Jacob nodded. “In warmer months this stream is really great for fishing further down where it’s deeper, but once the lakes freeze then most of us head out for some ice fishing. If you’re still in town, I’d be more than happy to teach you how.”
She nodded. “If I’m still here,” she said, not wanting to commit to anything and then brought the subject around to what she’d been waiting to ask since the diner. “How come everyone seems to be afraid of Sebastian?”
Jacob shrugged and moved some low hanging branches out of her way with his free arm as they entered a denser stretch of woods. “He’s not really a people person. He keeps his distance from everyone and has pretty much made it clear he wants to be left alone.”
Susan nodded thoughtfully; the image Jacob painted was so different from the man she had once known.
Jacob sniffed the air and sneezed and she winced. Maybe she had been a bit heavy handed with the perfume. She figured out exactly what he was trying to scent though when a huge black bear lumbered through the trees and let out a tremendous bellow.
Jacob pushed her behind him and said “stay calm” as the bear continued to barrel toward them grunting and blowing. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
When the bear was practically on top of them and had his face inches from Jacob’s, showing off his impressive canines with another bellow she came around Jacob’s side and swatted the bear straight on top of his muzzle.
“Jesus Christ, woman!” Jacob yelled, trying to pull her back behind him, his eyes practically bulging out of his head.
She resisted his tug and planted both her fists on her hips and glared at the bear. “Don’t you take that tone of voice with me, Sebastian Black!”
Susan noticed Jacob’s mouth dropped open in shock, but she continued to glare at Sebastian and then poked a finger into his fur covered chest. “I’ve spent all day on planes trying to get here, and I very nearly crashed my rental car on that god forsaken mountain road outside this town. I’m tired, I’m cold, I’m cranky, and I’m not to be trifled with. Do you understand me?”
He shocked the hell out of her when he shifted back to skin. Standing before her was six feet six inches of scruffy naked mountain man in the snow. She tried to focus on his face rather than the slabs of muscle all covered in smooth skin. His once silky black hair had grown out considerably and he looked like he hadn’t touched a brush since he left California. Or a razor she thought to herself as she took in his equally long matted beard. He was glaring at her, his dark brows low over his dark brown eyes making him look quite sinister. Then the brows lift as recognition finally took hold. “Bug?” he rumbled in that deep voice of his.
“Ugh! Please Seb, I loathe that nickname.”
Then he frowned and his glower returned. “If you’ve come to convince me to return you’ve wasted your time.” He turned and walked away from her giving her an unhindered view of his magnificent muscular ass.
She fell into step behind him and Jacob scrambled to catch up once his shock wore off. “You knew he was a bear?”
She nodded and she heard Seb snort ahead of them. “She’s a bear too; it’s that god awful perfume she’s wearing that masked her scent.”
She saw the look of disappointment on Jacob’s face and felt bad. She was well aware that it was one thing to flirt with a non-shifter, another thing entirely to express in interest in a different species. She found him quite amusing though, and hoped they could at least be friends.
Jacob leaned in and whispered, “Did he call you a bug?”
Susan grimaced and then opened her mouth to respond but Sebastian again cut her off, proving his hearing was excellent. “She was like a pesky fly, always buzzing around us,” his hand waved around his head to demonstrate his point, “annoying us no matter how many times you shooed her away.” He growled.
She flinched at his description and felt heat climb into her cheeks, embarrassed by Sebastian’s blunt statement. She had known she’d been a pest, but he had always called her Bug with a bit of a smile or an exasperated grin, rather like an endearment. She had never heard him talk about her with such distaste. She felt tears prickle slightly behind her eyes but she grit her teeth and blinked hard to banish them. She would not embarrass herself by crying. She had known that there was a possibility he wouldn’t take her sudden appearance well. She just hadn’t expected it to be confirmed so soon or in such a hurtful fashion.
They came into a clearing and Susan spotted the small, rough log cabin surrounded by an equally rough split rail fence. A plume of smoke trailed from the chimney. Sebastian turned not caring that he was flashing her all his goods and glared at Jacob. “You can go now.” He rumbled.
“Don’t you tell him to leave,” Susan snapped, annoyed with how rude Seb was being. “He was nice enough to bring me out here, and you can at least let him get warmed up by your fire.”
Sebastian turned and glared at her. “You can leave too. You weren’t invited. You wasted a trip so go home.”
Susan glared at him. “Sebastian Black! Where are your manners? What would your mother say if she heard you speaking like this?”
Sebastian got right in her face and Susan had to stop herself from stumbling backwards from the intensity of his glare. “Last I heard my family wasn’t too happy with your family so I guess she wouldn’t care to entertain you either now would she?”
Susan’s eyes darted to Jacob and she lowered her voice. “That was ten years ago, Sebastian, things have changed.”
He continued to glare at her for a moment more and then grunted. “I’m going inside.” He grumbled but she noticed he didn’t slam the door in their faces so Susan and Jacob followed him in.
The cabin was small, one room dimly lit just by the fire, and extremely primitive; nothing at all like the house he’d grown up in. The fireplace was large and made of rough stone rather than brick and had a pot of something that smelled like stew hanging over the low flames. There was a shelf on one wall that held a radio, a lantern that wasn’t currently lit, and some tattered books. A pile of blankets and what looked like an open sleeping bag had been kicked into a corner, while another corner had a pile of clothes, a pair of boots, some rope, and a backpack. She took it all in at a glance and also noticed there was no place to sit except on the floor. Susan shrugged, went to the corner where the blankets were and grabbed one before spreading it out before the fire and patting it. “Take a seat” she said to the two men as she peeled off her coat and hat.
Jacob sat next to her but Sebastian continued to stand there and glare down at her. She realized her mistake immediately as her position on the floor in the tiny room gave her an unobstructed view of Sebastian’s genitals. She tried not to blush as she put a hand almost to her face, her palm facing out to cover her eyes and turned to look at the fire. She cleared her throat. “Could you maybe put some pants on?”
Sebastian rumbled from his chest again but turned to the corner that held clothes and did as she asked. She couldn’t help but notice that pants was all he put on despite the cold. “Could you sit?” and then hoping to soothe his temper she smiled, “please?”
“No.” He said, “Speak”
Susan stared at him for a moment and sighed. All this primitive living had obviously deteriorated Sebastian’s vocabulary to that of a caveman.
“Fine” she grumbled. “We’re at war with the felines.”
Both Jacob and Sebastian stared at her; Jacob looked like he wanted to say something, but Seb cut him off with a snort. “So they sent you to come get me to join this war? No. They’ve wasted your time.”
Susan shook her head. “Actually, they didn’t want you to come back but rather me to stay here with you.”
Sebastian looked appalled and Susan felt a twinge of pain in her chest. Well, what had she expected after that less than stellar greeting?
Jacob broke in with “How are you at war with the felines? They usually don’t bother with bears.”
Susan felt a little better lookin
g at Jacob. Sebastian would hear her but she wouldn’t have to witness his obvious dislike of her in his every expression. She cleared her throat and hoped any hurt that came through in her voice would be associated with the tragedy rather than hurt feelings. “About a month ago,” she told Jacob, “Sebastian’s brother Christian kind of went off the rails; his wife left him and he took to drinking and brawling.” She stole a peek at Sebastian to see how he took the news. His face looked impassive, but she saw that his hands were balled into fists and the knuckles had gone white. Was he still in love with Mary Beth then after all this time?
She continued. “It probably would have been fine if he’d stayed on our territory, but it’s pretty much thought he went looking for trouble that night. He went to a bar that’s well known to be a favorite among the felines.”
Jacob groaned and she nodded. “He was hitting on a feline female, coming on pretty strong I guess right in front of the female’s mate. A fight broke out and both of the felines were killed.” She glanced again at Sebastian. “The female was the pride leader’s only child and she was pregnant.”
Sebastian hissed out a foul expletive but Susan continued. “Their leader wanted Christian to be turned over to their pride for execution, but Christian maintained that he never touched the female and that once the brawl started it was a giant mess of bodies and anyone could have killed the woman. He was willing to take responsibility for inappropriate behavior but not murder. No one actually saw what happened to her – at least not that they were willing to confess. So our council ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to warrant an execution and that Christian would pay restitution instead.”
“I bet the cats weren’t happy about that.” Jacob grumbled and Susan shook her head. She still had to finish her story but she didn’t like to think about it much less say it out loud. She picked at a thread on the blanket and then finally looked into Sebastian’s intense dark eyes. She cleared her throat to work past the lump that had formed. “That night Christian was found behind the bar he’d been at, he was badly injured; so bad in fact that it was assumed he had been left for dead. The council let the felines think they had succeeded in their assassination attempt, hoping that would be the end of it.”
Sebastian clenched his jaw tight and looked away from her as she continued. “The next night two females were killed. One was a council member’s wife, the other a daughter,” She swallowed hard but a broken sob still escaped. “And the next night another two daughters were found the same way.”
Sebastian turned his back on her and rumbled. “That’s enough,” but she couldn’t stop the words that poured out of her mouth. “They’re brutally killing women, Sebastian, in vengeance for their slain female.” She watched his back stiffen; her nose and eyes prickling with the tears that she could no longer suppress. “My father wanted me as far away as possible. He knew the distance would help protect me, but knowing you would be here with me gave him some peace.”
Chapter Three
Sebastian didn’t know what to say. Bug being here in Malsum Pass would be a continuous reminder of the person he had come here to forget. Mary Beth Fuller – no, she was Mary Beth Black now – had been the love of his life. He had imagined so many times being with her forever. He had pictured building a house with her and filling it with children. She had been so beautiful to him. Unfortunately, the beauty had blinded him to all the signs of how cold and grasping she could be. When she had betrayed him with his own brother, he’d wanted to strangle both of them. When he’d confronted her with the evidence, she’d actually laughed and told him that Christian was the better bargain. She had told him that while she thought Sebastian was incredibly handsome, Chris would inherit the ranch, and that was her deciding factor. When he’d asked her why she’d even accepted his proposal and why she was still even wearing his ring she had shrugged and said, “It’s a pretty ring, I wanted to keep it.” He’d felt so much rage he was afraid he would strike her, so he’d left instead. But staying in town was a constant reminder. He couldn’t escape the pitying looks and knowing eyes of the townspeople so he’d taken off for good.
Now Mary Beth and Christian had split. Had she cheated on his brother as well? Had he been so devastated by a betrayal he had once been party to himself? Sebastian had often thought of just such a scenario occurring – the satisfaction of his brother feeling just what Sebastian had felt, but now the thought left him hollow. Bug had said that Christian had been badly injured. Was he okay now? Was he mending? Who was taking care of him? He grimaced. Christian didn’t deserve his concern; he had betrayed his own brother!
He’d been gone ten years, plenty of time to have put this behind him and move on, but obviously he hadn’t; he’d simply buried it. Did he now have a niece or nephew that was now being raised by that grasping, deceitful bitch? So many questions and emotions flip flopping through his brain. He needed to ask Bug. But not right now. Now he needed to shift and work off this feeling of rage and pain that he hadn’t experienced in years so that he could get back to his quiet, simple life. His chest felt uncomfortably tight and his throat felt closed off. He needed to be alone. He had banished everything about his previous life when he left Mariposa and Bug’s sudden appearance had brought the betrayal crashing back in on him. She would stay in town, that was fine, and he’d avoid town and thus avoid the memories just the sight of her stirred; simple. He’d be fine as soon as she left. He tried to make the words come out, to tell Bug and Jacob that they needed to leave but he couldn’t get any sound to even push past his throat. He raised his arm and gestured toward the door.
One of them must have figured it out since they both stood and Bug folded the blanket and put it back on the pile. He heard her clear her throat and he prayed she wouldn’t try to touch him, as he felt like he might fracture. She merely said, “I’m staying at The Cedars for a time, Sebastian. If you want to talk I’ll be here for you.”
Would he ever want to talk about this? To once again rip open the wounds with the reminders? No, he just wanted to forget, but he couldn’t form the words to say so. He nodded stiffly and motioned with his hand again. He needed them to leave, now, before he completely lost it. He couldn’t look at her but somehow knew she nodded before she walked out the door with Jacob.
His knees suddenly collapsed beneath him and he hit the floor. He didn’t bother to get up as memories of Christian played like a movie reel in his head. Christian had been older than him by two years, but he had been Sebastian’s first playmate, his first best friend, and first confidant before he’d also become his first rival. Sibling rivalry they call it, but it was a driving need to be as good as, if not better than, Christian. He had needed to excel in school and in sports; to win the bigger prize and claim the bigger trophy. Mary Beth hadn’t been the first girl they had competed for, but it had been the one that hurt the most – primarily because it was the first time that Christian had done it behind his back. All the times in the past they had been upfront about being interested in the same girl and the rules were simple: put your best game forward and let the girl choose. Sometimes Christian would win and sometimes Sebastian would win. But with Mary Beth, Christian had never once expressed an interest or acted like he wanted her. He had been the first one to hug Sebastian and congratulate him on his engagement, only to find out that the two of them had been fucking each other for over a year.
An image of Bug popped into his head and the pain in his chest eased a bit, at least enough that he no longer felt like he was gasping for every breath. He imagined her as he first saw her today with her puffy pink coat and pink knit hat pulled down over her forehead and ears. Her long, dark brown hair draped over her shoulders and those dark blue eyes fearless as she challenged him. He would laugh at her daring later, when he was once again able to feel humor. She had changed so much in ten years from the chubby girl with the eager expression and lopsided braids who followed Mary Beth around for the slightest crumb of attention. She was a beauty now. He had always felt a bit so
rry for her, wanting her sister to be her friend but there were eight years between them and a world of difference in their interests. Mary Beth had been interested in fashion, make-up, school friends, gossip, and boys while Bug still played with dolls and had tea parties while wearing her mother’s heels and fancy hats.
He had felt less sorry for her as time went on and he discovered that she was spying on them and couldn’t keep her mouth shut. He didn’t know how many times he had tried to call Mary Beth only to be told she was grounded for something she had done with him the night before. They’d had to get smarter and sneakier in where they went to be alone, but Bug would always outsmart them and be able to find them. Looking at it from a mature perspective these many years later, he had to admire her; the kid had been smart and determined.
Sebastian got up from the floor and pulled a book from the shelf. He removed the letter he had placed inside the front cover and opened it. Riley Cooper had tried to bring it to him a few months ago only to find that Sebastian had been shot by hunters and had gotten shot himself when he had tried to intervene. Riley’s then fiancé and now new bride had been able to get them the help they needed. Once they’d both recovered enough to be released, Coop was finally able to deliver the letter into his hands. When he’d seen the return address, Fuller, Keaton, and Wade, Attorneys at Law, Mariposa, CA, he’d cringed. He had written to his parents once when he got settled to let them know where he was in the country, but he hadn’t provided an address simply because he didn’t have one in the literal sense, so the letter had been sent to the law office here in town, confident that they would get it to him if he was in the area.
The envelope contained two letters, one from his mother to let him know that she and his father had decided they wanted to see the world before they were too old to enjoy it. They would be heading north through Canada into Alaska before crossing over to Russia and westward from there. He had been happy for them. They had always talked about all the places they wanted to see and it hadn’t surprised him when she wrote that they would possibly be gone for years. What had surprised him was that they were leaving the ranch to him. When the letter went on to talk about Christian, Sebastian had stopped reading and had switched his attention to the other letter that was from the law office. It had been a request for his return so that they might finalize the paperwork on the ranch. He had ignored it and stuffed both letters back in the envelope and put it away; out of sight, out of mind. When he had first recognized Bug, he thought she had come to drag him back to California for whatever legal paperwork her daddy’s office had needed him to sign. Never would he have imagined her father had sent her to him to protect. Not that she’d need protection from cats here. Malsum Pass had two female feline shifters that had shown up a little over two months ago and had been given sanctuary since they were runaways from their own kind. Those two ladies certainly wouldn’t be participating in any wars that their kind was involved with. They just wanted to live in peace. Otherwise, there were no feline shifter territories even close to this area.
Until You: A Malsum Pass Novel Page 2