by Celia Kyle
The employee squirmed, giving her the impression he was uncomfortable and confused. Yes, he was definitely confused. How could he not know of the penny floor?
“Kira, how are you going to do that?”
She sighed. “I just explained it. The pennies? The glue? Grout and epoxy?”
“You’re blind.” Skepticism was clear in his voice.
“Only a little bit of a lot of a bit. My fingers work.” She raised her hand and wiggled said fingers.
“Kira, you can’t exactly—”
“Blind?” The employee cut in. “Guy, why you letting her out like this? This isn’t place for a blind chick, man. Not with all this shit going on here. Ma’am, we have a website. Why don’t you have someone help you order—”
She winced. Oh, wrong thing to say. Here comes big bad bear.
“Order?” Oh, Isaac’s voice was way too calm.
She didn’t care about other people’s opinions, but if there was one thing she’d learned from spending time with Isaac, it was that he didn’t allow anyone to talk shit about her eyesight. There was no brushing her off or giving alternatives that meant she didn’t get to do things like everyone else in the world.
Kira and Isaac could bicker all they wanted, but woe to the man—or woman—who said a word.
There was no getting around the male grumbling and roaring. Now she just kept an eye on him and made sure blood wasn’t spilled.
“Look, Depot Giant is a large place and you’ve got a ton of contractors coming in and out of here. Most of them are in a hurry. We don’t want the blind chick getting in the way.” The employee held up his hands in surrender. “Let her buy her penny shit from home.”
Oh, he shouldn’t have said that getting in the way part.
Isaac seemed to grow before her eyes, his shoulders flexing and then expanding.
She stepped forward, reaching for Isaac, and gently laid her hand on his lightly furred forearm. So not good. “Isaac? It’s not a big deal. You can help me do some research online.”
Instead of letting her lead him away, he gently snared her hand and turned back to her, brushing a kiss across the back before encouraging her to grasp the cart once again.
“Of course, it’s a big deal. My mate,” he glared at the employee, “wants to shop and she’s gonna. In fact, he’s going to be our personal shopper.”
The male blustered, frustration and anger hitting her in the face, but another scent blew over her. One that was wholly bear and filled with the natural aromas of Isaac’s clan.
“Isn’t that right, Ash?” Isaac raised his voice.
A larger man stepped forward, sidling up to the employee, and she saw he wore one of the store’s garish shirts. The newcomer was easily Isaac’s size, maybe a hint larger, and was one hundred percent werebear. A wave of strength mixed with a hint of menace came to her on the cool store air.
“What’s right? Is Larry helping you with everything you need?” The stranger looked to Larry. “Larry, are you helping one of my best friends and his wife with everything they need?”
“Of course, sir,” Larry stammered. “Everything they need. In fact, your friend just asked me to stay with him while he’s here, and of course, I’ll make sure they have what they need.”
Kira sighed. There went their afternoon of DIY shopping. Now she’d be stuck with a stranger picking out her supplies instead of the fun of discovery with Isaac.
But instead of complaining, she pasted a smile on her face. “That’s wonderful. I’d appreciate any help you can give me.”
The two werebears were satisfied and damned happy with themselves. Larry seemed like he’d piss himself any moment. And Kira merely grabbed their cart and headed toward Appliances. Maybe a new stove would soothe her annoyance. One of those induction jobbers. It’d boil water in less than a minute. Yeah, that sounded good. Nice and sleek and…
“Kira?” Damn, he found her. Though, in all honesty, she hadn’t gone very far.
She’d only reached the opposite end of the aisle. Well, it was a long-assed aisle, but still, only one aisle. She turned toward Isaac, pasting a faux smile on her face. She could endure this. Make it through the shopping trip and then they’d hash this out in private.
“Yeah, I’m heading to—”
“Kira!” His voice echoed off the concrete walls, bouncing back from the metal paneled ceiling, and struck her in the chest.
Wait. No, that was a forklift.
Or the forks on a forklift? She wondered what those were called. Huh.
And hey, it wasn’t really her chest. It was more like her shoulder.
And it didn’t go in her shoulder or anything.
It kinda bounced off. Well, she bounced off it and stumbled right into one of the shelves, and a shit-ton of caulk rained down on her, whacking her in the head and scattering all over the polished concrete floors.
The forklift kept going, plowing into the shelving opposite her. The mile-high metal teetered with the force of the collision, creaking and groaning before slowly tilting under the power.
The heavy pounding of feet on the smooth flooring rushed to her, Isaac stopping at her side while Ash leapt over her and into the seat of the lift. Jerky Larry was on his heels and Ash roared at the employee to secure the other customers and clear the aisles.
Everyone needed to get the fuck out of his goddamned store, motherfucker.
Kira wondered how much Ash would owe the swear jar.
For a moment Larry didn’t move, but Ash’s roar shoved the guy into motion.
Larry’s shock smacked her. Apparently the man’s werebear boss wasn’t much of a curser.
High-pitched screams—from men—and loud bellows surrounded her, customers and employees scattering to do as Ash ordered.
All the while, someone yanked at her shirt, tugging and pulling, shaking her with the effort. Kira slowly turned her gaze from the large machine onto a trembling Ebenezer and then to a very angry Isaac. Very angry. The emotion attacked her with vicious stabs, sinking into her blood, and she reached for him. Hand trembling, she stroked his arm, his shoulder, his face.
“Hey, what’s got you worried? I’m fine.”
He didn’t look at her. Nope, kept grumbling and growling as he tugged. “Got hurt… Bastard… Gut him like a deer.”
She rolled her eyes. Okay, admittedly, her shoulder hurt like hell and she was ninety-nine percent sure she broke something, but she was still breathing.
“I’m fine, Isaac.”
He prodded a particularly tender spot and she turned her attention to her injury. Well, at least she wasn’t bleeding. Her skin was a nice shade of purple, slowly easing to a hue so dark it was almost black. But, good news was the blood remained on the inside not the outside. Always a plus.
She was tempted to remind him of that fact, but he was still growling. She’d hold back that little tidbit for later.
Another round of falling caulk surrounded her, causing Isaac to snarl at the offending products, baring his fangs while more of his brown fur coated his cheeks.
He was threatening caulk. Caulk.
“Isaac, hush.” She stroked his neck, squeezing him. One last tube whacked her in the head and she caught it. She glanced at the tube and then shoved it in Isaac’s field of vision. “Hey, is this the glue I need?”
Isaac sighed and finally looked at her. She didn’t need to see him to sense his pain. “You’re not gonna let me worry, are you?”
“Not so much, no. Am I bleeding? Am I gonna die?”
He growled.
“I’ll take that as a no, then. So, help me up and get me home. You can set my shoulder or collarbone or whatever. I may or may not have broken something. And then—”
“You broke something?”
“You yell a lot, did you know that?” She peered up at him and almost smiled when Ebenezer’s bark came on the heels of her question.
“I— You— You can’t—”
Kira rubbed her thumb over his pulse point, noting it
slowed beneath her touch. “I can. I’m fine and I wanna go home.”
“You broke something,” he snarled.
“But that doesn’t change the fact I wanna go home. I’m a,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “shifter, Isaac. I’ll heal.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“You wouldn’t want me any other way.” She grinned.
“Pain in my ass.”
“Yup.” She wasn’t about to deny it.
“Fine,” he huffed. “I’ll take you home.”
“Not yet, you won’t. I need to interview you.” Ty called to them and they both sighed. The Itan stomped toward them, his steps louder than any other’s. The moment he was within earshot, he spoke again. “I’m not so sure this was an accident.”
Well, goody.
* * *
Isaac cuddled his rage to his chest through Ty’s questioning, holding it tight as he prodded Kira’s bruise while his brother threw inquiry after inquiry at them.
The answers were always the same. Wandered through the store. Talked to Larry, spoke with Ash, Kira wandered away, and then the rampaging forklift.
Now that they were free, he was able to embrace some of his anger and vent his boiling fury.
Soon anyway. The moment he got to a secluded spot and out of earshot of his interfering family. Hell, maybe even when he got away from Kira. She’d endured and experienced so much anger in her life, so much violence. She didn’t deserve to be pummeled by his.
And Isaac was very much on the violence train at the moment.
“You doing okay over there?” He didn’t look at her as he sped past home after home. They were traveling through town, ready to swing by Keen’s house to drop her off before racing away once again.
“Yup.” She quickly agreed.
In his periphery, he watched her poke and prod her injury.
“You should leave it alone. Let your mole do the work,” he grumped.
“Eh, she’s almost done. We were lucky it wasn’t broken. Otherwise we would have had to re-break it.” So matter-of-fact. As if healing those types of injuries were common.
He supposed, for Kira, they were.
But, wait… she’d only been hit an hour ago…
“Almost done?” He rolled the vehicle to a stop at a red light and turned toward her. “How is she almost done? It takes hours…”
Kira shrugged. “We’ve had a lot of practice over the years. I may not look like much, I’m pretty vulnerable and weak to most people, but when it comes to healing.” Another shrug. “My mole and I got this.”
They got this.
“How close to done?”
“It’s still a little yellow-green, but that’ll be gone in fifteen minutes or so. She gets lazy at the end. But it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Knowing she was nearly healed didn’t appease the bear. No, if anything, it angered the beast even more. She wouldn’t have to be so adept at healing if she were kept safe. Now she was forced to use those hard won abilities to recover from a wound taken while she was in his presence and under his protection.
Dammit.
He reminded himself that she was fine now. Almost healed. Fine.
“Okay. I’m gonna drop you at Keen’s house and then I’ll be back in an hour or so.” Or several hours. At the moment, his bear wanted to shift and hunt the driver of the forklift. Which… he wasn’t allowed to do. Ty, as his Itan and not his brother, forbade him from hunting the driver. They didn’t have much, just a lingering scent and store video, but Isaac figured it was enough for the bear to chase.
It needed something to do. It was hunt or fuck.
Since he wasn’t about to maul his wounded mate—a mate who he hadn’t actually mated—going for a run was the answer.
He’d go to clan lands, shift, get his fur on and then return for Kira.
There, he had a plan.
“Keen’s? Why are you taking me to Keen’s? What’s wrong with my house?” Confusion filled her tone and he couldn’t blame her.
That didn’t mean he changed his mind. “I’m on edge, Kira. It wasn’t an accident and we don’t know who tried to hurt you.”
“They did hurt me,” she grinned. “They didn’t kill me. I’m harder to murder than that.”
Isaac closed his eyes and prayed for control. “You think that’s funny?”
“I can laugh or I can cry. I am not a pretty crier.”
Yeah, the bear was about to bust free at any moment. She must have sensed it because then she was there, leaning toward him as she stroked his skin. “Hey, I’m good. Remember that. It was scary as hell, and I know you don’t want to hear this, but I mean it when I say I’m harder to kill than that. We both know this.”
He did know. He did. That didn’t make the fury lessen.
“My point is, the bear is angry and I need to go for a run. It can’t do that if it’s worried about you. Out of my brothers, the entire clan, Keen is the strongest. Just… stay back if he goes furry. He won’t hurt you directly, but if body parts go flying…”
“You’re not serious?”
Isaac shrugged. “I haven’t seen it myself but—”
“Not about him tearing people apart. I mean you think I’ll actually let you leave me? When you’re like this, you think I’ll happily go to Keen’s while you ride off into the fur-lined sunset?” She shook her head. “Not happening. If you want to run, I’ll go with you.”
“Kira, he wants to run, but he won’t leave you.”
“So,” she shrugged. “Take me with you.”
“Take you with me.” He stared at her dumbfounded.
“Yeah, I’ve ridden Zoey’s back before. It’s hard to balance on her shoulders, but you’re wider.” She shrugged.
“You rode a wolf? I know they’re strong but I didn’t think they carried humans.”
“Oh,” she shook her head. “I was shifted at the time.”
Oh. Of course. Because that made so much more sense.
Chapter Fourteen
This made so much more sense when they were in the car. Conceptually… Shift, crawl onto bear’s back, go for run.
Reality was: oh my fuck, that’s a big bear.
Also, how the hell was she gonna climb onto his back after she shifted?
Because… big.
Big bear.
Hot guy, then big bear.
Hot guy… had she mentioned she hated being a little bit of a lot of a bit blind.
She’d stared, hell, he’d invited the staring, but she just got big swaths of tanned skin filling her vision. He’d also invited touching, but she held off. She sensed his bear truly riding the line of control and he needed to vent his rage before they got to naked touching. They hadn’t yet and their first time didn’t need to be when he was ready to murder someone.
So, no naked touching.
Then he’d become the Big Bear of Doom.
“Uh, Isaac?” she called out to the massive furry ball of brown.
The bear looked toward her, swinging his large head around until he stared at Kira.
“I’m not sure how this is gonna work. You see, with Zoey…” She eyed the distance between the ground and his shoulders. Hell, even if he lay down, it’d be a climb for her mole.
Isaac snorted—as much as a bear could snort—and padded toward her. He filled her vision, just as his scent washed over her. She was surrounded by him, his power and strength, and a sense of soothing peace draped her shoulders.
A large, wet nose nudged her arm, wiggling until her elbow rested on his snout. He kept going, nudging her until she got the idea. Sorta.
“You want me to pet you?” At least, that’s what Ebenezer did when he wanted pets. A nose wiggle, a head butt, and then she found her hand on his back and scratching between his shoulders. “Now, you want pets?”
Isaac huffed and glared.
“Okay, got it. Not the point.” She nodded and he rumbled, but didn’t stop with the nudging and pushing until she stood at his side.
&nbs
p; He lowered to his stomach, lumbering to the ground and then he stared at her, black eyes locked on her blue orbs.
“Great. What am I supposed to do now?”
He nudged her more.
“Fine, we’ll play twenty questions.” She dropped her head back and rolled her shoulders. “Animal, mineral, or vegetable?”
Isaac growled.
“Pain in my ass. Look,” she sighed, “I can’t do this as a mole, so if I’m coming with you, the only option left is me staying human and riding you like a pony. And I know some shifters are very particular about that. Especially ponies.”
Isaac rolled his eyes and then glared at his back.
“Oh. Well. Why didn’t you say so?” She sniffed and stared at his back. After a few minutes, he grumbled, she glared some more. “What? I gotta figure out how to do this. It’s not like I—” Isaac rolled toward her and it became a game of over or under. She could crawl atop him or get squished.
She chose crawling.
It took a few grunts from both of them and then she was atop her mate.
Her mate.
Her mate.
She was slowly easing toward that truth, both her human half and mole accepting the situation. He was her mate. There was still so much pain and problems to work through, but their relationship couldn’t be denied.
She just hadn’t worked up the nerve to say the words aloud. Though Isaac had no problem telling one and all that she belonged to him. She once offered to tattoo his name on her forehead.
He didn’t say no and she had no doubt that he knew of shifter-friendly tattoo ink.
Isaac padded toward the forest, the trees seeming to welcome them into their home. He slowly increased his speed, dodging obstacles as he raced farther. The scents of earth combined with the crisp edge of growing life sank into her bones. Kira’s mole chittered and whined, aching to be set free, but it also knew they couldn’t keep pace with Isaac in his shifted form.
So, they’d wait until they were home in their little patch of land. Well, two patches. Ever since Vanessa’s attack, Isaac tore down the fence that separated their yards and quickly dug up any underground obstacles that would have kept Kira away.