by T. S. Ryder
“He threatened Mindy.”
“Mindy.” Noel rubbed the back of his neck, and a small smile spread across his face. “I can understand that. She’s . . . Well, I didn’t think she was your type, but she’s certainly an interesting one. She’s been beside herself with worry. Told us everything. That Meyer has us over a barrel alright. But you were protecting your mate and child, so—”
“She’s not my mate,” Rex interrupted.
His bear slapped him, making him wince, but it was the truth. After the situation with Cynthia, Rex had learned that a mate was more than someone you were drawn to. It was more than love at first sight. More than sex. It had been a difficult lesson to learn, but he had learned it. He wasn’t going to lose his chance to be in Ginny’s life because he pushed Mindy too hard.
“Mother of your child, then. It doesn’t matter—that’s hardly the issue right now.” Noel took a deep breath, visibly calming as he patted Rex’s shoulder. “I’m just glad that you’re okay.”
Rex’s breathing hitched as a spike of pain ran through his chest. He nodded through gritted teeth, although he mentally contested this idea of what ‘okay’ meant.
“The big issue is what to do with Meyer now. He followed you and Mindy and took a video of you shifting. He’s threatening to expose us to the whole world.” Noel leaned back, stifling a yawn. Dark smudges circled his eyes and Rex winced. Just how long had this been going on? Noel hummed, his gaze unfocused. “The amount of money he’s demanding to keep his mouth shut would completely wipe out the college fund. He’ll ruin us financially if we don’t find a way to deal with him. I very much doubt he’ll be satisfied with a one-time payment.”
Rex growled, almost wishing that he hadn’t agreed to Mindy’s pleas not to kill the loan shark. He started to sit up, but Noel put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him back down.
“Hold it there. You’re in no shape to go anywhere.” Noel frowned. “You need to give yourself time to heal.”
“Forget healing. I’ll take care of Meyer.”
Noel shook his head. “Bobby and Kurtis are attempting to negotiate with him. We could lock him up for what he’s done or kill him, but sooner or later it’ll cause questions, and we don’t know how many people he’s working with. Right now you just need to take care of yourself, okay?”
“But you said that I needed to help you clean up this mess.”
“I was joking.” Noel narrowed his eyes and glared at him. “Besides, I was talking more about Ginny and Mindy. Here you’ve got a daughter that none of us knew about and then you went and told your lady friend about us being bear shifters without getting alpha permission first.”
“You were gone, and she needed to know.”
Noel growled at Rex’s tone, eyes narrowed. “You didn’t need to tell her right away. You know, this is the opposite of getting your personal life in order.”
“She needed to know. I’m not going to apologize for it. I’ve got a daughter, and I have to act in what I feel is her best interest. I saw what lying did with Jarvis and Cynthia. I needed Mindy to know as soon as possible so that I wasn’t constantly lying to her. How would it be for Ginny to have parents who didn’t trust each other?”
Noel frowned for a moment but didn’t argue. “You know that with Mindy and Ginny on the island, it means that you’ll be taken off the volunteer list and—”
“Once Meyer is taken care of, I can finish my rota.” He wasn’t going to give up his opportunity to help the others on the island. “I know the rules, but she got pregnant before I even volunteered. Whatever Mindy and I are, we’ll figure it out.”
Noel attempted to glare at him, but his lips twitched upward into a smile.
Rex released a slow breath. The alphas’ approval was important to him. There was a time when he would have fought the whole island for the honor of being Noel’s second. Now he understood why Noel had never chosen a second. Because his job was to unify the clan, not to cause fights.
“Well, we might be able to work something out.”
“Good. Because I’ve got to follow through with my commitments.”
Noel smiled again. He opened his mouth, but at that moment there came a knock on the door. Rex caught a whiff of Mindy’s pure scent combined with the baby smell of Ginny. He launched himself upright, only to fall back with a groan as the world spun around him and lightning bolts shot through his chest.
“Seriously, stop doing that,” Noel snapped. “Or I’ll have to tie you to this bed. Got it?” Rex nodded weakly. His alpha glared a moment longer, snorted, then stood. He gestured at Rex while he looked at Mindy. “He’s all yours now.”
Mindy sat next to the bed. Her eyes were red, and she sniffled. Ginny squirmed in her arms, gurgling.
“I’m glad that you’re both okay,” Rex breathed, reaching for her. “I’ll make sure it stays that way, I promise. I’ll protect you.”
To his surprise, Mindy looked away. “You shouldn't have to. This is all my fault, it’s because of me that you’re in this situation and I . . . I’m so sorry. It shouldn’t have gotten to this point. I should have taken care of it.”
Rex lay his hand over hers. “Mindy. You don’t have to do everything on your own.”
Mindy’s lip trembled, and she bit down on it. “I know that.”
“Do you, though? This isn’t your fault. It’s Calvin Meyers fault. You are going to be fine. Ginny is going to be fine.”
“If I were a proper mother, she never would be in danger in the first place.”
“You can’t condemn yourself for a mistake you made two years ago. How does something you did before you even got pregnant make you a bad mother?” Rex peered at her for a moment longer, but she avoided his gaze. The need to reassure her rose up in him as he remembered all the times that Angela sat crying while she stared at Tamara, saying that she was a bad mother. He took a deep breath and spoke carefully. “Mindy . . . You’re anxious, you get frustrated with yourself, you’re always feeling guilty about something, and you’re always saying that you’re not good enough to be Ginny’s mom, even though she is a healthy, happy little girl and that’s because you take such good care of her.”
Ginny kicked her legs and giggled, making Mindy smile as she stroked her daughter’s dark hair.
Mindy’s shoulders slumped. “Maybe you’re right.”
“You feel like you need to do everything on your own. But I’m here. And I will be with you every step of the way, okay?” Rex smiled at her, trying to show her his promise as well as comfort her. “It’s okay. I’ll be with you.”
Mindy sucked on her lower lip as she wiped her eyes. “But what if they decide that I’m not good enough? What if they take Ginny away from me?”
Rex didn’t ask her why she thought that. He knew well enough that the brain sometimes decided to tell lies and whip up fears that didn’t always make sense.
He also knew that these weren’t fears that would just vanish from her mind, but there was something he knew for certain. “Nobody is ever going to take Ginny away. I won’t let that happen, Mindy. And if they do, I’ll go to the end of the world to bring her back. I promise.”
***
A few days later, Rex climbed out of the old, beat-up car he had borrowed from Noel. Kurtis’ townhouse was the best-looking building in the street, not to mention one of the few original structures on the island that remained intact.
Rex hated that Calvin Meyer was living in it. The shark didn’t deserve it.
His chest constricted as he walked to the front door, but with two days of rest and Mindy by his side the whole time, he was feeling much better. Not back to his full strength yet, but enough to take care of this. His bear growled as he rang the doorbell.
Meyer answered, shirtless and wearing a pair of sweatpants. His eyes widened when he saw Rex, and he backed up a step.
“Hello.” Rex gave him his best toothy grin. “I can see you weren’t expecting me.”
“How—”
“You’ll
find that bears aren’t as easily killed as humans.”
Meyer’s jaw clenched shut. He rose up, chin drawing parallel with the ground. “If you’re here to kill me—”
“If I were here to kill you, you’d be dead already.” Rex let out a growl. His bear urged him to attack even as he pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and thrust it into Meyer’s hands. “This should be enough to satisfy you. Half of what Mindy owes you. We’ll get the other half to you shortly, so stop breathing down our necks. Oh, and we weren’t running away from you. So you had no reason to shoot me.”
“You think so?”
There was something in his tone that had the hairs on the back of Rex’s neck standing up. Rex growled low in his throat and stepped a little closer, letting his sheer size do the talking for him. Meyer, to his credit, didn’t back down until they were almost face-to-face. Or rather, chest-to-face, as Meyer was significantly shorter than him.
“Leave Mindy alone. You’ll get what she owes you. But if you ever harm her or Ginny . . .” Rex allowed his bear to start emerging, sharpening his teeth into fangs as he glared down at the man before him. “There will be nowhere for you to run. Nowhere for you to hide.”
Meyer’s face paled, but he smirked at Rex anyway. “The same, Bear, goes to you. I will get what I’m owed, alright, from Mindy and from this whole damn island. Otherwise, you’ll be the face for all the freaks who live here. And people will come from all around the world for the pleasure of wiping you out.”
Kill him. The urge rode him hard, but Rex fought his bear back down. Noel had said they shouldn’t kill him. So he wouldn’t. It didn’t stop him from snarling once more, though, before he took his leave. He couldn’t shake the feeling, though, that this was far from over.
Chapter Eleven – Mindy
The overwhelming relief that washed over Mindy when she saw Rex return to the house made her legs go weak. She began to tremble from head to toe as she rushed outside, Ginny in one arm. Rex’s face was pale, and there was a hitch in his breathing. He smiled wanly at her. When she offered to help him inside the house, he silently put an arm around her shoulders. Mindy had to adjust Ginny to put an arm around his waist. They moved slowly together.
“You shouldn't have gone by yourself,” Mindy scolded him. “What if he had shot you again?”
She glanced at the beaten-up car he’d driven. It was the only one he had left. Tears filled her eyes. It had been obvious, even though he’d never told her, that his cars had meant a lot to him. After all, the garage was almost as big as the house itself.
Rex didn’t speak, which worried her more than anything as she helped him to the bedroom. There, he lay down and promptly went to sleep.
Mindy put Ginny in her swing, then checked the bandages on Rex’s chest. There was a spot of blood coming through one of them, and she winced. He should have just let her take the money to Meyer—she should have insisted on taking it herself. Perhaps she should get a gun and just put Meyer in the ground.
The thought of killing another person, though, made her sick regardless of what that person had done.
The ringing of the doorbell made her jump. She snatched up a baseball bat she had found in the garage and went to the door. Ginny fussed in her swing, kicking her feet. She hated being confined, but Mindy didn’t retrieve her yet.
A strange man stood on the doorstep. Tall and muscly like Rex, with chiseled features and a hard look in his eyes. Mindy hesitated before opening the door.
“Hello.” The man spoke with the same trace of an accent that Rex did. “My name is Fredrick Gibson. I was sent by Kurtis Felton to discuss some things with you.”’
Mindy nodded. She let him in, still eyeing him warily. Ginny was nearly screaming by this time, letting everybody know she was getting angry and Mindy hurried to retrieve her. As soon as she was in her mother’s arms, Ginny settled and smiled, babbling contentedly to herself even as tears shone on her face.
Fredrick chuckled, smiling warmly at the baby. “Demanding, isn’t she?”
“Not normally. She’s a very good baby. I think she’s just picking up on the tension.”
“Of course.” Fredrick nodded, then cleared his throat. “So, why I’m here. I’m the head of the island’s college fund. I arrange for volunteers to go out onto the mainland and I work closely with the banks to keep the island afloat financially.”
Mindy’s heart sunk. That was why he was here. Because of Meyer’s blackmailing.
“As you can imagine, the demands that Meyer is putting on us are . . . heavy. I want you to know that I don’t blame you,” he added, his expression neutral but honest. “But I need to know how you ended up in debt to him in the first place and everything else you can tell me about him.”
Mindy rocked Ginny, her stomach twisting itself into knots. This was something she didn’t like talking about. Admitting how messed up her life was in the past . . . It made her feel like she should have done things differently. Even though she knew that it wasn’t entirely her fault how things had played out.
“It was for my mom. After my siblings died, she got into some pretty bad stuff. She remortgaged the house and fell behind on payments. I went to Meyer to save the house since I had a pretty poor credit score. She ended up losing the house anyway. It’s like . . . not that she doesn’t want help, but she’s not ready for it yet. Honestly, I’m not sure she’ll ever be ready for it.” Mindy took a deep breath. It hurt, thinking about her mother. Even though they didn’t have much to do with each other these days, she still had the desire to protect her. Even if her mother didn’t extend the same courtesy to her. “Meyer’s been there ever since.”
Fredrick nodded. “I see. Thank you for telling me. I know it can’t be easy.”
He touched her shoulder, and Mindy shied back instinctively. Fredrick looked surprised for a moment, then took a step back. “Nobody is going to hurt you here, Miss Davidson. Your daughter is a bear, that means you are one of us. There might be a few who give you dirty looks because you’re a human, but you’re safe. We will protect you.”
A lump rose in Mindy’s throat. She tried to tell him that it wasn’t necessary but couldn’t find her voice. Instead, she just nodded. He smiled, his gaze softening even further when he looked at Ginny.
“Would you like to hold her?”
A grin split across his face, and he nodded eagerly. Mindy handed the baby over. Ginny looked tiny in his arms, the same way she did when Rex held her, but there was such gentleness to the big man that Mindy didn’t feel any more nerves. Were all of the bears on the island like this? Huge and intimidating but ultimately gentle?
“She’s a beautiful baby.”
There was a note of wistfulness to Fredrick’s voice that tipped her off. “Do you have any children?”
“Not yet. I hope soon, though.” Fredrick glanced up. “There’s a shortage of women on the island, not all of us are going to have mates. We manage, though. When Ginny is grown, she’s going to have her pick. We’ve got a lot more boys than girls among the children, too.”
Mindy laughed. “So you mean that Rex will have to beat them off with a stick?”
Fredrick looked up, surprised, as his jaw dropped. “Why would he do that?”
A gun fired outside. Mindy snatched Ginny back and held her to her chest, her heart pounding. Every muscle in her body tensed, ready to flee. Fredrick looked startled as he went to the window and looked out. The tension in his shoulders eased. As he turned around again, though, Rex charged into the room. His fists clenched and a fine layer of fuzz covered his body.
“Relax, Rex.” Fredrick crossed the room and grabbed Rex’s arm. “It was a car backfiring.”
Rex growled at him, then swayed on the spot and sank onto the couch. “Who is it?”
“The alphas.”
Ginny kicked her feet, whining. As Mindy adjusted her, the baby started to turn her head. She was hungry. Mindy had met all four of the alphas while Rex was unconscious from the gun shots, and they seemed k
ind, but her heart was still racing, and there was a bitter taste in her mouth. She didn’t feel up for facing any more people right now.
“I’ll be in the bedroom,” she murmured and slipped away.
She went to the bedroom but kept the door open a crack so she could hear what was going on at the other side. Soon, the murmur of voices reached her.
“Glad to see you alive, Rex.” Kurtis’ smooth, casual voice sounded teasing.
“Thanks,” Rex grunted back. “Why are you here?”
“We’re here to talk about Mindy Davidson,” Ricky said disapprovingly. “You should have waited until you had our permission to tell her that we are bears.”
A beat. “I have a daughter with her.”
The cries of disbelief mingled with congratulations made Mindy smile despite the situation. She could just imagine the incredulous expression on their faces.
“Right,” Noel said, sounding sheepish. “I forgot to mention that.”
“You told me,” Fredrick said.
Noel growled. “Get out of here, Gibson!”
Mindy couldn’t help but giggle. The intimidation that she had felt just knowing that the alphas were there started to melt away. Perhaps they were big and scary, but these people were just like everybody else.
Absently, she moved Ginny to her shoulder to burp her. Rex had taken bullets for her. He had agreed to take her in and help her out before he even knew the danger that she was in. He had done so much to help her, all without questioning once if it was good for him, too. He was such a good person, always there to protect or comfort her. A feeling of warmth spread through her chest, even as Ginny burped some milk onto her shoulder.
“Oops!” Mindy caught the edge of her blanket and mopped at the spot. “This is why Mommy should use a burp cloth.”
Ginny smiled at her.
Something eased inside of her. Maybe she wasn’t the most stable person in the world, but she was trying. She was doing something right if her baby was happy and healthy.