MUNDO (BBW Bear Shifter MC Romance) (MC Bear Mates Book 2)

by Becca Fanning

  “Four cans of your ravioli survived, and all of Petey’s food,” he told her, looking at the stack of the dog’s food in the corner. He had never seen the point of moving it into the storage room, since Petey had eaten in his bedroom. He was thankful for that.

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “Okay, what about clothing? Blankets, all of that good stuff?”

  Dean got up out of the chair and went to what they had piled onto the bed. He sorted through it. “Most of your clothes survived, as did a week’s worth of mine. We have a couple of blankets, but only one heavy one, and the rest burned up in the storage room. Your pillows.”

  “Plus your pillow and a sheet.”

  “Plus a pillow and a sheet,” he agreed. Then he went back to the table and started digging through what was there. “We also have half of one of your med kits. A couple of wrenches. That’s about it.”

  He watched as Gina blanched. They had lost so much in the fire, it hurt to think about. He couldn’t believe it. Gina had the forethought to grab so many necessary supplies that could save lives – and had saved hers – and now they were all gone.

  “We’ll get through this,” she said. He knew she was saying it to reassure herself. Then she turned towards him and asked, “Dean, what’s really going on out there? Were they bombs? Nukes? What’s going on? I saw some bad things out there before you saved my life.”

  “I don’t know the whole deal,” Dean admitted. “But the government dropped bombs on some of their major city centers. They feared some kind of attack and moved to preemptively stop it. Only their intelligence was wrong. There was no attack – the attack was caused by their own bombs.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “A lot of the major cities are gone. New York, Boston, L.A. Atlanta is half leveled. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I heard all of this information from the radio before it cut out. What did you see out there?”

  “I’m from a town called Haysberry,” Gina told him. Dean nodded. He’d never been there before, but he knew where it was. “I went back there to rescue Petey. The town was burning up. People were going crazy. Looting the place. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.”

  “That’s one of the things you can always expect,” Dean said simply. His grandfather had taught him a lot. One of the things he’d been sure to teach was that when the world went to hell, people would quickly follow it.

  “What else can we expect?” Gina asked. Her voice was shaking ever so slightly. She was scared.

  “Well, the major city centers – the ones that have survived so far, anyway, will go next. The government is trying to hold them and keep them safe, but it’ll all fail before long. That’s where we need to avoid, no matter what the cost.”

  “And then what?”

  “Well, the government will collapse entirely. The survivors in the cities will disperse into the countryside. That’s when things get really dangerous, especially now. The laws will be meaningless. We’ll be out on the road, alone. It’s going to be bad.”

  Gina sat down in the chair. “Is there any hope for us?”

  Dean considered. His grandfather was a hard man, and a realist. In his estimation, the answer was no. There was no way civilization could rebuild after it collapsed. “Yeah, there is. Bastions of humanity will form again and we’ll begin to rebuild.”

  “Are things really that bad out there? Truthfully?”

  Dean nodded. He had intended to live out the next three to four years in the shelter alone. The surface wouldn’t be safe until then. Now, he had no choice. No, they had no choice.

  “Dean, how do you know all of this?”

  “My grandfather taught me. He was a survivalist to the core. He taught me everything I know.”

  “And was he always right?”

  Dean nodded sadly. “He was.”

  *

  They stashed everything they were going to take into two duffel bags. Dean took the heaviest one and dropped it at the doorway. Gina’s was a little bit lighter, stuffed full of clothes, the thick blanket, and some of their food. It was a lot to carry, but Gina knew it still wasn’t enough.

  They had decided to stay in the bunker for one more night. Everything smelled of smoke and they were running low on water, so there were no showers for them. Gina was bummed, but there was nothing she could do. She had been looking forward to baths and showers, and now, she might not get one for who knows how long.

  On the other side, things with Dean weren’t so bad. What he had said to her still hurt. She knew it wasn’t fair for him to blame her, and she thought he knew that, too. She understood why he did it, though. She had come into his life, turned it upside down, and look where it had gotten him. He was angry. She hoped that, in time, his anger would fade away and he would be able to forgive himself. And by extension, forgive her.

  So, that still stung. At least he had opened up to her ever so slightly; it was a welcome change. He still didn’t talk much, but at least now he talked at all, and had explained a little bit about his grandfather and his upbringing. He’d told her the situation outside the day before, and she was thankful to know a little bit about what was going on. Thankful to know a little bit about what they were getting themselves into.

  They had just a small amount of water left, so Gina had taken Dean into the bathroom and forced him to shave and cut his hair. He hadn’t wanted to at first, but Gina had been persuasive. Plus, it was still singed and looked ridiculous.

  “Look, Dean. It’s going to be tough out there and we’re going to run into other people,” she’d told him. “I can’t have you scaring off anyone that could potentially help us.”

  “But maybe I’ll scare off some people that are looking to harm us,” he had shot back. Gina had shot him a look, and Dean had nodded in agreement. “Maybe you’re right.”

  She was, of course. Dean looking like a wild man would definitely have its perks, but she couldn’t risk him scaring other people away. It wasn’t just going to be them out there. And if anyone did end up posing a threat, hopefully Dean and Petey could fight them off.

  She hoped it would never come to that, but she wasn’t stupid. Ideally she would use her people skills, and skills as a doctor, to help others and keep them safe. Maybe it was a pipe dream, but it was what she had to offer, and maybe it would be enough.

  Now, they stood at the door, ready to step outside and leave the safety of the bunker forever. Gina stood and looked over at Dean: he was truly huge, and with a new haircut and a clean face, he actually looked good. He looked like a normal person. Gina knew his conversation skills were lacking, but she was going to make up for that.

  Petey barked at their feet. It was time for them to go.

  “Well, here it goes,” Gina said. He hesitated. “Dean? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m a little bit…unsure.”

  Gina didn’t blame him. He’d lived his life here for two years. She would be unsure if she were in his position, too. Hell, she was scared anyway. Neither one of them had any idea of what was truly going on outside of the door.

  Gina reached out and turned the handle, flooding the doorway with bright sunlight. Both of them shielded their eyes against the sunlight. And then they stepped out.

  Gina hadn’t seen the sunlight for days, but it wasn’t what she was focused on. Both Petey and Dean were growling, their hackles up, looking at where she had crashed her car. Still shielding her eyes, she turned to look – and saw another person.

  It was a man in his late 40s, gray hair at his temples. He was rummaging through the remains of Gina’s car. She knew he wouldn’t find anything; Dean had cleared it out completely after her wreck. Still, the man was climbing into the car. In a way, Gina felt violated. That was her car, no matter that it had been destroyed and abandoned.

  Gina opened her mouth to say something to the man, but Dean came up behind her, pressing a hand over her mouth. She closed it. Even Petey was silent, though he was ready to a
ttack at any second. Dean started to back into the bunker, pulling Gina along silently. Petey ran back inside too.

  They were just reaching the door when Gina felt a tree branch under her foot as she brought it down – crunch!

  Her breath caught in her throat and Dean froze. The man in the car immediately spun around, gun held out in front of him. His eyes went wide when he saw them, but to her surprise he quickly holstered it, and smiled.

  “Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t think I would be seeing anyone else out here!”

  “Hello,” Gina stammered. Up against Dean’s body, she could feel a growl reverberating in his throat, but he didn’t unleash it – yet.

  “Where are my manners?” the man asked, coming close and extending his hand.

  Reflexively, Gina took another step back, bumping into Dean, who had held his ground. The man’s face was one of confusion for a brief second, then the smile came back. He dropped his hand and stepped away.

  “I understand how it is. Things aren’t good, I don’t blame you. The name’s Jayce.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jayce. I’m Gina,” she told him. She was uneasy, caught off guard, and Dean was even more so.

  “What’s your name, big fella?” Jayce asked. Gina couldn’t help but eye the gun at the man’s waist. He had put it away, but it was still there, within his reach. It made her uneasy, but she tried to give him her best smile regardless.

  Dean just grunted.

  “This is Dean,” she told Jayce. “He’s not much of a talker.”

  “Huh, I can tell,” the man said. “What are you guys doing down here?”

  As he asked that, his gaze moved past the two for the first time, seeing the open doorway. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What’s that?”

  “Nothing,” Dean growled. A louder rumble was forming in his throat.

  “Nothing, huh? Sure doesn’t look like nothing,” the man stated. He was moving closer to them, in a half circle to get a better look at the door. As he moved around, Dean pulled Gina behind him and spun to stay between Jayce and the door.

  Please leave, she thought to herself. Please don’t make things bad here. Just go.

  “Looks like some sort of bunker,” Jayce said. “Some survival bunker. My kids are real hungry. Got any food in there?”

  “No,” Dean said at the same time Gina said, “Yes.”

  Dean stiffened at her answer, but he didn’t turn towards her. If this man had kids… they had to help him. They just had to.

  The man raised an eyebrow. “Look, mister. My wife and my kids are just up on the road. We saw that a car went off the road down here and I was just looking for some food. We haven’t eaten in days. Could we come in, rest, and get some food? It would be much appreciated.”

  “No,” Dean repeated.

  The man turned towards Gina. She turned towards Dean.

  “Dean, please,” she whispered. “We can help him out, right? We’ll be able to get more food out here. You know how to hunt. They’re worse off than us. And they have kids.”

  “No, they don’t,” Dean said. His eyes were blazing again, and Gina knew that his anger was growing. “This man is a liar.”

  “How do you know?” Gina asked. “Just give him some food and we can all go our separate ways.”

  “I can smell it on him. He’s lying. He’s dangerous.”

  “So what’s the verdict?” Jayce asked.

  Gina turned around with a sigh. “I’m sorry, Jayce. We don’t have much left over. All of our food was burned in a fire.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  “It is. You’re more than welcome to go into the bunker, though.”

  “No, he’s not,” Dean cut in.

  “Dean, it’s useless to us.”

  “It was my grandfather’s.”

  “Just give me your food,” the man commanded. Gina looked up at him, only to see that at some point he had drawn his gun. Her blood ran cold.

  “Jayce, what’s going on?”

  “Maybe you should have listened to your man here.”

  Gina opened her mouth to tell him that Dean definitely wasn’t her man, but she closed it.

  “Get out of here,” Dean ordered.

  “I don’t think you’re in any position to make threats, buddy. I’m only going to ask one more time. Then I’m going to shoot you, right in the face, and my buddies are going to come down this hill, and we’re going to do whatever we want. We’ll take your food, take your home, and take your girl. Even that little dog down there.”

  “If you want to live, you’ll walk away right now,” Dean said.

  The man sighed, dropped his gun to his side, and then brought it back up. There was a deafening noise as the gun went off, only feet from Gina, and she screamed. She wasn’t sure where Dean was hit, but blood sprayed her and the rock wall behind them. Petey was barking, and Dean was roaring – in anger or pain, or both, Gina couldn’t be sure.

  Gina dropped to the ground and crawled towards the door with Petey guarding her. Dean stumbled a step forward, then dropped to his knees. She saw a bloody exit wound in his left shoulder; she wasn’t sure where the entry wound had been.

  Then Dean climbed back to his feet, if a little unsteadily.

  “Holy shit, you just won’t go down, will you?” Jayce asked, and fired again. This bullet caught Dean in the stomach. He started moving forward, then dropped to all fours. “Looks like that’s all you can take, friend.”

  Dean roared, louder and more bestial than she’d ever heard, and she watched as he started to shift. Jayce froze up, unsure of what to do. Either he had never dealt with a Shifter before and had no idea what was going on, or he did know what was going on and realized how much trouble he was in. Whichever it was, he seemed to be unable to act or move from his spot..

  Gina couldn’t take her eyes off of Dean. She watched as his limbs lengthened, growing thick fur that sprouted through his clothes, ripping them to shreds as his body expanded. The process took only seconds. Gina was in awe: she had never even seen a bear this up close before, let alone a Shifter shifting.

  And then he attacked.

  Jayce finally sprang into action as the bear sprang forward. He fired, but his first shot went wide, hitting the stone wall next to Gina’s face. Dean raked a claw out, swiping at the man, who dodged out of the way with blind luck and sprinted towards the car. Dean was right behind him, roaring.

  Jayce managed to get halfway into the car before Dean caught up to him. Dean’s jaws clamped around Jayce’s ankle, yanking him hard out of the car. His hand caught the steering wheel and he gripped it for dear life, but his strength was no match for a bear’s.

  Dean yanked Jayce out of the car, flinging him to the dirt. He looked over at Gina and she thought she saw sadness in his golden eyes, if that was even possible. Then he grabbed the man, took him behind the car out of Gina’s view. There was a loud scream from Jayce, one last gunshot, and a crunching noise that marked the end of the screaming.

  Then Dean was stumbling around the car, stark naked, covered in blood. Gina didn’t know whether the blood belonged to him or to Jayce, but she could tell enough to know that he was injured. She knew he had been shot at least twice – maybe three times – and he was losing a lot of blood.

  She noticed his naked body for only the briefest of seconds before her doctor instincts kicked in. She began rooting through one of the bags, looking for the half of a medical kit they had left, ready to patch Dean up.