Lucian: McCray Bruin Bear Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  never had, and that money will never buy me. A family that cares for you and loves you no matter what.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. You’re right. I’m Lucian, not Mr. McCray please. You must be Demetrius Morgan. I know your brother, Nathan. If you don’t mind me saying so, he’s a piece of shit.” She nodded and said she thought he was being generous with that. “Yes, well, my mom would box my ears if I said something bad about someone else’s family.”

  “Yes, well, he is that and more. So is my sister. You know her?” He said that he did but didn’t have anything nice to say about her either. “It’s doubtful that anyone would.

  I would like to hire you, Mr. McCray. I need someone to travel around with me to make sure that I’m— What’s wrong with you?”

  He didn’t know what to do when her scent blew over him. He looked around, trying to figure out where to go to see if he was right. But her scent hit him right between the eyes like a ball would have. Moving a step forward, she took one back. His bear didn’t like it any more than he did when Madden stepped closer to her.

  “Madden, I can only ask you this once before I have to harm you. Please back away from Demetrius.”

  Madden got it. Not only did he move back, but he pulled Dad back from her as well. Demetrius moved forward and slapped him across the face. Lucian stood there, holding his hand over his injured cheek while he fought with his inner beast.

  “What was that for?”

  “You’re scaring the fucking shit out of me, and I will not have you treating others like they should obey your every command. Now, whatever is going on, you can just deal with it. My sister is pulling up the driveway. If you can’t conduct yourself like a grown man, then get in your car and get the hell out of here. I’ll have enough to deal with without you acting like a moron.”

  He smiled. She sure was full of fire, and he loved it, even though she had given him a taste of it. Turning at the sound of the car stopping, he watched as the overweight woman struggled to get out of the car, a small, bright red compact. It was much too small for a woman her size and age. This was her sister? They couldn’t have been more opposite, he thought.

  “Demi. So, you’ve stolen Grandma’s house, have you? And even before the will is read. What a shame that you’re not going to get to stay here for long. I’m claiming it for my own, just so you know. Then I’m going to fire those lazy fucks that are sucking up the air that I breathe.” Dad moved up to stand next to him. Madden stood on the other side of Demi. “What the hell did you think you were doing, having some guy knock poor Nathan to the ground like he was nothing to you?”

  “He is nothing to me. Neither are you, for that matter. What are you doing here?”

  Astrid looked him over. Lucian felt like meat on a hook and wanted to take a long hot shower. He wasn’t even sure that would help his feelings of being dirty. “Keep away from these people, Astrid, or I swear to you, what happened to Nathan will be nothing compared to what I do to you.”

  “You’re very brave for someone that has a fat lip and a black eye, sister dear. Have you opened your envelope? I have. She told me how I was her favorite, and that if I were to see you, I should treat you no differently than I did when we were children.

  That was fun times for us, wasn’t it?”

  Demi said nothing to her sister, and that, Lucian thought, was the best way to treat her. When she made a lunge-like threat to Demi she didn’t even flinch, but it did make his family laugh. That made Lucian very proud to have her as his mate. He wasn’t looking forward to telling Demi that, but he knew that she’d be safer now than she would have without any of his brothers.

  Astrid laughed like she knew some big secret, but Demi wasn’t having any of it— she just crossed her arms over her chest. Demi wasn’t one to fuck with, and while

  Astrid’s laughter made his bear roar at him to keep Demi safe, Astrid seemed to think it was a big joke and laughed again.

  “I want you to get off my property.” Astrid asked her how she thought it was hers.

  “Grandma left it to me and only me. If you think that it might have been part of

  Abrielle’s estate, then you’re in for a bigger disappointment than you might have imagined. This is mine.”

  “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” Astrid walked back to her car, nearly falling off the heels that should have been on someone much younger and lighter on her feet.

  When she paused and turned to look at her sister, Lucian tensed up, waiting for whatever Astrid said. “Tomorrow when we all meet again, you had better bring someone with you to pick up the pieces, Demi. You’re going to be nothing but shit under my boot when I inherit it all and toss you to the dogs.”

  “Since you have nothing that I want, nor did your mother, then I have no idea why you think I’d care if you got it all. What I’d like to know is, why are you so sure that there is anything for you to get? I mean, last I heard, you were only a few cents from being tossed out on your collective asses anyway.” The anger that spread over the distance between the sisters was palpable. Lucian watched, his bear ready to do whatever it took to keep her safe. “Go home, Astrid, while you still can. I don’t want, nor do I need, anything that you think you might have.”

  Flipping Demi off, Astrid got into her car. Lucian knew that she was going to be stupid and try something else. So as soon as she revved up her engine, he stood in front of Demi so that she’d not be sprayed with the stones in the drive. The pelting at his back hurt, and he couldn’t imagine what it would have done to Demi should she had been standing there.

  “You can move now, she’s gone.” He just shook his head at Demi when she spoke softly. “Mr. McCray, I’m not in the mood to be bullied right now. And I’m barely hanging on. I’m an inch or so from falling flat on my ass, I’m so upset.”

  “I’ll hold you.” She nodded and turned. Lucian swept her up in his arms just as she started to fall. “I have you. Let’s get you into the house and looked after. She will never bother you again.”

  Setting her on the couch, Lucian wasn’t surprised that his brother and dad had come in with them. The butler—he said his name was Moses—handed him a full glass

  of an amber looking liquid that he put on the table beside Demi. Pushing her head between her knees, he was glad that she allowed him to do it.

  Dad spoke quietly to Madden. He knew they were speculating on what was going on, and to be honest, so was Lucian. When Demi lifted her head up and looked at him,

  Lucian told her that she was his mate.

  “Yes, I kind of figured that one out on my own when you got all macho out there. I don’t need you as a mate, but I think I could get used to you hanging around.” She put her fingers on her lip, and he sat up enough from his position on the floor to suckle the lower one into his mouth. He could taste the blood, and knew that she had to be in a great deal of pain. When he pulled back, the wound was healed and the swelling was going down too. “You fixed it. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. And if you don’t mind me saying so, you’re taking this a good deal better than I thought you would.” She asked him what good it would have done for her to be upset. “I don’t know. None, I guess. We’re mated and matched.”

  “Yes, well, I would like to think on that a bit. I’m not one to move forward quickly on anything. It’s not my style.” He asked her what her style was. “I think on things, move around my thoughts, and try and figure out what is the best course of action to take before I lose my ass. I never take chances with my heart or my money.”

  “I’m about as broke as a man can be right now.” She shook her head and leaned back on the couch. He had no idea how she knew that Moses had returned, but she asked him to please call Alan Shoe for her, as well as set the table for dinner for Lucian’s family. “There are eight of us, counting my parents. That’s a lot to throw at someone so close to dinner. And it’s also not necessary.”

  “If you think I’m going to be mated to you withou
t meeting the people who raised you, you’re dumber than Astrid. And I have a feeling that you’re far from that. Please contact the rest of your family, and we’ll see where this leads us.” He stood up and she sat up straighter on the couch. “Mr. McCray, this doesn’t mean that I’m going into this willingly. Nor does it mean that I’m going into this—whatever it is—blindly. I might need you as much as you need me, but I’m not a pushover, nor am I easy.”

  “It never occurred to me that you were either. I do need you, more than I think you need me. And please, call me Lucian.” She nodded. “For what it’s worth, I think you could take them on, both of them, and come out on top with your family. I also think that they’re going to get more desperate about things, though I don’t know what those things are, before this is finished. Don’t you?”

  “Yes. I had to come home to be here for the will to be read. I’d already decided that

  I would perhaps stay. And after talking to your brother about how things are around here, I think I can do a lot of good too. But I can’t if I have to forever wonder if you’re going to pounce on me.” He said he’d never pounce on her. “Good. One less thing I have to worry about for now.”

  He followed her into the kitchen and Dad stopped him. He simply said yes, she was his mate. For several minutes, Dad whooped and yelled. Lucian thought again that this was going too easy. Like usual, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. But for now, he’d enjoy himself.

  Chapter 3

  Daxton waited for the other two to show up. He was glad that Demi had gotten herself someone to watch over her. And as far as he knew, there couldn’t have been anyone better than Lucian McCray. The man came from a good family, and a supportive one. He had a feeling that this was more than just a bodyguard relationship too. They were a mated pair, if he didn’t miss his bet.

  When Astrid and Nathan showed up, he had to stifle his laughter because of the way the two were dressed. Demi had on a pair of nice dress pants and a lovely top, and her hair was pulled back into a thick braid down her back. Classy casual, he would call it.

  Nathan was obviously hung over. His eyes were bloodied, and his nose was broken and had a large piece of tape over it. His clothing looked as if he’d slept in it. The shirt he was wearing was dirty with food stains, and bore the name of a well-known college.

  Daxton knew for a fact that Nathan hadn’t even graduated from high school, much less an Ivy League school.

  Astrid had on a skirt that was much too small for her large frame. It was short too, but Daxton wasn’t sure if it was short because of the mass it had to cover, or if that had been the style she’d been going for. Her boots were worn—one of the zippers had a pin on it to keep it together at the top. The blouse she had on was a belly one, which showed much more of her than any human would ever want to see. Mounds of fat, to him, were not sexy at all.

  “We’re gathered here today to read the last will and testament of Abrielle Morgan.

  Present are her children in order of birth; Astrid Morgan Chase, Nathan Morgan, and

  Demetrius Morgan.” He smiled at them all. “Now, if you’d all give me your unopened envelopes, we can proceed.”

  Demi, as he knew she would, handed hers to him unopened. Nathan said that he’d forgotten his, but would bring it by some other time, and Astrid handed hers to him not only opened, but with a large coffee stain on it.

  “You were to bring them today, unopened and not read. Without them, I told you that you’d forfeit some of your estate. It seems that Demi is the only one that can follow instructions.” Daxton listened to the older two argue. They were being snide to Demi, but she just sat there saying nothing, and her face looked as if she were the only one in the room with him. “Demi, there is something for you at the end of this. I’d like to see you right after, if you’d not mind.”

  “All right. But I don’t care about it…whatever it is, I just don’t care.” He’d known she’d say that as well. He had known the family for a long time and knew the troubles that had kept the younger one in the hospital a great deal. Also, he knew that she’d left home very young and hadn’t ever returned, except for her grandma’s funeral. “Can we get this going before they kill each other?”

  Daxton nodded and went over the terms of the will—who had written it, the day that it had been sealed, and who had witnessed it. Demi was surprised that her

  grandma had been one of the ones who had signed off on it. And when Lucian put his hand on her shoulder, she took it like a lifeline.

  “Can we please get to the good stuff? Like what did she leave us? I’m not sure why this had to be done, a will and all, but it’s messing up my daily routine. I was to have my nails done today.” No one pointed out that her nails, as she called them, were bitten down to the quick. But that was Astrid, a woman who made appearances of having more than she ever would. “Get on with it.”

  “All right. To Astrid, I leave nothing. She has been a burden on me for the last twenty years. I never realized it before, but since you were ten years old, I have done nothing but pick up one mess after the next that you got—”

  “Hold on a damned minute here. What does that mean, she isn’t leaving me anything? You must have read the name wrong. Start again, and this time get it right.”

  Daxton had expected this and repeated it, saying the name and spelling it out for her.

  “No. I don’t understand. There must be something wrong with this thing. What does

  Nathan get? Is he supposed to get something that he’s to share with me? That’s it, right?”

  “If you’d let me finish, then we can get you to your appointments. And I have read it correctly. Your mother goes on to say that she’s paid for six of your divorces, medical procedures for unwanted children, as well as paid for you to have dental work done when one of your ex-husbands bashed your teeth out.” Astrid stood up and Daxton did as well. “Sit down.”

  Not only did she sit, but she looked confused about it. Daxton was a very old vampire and could have made her climb the walls should he have wanted. But this had to be done and done today. The deadline was coming up.

  “I want you to get to my part in this.” Nathan smirked at his sister. “Go on, tell me what I’m going to get, and then I can go to the house and have the entire thing redone to suit me. Astrid can stay with me if she pays rent, but it’ll all be mine.”

  “To my son, Nathan. I leave nothing as well.” Nathan stood up but sat down when

  Daxton only stared at him. “I have paid more than a mother should for his fights, his drunken behavior, as well as the women that he thought to knock around. There were grandchildren that didn’t make it into this world that I will never see, never hold. All because of your temper and ill mannerisms.”

  They both looked at Demi when he did. Nothing could have made him happier than reading the next part to the rest of them. He’d been keeping up with Demi throughout her years and knew that the things coming to her wouldn’t even be a drop in the ocean for what she had currently. But it was amends being made—a gesture from a mother to a daughter.

  “I leave to my daughter, Demetrius Morgan, everything that I have. The house, which you have been paying on to keep it livable, was signed over to you weeks ago.”

  Daxton looked at Demi. “This was before I found you, so it has been about four months now. There is more, but there is a portion that is only for your ears.”

  “All right. And how did she know that the house had been paid off and the taxes caught up?” Daxton said it had been her grandmother. “I see. She told her for what reason, do you know?”

  “Yes. But again, that is a portion of the will that is for your ears only.” Demi looked at Lucian, and then at her brother and sister. The resemblance had been there, a long time ago. But age, drinking, and eating things that were not good for either of them had taken their toll on them. “Shall I continue?”

  “This is an outrage. What do you mean she gets everything? She didn’t even live there with us all t
his time. I will contest this will. See if I don’t.” Nathan looked as if he was going to hurt someone before he sat down. Daxton only laid the file that he’d been putting together for some time now in front of Nathan—the doctor bills, cars crashed, drinking rows that had cost a fortune to have repairs made. Nathan turned his nose up at it. “Mother was supposed to take care of us. We were her children, for Christ’s sake.

  Whatever she paid, it was her duty as our mother to make sure that we didn’t get into trouble.”

  “And what about me, Nathan?” He only waved Demi off when she spoke. “What about my being taken care of? My needs? There wasn’t anyone there for me when you knocked the shit out of me and sent me to the hospital. Or when you and Astrid stole all my money that I made.”

  “What were you going to do with it? Save it? Christ, Demi, money is made to have fun with. At least until you’re too old. Saving for a rainy day? What did it get you?”

  Daxton leaned back, hoping she’d tell him just what she’d gotten. “Nothing, I tell you.

  A falling down house that you no more deserve than that low life behind you.”

  “Low life? He has more integrity than ten men like you. He works hard and takes care of his parents, not the other way around. And you ask what I have? What I got out of saving my money? Here, let me tell you.” She pulled out her phone and opened it.

  “At this moment I have three bank accounts totaling about seventy million dollars. I have nine profitable businesses that are making more money than you’ve been able to toss away in your lifetime. I have ten homes all over the world. Money in banks that is earning interest for me. I could buy and sell you a million times over, and not even worry about where my next meal was coming from. You ask why I should get everything? I’ll tell you. Had it not been for me, you and your sister would have been tossed out on your broke asses a very long time ago. And despite the way I was treated,