Bear the Consequences

by Rochelle Paige

  Seeing her looking so defeated made me feel like a failure. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and pulled her body into the safety of mine. I didn’t want her to leave like this. She didn’t struggle, but she didn’t melt into my embrace like she usually did. “Where are you going?”

  “I need some time to think,” she whispered.

  “About what?”

  “Whether I belong here.”

  My bear huffed in anger and my arms tightened around her at the idea she might leave us. “You’re mine! Of course you belong with me.”

  “I never said I wasn’t yours,” she murmured. “I would never say that. I know I’m yours, but I still need to think about where I fit within your clan.”

  Hearing her admit that she was mine went a long way toward settling my bear down. I dropped a kiss on the top of her head and loosened my hold so she could have some alone time. As hard as it was to let her go, I wanted to give her this because she never really asked me for anything. I knew the last few weeks had been hard on her. As I watched her walking away from me, I promised myself I would do a better job of showing her how important she was to me.

  Chapter 10

  Finley

  It wasn’t hard for me to admit to Alasdair that I was his since I knew it to be true all the way to the bottom of my soul. What I didn’t know for sure was if he was mine in the same way. I never thought I would find myself in this position—doubting a mating that had already taken place. Things were supposed to be easier for shifters. At least, that’s what I always thought. You met your fated mate, fell in love, and then you lived happily ever after. That’s what I thought was going to happen with Alasdair and me. Instead, I found myself mated to a man who hated my father. Who might never get past what had happened to his sister. I was starting to think he might never forgive the only other man I loved with all my heart.

  How could I stay with Alasdair if that were true? My heart broke at the thought of raising children who would never be close to my parents. They lived too far away for day trips and I couldn’t imagine my mate would want me to visit them overnight without him. Or even with him, if it meant he had to spend the night under my dad’s roof. I didn’t know how we could make this work with the way things were between us, but the thought of leaving Alasdair was even worse.

  Walking down the front porch steps, I took a deep breath and tried to focus on something other than my future with Alasdair. My thoughts quickly turned to the discussion I’d just overheard. Annora had once been part of my daddy’s pack and he’d failed to protect her. Alasdair and his family might not have taken my dad’s warning to heart, but I did. I knew he deeply regretted what had happened to her while she was under his protection. As his daughter, I felt like it now fell to me to repay the debt owed to her and protect her and her child, my niece, from the threat that may be headed their way.

  I was Alasdair’s mate, but that didn’t mean I could get him or his father to listen to my daddy’s warning. They were dead set against believing anything he told them because they still blamed him for the pain and suffering Annora went through while she was growing up in our pack. Daddy had been in a position to stop it all and missed what was going on, something none of them apparently thought they were ever capable of doing.

  Something my grandfather used to say all the time came to mind: When the wind is blowing at gale force, there’s no point in sailing against it. Based on what I’d overheard and the conversation afterwards, I was pretty sure the McMahon men were a force I couldn’t sail against. Glancing at my car sitting in the drive, I came to a decision. I ran back inside to grab my purse and keys before scribbling a quick note for Alasdair. I knew it was cowardly of me to handle it this way, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk back into the kitchen to face him right now. At this point, I wasn’t sure if he’d even bother looking for me any time soon. I pushed my hurt feelings aside and focused on the task at hand: getting to Annora so I could talk to her about my dad’s phone call to Carrick.

  I wasn’t familiar enough with the drive to make it on my own and I didn’t have her address handy since it wasn’t like we’d traded greeting cards or anything in the last few weeks. She was my new sister-in-law and I knew Alasdair had grown close with her since they’d met last year, but I’d only met her a couple times. It was just another nail in the relationship coffin as far as I was concerned. I barely knew his family. Maybe I could come up with excuses when it came to Annora since she lived in another town, but he hadn’t done much to help me get to know his dad or brothers either. Growing up, the importance of family had been drilled into my head. I knew, without a doubt, I could count on mine for anything at any time, which is why I knew my dad would be there for me now.

  “You okay, baby girl?” he answered, picking up the call before the first ring even finished.

  “I’m fine, Daddy,” I reassured him. “But I do need your help.”

  “Whatever you need, it’s yours.” His response made me smile. It was so quintessentially him. Unfortunately, it also made me want to cry because it was the exact opposite of how Alasdair treated me.

  “Can you give me Annora’s address?”

  His sigh was the only answer for at least a full minute. I knew he wasn’t happy about the idea of me going to see Annora after the warning he’d given Carrick this morning. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

  “I don’t have a choice,” I replied.

  “There are always choices,” he argued.

  “Well, then I guess I should say this is the right one for me to make,” I replied. “She’s in danger.”

  “It’s not your responsibility to protect her!”

  I almost sobbed in response to his agonized tone. “Who better than me? She’s part of my family now, even if they don’t want me.”

  “My sweet baby girl,” he breathed. “Turn the car around and come home to me. Your momma and I will always want you. If your mate and his family aren’t smart enough to see the gift you are, then come back to us.”

  The thought of leaving Alasdair ripped my heart in two. Then again, so did the thought of staying without anything changing. I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

  “Maybe,” I whispered. “But first, I need to repay the debt we owe Annora after what happened during her childhood.”

  “It’s not your debt to pay. It’s mine.”

  “We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, Daddy. Either way, you are giving me that address because you just told me you’d give me whatever I need, and that’s what I’m asking you for,” I insisted.

  I could tell he wasn’t happy, but he gave me the address after urging me again to rethink my decision. We hung up shortly after and I plugged the information into my phone before turning the ringer off and blasting the music as loud as I could stand since I was on the same road for at least another hour.

  With my mind focused on getting to Annora, I drove faster than I normally would and made it to her home more quickly than expected. When I pulled up, there was only one car in the driveway—the SUV she told me Parker had surprised her with when they found out she was pregnant with Kyla. Something that didn’t surprise me considering how protective and crazy in love he seemed to be when I saw them together. And there went the tears again. Everything today seemed to make me think about what was missing from my relationship with Alasdair. I needed to get over myself and focus on what I came here to do. Pushing my shoulders back, I left my car and headed to the house.

  “Finley!” Annora gasped in surprise when she opened the door and saw me standing there.

  “Surprise,” I said weakly, meaning for it to come out more playfully. Seeing the welcoming smile on her face brought the tears I’d be holding inside to the surface.

  “Oh, sweetie,” she sighed. “Are you okay?”

  “That was supposed to be my line,” I whispered as she pulled me into a hug before leading me into her home.

  By the time she got me settled on the couch with a mug of tea in
my hands, I’d managed to pull myself together. “Tell me everything,” she demanded, and I found myself doing just that. I told her about how Alasdair and I had met. How it felt when I realized the way he and his family felt about my dad—and me being his daughter. It all tumbled out: the pain of feeling rejected, how alone I’d been the last few weeks, why last night was the hardest night of my life, and finally, my dad’s call to Carrick and the conversation I’d overheard this morning.

  “That’s a lot to take in,” she breathed, in shock after I finally stopped talking.

  “Sorry. I guess I’ve been bottling it all up inside and you were the first person to ask me and mean it,” I apologized.

  “Of course I meant it! You’re my sister-in-law. You can tell me anything,” she reassured me. “And I better call Parker to make sure my dad already let him know about your father’s call this morning. I’m sure he knows already, but if I don’t call, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  I sipped my tea, settling into the couch and getting comfortable. The adrenaline from my emotional meltdown must have crashed because all of the sudden, I was exhausted. When Annora whispered her goodbyes to her mate and hung up, my eyes were drifting shut. I struggled to keep them open since it was terribly rude to show up unannounced at her door and dump all that onto her shoulders only to fall promptly asleep, but my body didn’t care and I lost the battle.

  ****

  A knock on the front door pulled me from my slumber. I had apparently needed the sleep badly and had a difficult time waking all the way up. As I heard Annora’s soft footsteps walking past me, I realized I was still on the front couch. While I had slept, someone had covered me with a blanket, and I felt safe and warm in the home she shared with Parker and Kyla. Kyla’s baby smell made me crave things I wasn’t sure I’d ever have with my mate. I breathed deeply, but Parker’s scent wasn’t strong enough for him to have come home while I was knocked out. The door creaked a little as Annora opened it and I leaped from the couch, hit with the realization that Parker wasn’t here yet to protect her and the baby. I inhaled deeply, searching for any signs of danger. The scent of human and roses hit me.

  “Aww,” Annora sighed at the sight of the red bouquet.

  “Flower delivery,” the human said.

  Before I had the chance to realize the human meant to harm her, he drew a gun from behind his back and fired.

  “Annora!” I screamed, rushing forward and catching her in my arms.

  My heart was racing wildly. I ripped open her shirt, swiping my hands along her skin frantically. I expected to find a bullet wound, but my fingers located a tranq dart instead. A tranq. She wasn’t going to die. He just wanted to knock her out.

  As soon as realization struck, I noticed the human wasn’t standing at the door anymore. While I had been busy freaking out, he must have crept past me. I heard a sound that couldn’t possibly be coming from Kyla and raced toward the stairs, determined to protect her, unlike I had been able to do for her mother.

  Whoever had sent him was smart picking a human—he didn’t raise suspicion like another shifter would. If Annora had been home alone, knocking her out with a tranq would have left Kyla vulnerable to whatever they had planned for her. But she wasn’t alone—I was here.

  Turning the corner toward her room, I heard a faint whimpering noise and then Kyla began to wail. Inhaling deeply, I scented the human’s anger mixed with Kyla’s fear.

  “Shut up, you little brat,” the human ordered. “I’ve got a lot riding on getting you out of here. They want me to bring you in alive, but they’ll take you hurt or dead if they have to.”

  Peering around the door, I found the human standing in front of Kyla’s crib. Through the slits, I could see her lying on her back with her hands and legs flailing as she screamed. I slowly tiptoed towards them, not wanting to startle him while he was that close to her. Unfortunately, since I was keeping my eyes focused on him and not on the floor, I didn’t see the toy beneath my feet before tripping over it and losing the advantage of surprise.

  When he wheeled toward me, the knife in his hands glinted brightly. “I’m not going to let you take her.”

  My voice cracked with my warning and a wicked grin split across his face. “Who’s going to stop me? You?”

  “If I have to,” I said with determination. “Or you can walk out of here right now and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

  “I think I’ll go with plan B,” he answered before lunging at me with the knife.

  I jumped backwards, but he was fast for a human and the blade swiped across my side anyway. I’d never been cut before, but I didn’t expect it to hurt this badly. The wound began to burn and I realized why he was so confident. He’d come prepared—the knife was no ordinary one. For it to hurt that much, it must have been a silver blade. My wolf reacted to the pain and broke free without me having to reach for her. I had never hurt anyone before, but I was willing to do whatever it took to save Kyla from this man and whoever had sent him.

  He raised his hand and I took my chance, jumping toward him before it could swing back down. I latched onto his arm with my teeth and twisted my head as hard as I possibly could. Deep growls erupted from my throat as he tried to fight me off. I didn’t let go until I heard the knife drop to the floor. He struck out with his fists and feet, but I didn’t let that stop me. My claws tore into his jeans as I launched myself upwards, trying to get to his neck. I almost lost hold of him when he landed a punch to my ribs, but I refused to give up. Kyla was depending on me too much for failure to be an option.

  I sank my teeth into his stomach and drove him to the floor. Pouncing onto his body, I wrapped my jaw around his throat and shook my head to dig in as deeply as I could. Kyla’s wails registered, pulling me out of the rage I was feeling. My jaw unclenched, letting go of him before I shifted back to my human form. The man was bleeding profusely, his breaths raspy, as he lay on the floor in front of me. I was shocked to see how much damage I had inflicted in such a short time.

  Shaking my head, I shifted my focus away from the man and back to what was important: Kyla. My side ached as I turned to the crib and lifted her into my arms. “Shh, baby girl. It’s okay.”

  Humming softly, I rocked her back and forth until she calmed down. When a tiny fist reached out to grab my shirt, my heart clenched at the thought of what could have happened had I not been there. I wasn’t sure how badly I’d hurt the human, but I knew I needed to get Kyla to a safer place. My cell phone was downstairs on the coffee table where I’d left it before falling asleep and now that we were safe from danger, I needed to call Parker to let him know what happened. I was also going to need some help moving Annora since I’d left her lying on the floor where she’d passed out from the tranq.

  As I headed for the door, Kyla nuzzled against my breast before letting out a plaintive cry. Realizing she was hungry, I added feeding her to the list of things I needed to do and hoped like hell Annora had pumped recently. My focus was solely on the baby until I heard Parker’s bellow from downstairs.

  “Kyla!” he yelled.

  “Up here!” I called back. “I’ve got her. She’s okay.”

  I glanced down at the man. It looked like he hadn’t moved at all, but his body was blocking my path to the door and my wolf was pushing me to leave. I crept slowly toward him as I listened to Parker’s footsteps pounding on the stairs.

  “Not so fast,” I heard rasped from below as I stepped over the human.

  I jerked my eyes down but wasn’t fast enough. I felt the blade slash against the flesh of my calf right as I saw Parker round the corner in the hallway. The knife dug deep and my leg started to crumple beneath me. Parker was only a few yards away and the only thought in my pain-filled mind was to make sure Kyla was safe from harm. Parker’s eyes widened in shock as I tossed his baby girl at him while falling toward the floor.

  I went down hard, driving the blade deeper into my body before my head hit the floor. A blast sounded above me and hot liquid spla
ttered against my skin. My trembling fingers reached up to touch my face. I looked at the blood on them before my eyes slid closed and darkness claimed me.

  Chapter 11

  Alasdair

  “How close are you?” I heard Parker’s voice in my ear, and I knew it was bad. When I found the note Finley left me, I was stunned to learn she’d felt so strongly that she’d driven all the way to Wolf’s Point just to make sure they were okay. I called my dad to let him know I was leaving, and he insisted he and my brothers came with me. We’d all been a part of why she’d left and they’d be there to help me make it right with her.

  The need to get to Finley had gotten stronger as each mile had passed. We were already on the outskirts of town—only a few minutes from their house. “Almost there.”

  “Step on it,” he bit out.

  “What the fuck is going on, Parker?” I demanded, wheels screeching as I took a corner faster than I should have in my rush to get there.

  “Finley’s been hurt.”

  I tossed my phone at my dad and blocked everything out except one goal: getting to my mate and making sure she was okay.

  Parker was carrying her out of the house as we pulled up. I leaped from my truck and raced toward him, taking her from his arms and screaming her name. Her skin was pale, her eyes were closed. I fell to my knees and cradled her against me, rocking back and forth. I finally noticed the dark stain spreading along the side of her pants. Blood. My mate’s blood. In my fear, I hadn’t even recognized the scent of it. I could only hope the delay my stupidity caused didn’t prevent her from getting the care she needed to recover from her injury.

  “C’mon, bro,” Braden urged, pushing me toward the truck, “let’s get her to the hospital.”

  Our dad was already in the driver’s seat as I climbed into the back with my mate in my arms. She was so damn pale and there were dark circles under her eyes. I could feel her ribs through her shirt and noticed her cheekbones were more pronounced than they’d been when we met just weeks ago, further proving how poor of a job I’d done at taking care of my mate. Hell, I’d done a fucking piss-poor job of it apparently. She had been wasting away before my very eyes and I hadn’t even seen it. How could I have missed this?