“Everything, okay?” Ava called from the other room.
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
Shouting and the sound of glass breaking had Dawn jumping from her bed, ignoring all her pain. Adrenaline shot through her system like a raging flash flood.
“No, you stay up here,” Ava said, her voice snapping with command.
Dawn’s feet froze in place. She glared at the taller woman. “Not a chance. You said you wouldn’t leave me alone. I’m staying with you.”
Ava grimaced and swore under her breath, but she waved Dawn to follow her down the stairwell to the bar.
Tor
“There’s another fire extinguisher in the kitchen,” Liam said, his voice bellowing across the bar.
The heat from the flames brought sweat to Tor’s face. His hands felt like they were on fire.
Tor dropped the burning tablecloth he’d been using to beat out the Molotov cocktail and dashed for the kitchen. Liam was spraying the fire closer to the front door with the canister he kept behind the bar.
The damn men had thrown three of them though all three front windows, and if they didn’t get it under control fast the whole place would go up. He shoved through the swinging doors and searched the room for the large red canister.
Nothing on the walls. Nothing next to the door.
He walked into the kitchen further.
A flash of red near the refrigerator door gave him just enough relief to take a deep breath. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding it this whole time.
Tor ran across the kitchen, yanked the fire extinguisher off the wall and hurried back to join Liam in the dining area of the bar. The flames had gotten higher. Three tables were ablaze now.
Dalmeck.
Liam had gotten the first fire out. The one near the door and was working on the second one. But his extinguisher was running low and starting to sputter out the last of its foam.
He pulled the pin free on his and pointed the hose toward the fire closest to the bar. If it reached the alcohol that was the end of this place.
The stairwell door opened.
Dread closed around his heart like sharpened claws. Ava and Dawn stepped out into the smoke-filled bar. No. No. No.
“Focus! Tor.” Liam shouted.
Tor turned his head back to the fire and let the foam cover the flames, blocking the fire’s way to the bar. This shouldn’t have happened. He should’ve seen them coming. Heard them.
Ryder burst through the front door with two more extinguishers, curtesy of Lily’s café across the street.
“Toss me one,” Liam said.
Ryder obliged, hurling the canister at the big bartender. Liam caught it with ease and attacked another section of the fire.
A few minutes later, between the three men with extinguishers and the two women beating the edges of the fire back with tablecloths they finally did it.
When the last of the flames had been doused, they were covered in grime, coughing up soot, and staring at a mess that would take several days to clean up and a decent amount of money to repair.
Dawn’s pale glowing skin was smeared with black soot. Her blonde hair was grimy and dirty. Her clothes hadn’t fared much better. Neither had anyone else’s. They were all black and dirty from their hair all the way down to their boots.
“Everyone, okay?” Liam asked, sinking into an undamaged chair near the bar.
Murmurs of yes carried through their small group. Tor only had eyes for Dawn, but he hesitated to approach her. She wasn’t his to comfort. Wasn’t his to wish for. His fated match was taken already. But he couldn’t leave her alone.
Especially after this. They’d tried to burn the place down with her in it.
He’d never let that happen. Even if he could never have her. Never touch her. Never claim her.
Leaving her wasn’t an option. These men wouldn’t stop attacking her. She’d never be safe without him watching over her. Without the tribe watching out for her.
Ava stood with her arm around Dawn’s shaking figure.
It took every shred of willpower not to go over there and move the she-bear away from his mate and comfort Dawn himself. Where was her damn husband, anyway?
“I just. I don’t know what I would do without any of you. I don’t know how to thank you. And I don’t know what I’m going to do now.” Tears poured down her cheeks, cutting paths through the black smudges on her face.
“We can get this cleaned up, Dawn. I have friends that can help.”
“I can’t pay you. I don’t have anything.” She looked to Liam. “Does the business have money to spend for the repairs?”
“No, not really. I’ve had to let go of pretty much everyone just to make bills and my salary since Lars passed.”
Tor stood. “You can pay me back later. I have some money saved up. It will be fine.”
“I can’t take your money, Tor. I don’t have any ability to pay you back. If the bar doesn’t get back into the black, I’ll just owe you forever and I can’t. I can’t…” The tears poured harder.
“Then make me a partner.”
“What?” She hiccupped through the word.
“Make me a partner.”
“But the bar’s not even mine for a year, at least not really.”
“It doesn’t matter. Just have Bentley draw it up to become official in a year. I don’t care. Let me help you, Dawn.” Tor waited, his heart pounding so hard in his chest he thought everyone in the room could hear it like the thundering hooves of a giant herd of caribou.
She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity.
No one in the room spoke.
Everyone waited.
Even Liam was silent for once.
Then she nodded her head. “Are you sure? These guys are going to come back. What if they do something worse. What if next time there’s no bar left, and you sunk your money into something that doesn’t exist anymore?”
“That’s my risk to take,” Tor answered without hesitation. He really would do anything for her, and this bar was the best chance he had in this town of getting to be a chef. The bar would allow him to grow and practice and do something he really enjoyed.
Hope shined in Dawn’s eyes. Hope and wariness, but at least there was hope now where before he’d only seen defeat. She was so strong. She needed him and he needed her. And at least they could be friends, even if they could never be more.
7
Tor
“You go back upstairs and get the rest that Connie said you needed. Ava can you stay with Dawn until I get back from the Jenkins place?”
“Of course,” Ava said, herding Dawn toward the stairwell before she could argue.
“Who are the Jenkins?” Dawn asked.
“They run the grocery and hardware in town.”
Once the females had disappeared up the stairs he turned back to Ryder. “Do not leave this building until I get back.”
Ryder nodded. “Of course not. My wife is here too.”
“I may not know the little lady well, but I was loyal to her grandfather. I’m not leaving her either and I may not be as young as you both, but I’ve got more experience on the field than both of you put together.” Liam stood from his chair and kicked aside a broken stool. “Lars gave me a job in this town when no one would. I’ll be damned to hell, before I let Hollister chase her off or hurt her. Over my dead body.”
Tor smiled at the old soldier’s rant. “Good. I’d expect nothing less. Though, let’s try to keep your dead body out of the mix.”
Liam snorted. “You saw the ring, didn’t you?” Liam asked, pressing his mouth into a tight line. “She’s not exactly on the market and you’re acting a bit on the possessive side.”
“I don’t see a husband, do you?” Tor said, spitting the words out like they burned. “I’m not going to do anything, I would never. I know she’s not available,” he said quickly, attempting to salvage his integrity. “But I’m also not going to sit by and let her be taken advantage of because
her husband has left her to fend for herself.”
Tor wouldn’t touch her.
Wouldn’t do anything.
Even his tiger wouldn’t stoop that low. But he also wouldn’t leave her, especially without a husband showing up and personally telling him to back the hell off.
Liam grunted and tossed one of the empty extinguishers onto a pile of burned and broken furniture. The fire nearest the bar had taken out two tables and multiple chairs.
“I was just making sure you knew.”
“I know,” Tor said, struggling to keep the frustration from showing through in his voice.
All three of the large windows along the front of the bar had been shattered. The Jenkins would have plywood to board that up until they could get glass ordered. With any luck, Penny would be able to pull some strings with her supplier in Anchorage and get some materials up here quicker for him. She had regular loads delivered weekly for the Tribe’s cabin builds.
The slate floors should be fine. A good bit of scrubbing should have them ready to go. The ceiling was a bit singed in places. Paint there would be necessary. New tables and chairs would also be needed to replace the seating that was lost in the center of the dining room. At least two of the booths would have to be pulled out and rebuilt. All in all, it was doable. And since nothing was structural, technically they could probably open as soon as the windows were boarded up and the mess was cleaned.
The regulars wouldn’t care about a few burnt places. In fact, most of them would likely be pissed on behalf of Dawn.
Tor was getting a pretty clear picture of Hollister.
Everyone in Mystery hated him therefore it was safe to say the man was not a good one.
“Be back with some plywood,” he said, headed for the front door.
Ryder nodded and grabbed the big push broom from behind the bar.
Liam waved him off. “We’ve got plenty to clean up. If Henrietta’s got any white paint. Get that for the ceiling.”
Tor nodded and slipped out of the bar, barely avoiding slamming into Knox. The wolf side-stepped at the last minute.
“I see I didn’t get here before the bastards tried again.”
“Ryder?” Tor asked.
Knox nodded. “They came around the Community Center too, but I don’t think they would try anything like this anywhere else in town. Your woman is an outsider. Katherine says they will come harder for her.”
“She’s not mine. She’s married.”
Knox’s eyes widened. “I see. I am sorry, my friend. Perhaps it is a misunderstanding?”
Tor shook his head. “She’s got a ring on. And after she got knocked out, she woke up asking where her husband was.”
“But she is meant to be yours? You see the soul call?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Tor said, his voice turning into a growl. “I’ll be back. Have to get plywood for the windows so we can open tonight at least for a while.”
“I’m here for as long as you need me. Harrison is staying near Katherine.”
“Thank you.”
Dawn
“They just tried to burn the place to the ground…with me in it? A complete stranger wants to be a partner in a business I’ve only had for a day. A business that’s not formally mine for a year. I have to last in this town a year…without being killed by this madman who wants the bar.”
Ava put a hand on each of Dawn’s shoulders and stared her down. Slowly, breath by breath, Dawn’s racing heart slowed. The sobs and hiccups ebbed and receded.
“You. Are. Okay,” Ava said the words slowly.
“I’m not.”
“Tor would never let anything hurt you. None of us would.”
“I don’t understand that,” Dawn said, turning away from Ava and walking into the small kitchen area. She pulled a glass down from a cabinet and filled it with water from the sink. Then drank it all down. It felt so good against her dry soot-coated throat. The smoke had been terrible. The whole place was a disaster. She looked down at her black-smeared hands. Her face probably looked even worse from the crying. “You don’t know me. None of you do. Why are you being so nice?”
There was silence. Ava didn’t give her answer to that question which meant there was a reason, just not one Ava was prepared to share.
The awkward silence was ended by a firm knock on the door. Ava wheeled around and sniffed the air before moving toward the outside apartment door.
“Wait?” Dawn said, taking a step toward Ava. “You don’t know who’s there.”
“The jerks trying to burn the place down aren’t going to knock.”
That made sense.
Ava was right. If they were trying to get at her, they wouldn’t knock.
Except knowing that, her body still tensed and her heart still crawled up into her throat threatening to choke her on thick syrupy irrational fear.
Ava opened the door. “How did you know I was up here?”
“The guys downstairs said. What happened?” A deep voiced burly giant walked into the living room past Ava. Huge, probably almost seven feet tall. His long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He had a big grizzly beard and honey brown eyes very similar to Ava’s.
“Owen. Dawn. Dawn. Owen, my brother.”
Dawn let the breath she’d been holding slip from her lungs. Brother. Good grief, she’d thought Ava was tall and intimidating. Her brother made NFL players look like teenage boys.
“Dawn. Nice to meet you,” he walked toward her with big lumbering steps.
Dawn couldn’t stop herself from backing up a couple of steps. “I. Um.”
Ava jogged over to her brother and smacked his arm. “You’re scaring her, you big lump. Why are you here? You don’t usually come and see me in the middle of the day.”
“Tara saw the smoke from the store and called me. I checked your place first and when you weren’t there, I headed here. Just worried. Can’t I worry about you? You’re all I have left, Ava.” He rubbed his hand across his scruffy face and sighed. “Now I find you and that wolf of yours mixed up in more trouble.”
“Wolf? Are you talking about the wolf I saw in the parking lot?” Dawn turned to Ava. “Do you have a dog? Or a wolf as a pet?”
“Dalmeck,” Ava said, her voice a hiss. She smacked her brother’s arm again. “Get out. Just get out. If you want to help, go clean downstairs and if you see anyone in a black SUV get even close to the parking lot, feel free to throw something very heavy at them.”
“What? Hey, Ava,” he said, his voice quickly muffled by a slammed door in his face.
Ava locked the apartment door and flashed a quick smile at Dawn.
“Sorry, over-protective big brother.”
“What about the wolf thing?”
“He calls my husband a wolf. It’s a thing. He didn’t like Ryder very much when we first got together.”
“Oh.” Dawn put the glass down she’d been clutching to her chest the whole time Owen had been in the apartment. “You know your brother is really big. Like really big.”
Ava chuckled. “Yes, it runs in the family.” Her eyes darkened and her voice faded out. “My dad was even taller.”
Dawn recognized that tone. The use of past tense. “I’m sorry.”
Ava gave a slow smile. “It’s okay. It happened this past winter and it still hits me every so often that they aren’t with me anymore.”
“What am I going to do, Ava?” Dawn walked to the couch and sat. She curled up at one end against the arm, hugged a brown throw pillow against her chest and buried her face in it. It smelled like aftershave and outdoors. She wished it smelled like a certain redheaded man who was avoiding her.
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to go to sleep right now. I want to go to sleep and wake up and this whole nightmare be over. I want the people trying to kill me to be gone. I want the bar to be in perfect condition. I want there to be money for staff.” She raised her head from the pillow and stared across the room where Ava still stood leaning
against the door.
“You should go to sleep.” Ava approached and held out her hand. “You should sleep. The bar is going to be fine. It might take some patching up, but it’s going to get there. The Watering Hole is an important part of Mystery. It’s been here for decades. And it’s going to be here for decades to come, because you are going to make it great again.”
Dawn took Ava’s hand and let her pull her up from the couch. Ava made it sound so easy. So matter-of-fact. Like everything was just going to work out and there was nothing to worry about.
No crazy men after her.
No Adam making her feel like scum on the bottom of his shoe.
This was her shot and she couldn’t let someone steal it from her.
8
Penny
Penny sank slowly into the enormous foam-filled-bean-bag chair. She’d never be able to get out of it without help, but Kann was never very far away. He was overseeing the building of Owen and Tara’s cabin now that theirs was finished. Owen had chosen a spot just a little further down the river from theirs. All the cabins were out of sight of each other, but close enough that the Reyleans could shout and hear each other.
She couldn’t hear them. But she also couldn’t hear the heartbeats of her babies and Kann could hear that too, so she just trusted them on that. He was an enormous Reylean lion-shifter after all, more like a prehistoric sabertooth from earth standards.
Penny rolled to her side and stretched out on the giant foam pillow. The soft velvet fur felt amazing on her face. Her stomach was huge, and she was almost always uncomfortable. She routinely told Kann it was his fault that she was going to deliver a litter of kittens.
They wouldn’t be kittens—literally. At least he kept assuring her.
He made it up to her with that tongue of his. A shudder of pleasure ran down her spine and her body tensed just at the thought of his tongue. He was a cat and he used that to his advantage whenever possible.
Still. She was having four babies. Four.
All's Were That Ends Were: Soulmate Shifters World (Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 6) Page 6