by Bianca D'Arc
Brody’s face looked grim. “Are you okay?”
“Fine now. Zak took good care of me.”
She kept feeling the need to defend Zak to the other men. Why, she had no idea. They respected him. It was clear in the way they treated him. Plus, he’d worked with them far longer than she’d known any of them. But something inside her wanted to jump up and proclaim Zak’s capabilities, and the fact that he’d never let her down.
Brody nodded once, then headed straight for the beach. What was it with these guys? They walked toward danger, instead of running the heck away. She had to hand it to them, these shifters had brass ones.
“How are you holding up?” John’s voice came from behind her, and she turned to find him close, though she hadn’t heard him approach. It was spooky, sometimes, how silently these shifters moved.
“I’m okay,” she replied, meeting his concerned gaze. “Thanks.”
He looked her up and down, then, seemingly satisfied, walked toward the long tentacle stretched out on the grass next to the blanket. He crouched down, looking at it, but not touching.
“What do you reckon it is?” John asked.
Tina wondered why in the world he was asking her, but just then, Brody and Zak stepped into her line of sight, having come up from the beach. Brody crouched at the other end of the long arm, across from John, while Zak came to stand next to Tina.
“Something fey, maybe?” Zak offered. “It stinks of magic.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Brody replied, sniffing the air above the tentacle. “This is no earthly coloration either.”
“And there’s a sheen of magic to it. It just about glows, even in daylight,” Zak added.
John looked up at Zak sharply. “You can see it?”
Zak nodded slowly. “It’s like something I saw, just once, when I was a kid back on the bayou. It was smaller and not shaped exactly like this. It was more gator than sea monster, and it had been brought to this realm by a voodoo lady to guard her lair. She wasn’t on our side. She was evil. Served evil.” Zak’s words slowed as he seemed to remember, and a slight drawl made its way into his speech. Probably the patterns of his youth, Tina realized, that he’d obviously gone to some lengths to lose. “The voodoo woman tried to curse me once, and the gator-thing showed itself to run me off. It glowed a lot like this does to my sight.”
John made a grumbling sound deep in his throat as he contemplated the evidence. His frown was one of displeasure mixed with determination.
“We’d better preserve this, somehow,” he said, standing from his crouch. “I’ll put a call in and see if there are any experts nearby that can help us out.”
“I’ll take care of the evidence,” Brody put in, standing as well. “In the meantime, we’d better warn folks to stay away from the water.”
John tilted his head, seeming to consider the sheriff’s suggestion. “Humans, maybe,” he allowed, but Zak shook his head.
“Everybody, Alpha. Not just the humans. I emptied an entire clip into it, and the thing didn’t flinch. Even with my claws, it wasn’t easy to break its hold. The beast is quick, silent, and has a hide like boiled leather. Warn everybody,” Zak urged.
John nodded slowly. “Okay. Everybody. We’ve got a council meeting tonight. Let’s make it official and turn it into a town meeting. Can you boys get the word out?”
“Consider it done,” Zak replied, even as Brody opened his mouth to answer.
“Humans too. Might as well include the Baker sisters, since they know pretty much everything there is to know about our little community now anyway,” John added as he turned to walk away. “I’ll call off the rest of the cavalry,” he added almost as an afterthought. “See you in a few hours.”
“Zak,” Brody spoke as John left, “maybe you ought to take Tina home.” He shot a significant look at her torn jeans as she fidgeted under Brody’s inspection.
Since he’d mated her sister, Brody had become a sort of older brother and authority figure all rolled into one. He took the protection of his wife’s family very seriously, which made Tina feel a little odd at times. She’d been a free spirit for so long it was weird to have this powerful guy want to be part of her life—all for her sister’s sake.
It was endearing, but also a little maddening. Tina knew if she ever wanted to just cut loose, Brody would be there, frowning at her. Come to think of it, Tom would be frowning too. These bears were super protective, and Tina had somehow come under the umbrella of their protection since her two sisters decided to take those boys home and keep them.
Then again, maybe it was about time Tina did the same. She knew which bear-man she wanted. He was standing right in front of her. But she didn’t really have the nerve—no matter what her mischievous inner bad girl said—to just jump Zak’s bones. Again.
The first time had been spontaneous. Part of a lovely, almost magical, romantic afternoon. It had an ethereal quality to it in her memory already, like a daydream come true—with naughty overtones and pulse-pounding ecstasy as the payoff. Still, it was like something precious, and she didn’t really know how to get back to that place—or if Zak felt the same about it.
Maybe to him, it was just a quick bang in the grass. She didn’t think so. Everything pointed in the other direction, in fact—the careful planning of the picnic, the way he’d put such care into cooking for her, the romantic setting. But what did she know? Maybe he did that for all the girls. Maybe she wasn’t as special to him as he was quickly becoming to her.
She felt insecure, and that tended to negate her wilder nature that wanted to walk right up to him and drag his head down for a kiss. And other things…
“Yeah,” Zak replied to Brody, stirring Tina out of her somewhat lascivious thoughts. “I’ll drop her off at the bakery and come back with a cooler of ice for that.” He gestured toward the tentacle. “Maybe several coolers,” he amended.
“Sounds like a plan,” Brody agreed. “Nell’s at the bakery now. Tell her to shut down for the night. Everybody will be at the meeting anyway. No sense keeping the shop open.”
Tina was a little surprised at the idea of closing down the bakery. The sisters had an unwritten rule that they’d do their best to keep regular hours, but she saw the merit in Brody’s suggestion. Grizzly Cove wasn’t a big city like Portland. Everyone here was part of the small community of bear shifters.
Even though there were a couple of public roads that wound through town now, access was still pretty controlled way out here on the edge of the ocean. Visitors were few and far between. Though in the summer months, that would probably change as the town grew. Yet, the bear shifters here were being very careful about how fast the town grew and who they let in to their community. Which made shutting down the bakery early something they could easily do, since they wouldn’t be losing business or offending anyone, with everybody at the meeting.
“I’ll start my part of the phone chain,” Zak said to Brody, then turned to her. “Come on, honey,” he said in a softer tone, holding out one of his hands for her to take. “Let’s get you someplace safe.”
She took his hand, very conscious of Brody watching their movements. She couldn’t tell whether he was frowning at the fact that she was holding Zak’s hand, or if he was thinking about the sea monster that had almost dragged her down into Davy Jones’ Locker. Either way, she didn’t want to chat about it.
She walked briskly to the SUV and let Zak open her door and help her in. He strode around and got in the driver’s side, and they were off a moment later.
CHAPTER NINE
The drive back to town didn’t take long, and Zak was on the phone for most of it. He gave the details of the change in the night’s meeting plans to at least three people, who would probably phone three more, and so on, until everybody had heard the news.
When they arrived at the bakery, he parked in front, turning the engine off. Then he faced her, taking her hand across the center console of the SUV.
“I’m really sorry our picnic got ru
ined.” He seemed so serious, and she was quick to reassure him.
“It wasn’t your fault. And up to that ill-fated walk by the water, I thought it was a great afternoon. You treated me like a queen, and then, you did your knight-in-shining-armor act and saved my life.” She laughed and was relieved when he smiled too, briefly. “You totally impressed me, Zak, and…” She hesitated a bit, not knowing if what she was about to say was okay, but wanting him to know anyway. “I loved seeing you as a bear.”
“Really?” He seemed concerned. “I didn’t scare you?”
“Scare me? When you were saving my life?” Her tone was incredulous. “No way. Zak, you’re amazing, and I’m so glad you were there. Human or bear, you’re still Zak, and you’re the bravest man I know.” She leaned over and hugged him, pressing kisses to his cheek, his ear, wherever she could reach.
Emotion threatened to overcome her as she thought about the close call this afternoon. Zak was such a great guy. She had deep feelings for him, even though they’d only known each other a short time.
He held her, rubbing her back and stroking her hair as she trembled. The reaction from her brush with danger had never really dissipated. She’d been shaky since the had monster attacked, but she’d kept going. Only now did she realize she was still trembling, emotion clogging her throat.
“It’s okay, baby. Let it out, if you need to. I’m here for you,” he crooned near her ear, overcoming the last of her resistance.
The tears came then. Tears of anger that she’d been attacked out of the blue, for no discernible reason. Tears for the fear that had gripped her heart and tears of relief. So much relief.
Zak held her throughout, speaking soft words of reassurance.
Zak met Nell’s eyes through the windshield of the SUV. She was still inside the bakery, but she’d seen them pull up and could see through the glass separating them that her little sister was upset. Zak nodded to her, glad when Nell took his signal as reassurance and backed away from the window. The last thing he wanted was the family swooping down on his SUV, disrupting this moment.
For one thing, his inner bear demanded he be the one to comfort Tina. The beast had grown very attached to the woman over the past days. In fact, the bear was downright possessive. He wanted to be the center of Tina’s universe, even though the human half of him knew her family would always hold a place in her heart.
The other aspect of this situation was even more selfish. Zak just liked holding her in his arms. It broke his heart that she was so upset, but he couldn’t help but feel the softness of her body against his, the silkiness of her hair under his hand, and inhale the warm, womanly scent of her wafting to his sensitive nose. She was delicious. Delectable. Delightful in every way. Everything about her satisfied his senses. More than satisfied, actually. With no effort at all, she could light him on fire with the most intense passion he’d ever known.
Oh yeah. This woman was lethal at close range, but what a way to go.
After a few more minutes, she seemed to get herself together. The trembling eased, and her tears died away naturally, leaving her face a little flushed, her eyes a little red, her nose a little runny, but even with all of that, she was still adorable to him.
Zak reached into the door console behind him and came up with a few tissues. Actually, they were paper napkins he’d gotten from somewhere, but they would do in a pinch. She accepted them gratefully, wiping at her eyes and nose as she moved back to her own side of the vehicle.
“I’m sorry for crying all over you,” she said softly, hiccupping just once. He had to smile at the way she was trying to put on a brave face for him.
“I don’t mind,” he answered honestly. “I’m here for you, Tina. Whatever you need.”
“Apparently, I needed to fall apart there for a minute. Sorry.” She laughed, and he chuckled with her. “You’re a very indulgent guy.”
“For you? I’ll be whatever you want.” Whoa. Too serious? He watched her reaction to his words carefully. If he had to backpedal, he would, but maybe…just maybe…this afternoon’s adventure—and the delicious interlude that had come before—had changed things.
She looked over at him, meeting his gaze. “You’re perfect just the way you are, Zak. Anybody else would have freaked out, like I was doing. You took action. You saved me, when all I could do was panic.”
“You weren’t so bad,” Zak told her honestly. “You were a lot calmer than you think. Give yourself some credit. You were actively fighting, buying time for me to figure out how best to attack the situation. You did really good, Tina. Never doubt it. And never doubt yourself. You’re an amazing girl, and I’m really sorry our picnic got ruined.”
“Hey, that wasn’t your fault. There was no way to know that kind of thing was going to happen.” She shuddered, but seemed to be holding together a lot better, Zak was happy to note.
“It’s my land. I should have inspected the waterfront better before taking you there. I’m really sorry.”
He felt terrible that he had brought her to such a dangerous place. All he’d wanted to do was have a nice, romantic picnic by the water. Instead, he brought her onto the set of a horror movie.
“You can’t be responsible for the entire ocean, Zak. I know you take your duties as a deputy seriously, but that’s going a little too far above and beyond, you know?” She smiled again, and he saw her point…somewhat.
“Well, I can promise you, we’re not going to stop until we get to the bottom of this. Nobody is safe until we figure out what’s going on in the cove.” Zak knew this was going to be a difficult task, but everyone was going to work hard—especially Zak—to nail this down and make the water safe again. “Now, I saw Nell watching us, so you’re probably going to be facing some questions when you go inside.” He wanted her to be prepared for the sisterly third degree.
“Yeah, I figured as much.” She didn’t look too thrilled by the idea.
“I’ll save you a seat up front at the town meeting. They may want to ask you questions about the creature.” He wanted her to be ready, just in case.
“Really?” She didn’t look too thrilled with that either. “I suppose… But it all happened so fast.”
“If anything, they might ask about the thing’s strength. How hard it was pulling you toward the water. Stuff like that. They might ask if there was anything you noticed about the suckers, or the slime. Physical stuff. I’ll try to deflect as much as I can from you.”
“No, it’s okay. They need to know everything they can to fight this thing. It’ll be okay.”
He loved the way she found her courage. He was so proud of her. Zak reached over and kissed her.
The kiss wanted to turn hotter than it should for the front seat of his town-issued SUV, but he controlled himself. He backed away, letting her go by slow degrees, until he was looking deeply into her eyes. The moment felt significant.
“What was that for?” she whispered.
“For how strong you are, how brave, and how lovely,” he replied in the same hushed tone of voice.
She dropped her gaze, smiling shyly. “I’m not brave.”
“I beg to differ.” He let her move away, each retreating to their own side of the vehicle. “You handled yourself really well today, Tina. Don’t ever think differently. I was very proud of you and the way you handled yourself. I’d pick you for my team any day of the week.”
He was glad to see her smile at that last bit. He thought she would be okay now. Zak opened his door and got out of the SUV. He jogged around to her side, opening the passenger door with a flourish.
“Thank you,” she said demurely as she stepped down out of the vehicle.
He was probably standing too close, but he couldn’t help himself, and she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she stepped closer, almost pressing against him as her gaze lifted to meet his.
“You’ll be all right with your sister?” He found himself worrying about her. She nodded in response.
He still had a job to do, and for th
e first time in his life, he found himself conflicted between his duty and his desires. If he followed the latter, he’d stay with Tina all day, just following her around, making sure she was safe. That would probably annoy the hell out of her in short order, but keeping her out of trouble and away from all possible harm was something his bear half demanded of him.
He tried to convince himself Tina would be safe enough with her sister. The bear side wasn’t quite buying it, but the minute he caught sight of Tom and Ashley sitting at a table near the front window, he relaxed just the tiniest bit. Tom was there. Tom was a large grizzly. A good bear and a good friend. He wouldn’t let anything happen to any of the Baker sisters.
And all three sisters would be gathered in the bakery. Circling the wagons, so to speak. Keeping everyone together for protection. It was a good move. Zak’s bear approved.
Only then could Zak step back, giving Tina room to move away from the vehicle.
* * *
Tina hadn’t seen Zak since he’d dropped her off at the bakery. Tom and Ashley had stuck around all afternoon. Just before the meeting, Tina turned the sign on the door of the bakery to closed, and they all headed over to the half-finished building site that was going to be the new town hall. Just adjacent to the unfinished building, there was an area that had been cleared of brush and most of the trees, that would eventually function as a fully landscaped town square.
At the moment, it was still a bit rough around the edges, but there was plenty of grass for people to sit on, as well as several benches scattered around the area. There was also the beginning of a platform, which would one day become a gazebo-type building where musicians could set up and play during tourist season.
Big John had big plans for the town. This experiment in integrated bear shifter society would eventually include many more humans both living in and passing through their town. The tourists would bring in money to keep the place running while the town council carefully screened who they let in as permanent residents. They could get away with such highhanded tactics because Tom had gone to great lengths with all sorts of legal paperwork, relying on both U.S. federal laws and those governing the local Indian reservation, since part of Grizzly Cove was technically on Native American land.