IMarriedaBear

by A. T. Mitchell

  “Gods! Oh, baby, no, no, no.” I slammed the rifle on the floor and scooped her up.

  She was cold, but her body temperature wasn't low enough to be dead. A small consolation.

  I looked up, eyes so hot and inflamed with mad rage it felt like they'd burst out of my skull. Even Jacob's face pissed me off, though he'd been trying to help.

  “You didn't protect her! What's wrong with my mate? Answer me!”

  “Found her like this when I came for my shift a little while ago, sir. It's...it's a long story. Hannah's been sticking her snout where it doesn't belong, and she got Laura sent here by the Elders. Typical kangaroo court. They'd already made their decision before they sent Cuddy and Greg around to collect us at your place...”

  He kept talking, but I wasn't fucking listening. I had my ear pressed tight to Laura's plush chest. She was breathing slowly, breath almost as glacial as her heartbeat.

  “Fuck!” I roared, pounding my fists on the ground.

  I noticed the other body laying there for the first time. The doctor's. Things just went from bad to nightmarish.

  “What's Reed doing here? We can't even bring her to a doctor!”

  “I'm not sure, sir. There's a spot on her arm, like someone was drawing blood.”

  I snatched at her beautiful skin, drawing her sleeve up so I could see. My lieutenant was right. A small trickle of dried blood ran to her wrists, stopping at a puncture neatly in her elbow's underside.

  “We have to wake him first,” I growled. “Need his help, assuming the fuck isn't the reason she's out cold in the first place.”

  I felt into the cloak's deep pockets. Hoped the idiot outside had left me a canteen, a pen, something to stir Reed's senses – if he wasn't further gone than Laura here.

  Shit. No luck.

  “Get out there and drag our friend in here. Need to see if he's got anything clipped on his belt.”

  I tossed Jacob the keys. He came back a second later, dragging Cuddy's groaning body. My kick hadn't knocked him out, but it had left him paralyzed in pain for awhile. He was wearing a belt and not much else.

  Cuddy whined again as Jacob tore it off him. “Here!”

  I caught the little metal cylinder he threw me. Popping the cap, I took a good whiff. Whatever was in the half-full canteen didn't smell like water.

  “Hooch. Some really strong hooch. It'll have to do...”

  I poured the cold water all over Reed's forehead, slapping him across the face. Each blow was a little harder than the last.

  “Come on, you bastard. Wake up.” Tried to hide the desperation in my voice from my second in command. It wasn't easy.

  Reed smacked his lips. He groaned and sat up. His bear gave him the strength to grab my hand and push it away, annoyed and confused.

  “Alpha?” He jerked awake, cradling his head. “Where...where's Hannah?”

  Hannah. That bitch's name caused fire and brimstone to seethe up inside me. I grabbed Reed by his white lapels and shook him so hard the crooked spectacles perched on his nose bounced.

  “Hannah's the last bear in the world I give a shit about right now. I need you to wake the fuck up and help Laura! She's dying!”

  He snorted. Then he took one look at my curvy tigress and winced when he saw how pale she was.

  Reed went into doctor mode, checking her vitals as best he could with one hand. “This isn't good...she's lost a lot of blood. Pulse is erratic.”

  “Do something!” I growled, lowering my face to his.

  He looked at me and shook his head. “I'm going to need to get her to my clinic.”

  Jacob shook his head. “Not sure that's a good idea, Alpha. Haven't even briefed you yet...we're gonna have a hell of a time creeping through town if anybody sees us.”

  “We'll deal with that later. She needs his help! That's all that matters. I don't give a fuck about Hannah, the Elders, or the rat we've got laid out on the ground.”

  I pointed to Cuddy and he groaned.

  “We need to move.” I pushed the doctor aside, scooping Laura into my arms. “Let's go. I'll fight to protect your clinic with my life, if I have to.”

  Slowly, Jacob nodded. He knew I meant business when I picked up the rifle and gave it a good jerk.

  “Well? How is she?” I slapped Reed on the shoulders hard.

  He jerked, clearly annoyed, but the doctor knew his place. I wasn't feeling much need to keep a lid on my strength just then either.

  “Pulse has stabilized. I'm concerned she won't wake up on her own. She's at a very dangerous place right now. Losing blood is just about the worst thing a shifter can suffer.”

  “That's it? You're telling me you can't fix this?” I asked, gritting my teeth. Had an ugly feeling I wouldn't like the answer.

  My bear was fuming, and so was I. All I wanted was for Laura to sit up and open her pretty eyes. I was so fucking worried I hadn't thought about how much I'd rip Hannah limb from limb, plus whoever else had hurt her.

  “That's all I can tell you.” Reed stood straight and turned to face me. “I'll tell you what she needs: a blood transfusion from one of her own kind. Has to be tiger blood, I'm afraid. No bear or human has anything that'll match her blood type.”

  “Gods!” I pounded the empty table next to him. “Won't she make more on her own?”

  “Less than a fifty-fifty chance. Way less, actually. You know how shifters heal several times faster than humans?”

  I grudgingly nodded. Wasn't real interested in his science. I wanted him to fix my girl, and I wanted it done now.

  “Well, that ability doesn't just disappear when there's major blood loss. The whole body shuts down.

  Don't ask me how many bears I've seen fall into a coma and never come out of it when they're brought all torn up, too late to get new blood into them. For tigers, the very same is true.”

  I let out a growl. “She'll die if she doesn't have tiger blood?”

  “Yes, Alpha. And there's something else too...”

  My head was spinning like a carousel. I wanted to roar at the moon, break things, tear flesh and blood apart.

  My only hope was Shane and his crew showing up in time to do something. Without the tigers finding themselves on the receiving end of bear soldiers, of course.

  There was way more at stake than clans butting heads in Laura. If they ended up dead, captured, or worse...

  Fuck! I kept forgetting we were fugitives ourselves. My girl was being kept in prison, the same place asshole Cuddy tried to take me.

  “Sir, there's one more thing you should know about her condition...” Reed tugged on my sleeve like a little kid.

  I whipped around, snarling. The wiry doctor in front of me wasn't completely innocent himself.

  Was this his confession?

  He hadn't told me why we'd found him passed out on the floor next to my mate. Worse, I had a feeling I might instantly kill the only man who could save my mate once he spilled the bitter truth.

  “What?”

  “It's not just the blood loss that's preventing her body from optimal healing.” He adjusted his glasses, taking his sweet time. I had a feeling whatever he was about to say was bound to piss me off.

  “Spit it out!” I roared. “I don't have time for this shit.”

  “Laura's pregnant.”

  My vision tunneled. If I were a weaker man, I would've fainted on the spot, knocked out instantly by those insane words. They kicked up a storm in my brain so violent I saw stars.

  “A hybrid pregnancy is very difficult in the best condition. In hers, it's a huge threat to the cubs and their mother. I barely know how to deal with this, to be quite honest. All I know is if we don't get some tiger blood into her – and soon – you're going to lose this tiger and your half-blood offspring.”

  He couldn't do it. Stupid, smartass Reed just couldn't stop the righteous twitch in his lips, eyeing me with contempt.

  My bear went mad. Thick fur bristled on my arms and legs. The tight camo cloak got even tighter, ready
to bust at the seams.

  With a bear's roar, I lifted him off the table, holding him high in the air until his face was next to mine.

  “I should fucking kill you on the spot. Do you want to die here with her, Reed? Tell me!” In one push, we were across the room. He gurgled as I slammed his frail body into the wall.

  Reed's eyes were bristling with bear heat too. His survival instinct kicked on to shift and defend himself, but I'd snap his neck before his grizzly teeth appeared.

  “Don't...you want to save her...don't you?” he gasped. Only encouraged my fingers to press deeper in his throat.

  “What the fuck were you doing in the cabin? Why did you help Hannah take my girl's blood?”

  He coughed. It was hard as hell to loosen my grip and let him speak, but I did.

  “I'm sorry, Alpha. I'm so sorry, James. She blackmailed me...something real bad. I wouldn't have let her do it if I knew she was going to hurt her. Please, sir, you have to believe me!”

  Hot steam poured out my nostrils. Our faces were only inches apart. My fingers dug into his throat, one easy flick away from sending him into permanent darkness.

  “Tried to stop her. Hannah took too much – too much blood! She was the one who hit me on the head and finished the procedure herself.” Tears ran down his red cheeks. “I get it. Kill me if you have to. I deserve as much. I'm supposed to be a healer. All I've done is bring pain to everyone...”

  His words were so, so tempting. At the last second, I pulled my bear back, and spun away from him.

  He hit the floor with a loud groan. “Sorry, sorry, sorry...”

  Reed babbled like an idiot. I turned around and slapped him hard across the face, instantly cutting off his words.

  “You'll live. You keep Laura safe and I'll get you the fucking blood. Jacob's gonna make sure you don't move a muscle away from this table. Won't let you make any more mistakes, Reed. If I can't help my girl, then I'll murder the ones who killed her. Hannah, Cuddy, Greg... everyone. ”

  “You mean...?”

  He trailed off. I wasn't about to indulge his shit. He was under house arrest now.

  Didn't matter we were almost prisoners ourselves, or even that I only had myself and one other guy to do it.

  “Jacob! Make sure the good doctor here does his job.” I opened the door to the clinic's waiting room.

  Where the hell was he? Jacob wasn't anywhere to be found.

  I stepped toward the door, hair prickling on the back of my neck. My bear rumbled, all his senses on edge, and not just from the mind blowing chat with Reed.

  A father...you're going to be a father...Gods almighty!

  My head was still spinning when I pushed open the door and peered out. Jacob was at the bottom of the clinic's stairs, holding the rifle we'd captured from Cuddy.

  At least half a dozen others surrounded him, guns drawn, all aimed at him. Three of those guns shifted, moving to me.

  I recognized Greg's face through the camo hood wrapped around his head. Slowly, I stepped down the stairs, taking my place next to Jacob.

  “Stand back! Lay down your weapons and throw your hands up!” Greg shouted.

  I wasn't gonna be a prisoner again. My feet moved, my bear at the ready.

  Forward, forward. None of these insubordinate fucks are gonna push me around.

  Didn't stop until the nose of his rifle was just an inch from my chest.

  “I mean it, Alpha – give it up! Elder council's orders. Stand down or we will use lethal force.” His voice was shaking.

  I wrapped one hand around the rifle's nose. His finger perched near the trigger, shaking just as bad as the rest of him. Greg had been a bastard I hadn't fully trusted, just like Cuddy, but he balked at shooting me, the man he'd taken orders from the last three years, straight through the heart.

  “You stand down,” I said coldly. “All of you. The Elders are working with bad information. They've been tricked. I went to Tiger Bay and returned to bring peace. If you shoot me, you'll kill whole families. Don't go marching blindly into war, boys. Take me to meet with the council before this clan gets into a storm you can't imagine.”

  Greg's cohorts slowly dropped their rifles. He froze, still shaking, without lowering the barrel.

  “Can't let you do that. You're a criminal now, James. I will shoot you if you don't give up and let us take you into custody. I have my orders...” He looked desperately from side to side. “We all do!”

  Snarling, I clutched the rifle's tip again, bringing it square to the middle of my chest.

  “Do it then, big grizzly. Kill me so you can lead the suicide charge against the tigers.”

  It seemed like an hour passed. Really, it was only a couple of seconds.

  Greg flinched, jerked the gun away, and pointed it at a loud growl coming toward us. I followed everyone's gaze just in time to see the black SUVs rolling in with Shane and the tigers.

  Great. Perfect fucking timing.

  “Roark? What's the meaning of this?” Shane popped the door and drew his gun.

  All the bears instantly trained their rifles on the invaders, just like they'd been taught. Suddenly, Jacob and I weren't so menacing up against these outsiders armed to the teeth.

  Well trained tiger soldiers hopped out of their vehicles and took their positions. One of the SUV tops folded down at the click of a switch. A big cat stood up in the canopy clutching a machine gun.

  “You promised there wouldn't be an armed presence here, bear.”

  I stepped forward. “Funny. You promised me to bring no more than a couple men yourself. See you're packing a hell of a lot more heat than that.”

  I pointed to the machine nest on wheels, and Shane smiled. Behind me, Greg cleared his throat.

  “You tigers don't deal with him! Your business is with the Elder council. This man has forfeit his position here in Denali and–“

  “Shut up!” I whipped my head around and snarled. “The rest of you, keep them in your sights, but nobody move a fucking finger unless I say to.”

  The half-shifted rage on my face was enough to make him drop his gun. My other boys held firm, following my orders – as expected.

  “You're dealing with me, Shane, just like I promised. We'll go to the Elders together and tell them what's up. They'll listen to me.”

  The aristocrat sneered, raising one eyebrow. “You sure about that? You're making me regret this whole enterprise, Roark. Looks like liberating our land would've been a cakewalk with your clan in disarray.”

  My fists tensed. I'll give you a fucking cakewalk, I thought.

  “This building next to us is a clinic. Your daughter's in there. I need you to come and help her if she's going to live.”

  Shane studied my face, asking himself if this was a trick, a trap, or something else. The cold light in my eyes told him everything he needed to know.

  “Bastard bear! What's happened to my daughter?” He grabbed me by my cloak.

  I growled, muscling my arms around him, mirroring my bear's desire to hold him like this, bite into his neck, and taste his blood.

  Heavy weapons clicked behind him, loading and charging up. The tigers were definitely better armed than we were. If it weren't for my lock on their dear leader, they'd mow us to shreds.

  “Are you mad? I'm not your blasted hostage. Get your hands off me this instant if you want to avoid a firefight! Last chance!” His words terminated in a tiger's raspy thunder.

  “Don't be an idiot, Shane. Laura needs you. If I take you in there and anything happens, you won't even have a fight.” I turned around, spinning him with me. “Boys! Lay down your guns.”

  Anger flashed across their faces, but they listened. Greg hesitated, looking through me at the dangerous tiger troops beyond, and then finally complied.

  Orders from the council or no orders, they knew who was really in charge.

  “There. Let's go, straight up the stairs, just you and I.” I kept my death grip around his neck and we walked like two old friends.


  Make that two old friends whose idea of a good time is a fucking death match.

  Jacob nodded as we passed, and then we were inside. Doctor Reed looked up from his seat next to Laura.

  Shane broke my grip and ran to the table when he saw her. No sense in keeping him prisoner now that his own eyes told him the truth.

  “Great Gods! So, it's true!” He clasped her hand, growling when he felt it. “She's ice cold. What the hell is this? What's happened to my daughter?”

  Reed opened his mouth, but I held up a hand to stop him.

  “She needs a blood transfusion. Much as I love her, bear blood's no good. Has to be a tiger's. That's why I was willing to risk war to haul your stubborn ass in here.”

  Shane gave me a glare hot enough to start a forest fire. “I don't know what's happened here. But I'm sure it's your fault, bear. You did this...”

  My bear didn't like what he was saying. Too bad I couldn't shift and rip him apart without any more bullshit. Too bad Laura seriously needed him.

  “You're wrong! Don't be blinded by your own fool prejudice. You can think I'm the devil all you want, but I'd never hurt your daughter. Never, never, never!” An extra sharp tooth stabbed at my tongue, and I forced myself to settle down so I wouldn't shift all the way.

  “Go ahead,” I said clearly. “Think of me as the monster you see. Doesn't change the fact your daughter needs your help, very fucking soon, or we won't have anyone to argue about.”

  “All right!” He turned away from me, pushing up his sleeve and holding his arm to Reed. “Do what you need to do. Bear or not, I'll use your damned doctor to save my daughter.”

  Reed swallowed and began to draw blood. “Should only be a quick test to confirm compatibility and then we can begin the transfusion.”

  “Make it fast! My little girl isn't looking good. I swear, doctor, if she dies on your count, you'll be the first one in front of those guns outside.”

  Reed looked at me, aghast at the threat. I nodded seriously.

  For once, Shane Hisch and I actually agreed on something.

  Reed ordered me out as soon as the test was done. My bear snorted, the urge to protect on full red alert. Had to make him understand the doctor needed all the space in his cramped room to start the procedure.