Chapter 14
Becca had never enjoyed violence. She didn’t like The Fast and the Furious movies, only watched cute puppy videos on YouTube, and if there was blood on the TV screen, then she took those moments to check her email.
Yet here she stood, rooted to her spot on the porch as two grizzly bears tried to kill each other in front of her.
When Nick had first lunged at Carl, she’d taken a step forward to help, but got no farther.
Alan had gripped her arm to hold her back.
And then she’d watched Carl’s amazing display as he held himself in human form while the grizzly Nick attacked.
It was beyond impressive. It was a demonstration of control and calm like she’d never imagined.
But then it had changed. Nick went from angry to all-out war.
She couldn’t have stated what the difference was.
It was all fur and teeth with Nick, not to mention roaring.
But, suddenly, the atmosphere seemed to thicken and the seven-foot-tall beast became deadlier.
Beside her, Alan cursed under his breath and, worst of all, a look of resignation settled on Carl’s face. And then he, too, became a bear.
She’d seen him in bear form before, she told herself.
No need to be so shocked now. But back then she’d been in the midst of a bizarre attack in the woods at night.
This was in the broad light of day out on the front porch.
Carl was standing there all golden skin on a muscled torso, and then she saw his head shift.
His nose elongated, his shoulders thickened.
And while she watched his whole body grow, he pulled off his pants, abruptly standing as tall as a full bear.
Mahogany brown with a distinctive streak of silver gray on his back, right between his shoulder blades. He was slightly taller than Nick, who was a darker color and had thicker arms and uglier-looking claws. That’s all she saw before Nick lunged and suddenly the two bears were grappling.
She felt Alan’s hand tighten on her arm, holding her back. Had she seriously been trying to move forward to intervene? No one was getting between those bears.
The air filled with grunts of exertion. She saw blood fly but couldn’t tell whose it was.
Her brain couldn’t make sense of the mass of claws and teeth, not to mention fur and limbs.
The two rolled in dirt, and the onlookers backed up to give them more room.
God, there were boys watching. Nick’s adolescent sons, if she had to guess.
And how awful would that be to stand there and watch your father fighting for his life.
Then Nick gained the upper hand, pinning Carl with his body as he hauled back an arm—claws flashing evilly in the light—to eviscerate Carl. Becca would have screamed, but she hadn’t the breath. She ought to do something. Throw a chair, maybe, but Alan’s grip was like iron.
And just when Nick was most extended, his arm raised like a spiked mace, Carl moved. He must have gotten his feet under Nick, because in the next second, he threw the bastard five feet away to slam into an oak.
Then Carl rolled to his feet and stood there, watching as the older grizzly shook his head as if stunned.
“Stop,” Alan rasped under his breath. “Stop it now.”
Becca looked at Carl. He wasn’t moving. “He’s not doing anything.”
“Not Carl,” Alan said, his voice tight with worry. “Nick. Nick has to stop and accept his banishment. He has to.”
There was something in Alan’s voice that made her turn slightly. Just enough to see the man’s face. “And if he doesn’t?”
“Carl will have to kill him.”
Oh, shit. But Alan wasn’t done.
“The last thing Carl needs is another soul on his conscience. He’s already killed three ferals. This won’t help him sleep at night.”
Oh, hell. That suggested all sorts of things, none of which were good.
She looked to the combatants. Nick had regained his senses and looked around, his gaze landing unerringly on his children.
Both boys shrank away from him until they stood protectively in front of their mother. Pam set an arm on each child.
“You shoulda fixed the platform, Nick. You were poisoning the land.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You shoulda done what you were told.” Her voice quavered as she spoke, but there was a firm set to her jaw that Becca respected.
That was it for Nick. Instead of slinking away like he should, he lunged forward on a roar.
But he didn’t go at Carl. Instead, he went for Pam and his two sons.
Becca didn’t even see the move coming. One second he was leaning against the oak as he steadied himself, the next he was mid-leap right at his own family.
Pam’s face registered shock—eyes wide, mouth open—but there was no time for more.
And then Carl landed on Nick from the side, rolling the two of them away until they flattened into the hedge.
And this time, the change was in Carl. Before he’d been grappling with Nick, defending himself but keeping the fight contained in the yard—away from the onlookers. Now he was all fight and blood.
No restraint as he clawed at Nick. The first swipe took out a huge swatch of Nick’s thigh. Blood spurted over everything, but the older grizzly didn’t stop. He rounded on Carl, snapping his jaws, barely missing Carl’s neck.
So Carl clawed across Nick’s chest, making deep furrows that welled bright red.
“Run,” growled Alan. And the one word was echoed all around.
Nick didn’t listen. He kept fighting, coming at Carl again and again. But it was a hopeless battle. His leg was hobbled, and he was losing blood.
So Carl didn’t waste any time.
Two more blows ended it. One thunked against Nick’s head. The other sliced straight across the grizzly’s throat.
Nick fell, crumpling in agonizingly slow moments. He twitched on the ground, blood pouring like a thick, dark river.
Becca stared, waiting for the moment that he reverted to human form. That’s what happened in the movies, right? Werewolf turns back into a naked dead man while the credits roll? But this wasn’t a movie and Nick didn’t shift back. He remained a bear, lying dead at Carl’s feet.
Carl was the one who shifted, shrinking back into himself until he was a man covered in blood who turned to the boys now clutched in their mother’s arms.
“I’m sorry,” Carl said, his voice sounding gravelly. “I tried to find a different answer. I didn’t want to kill him.”
Pam clutched her children tight, and this time her voice rang clear and strong. “And that’s why you’re a terrible alpha,” she said. “You shoulda killed him months ago and saved us all this trouble.”
Carl flinched as if struck, then stomped forward, his eyes blazing and his hands poised to become claws. He didn’t shift, but if ever a man could look like a bear, Carl did.
“I would have done this years ago, but you begged me on your knees not to.” Then he looked around at everyone, pinning every onlooker.
“Is that what you want? A bloody, violent tyrant in charge? Yes, my uncle would have killed him months ago, but he wouldn’t have stopped there.
He would have snapped your boys’ necks, too, raped you until he tired of it, and then taken your property as his own.
” He loomed over Pam. “Is that what you want?”
“N-no, Mr. Max,” she stammered. The boys just flinched and kept their eyes down in submission. Carl rolled back slightly on his heels, but he kept up the glare until Pam spoke again. “Th-thank you for your help, Mr. Max. I’m sorry if we caused you any trouble.”
Carl took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, he seemed to settle further back into himself, though Becca could see the struggle in him.
She saw his muscles ripple, the hump between his shoulder blades thickening and retreating, then thickening again.
He was fighting to keep himself under control, and she held her breath, waiting to see if he would manage it.
Eventually, he blew out a hard breath. “You have until Friday to get that platform fixed.”
“Yes, Mr. Max.”
“And you’ll pay Alan for all the legal work he did on your behalf. Every single dime, if it takes you ten years.”
Pam was bobbing her head like a puppet. “Yes, Mr. Max.”
Then Carl looked down at the terrified boys.
“And you two will come to camp after school every day. Every single day I want you doing your homework right there.” He pointed across the circle to the cafeteria.
“You’re going to get the grades I expect out of every Gladwin member.
If you want, we’ll help you with college, but you have to prove to me that you’re smarter than your father. Is that clear?”
Both boys scrambled to answer. “Yes, Mr. Max.”
Carl looked at Mark, who had been watching with almost casual disinterest from the side of his truck. “Can you see that they get home?”
Mark didn’t even speak. He just pulled open the door of his truck and waited while Pam and her sons climbed inside. Meanwhile, Tonya stepped up beside Carl, her expression flat.
Becca did a double take. When the hell had she gotten here?
“Alan got it on video,” Tonya said. “And I was here for the last of it. There won’t be any problem from the police. It’ll be reported as a bear attack. I’ll get animal control to deal with the body.”
Carl nodded. “Thanks.”
Tonya kept talking, her voice all business. “Let me handle this and then we’ve got to talk. We’ve gotten some of the forensics back from yesterday.”
Becca saw Carl’s shoulders tighten, then slowly ease back down. “Good. That’s good.”
“So why don’t you go clean up? Maybe put some pants on, and I’ll be inside in a minute.”
There was a moment’s silence, and then Carl answered in an almost humorous tone. “Well, it is getting a bit chilly.”
Tonya smirked as she glanced significantly at his crotch. “Couldn’t tell by me.”
It was that smirk that woke Becca up out of her trance.
How dare the bitch make comments like that now?
Becca might be new to this shifter clan stuff, but she knew hierarchy.
Comments like that were inappropriate from a woman to her boss.
It had to be ten times worse in a pack structure, no matter how complimentary the comment.
So Becca stomped forward, holding Carl’s coffee in one hand and picking up the discarded stripper pants with the other.
“I’m sure he finds your tits appealing, too, Officer, but let’s try to keep things professional, shall we?
” Then she offered Carl both items and waited while he decided what he wanted to do.
Well, that’s what she intended to do. She held to the plan long enough to see Tonya’s dark flush of embarrassment, but then she turned to face Carl and that’s when things went all to hell.
She got an up-close-and-personal look at his face.
His mouth and jaw were dark with drying blood. Plus, the coppery scent was thicker here right over the body. And now that she saw the front of Carl’s torso, she got too close to all that gore.
Holy shit.
She was going to be sick.