by Celia Kyle
“Did you want to go out?”
Mia shook her head, then paused and nodded. “In a way.”
She went to the bed and it was then he noticed the duffel bag resting there. The duffel that had originally been brought over by his brother when it’d been decided she’d stay for a while.
“Mia?”
She tossed in a few bottles and then tugged the zipper closed. She grabbed the handles and lifted the bag from the bed before turning to face him fully. “Parker and I are leaving.”
“You can’t. Griss—” He snapped his mouth shut when she raised a hand.
“I’m not an idiot. I understand everything now. Do you get it? Everything. I spoke with Keen this afternoon, and he laid it out for me. I know Parker needs to stay under the clan’s protection until Griss is dealt with. I also know you intend to hand him over to the Cutler Itan.”
“He’s the boy’s great uncle, Mia.” He ran a hand through his hair, frustration battering him while the bear seethed at the idea of Mia being away from them.
“He’s a beast you know nothing about beyond his familial ties to the cub. You don’t know the kind of boy he will raise, the kind of man he’ll mold.” Tears glistened in her eyes, and she shook her head. “I’m not leaving Parker or the grounds, I’m not that stupid. I wouldn’t risk Parker’s life by leaving entirely. We’re going to Van’s.”
Ty couldn’t have withheld his growl if his Itana’s life had depended on it. The mere idea she’d be anywhere but at his side… “No.”
“You don’t have a choice. Two thirds of the security have been pulled from the house and transferred to Van’s home. We’ll be at the bottom of the hill and we’ll be protected. Keen has added additional safety measures to Van’s house. It’ll be safer than here.”
“Safer? There’s nothing more safe than being with—” Another rolling growl slid from him.
“Safer. I know Griss hasn’t been spotted around here recently, but he got through that one time, didn’t he? That first night? He lurked outside Parker’s window and scared him, didn’t he?” She glared at him. “Yet another secret. They’re piling up, Ty. You better start shoveling your shit before you drown in it.”
With that, she strode past him, snapping and breaking off pieces of his heart with every step. When she passed through the doorway, he followed, unable to stand the growing distance between them.
They emerged into the kitchen to find several guards along with his brothers gathered near the back door. A bouncing Parker came to him, and Ty automatically scooped the boy into his arms.
“Ty, we’re gonna spend the night at Van’s house and watch movies and play video games and eat popcorn and…”
He only half-listened, his focus remaining on his Itana. “Mia?”
Her gaze strayed to him but quickly centered on Parker. “Come on, little cub. Let’s go have our adventure.”
A pair of wet lips pressed against Ty’s cheeks, and he forced his attention to the boy in his arms. “Have fun, okay?”
A huge smile was the only answer he received, and then he lowered the cub to the ground, forcing a farewell grin as Parker scrambled away.
Mia grasped Parker’s small hand in hers and followed the boy toward the back door. An unfamiliar burn overtook his eyes, the slight, stinging pain annoying yet unknown. Wetness slid over his cheek, and he dashed it away, refusing to acknowledge the tears.
“Mia?” He didn’t recognize the croaking voice that came from his throat.
“I’ll see you around, Ty.”
“We should talk.” He took a step forward.
She shook her head sadly. “I know you were trying to protect me. I understand that.” She shrugged. “But I’m not a little cub. I was your Itana, and I rate better than secrets and lies. It’s not real. I tried to tell you that. Biology, it’s a sick duck.”
Her words cut through him like a burning knife, slicing his flesh away from bone. I was your Itana. No, he couldn’t have lost her. It was a bump in the road, a stumble. Nothing more, nothing less. It wasn’t about biology, their attraction and feelings weren’t created out of anything as simple as blood. She was just overreacting a little. They’d talk, she’d understand and…
The thump of the back door closing drew his attention, and he noticed the kitchen was empty, every guard and all of his brothers were gone. He moved to the kitchen window and tracked the progress of the group, keeping an eye on them as they traveled to Van’s. It truly wasn’t a long walk, just to the bottom of the hill, but the distance seemed like hundreds of miles.
Lights flicked on inside Van’s home signaling their arrival, and it was easy to see several large, lumbering forms move around the outside of the house. The guards obviously slipping into position. She’d be safe; his brothers would make sure of it. Of course, the knowledge did nothing to mend the pain in his chest.
“Whiskey or coffee?” Gigi’s voice cut into his worries and agony.
Without tearing his eyes from Van’s home, he whispered his answer. “Whiskey. Definitely whiskey.”
The thump of Gigi’s retreating steps were immediately followed by the clank of glasses. The alcohol swished in the bottle as she returned, and the two glasses and bottle clinked when she placed them on the granite countertop.
Still his gaze remained on Van’s home.
The sweet scent of whiskey hit his nose, and he finally tore his attention from the bottom of the hill, turning it toward the woman who’d been in his life since he was born.
“C’mon and drink so I can tell you what you did wrong.” She slid a half-full glass toward him.
“I didn’t—”
“Oh, I’m sure you think you didn’t, but I know better. Have a seat and drink up.” She nodded to his tumbler of whiskey.
His bear told him no, that he needed to get the hell out of their den and down that damned hill to get their Itana back. But Ty’s human half knew better. Instead of demanding Mia return, he padded to the kitchen bar and slid onto a stool. He tugged the glass closer, cradled it in his hands for a moment and then simply tossed the burning liquid back. It seared his throat, clearing his sinuses on the way down, and he coughed the moment he swallowed the last drop.
“Shit.” He sucked in a breath. “Damn.” He nudged the glass toward Gigi. “Another.”
“One more and then we’ll talk about you mucking things up.” Gigi was good to her word and poured more of the amber liquid into his glass.
When she stopped at halfway, he gestured for more. “If you’re gonna rake me over the coals, give me something to dull the pain a little.”
“I shouldn’t give it to you. You need to feel it to learn from it.”
Ty rubbed his chest, remembering the pain etched in Mia’s features. Remembered the way tears lurked in her eyes and how her hand shook when she’d reached for Parker. Then there was the tremble in her voice as she’d spoken to him, berated him over his secrets.
“Tell me where you went wrong.” Gigi’s tone told him that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t be the answer she was looking for.
“I lied to her.”
The woman raised an eyebrow and gave him a look that said he had to do better.
“I should have told her everything from the start. She’s my Itana,” he coughed to cover up the crack in his voice. “She needs to walk beside me, not behind me.”
Damn hadn’t he heard his mother yell that at his father just before she dumped his dinner on the front porch. If you want to act like an animal, you can eat with them.
“You’re getting closer, but you need to back up a little to get to your biggest mistake.” Gigi sipped her whiskey.
He pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw. “I lied to her—withheld the truth, whatever you want to call it—in order to protect her instead of having her help me make decisions. I don’t see what else I’ve done wrong.”
Well, there were probably other annoying things he’d done to piss her off, but the little stuff didn’t seem bad enou
gh to walk out over.
“Have you sat and talked to her?”
Ty rolled his eyes, earning him a slap to the head. He glared, but answered her question instead of getting snarly. “Of course, I have.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I have.”
“Right.”
“Damn it, Gigi.” His teeth were gonna shatter the way this was going.
“Fine. Did you ask her to come here? Or tell her?”
“I…” Well, he hadn’t given her much of a choice, really. He’d played off her affection for the cub to trick her into coming to the den. Then he’d tricked her further to get her to stay.
“And when you decided she was your Itana, that was it, wasn’t it? You just said it aloud, and everything was supposed to be happy.”
“Well…” Ty winced. “Yeah, sorta.”
“You haven’t done a bit of wooing, Ty Abrams. You’ve made decisions and brow-beaten her into going along. Said things over and over, sure, but between running the clan, trying to be sheriff and worrying about Griss, you two haven’t spent any time getting to know one another. Not really.”
“I took her on a picnic.” He didn’t care if he sounded like a two year old.
“Uh-huh. And came back smelling like sex. I don’t think much talking happened out there.” Gigi gave him a deadpan look.
Yeah, he hated when she was right.
“You want her to trust you and love you, Ty, but you need to give her a reason to. ‘Because I said so’ isn’t going to cut it. It won’t work with her, and it sure as hell ain’t gonna work with her daddy when he gets here.”
That statement had him sitting up straight, eyes wide as he stared at Gigi. “What? Her father?”
The woman nodded and swirled her glass, watching the dark brown fluid spin round and round. “Tomorrow afternoon. He submitted a request to the Southeast Itan on his daughter’s behalf, and he wants to be here for her in case the man calls with questions.”
It couldn’t have hurt more if she’d ripped out his heart and punched him in the gut. “Does she think I won’t let her go? Is that why he contacted the Itan and is coming here? I keep telling her she’s mine, but I’d never keep her against her will. I love her, damn it.”
The air left his lungs and his heart stopped. Dear God, even if he’d come at things in a totally fucked up way, he loved that woman.
“It’s good for you to admit your feelings, but I doubt she’s worried about you forcing her to stay. You need to ask her why she called in the big guns.” Gigi filled his glass once again.
“But you know the reason.”
She nodded. “But I know the reason. Eavesdropping is wrong, but it’s one of the ways I come to know everything here. You boys have tighter lips than a virgin sacrifice’s vagina.”
Ty smirked.
“Now, as for the rest, you need to do some shopping.” She pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket and slid it across the counter. “You can start there.”
“Shouldn’t I get to know her? To find out what she likes so I can—”
Gigi smacked him. “Boy, her daddy is coming tomorrow. You need to get her happy before that big old man turns up here and rips you in half.” She nudged the page toward him again. “Wooing any woman begins with something like flowers and sweet notes, but there are some ideas just for her, too.” She sipped her whiskey. “The superstore in town is open twenty-four hours.”
The hinges on the back door’s screen squeaked and then the wood panel swung wide to grant Keen entrance. “Itan?”
Ty jumped from his seat. “Mia? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.” Ty worked to ignore the pity in his brother’s gaze. “A program I was running just spit out some information you need to know.”
He looked down at the list, scanning Gigi’s neat scrawl, and weighed his responsibilities as Itan against his love for Mia. He sighed and stood, digging into his pocket. He tossed his keys to his brother. “C’mon, you drive and tell me at the same time.”
Keen furrowed his brow but caught the keys with ease. “Where are we going?”
“Shopping.”
Chapter Eleven
A tiny poking finger woke Mia. The small, chubby digit tapped her shoulder, drawing her from sleep. Which was something she hadn’t had much of after leaving Ty last night. The Abrams brothers supported her as their Itana, choosing to serve and protect her instead of stepping into the middle of things and making the disagreement between her and Ty worse. They chose a side. Done.
Unfortunately, even if she believed she was in the right, she wasn’t able to sleep without Ty beside her. In a few short days, she’d become accustomed to his presence, to his scent and the way he wrapped around her as they slept. He protected her even when they crawled into bed, making sure he lay between her and the door.
There was only one body in the bed now. Well, one body and one little boy who apparently wanted her out of bed.
“Mia.” Poke poke. “Are you awake?” Poke. “Mia, you hafta see.”
On the next prod from Parker, she snatched at the little boy and pulled him atop her, tickling and growling at the small cub. Giggles and laughs filled the room with a few high-pitched squeals for good measure. Heavy, thumping stomps announced a near stampede and then the tiny bedroom was filled with Isaac, Van, and two other clan members.
“What’s going on?” Isaac’s voice boomed in the small room, and she noticed their eyes were black as night.
“Sorry,” she gulped. “Parker and I were kidding around and got a little out of hand. We’re sorry, right Parker?”
Wide-eyed, he nodded. “Sorry.”
As one, their shoulders slumped and they exhaled, those black eyes fading back to their natural colors.
Van came forward and ruffled Parker’s hair. “It’s okay, little cub. We just want to make sure you and the Itana are safe.” He turned his attention to Mia. “Gigi’s here and said breakfast is ready.”
They filed out, leaving her and one grinning little boy behind. “Come on, you little rat, let’s go eat.”
Parker scrambled from her, kneeing her in the process, and then raced from the room. She knew the moment he hit Van’s kitchen because his high-pitched, joyful voice filled the house.
With a sigh, Mia rolled from the bed and snatched a hair tie from the dresser. In less than a second her hair was secure in a lopsided pony tail. She glanced down at her body and shrugged. She was scraggly looking but covered. She’d borrowed a set of brand-new pajamas from Van, teasing him about why they weren’t worn when he handed them over. He’d blushed, mumbled something about “nekkid” and then rushed off. It pleased her to no end that she was able to make the big bear squirm.
Chuckling, she shuffled from the small guestroom and headed toward the rising voices in the center of the house. She easily recognized Isaac, Van, and a few guards’ tenors tumbling over Parker’s. Keen’s was noticeably missing, but last night the man said he was chasing a lead.
Before long, she emerged into controlled chaos, Gigi barked orders while the massive men rushed to do as she asked. Even Gigi had abandoned Ty, and Mia wondered who was making the Itan’s breakfast this morning. Gigi pointed at her and crooked her finger and Mia instantly headed toward the woman. She who controls the kitchen must be obeyed. Hadn’t she heard that from her father often enough?
Her dad. He was coming to see her today, hitting the ground at noon and then driving over from the airport. He’d arrive around three or four. She glanced at the analog clock on the wall, five or six hours and then she could slump into his arms and let him bear a little of the weight she carried.
“Morning, Gigi.”
She tugged Mia close and gave her a one armed hug while planting a kiss on her forehead. “Sleep well?”
Mia frowned and shook her head. “Not so much.”
“Uh-huh.” The heavy thud of a car door slamming reached them. “’Bout time he showed up.” Gigi nudged her. “You’ve got a visitor. Go on out.”
“It’s not your daddy.”
Mia shot her a questioning look, and Gigi rolled her eyes. “Little boys aren’t the only ones who know how to eavesdrop. How am I supposed to know everything if I don’t do a little spying?”
“So you know who’s out there? And I want to go outside?”
“‘Want to’ is a stretch. ‘Need to’ though… You definitely need to go out there.”
Frowning at Gigi’s cryptic statement, Mia strolled from the kitchen toward the front of the house. The men who had been talking and laughing in the living room were now suspiciously absent, as was Parker.
The rapid knock of the visitor broke into the silence, and Mia peeked through the peep hole. It took one quick glance to identify the person on the other side of the door. The moment she saw him, she stumbled back. Her heart beat rapidly, pounding out an ever increasing, unsteady rhythm.
Ty. Dang it. Why had he come to Van’s? She’d said what she’d wanted to say, and that was it. Done.
Another handful of knocks. “Mia? I can scent you. I know you’re there. I just need a few minutes.”
She didn’t move, not an inch.
“Please?”
It was the “please” that broke her. The single word held heartbreak and hope, pain and longing and something a lot deeper. A feeling that neared her own.
Padding to the door, she reached for the deadbolt, only to find it already unlocked. A quick twist of the knob and a tug had the wood panel swinging wide to reveal Ty.
Ty who looked a lot like she felt. Bags lingered beneath his bloodshot eyes; his clothes were wrinkled, and his hair stuck up on its ends. He looked exhausted and delicious at the same time.
He cleared his throat and shifted from foot to foot. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
His gaze stroked her, slid over her from head to toe and back again, and the nervousness vanished. His eyes darkened to the bear’s black, and she idly wondered if any of the werebears in the clan knew how to control their beasts. “You’re wearing Van’s clothes.”