Bear Protection

by Ruby Shae

  Tears streamed down her face, and she grabbed his palm, held it in both of her hands, and brought it to her cheek. He was ice cold, and the fear that gripped her was a tangible thing.

  “Don’t cry, baby girl,” he whispered. “I heal fast, remember?”

  “You need a doctor,” she whispered back. “You’re…there’s so much blood.”

  “A healer is on the way,” Jacob said, standing over them.

  She recognized the man’s voice, but she didn’t take her gaze away from Mason. The man turned, and faced the other men forming a semi-circle around their friend. “We need to get him to his room, and get this place cleaned up. The healer will meet us there.”

  Jacob started barking orders, but Paige tuned him out, and focused on Mason. He was so pale, and the smile he’d given her moments ago had faded into a grimace.

  “A healer is coming,” Mason said, “and I’ll be fine. Stay with me?”

  She nodded, but was forced to let go of his hand when the men picked him up and started carrying him away. Though she desperately wanted to follow, her legs felt like led weights, rooting her to the spot, and she couldn’t force herself to move.

  Suddenly, a warm arm circled her shoulders.

  “He’ll be okay,” Becca assured her.

  Paige wasn’t convinced, and she had no idea how her friend could be so calm, but she allowed the woman to lead her back into the building. Logan followed stoically behind them, and a few minutes later, she was placed in a chair at Mason’s beside.

  Unfortunately, he’d lost conciseness during the move, and had no idea she was there.

  Chapter Five

  Hours later, Paige sat in the same spot Becca had deposited her in, and stared at Mason’s sleeping form. His color had come back, and as he’d mentioned before, his wounds had healed incredibly fast.

  In fact, they’d seemed to heal before her eyes.

  After Becca had set her in the chair, the healer arrived and shooed everyone out of the room except for her. She had no idea why she’d been allowed to stay, but she didn’t question it, either.

  The healer had smiled at her gently, but no words were exchanged between them. Instead, the woman waved her hands about six inches over Mason’s body, and chanted several incantations. At least that’s what Paige thought she was doing. None of the words spoken were in English, and no one else was in the room to translate for her.

  When the woman was done, she cleaned his wounds, and then left without a word. A few seconds later, Jacob and the other two men came back into the room. Becca and Logan didn’t return, but she wasn’t surprised. Their engagement party still raged on, and she doubted they wanted to explain to everyone why they didn’t take their friend to the hospital after he’d been shot.

  The men moved Mason to the couch, changed the bed linens, fluffed his pillows, and then moved him back to the bed. Jacob handed her a blanket and a bottle of water, called her cell so she would have his number, and assured her that when he did wake, Mason would be completely healed.

  Jacob didn’t offer any other explanation, and Paige was too tired to grill him. Besides, she wanted answers from Mason, not his friends, and not Becca.

  After their tasks were complete, all of the men left once again, and she knew they wouldn’t return unless she dialed Jacob’s number.

  She didn’t.

  Instead, she’d sat in the chair, huddled under the blanket, and waited.

  Less than two hours later, Mason’s eyes opened. Before she could alert him to her presence, his deep blue eyes settled on her, and a small smile formed on his lips.

  “You stayed.”

  She nodded, unsure of her voice. He seemed pleased she was still there, which she loved, but her emotions were conflicted. Why was he always covered in blood? How had he healed so fast? And, how come it didn’t bother her as much as she thought it should?

  Silence stretched between them until she thought she could speak without her voice cracking.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Like I need a vacation,” he chuckled. “Thank you for staying.”

  “What’s going on, Mason?” she asked. “Why are you always covered in blood, and how can you heal so fast? You could have died tonight, if not from the gunshot wounds, then from the loss of blood—most people would have—but no one seemed anything beyond mildly worried. They called in a healer—whatever that means—and she didn’t do anything except mutter some spells or something…” She shrugged. “How are you not dead?”

  He sighed, but slowly sat up, and out of instinct, she rushed to help him. She positioned the pillows behind him so he could lean back comfortably against the headboard, and then returned to the chair she’d vacated.

  “This is not exactly how I wanted this conversation to go, but I know you need answers,” he started. “I know this is all going to seem…unreal…but hear me out, okay?”

  Fear and anxiety clutched her throat in anticipation of his words after what she’d seen, and she nodded, unable to voice her response.

  Luckily, he accepted her mute answer, took a deep breath, and started speaking.

  “I’m a bear, baby girl.”

  She could feel her brows knit together, and he chuckled lightly at her response.

  “Not like I’m grouchy, or hard to live with, but like…I can turn into a bear. I’m a bear shifter, Paige, and an Enforcer for my clan. That means I’m a protector. It’s my job to keep other shifters safe, and eliminate threats when needed.”

  “We’ll go back to that bear thing in a minute. Eliminate threats how?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Baby girl, please understand—”

  She understood perfectly.

  “You kill them,” she finished for him. “You’re a killer.”

  It wasn’t a question, but he didn’t deny it.

  Not that she expected him to.

  “I do what I have to do,” he finally agreed.

  “Do you kill a lot?” she asked, her voice rising as she fired the questions at him. “What happened to the shooter from tonight? Did you kill him?”

  “It’s my job to protect the clan, and my mate,” he reiterated. “I did what I had to do.”

  “What is a mate?” she asked, certain she didn’t want to know the answer. He had said that he could turn into a bear. An animal. Animals had mates, not people.

  “She’s the one woman on this earth created just for me,” he explained. “The other half of my soul. I knew you were her the moment I saw you, baby girl, and anyone who tries to harm you will be taken care of.”

  “You’re a murderer…”

  The whispered words hung in the air between them, and she balled up the blanket that had been in her lap, and dropped it in the chair as she stood. She’d known he’d been too good to be true from the beginning, and now he was talking crazy and murdering people supposedly on her behalf.

  “Paige, wait,” he said, guessing her plan to escape.

  He moved on the bed, as if he would come to her, and she narrowed her gaze on him in a silent warning. Mason froze, and warily watched her next move.

  “I am not an animal, and I am not your mate,” she said, speaking in her iciest tone. “And the person I’m meant to be with would never be a cold-blooded murderer. Don’t ever come near me again.”

  Paige turned and stormed from the room. She took the stairs to the lobby, and raced through the room even though she knew Mason didn’t follow her. It was what she wanted, but tears still welled up in her eyes. She’d liked him. She’d more than liked him, as Becca had predicted, and she was heartbroken.

  “Paige! Paige, wait!”

  She turned to see Becca frantically waving at her, and suddenly she knew.

  Mason had said it was his job to protect his clan, and Becca was part of the clan. Her friend was a bear, or at least mated to one, and so were probably most of the people at the party.

  The knowledge pushed her feet to move faster, and she didn’t look back.

/>   ***

  Mason watched Paige storm out of the room, and sighed. After all this time, he’d finally found his mate, and she wanted nothing to do with him. Her accusations, though true, had hurt more than he’d expected, but he could admit to himself he’d been a bit arrogant in that department. He hadn’t actually expected her to run a second time.

  He should have, though.

  He should have known she’d only see him as a murderous animal. After all, that’s what he really was, wasn’t it?

  A cold-blooded murderer.

  Those had been her words, but she’d also spat the word animal as if she was disgusted by the idea of him now that she knew about both of his forms. He’d always thought his mate would accept him no matter what. That she would welcome his strength, possession and protection.

  He could see now how stupid he’d been.

  He remembered back to Logan and Becca’s rocky start, and wondered if Becca would have any influence on her friend. Could Becca convince Paige to give him a chance? They were best friends after-all, but he knew that didn’t mean they were exactly the same. In fact, Becca might have just lost her best friend as well.

  Mason grabbed his cell phone, and pressed the button with Logan’s picture on it. The man answered on the first ring.

  “I take it things didn’t go well,” Logan said, instead of his usual greeting.

  “She ran,” Mason agreed.

  “I know. Becca tried to stop her, but she was set on her course.”

  “Tell Becca I’m sorry,” Mason said. “I’ll text Jacob so he can take care of the room, but I’m going to sleep this off at home.”

  “Write up your report in the morning, but then take a few days off,” Logan told him. “You more than deserve it. Thank you for keeping everyone safe tonight.”

  “Always.”

  Mason ended the call, and texted Jacob. Though Logan was the Lead Enforcer, Jacob was the Enforcer Second, and he would take care of checking him out of the room. Which was a good thing because Mason just wanted to go home.

  Though he rarely took vacations, the loss of his mate, combined with the overload of work leading up to the party had him feeling a lot older than his thirty-four years. He needed sleep, but there were also a lot of movies he’d been queuing up to watch, so he decided to grab some ice cream on the way home—not thinking about Paige at all—and plop on the couch for the next few days.

  He would sleep, watch, eat, and do his best to forget about his mate.

  With a plan in place, Mason dressed, gathered his belongings, and left the room. He wanted to avoid as many people as possible, so he took the stairs down to the lobby, and then slipped out a side door hidden to most of the patrons.

  One of his men manned the door on the outside, and he nodded to the man, and then crossed the full parking lot to the back row where he’d parked his truck. When the vehicle roared to life, he carefully maneuvered out of the lot, mindful of the few pedestrians wandering through the expanse of cars. The clan party was the only party at the hotel this night, but not everyone in attendance was a shifter, and because it was late, many people were starting to say their goodbyes, and make their ways home.

  Once he made it to the main road, Mason pressed on the gas, and then sped up even more when he reached the long downward hill that would lead him back to town. The hill was the only way back home, but surprisingly, he didn’t encounter another soul until he nearly reached the bottom of the slope.

  Paige.

  She’d told him to stay away, and yet he couldn’t leave her stranded.

  Paige’s car was pulled over in the right-hand shoulder of the road, and she was walking back up the hill. Why hadn’t she called for help? And why was she walking back toward the hotel? Alone? In the dark? And in those shoes? Especially when the town was closer?

  Every protective instinct from both the man and the bear roared to the surface, but he pushed the feelings down. As much as he wanted to spank her ass for jeopardizing her safety so easily, and stupidly—because she probably had also let her cell-phone die—it wasn’t his place to reprimand her.

  He couldn’t believe his luck.

  Or hers.

  He would help her, that was all, and then he would honor her wishes and stay away.

  She’d only walked about a hundred paces from her car, but he turned off his lights and stopped about double that in front of her. He didn’t want to scare or crowd her, so he was giving her a wide berth. She would probably recognize his truck, but with his lights off, she would also recognize him. Hopefully, she would welcome his help, more so than that of a stranger.

  She stopped walking when he pulled over, her face wary, and the look remained in place when he stepped out of the vehicle.

  “What are you doing?” he barked.

  The words rushed out harsher than he’d intended, and he sighed. His protective feelings weren’t buried as deep as he’d hoped. Luckily, Paige didn’t flinch at his tone, or start yelling at him.

  “My car won’t start—”

  “I’ll take a look at it,” he said, cutting off her explanation.

  Being so near her again, knowing how she felt about him, was harder than he’d expected, and he just wanted to get on with it. As soon as she was safe, whether in her own car, or if he had to drop her off somewhere, he could go home and try to forget about her.

  Right, like that’s ever going to happen.

  He ignored the voice in his head, and held out his hand for the keys. When she placed them in his palm, he hurried past her toward the car.

  Chapter Six

  Paige practically ran to her car, jumped in, and then sped out of the parking lot.

  She’d already silenced her cell-phone during the party earlier in the evening, so she didn’t worry about being disturbed by the annoying ringing of her phone. After the things she’d said to him, she didn’t think Mason would call, but she knew Becca would, and she wasn’t ready to talk to her friend, yet.

  They would talk, and their friendship would survive, but she needed some time to process everything. The guilt over Mason, however, started to set in before she reached the main road, and it was nearly suffocating. God, the things she’d said to him had been horrible, and the look on his face when she’d called him a murder...

  She’d destroyed him.

  The stark realization took her last breath, and she radically swerved her car into the shoulder of the road. When the vehicle jerked to a stop, she shut off the engine and rapidly gasped for breath. Her chest constricted as she fought to get enough air to fill her lungs, as the sudden fear of not recovering threatened to triumph.

  No!

  She couldn’t give up. Not now. Not with the way she’d left things with Mason.

  Paige forced herself to take a deep breath, and then another, and another. She pushed the fear away, and forced herself to relax. She closed her eyes, leaned her head back on the headrest, and allowed her lungs to fill and expel air properly. Minutes passed slowly, the seconds feeling like hours, but she forced herself to remain calm and not rush the process.

  When breathing became automatic, she allowed herself to focus on Mason again.

  The night they’d met he’d been marked with blood, and the result had been the same when she’d showed up at his house unannounced. Both times he’d been tired and wary...hell, the second time he’d been borderline exhausted. Yet, she hadn’t been afraid. In fact, she’d been the one to go to him for their second night together. She never chased after men, never felt like her advances would be welcome, but yet she’d gone to him.

  She’d been drawn to him from the beginning, and she didn’t want to let him go.

  An animal...a cold-blooded murderer.

  The words she’d spat at him nearly broke her heart.

  They might have only known each other a short time, but she knew Mason.

  What she didn’t know was what threats he really faced.

  He’d said he was a shifter, a man who could change into a bea
r, and though she hadn’t seen that trick yet, she’d seen a lot. He’d healed rapidly with and without a healer, and the healer had seemed to aid him with some sort of magic. If there were shifters, and healers, and the ability to heal from life-ending injuries in just a few hours, then how did she know what threats were against him? The fact was, she didn’t.

  But she knew she trusted him.

  If Mason was forced to kill, then he wasn’t killing for fun.

  She knew it in her heart. The truth surrounding her was a tangible thing, as was the knowledge that she and Mason were meant to be together. She’d known it before he’d shared his secrets, and she knew it now.

  I have to go back!

  She needed to get back to him like she needed her next breath. She wouldn’t blame him if he wanted nothing to do with her anymore, but she had to apologize. She had to tell him how much she loved him. Even if he couldn’t forgive her, even if he sent her away, it was important that he know.

  She turned the key, still in the ignition, but nothing happened. Silence greeted her as she turned the key back to the off position, and tried again. There were no sounds of any kind, not even a click to let her know something was happening. She took out the key, and tried again.

  Still nothing.

  She grabbed her cell, but even before she looked at the screen, she knew the device was dead. She was almost to the bottom of the hill, and the walk into town would be closer than the walk back to the hotel, but she didn’t care. She needed to see Mason.

  Paige got out of the car, and cursed her choice in shoes. The cute slip-ons matched her dress, but her feet had been sore at the beginning of the party. Now they ached, and she was pretty sure a blister had formed on one of her pinky toes. She didn’t let that stop her, though. A couple of blisters were a small price to pay for the chance to see Mason again.

  With her tiny purse in hand, and her dead cell-phone tucked inside, she locked her car, and started walking up the hill.

  She’d only taken a few steps when a truck pulled into the shoulder of the road in front of her, blocking her path, and blinding her with its headlights. The road home had been completely quiet since she’d left the hotel, and a twinge of fear raced down her spine before the headlights went out, and she recognized the truck, and Mason sitting behind the wheel.