Clifford’s bear snarled. It was so surprising that Clifford actually jumped. His bear was a content beast. Usually, it didn’t make its presence known. He never had to repress it, simply because it was fine sitting in the shadows letting him do his own thing. That it reacted so strongly to Lori’s story made him lose focus for a moment.
“Do you want to see her?” the question burst from him before he could consider it. “Your sister, I mean. I know that you’ve been talking a lot and everything, but it’s not the same as seeing each other. I think it would help her, too. She’s not convinced that I didn’t kidnap you.”
Lori laughed softly. “That’s because you did kidnap me.”
Heat rushed to Clifford’s face, but he couldn’t help but laugh as well. Lori squeezed his hand and pulled her cellphone from her pocket. Within a few moments, she was promising Jasmine to see her soon. Moments after that, they were on their way into town. Jasmine was with her mate at the new clinic that had been built for the clan.
Dr. Eneko Alava, Jasmine’s mate, greeted them with a small smile before warning Clifford that Jasmine was furious with him. Clifford nodded his appreciation at the warning.
Seconds later, the jaguar had pushed her way into his face, and was shouting at the top of her lungs. Clifford wasn’t even certain what she was saying, she was speaking too loudly and quickly. She didn’t stop until Lori pushed her way between them and held out her hands.
“Jazz, stop that! I told you what’s going on, you need to calm down.”
Jasmine glared at Clifford. “You’ve told me what he’s told you, and—”
“Seriously?” Lori threw her hands into the air. “You’re really going to make me say it?”
Clifford tensed. What was she talking about?
Lori gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head. “Okay. So we didn’t know about the threats at the moment that he came and took me. But you weren’t supposed to be there. It’s embarrassing, but…” She slipped an arm around Clifford’s waist. “Jazz, you kind of interrupted our favorite role-playing game.”
Jasmine’s mouth opened and closed. A plethora of emotions flitted over her face. Clifford knew exactly how she felt. His face burned and he almost denied it all. To think that Lori would just make up something about their sex life like that? Embarrassment, irritation, but yet relief that Jasmine was no longer grilling him.
Lori’s arm tightened around his waist for a moment before she dropped it.
Suspicion flared in Jasmine’s eyes. “So, are you two together now? I don’t mean roleplaying. Are you going to get married? Are you going to raise the baby together?”
Clifford saw Lori tense. “Right now, we are concentrating on eliminating the threat that was made towards Lori and the baby.”
The decision to give up custody of the baby was a hard decision for her to make. Even now, he couldn’t shake the gut feeling that it was the wrong decision. Of course, he was overjoyed that Lori wanted him in the baby’s life. He would do everything he could to ensure that the baby grew up with everything it needed. But he could also see how heavily it weighed on Lori’s shoulders. He hadn’t brought it up again yet, but he felt that some sort of shared custody agreement would be far better than for her to give up all her parental rights.
Eneko cleared his throat, breaking the stalemate of sisterly glares. He smiled warmly at Lori. “Have you had a doctor’s appointment yet to see how your pregnancy is progressing?”
“Uh… no.” Lori’s eyes widened. “I haven’t even thought of it… I have to do that. Find somebody. Can you? I know you’re a general practitioner but you have pregnant patients, don’t you?”
Eneko’s smile remained calm and comforting. “I’m sure that you’ll be able to find an OBGYN for proper care, but if you want I can give you a quick exam. I have the equipment so we can hear the baby’s heartbeat.”
“It will have a heartbeat already?”
Eneko nodded. “You’re over two months, it should be a strong heartbeat by now.”
Lori nodded eagerly. “I’d love to hear its heartbeat!”
“You go on ahead.” Jasmine moved to block Clifford’s path. “I want to talk to Mr. Boone alone, if I can.”
“Jazz—”
Clifford interrupted. “It’s okay. Go on.”
Lori looked doubtful but nodded. Clifford smiled at her as she walked away, but the smile slipped off soon enough. As soon as she and Eneko were out of sight, Jasmine pointed a finger accusingly at him. Clifford spoke before she could, however. What he had to say was too important to wait.
“I can tell that you love your sister very deeply. I need your help.”
“My what?” Jasmine’s hand lowered and her eyes narrowed.
Clifford ran a hand through his hair. “The other day when we were talking, she told me that she wanted to give up her parental rights to the baby. That she wanted to give me full custody.”
Jasmine’s eyes widened. “What?”
“It’s because of how she was raised, I think. I’m not sure exactly. The point is that she made the choice thinking that it’s best for the baby. And I want to be in the baby’s life. I want to be a dad to it, during the hard times as well as the easy times. Part of me wants to have full custody, to have my child with me all the time. But I can see how much it’s crushing her. I don’t want her to be in pain.” Clifford took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So… I need you to find out why. Why she thinks that it’d be better for the baby to have it this way. I mean, I’m a lawyer. I can work these things out. And honestly from what I’ve seen, having it taken care of legally will help so much. I just don’t want her to do this if it will destroy her.”
Jasmine was silent for a long time. Eventually, she shook her head and turned away. Both hands pressed to her mouth as she moved to the desk and slumped onto it. “It’s my fault.”
Clifford’s brows shot straight up. He hadn’t been expecting that.
“Our mom might not have been there for Lori, but I… I messed up. I tried to protect her, but I was always nagging her. Telling her what she needed to do with her life. I’m the reason she thinks she’s not good enough.”
Clifford put a hand on Jasmine’s shoulder. “I doubt that. She thinks the world of you.”
“That doesn’t mean that this isn’t my fault.” Jasmine shook her head and turned back to him. “I’ll talk to her. It’s her choice in the end, though… Just…”
“I will never cut her out of the baby’s life.” Clifford’s gaze became steely. “And I won’t let anything happen to her. I promise you. Lori is going to be happy and safe. I will make sure that she is.”
Chapter Five
This was what death felt like.
Lori clutched the edges of the toilet, noting that there was a little splatter on the rim from the last time she was bent over it, hurling her guts out. The thought made her stomach rebel again, but there wasn’t much left inside of her other than a little acid and water. Her eyes were red, tears running down her cheeks from the efforts her body made to get rid of what wasn’t there.
Her legs were shaky and her back hurt from her position. Luckily, she had braided her hair earlier so it stayed out of her face. The roiling of her stomach calmed so she flushed the toilet, washed her face and rinsed out her mouth. Her teeth always felt soft and mossy after throwing up, but the thought of brushing them made her gag, so she returned to her bedroom and crawled between the blankets.
The morning sickness, which hadn’t been so bad, had hit her like a freight truck over the past couple days. She had always known she was a grumpy sickie, but this… this was the worst thing that had ever happened to her. She wanted to just sleep for the next six months and only wake up after she had given birth.
Natasha slipped into the room, carrying a tray of tea and crackers. Despite how sick she felt, Lori felt a sudden pang of hunger. She straightened, eyes on the tray.
“Try to eat something.” Natasha put the tray on the nightstand. “This is ging
er tea, and it should help with the nausea. Serena’s mother always had terrible morning sickness. It was odd, since most times shifters don’t get morning sickness. But she was absolutely miserable with it. My brother was beside himself with worry, thinking something was wrong.”
The tea was still too hot, but Lori took a cracker and nibbled on one corner. She didn’t want to eat too fast and trigger more vomiting. “Thank you. I didn’t think it was possible to feel like this. I was always blessed with a healthy immune system. You know, it’s been years since I’ve had a cold? I like to take care of myself. People think I’m not healthy because I’m carrying around extra weight, but that’s never slowed me down.”
Natasha nodded. “I could give you a massage if you want. It always seemed to help Annemarie.”
Lori nodded. Just having the physical touch felt like it would do wonders. She rolled to her stomach and Natasha adjusted the pillows so she would be more comfortable, then started to gently knead her back. It felt heavenly, and Lori relaxed so much that she nearly drifted off to sleep.
The next thing she knew, the smell of something greasy shot her stomach into overdrive and she lurched from the bed. She was barely able to make it to the toilet.
“Mom, really? Did you have to bring that over here?” Natasha scolded.
Lori glanced up from where she was over the toilet to see Hayley with some greasy meat on a stick, grinning and shrugging.
“You know,” Hayley said, “I always found that sex was a good cure for morning sickness. Go at it during the night, and the morning isn’t so bad.”
“You never got morning sickness,” Natasha said, her hands on her hips.
Hayley shrugged. “Because I was constantly having sex with your father, I guess.”
Lori glanced away, her face overly hot. Sex… It sounded wonderful, even in her current state. She could just imagine how her heightened sensitivity would feel with Clifford’s mouth on her body, his hands in her intimate places, that low growl ripping through his chest as he pinned her beneath his body.
“Mom stop it!” Natasha shuddered and slapped her hands over her ears. “Honestly! You have no boundaries sometimes. Leave Lori alone and take that greasy meat out of here. The poor girl is feeling lousy enough.”
Hayley finished off the meat, still watching Lori. She pointed the stick at her. “Listen to me, little one. You’re not going to get anywhere in life by denying yourself what you want. And you know that you want him. It’s obvious from just looking at the two of you that you and Clifford want each other. And speaking as a mother, I’d rather you two toss about the bedroom instead of having all those bedroom eyes out in public.”
Natasha threw her hands into the air. “I give up.”
Lori shook her head as she flushed the toilet again, then grabbed the scrub brush to clean off the accumulation of crud on the rim. Her hands shook and her face flamed. “Things are far too complicated for Clifford and me.”
“Complicated?” Hayley snorted as she ran a washcloth under the water and pressed it to the back of Lori’s neck. “If you mean because you’re pregnant, then don’t think about it too much. It’s as much his responsibility that you got knocked up as it is yours. So, it’s his responsibility to make sure that you’re comfortable. I don’t doubt that he’d be more than willing to do that if you asked. And if you’re worried about emotional connections, don’t be. He has girls coming and going all the time and he’s never fallen for any of them.”
How the hell did she think that was appropriate? Lori withdrew from her, unable to stop herself from glaring. “I don’t think that my sex life is any of your concern.”
“I’m just—”
“Trying to provoke me somehow, but I don’t get why or what you’re hoping to get from it.”
Hayley leaned forward and winked. “Just shed your inhibitions and clothes.”
“Okay, that is enough. For real this time.” Natasha broke between them. With a glare at her mother, she put an arm around Lori’s waist and led her back to her room.
There, she fussed over Lori until she was comfortable and sat in a chair before insisting that Lori eat. The crackers became a couple slices of toast, and the ginger tea warmed her nicely. When she was done, her stomach felt much better and she felt perkier, even though she was tired. Hayley had disappeared in the meantime, and Natasha retrieved Lori’s tablet for her.
“If there is anything else you need, just let me know.”
“Thanks.”
Natasha slipped away, and Lori sagged back into the pillows. What was awful was that she felt good enough now to do something. At the same time, she felt good enough to actually sleep and didn’t know if that was going to last. With her eyes dragging downwards, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to try to get something done or just sleep and risk feeling awful again when she woke up.
Her mind drifted back to Hayley’s comment. Heat flared in her face and swirled in her core. As her eyes drifted shut, she thought of Clifford. His smile, his dark eyes, the way his muscles bunched when he pressed her to the wall…
***
The sound of screams and roars woke her. Lori didn’t have the luxury of confusion as adrenaline shocked her system. She jumped to her feet and raced into the hallway, where she stumbled a little over her feet. There were several gunshots and she dropped before realizing it all came from outside. Crawling, she returned to her room to grab her cellphone and call 911 before she peeked through the window.
Sprawled on the front yard were a half a dozen bears fighting. A bright white bear held them off, lunging and swiping his paws. Clifford. He was the biggest bear down there, his body pure muscle, with a pointed face and paws the size of car tires. The other bears, ranging from shades of brown to blonde, circled him. Two other creamy bears–Natasha and Hayley, most likely–charged from the house and rammed into the larger males. Lori’s heart jumped into her throat. Even though she searched the scene wildly, telling the 911 operator what she saw and where they were, she didn’t see the person with the gun.
The intruders charged the three white bears. Clifford leaped on the biggest one. His fur was stained with blood. And then suddenly an even bigger bear, black as midnight, charged into their midst. He grabbed a blonde by the scruff of the neck and dragged him back before ramming into a brown one.
Within moments, the tides had turned. The intruders ran off towards a van. The black bear reared to his back legs and let out a bone-chilling roar before slapping the ground. Lori shuddered, almost feeling the earth shake.
Lori found her legs. Still clutching the phone with the 911 operator forgotten, she ran down the stairs. When she burst onto the porch, she saw Serena with a shotgun in her hands. So, she was the shooter. Clifford, Hayley, Natasha and the black bear returned to the porch. Clifford shifted, his fur giving way to taut muscles, and hurried her back inside.
“Are you okay?” she asked over and over again. “You’re bleeding! I’ve got 911 on the line, they need to send an ambulance.”
Serena took the phone from her. “Hello? My name is Serena. The crisis has been averted, but we still need some police out here…”
She moved away, still talking on the phone, while Lori hugged Clifford tightly. Her heart pounded so hard she was afraid it might crack her ribs and her eyes burned. Clifford hugged her back, then picked her up and carried her into the living room. The big black bear, who had by this time shifted into a tall, muscular, olive-skinned man, followed.
“Are you okay?” Lori demanded, a hint of fury starting to tinge her voice. He needed to answer her, goddammit!
Clifford kissed her gently. Too gently. And it lasted too brief. “I’m fine. Are you?”
“I wasn’t in the fight.” Lori wrapped her arms around him and breathed out a relieved sigh. Her whole body began to shake and Clifford’s grip tightened on her.
“Want to introduce me so I can go do a parameter check?” the newcomer asked. His voice was rich, deep molasses.
Clifford released
Lori, but she put her hand in his so that their connection wouldn’t break. A bit clingy, perhaps, but she didn’t care. “Everybody, this is my good friend Tristen Cade. I called him to come help out with security until Bauman’s threat can be neutralized.”
“And it seems like a good thing I came when I did. This little one,” he gestured to Serena, “is the only one of you bunch who showed any sense. I’m going to make sure they’re not coming back and then you and I have a lot to discuss, Boone.”
Clifford nodded at him with a grin. Tristen let out a huffy breath and walked away. Lori didn’t care to ask more about him. She wrapped herself in Clifford’s arms again. So what if he was completely naked? So what if Serena and Hayley were still in the room, and Hayley was naked, too. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Clifford’s skin. He was safe. And that was good enough for now.
Chapter Six
Clifford didn’t know if it was the attack or Tristen’s arrival that changed everything. While the mood had been somber before, now it felt as though everything was a threat, waiting for him to let his guard down. His home didn’t seem as safe as it had been. Even though the police were giving them a protective detail, it didn’t seem like enough.
Tristen was stern and focused. In the past whenever they got together he had been relaxed, with plenty of banter between them. Now, he rarely stopped for a break, and when they did talk he always put in an update on the situation. It was enough that Clifford was constantly on edge.
It got so bad that Clifford wasn’t sure he wanted to leave Lori alone, even for one moment. The rest of his family he knew could take care of themselves, but even then he was uneasy with leaving them alone. So, one day when Tristen came to him and suggested that he move them all to another location where they’d be more protected, Clifford didn’t have to think about it.
“I also need to know what your movements are going to be,” Tristen said. “You’re still going to the office and back every day, or almost every day, and the transit puts you in a vulnerable position. Your niece, Serena, also does a lot of traveling.”
The Bear Shifter's Baby Page 3