MAJOR (MC Bear Mates Book 5)

by Becca Fanning

  He barely stopped himself from growling at the way she had to pull away.

  Jesus, talk about possessive.

  Wanting to roll his eyes at himself, instead, he focused on the conversation happening beside him.

  “Nah, I’m crap at most things to be honest.” She shrugged, and the self-deprecating gesture hurt him.

  “Hey, less of that,” he chided.

  She smiled at him in a way that told him he’d warmed her heart, and when she raised a hand to pat his cheek, the tenderness of the move floored him.

  “No, it’s okay, Major. It’s the truth. I didn’t get much schooling as a kid, you know?”

  He frowned. “You didn’t? I thought that shit was compulsory with humans?”

  “It is, but I didn’t have all that regular a home life.” He could tell she wanted to change the subject because she focused on Annette once more. “I’m a bit too domesticated for my own good.”

  Annette’s brows rose. “Well, that isn’t a problem. God knows, there’s always plenty of work to go around the clubhouse.”

  “I know. I’ll pick up with my old chores, if that’s okay. I know everyone has to pull their own weight, even mates.”

  The way she said ‘mates’ made him grin. She was proud as punch to be his, and Jesus, didn’t that just make his heart swell?

  The past forty-eight hours had been nuts. Absolutely whacko. And yet, he’d never been so fucking confused and happy at the same time.

  Hell, had he ever been this happy? The confusion was another thing entirely, but the base contentedness wasn’t.

  It was spreading through him like some kind of cancer, except this type of cancer was the one everyone wanted to have.

  “We’re running short of people to help out,” Annette said, “so it’s great that you don’t mind picking up the slack. I just wanted to give you an option that’s all.”

  Pip tilted her head to the side. “What do the other mates do?”

  “Oh, you won’t have met them yet, will you?”

  “No. I only woke up an hour ago,” she told Annette, not an ounce of shame to her tone.

  Not that she should have been ashamed, but still, it did him good to hear she wasn’t discomfited by her new change in circumstances.

  “Christie is Mundo’s mate. She was a dentist, but she got caught up with a gang who wanted to use her to traffic messages from the outside world to the prisoners in the jails where she worked. When she got pregnant and started puking every time she so much as smelled an onion, we all realized she needed babying. It’s been driving her nuts, and she’s been helping me out some with the admin, but not much. She needs to rest, and now after what’s just happened, she’ll need even more rest.”

  “Christ, that should be a bundle of laughs,” Major remarked. “She was going out of her mind before.”

  Annette shrugged. “That’s what Mundo’s for. He needs to entertain her.”

  “The only way he knows how is to fuck her to death. That’s the last thing Christie needs.”

  Pip whacked him on the arm. “Mundo’s a great guy, Major. Don’t you be hard on him. He’ll be whatever Christie needs him to be.”

  He narrowed his eyes, curious at her defense of the other male. “I didn’t know you were close to him.”

  It was a statement, rather than a question. And goddamn him, it was one that had his jealousies rearing their ugly head again.

  “I spent a lot of time with him while he worked on the bikes. I always liked tinkering with engines.”

  She said it like he should have known already, and that she was one hundred percent correct just pissed him off a little bit more.

  “I didn’t know that,” he admitted, ashamed enough to state it out loud.

  Her lips twitched. “It’s okay. I know I fell under your radar. I just wasn’t sure how badly.” She jerked a shoulder. The movement wasn’t smooth, and it told him she was upset. “Mundo always let me help him, and I learned whatever I could. He’s a great guy,” she reaffirmed.

  Maybe Annette sensed an argument in the making because she cleared her throat and said, “Kiko’s mate, Mischa, is a bit like you. Well, aside from the mechanic stuff. She’s very domesticated. She’s in the kitchen more than anywhere else. Then there’s Toni, Graver and Justiss’s mate. She’s a doctor, so she won’t be doing much around here. Her shifts are pretty intense. Plus, she can back Major up with the healing chores around this place.”

  He grimaced. “She knows far more than I do.”

  Annette shook her head. “We both know that’s a lie. The humans that study Shifter medicine know barely anything about the real ways to care for a Shifter. They’re taught the bare minimum to fulfill the letter of the law, nothing more, nothing less. Your experience is vital. I’d like to think you two working together will have a positive effect on the MC’s wellbeing.”

  He rolled his eyes at her tone. “I swear to God, you were wasted as a journalist.”

  She snorted. “What does that mean?”

  “You’re either General material or a corporate shark MD in the making.”

  “It’s nice to know you’re afraid of me.” She grinned.

  He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m shaking in my boots.”

  A giggle escaped Pip. “I think I can feel the tremors, Annette. He really is.”

  The Prez’s mate shot her a wink. It was a ‘we girls gotta stick together’ kind of wink and one that truly did have him shaking in his boots.

  Before he could say anything, Annette continued, “As you’ve probably noticed, Pip, there aren’t as many club whores around the place as there used to be.”

  He grunted at that. “There aren’t any. There’s a big difference.”

  “Any at all is too many,” she retorted, pursing her lips primly. “I don’t like the idea of it. It smacks of indentured servitude.”

  Pip bit her lip. “It didn’t really feel like that.”

  Annette shook her head. “Just because it didn’t feel like that, Pip, doesn’t mean it isn’t so. Did you feel like you had any alternative?”

  “I guess not,” she said hesitantly. “But you have to understand. I had nowhere else to go, and the MC took me in. They gave me somewhere to sleep, food to eat, and put money in my purse. They paid for my healthcare, and I know if I’d wanted to go for classes or something, the MC would have helped out.”

  “Jefferson wouldn’t have paid for something like that,” Major inserted, a scoff to his tone.

  “No, but Mars was the money man. He’d have figured out a way to help me if that’s what I’d have wanted.”

  A large smile beamed from Annette at the mention of her mate and how damned decent he was. She sat up a little straighter and said, “I know the guys are getting antsy about not having any other women onsite, and God knows, we need more people around to help maintain this place… I just don’t like it.”

  “You don’t have to like it,” Pip said, her tone pragmatic. “It’s just how it’s always been and how it will always be. You can’t always fight the tide, Annette. You’re the only one who’ll tire.”

  The wisdom to her words floored Major. He stared at her a second and realized, stupidly, that his mate had a brain.

  She’d been self-deprecating earlier, talking about herself in a way that was anything but complimentary, and he hadn’t liked that. Hadn’t liked hearing her put herself down.

  Now, when he heard her talk like this, he realized how many facets there were to this creature.

  A woman who didn’t mind being domesticated… an American woman, born in this century, who didn’t mind that was like finding gold in the Hoover dam. A woman who loved tinkering with engines and who could hold her own in a conversation with a woman like Annette, who was a pain in the ass she was so smart. Part vixen, part innocent. A tease and yet willing to please.

  He loved the way she didn’t follow a pattern, how she wended her own way.

  She fit him, he realized. She fit him damn well.

&n
bsp; The emotions swirling through him were new and only tiny seedlings in size. They’d grow, he knew. Take root, become stronger and bigger, until they overtook him.

  Rather than being terrified by the prospect, he was thrilled at the idea.

  He reached up to cup the back of her neck, intent on bringing her head down so he could kiss her, when two things happened.

  He heard the smashing of glass, then came a roaring swoosh that spoke of one thing and one thing only.

  Fire.

  Chapter 7

  A scream tore through Pip’s throat as the fire took root in the clubhouse’s common room. Considering everything was made predominantly of wood, it seemed to eat everything up in sight.

  Major grabbed hold of her tightly, stood with her in his arms, and didn’t stop running until she was outside in the front yard. He was barely out of breath as he took a quick glance around the area then swore, “Fuck!”

  “What’s wrong?” she cried.

  “The bikes run on gas, Pip!” As he screamed the words, he carried on running, not stopping until they were in the back yard this time. It was sparse and bare, but there were no bikes around this part. Neither was there an exit.

  “Stay here,” he commanded as he put her down on shaky feet. “We’ll get the fire out. Don’t go around the front, not even if you hear an explosion. Whoever started this might be around there too. Stay here,” he repeated through gritted teeth. Then, before she could say a word, he pressed a hard kiss to her lips and took off at a speed that had her blinking.

  Jesus, she knew he was a Shifter, but she’d never realized they could move so damned quickly.

  She wasn’t alone for long. The other mated females soon appeared with their males, all with the same command to stay put and a kiss of parting to ease the demand.

  The four women stared at each other then looked back at the clubhouse. From their vantage point, they could see the patio doors that led from the common room onto the back yard.

  There was still that frightening orange glow, and when the windows burst, they all screamed and staggered back as the power burst through the yard.

  Pip fell on her butt but quickly scrambled back onto her feet and made to run toward the clubhouse. Annette grabbed hold of her and snarled, “We stay put. We do what our mates said. They can handle this.”

  “They’re Shifters, not fucking Gods,” she cried. “They can get hurt too.”

  “I can help them if they get hurt,” a woman she didn’t recognize said. But considering her words, Pip figured she had to be Toni, the doctor. “That’s what I’m here for. We can patch them up, but it’s easier to cure them when they have accelerated healing. Not so much with you, even though you are newly mated and stronger for it.”

  Pip blanched at Toni’s common sense. “I-I… can’t lose him,” she whispered. “I only just found him.”

  Annette squeezed the arm she’d gripped before then curled her into a tight embrace. “They’ll be fine. We’re not losing anybody. But it’s a fire, and they take time to put out. Everything will be okay.”

  There was a vehemence to Annette’s words that told Pip the statement wasn’t just for her benefit.

  Despite the warmth of the night, all of them were shivering. It was shock, Pip knew, but more than that, it was terror.

  Would she know if Major got hurt? Would she know if he passed over?

  Would she feel it? Would this newborn connection that was starting to flourish between them wither away and die?

  Tears filled her eyes at the thought, and she started to run through the Lord’s Prayer, rambling it over and over in her head, getting the words mumbled and jumbled, but not caring. Just hoping to God it would save her mate, that it would bring him back to her.

  She wasn’t a religious woman, though she’d been raised to be. She knew the rules and the mores. She’d stopped believing in it a long time ago, but if it meant Major would come back to her safe and sound, she’d run through every single Bible verse she knew to have him in her arms again.

  The four of them huddled together on the small rise where their mates had dumped them. Their eyes were trained on the clubhouse building, their attention fixed on the common room patio doors. Glass sparkled in the firelight, and there was a weird haze that glowed in the dark, one that seemed to surround more than just the common room’s walls.

  How long they stood there, terrified, she didn’t know. But the shaking didn’t stop, not even when the fire died out finally and there was nothing but smoke billowing out of the openings and pouring out into the yard.

  Men finally started staggering out to join them, dozens of them. As the security spotlights blared on, they saw their clothes were charred and their faces covered with soot. The four of them watched as the men turned to stare at their home, which was safe once more but had still been corrupted with the violence of the inferno.

  They didn’t really start to believe everything was okay until four men parted from the crowd and began to run towards them.

  As one, Pip and the other women rushed forward, not stopping until they were safely in their men’s arms. When Major grabbed hold of her thighs and caught her against him so she cupped his hips with her legs, she folded her arms around him so tightly she knew he’d be finding it hard to breathe, but she didn’t have it in her to care all that much. At least not for those few moments when relief plowed through her, and she could accept, finally, that he was safe and free from harm.

  At least, that was what she thought.

  Though she was thinking of nothing more than holding onto him for dear life, he strode forward, taking her back to the clubhouse. They went through a side door that passed close to the kitchen and then ran through the dark halls until they made it to his bedroom.

  Suddenly, lights blared on, overtaking the shadows that had fallen.

  “Someone got the generator kicked in,” he mumbled as he took a seat on the foot of the bed, Pip still curled up about him. “It’s okay, baby, you can let go. I’m not going anywhere,” he crooned in a soft voice that made her tremble all the harder.

  His fingers gently caressed the small sliver of cheek that was exposed to the air and not rammed against his throat. She shivered at the contact and whispered, “I thought I was going to lose you when I’ve only just found you.”

  “You don’t think those exact same thoughts were going through my head?” he growled, shaking her a little bit as though trying to make her realize she hadn’t been alone with the terror she’d felt. “When we were trying to fight those damned flames, I was praying to God you were safe out there.”

  “I was away from the fire! So how the hell could I get hurt?”

  “The glass could have hit you. Whoever the fuck did this might have…” He broke off, sucked in a shuddery breath. “I don’t want to frighten you.”

  “Too late,” she whispered. “What the hell’s going on? It wasn’t just an accident?”

  “No. I’m not an expert, but it was started on purpose.”

  “Should we be in here?” she asked, changing the subject. “Isn’t the building’s stability compromised?”

  He shook his head. “Not this side of the building. Plus, we handle this shit by ourselves. You know that. Thankfully, most of the bedrooms are on this side of the clubhouse, so we can all get some rest tonight. Mars will be looking into how the fire started as well as getting some guys to work on the building. The electrics blew, which is why the generator came on. It will all be okay, baby, we just need to take things one step at a time.”

  She gulped. “Why did this have to happen today?”

  “I don’t know.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I know it seems like unlucky timing, which is the understatement of the year, but these things happen. The MC is at war, sugar. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

  “You didn’t have to. I’d heard the rumors. I kept up with the gossip. It’s all anyone has to talk about in these parts, anyway.” She peeked up at him, finally moving her face from his throat
to study him as she said, “Are we in danger?”

  He shrugged. “Probably. When aren’t we, darlin’? We run for an MC. There’s always a risk. The risk is just higher at the moment thanks to the people we’ve pissed off along the way. But we’re tough, and we’re Shifters. They ain’t got a cat in hell’s chance of wiping us out. They just don’t know that yet.”

  She bit her lip. “That sounds like a threat.”

  “Because it is. No way Mars is going to let this ride. He’s been taking things quietly, letting us all lie low because he didn’t want to start shit that got brothers killed. But now this has happened, there are gonna be some people who wished they’d stayed at home tonight.”

  “Are you going to be in more danger than usual?”

  He shrugged. “I’m on the council. Plus, I’m a healer. They’re not going to send me out into the fray, but I’m not going to sit back and let my brothers fight for me, Pip. This is all our war. You understand that, don’t you?”

  She swallowed at the resolve in his tone and pulled back a little at what that resolve meant for them. When she did however, she saw more of his face in the duller light cast out by the less powerful generator.

  A gasp escaped her before she could contain it at the sight of his face. He had scorch marks on his stubble and the skin around his mouth was black and charred. But it was his cheekbones and upper left forehead that had taken the brunt. His eyebrow was scorched. Smoke stains dusted his top lip and rimmed his nostrils.

  “We need to get you to the hospital,” she cried out, immediately struggling to get off his lap. When he winced, she froze.

  She’d hurt him.

  She’d hurt her mate.

  Pain slashed through her and she raised a hand to the side of his face that hadn’t been harmed in the fire. “I’m so sorry,” she breathed. “I didn’t mean to cause you pain.”

  As her palm cupped his cheek, he tilted his head into her hold, and closed his eyes as though her touch were a soothing balm to him.

  He reached for her other hand then, and scared the crap out of her by placing it on his damaged side.