“Well, there's plenty of great guys coming to the wedding. I know that Clive's brother has been asking about you after he saw you a few days ago. After all, he's the best man and you're the maid of honor. Things can't get more perfect than that!”
Cheryl thought about Clive's brother, Derrick. They hadn't met, despite the wedding being tomorrow. Cheryl had caught a glance of Derrick a couple of days ago when he had shown up to talk to Clive about something, something probably Clan related. Beth had rushed to introduce them, but by the time Beth had dragged Cheryl over to Clive, his brother was gone. Derrick had given her a smile on his way out the door, but other than that, they hadn't met.
Cheryl didn't know what to think about Derrick and the other shifters. They were all drop dead handsome. The women they were dating were all great. Out of the wedding party, Derrick was the only one not tied down. Cheryl thought she wanted him, but was she sure? She had nothing against shifters, but some of the whispers she'd picked up on over the past few days indicated there was some kind of problem with a rival Clan. Did Cheryl want to get involved? Thinking of Derrick and his toned body, she thought she could deal with it.
“He'd better hurry up and get here, then! We're supposed to do the final rehearsal of your wedding and he hasn't shown up to a single one yet. I don't want to be walking down the aisle in front of everyone with some guy who has no idea what he's doing, no matter how good he looks.”
“Clive says he's been busy with Clan business,” Beth said, lowering her voice. “You know how that stuff goes.”
Cheryl found herself nodding, though in truth she really didn't. In a way, she felt left out, again. Beth had filled her in on all sorts of stuff, but Cheryl had to admit to herself that she didn't really understand half of what Beth said. Clan Leaders, Elders, shifting… The words made sense, but Cheryl hadn't experienced any of it herself. Maybe one day… she pondered.
There was a knock at the door. Beth yelled to come in, and the door cracked open. Clive peaked his head into the doorway. “Hey, babe. It's about time that we started the rehearsal. You guys about ready?”
Cheryl looked down at her clothes, realizing that she'd spent all of her time at the church talking to Beth and admiring her dress. “I still have to get changed, but I'll be right out!” she promised. Beth gave her another hug and followed Clive out of the door.
Cheryl sat in the silence for a few moments, thinking about what Beth had told her. She wasn't jealous or spiteful of Beth by any means. But she was ready for things to turn around for herself. She was certainly successful, but she'd always struck out when trying to find a new guy. Maybe tomorrow would change all of that.
Satisfied and more than happy for her friend, she decided it was time to change and get ready to do one more run through of the wedding for tomorrow. She peeled off her clothes, then pulled on her maid of honor dress. Smoothing her hands over it, she felt her bra and panties through the fabric. Spinning in the mirror, she saw that they were extremely noticeable.
Cheryl quickly took the dress back off and then stripped down until she was completely naked. She was getting ready to pull the dress back on when behind her she heard, “Oh, shit, sorry!”
Cheryl screamed, turning around, seeing Derrick standing in the doorway. He had one hand on the door, the other moving up to cover his eyes, but it was too late: he'd seen it all. Cheryl grabbed the dress, covering up her naked body, hoping it was enough.
“Don't you knock?!” Cheryl yelled at him. He opened his mouth to answer, but she was quicker. “Get out!”
She saw that his face was as red as hers felt. He quickly closed the door. Cheryl pulled on her dress in record time, not even bothering to look it over in the mirror. She grabbed the door handle, embarrassed that the man she had her eye on had just seen her completely naked. If, by some miraculous chance, she had a chance with him before, it was gone now.
Flinging the door open, she was surprised to find Derrick leaning against it. He tumbled into the room, taking a few uneven steps but managing to stay on his feet. He opened his mouth again, but Cheryl cut him off. “Wait. Whatever you're about to say, it had better start with sorry.”
“Sorry,” Derrick said, looking abashed. His face was still red but his eyes were blazing a golden hue. “Clive told me everyone was waiting on me to get here. I wanted to hurry up and get changed.”
“Don't you knock?” she repeated.
“Don't you lock the door?” he retorted, on the offensive. Now it was Cheryl's turn to open her mouth without being able to find the words. Instead, she scowled at him, but offered him a weak nod of agreement.
Derrick moved past her into the room. For the first time, Cheryl noticed he was carrying a bag in one of his large hands. He shook its contents out onto the bench. A pair of nice dress slacks fell out, along with a nice shirt and some black shoes. Derrick wasted no time in peeling off his shirt, showing his perfectly toned chest. Cheryl took a deep breath, willing herself to look away, but she couldn't peel her eyes off of his body.
“I really am sorry about that,” he offered, turning towards her as he spoke. Cheryl dropped her eyes to the ground, trying to act like she hadn't been staring at him. “If it helps, I didn't see anything.”
“Uh huh,” Cheryl said, arching an eyebrow.
“Okay. But at least I looked away, which is more than I can say about you,” he said, with a chuckle. Cheryl suddenly realized that Derrick had stripped down to his boxer briefs and was pulling up his pants, and she had been watching the whole time.
“Sorry. I'll meet you out with the others.”
“Wait one second.” Derrick zipped up his pants and started to button his shirt. “I'll walk you out. It's the least I can do for the maid of honor.”
Out in the nave of the church, a procession of women and shifters stood to either side of Clive and Beth. There was just enough room for both Cheryl and Derrick to slide into line.
Once they were standing in line, Beth whispered, “Ooh, what happened?”
Cheryl felt her face growing hot again. She glanced up at Derrick, and blushed even more when she found he was looking at her. He offered her a warm smile and she quickly turned her burning face downward to look at Beth's feet. “I'll tell you later. You're going to love it.”
The priest was ready to get the rehearsal going, so Beth held off on pressing her even further. Behind Cheryl stood the doctor, Zoe, then Emma, with Addy bringing up the rear. Behind Clive stood Derrick, Russ, Jace, and Marcus. She didn't know the other shifters real well, though they all seemed extremely friendly, something she wouldn't have expected from men of their stature. The line of men opposite the women was a stark contrast: each man was huge, heavily muscled, and… something else. Something bestial. Something primal. Something… sexy.
The run through of the next day was quick and relatively painless. Throughout the whole mock ceremony, Cheryl kept catching glances of Derrick looking at her. She couldn't exactly make out the feelings on his face. At times, it was longing. Other times, lust. Looks of puzzlement, deep thought, and happiness flashed across his face for split seconds. Cheryl found herself wondering just what he was thinking about. Could it be her? She wasn't sure, but she found herself wanting it to be.
After the rehearsal was done, the others drifted off in pairs, leaving Cheryl alone with Derrick. Clive had made them promise to join them for dinner afterward. They had ran off to go get changed for dinner, leaving Cheryl and Derrick sitting in silence. Cheryl wanted Derrick to come up to her and sweep her off her feet, something she'd been imagining throughout the rehearsal. Instead, he sat there, pointedly making an effort to look the other direction.
She decided she would have to be the one to speak up. “So what were you thinking about during the rehearsal? I caught you stealing a few glances towards my way.” Direct, and to the point. She'd learned that sometimes, that was the best strategy.
He gave a noticeable jump and didn't answer right away. “Just thinking of...”
“
Of?”
“The future.”
“Well, let's hear it.”
“You sure? It probably won't fit your idea of a stereotypical shifter.”
Intrigued, Cheryl nodded for Derrick to continue.
“Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy for my brother. Clive's been more than just a brother to me. He took care of me when I was younger, back when things weren't good for us. He's done a lot for me. And now, his life is going great. A beautiful fiancé, being promoted to second in command for our Clan, and a new house. His life is going good.”
“And?”
“It's not that I'm jealous. But when does it begin for me? I'm not respected in my Clan. They say I'm too young to be trusted with important jobs. Every time I have a chance to prove myself, Clive steps in and makes me step down. He says it's to keep me safe, but I don't know.”
Sounds a lot like me, Cheryl thought. “I guess we have more in common than I thought. I love Beth like a sister. But that's how her life has been, too. She's always been the lucky one, the one that got into the best school, had the best job, and now she's marrying your brother. Maybe one day, I'll get that lucky.”
“Hey, at least we don't have to do it alone,” Derrick offered, chuckling. Cheryl let out a small laugh, as well. At least they had something in common, after all. “What's taking them so long? Clive!”
There was no answer from deeper in the church, though Derrick's voice would have easily carried through the silent church. Cheryl had lost herself in conversation with Derrick, though when she thought about it, Clive and Beth had been gone for much longer than necessary.
“Maybe… they're… uh...” Cheryl offered, embarrassed to say it out loud.
“Yeah, maybe,” Derrick said, laughing again. “Still, it's not like Clive to not answer.”
“Well, let's check it out,” was Cheryl's idea. “We'll be sure to knock.”
They walked through the church, eerie silence enveloping them. Cheryl couldn't remember the last time she'd been in a completely silent church, and she found that it unnerved her. She looked over at Derrick, but if he was uneasy, he gave no sign of it. They reached the door to the changing room, and Derrick knocked softly.
No answer.
Derrick looked over at Cheryl, but didn't say anything. He waited a few more seconds before knocking again, this time a little louder. When there was no answer this time, he tried the door.
“Locked,” he muttered. He twisted again, the veins in his arms straining at trying to twist the doorknob. When he couldn't get it open, he took a few steps backwards. “You might want to stand back.”
“What are you going to do?” Cheryl asked. “Wait! You can't do that in a church!”
In answer, he lifted his foot, and Cheryl scrambled away. Derrick's foot crushed the door next to the door handle, splintering the door. It flew open, banging against the far way and revealing the carnage inside. Cheryl gasped, going weak at the knees and almost falling to the floor. Derrick was in the door within a split second, shifting.
Cheryl had never seen a shifter change between their human and bear forms before, and for the few seconds that it occurred, she found her mind only focused on the shifter in front of her. He hadn't bothered to take off his clothes, so his growing form split through them with ease. Within seconds, almost before Cheryl could blink, a fully grown bear was standing in the room, sniffing and snorting.
And the room finally caught up with Cheryl.
The main thing that stood out to her was all of the blood. It was splashed everywhere: the floor, the ceiling, over all of the racks of clothes hanging up. She wasn't sure who it belonged to, but she feared the worst. She didn't see any sign of Clive or Beth.
“Where are they?” Cheryl yelled, moving into the room, suddenly uncaring of the carnage she was stepping into. She placed a hand on Derrick's back, feeling his warm, thick fur. He grunted at her, moving through the room, smelling as he went. In seconds, they were out the back door of the room and moving down a hallway. There were blood trails along the floor, as if someone had been dragged.
The hallway lead to an exit door. Around the back of the church, Derrick stopped. Whatever he had been following was gone. The trail had run cold.
Cheryl took a step back from Derrick as he shifted back into his human form. Standing naked in front of her, Cheryl had to focus all of her attention on meeting Derrick's eyes. She could see his toned chest, his abs, and something large between his legs, but now wasn't the time.
“They've been kidnapped,” was all he said.
“Are they alive? There was so much blood.”
“The blood was from other shifters. The kidnappers. Clive wounded them pretty good. There was a lot going on in that room, but I could smell at least four other shifters beside Clive. One of them was Mikhael Ramsey,” Derrick bit off, spitting out a curse. Cheryl thought if there had been a wall in his reach, Derrick would have struck it. She took a few careful steps back. “I knew we should have killed him when we had the chance. He's hurt us so much.”
And then suddenly Derrick didn't look so threatening. He looked hurt. Cheryl moved back to him, uncertainly wrapping an arm around the shifter. She held him close, comforting him. “We're going to get to the bottom of this,” she whispered, trying to sound certain, though she didn't feel it. “Let's get you inside and get you some clothes.”
Ten minutes later, Cheryl was seated next to Derrick in his truck. In the time that it had taken Derrick to find a clean change of clothes and get out to his truck, he'd summed up everything that had happened. Everything was so new to Cheryl, but she thought she understood.
Mikhael Ramsey had been a problem for Derrick's Clan for as long as he could remember. Only recently, however, had the stakes really got dangerous. He'd attacked their Clan headquarters, killing clients and members of the Clan. Somehow after that, he convinced the leader of the Clan to join his cause, and had fled when his plan had fallen apart. Apparently, he despised shifters who worked with humans, believing shifters to be the superior race.
And now it had gotten her best friend and Derrick's brother kidnapped, or worse. Cheryl tried not to think of what could have happened to them. And now, Derrick was calling everyone on their cell phones, but there was no answer. Even the line to the headquarters was dead.
“This is bad, Cheryl,” Derrick said. Jace's house was the closest to the church, so they swung down his road. The sky was darkening, though a warm breeze was still flowing through the air. Cheryl didn't know what she had gotten herself into.
Derrick put the truck into park as they pulled up. Even in the deepening gloom, Cheryl could see that the front door had been busted in. Derrick told Cheryl to wait in the car, but she couldn't bear the thought of sitting alone, waiting to find out what happened, terror surrounding her. When Derrick noticed her behind him, he gave her a reassuring smile.
“I'm glad you decided to join me. I don't want to do this all alone,” he admitted, leading the way.
“Don't ruin another set of clothes,” Cheryl advised, as Derrick poked his head in the door. He gave a few sniffs, then moved inside. Cheryl followed him, keeping close. Inside, it was clear a fight had occurred, but there were no bodies and the damage wasn't as extensive as at the church.
“They got them all,” Derrick said, moving back out of Jace's house. “I'm sure of it. But we've got a few more houses to check. Maybe someone's hurt and needs our help.”
Derrick was nearly running to the car, and to Cheryl's credit, she kept up with his long strides. Before she had even closed the door, they were tearing out of Jace's neighborhood, racing through the darkness. It wasn't a far drive to Russ's house, but they found the same results. Marcus's house was empty, though they found no signs of struggle. However, the front door had been broken open.
Bucking Bearback (BBW Shifter Cowboy Western Romance) (Bear Ranchers Book 5) Page 30