“You don’t understand anything,” the woman said. “Murder is messy. His brothers are strong shifters. Which means they’re excellent trackers. I can’t be impulsive this time. Even you are a decent tracker and you’re an idiot. Whether we killed Eric or the girl or both, if they ever found the bodies-”
Lydia didn’t hear anything after that. Because all at once she felt a fury that she’d never known overwhelm her. It was hot and it made her shake. She had never seen red in her life, but she had to think this was what it was. She shifted abruptly and barrelled around the corner, letting out a roar of rage in defense of her mate.
But she was hasty. Her roar was frightening, but it also alerted the man and woman to her presence, giving them just enough warning that she was about to attack. Lydia stood up on her hind legs just before lunging at the pair, but the woman was too fast.
Lydia had not been thinking. She had only felt from deep inside her, a primal urge to protect Eric.
If she had been thinking, she would not have attacked.
This was the nightmare she’d been having all along. And she’d just made it worse.
The woman shifted and the two of them clashed, claws digging into fur and flesh as Lydia tackled her to the ground. Lydia snapped her jaws and for a second, she had the woman pinned beneath her. She was right on the verge of sinking her teeth into that bared throat as the two of them wrestled on the wood floor of the verandah.
It took the woman’s male partner a second, but then he shifted too and it was all over.
Lydia had been in fights before. She’d won against bears bigger than her, even male ones who were bigger. If the fight for survival or defense was strong enough, she supposed anything was possible. But up against two bears, she had no chance.
The rest of the fight was a blur as the male bear ripped her away from the woman and pinned her beneath him, capturing her throat in his jaws.
The message was clear - submit or die.
I’m sorry, Eric, Lydia thought, before going limp.
28
Lydia
Lydia couldn’t open her eyes and that was confusing.
What had happened?
Her head was muddled and it ached terribly. She had been walking along on the verandah, she thought. She had been thinking of Eric and their future and then…
The man and woman, the two bears…
Her nightmares...
She could remember nothing beyond losing the fight with them. She might have won, she liked to think, if she had only been fighting the woman. But two against one was asking a lot.
Why can’t I open my eyes?
She had a terrible pain in her shoulder and she felt the aches and pains of having been in a bad fight. She was pretty sure she wasn’t terribly wounded anywhere, unless she was in shock and not feeling it. But her shoulder hurt and her head…
Why can’t I open my eyes?
But she was opening her eyes, she realized. She just couldn’t see anything.
Blindfold, you dummy.
There was also the minor detail that she couldn’t move. It was taking a couple of minutes to sort these things out. She was muddled and in pain and where was Eric? Those people were going to hurt Eric! And here she was apparently tied to a chair, she thought. She was sitting up but she couldn’t move. The duo had stashed her somewhere and tied her up. There was also a cloth in her mouth, gagging her. She tried not to move her tongue or shift the cloth around too much. It threatened to go too far into her throat and make her choke.
Shift!
Lydia fought to calm herself down and think rationally. No, she shouldn’t shift, she thought. She had no idea where she was or if those two were anywhere nearby. They had taken her down so easily to begin with. There was no point in getting smacked down again and risk getting hurt much worse. That wouldn’t help Eric.
Even now she could hear muffled thumps and the sounds of doors opening and closing somewhere. Everything was a little muted. She wondered if she was locked in a closet.
Eric…
Lydia concentrated on relaxing all her muscles, regulating her breathing. She listened to her own beating heart that sounded too fast and forced herself to sit calmly and as still as possible until it slowed again. She had been stupid to attack them, but it had been a bit like an out of body experience. There had been no thought behind it at all.
Now she had to try to be smart to help Eric.
It took her a couple minutes to remember the conversation with Eric about his ex-girlfriend. It was all coming together now. The ex-girlfriend hadn’t just been a fling or an attempted relationship, it was obvious to Lydia that the whole thing had been a scheme. Obviously, they were trying to seduce Eric and swindle him somehow. As one of the richest and most eligible bear shifters in the country, it wasn’t so surprising that he would be a target of such a plot.
How am I going to get out of this?
More importantly, how on earth was she going to save Eric who was in terrible danger?
She didn’t cry. She had cried so much over the past few days - out of either sadness or frustration or happiness. But somehow, in the thick of danger, she found herself able to compose herself. She felt no hot tears behind her eyes. She had been stupid already and now she had to buckle down and be cool and rational and smart.
She did have a secret weapon, she realized. She had that mysterious connection to her mate with its rare but powerful trait. She smiled to herself around her gag when she thought of it.
Of course.
Fine, she thought. I’ll just talk to him in his head.
29
Eric
Eric’s brothers noticed something was up immediately because he simply could not contain himself.
He was practically skipping when he showed up at the front desk that morning. He was also ten minutes late, which was out of character for him. There were precious few excuses for being late when you lived on the other side of the building. But Eric had been loathe to leave Lydia’s side or stop kissing her.
He showed up to work grinning, having missed his semi-usual breakfast in the kitchen.
“Hmm.” Connor stroked his chin when he saw Eric at his station. He had a donut and coffee and he handed them over to Eric’s delight. “Something happened. You talk to Lydia?”
Eric took a sip of coffee and shrugged, attempting to be mysterious. “Maybe.”
“Well, you didn’t just get some,” Connor said thoughtfully. “I can always tell. This is something else. You guys work your shit out?”
Eric smiled to himself and leaned on the front desk. He took a big bite of the powdered jelly donut Connor had given him. Connor rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and waiting patiently as Eric ate his entire donut and washed it down with a long drink of hot coffee.
“She’s my mate,” he said, casually. “She says so. I say so. We’re…” He sighed heavily. He was definitely not used to being so open about these things. He growled under his breath and said, “We’re in love. We had to hash some things out about the past but…” He grinned, feeling helpless to deny the enormous feeling that had taken over every nook and cranny of his heart. “We’re in love. She’s going to move down here and everything.”
“Finally!” Connor punched his shoulder, laughing. “I knew it. I always knew it. Well, I knew it when she showed up again. But Cody always thought you two belonged together.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Eric said, chuckling. He bit his lip, staring out at the lobby as guests ambled in and out. “We haven’t worked out the details of things yet. But I want to give her the chance to do whatever she wants to do. I mean, literally anything. She’s been scraping by for so long, you know? If she wants to go back to school or work here or in town or just sit in a hot tub eating bon-bons forever, that’s fine-”
Connor threw his head back and laughed at that. He had been in an especially good mood lately, but he looked downright giddy as he talked to Eric. “You’re a good mate.” He clapped Eric on the shoulder. �
�Starting to get jealous of you and Nathan finding your mates. Next, it’ll be Cody. And me…”
“Hey,” Eric turned to face him. Connor looked suddenly a little melancholy and that wasn’t like him. When he was bothered by something he usually projected it as aggravation. But he was downright sulky now. “You’ll find someone.”
“Getting long in the tooth,” Connor said, shrugging.
Eric raised his eyebrows at that. He’d never thought of Connor as anything close to lonely. “You’re only thirty-two.”
“Yeah.” Connor cleared his throat and punched him on the shoulder and Eric winced. “Whatever. I’m fine, man. I’m happy for you. We’ll have to have a big dinner soon with the four of us and the two mates.”
“Sure thing.”
Connor left to go back to his office and it was only a few minutes before Eric was bombarded with texts from Cody and Nathan, all wanting to know when he’d gotten together with Lydia, when she was moving to Colorado, if she was going to live at the lodge, when they could all have dinner…
The fifth time his phone buzzed on the counter while he was talking to a customer, he opened a drawer and dropped it inside. But he found himself smiling despite himself. It was sweet how much his older brothers cared.
At lunch time, Eric was on pins and needles. Lydia had promised to come down and have lunch with him in the dining hall. He bounced on his toes and checked his phone before heading out to sit at his favorite table by the front window, giddy with anticipation.
Must be love, he thought. I feel like I haven’t seen her in days.
Eric sat down and spent five minutes trying to choose the right Cabernet for lunch, which he decided should be fish. Lydia had always loved fish, whether in human or bear form. He knew Cody had just gotten in a shipment of fresh bass and he was always great at making bass an event.
At five past noon, Eric texted Lydia, who he had not heard from in the last hour. There had been a lot of flirty texting before that.
I’m ordering bass. ;)
He wasn’t about to ask if she was coming for lunch when they’d already discussed it. No need to make himself sound overly paranoid about her not showing up somewhere. That could be a sore subject given their past.
Another five minutes passed.
Eric frowned and restlessly fussed with his phone, his nostrils occasionally flaring as he sought out Lydia’s scent anywhere nearby. He looked out over the guests drifting in and out of the dining hall and stared out the window at guests passing by on the verandah that wrapped around the lodge.
He texted Lydia again.
You coming?
When another five minutes of nothing passed, Eric started to worry.
He couldn’t help but think of Lydia’s nightmares and the entire reason she had come out to Black Bear Lake. What if Eric wasn’t the one in danger? What if it was her?
Eric didn’t bother to cancel his order for lunch. He just got up and left, hurrying toward the stairs up to the suites, intent on finding Lydia and keeping his eyes, ears, and nose open.
He was halfway to his own suite, thinking she was probably there when he caught Lydia’s scent coming from a far hallway on the second floor instead. It was far from Lydia’s room and from his own residence.
It was close to Michelle’s suite, he noted.
He had spent some time in her room the few times they had gone out. He hadn’t missed the lingering scent of another bear shifter in the room either. Michelle had told him she had a business partner in town who came to work with her in her suite. Her entire job had sounded a little tedious and complicated, though Eric had expressed interest in hearing about it on their dates. But Michelle had always rolled her eyes and said it was boring to talk about.
Eric did not so much as suspect Michelle of anything nefarious in the least...until he followed Lydia’s scent right to her door. That was more than a coincidence. It wasn’t impossible the two women had met and they were just talking in there, laughing about what a dip Eric Strauss could be sometimes. The Lydia he had always known was shy about making new friends, but Michelle could be pretty disarming. It wasn’t impossible.
Except that the hairs on the back of Eric’s neck were standing up.
Lydia had not texted him back and he’d felt things were off with Michelle. It was one of the reasons he had rejected her in the first place.
None of this felt right.
Eric was wearing a sweater under his suit jacket and he took a deep breath as he attempted to get his inner bear under control. His bear was pacing, becoming increasingly restless not knowing where his mate was or if she was in danger.
Eric knocked on the door.
He heard something like a thump and some murmured talking. A male voice said, “We didn’t order anything!”
Eric frowned and said, “It’s Eric Strauss!”
“Shit, I knew I smelled him,” the man said. He was speaking softly, but Eric could just make his voice out.
Eric growled under his breath, his muscles tensing. Something was most definitely up.
He clenched his fists, prepared to strike if necessary.
“Let him in!” That was Michelle and Eric bared his teeth.
They had done something.
His bear roared in his chest. His blood was hot.
The door swung open and in a rush of warm air from the heater in the suite, he caught Lydia’s scent as sharply as if she were standing right next to him.
Everything happened very quickly.
In a second, Eric took stock of the suite. A handsome yet weasley looking man around his own age with long dark hair had answered the door and he looked tense, as if he were about to throw a punch at any second. He stood by the door, his eyes narrowed at Eric.
Michelle stood in the middle of the suite, her lips pursed, staring at him with wide eyes. She wore a red parka and she had a bruise on her face and a bad scratch along her cheek still oozing blood as she began to dab it with a towel. She looked like she’d been in a fight.
Eric’s jaw clenched and he was about to ask where Lydia was. He had just opened his mouth, the man’s eyes fixed on him, when Michelle shot her hand out toward him. Her eyes flashed and just as he saw light that he recognized as the magic energy of a spell casting, he felt a terrible force strike him and take him right off his feet.
“Someone will see!” The man hissed, just as Eric was thrown back across the hall and hit the opposite wall.
Eric was stunned, the wind knocked out of him.
His bear demanded he get to his feet and fight.
Except that he couldn’t move.
“Well, drag him inside then!” Michelle snapped.
She sounded completely different. He felt blindsided. His head throbbed and his limbs wouldn’t move. He frowned, groaning. His bear was demanding he get up. But just as the man ran out into the hall and grabbed his feet, unceremoniously dragging him into the suite before anyone could walk by in the hall and see the ruckus, he felt a stranger rooting around in his head.
That was what it felt like anyway.
It was completely different than the few times when he had heard Lydia in his head. That felt like a warm hug. This felt like someone had barged in, breaking down the doors of his mind and making themselves at home when they were unwanted. He groaned again, his brow furrowed as he inwardly tried to fight the invasion. It made his head hurt and he was already feeling sluggish and dizzy besides that. His thoughts were slowing and becoming unclear.
I have to find Lydia, he thought. I have to…
But where was Lydia? He could smell her. She was somewhere close. He knew her scent better than anyone’s except his own brothers’. He had caught the scent of Lydia, even in dreams when he missed her so intensely it made his heart ache. There was no mistaking it.
She’s here…
He had to rise and fight and save Lydia. Except he couldn’t move and he could hardly think. That stranger was rooting around in his mind. The man was shutting the door, having
dragged him into the living room of Michelle’s suite. They were looming over him, talking about him as he lay there, paralyzed. He realized it was Michelle rooting around in his head.
It also felt a lot like she was trying to take control of his mind and he couldn’t stop her.
“I told you,” she was saying to the man as they loomed over him. “Mind control spells are tricky!”
“If you don’t want to do the mind control-”
“I’m doing the mind control, dum-dum! I’ll knock him out and take him over. We’ll put him somewhere and he’ll wake up under my control. I just have to concentrate. And then we’ll come up with the plan. We just have to be careful!”
Eric wanted to scream at that. He felt his voice was stuck in his throat and even when he tried his hardest, his every muscle straining, all he managed was a soft, “Umph…”
“Hold on,” Michelle muttered. She glared down at him and he couldn’t so much as blink.
They had hurt Lydia. He knew that, he just didn’t know how. Though he suspected she was still alive. He could feel it. Everything in him wanted to jump up and rip Michelle’s throat out just for threatening his mate.
But all he could do was lie there as Michelle pointed down at him and whispered, “Sleep.”
And everything went dark.
30
Lydia
Lydia wondered if her mind might explode.
She had not been tied up - wherever this was - for long. But every second might as well have been an eternity. Because every passing second was another moment when Eric might be in danger.
She kept starting to freak out and having to calm herself down again.
She’d tried to telepathically connect to Eric a few times without success. It was tricky, since she really didn’t know what she was doing. They had only stumbled on this telepathic link by accident. It was something that had cropped up when they were younger, passing it off as a fluke. Now when they did it, it was in times of deep emotional connection.
Billionaire Bear Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset Page 21