Bearing It All (Grizzly Affairs Book 1)

by Magenta Phoenix

  The street was virtually empty excluding an occasional car slowly passing over the refrozen streets. He was a ghost that walked among the living. That could never change. No matter how many times he changed his appearance or his name. He would always be a ghost, wanting nothing more than to live once again. It was pathetic. When had he become like a lonely dog, pressing his face against a glass window of a home, begging to be let in?

  Turning a corner, his steps slowed as he neared the door to his temporary, dingy motel room. Digging down in his pocket, he brought the small key to the locked door. The lock emitted a soft click as the lock disengaged. Before he could open the door, he picked up the sound of loud thumps and breathless moans on the other side.

  Pressing his lips into a thin line of displeasure, he swung the door open. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the writhing and naked couple on the second bed near the door. Slamming the door closed he walked over to the kitchen area without a backward glance. Behind him he heard the girl gasp in dismay at his entrance, but once the sound of the headboard hitting the wall increased her mind was directed elsewhere.

  Selecting a beer and popping the cap off, he took a long swig as he looked around his not- so-humble abode. The room was complete with two meager twin beds divided by a small table and simple lamp a top of it. Off to the left was a small kitchen area with a microwave, small food smeared fridge, and another simple table accompanied with two chairs. Off to the right was a bathroom. All in all; it was better than most of the places they had stayed in the past.

  Lifting his eyes back to the panting couple on the bed, Raoul curled his lip in disgust as he watched his brother pound into the bony blonde sitting astride him. His eyes watched with no interest at all. He'd seen this all too much. If his brother wasn't killing something, he was fucking it. The morning light spilled over the girl's naked back, highlighting her ribs and spine that seemed ready to come out of her skin.

  He didn't bother to stop his upper lip from curling in revolt. Raoul didn't like bony women. He was a man and he wanted something to squeeze to him other than a femur. For his brother it didn't matter; hell, once he'd caught his brother with a man before. Sex was sex to him.

  But for Raoul, he'd seemed to lose interest in that biological urge long ago. He wasn't impotent by any means; he just couldn't stomach the vacant action anymore.

  His eyes suddenly widened as he watched Thomas move his grasping hands from the narrow hips of his companion, smoothly sliding them up over her small, bouncing breasts to circle her throat. His hands tightened around the neck of his bottle as his brother drove faster up into the gasping girl as he cut off her air. Surprised; the girl circled his hard wrists as she gasped at the force of his thrusts from beneath her. Bending forward Tom ran his tongue over her reddened face as he grunted with every thrust.

  Slamming his beer bottle down on the table, Raoul moved to stop what his twin was doing. He was halfway to the bed when his brother squeezed his eyes closed, shouting out as his climax washed over him. The girl's eyes rolled in the back of her head as she gasped out her own release. As his brother came back to his senses, he let his hands fall from the girl's reddened neck only to shove her off him with mild distaste. Landing on her back against the simple green bedspread, she closed her eyes as her lungs struggled to draw in enough air.

  Climbing off the bed, Thomas headed straight for the bathroom without a word to his exhausted bedmate. Hearing the water running for a short time, the girl sat up. Her weight was braced on her stretched out arms behind her. Her position attempted to accent her small breast more, but not by much. Her dark eyes fell on Raoul as he turned to survey the peeling, burgundy wallpaper on the surrounding walls.

  “You’re twins.” She acknowledged with a lust filled grin, running a hand through her stringy, tussled tresses.

  “You found a smart one.” Raoul shouted to his brother after scoffing at the obvious spoken fact.

  Climbing, inelegantly to her bare feet, Raoul watched as the woman made her way across the room to him. Wrapping her stick thin arms around his neck, Raoul stood unimpressed as she plastered her sweaty body against his clothes. The smell of stale sweat and sex clung unpleasantly to her.

  “Would you like a round for you too, big boy?” She giggled, making a show of wetting her lips in a way that would make a porn star blush. Reaching up, his hands gripped her slim wrists. Pulling them down from his neck, he gave her a light shove away from him.

  Stepping around her, he sneered. “I don’t use another man's toilet seat.”

  Walking to the unused bed, he blocked out the strong smell of sex, sweat, and fruity perfume as he threw himself onto the squeaky mattress. The water abruptly shut off as Thomas walked out wearing only a pair of black briefs. His black hair was slick and skin wet from his obvious shower. Walking to the table, he picked up Raoul's half drunk bottle and began finishing it off. His bored eyes no longer; if they ever did, held any interest in the naked toothpick standing a foot from him. As if on cue; her whiny voice broke through the still air like an insect flying around ones ear.

  “What do you want to do now, babe?” She asked to Thomas’s back.

  “Nothing,” He answered with a sigh. Though a smarter woman would have taken the hint, this bimbo would obviously require a more direct dismissal.

  “Come on,” She whined, stomping her foot like a child that wasn't getting what they wanted. “We could have fun again.” Her words were heavy with meaning, full with enticement and temptation for any one of them.

  Her face fell to a snotty scowl when neither hot blooded man responded to her. She reached out in one last attempt wrapping her hands around Thomas’s middle as she rubbed her naked breast against his back. Not soon after their skin touched, Thomas roughly jerked her hands away from him and shoved her away from him.

  Stumbling on her feet, she glared back at him. “What the hell is your problem?” Turning to face her, his hand slowly lifted the bottle to his lips with a blank expression.

  “Get out.”

  “Excuse me?” She nearly screeched out in disbelief. Planting a hand on one bony hip, it was clear that she'd never had a male lose interest in her so quickly. As she opened her mouth to speak again, Raoul stopped her.

  “Just get your clothes and leave.” When she looked like she would have argued, he continued before her lipstick smeared lips could part. “Trust me; it would be in your best interest to keep your mouth shut and leave. Now.” He growled out with irritation.

  Rolling her eyes and huffing out an unintelligent response she walked over to retrieve her short black dress that lay in a rumpled heap between the beds. Jerking the thin fabric over her body, she quickly grabbed her small, matching pocket book. The door slammed loudly as she exited with more force than needed.

  Sighing wearily, Raoul jerked off his black cap before tossing it carelessly across the small room. The scent of cigarette smoke began to fill the air around him. There was no use in getting any rest. Sleep had eluded him last night and he was sure it would be the same now, no matter how tired his body was. Pulling himself into sitting position, his hand ran through his buzz cut as his eyes sought out his brother. Thomas seemed more interested in puffing out smoke rings in between swigs of beer, to notice his watchful eyes.

  “We're grabbing the package today.” He purposely spoke his words as a statement. He was tired of waiting. They had been watching Malca's missing package for nearly three days. If it had been up to him the little imp would have been dragged back days ago, but his brother wanted to play with his prey.

  “Last night I made contact with the boss lady.” Thomas mumbled, taking a slow drag from his cigarette. His dark eyes flashed over Raoul with dark intent.

  “We have a green light?” Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, his hands laid limp across his bent knees as he waited for an answer.

  “Yes.” Carelessly, smashing what was left of his cigarette against the top of the table, Thomas folded his arms over his athletic built che
st. “But; I need more time before we bring her in.”

  Scoffing out in anger, Raoul jumped to his feet. “Time to do what exactly?”

  “Let me worry about that, brother.”

  “Fuck that! You will finish this mission today or I will do it for you.”

  Smirking, a deep chuckle erupted from deep within Thomas’s chest. “Will you now? You and what army? I'm leading this mission, not you.”

  “You lost the right to lead when you murdered that girl.” Raoul bit out bitterly as he paced away from the bed. “Do you want to draw attention to our presence here? We need to get the woman and get out of here before you bring down the whole police force of this ice block down upon us.” during his ranting, Raoul could hear his brother moving around behind him.

  A loud popping sound echoed behind him before he had time to see what his brother was doing. It wasn't until a moment later that the fabric of his t-shirt began sticking to his skin with a blossoming, moist pain on his chest. Hesitantly, his hand reached up to cover the hot, throbbing area. Pulling his hand back, he took in the sight of dark blood covering his hand. Twisting around to face his brother, Raoul narrowed his eyes in accusation.

  Lowering his arm, Thomas gently set the small handgun down on the table next to him. The sound of the heavy metal kissing the wood echoed over Raoul’s pain filled gasp. Walking over to his brother, Thomas lifted his leg and savagely kicked Raoul to the floor as his legs crumbled beneath him. Thomas smirked heartlessly down at his twin as Raoul looked up with a mix of surprise and despise.

  “Don't look so shocked, brother. Just like with Cane and Able, only one can be the favorite. And I've decided it should be me.”

  Stepping over his bleeding comrade, Thomas grabbed his discarded clothes and slowly pulled each item on leisurely. Picking up his boots by the bed, he sat down on the disheveled mattress as he pulled them on. “Don't worry, brother. You will have some time before you bleed out to think about where you went wrong. Personally; you should have realized earlier that the boss lady offered both of us the same deal; the female in exchange for our freedom. The little snag was only one of us could collect on it. No matter; I plan on doing all kinds of fun stuff with my free time.” Smirking wolfishly, he leapt to his feet with enthusiasm.

  Walking back to the kitchen area, he tucked the gun in the front of his jeans as he threw his bag over his shoulder. Turning, he strode back to his prostrated twin with light steps. Raoul glared up at him as his thick blood ran through his pressing hand.

  “Oh; and one more thing, brother,” drawing back his boot, Thomas drove it into his twin's ribcage and smirked when he heard the satisfying sound of the bones snapping and Raoul's grunt of pain. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for that. Now if you don’t mind, I have some things to do before I go collect my bounty.” throwing a bone chilling smile over his shoulder, Thomas threw open the door and left Raoul as his dark blood covered the floor beneath him.

  * ~ * ~ *

  Pulling her long sleeved shirt down with an angry jerk, Aria stormed into the kitchen. Her anger grew with every stomping step. Part of her was tempted to just steal his truck, drive off and never look back. But knowing him, he’d just come after her. Clenching her fist against the kitchen counter as her teeth gritted in aggravation.

  How could he not understand that she needed to be involved? The murdered girl from last night only proved to her that they knew where she was hiding and they were coming. Did he not understand how dangerous Malca was? How could he act so stubborn?

  Maybe because I didn't tell him the whole truth, As the thought slipped through, she felt some of her anger fade away—some.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she silently groaned as she remembered her promise from the previous night. She'd sworn to him that if he didn't go digging around and involving others that she would come clean. All she'd told him was that the men pursuing her had held her prisoner. Maybe it was a mistake not telling him the whole truth.

  Prepared to march back into the bedroom and spill everything, her footsteps faltered. The memory of his previous words kept her from moving. When she told him the truth, would he then demand that she stay behind so that she could be protected? She scoffed at the idea. She may not remember who she was before Malca took her, but what she did know was this; she was no weakling. She would never stand back while the man handled the situation. Doyle needed to accept that before he could ever accept her.

  The sound of heavy footsteps echoed behind her. Warm chills of awareness slithered up her spine as Doyle entered the room. Though still beyond angry with him, she couldn't fight off feeling breathless when he was near. She held herself stiff as his strong arms circle her from behind, pulling her tightly against hard and bare chest. At first she'd anticipated he would say something; an apology or a declaration. He didn't. Instead for the first few minutes he just held her against him.

  Rubbing his scruffy cheek against the silky texture of her hair, Doyle released a deep sigh. For a few moments he thanked God that Aria didn't fight his embrace. Slowly breathing in her warm scent, he struggled against the impulse to crush her small form into his protective one. Instead his arms loosely held her. He gave her the freedom to leave if she wished, but also the reminding comfort that he was there.

  Deep down he feared he'd lost her. He didn't know what he was doing. He was the first to admit it. He'd never had to woo a woman before and Aria was not just any woman, she was his mate. His worst fear was that he wasn't prepared for the trials that lay ahead that accompanied having a human mate. Shifter females knew to respect their male's authority. Obviously his mate didn't appreciate being told what to do.

  You think? His bear scoffed back sarcastically.

  Shut up and let me handle this.

  Yeah...cause you're doing a great job so far...

  Shut up and go lay down.

  “Shut up and go lay down.” Would you like me to roll over next? His bear growled in irritation at being pushed aside.

  Pulling away slightly from Aria, he gently turned her around to face him, all the time his arms never losing their gentle hold. All of the things he wanted to say to make up for whatever he'd done to upset her fled from his mind as her bright eyes locked on his. Laying her hands against his bare chest, Aria gently pushed him back.

  The way her soft blue eyes looked up at him had him freezing on the spot. “Do you see me as unintelligent or someone that cannot protect herself?”

  Shaking his head, he replied. “No, of course not,”

  “Then do not think for one second that I will not be a part of this. I will accept your protection as my...mate.” She struggled to say the unfamiliar word. “But only if you accept that I am not going to stay on the side lines.” She stated firmly, never breaking eye contact with him.

  “I understand.” He whispered with a nod. He understood. That didn't mean he would accept it. For now it was good enough.

  Before either of them could move the front door slammed open, with Robert standing in the doorway. His chest rose and fell with his panting breaths. Doyle felt his upper lip curl with a forthcoming growl. He really needed to change his locks or bar the door against interrupters.

  “I am not interrupting am I?” Robert asked, glancing between Aria and his brother as they stepped back from each other.

  “This better be good or else I plan on throwing you off my mountain.” Doyle snarled out. He took a couple threatening steps toward his brother who took a few in reverse.

  “Some cougar named Mark brought me. He said he had more information for you about this morning. He said you guys would need an extra tracker.”

  Turning back to look at Aria over his shoulder, Doyle glanced at her guarded expression as she waved him off before mumbling, “Go. I'll wait here and find something to eat. You can fill me in later.” Once she moved toward the kitchen, he turned back and followed his brother out. The door softly closed behind him.

  Walking behind Robert toward the ridge where he saw Mark wait
ing, Doyle couldn't fight off the feeling that something wasn't right. When Aria had told him about the men that were after her, she appeared to be hiding something, but her scent never changed. Normally; whenever anyone told a lie or truth, shifters could smell it, but with his mate? She seemed to be shielded from his ability to discern a lie from the truth. He could only pray that when he returned she would tell him more about her pursuers.

  Coming up the incline, he nodded in acknowledgment to Mark as he moved around his brother to greet him.

  “Tell me you have some good news.”

  “I have some news. But you will not like it.” Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans, Mark paced away from the two glaring grizzlies. “I couldn't find anything on the cigarette buds we found earlier. However; I called a contact I have and he told me there may be another reason we can only smell this evasive sweetness.”

  “He knew what it was?” Robert asked in curiosity.

  “Maybe. A few of Eric's enforcers have come across a few individuals lately with the same scent. They were caught trying to kidnap some werewolf children a few years back. They later discovered that the reason for the sweet smell was because these individuals had been altered.”

  “I don't follow. Altered how? Were they shifters?” Doyle asked, shooting Mark a look of confusion.

  “That's what I assumed as well. However my contact assures me that these men were human or at least were at one point.”

  “How is that even possible?” Robert asked, stepping between both of them. “There is no way for anyone to be half and half. The only way to change a human to a shifter is if they are a mate and even then there is no guarantee they survive the transformation. Plus, if they are successfully changed no one's scent has ever turned sweet before. What else could this mean?”