by Celia Kyle
“Ty,” she sobbed his name, arm outstretched and reaching for him.
Suddenly everything snapped into place. Ty broke from her gaze and captured Griss’s arm before he could land the killing strike. He gripped the male’s wrist, halting him in his tracks, holding him steady.
While the man fought Ty’s immobilizing grasp, her Itan came at him with one great heaving blow. Ty sliced him, nails finding home in his enemy’s throat. Each individual claw slipped through Griss’s skin like butter, the flesh parting without protest.
Griss pushed away from Ty, clutching his neck in an attempt to stem the blood flow. But it was done and a matter of time now. Griss slipped, dropped to his knees, then slumped to the side, his massive body shuddering. Fur receded, bones snapped into human shape, and the bulged muscles lessened until he was in human form.
“No, you… can’t… kill me.” The words came with wheezing gasps.
“I did.” Ty rolled to his feet and stood tall, staring down at the dying bear.
Pride and joy filled her. Her male would live and the one who threatened would be gone. He’d hurt so many in her new family that she didn’t feel an ounce of sadness at his imminent death.
“I’m Itan. Can’t… kill… Itan with no… heir…”
Ty dropped into a crouch. “You didn’t give a fuck about that a second ago. Besides, if your guy had managed to kill Parker as you’d planned, I’d have a problem. But you hired shit people who couldn’t fight worth a fuck.” Her Itan reached for Griss, hands on both sides of his face. “I’ve got a cub, and you’ve got hell, asshole.”
With those words, he yanked the man’s head, the rapid movement followed by a low snap of bone. It was done, over, and if Ty was to be believed, Parker was fine.
Her Itan stared down at the dead body, his expression hidden from her by his lowered head, but she knew him. She could read him without difficulty and everything inside her ached for him. She didn’t hesitate to shrug off her father’s slackening hold and race across the broken remnants of their kitchen. Glass and wood dug into the bottoms of her feet, but she didn’t care. She had to get to Ty.
Her movements drew his attention and then he was there, scooping her into his arms and holding her close, enveloping her in his embrace.
“Mia.” A million emotions lived in that single word.
Mia wrapped her damaged body around him, disregarding the pain that accompanied the action and ignoring the gore that covered Ty. “Are you okay? Is it true?”
“I’ll be fine, sweet cub, and so is Parker. We got him. We’re all safe.”
Tears filled her eyes, the sting nothing compared to what else filled her body. “Oh, Ty…” She snuggled close, blinking away the moisture. Movement across the kitchen caught her eye. Strangers, killers. Their coloring, and shapes of their half-shifted bodies, were nothing like the bears. She fought Ty’s hold. “Ty!”
He tensed and looked over his shoulder, then relaxed. “Easy. They helped us. You’re safe.”
Safe… Gray eased into her vision, closing in on her, wrapping her in a painless embrace. “And Parker? He’s okay?”
“I told you he was.”
She looked to him and recognized the truth of his words. “Oh, okay.”
Then darkness ruled her world.
Chapter Sixteen
Low whispers brought Mia around, the sweet, high-pitched words countered by a deep baritone.
“Now?” Sweet Parker. Joy filled her at hearing him and the knowledge that Ty spoke the truth washed over her. She didn’t think he’d lied, not truly, but real evidence of Parker’s survival comforted her.
“No, not now. Soon.” Mia recognized the worry that filled Ty’s voice.
“But, Pop…” Parker whined.
“Shh… She’ll wake soon.”
Parker’s voice dropped lower until she could barely hear him. “It’s been a week, Pop.”
A week?
She remembered watching Ty fight, then Griss’s death, the strangers lurking in the kitchen and finally passing out in Ty’s arms… But a week?
Mia forced her eyes open, lifting the heavy lids with a deep groan, and gazed into the dim room. Immediately two sets of eyes focused on her. Joy etched Parker’s face while worry and relief filled Ty’s.
“Mim!” The cub’s voice bolted through her head, and she winced.
“Shh… Quiet, okay?”
He nodded. “Quiet. Mim, you been sleeping a long time.”
Mim? Pop?
“Yeah?” She cleared her throat. “You’re okay?”
“Uh-huh,” he nodded. “Uncle Griss stole me, and him and Sarah hurt me, but Pop saved me, and I’m all better.” The childish grin she received had the residual lethargy drifting away.
“Good.” Mia reached out and stroked his little hand. An unfamiliar heaviness weighed down her arm and she noticed the tubing taped to her forearm. An IV. She really had been out of it for a while. “Very, very good.”
Ty rubbed his cheek along the top of the cub’s head. “Go ask Gigi for a cookie, Parker. I need to talk to your mim for a little while.” Parker dashed from the room. The moment he cleared the door, his voice rose in a bellow to Gigi.
Mia winced and pushed the ache aside. She was awake, and the people she loved were alive, including her father. She vaguely remembered him wrenching her from Griss’s arms, so he had to be hanging around somewhere.
“Hey.”
His anxious gaze remained centered on her. “Hey. How are you?”
“Tired. Achy. How is everyone? What happened?” She licked her dry lips and asked the question she didn’t really want answered. “How hurt am I?”
Ty brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead. “We can talk about it later. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up. There’s no reason to—”
“What happened? What’s wrong with me?” She wasn’t about to be nudged aside, and there were too many questions pinging through her mind. Both of her arms were wrapped in bandages, it hurt to breathe, and one of her knees was encased in something.
Ty grimaced and pressed his lips together. “We can talk more when you’re better.”
Mia glared. True, she was plagued with fatigue and pain throbbed through her body, but it was nothing compared to not knowing. “Tell me, Ty.”
So he did. Griss and Sarah working together was old news, but the assistance of the wolves and battling the hyenas was new. He still hadn’t addressed her injuries.
“We now govern the hyena territory?” She raised her eyebrows.
“No, you and I plus Reid govern the territory.”
Her eyebrows rose higher. “But bears and wolves hate each other.”
Ty shrugged. “We’re working it out.”
But a new tension filled him. His muscles were taut, wound tight, and she waited to see if he’d snap.
“What else?”
He refused to meet her gaze, instead focusing on the wall on the opposite side of the room. “Sarah.”
“What about her?”
“I had to…” He kept his attention averted, but reached out and twined their fingers together. “Challenges, fighting, that’s one thing, but she didn’t fight. It was,” he shook his head. “She asked for mercy. The hyenas broke her. They raped and beat her. But Mia…” Ty sighed.
Mia shifted until her hand rested atop his and she rubbed her thumb over his skin, giving him comfort in the only way she could.
He turned his attention to their joined hands, staring intently at their woven fingers. “It took less than a second. One slice.” Ty met her gaze, and she noticed a growing moisture in his eyes. “She was part of my clan.”
She ignored the lingering pain and pushed herself up, shifting until she leaned against her Itan to comfort him as much as he would allow. “She asked. She knew what would happen if you brought her back and if they…” She thought of what the woman would have looked like by the time Ty arrived; battered, broken and raped. “If that’s what they did, you were right to g
rant her mercy.” She nuzzled him, reveling in his warmth and the scent of his skin. “What else happened?”
“Robert is dead.”
Mia nodded. Yes, she remembered that. “And you…” She dug through her memories. “Killed Griss?”
“Yes.”
“How many,” she gulped, swallowing past the growing ball in her throat. “How many of ours did we lose?”
“Four. Two during our fight with the hyenas and the two guards here at the house. We still haven’t found Martin, so five really.”
Tears burned her eyes, the salty liquid stinging and then rolling down her cheeks. “Five?” Her voice cracked, and she shuddered. “You killed him too quickly. You should have let your brothers help. You could have tied him down and sliced him—”
“Mia,” he cupped her cheek. “No more of this. No more details. Not today. You just woke up, Itana.”
“Ty. I want the rest.”
He sighed. “The Southeast Itan didn’t arrive until the morning after.” His gaze bore into hers. “Parker is ours now. At least until he’s capable of being the Cutler Itan.”
“Ours?” It was what she craved more than anything in the world, but she worried about whether he spoke the truth. “Really ours?”
“Yes, love, ours.”
“But who’s going to rule Cutl—”
“We definitely aren’t going to worry about that until later.” He rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone and she leaned into his touch. The stroke soothed her like nothing could, calming her in an instant. “Are you hungry?”
Mia took a minute to take stock of her body’s needs. Her arms ached, but she recalled Griss’s claws digging deep so it wasn’t surprising. It hurt to breathe, every inhale and exhale causing a jolt of pain. She shifted her weight and realized that even more pain radiated from her right leg. But she had to remember her discomfort was inconsequential. She was alive while five of her clan weren’t.
Her stomach growled, making its desire for food known. “Maybe a little?”
Ty dropped a kiss to her forehead. “Let me see what Gigi has for you. I’m sure she put something together and is waiting for a chance to take care of you.”
He shifted away from her, his hand slowly losing touch with her cheek, and she grabbed his wrist. “Don’t leave me alone.”
Sadness, worry, and love filled his gaze. “Anything, love. Let me call Gigi.”
Mia slumped against the pillows once again. Ty reached for the phone on the bedside table and a few button pushes later, he was giving directions to Gigi. He turned off the phone and placed it on its cradle before turning back to her.
“What else do you need?”
Ignoring the pain caused by the movement, she reached for his hand and twined their fingers together. “You. Just you.”
A small smile banished some of the fatigue marring his face. He leaned toward her, lips pursed for a kiss, and she tilted back her head in invitation. A week. She’d been gone from him for a week, and she craved the intimacy. He drew closer and closer until mere inches separated them. Yes, they’d have this chaste brush of lips and when she was better they’d—
“None of that, now.” Gigi bustled into the room carrying an overflowing tray and Parker skipped in her wake. His smile was infectious, and Mia couldn’t help but answer it with one of her own. She was alive, those going after Parker were dead, and she had Ty at her side. Life was good. Perfect even. She just wondered what shoe would drop next.
Gigi nudged Ty aside and leaned over Mia, setting the heavy tray across her lap, its legs balancing on the bed. The sweet woman fussed over her, placing a napkin in her lap and silverware within reach.
“There you go. I expect you to eat most of that, missy. No skimping on meals. You’ve already lost enough weight as it is.” Gigi clucked and then whirled on Ty. “No hanky-panky. The woman near bled to death, has a passel of broken ribs and a busted leg. She doesn’t need any of that. I’ll let you stay, but you keep those hands to yourself.”
Mia smiled at the abashed expression Ty wore. The man probably hadn’t been dressed down in years. She glanced at Parker, smiling even wider when she saw he had adopted Gigi’s chiding look.
“Yes, Gigi.”
The woman harrumphed and turned toward the door. “Come on, Parker. We’ll let your Mim and Pop eat while we bake cookies.”
“Chocolate chip with nuts and…” The excited boy’s voice lessened as he followed Gigi from the room.
Ty tugged a chair to the bedside and reached for her fork. “You heard the woman, no hanky panky.” He waggled his eyebrows. “At least not until I get you to eat something.”
“I’m not feeling up to—”
“Hush.” His eyes softened. “Itana, I’m happy you’re alive and awake. I merely wanted to bring a smile to your face.” He cupped her cheek. “You scared me. Isaac said you weren’t waking up because of a head injury and there was nothing we could do. I can deal with a lot of things, my Itana, but losing you isn’t one of them.”
“I—” Her emotions were all over the place, bouncing from one to another and yet another. She ached for him, yet yearned to rest. Her mind was willing, but her body… not so much.
Ty speared a bite of potato salad. “Here, try this. You loved it on our picnic.”
Yes, she had, but not nearly as much as she’d loved his touch and his masculine scent surrounding her. Mia obediently opened her mouth, taking the morsel and moaning as the flavors coated her tongue. Her stomach growled again, demanding more.
Ty obliged, feeding her morsel after morsel until half of the tray was emptied. She nibbled and snacked and moaned again and again as each new dish crossed her tongue. With each sound, his eyes darkened, his bear coming out to play. The scruff on his cheeks grew, showing her the beast lurked near the surface.
When her stomach was full and sated, she shook her head and slumped against the pillows. She yawned wide and sighed. “No more.” She rubbed her stomach, noting there was less than before. A week of not eating had to have resulted in a heck of a weight loss if her once rounded abdomen was not so rounded any longer. “I’m full.” He raised a single brow in disbelief. “No, I am. Promise.” She yawned again. “Parker called us Mim and Pop?”
Ty blushed and shrugged. “I can’t expect him to call us Mom and Dad—he has parents, even if they’re not at his side any longer—but he wanted to call us something.”
Mia smiled. “I like it.”
“Good. You’re really done?”
She leaned her head against the pillows and snuggled in. “Uh-huh. Can I get this off?” She raised her left arm to indicate her IV.
“Sure, I’ll get Isaac.” He lifted the tray from her lap and strode toward the door.
“Wait!” Her voice was hoarse, but still loud enough to have him halting in his tracks. “Don’t leave me.” She didn’t want to be alone, not when her body was so vulnerable. “You can get Isaac later. Just don’t leave me. Not yet.”
Sadness filled his gaze. “Never, love. Let me put this outside for Gigi, and I’ll stay as long as you want.”
“With me?” Her heart thundered. “In bed? With me?”
He gripped the tray so hard his knuckles turned white, and fur slid over his forearms. “Mia, you don’t understand what you’re asking.”
She needed him, though. She needed his touch, his nearness, his warmth and scent surrounding her. A week and her body craved him even if her sluggish mind had yet to catch up. It was an animalistic drive to have him close.
“Please?”
*
Ty felt like a sick fuck. He held a sleeping Mia in his arms, her body pressed tight against him and the remainder of her bandages scraping his skin. Her curves had been reduced during her coma, but that didn’t make her any less attractive to him. It did, however, make the bear grumble and growl while it pushed at him to feed her more. His beast demanded Ty return her health so her skin glowed with life once again.
Easier said than done.
&nbs
p; Especially when, by having her half-draped across him, he could think of nothing but his throbbing, aching cock. It pounded and pressed against the zipper of his jeans, fighting for release. It didn’t help when she sighed and eased closer. Or when she nuzzled his neck and pressed soft kisses on the column of his throat before licking his skin. Her sounds dug into him, clawing and scraping at his control. Now that she was on the mend, his body seemed to take that as permission to lust after her. He really shouldn’t have removed her IV. Without it, she was able to wrap her arms around him and snuggle even closer. She’d whimpered and moaned when getting into position, but then a soft hum came from her when she found a pose she liked.
Damn it, he needed to get his mind off of Mia and how beautiful she’d be bare and spread out before him.
Things had exploded immediately after the battle with Griss and his cohorts, and it’d only gotten worse as the wounded and dead were found. The tension was compounded by the presence of the Southeast Itan and his second-in-command. Especially considering the two bears were waiting to speak with Mia before making a ruling about Cutler. Parker’s future was secured, but the Cutler clan was in limbo.
Plus, he’d claimed the hyena’s town, Boyne Falls.
Then there was Isaac. His brother’s face had been torn to shreds, the hyena’s claws coated with poison, and instead of tending to himself, he’d cared for others. Which gave the toxins time to do their damage and scar him for life. Ty had sustained similar injuries—the lines still bright red as his body attempted to heal itself—but his scars were nothing like his brothers. Ty’s were easily covered by clothing while Isaac’s…
Chapter Seventeen
Mia knew there were secrets afoot. They lurked in the shadows and were hidden in horribly produced innocent expressions. If Gigi, Ty or her father thought they were being sly, they were lying to themselves.
She’d been awake from her coma for two days, and the time spent with her eyes open grew with each passing hour. First it’d been fifteen minutes, then an hour, and now she could stay conscious for as much as six hours straight. It wasn’t just a desire to be pain free that motivated her to get better, but also the prospect of truly becoming Ty’s Itana. Words were one thing, but consummating their joining would solidify her place in the clan.