by Kimber White
“If you treated my sister, you can cross reference that I think. I have ID too, but I’m guessing you don’t need it. You recognize me. I’m her next of kin. If she’s dead, you’re not violating any privacy laws talking to me about her, are you?”
Dr. Putnam handed the papers back to me with shaky hands. “Yes, actually, I would be. HIPPA laws stay in effect …”
I lost it. I moved toward the doctor and grabbed her lab coat in my fist. “I’ve come a long way. I’ve been through hell to get here. I have it on good information you are one of the last people in this town to see my sister. If you say one more thing about HIPPA, I’m going to scream. And if I scream, a very large grizzly bear is going to bust down your front door and come looking for me.”
It was a gamble, of course. I could have sounded crazy. But, the doctor’s eyes flashed with understanding and the right amount of fear.
“What do you want from me?” Putnam pulled her coat out of my fist and tried to straighten it.
“I want to know what happened to my sister. I know she was sick and that you treated her. Tell me what was wrong with her and everything you know about what happened.”
“You’re as much of a fool as she was,” Dr. Putnam shook her head. “And I suppose you’re as lousy a listener too.” She turned toward the wall phone and grabbed the receiver. “Connie, do me a favor and pull the hard copy of a file from the archives. Avery Parker.”
She slammed the phone down and leaned against the door. “I’ll give you what I have. Then I want you to go and never come back. I have powerful friends too.”
Connie was quick. She knocked on the door. She didn’t come into the room but just handed a thin brown file to the doctor through a crack when Putnam opened the door.
“Your sister wasn’t sick. She was pregnant.”
The air went out of the room and I reached back to grip the exam table for support.
“I did everything I could for her, but her condition was … unique. She went into labor right in this room. She was too far gone by the time she came to see me. Maybe if I’d had more time, I could have given her more options.”
“What happened?” My voice sounded so far away. It was as if I’d drifted out of my body and was now watching everything from above.
“I couldn’t call an ambulance. Do you understand that? She wasn’t safe in Blackfoot.”
I nodded. “Arkady.”
“He was the least of her problems. But yeah. If she’d gone to the hospital, she wouldn’t have been any safer there. She was hysterical. She kept saying they were going to take her baby. I did what I could for her. I asked her if there was someone I could call. She gave me a name.”
Dr. Putnam opened the file and pulled out a folded note on yellow paper. She handed it to me. I opened it. My eyes blurred with tears and I couldn’t read it. It was a name I didn’t recognize. Simon Marshall.
“Your father, I presume?” Putnam said.
“What?”
“Your sister. She said if anything happened she wanted me to contact your father.”
My head spun. It didn’t make any sense. Our father’s name was Gary Parker. He’d been in prison practically our whole lives and still was now.
“She said that? Call my father?”
Dr. Putnam shrugged. “I’ve told you all I can. You need to go now.”
“What happened to Avery? You haven’t told me anything.”
“They took her, okay? Three of them. They stormed into the examination room with guns drawn. God, there was blood everywhere. She was dying, Anya. I’m sorry.”
“Arkady as his men?”
Putnam’s eyes narrowed. She leaned hard against the wall. She shook her head. “I don’t know who they were. They were women. They told me to forget I’d ever heard of Avery and paid me a decent wad of cash for my trouble. I wouldn’t take it. I did what I could. I swear it.”
“But she was alive when she left here?”
The doctor nodded. “But she wouldn’t have survived long. She was bleeding out, like I told you. She needed a C-section. She needed to be in a hospital. The baby was turned and it was too big. I’m telling you, I’m sorry. I really am. But I can’t help you anymore. I promised your sister I’d try to get a hold of that Simon Marshall person. She said he was her father. I couldn’t ever find him. Maybe you can.”
I crumpled the note in my fist and staggered toward the door. I wanted to hurt Michelle Putnam. Being in this room scared up ghosts I’d wanted to run from. Avery had been here. I could feel it now. When I looked back at the exam table, I could almost see her. If I closed my eyes, I could smell the blood.
I walked out into the hall. The doorway to the lobby was open. A commotion drew my attention. Cullen stood looming over Connie with murder in his eyes. When he saw me, he pushed past her to get to me.
“Get me out of here,” I whispered. His bear eyes flashed. Dr. Putnam had followed me out of the exam room and backed away when she saw him. Then Cullen put a strong arm around me and took me away.
Chapter Ten
Cullen
I drove. Anya’s words came out in an unbroken stream. She buried her face in her hands. One thought played over and over in my head like a drumbeat. Pregnant. Her sister had been pregnant.
I took the expressway back to the duplex going far faster than I should have. Anya’s grief and pain permeated through every cell in my body. I wanted nothing more than to take her as far away from here as possible and try to keep her safe. But, she might never feel safe again. Not after I told her the things I suspected.
That would have to wait.
As I made the turn down Anya’s street, the hair stood up along my spine. A growl erupted from my throat as my nerves went into overdrive.
“What is it?” Anya and I were connected now in more ways than one. She could sense my alarm.
“Trouble,” I answered. The house was quiet. It was dusk and a light snowfall sugared the grass. They’d been careful. I sensed at least two of them. Not Arkady. He would have been too smart for that. I would have smelled his Alpha signature farther away. I saw no tracks through the light powder dusting Anya’s driveway, so it had been at least an hour since they’d left. But, they’d been here.
“Stay here,” I warned her. “Get ready to shoot if you don’t see me come back out that door in about ten seconds.”
Anya swallowed hard and took her gun out of her purse. She took the safety off and held it two-handed while I slammed the car door shut. This wouldn’t take long. I went to my door first. The screen was torn from the frame. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. Yeah. Two of them. Stefan and another bear whose scent I couldn’t place. They’d come to my place first. I took one step inside and saw all I needed to. They’d torn up the carpet and scratched deep gouges through the walls. The ceiling fan in the living room had been ripped from the socket, the blades smashed into pieces and strewn all over the kitchen.
I shut the door and went to Anya’s. They’d done less damage there but made their point. This was a warning from Arkady, no doubt. He wanted me to know he knew I was still here. Son of a bitch.
“Cullen!” Anya called to me from the open car window. I poked my head back outside and raised my index finger. They’d only upended some of her living room furniture, but their purpose here was clear. Arkady must have told them to make sure and get their scent everywhere. The stench was so strong, I had a hell of a time keeping my bear in check. As it was, the sooner I got Anya the hell away from here, the better for the both of us.
I went into her bedroom and grabbed a suitcase from her closet. I stuffed as many of her clothes inside as I could find and a few of her things from the bathroom. She had her purse, phone, and credit cards with her. That would have to be enough. She couldn’t come back here Not ever. I hoped she’d take the news in stride after everything else she’d learned tonight.
Anya’s eyes widened as she saw me approach the car with her suitcase. She lowered her gun and put it back in her
purse as I threw the suitcase into the backseat and got behind the wheel.
“We can’t stay here,” I said, slamming the car into reverse. I headed northeast, having no idea where the hell I’d take her. I didn’t sense Arkady or the other bears at the moment, but they could show up at any time. I needed to put some distance between us and fast.
“Tell me what happened,” she said, rubbing her forehead with her fingers.
“They sent a message.”
“What message?”
I shook my head. Dammit. I thought I’d have more time. I couldn’t go back to Wild Ridge. My best bet was to head back to Hoosier National Forest and hope I could find an abandoned cabin there.
“Let’s just say I don’t think you’ll be getting your security deposit back.”
“What do we do?”
I slammed my fist against the wheel. My urge to shift bubbled strong beneath the surface of my skin. Driving probably wasn’t the brightest idea I’d had lately. I needed woods around me. It would help me think and plan. I just hoped Anya could handle a night under the stars. I’d keep her warm and safe with my body. It was the only fucking thing I had to offer her right now and it tore at me.
She was silent for most of the trip. Once I’d gone far enough to throw anyone off our trail, I turned into the park. At the very least, I knew a cave where we could hide out. I’d used it before and had left some camping supplies there, so I could keep us comfortable. It was secluded enough, but open enough I’d be able to hear or scent anyone coming from miles away. What I’d do if an entire clan decided to show up, I couldn’t think about right now. We parked the car and hiked the two miles through the sparsest trail. Anya took my hand and followed me without question. When we got to the cave Anya turned and smiled at me.
“Is this what life’s going to be like with a bear?”
I think she meant it as a joke, but her soft eyes tore at my heart. “Dammit. I’m sorry. I can’t offer you anything else right now.”
She stepped forward and laid her hand along my jaw. My skin warmed hers and her eyes glistened with tears. “It’s enough. If you can keep me safe, it’s enough.”
“Tell me about Avery. And slow down this time.”
She began again. Every detail she remembered sent cold dread through me. She saw it in my eyes.
“I think it’s time for you to tell me about Avery.”
I spread out the sleeping bags and brought Anya close to me, leaning our backs up against the cave wall. I could keep her warm enough, but that was about it. Later, I’d hunt for us. A part of me could barely wait for it. I needed the clarity of my bear’s mind. Mine swirled with doubt right now.
“I can’t be sure. But what you’re describing, if she was pregnant with a were … it could have gone like that. In the clans, we have doctors and healers who know how to ease a woman through it. Our mates aren’t supposed to be alone out in the human world like that. No wonder she was so sick. She belonged with her mate’s clan.”
“Her mate.” Anya said the word as though it burned in her mouth. “Do you think she was forced? That’s what I’m afraid of, Cullen. I’m afraid Arkady was behind it.”
I didn’t want to answer her. The idea that Arkady would impregnate a woman and just leave her unprotected and without the proper care seemed so brutal, even for him. If the baby was his or a member of his clan’s, it wouldn’t have made sense.
“Are you sure that’s all Dr. Putnam said?”
Anya shook her head. “She said three women stormed her office and took Avery away at gunpoint. I don’t think they were werebears. I mean I didn’t ask, but that’s a fairly significant detail for her to leave out.”
I shook my head. “No. I told you, there are only about six she-bears in the world anyway. They could have been Anam Cara, but that doesn’t make much sense either. Their mates would have been with them if Avery was one of theirs.”
“There’s one other thing.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled yellow piece of paper. “Dr. Putnam said Avery asked for her father.”
“The one that’s in prison?”
“No. I think she misunderstood. Avery wrote down this name. Dr. Putnam thought it was our father because she thought that’s what Avery said. I don’t think so. I think maybe this man is who Avery thought was the father of her baby. Putnam said if anything happened to her, she wanted her to try and find him.”
Anya handed me the paper and I unfolded it. The first time I read the name, my brain couldn’t process it. It couldn’t be. I blinked hard and read it again.
“Cullen?” Anya sensed a shift in my mood.
Simon Marshall. I read the name over and over, hoping the words would blur and change right before my eyes. Of course, they didn’t. It couldn’t be a coincidence. I knew it in my heart.
“Cullen, does that name mean anything to you?”
I crushed the paper in my fist and pounded it against the wall. I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I couldn’t let the words form in my mouth. Simon Marshall. If Anya’s suspicions were right, the enemy who hurt Anya’s sister wasn’t Arkady or some Russian clan at all. Yes. I knew Simon Marshall. He was head of one of the most powerful clans on Wild Ridge. My Wild Ridge, the place I wanted desperately to return to. The man who had hurt Avery the most was one of my people, not Arkady’s.
Chapter Eleven
Cullen
She knew I held something back. Anya’s eyes widened, questioning me as I held that crumpled piece of paper in my hand. To sit this close to her, hold her hand in mine, and not tell her the truth about what I knew stole something from both of us. The bond between us grew stronger, but remained fragile. But, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. Not yet. Not until I understood Simon’s role in all of this. I couldn’t help that a part of me still felt loyalty to Wild Ridge. That loyalty still thrummed in my blood and made me who I was.
But Anya’s blood thrummed through mine as well. She said Avery was part of her clan and she was. I shut my eyes tight against the vision of what it must have been like for her at the end. She was alone. Unprotected. Her body betraying her without the proper care she needed. Anya told me she felt Avery’s death years ago. I understood that feeling all too well. As part of a bear clan, each of us could sense the death of another as a piercing stab of pain and then emptiness. This new information confirmed her fears. No human woman--Anam Cara or not--could survive the birth of a wearbear without the right kind of treatment. It was the single biggest reason why taking a mate without clan support was against bear law.
And if the child had died too? God, the horror of it all. How could Simon have been part of such a thing? How could any bear? And yet, here I was, holding Anya close to me, claiming her and perhaps putting her in harm’s way just as Simon might have done to Avery. I was no better. In fact, maybe I was worse because now I knew what could happen. I was selfish. I had to find a way to make this right.
“It’s too much,” Anya sighed against me, echoing my own thoughts though she didn’t know how deep they ran.
“I know, baby. I know.”
“I just don’t understand why she didn’t feel like she could call me or ask for help? Was she so damaged? Didn’t she trust me?”
I cradled Anya’s head against my chest. “Maybe she wanted to protect you.”
“I’m so sick of that, you know. I’m sick of people tearing themselves apart because they think they can protect me.” She sat up and faced me.
“Anya.”
“No. I mean it. There has to be a way for us to figure this out. What have you done that’s so terrible?”
I tore a hand through my hair. Everything. That is what I wanted to answer. I’d done everything wrong where she was concerned. But, the pull of my instincts and my growing love for her were too strong to deny. Very soon, I’d need to shift and feel the woods around me. I wouldn’t go far, but if I held back the bear too much longer, I wouldn’t be able to think straight. “What happened to Avery should make that more c
lear to you than ever, Anya. I don’t know how or why, but if Avery was trying to deliver a were, and she was left alone to do it like that, then … well … it’s just about the worst thing a bear can do. And now I’ve done it to you.”
“You did nothing!” She flapped her hands. “God. Bear law is stupid if you ask me. You’re telling me you’re not allowed to love who you want and you’re held responsible for your dad’s dumb choices. Well, guess what? I had a shitheel for a dad too. If I were a bear, does that mean I’d have to sit in prison right along with him?”
I loved her like this. I loved her every way she came to me. Fiery passion danced in her eyes. She stood and paced with her hands folded in front of her. Her coppery hair flew out behind her as she whirled to face me again. I would kill for her. I would die for her. Soon enough, I’d probably have to do both. For now, though, we were here. Together. With a hunt, Anya’s touch, and a good night sleep, I felt like I could conquer the world.
She stood over me and tapped her foot. “You’re thinking about fucking, aren’t you?”
I laughed and it turned into a cough. She squatted down to me, her face flushed. I felt the echoes of her own desire pouring off her. “I think you are too, my love.”
She chewed her bottom lip. Her face flushed and a tiny pulse near her throat quickened. “I feel you. In here.” She pressed her hand to her chest.
“I know.”
She leaned forward and kissed me. Kinetic energy flowed between us. She called to my bear on a level that was new to her and thrilled me. God, I needed to shift. But more than that, she was right. I needed to fuck.
“We’re not done,” she gasped.
“I know that too.”
She had her shirt off and her bra unclasped. I reached up and pulled her down into my lap. I would be quick, but I wouldn’t be denied. Leaning down, I suckled her breast. Her breath hitched and she wriggled out of her jeans.
She stretched out on the sleeping bag, bringing her knees up, she spread herself wide. Dim moonlight cast her in a shimmering glow and I could see how wet she was for me. Just a touch, just my breath against her skin and she was primed for me and I was for her.