat.
I’d been there for about three hours when a wolf ran out of the trees and immediately shifted.
I recognized Karl. “Heads up, a black Jeep just passed our outer boundary. I’ll stay out of sight, but I’m here if you need help.
I can call in Max, Helio, and Rafe, as well.
” I nodded. It was a fine line between wanting privacy and looking like we were guarding a secret army base.
If someone had just gotten lost, I had the standard explanation detailing the forestry service was doing some maintenance felling, and it would be dangerous for the public to accidentally wander into the area.
I heard the Jeep well before I saw it, and nearly laughed as I recognized the two people in the car.
Then I sighed because fuck, it really wasn’t funny.
I leaned back against the barrier and grinned as Gemma Docherty, reading specialist and Emery’s best friend, and Danny Jacobson, Emery’s TA, both got out of the car.
“You’re Bayer,” Gemma confirmed. “We want to see Emery.”
But then Danny came rushing forward like he was going to hit me—all five feet barely five inches of him—and his scent hit me like a sledgehammer.
It was powerful enough to fell one of the Western Reds that had stood for hundreds of years, and I was ready to drop to my knees.
Fuck, I wanted to bathe in the mixture of cedarwood and oranges.
“We haven’t seen him for weeks. Well, Gemma has, but I haven’t, and we’re gonna call the cops if you don’t let us through.” His demand was so cute, considering he didn’t reach my pecs, but I was still recovering from whatever I’d inhaled.
“Let me make a call,” I croaked out, eyeing Gemma, who seemed to think the whole thing was funny. But I wasn’t stupid. I didn’t call Emery. I called Phoenix.
Emery
“We can’t have humans—”
“I’m human,” I calmly pointed out to Phoenix, who sent me an exasperated look.
“You also can’t hide you suddenly—”
My narrowed eyes cut Phoenix off in the interests of self-preservation. Just because I was dealing with a sudden shift (no pun intended) in body image, didn’t mean I needed it constantly being pointed out.
“Gemma knows about the pack.”
“What the fuck?” my alpha croaked out and found his knees worked better when they were bending and parking his ass in a chair.
I repeated word for word what Gemma had told me about her mother meeting Draven.
How she knew it was the same guy even though that made zero sense, and how their huge secret—locally, anyway—wasn’t, as well… secret as they thought it was.
Phoenix looked at me with such defeat in his eyes my heart ached. “What about Danny?”
“Danny loves me.” I said it with confidence.
“And if a paper offered him a million bucks for his story?”
I understood. Hell, Dad had just proven exactly what Phoenix was most scared of.
“I think you need to make a decision,” I said thoughtfully.
“At some point, with the threats we’re facing, you need humans on our side.
” I was convinced. And as I watched, Phoenix’s shoulders slumped.
How long had he been fighting? I was exhausted, and I’d been fighting for barely a few weeks. Phoenix had been battling all his life.
Phoenix stood and turned to Simeon. “Warn the pack, but escort them here. Tell them they’ll be informed when the threat is clear.”
I understood. Of course I did, but Gemma and Danny had been in my corner with more ferocity and loyalty than either of my parents.
I was as disguised as I could be when Bayer brought them into the room. I didn’t dare get up, obviously, and murmured nonsense about twisting my ankle. Danny just about burst into tears and tried to hug me, but I grabbed his hands awkwardly. “Danny, it’s fine.”
“No,” he blurted out. “We haven’t seen you for weeks.
It’s like you’re in a cult, and I’m not going anywhere without you.
” He stamped his foot for good measure while I gaped, then he wanted to know if he should call the FBI, the cops, the army, or even the coast guard.
And to say we were hundreds of miles from the coast, that was just an indication of how rattled he was.
Gemma stayed silent all through Danny’s rambling and even smiled at the more preposterous theories.
“Danny, I’ve been hiding out from my dad.” I told him about the threat for money, but not the blackmail, or the reason for it. He seemed mollified, but I still didn’t like the curious expression on Gemma’s face.
Danny still wasn’t happy, though, and just as I was convinced I’d gotten away with it, he launched himself at me again for a hug.
Phoenix reacted faster than anyone could so much as blink and caught him around the waist. He screeched and started yelling he was going to call the cops because I was obviously being held a prisoner, and I sighed, threw off the blankets, and got to my feet.
The silence in the room was quite awe-inspiring, as both Danny and Gemma’s eyes flew to my belly. Phoenix let go of Danny immediately.
Bayer—funnily enough, as I’d thought he’d gone back to guarding the gate—chose that moment to come in balancing a tray of tea and yummy pastries I knew Nicholas’s grandmother had made and stopped dead when he read the room.
“What’s that?” Danny whispered, looking at my belly like it was an alien, which I guessed to him was understandable.
“Is that what I think it is?” Gemma whispered, then she shook her head. “No, I only saw you…” Which, yeah. This development had literally happened overnight.
I met Phoenix’s gaze, and he sent me such a steady trusting look, I had to press my lips together firmly to stop them wobbling. He was putting their greatest secret in my hands. Trusting me, and I couldn’t help but reach for him. Phoenix pulled me close and cupped my cheek as I gazed up at him.
“I love you,” he promised, then rested his hand gently on my abdomen.
“Gemma,” I croaked, turning to her. “Do you remember what you told me about Draven and your mom?”
Her expression didn’t change, so I knew it had been on her mind. “Yes,” she added calmly.
“Well, this is like that, and obviously why I’ve been hiding out.” I wasn’t going to mention the vamps, as that wasn’t my secret and could easily cause panic that wouldn’t help anyone.
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Danny nearly screeched and, surprising us all, Bayer took his arm and steered him to the couch.
“Tea, coffee, or juice?”
“I need vodka,” Danny wailed, and Gemma snorted.
“No, you really don’t.” She went to the tray, poured him a coffee, grabbed a pastry, a couple of napkins, and plonked them on the small table next to the couch.
She eyed Bayer. “Alcohol and Danny aren’t good idea.
He’s such a complete lightweight he’d be dancing on the table after one.
” Which seemed to break the awkwardness a little.
“Danny, hun, you trust me. We’ve been friends for years.”