by Celia Kyle
Mentally, he ticked through the list of clan members staying in the house and tried to imagine them through a child’s eyes. Truly, he was the only one he’d ever consider “scary.” The rest of them were nothing compared to him.
“At my window.” The cub whispered, but Ty knew everyone could hear.
He eased them toward the island and slowly edged Parker from his body until the boy sat on the smooth granite. Ty met his brother’s gazes and then refocused on Parker.
“Who was at your window, sweet cub?”
“He was a scary bear and he,” a shudder overtook the boy. “He scratched my window, Itan. Don’t let him get me.”
The boy launched himself at Ty and he easily caught the slight weight. Rubbing Parker’s back and soothing the cub, he focused on Van and knew he and his brother shared the same thoughts.
Patrols had increased, but no one and nothing should have come within a hundred feet of the house. Not even the guards. They sure as hell shouldn’t have been hanging around Parker’s window. There was only one man who would risk getting close to the Itan’s den and he was supposed to be under surveillance.
“Van, give Richard a call.” The man nodded, gulped his coffee and took off.
The click-clack of high-heeled shoes pacing across the wood signaled someone entered as Van departed. Normally, Ty couldn’t have cared less about who came in for breakfast, he liked being available to his clan, but the owner of those shoes had him gritting his teeth. It also had him tightening his hold on Parker. Even more so when a high-pitched growl vibrated from the cub and the pink skin beneath his hands slowly turned furry.
“What about Richard? What do you need with my mate?” Sarah’s familiar, grating voice rose above the clang and clink of Gigi’s cooking.
“Where is he right now?” Ty kept his gaze on Parker. Fur slowly coated the boy’s face. Something wasn’t right. He knew of cubs who didn’t care for strangers until they’d grown into their fur a little more. Parker’s current behavior coupled with the incident in Mia’s kitchen told Ty this went beyond a little unease or lack of control.
Sarah chuckled. “Sleeping, I’m sure.” She leaned against the counter within eyesight yet the majority of the kitchen remained between them. He kept his body turned so the cub hadn’t seen her yet. “Last night was tiring for him.”
Even with the distance that separated Sarah and Parker, the cub vibrated with suppressed anger. Parker was nearing feral in nature, the bear in the small child pushing through. Tiny fangs dropped and his little mouth was rapidly becoming a snout.
Ty narrowed his eyes. “Tailing someone was tiring and leaves that kind of smile on your face?” Parker’s nails lengthened and pricked Ty’s arms. Sarah merely sipped her coffee instead of answering. His bear was not amused. “Sarah?”
“Apologies, Itan.” The bitch wasn’t apologetic in the least and Parker sensed something from the woman because suddenly the boy wasn’t there. No, a small, agile cub replaced the human child and that cub launched itself from the counter.
Parker flew through the air and landed on the tile with a grunt and scramble of limbs, his claws not finding purchase at first. The moment he righted himself, he barreled toward Sarah. Every inch of his fur stood on end, his little teeth bared, and saliva dripped from his mouth.
Ty was on Parker in an instant, snaring the boy around the middle and hauling him from the ground. Distantly he heard shouts, Sarah’s screams and yells for someone to muzzle the feral kid along with his brother’s growls. But he only had eyes for the cub. He scruffed Parker, gripping the skin behind his neck and pulling. Not tight enough to hurt him, but enough to remind the cub who was boss.
“Parker.” The boy continued to struggle and snarl so he shook him slightly. “Parker.” Louder, larger growls filled the space, joining those of the cub’s. Unable to control the child’s aggression, he called for his youngest brother. “Keen, take him.” With more than a little bloodshed, he managed to transfer his snarling bundle to Keen’s control and then he took hold of Parker’s muzzle. Staring into the child’s eyes, he let his bear push forward and borrowed a little of the beast’s power. “Parker, you will shift. Now.”
It didn’t take much compulsion for the boy to change, fur receding and suddenly Keen held a small, sobbing child instead of an aggressive cub. Parker reached for him and he gladly took the slight weight, nuzzling his small head when Parker buried his face against Ty’s neck.
He looked around the kitchen, noting the disaster before him. Sarah was gone, but coffee puddled on the ground surrounded by shards of the woman’s mug. A huffing, puffing Isaac stared at the kitchen door, more than a little hint of the man’s fur coating his arms.
The way the small child shivered in his arms, he wondered if he needed to give something to the cub to soothe and calm him as well. It was what they did for distraught bears and those nearing the feral edge after spending too much time in bear form. He was sure they could do the same for Parker.
Then again, he was awfully small…
“Isaac?”
His brother shook his head as if clearing it. “I ran her off. She was near her shift and there was no doubt…”
The man’s words trailed off, but his expression told him more. For some reason, Parker hated Sarah and it seemed the feeling was mutual and very deadly on Sarah’s part.
“Okay, I need you to check outside Parker’s window. See if there’s evidence of a bear and if they left anything behind to identify them.”
Isaac nodded and left.
If any biological evidence remained, Isaac would run it through their updated DNA catalog. More than once they’d used the equipment he’d purchased for the clan to catalog the DNA of their members. There had been many times when other clans had stumbled upon dead bears and been unable to identify them if they didn’t belong to their clan. That led to post-mortem photos emailed to the various Itans. He encouraged others to adopt the same procedures as Grayslake within their own clans and slowly but surely others followed him.
“Keen?” His brother’s attention quickly centered on him. He was young, barely twenty-one, but the eagerness on the man’s features reminded Ty that he rarely gave the youngest Abrams much responsibility. “You’re good with computers.”
Keen snorted and rolled his eyes. “Something like that.”
“I need you to find everything you can about Sarah and Richard.”
“Richard?” Keen furrowed his brow.
“I know he’s been in the clan since birth, but I want you to dig around. I want to know everything.” He kept his gaze level, serious. “I also want you to do the same for Cutler’s Itan, but quietly.”
“Define ‘everything.’ We talking simple like bank accounts or you gonna make me work a little and hit the FBI and Department of Homeland Security?” Excitement lit Keen’s eyes.
“You can do that?” Ty only received another snort. “Listen wise as—,” Parker stirred and sniffled, reminding him he had a cub with little ears like sponges in his arms. “Wise-rear… I need whatever you can get me.”
“Sweet.” Keen twined his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. “Gimme an hour or two.”
His brother bounced on his toes, filled with excitement and Ty realized something saddening and heartbreaking at the same time. Keen had been last born and over ten years separated them. Growing up, that distance had been like a million years and he’d spent more and more time pushing Keen away rather than pull him closer like a brother should.
Shaking his head, he huffed and looked to the boy that wasn’t a boy any longer. “I don’t know you at all, do I?”
That excited expression slid away. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not. Meet me in my study. Not because of this, but just…” It was a request, a true request, not an order. The Grayslake Itan didn’t ask anyone to do anything, he commanded.
“Yeah.” Keen nodded and then pointed toward the door. When his brother spoke, Ty pretended not to hear the way his voic
e broke. “I’m gonna get to work.”
He nodded and Keen strode from the room, his back a little straighter and shoulders a little higher.
“You know,” Gigi, amazingly enough, still clanging away with her pots and pans, spoke behind him. Piles of food sat on the counter and it looked like she hadn’t even paused when all of the drama transpired. “I think that was the sweetest thing you’ve ever done.”
Great, suddenly he was sweet.
Parker sighed against his neck and a piece of his heart fell in love with the little boy right then.
Damn, Gigi was right.
Chapter Eight
Mia followed Ty under protest and glanced back at the house every so often. It’d been three days since Parker’s outburst in the kitchen—which no one had woken her for—and Ty assured her Sarah wouldn’t be coming by the house in the near future. At least, not while the cub was in residence. The “in residence” portion of his statement still worried her. When wouldn’t Parker be “in residence?” He was staying with her, well them, so he’d be “in residence” forever. He would never go back to Griss.
Ty said Van and Keen were working on gathering evidence against Griss before they took him down. But once the werebear was out of the picture, where else would Parker go? She could tell him where he wouldn’t go and that was away from her. No ifs, ands, or bears about it. He’d turned up in her pantry, dang it.
“Ty, I don’t think this is a good idea. Parker might…” Eyes trained on the clan’s den, she didn’t realize he’d stopped until she was plastered against his very solid, very delicious front. “Oomph.”
She frowned and looked up into his smiling eyes. Wow. The man really shouldn’t smile. Ever. It melted her insides and made her want to agree to anything he said.
“He’ll be fine.” Ty brushed his lips over hers and she shivered. “Van will take good care of the cub.”
“But what if he needs me or—”
He silenced her with a kiss, this one much deeper and it held a passion that made her knees weak. He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue, lapping, and licking until she opened. Only, once she opened, he eased the kiss and drifted away.
“He knows Van will take care of him and that you’re coming back. If we’re needed, Van knows where we’re going. We also pulled in a few more guards to patrol the grounds.” Yeah, he’d said that before, but she still wasn’t happy about leaving Parker.
“I know…” She nibbled her lower lip.
A soft thump caused by Ty dropping their picnic basket sounded a moment before he gripped her chin and tugged her lip from between her teeth. “He’ll be fine and we’re not going far.”
“You’re sure?” She glanced back at the massive house.
“I’m sure. We’re only going to the lake. It’s a ten minute walk.” He tilted his head toward the path. “Come on.”
The grin, it was the grin that did it. That little boy, you can trust me, of course I didn’t break grandma’s china serving bowl, smile.
His thumb still rested on her lower lip and she couldn’t help flicking her tongue out for a tiny taste. She let the tip slide over the end of his finger and his spicy flavors danced over her taste buds, drawing a delicious moan from her chest.
Ty echoed her sound and his bear slid forward, stealing the milk chocolate from his eyes and darkening to black. “Mia.”
“Sorry.” She pressed one last, chaste kiss to the end and eased back. “I’m ready.” He narrowed his eyes, as if he didn’t believe her, and she nodded to reassure him. “I am. Promise.”
He still seemed skeptical, but with his fingers still wrapped around her wrist, he spun, grabbed the picnic basket from the ground, and returned to leading her through the forest.
Trees surrounded them, bracketing the path and casting dancing shadows on the well-trodden trail. Dead leaves and pine needles cracked and crunched beneath their feet and the whistles of the birds added to the chorus. Each step took them deeper, each foot led them farther from Parker. Before long, she couldn’t see the house at all and was left with the surrounding woodland and… Ty’s ass.
And what an ass it was.
Nice and firm, rounded just enough for her to ache to bite and nibble. The man had been parading around her for days. All those manly muscles on display with an occasional appearance by aforementioned ass and his cock. Ty had a thing for being naked around her and she was quickly developing the same sort of craving. And he still refused to sleep in his own bed.
Mia was his Itana and he wasn’t sleeping anywhere but beside her. How could he protect her from down the hall? Nope, his werebear buttocks were staying put.
The first night when she’d unsuspectedly crawled into bed with him it had annoyed her.
The second had frustrated her.
The third was a whole ’nother kind of frustration: sexual.
She’d known the man for five days and all she wanted to do was crawl into him. Pieces of her soul were already chipping away and forming a nice little pile, stacked together just waiting to be handed into his keeping. The more time she spent with him, the more she realized that maybe what they had went beyond biological urge. Just maybe…
“Here we are.” His words tore her from her musings and back to the present.
“Oh, Ty.”
The forest gave way to one of the most beautiful sights she’d ever witnessed. The placid, blue lake spread for what seemed like miles. The water gently lapped at the shore, the soft rush simply adding to the music from the birds. The scents of trees and water surrounded her and a calm she hadn’t felt since she’d found Parker enveloped her.
“Let me show you one of my favorite places.”
Eyes trained on her surroundings, she allowed Ty to draw her forward, trusting him to not lead her astray. Her sandals crunched over damp sand and before long, they stopped once again.
Ty released Mia and she split her attention between the majestic view of the water and that of his rear end.
He’d brought her to a secluded space. A massive cottonwood, its leafy canopy casting a wide circle of shadows, dominated the area. He spread a blanket near the base and rested the basket on one corner. On another, he dropped his shoes.
He caught her watching him and smiled wide. Oh, that smile did funny things to Mia’s insides. She pressed a hand to her stomach, begging the butterflies to ease. Yet another sliver of her soul joined the growing pile.
“Just weighing it down so the wind doesn’t snatch it from us.” That was followed by a wink. She was in so much trouble. Ty held out his hand. “Come sit. Lemme feed you.”
Mia blushed, but managed to force herself into motion and closed the distance between them. When she reached the edge, she slipped her sandals from her feet. She gingerly stepped onto the spread sheet and stood, awkward and unsure yet again. She still hadn’t figured out what Ty wanted from her, heck, why he wanted her.
“C’mere.” He wiggled her fingers and she went to him, shoving aside her worries for now.
It was an afternoon picnic, not a lifetime commitment. Hadn’t he told her he’d convince her of his sincerity? Hadn’t he said over and over that she was his Itana?
After another, tear-filled conversation with her father, he stressed the difference between a mate in today’s werebear society and an Itana. Bears in the wild weren’t inclined to bind themselves to a forever mate and werebears were somewhat similar.
Except there were times—when a bear wasn’t a pigheaded speciest cornnut and had an open mind—that werebears could find their fated mate and happily commit to them for life. Otherwise, they found love and devoted themselves to a single person when they were ready for cubs. The soul-deep connection she would share with Ty was so very, very different. It was stronger, unbreakable, and forever. An Itan only ever joined with his fated mate, his Itana, period. An Itan and Itana would never part.
The whole idea of fated mates and finding a bear’s other half outside their species went against the very vocal majority, b
ut he urged her to look at what her grandfather had with her grandmother. Her dad guessed that bears weren’t necessarily meant to stick with bears, that humans and halfers were needed to breathe life into the clans.
Because Ty was calling her his Itana and taking his time with her, her father said it was highly likely she was meant to be with him. A man obsessed with simply claiming her and tying them together due to the strength of her blood wouldn’t be so patient.
Mia eased to her knees beside him as he pulled container after container from the basket. He laid out the feast he’d brought along and she salivated at what was spread before them. Man, she loved Gigi. She was really going to miss the woman once Griss had been dealt with and she returned home with Parker. Except Ty didn’t know that tidbit quite yet. She internally winced, imagining the confrontation to come. Ty would demand custody of the cub while Mia would be just as adamant. She’d adopt Parker, even move home with her father to ensure the cub had a warm, werebear upbringing, but she wasn’t leaving him in Grayslake. She wasn’t sure of her success, but a young cub needed a woman’s influence and the clan’s den was filled with men. No telling what kind of bad habits Parker would pick up from the Abrams brothers.
“What has you thinking so hard?” Ty’s words interrupted her thoughts and she plastered a smile on her face. Today was about spending time together and enjoying their surroundings as they got to know one another. It wasn’t about her jumbled thoughts that raced from “give me forever” to “I need to run far and fast.”
Mia shook her head. “Nothing.” Her stomach grumbled and she scrunched her nose while heat suffused her cheeks. “What else do you have in there?” She scanned what had emerged from the seemingly bottomless basket and realized there was something missing. “Like, another set of silverware?”
His answering grin was wicked. “Nope, just one set.” He held out his hand. “Come closer. I’m gonna feed you and my bear is dying to give you what you need.”