Bear His Mark

by Reina Torres

  Maggie leaned down to give Willa a hug when they reached her side and Hollis took Willa’s arm to escort her in.

  “I’m not an invalid, you know.”

  “Mom, you should have seen Hollis. She freaked out and thought we went to get her because you were in labor.”

  “Shut it, Cobb!” Francis gave him a good smack at the loose top of his beanie. “Don’t jinx things!”

  “Francis?” Maggie’s tone was full of love, but it brooked no argument. “What did we say about horsing around with the boys?”

  The young woman snorted in a gesture that looked very much like her lioness. “If they were horses,” she began, “I might want to chase one. But as for the boys, I can wrestle them to the ground if they’re being stupid, but no claws and no rending flesh from their hides.”

  Cobb, somewhat recovered from the first strike held up a finger to speak and apparently clarify a point. “We have fur, not hides.”

  Francis rolled her eyes and Hollis noticed that the young woman’s eyebrows were still a dark brown and not green.

  “Hollis?” Willa drew her attention as she sat down on the couch. Or rather, Willa bent her knees and one of the boys lowered her into the cushions. “Maggie called to see if we could take you out today and welcome you to Sylvan City.”

  Hollis kept silent about her indecision, not wanting to dampen anyone’s mood.

  Maggie continued. “But with Willa getting close to her due date, she’s going to stay here with Francis and the boys.”

  Francis sat down beside Willa and gave the boys an imperious look. “Don’t think I won’t tackle you to the ground if you upset her.”

  The look on both boys’ faces said that neither one of them would run too fast if the chance came to take the punishment.

  “You’ll just have to make do with me and Paige for lunch.”

  Hollis heard the finality of Maggie’s words and knew that she was about to go somewhere whether she wanted to, or not.

  Chapter Eight

  When they arrived at the Sylvan Botanical Gardens, Hollis felt a little more at ease. The conversation with Maggie had been mostly about Maggie’s life and while Hollis did offer up a few bits of information about herself, Maggie didn’t press for more.

  When they drew up to the front of a large glass paneled building, Hollis was more than a little shocked when the doors of the car were opened by two men in dark suits and sunglasses.

  “Ladies,” the man at Maggie’s side of the car gave them a nod, “Mrs. Kerr is waiting inside. The hostess will show you to her table.”

  Hollis remained with the car to her back until Maggie came around to get her.

  Leaning in close, Maggie stage-whispered a few words into her ear. “They look impressive, don’t they?”

  Hollis’ nod was stiff.

  “Paige isn’t just the mate of a shifter, a white tiger no less, she’s also the daughter of the mayor. These scary guys are part of her security detail. Devlin doesn’t mess around with his mate’s safety.”

  Maggie took Hollis’ arm and walked her into the conservatory.

  “Seriously though, Paige travels with those guys because she still gets threats off and on. As a human mated to a shifter, their story brought shifters into the public eye. There are a lot of crazies out there that think her mate is a demon, or a devil of some sort, and that she chose to be with him… well, it makes them say all kinds of things about her. I don’t get it, and you won’t either, after you meet her.”

  The hostess greeted them both with a smile and led them through the café and back to a table in a secluded corner.

  There was only one person at the table and she stood as soon as she saw them. Before Hollis realized what was going on, she was wrapped in a tight embrace.

  “Welcome to Sylvan City, Hollis!”

  Hollis returned the embrace, albeit a bit on the hesitant side of enthusiasm. “Thank you.”

  Maggie tapped her on the shoulder. “Paige, she’s turning blue.”

  “Oh! Goodness! Sorry!” She led them all to the table and sat down with them, an eager smile on her face. “I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear that Conor found a mate!”

  Maggie winced playfully. “I think we can all guess how excited you are, Paige. Pretty sure the kitchen staff heard too!”

  Flushed with color, Paige leaned forward on the edge of the table. “Sorry. I used to be a bit shy, but there’s something about being the mate of a shifter,” she gushed, “it kind of makes me weak in the knees happy and yet I’m ready to take on the world.”

  Hollis listened to her and instinctively smiled at her words and her joy.

  But the sadness that she’d felt earlier when she was talking to her father dampened her enthusiasm.

  Still, she managed to paste a smile on her lips. These women were part of Conor’s community and she would do her best not to disappoint him.

  “Hollis,” Paige reached out a hand, “Willa was telling me that you came here with Gerri Wilder.”

  “She drove me here from her agency.”

  “Oh?” Paige shared a smile with Maggie. “Almost door to door delivery! I think it’s wonderful.”

  Maggie agreed. “If the Paranormal Dating Agency keeps working its magic our community is going to grow.”

  Paige’s sigh held just a hint of sadness. “If only everyone felt that way about bringing more shifters to Sylvan City.”

  Hollis had a bunch of questions pop up in her head, but she couldn’t seem to ask any of them. Thank goodness the two ladies she was with didn’t need any prompting.

  Maggie leaned close to Paige and lowered her voice. “Are you talking about the protest?”

  “Among other things.” Paige nodded before looking at Hollis. “One of the local branches of a church had a protest on the lawn of the city office building. It wasn’t just the shouting and the signs with all kinds of hateful things written on them. They threw raw meat at people walking by.”

  Maggie shuddered. “They don’t understand that shifters aren’t monsters.”

  “Even though some act like it.” Hollis gasped and covered her mouth when she realized that the words had come from her.

  “I’m sorry,” she sat back in her chair and tried to remember to breathe. “My people are the Black Hills Bear clan and it hasn’t been easy growing up where everyone feels only too happy to tell me where I fall short in their estimation. And that’s pretty much everyone.”

  “You may have grown up with them, Hollis,” Paige gave her an encouraging smile, “but they don’t sound like your people.”

  Maggie picked up the thought. “I think you’ll find if you stay here with us, we’ll be your people.”

  The thought settled in her chest and Hollis felt warmth spread quickly through her body.

  Paige leaned closer to whisper. “I know it’ll be different here. It’s a big city, but not too big.”

  Maggie gave her a wink. “And so many different kinds of shifters. It’s like the whole world is here, but it’s still home and-”

  “Paige Kerr,” a voice interrupted them and they all turned to see a man in a white suit coat and black pants step up to their table. The man had a tray with three glasses of water on it and a towel laid over his arm. As soon as he was sure he had their attention he set down the tray with a clatter. “I was wondering if you would like to give your opinion on the current state of the protests in Sylvan City.”

  Paige was the first to react. Setting her face into a polite but pointed smile, she looked the man square in the eye. “You’re interrupting our lunch, sir.”

  “The people have a right to know.”

  Hollis felt horrible for her new friend, this was no waiter.

  “If you’d like a statement you can call my office and submit a request for an interview.” With a nod, she moved on. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I-”

  “That’s it?”

  His voice raised and Hollis saw Maggie’s brows turn down in anger.

 
“You can’t just give me a quick answer?”

  Paige remained placid in her expression, but Hollis could hear the uptick in her heart rate.

  “Nothing with people like you is ever simple, sir. If you really want a thoughtful answer or would like to have a meaningful conversation about rights, you’ll contact my office and make an appointment.”

  Hollis felt a rush of pride. Her new friend was an amazing woman.

  Picking up her phone, Paige unlocked the screen. “I’ll have my guards escort you out.”

  Before she could press the button, the man in the waiter’s uniform grabbed her arm and pulled.

  The edges of Hollis’ vision dimmed and she heard the screech of chair legs scraping the floor.

  #

  When Conor and Cage arrived at the café, Devlin was already there. Their friend was having a rather pointed conversation with a man who looked like he was paralyzed with fear. The man was dressed like a waiter from the café, but the guards had pulled his shirt open and an old-school microphone was taped to his chest, but the end of the cord hung limp near the man’s mid-thigh, against a part of his pants that was darker than the rest.

  Confronting women wasn’t a problem for the man, but apparently feeling the wrath of a still-human tiger shifter was apparently enough to make the man pee himself.

  Conor felt his bear pushing up to the surface but managed to keep the beast under wraps as he darted inside.

  The hostess pointed toward the back, but both men knew where they were headed. They could easily scent their mates in the air.

  Maggie was seated beside Hollis and Paige was hovering nearby as an EMT took Hollis’ vitals.

  When the man set his finger over the pulse point in her wrist, Cage had to grab his friend by the back of his neck. “He’s just doing his job.”

  “He could do it without touching her.”

  Cage’s snort of laughter helped to back off Conor’s anger.

  Turning, Conor’s eyes were narrowed at his leader. “Just remember this moment, Cage. Remember that I didn’t hand you your teeth.”

  “Conor?”

  Maggie had called his name, but his eyes found Hollis first.

  The EMT took a step away from his mate and Conor felt a little bit more in control.

  “Her pulse is a little high… for a human. Her friends said she came from a shifter family so I can’t honestly tell you much unless you know her resting pulse. I can take it again in a few minutes and-”

  Conor shook his head. “No.”

  “Okay then,” the EMT looked over at his partner who was inching away from the two male shifters, “I think she’s okay to go home. But if she has any other issues, I would take her to her doctor immediately.”

  Cage thanked the EMT and let the man leave to go chase down his partner.

  Conor was glad that Cage had taken care of the issue. All he could do was focus on Hollis. Pulling out the chair beside her, Conor sat down, taking her hands in his. “Hollis?”

  He knew she heard him, because she lowered her gaze to the ground.

  “Hollis, what happened?”

  Conor heard her sharp intake of breath and then felt a tremor roll through her body, shaking the hands he held so gently.

  A hand touched his shoulder. He felt the feminine energy in the touch, and scented Maggie standing beside him.

  She didn’t have to crouch down to whisper into his ear. All she had to do was speak quietly, under her breath. He could have heard her across the room.

  “There was some kind of reporter,” her hand tightened on Conor’s shoulder, “Devlin’s men have him now. He grabbed Paige’s arm.”

  Conor nodded, waiting for the words to tell him what happened to his mate.

  “Hollis pulled him off of Paige.”

  He leaned closer to his mate and tried to meet her eyes. His mate? His mate, gentle and kind, had grabbed a man?

  “If I hadn’t seen it myself,” Maggie continued, “I wouldn’t have believed it.” She leaned into Cage’s warm embrace. “One minute, she was in her chair as frightened and confused as we were and then as soon as the man put his hand on Paige, she was out of her chair. She picked him up by the collar of his shirt or his coat and then when I blinked my eyes he was on the floor. Hollis was on top of him, holding him down while he started to scream for help.

  “It was his screams that brought the security guards.” Maggie sighed. “Now I guess we’re never going to have any privacy when we get together.”

  Cage growled at his mate. “Your safety is the most important thing.”

  Conor heard her soft laugh.

  “Well, as long as we have Hollis with us, we’ll be just fine.”

  He didn’t have to look to see that Cage was leading his mate further away, he could hear their footfalls clearly on the concrete floor of the conservatory.

  Hollis looked up at him and he gave her a smile. He wasn’t going to let her think he was upset. He was, but not at her. And he wasn’t sure that Hollis could understand that. Not at that particular moment.

  “I don’t remember doing it.”

  Her voice was soft, like a whisper in his ear.

  “I remember seeing him grab her arm and then everything got really dark and my head hurt.”

  As soon as he heard the words, he released her hands and cupped her face. “Do you still hurt?”

  She started to shake her head but came to a wincing stop. “A little.”

  Leaning close, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and drew her scent into his lungs. Being this close to her, having her accept his touch eased some of his worry. “What can I do for you, Hollis? How can I help?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment and she drew in a few consecutive and measured breaths before she met his gaze again.

  He could see the hesitation in her eyes, but he knew it would take time before she could really see the kind of shifter he was. And he would wait until she did. He wanted her... no, he needed her that much.

  She swept her tongue over her lips and the unconscious gesture licked flame over his exposed skin. He could have powered a small city with the amount of fire burning inside of him for this woman. His mate.

  And yet, he held everything else close to the vest.

  He’d continue to do so until Hollis knew she could trust him and just be herself.

  “I want to go home.”

  Her words felt like a physical blow to his heart.

  Was she truly done with him?

  “Not to the Hills, Conor. Not yet.”

  He struggled to understand her meaning.

  “Take me back to your home. I have a lot of things to think about, but I really need some rest first.”

  When he stood, he easily scooped her up into his arms and led the way back to Cage’s SUV.

  The other shifter and his mate took the seats in front as Conor slipped into the back seat after buckling Hollis in beside him. He was going to spend the rest of the day taking care of her. His mate.

  What more could he ask for?

  #

  Hollis felt a strange feeling in her belly that had nothing to do with hunger. During the short ride back to Primal Fitness, Conor had remained quiet, holding her hand in his. No words passed between them but every once in a while, he’d lift her hand to his lips and brush a kiss across her knuckles.

  If Cage and Maggie sensed anything off between them, they didn’t say a word. Nor did they comment when Conor climbed out of the SUV with her in his arms and continued to his truck.

  It wasn’t until they’d arrived back at his house that Conor said anything. And even then, it wasn’t any more earthshaking than, “How are you feeling?”

  It was a sweet gesture and Hollis appreciated it more than she could fathom. She could feel an odd current rushing under her skin like an underground river. It left her feeling off kilter, but she supposed that was to be expected.

  “Much better,” she looked up at him, happy to find that it was true. Maybe it had been the quiet bet
ween them, or the gentle kisses and his soothing warmth, but what mattered was that she wasn’t tired anymore.

  She was-

  “Hungry,” she blurted out. “I’m hungry.”

  Before she could demure and take it back, Conor stepped in and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”

  He started jogging around the outside of the house, using a slow and steady pace that made it easy for her to match his speed.

  And he slowed for a moment when she tugged on his hand so she could shed her shoes in the grass.

  After that they didn’t slow down until they came to the edge of the woods and he looked at her feet.

  “There are pinecones,” he warned her, “should I go back and get your shoes?”

  She grimaced. “That’s a pain, isn’t it? I can just take it a little slow.” Hollis gestured ahead of them. “Go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

  She should have known something was up when his eyes darkened and his bear peered out at her.

  That’s when she should have backed up and put herself out of reach… but really, what good would it have done?

  As he lunged for her, she lifted her arms to try to hold him off and put some distance between them. He was too fast! His preternatural speed moved him past her defenses and before she realized exactly what he was doing, he had her over his shoulder, one arm across the back of her thighs and the other hand cupping her backside.

  “Hey!” She tried to sound indignant and only ended up sounding giddy. “Watch that hand!”

  She couldn’t see him, but she felt a kiss on her hip.

  “I’d watch it, Hollis,” his voice had deepened, “but I wouldn’t want to run into a tree.”

  That’s when he took off again, jogging at a slightly faster pace than he had before. Even though he didn’t have to slow down to keep them side by side he didn’t seem to be in a huge rush.

  “Relax,” he laughed and the sound echoed off the trees, “I feel like I can hear you thinking. I’m just trying to keep from bouncing you around too much.”

  She was too busy laughing to complain and even though she didn’t know how big his property was, she was surprised at how long it seemed to take for them to come to a stop.

  When Conor set her down again, she felt the damp squish of soil between her toes, but the moment she caught sight of the water, the mud between her toes was forgotten.