“Derek’s going to be fine, you know,” he finally said after several minutes of silence. Why was the drive back to town taking so much longer than the drive out? “I just wanted to scare him so he wouldn’t hurt you.”
Another shoulder shake. This wasn’t going well at all.
The moment Derek had released Crystal, Chet attacked. But he’d held his bear in check, even though the beast wanted to tear the dude limb from limb. All he needed to do was get Crystal away from the guy, and scare him off for good.
All it took was a nice, solid bump to send Derek flying off into a massive stand of poison oak. Chet prowled in front of the shrubbery as Derek struggled out of it. Other than a bad case of the itchies tomorrow, the whackjob was fine. One deep, menacing growl and he was on the run back to wherever he parked his truck. He didn’t even stop to grab his baseball bat, Chet noticed with a satisfied curl of his lip.
“Freeaaaaaak!” Derek screamed as he ran.
A flash of movement caught Chet’s eye and he spun around, prepared to defend his mate to the death if he had to. But all he saw was Crystal, darting behind a rock.
Oh, shit.
There was no way around it. He had to shift in front of her again, if only to prove he was really still himself. Coaxing his bear back into his cage, Chet felt each hair as it retreated into his skin, every inch of size sucking back into himself. It wasn’t exactly painful but he was acutely aware of the entire process.
He knew from experience that all Crystal would see was a shimmer and wobbly effect, like asphalt on a hot day. It was probably all her mind could process, especially the first time. And the second.
Before he’d taken a breath, he was himself again, if slightly less clothed. He glanced ruefully at the shredded Armani suit lying in a pile near where they’d been sitting. Being a werebear could get expensive, if you weren’t careful.
This wasn’t exactly how he wanted Crystal to see him naked for the first time, and he didn’t want to scare her any more than she already had been so he hustled back to his uncle’s Caddy and rummaged around in the trunk. All weres carried spare clothes with them, if they could, for such occasions, and his uncle didn’t disappoint. They were close in size and the Adidas track suit fit him well enough that he wouldn’t be embarrassed picking up Sandy at the pizza parlor.
“Crystal,” he cooed. “You can come out from behind the rock now, babe. I know this must come as a…um, surprise but I’m still me. I would never hurt you. You’re safe.”
At first, he didn’t think she was going to come out but finally she eased into view. All color had drained from her face and her eyes were bugging out. Ignoring Chet completely, she shambled past him and climbed into the Caddy, buckling her seat belt and curling into a ball. She’d barely moved since.
He’d tried explaining what he was, that even as a bear he was still himself and that his feelings for her hadn’t changed. “That’s how I knew we were fated mates, you see. My bear — my inner bear — recognized you immediately. My dumb brain took awhile to catch up, but it was the same for you, right? Crystal?”
No response.
After what seemed like hours, they pulled into town. Slowly, he drove down Seymour, dreading the turn onto Main, when he’d have to pull over and let her go — possibly forever, from the looks of things.
“I wanted to tell you, you know. So many times I almost blurted it out but I didn’t know how. I was about to tell you before that jerkoff decided to go all Jason on us. I’m so sorry I kept it from you, Crystal. I never want to keep secrets from you again, if you’ll give me a second chance.”
No response.
With a sigh that came from the depths of his soul, Chet made the final turn and headed toward Paulie’s. A crowd of people was standing around outside, which was odd. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Something was wrong here. Sandy… he thought. Adrenaline shot through his system in response.
As he rolled to a stop out front, he got a better look at the group and his heart nearly stopped. Uncle Max and Aunt Clea were standing on either side of a shamefaced Sandy, clutching her shoulders with death grips. Their faces were clouded with fury. Another girl about Sandy’s age was off to the side, being petted and coddled by a couple who could only be her parents. Paulie was thrashing his arms every which way as he shouted at them, pointing to Sandy, then the pizza parlor, then to the girl. And a restaurant’s worth of bystanders were milling about, whispering and pointing.
His night had just gone from bad to worse. No, worst.
Or so he thought.
His stomach sank as he was reaching for the door handle and a cop car pulled in behind him. The officer at the wheel whooped his siren once to get everyone’s attention. It worked. If they weren’t already outside, people poked their heads out their front doors to see what the commotion was about.
“Bogus,” he mumbled, unsure what he should do. The temptation to turn the car back on and simply drive as far as he could nearly got the better of him. Two things stopped him. First of all, Crystal was in no condition for a road trip, even if she wanted to go on one with him, which looked pretty doubtful.
But what clenched it was when Uncle Max slid his steely gaze away from Paulie to the Caddy. Chet was sure he would burst into flames when his uncle’s gaze finally settled on him, but it never did. Instead, it rested on Crystal. Uncle Max was a statue staring stonily at the human sitting in his car.
Uh oh.
Turning to Crystal, he gently laid a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and whipped around, her face contorted in a mask of fear and horror. “Don’t ever touch me again, freak!” she hissed, cowering back against the door.
His stomach clenched at her hateful words, not really believing she’d uttered them. He wanted to stay here, to calm her down, explain everything to her, but there wasn’t time. He had to handle the situation out there first. Maybe a little time alone in the car would help her cool down.
“I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere, okay, babe?”
Scrambling out of the car as fast as he could, Chet nearly tripped and fell flat on his face. He caught himself in time and was relieved to see his clumsiness had drawn Uncle Max’s attention away from Crystal. He ran up to them just as the cop approached.
“What seems to be the trouble here, folks?” the man asked, taking in the scene.
Paulie launched into a fresh tirade, detailing the drama that had unfolded thirty minutes earlier. He had been happily making pizzas in the kitchen when he heard a bloodcurdling scream come from the dining room. Rushing out with a half-kneaded ball of dough in his hands, he could barely believe his eyes when he saw a small bear — “This one,” he hissed, jabbing a floury finger toward Sandy — standing on her hind legs, roaring at another girl — presumably the one sobbing melodramatically in her parents’ arms. All the girls in their group were “screeching like bats out of hell,” and the rest of the patrons were trampling each other to be the first out of the door.
“Is this true, miss?” The officer was firm but gentle.
Tears streamed down Sandy’s face as she cast a quick glance at her former friend. She sniffed back some tears and nodded, adding, “But I wasn’t gonna hurt her!”
The cop nodded curtly and addressed Uncle Max and Aunt Clea. “I know there ain’t no laws that keep you…folks from mixing with us, but I always thought it was—“ he cleared his throat, searching for the right word “—understood that you wouldn’t come to town and cause trouble. I’d say attacking one of us goes against the spirit of that understanding, wouldn’t you, Mr. Pearce?”
The muscles in Uncle Max’s jaw tightened. “I would indeed, Officer Blakely,” he said through gritted teeth, his grip on Sandy tightening. “I can assure you, nothing like this will ever happen again. We had no idea she was sneaking into town or we would have put a stop to it. Our ignorance is utterly inexcusable, and we take full responsibility.”
Officer Blakely nodded and moved over to the sobbing girl. The family whispe
red at each other and the cop for a few minutes before finally shaking their heads and ushering their daughter toward the parking lot. Not once did Uncle Max or Aunt Clea look at Chet, and Sandy was too busy trying to overhear what was being said. Oh, man, he was in deep shit.
“Welp, they’re declining to press charges. Prolly don’t want to piss of the boss, eh?” Officer Blakely said as he strolled back to them and crouched in front of Sandy, his knees popping on the way down. “I’d say you got off pretty easy, young lady, wouldn’t you?”
She ducked her head and nodded miserably, sniffing back tears.
He gave Uncle Max one more hard look before turning to the crowd gathered in front of the restaurant. “Okay, folks, there’s nothing to see here. Why don’t you all go back in and enjoy your dinner. Right, Paulie?”
“Yeah! That’s right. A pitcher of pop for every table!”
The crowd filtered back into Paulie’s, a handful of people casting suspicious glances over their shoulders before disappearing inside. When they were alone, Uncle Max finally looked at him. Chet nearly withered under its heat.
“You left our child alone so you could—“
“Max, not here,” Aunt Clea broke in. She couldn’t even look at Chet. He felt like the biggest piece of shit the world had ever seen.
Choking back his rage, his uncle nodded. “We’ll continue this at home. If I don’t see your headlights in my rearview mirror the entire way home…”
“Yessir,” Chet mumbled. “I just have to take Crystal—“
He looked back to find the passenger side door open and the front seat empty. She was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Crystal hadn’t said a word when she stumbled into her grandparents’ house in a stupor that night, she just went straight to her room and crawled under the covers. It was the only thing she could think to do. What the hell else would a girl do after seeing her boyfriend turn into a fucking grizzly?
She lay there shivering, her mind a spinning mass of color and sound so loud that it turned into a comforting white hiss. Everything would be just fine if the white hiss never stopped. No need to think. No need to remember.
But it wasn’t to be. Minutes or hours or days after pulling the cover over her head, her grandmother tapped softly on her door. “Crissy? Baby? Can I come in?”
There wasn’t much Crystal could do to stop her. She could barely breathe, much less speak. And movement of any kind was completely out of the question. The squeak of the old bedsprings and a gentle dipping on one side of the mattress told her Nana was sitting next to her, the lump under the covers.
“I just got off the phone with Pop-Pop’s boss, Mr. Pearce.”
A lump formed in her throat at the sound of Chet’s family name. She tried to swallow it down but it was stuck. Sighing, she resigned herself to living with a big bulge in her throat for the rest of her life, which wouldn’t be too much longer, considering it was cutting off her supply of oxygen. She tried to muster the energy to care but failed miserably.
Nana stroked the pile of bedclothes that was Crystal, trying to soothe her. “He tells me you had a, um, nasty surprise tonight. You wanna talk about it?”
The lump in her throat cleared enough for her to squeak out, “Nuh uh.”
“Oh, my poor, sweet Crissy,” Nana moaned, sniffing back tears. “Please talk to me. I can’t stand to see you like this. Ever since you were a tiny, little thing, it hurt my heart to see you in pain. Now do your ol’ Nana a favor and tell her everything.”
Nana and Pop-Pop had been the steady force in Crystal’s life. They’d loved her unconditionally and let her stay with them whenever life with Mom got to be too much. They’d never asked for a thing in return except for love and respect, both of which she happily gave. The least she could do was tell them what happened — if she could remember any of it.
Slowly, like a turtle emerging from its shell, Crystal pulled the covers down just enough to peek out from under them. Nana’s eyes widened in alarm, no doubt at her own wide, staring, dead eyes. She was probably white as her sheet, too. I wonder if my hair turned white, too, she thought absently, not really caring one way or the other. It was so strange not being able to feel.
“You won’t believe me,” she finally whispered, the shivering growing stronger.
Nana brushed a wisp of hair from Crystal’s eyes. “Try me. You’d be surprised at what your ol’ Nana knows.”
“I…he…um…we…”
She couldn’t find the words. She couldn’t find any words. How was she supposed to start this conversation? ‘Hey, Nana, I’ve been seeing this boy behind your back and it turns out he’s some kind of alien or escaped mutant from a secret government lab or something. Cool, huh?’
And now she was flat-out shaking, her entire body wracked with them. Great.
“Oh, baby, come here.” Nana gathered her up in her stout arms. Crystal vaguely thought it was amusing that her head was resting on her grandmother’s boobs, but the fact of the matter was they were warm and soft and comforting. Before she knew that she’d somehow regained the use of her limbs, her arms were clutching at Nana’s back, trying to hide in her embrace.
Her violent shaking turned into sobs. Big, huge, gulping sobs that threatened to swallow her whole. “Oh, Nana!” Her wails were muffled by her grandmother’s bosom, her pain absorbed by her grandmother’s love.
“That’s right, sweetie, let it all out. It’s always a shock the first time.”
Crystal cried and cried, and Nana continued to stroke her hair and sway her from side to side, like when she was a baby. The only sounds in the world were her sobs, Nana’s gentle shushing and the ticking of a clock.
Then her brain started working again…somewhat. Just enough for her grandmother’s last words to sink in and make her brow crinkle in confusion. What was it she said?
Focusing on Nana’s words — something about ‘first time’ — helped Crystal get control over her hysterical crying. Did she think she’d had sex? Oh God, did she think she’d been a virgin? Not even her sweet, sheltered grandmother would think that, after her mother had reported all her sins before shipping her off to the wilds Canada.
Sniffling and wiping at her dripping nose, Crystal pulled back a skosh. “What?” she asked.
“What what?” Nana stopped rocking.
“What did you say? About the first time?”
“Oh, the first time you see one of them change into a bear. It’s a helluva sight, ain’t it?”
Crystal jerked out of her arms and scrambled back against the headboard. “You…you know?!”
Nana chuckled kindly. “Of course, sweetie. You can’t live around here without knowing.”
The shakes were back. “Wh-why didn’t you tell me?”
Nana had the grace to look ashamed, averting her eyes and picking at a bit of fuzz on the comforter. “Well, you were only coming for the summer. We don’t discuss local matter with outsiders, you see. How was I supposed to know that you’d end up dating one of them?”
Crystal was silent for a moment, trying to absorb her grandmother’s words. She knew about the bear thing. Apparently everyone in town knew about it. Why was she the last to know?!
“What are they?”
“Werebears.”
“You…you mean like…like werewolves? Like in the movies?!”
She was stunned. Everything had happened so fast back there with Derek that she wasn’t entirely sure what she’d seen. Now it was all flooding back to her. Biting Derek’s arm, falling to the ground, seeing Chet launch himself at Derek, then a strange shimmer and suddenly a bear had taken Chet’s place. She didn’t see him change back because she was hiding behind the rock, but she couldn’t unsee what she had seen.
“Kind of, but they shift into bear form. Not all the time mind you, and not on the full moon or any of that other silly junk. Matter of fact, they usually stay in human form, so far as I can tell. But they stick to themselves…mostly.”
She gave Crystal a k
nowing look, drawing a blush to her cheeks.
“I didn’t know, Nana. He never told—“ Tears choked off the rest of her words.
“I’m sorry, Crissy. I’m sorry you had to find out like that, but maybe it’s for the best.”
For the best? How could a broken mind and shattered heart be for the best? How could losing the one person in the world who made her feel safer and more loved than anyone else be a good thing? All she could manage to do was squeak out a puny, “How?”
Nana’s tone was gentle but firm. She’d always been a no-nonsense kind of woman, but she had a sweet spirit that usually softened the blow. “Because humans and werebears don’t mix, honey. They may be nice enough, and they sure do employ a lot of us humans, but they’re…unnatural. If they weren’t, there’d be more of them than us, and that’s a fact. If you go for all that evolution bunk, we’re pushing them out. They’ll be extinct soon enough, and the sooner the better. Nothing against them, of course.”
“You sound like you hate them, Nana.”
Nana gasped. “Not at all! Pearce Forestry is the largest employer in these parts and Mr. Pearce is a wonderful, um, man. He’s been so good to your Pop-Pop and I wish him and his family nothing but the best.”
“I don’t understand what you’re getting at?”
Nana took a deep, steadying breath. “What I’m telling you is that you can’t see that—”
~ * ~ * ~
“—girl again, Chet, and that’s final.”
Uncle Max paced the room furiously as he read Chet the riot act, but that was the least of Chet’s worries at the moment. Where had Crystal disappeared to? Was she okay? Would he ever see her again? Would she even want him to? Almost certainly she’d simply run home to her grandparents’ house a block away, but the other questions were anyone’s guess.
“Not only did you put our entire family — our clan — in jeopardy by dating this human, you put her family in a terrible position. Pete Witherspoon is one of my best employees, and now he’s stuck pretending this isn’t a big deal, or risk getting fired.”
Bearly Hanging On (A Werebear Shifter BBW Romance) (Laid Bear Book 3) Page 7