by T. S. Ryder
Ana lay where she was, too horrified to move. The bear tossed aside its kill and turned. It was as big as an elephant, with long legs and a bulldozer body. Grey-brown fur, with some tan markings around its mouth and eyes, rippled as it walked towards her. She lay there, frozen, eyes as wide as saucers. Her body seemed to have shut down, the earlier urge to flee having disappeared as every muscle in her body tensed to the point where none of them would listen to her.
The bear stopped right above her. It shimmered for a moment, disappearing for the blink of an eye. Ana's breath caught in her throat as Joseph Baker knelt beside her. Utterly naked, his skin gleaming with a layer of sweat. His massive chest heaved as he reached for her.
Ana flinched back instinctively. The detective froze, a hurt look flashing over his face. That look disappeared quickly and was replaced by a frown and clenched jaw.
"And here I thought you were shifter-friendly."
It took a moment for Ana to really understand what he was saying. Her eyes flashed and she pushed herself to her knees, ignoring the pain pounding in her thigh. How dare he?
"I am! But you can hardly expect me not to be afraid when this is the second time in two days somebody has tried to kill me! Plus I saw the way you mauled that man. You still have blood on your face." Ana's stomach churned. "I don't do well with blood."
Baker blinked. He wiped a hand over his face, smearing the blood further, then focused on her leg. He muttered a curse and grabbed her by the hips. Ana's heart jumped, thinking for the briefest of seconds her dream was going to come true. She yelped as the detective ripped off her pants.
"What do you think you're—"
"You cut your leg. Doesn't look like there's anything in the wound. But I have to bandage it."
He tore the cloth as easily as tissue paper. Ana's protest died as she watched his impressive muscles work. It was the adrenaline, she was going into shock… that was why she suddenly had the urge to launch herself at him, blood and all. It had to be. The detective bunched half of her pants on her thigh, making her hiss with pain and tied it into place with the other half. It was a good thing she had decided to wear cotton to bed…
"I am going to shift again," he said. "You climb onto my back and hold tight. We can move faster this way."
Ana stared at him. Her head felt a little spinny–she opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn't sure she was going to be able to hold on. But then she slumped to the ground, blackness overtaking her.
***
The agony in her leg woke her. She gasped, jerking, her hands going to her thigh. Big hands grabbed hers, stopping her from tearing off her bandages, and she was pulled into a strong embrace. A peculiar scent hit her nose and she instantly relaxed against the giant that held her. Blinking, she glanced up to see Joseph Baker looking down at her, their faces inches apart.
If it wasn't for the pain in her leg telling her that this wasn't a dream, she would have kissed him.
Come on, girl! Get your head in the game.
"Here." He pressed some pills into her hand. "Tylenol. Your leg is going to hurt, but it's not a deep cut. I had to sew it, though… I'm sorry, I couldn’t risk taking you to a hospital. There could be more of those assassins out there."
Ana managed to get herself sitting up straight and accepted the painkillers, which she dry swallowed easily. Was the massive bear that she remembered just her imagination? Everything from before she blacked out felt scrambled, and she wasn't entirely certain what she was supposed to be thinking right now.
"You're a shifter."
Joseph nodded.
At least he had cleaned off the blood. Ana pressed her hands together. "A Bear shifter."
"Yes."
"Do your superiors know?"
Joseph stared at her. "The only person on the force that knew is Buck. He is my partner… Was my partner."
He turned away from her, shoulders hunching. Ana didn't have to ask what had happened. She knew that Detective Harmon had been watching the house with him. So Harmon either betrayed him or died. Whatever it was, Joseph clearly didn't want to talk about it. She put her hand on his arm, trying to comfort him.
"I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about," he replied gruffly. "Just try to rest. The sooner I can drop you off somewhere safe, the sooner I can go after the men who killed him."
Drop her off somewhere? Ana narrowed her eyes. Not likely.
Chapter Four
He could tell by the expression on Ana's face that she had no intention of letting him leave her behind. Given what they had gone through, it surprised him–but he was also pleased with her tenacity. She was a brave woman, there was no doubt about that, and even though he hadn't known her for long, he could tell that she was strong-willed and wouldn't give up what she wanted easily.
"Just rest," he said, getting to his feet. He had managed to procure a pair of pants since his shredded when he shifted, but they were a little small and uncomfortable. Better than being naked, though. "I'm going to check the perimeter."
He saw Ana glancing around, taking in their surroundings for the first time. Her eyes widened when she saw the cave they were in. It was one of Joseph's favorite haunts, for when city life became too constricting and he needed to be with his Bear.
We shouldn't leave her, his Bear snarled.
I'm just stepping outside.
We shouldn't leave her.
Joseph ignored his Bear, quickly leaving the cave. He needed some space from her to let himself feel what he ought to be feeling at the moment–fury. His worry for her was over, now that she was awake. All that was left in his body was hatred, a desire to kill all of those beasts that put his–not his–Ana in danger.
His Bear snorted. Our mate.
I don't want a mate.
There was anger at himself, too, though. Yes, Ana was important to him, but his first duty as a detective had been towards the senator. Seth Fischer was going to change the country and Joseph had abandoned him–as well as whatever future the shifters had–for Ana. There was no reason to. He barely knew her. And yet he had shirked his duty.
Because she is our mate.
He felt the instincts rising to go back to her, to mate her. Just being near her, smelling her, seeing her lush curves and determined gaze, had him hardening to a point where it was almost impossible to resist. He knew she would gladly take him. He could tell by the way she looked at him, the scent of arousal that hit his nose when her eyes met his. He'd never experienced anything that powerful before, although apparently, it wasn't usual. Shifters were well-tuned to the scents of their mates, so much that often a male would know when his mate was pregnant before she knew.
She is not my mate.
Then go in there and make her our mate. His Bear growled with frustration, beating its paws against his chest. We belong with her, can't you tell that?
Joseph ground his teeth. She is not our mate. I don't want a mate. Besides, she is in police custody, until this case is over it's forbidden to sleep with her.
His Bear made an angry, sarcastic noise.
Besides, it's different for non-shifters. They need time to decide who they want to be with for their whole lives. And even if they didn't, this is the second time in two days she nearly died. She isn't thinking clearly. And neither am I. Buck is dead. Or have you forgotten?
His heart clenched. Joseph didn't make friends easily, especially outside of the shifter clans. Buck had given him unconditional friendship. To even consider sleeping with Ana only hours after Buck died would be as good as spitting on his grave.
Thankfully, his Bear didn't argue anymore. Joseph scanned the trees, alert for danger. He hadn't been outside very long when he heard Ana staggering out to join him. He resisted the urge to turn and scoop her into his arms and take her back inside. He did, however, put a frown on his face and crossed his arms.
"You're going to injure your leg even worse if you don't go back inside."
"We don't have time to sit around
. I've wasted enough time already." Ana shook her head, leaning against the cave wall for support. "We need to get back to the city so we can find Seth. Clearly, the assassin wasn't working alone and if we get to the office, I can give you the documents I collected on anti-shifter groups that have been threatening us."
The senator. Joseph sighed. There was really only one reason he could think of why the intruders would take him alive, and it wasn't pretty. In the old days, shifters were often tortured into shifting and then killed; they were then skinned and their hides hung up as warning to others. While there wasn't any one particular group that was saying they should recreate that sort of thing, the fact was that Fischer had been taken to send a message of shifters. The only way it would end was with the senator dead and his corpse made a spectacle of.
"Well?" Ana flinched every time she took a step, but she started to hobble into the forest. "Are you coming or not?"
Mate her. His Bear's voice was louder than ever before and Joseph felt it clawing at him, trying to emerge.
He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The Beast never learned, it seemed. But he did go to her and pick her up. She felt so right in his arms. She yelped, her eyes widening. Then narrowing when he turned back into cave.
"Hey! We can't just leave Seth in the hands of those killers!"
"Miss Medina, I hate to tell you this, but he's probably already dead."
Ana stilled. She turned her face away, shaking her head hard. "No. I heard them, they wanted him alive. Why would they want him alive just to kill him later?"
"To make a spectacle of it."
His heart clenched as a silver tear ran down her cheek. Her big beautiful lips–her devil-red lipstick had been wiped away, but they were just as pretty without it–trembled. She shook her head again. He hated seeing her so sad but didn't know what to do.
His Bear, thankfully, kept its suggestions to itself.
Joseph settled her back down on the cave floor, in the nest of blankets he had made for her earlier. His hand moved to smooth her silky honey-dyed hair from her face before he stopped himself and instead clenched his hand at his side. What was wrong with him? He needed to remain calm and professional, not go all gooey.
"We have a bigger problem, Ana." There was no harm in calling her by her first name, especially when he was trying to keep her calm. And that was all he was doing.
Yeah… sure it is.
Joseph ground his teeth. It would be a miracle if he had any teeth left at the end of this.
Ana narrowed her eyes at him, folding her arms across her chest. The shifter fought not to notice how it plumped her breasts, turning the hint of cleavage at her neckline to an all-out feast for the eyes. He wondered what her skin would taste like…
Quickly he got to his feet and stalked away, furious at himself. Why couldn't he control his instincts?
"What is it?" Ana snapped, clearly taking offense to his reaction.
"The safe house was attacked, which means that somebody tipped them off to your location. There was a cop inside who turned against us." And killed Buck. Joseph swallowed hard. "But I knew him. He was not the kind of guy who had the guts to turn against his fellow cops without backup from within. That means there has to be at least one person, probably a superior, who is also part of the anti-shifter group. I have no idea who that might be. But if he's in a high enough position, he can easily blame you and me for that attack."
Ana's jaw dropped. "What? How? We had nothing—"
"We fled the scene. And some of the gunmen saw me shift. They'd love to blame this on another shifter. We can't go back, not until I find out more. We can't risk getting arrested."
He expected Ana to be angry or afraid, but after a moment where a dozen emotions flitted over her face, she straightened. Her hand lightly tracing the bandage on her thigh, she nodded. She looked utterly calm, her gaze steady. This was a woman who could stay cool under pressure and Joseph once again had to resist the urge to kiss her.
"So what do we do now? We can't just hang out here, as lovely as it is here. If Seth is dead, I can't let his legacy die with him. Shifters deserve the full protection of the law and the right to be able to be treated with the respect that everyone else—" she cut herself off, chewing on her lower lip. "I'm preaching to the choir, aren't I?"
Joseph returned to her side. "It's refreshing to meet somebody this passionate about shifter rights," he admitted. "Someone who is willing to make the effort and do the work. Even my own parents prefer not to talk about it. They have a 'if we don't bother them, they won't bother us' philosophy. It didn't stop my mother from having her medical license revoked when one of her patients found out she could shift into a vampire bat. They accused her of drinking their blood, which is ridiculous. My mother is a strict vegan."
Ana's eyes widened. "What about your father?"
"Bear, like me." He shook his head. Talking about his parents right now wasn't the best thing to do. It made him miss home, when he needed to focus on the situation at hand. How will I tell them Buck is dead? "I need to get you to a safe place where you can keep a low profile while I continue to investigate. There are safe houses, but they're the first places a dirty cop would look."
"I know of a place."
Ana began chewing her lip again. It made Joseph want to lay her down and kiss every part of her body. He focused on her eyes instead. She looked hesitant like she wasn't sure it was the best idea.
"Well?" he prompted.
"Well… you're going to have to pretend to be my boyfriend."
Chapter Five
The minute the door opened, Ana was dragged into a hurricane of hugs and kisses. Her mother pinched her cheeks, declared her too thin and demanded to know how long it had been since she ate. Ana smiled, letting her mother fawn over her while answering the questions the best she could.
Her mother was an excitable woman, who pretty much lived in her own dream world where nothing could go wrong, but when Ana embraced her father, she could tell by the tension in his shoulders that he had seen the news. She sighed. He was going to want to talk about it, but she wasn't sure what to say.
"Where's Sophie?" Ana glanced around, looking for her sister. "I thought she had moved back home until work picked up."
"Pfft!" Her mother threw her hands into the air. "That sister of yours. She's decided to move to Hollywood!"
"She got a part on a TV show there," her father added.
"When she comes back pregnant and homeless, you'll see I was right." Mrs. Medina glared at her husband for a moment before turning to Joseph, who was standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. Ana's mother looked him up and down for a long moment, a frown on her face. "Well, I can certainly see why my Ana finds you sexy."
Ana felt blood rush to her face and she ducked her head. "Mama!"
"When was the last time you ate? A big man like you needs proper food." Ana's mother shook her head and tutted. "You should have told me he was a giant, Ana. I'll have to cook twice as much food!"
But the little woman still threw her arms around Joseph and kissed his cheek. The detective's eyes widened. They bugged out a little more when Ana's father also embraced him. Ana couldn't help but think it was adorable, the way such a big strong man would look so awkward from getting hugs. But her family was very hands-on and not everybody was used to that.
Ana intended to have a private word with her father about the shooting, to reassure him that she was fine, but her mother never left her alone long enough. Fortunately, she also insisted that Ana spend most of the time off her feet (because she looked like she was about to fall over due to hunger, apparently) and so her injured leg didn't give her any problems. The cut was stiff and painful, but she had adjusted to it quickly. Better than a gunshot.
After a long day, Ana and Joseph were hustled off to bed while her mother continued puttering around the house. Given the events of the past few days, Ana was grateful. She was exhausted and wasn't sure how much more of her mother's energy she c
ould take.
"Why are we sharing a room?" Joseph asked stiffly when they were alone.
Ana's heart sunk a little, though she tried to remind herself that she wasn't interested in Joseph and so had no reason to be upset because he didn't want to go to bed with her.
"My family isn't prudish," she told him. "And we're supposed to be a couple, remember? It's a big bed, we'll be fine as long as you stay on your side."
He shoved his hands into his pockets and scowled.
"So what do we do now? Not even my father would be able to hide it from Mama if Seth was found dead, so there is a chance he's still alive."
"There may be," Joseph admitted. "But we are doing nothing. You are staying here where you will be safe and I am going to find out who in the precinct wants the senator dead. A conspiracy isn't the place for a PA, no matter how smart she is."
Ana's eyes narrowed. He was trying to get rid of her again? Well, that wasn't going to happen. At least he wasn't pretending she was too stupid for the job. "We can start with the threat groups, see if there are any connections to the police in your precinct."
"There is no we," he snarled.
She ignored his attitude and walked to the computer on the far side of the room. She didn't get home very often, but when she did, she always used the desktop PC. The keyboard fit her fingers better. She booted up the computer, glad that she had had the sense to keep it updated to the newest models on the market.
"What are you doing?" Joseph asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. He pulled off his shoes, tossing them aside.
"Pick those up," she ordered. "Mama will trip over them tomorrow."
"Why would she be coming into the room before we're dressed again?"
"Because she has boundary issues."
Joseph groaned.
Ana stared at the loading screen, trying not to notice how her pulse was beating or how dry her mouth was. Or the fact that she could hear the whisper of fabric against skin as Joseph took off his shirt. Maybe sharing a bed wasn't such a good idea after all… Clearing her throat, she pulled up the internet as soon as she could and began typing furiously.