Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
I came to an opening and stopped short. Bears and wolves circled humans. Humans that I knew well.
One of them, in a life that no longer belonged to me, I thought I’d marry.
My mouth fell open in shock, and everything stopped—the bears, the screaming, the crowd, and time, probably.
“Ellie!” Hearing my name was like a splash of cold water to the face. Jen emerged from the crowd, filthy and bruised, and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so glad to see you. Are you okay? Did he get you too?”
“Yes. What’s happening?” My question was punctuated by a roar.
Brad, in his bear form, nodded at me.
“So many things,” Jen said. “Brad saved my life. Kevin’s lost his mind--”
“Wait, Kevin’s the one who took you, not the Slasher?”
"Yeah.” She gaped. “Does that mean the Slasher is really after you?”
“It does. He was.” But right now, my biggest concern was Jen. “Are you okay?” I asked, pulling away from my best friend so I could assess the situation. Her clothes were torn and dirty, covered in more blood than I wanted to think about.
“I will be. What about you? Rumors were flying that no one could find you.”
“They weren’t rumors.”
“The Slasher...is here?” she gasped.
I nodded but my gaze shifted to Kevin. The jackass was still as defiant as ever, smirking at me like he could buy his way out of the situation.
I let go of Jen. “I need to take care of this.”
Striding forward, past a bear and a wolf—I didn’t know who everyone was in their animal forms. There were several wolves who’d signed on to work with Sawtooth Security.
I stopped in front of Kevin, who was on his knees, face was stained with blood and dirt, and put my hands on my hips and shook my head.
“Don’t kill him,” I commanded the beasts. “I understand how tempting it is, but I want answers. Need answers. Deserve them, actually. These fans missed their show, and we owe it to them to tell them why.”
I wanted to dog walk these assholes back into the club, and bring them on stage...in the chaos, I could almost forget that the Slasher was still on the loose. But even after my shift, I could still feel the pressure of his hand on my neck.
“Bitch,” he said between gritted teeth. He was moments away from picking those teeth up with broken fingers.
“We’re never getting back together.” I held out the bear head, letting it dangle from my finger like it was a corset. “Does this belong to you?”
Kevin seethed, but didn’t answer.
“I know how hard it is for you to admit when you’ve fucked up.” I sighed. This was much harder than I expected. I hated to admit I had cared about him. So many times I’d dreamed about facing him in court. Never like this. “Were you really going to kill me to get that land?”
I looked at Brad—those caramel eyes didn’t change in his bear form. He nodded at me.
“If you don’t want to answer my questions, I have a very loyal bear who can make you answer,” I added, dropping the bear head into the gravel in front of him.
“I figured you’d come to your senses,” Kevin grunted. “Never thought it would go this far.”
“Then what was your plan? Tell me everything.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
He let out an exasperated yet exhausted sigh. I hoped these bears and wolves had put him through the ringer. He deserved nothing less. “I’d already been working with people in your office. Plan was to alter documents you’d already signed to be favorable to our plan.”
That was like a slap in the face. The people in the circle with him—I didn’t consider them friends, but we’d been colleagues. I respected them.
“But how did you know I was Synamon?” I asked.
“One of my buddies showed me your peach cobbler video, and I picked up on some of your mannerisms,” he confessed.
“Then I put an alert on both of your names, because I knew you’d be on to us if we changed the documents and needed to stay one step ahead of you.
That’s how I found out the Centerfold Slasher was at your last performance. ”
“The Centerfold Slasher was here?” One of the fans that surrounded us called out, and a gasp rippled through the crowd.
“Yes,” I confirmed. It was on the tip of my tongue to say he is here, but that would whip this crowd, who was already on edge, into a frenzy. It could put the Bearlesque performers in even more danger.
More gasps and a very pronounced growl from Brad, confirming that choice.
Police officers appeared, cuffed Kevin and my former coworkers, and led them away.
I’d dreamed of this moment, so many times, but never like this. Didn’t matter I didn’t get the details right. All I cared about was that no more shifters would lose their land because of these assholes.
The fight was far from over. But I would celebrate the hell out of this victory.
Brad came over to me and nudged me with his snout. I practically collapsed onto him, comforted by his soft fur.
“I should have never left your side,” he said. “If anything happened to you.”
“No, you did the right thing.” I hugged him tighter. “But we have to find the Slasher before he strikes again.”