Bears in Blue Shifter Romance Box Set

by Mia Taylor

  Mal stifled a sigh. He didn’t want to leave Brynn, not when he had just found her, but he had no choice in the matter.

  “I’ll call you,” he promised, wrapping her in his arms and gently kissing her forehead. “Don’t stress about anything, all right? Everything is going to work out.”

  “He’s right,” Lena jumped in. “And the boys will be happy to have a pretty girl in the house for once. Actually, I’m grateful for some estrogen in the house for once, too.”

  Lena gave Brynn a warm smile and extended her hand, leading her into the living room and out of Mal’s embrace.

  “Bye,” he called, resisting the urge to ghost the trial with every fiber of his being.

  Those girls deserve better than that, he told himself flatly. Your team put in serious manpower to see this through. You’re not going to disappoint everyone involved to run away with your mate.

  He felt a pull inside him when he realized how much he would be leaving behind when they did take off, but Mal quickly pushed the notion out of his head.

  We can start fresh, somewhere else. We have eternity to figure it out.

  “Bye!” he called again but the women were too involved in their conversation to look up.

  He was on his own again and with heavy steps, he made his way back out to the driveway where he’d parked his Jeep Wrangler.

  With one final look at the house, he jumped in and pulled away before he could change his mind.

  He needed to focus on his life in Chicago now. It was time for him to become the Malcolm that Brynn didn’t know.

  Chapter Eight

  Trial and Error

  Cory grabbed Mal as soon as he arrived at the courthouse, seizing his arm and yanking him into a covert cubby so that they could speak privately.

  “You didn’t answer any of my calls!” his partner hissed. “I was worried Stella had done something to you!”

  Mal eyed him almost balefully.

  “You didn’t seem to have any of those concerns when you brought her to my sister’s place,” he reminded Cory, who looked down, ashamed.

  “Did you see Brynn? Is she all right?”

  “What did Stella promise you?” Mal asked, deliberately avoiding the question. “Surely you didn’t just take the word of a brothel owner if she didn’t offer you something.”

  Cory stared at his feet and Mal bristled.

  “Tell me what she promised you!”

  “I’ve been in line for a promotion for three years,” he mumbled. “She assured me that when she comes into power, I’ll get it.”

  Mal gaped at him in shock.

  “How do you think she’s going to pull that off? She’s not a cop, Cory! She’s not even a law-abiding citizen!”

  “She has half the bears on her side already, Mal. This has been in the works for years. We just haven’t seen it.”

  Mal thought about Paul Stark and his mention of a daughter who worked on the force.

  Does his daughter have something to do with this, too?

  “Never mind that now,” Mal muttered. He wouldn’t be sticking around long enough to know what was going to happen at the CPD. For all he cared, Stella could run the entire department, not just the bears.

  How much different would it really be anyway?

  “Did you see her, though, Mal? Is Brynn safe?” Cory insisted and Mal gave him a disgusted look even though he could tell his partner was genuinely concerned.

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” he replied, his eyes darting toward a figure moving closer.

  “There he is!” Rhett called, approaching with a smile on his face. “How was your vacation? I think you look a lot more relaxed.”

  Mal stifled a scoff.

  If anything, I’m more stressed than before.

  “It was fine,” Mal replied evasively. “I need to speak with the DA before getting on the stand.”

  He wandered away from his partner and boss, his insides trembling slightly.

  Mal found DA Lowry near the elevators, speaking with one of the victims’ mother.

  “Excuse me, Ms. James. I need to speak with Detective Barnes a moment.”

  The woman nodded and Henry James turned his attention toward Mal.

  “I was worried you weren’t going to show today,” the attorney confessed. Mal’s face twisted in surprise.

  “How could you think that?” he demanded. “I’ve poured my sweat and blood into this.”

  “Call it a premonition,” Lowry replied, shrugging. “I don’t know. I just had a bad feeling.”

  “Well, I’m here. When are you calling me up?”

  “You may not even be on today,” Lowry explained and Mal balked.

  “Please tell me you’re kidding,” he pleaded. “I have a lot going on and—”

  “This is a huge case, Barnes. I don’t need to tell you that. The witness list is exhaustive. Trust me, I have a lot going on, too, and I’m doing my best to put that bastard Christensen away forever, but you need to work with me.”

  “I have been working with you,” Mal growled but he didn’t even know who he was mad at. All he wanted was to return to Brynn and take her far away from any sense of danger.

  Maybe I should have brought her here with me. She’d be safer with me… wouldn’t she?

  He remembered that he’d lost her once under his watch and reconsidered jumping in his car to bring her into the city.

  “Fine,” Mal said stiffly. “Just let me know.”

  “Stay out of the courtroom until after you testify,” Lowry reminded him and Mal waved as he walked away.

  “I know.”

  He made his way down the steps toward the massive entranceway and debated what to do while he waited.

  There was only one thing he could think of and that was call Brynn.

  They’d last spoken when he’d gotten home the previous night and the urge to hear her voice again was overwhelming.

  “Hello?”

  Lena sounded stressed when she answered the phone.

  “What’s wrong?”

  There was a slight pause.

  “Nothing,” his sister lied. “Brynn is still asleep.”

  “Any problems?”

  “Don’t you think I would have called you if there were?” Lena demanded with exasperation. “Are you in court today, then?”

  “I am. Why do you sound so overwhelmed?” Mal insisted. “Did something happen?”

  Lena sighed.

  “Peter suspects something,” she mumbled in a much lower voice. “I think he can sense the change in her.”

  Mal tensed.

  “What did he say?”

  “He just keeps making comments about how she seems different and he can’t put his finger on why.”

  “Shit.”

  Mal considered what to do next.

  “I don’t want to lie to my husband, Mal.”

  “No one is asking you to,” he replied curtly. “What do you want me to do? Come and get her?”

  “She’s in more danger in a populated area, Mal. Brynn is certainly safer where she is, but I don’t know how Pete is going to take it when he figures it out.”

  “Why would he figure it out?” Mal demanded, his heart beginning to pound.

  Even if he does, Pete can be trusted. He wouldn’t sell Brynn out or cast her out of the house… would he?

  Lena seemed to be reading his thoughts.

  “I don’t know what he’ll do, Mal. This isn’t just about Pete and me. We have kids—oh, good morning, Brynn!”

  Mal winced.

  “Put her on the phone,” he ordered and Lena did as instructed.

  “Good morning, darling,” he said, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice. “How did you sleep?”

  “Mal, I don’t think this is going to work,” Brynn breathed into the phone. “Lena’s right. The kids are in danger—”

  “No one is in danger!” Mal exploded. “You need to stop listening to Lena’s paranoia. It’s only for a few days.”r />
  Brynn paused and he could hear her breathing uneasily on the line.

  “Mal, we need to figure out another solution. Maybe I should just go back to Stella and Paul’s.”

  “We already established that we have no idea if we can trust them,” Mal reminded her gently. “That’s why we left in the first place.”

  “But I was there for years,” she insisted. “And like you said, they can’t sell me out without selling themselves out—”

  “STOP!” Mal snapped with more aggravation than he had intended. “Lena is just getting worked up over nothing.”

  “Okay,” Brynn mumbled without any conviction. “I trust you.”

  Mal didn’t like the tone of her voice.

  “Just hang in there, Brynn. Watch TV. Hang out with the boys. Do anything to take your mind off things, all right?”

  “Okay, Mal.”

  Mal smothered a sigh.

  “Put Lena back on.”

  She handed the phone back to his sister and Mal spoke before Lena could say anything.

  “You need to stop freaking her out,” he seethed. “Did you hear her just now? She’s got enough on her mind without ‘what ifs.’”

  “Well, forgive me for worrying,” Lena grumbled but he could hear the contrition in her voice. “What do you want me to do when Peter figures out we have a wolf amongst us?”

  “Do whatever you think is best, Lena. You’re the big sister, remember?” Mal retorted sarcastically but in the back of his mind, he was beginning to wonder if perhaps Brynn didn’t have a point.

  I’ll call Stella and Paul, see if they’ll take her back until this trial is over.

  The problem with that, of course, was that Stella might learn about his plans to take Brynn away and that would go against whatever deal Mal had made with them.

  “Mal, I’m trying to help you but not to the detriment of everyone else.”

  “I heard you,” Mal barked back. “Just give me the day to figure it out.”

  He hung up without waiting for her to respond and clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

  When he turned, he started at the sight of Rhett Lewis standing behind him, staring at him with a peculiar expression on his face.”

  “Oh… I didn’t see you there, Sarge,” Mal said slowly. “Everything all right?”

  “I hope so,” Rhett replied evenly, his eyes glittering slightly as he leaned forward to stare at Mal. “Did I hear you mention Stella and Paul on the phone?”

  Mal’s blood ran cold and his mind raced.

  Oh shit…

  Thinking quickly, he frowned and shook his head, trying to remember exactly what he’d said that Rhett might have overheard.

  “What? I don’t think so,” he answered, buying time. “Um…”

  Rhett didn’t look away, his face contorting into a mask of mistrust.

  “I think you did,” he growled and Mal knew he was in deep trouble—even though he had no idea which of the bears were the lesser of two evils in that moment.

  Do I side with the sergeant who stormed his way to become leader of the bears, or the couple who kept your mate hidden for five years?

  Neither seemed like a good option but one was definitely more dangerous than the other.

  Paul and Stella know about Brynn. Rhett doesn’t.

  “Oh!” Mal laughed. “You heard me say ‘Stella and Saul!’”

  Rhett peered at him.

  “Who are they?”

  Mal chuckled even though his heart was pounding so loudly, he was sure the sergeant could hear it.

  “They’re a kids’ company,” Mal lied. “Huge with toddlers. I was just telling my sister about a new game they have out.”

  “I thought your nephews were older,” Rhett said skeptically and Mal managed another short laugh.

  “They are but my sister’s sister-in law had a two-year-old with a birthday upcoming and…”

  Mal shrugged.

  “Don’t ask me why I know these things.”

  Lewis eyed him for a long, silent moment and Mal managed to hold his gaze.

  “You sounded a little frazzled on that call,” Rhett said and Mal managed to throw a look of annoyance on his face, despite his mounting nervousness.

  “With all due respect, Sarge, I was just staying with my sister for five days and putting up with all the nosy family questions. I wasn’t expecting to be tag-teamed when I got back.”

  To Mal’s relief, a look of embarrassment crossed over Rhett’s face.

  “Sorry,” he muttered. “I just thought you knew some old friends of mine.”

  Mal seized the opportunity to pry into his personal life.

  “Old friends from where?” he asked, trying to sound conversational. He wondered if Lewis would disclose anything to him to make Mal understand what had caused such a grievance between Paul, Stella and him.

  “Back home,” Rhett replied evasively, turning away. “I’ve got to get back up there. I’m being called first.”

  Mal groaned with some jealousy as Rhett ambled away from the foyer toward the stairs.

  He wondered if Rhett had believed him or if he had just made matters worse.

  I should warn Stella and Paul, Mal thought, but he forced himself not to think about the couple. They weren’t his concern. Whatever drama they had going on was theirs alone. Mal was not involving himself in it any more than he already was.

  He glanced at his watch and wondered if he had enough time to return to Saugatuck and come back before he was called to the stand, but he knew he’d be pushing his luck.

  There was nothing he could do but wait for his day in court.

  No matter how difficult it might be.

  ~ ~ ~

  He wasn’t called upon that day and Mal grimaced as he finally left the courthouse at the end of the business day that afternoon, his hands clenched around the steering wheel.

  There was a familiar sense of helplessness which enshrouded him as he waited for something to happen, and along with that was an unnerving feeling that everything was going to go awry.

  You’re just being fatalistic. In a few days, you and Brynn will be back together. In the meantime, you need to find something to keep your mind occupied.

  On a whim, he did a U-turn and made his way toward the stationhouse, his curiosity piqued about Paul Stark’s daughter.

  Maybe she can shed some light on this for me.

  He parked and made his way inside, pausing to speak with the desk sergeant.

  “Hey, Barnes,” Colville grunted in the way of a greeting. He barely lifted his massive head from the newspaper before him. “How was court?”

  Mal was mildly impressed that Colville remembered. It wasn’t like they were close but he reasoned that the Christensen case was big enough for everyone to remember.

  “I didn’t get called today,” Mal replied. “It’s promising to be a long one.”

  “Yeah,” Colville grumbled. “The scumbags are always the ones who drag everything out. Sorry about your luck.”

  “Listen, Colville, I’m looking for someone. She’s a rookie. Name is Stark?”

  For the first time, he lifted his head, his eyes narrowed.

  “Why? What have you heard?” he demanded and Mal was taken aback by the question.

  “Nothing…” Mal replied slowly. “Someone mentioned her and I didn’t know who she is. She’s one of us so she must be in this precinct.”

  Colville’s mouth became a firm line.

  “What?” Mal demanded, a slight exasperation forming in him. “I’m not asking her out on a date.”

  Colville snorted.

  “You wouldn’t get that far even if she was here.”

  Mal blinked.

  “She’s on tour?”

  “No,” Colville sighed. “She’s gone. Just up and disappeared one day without a word to anyone. Melissa Stark and her TO, August Silas.”

  Mal frowned. Silas he had known. The man had been the leader of a powerful sleuth in Chicago.
/>   They just vanished?

  “Suspiciously?” Mal demanded, his pulse racing, and Colville shook his head, leaning in. His beady eyes darted over the room but he and Mal were alone.

  “There’s been a lot of unrest around here since Lewis took over,” Colville murmured. “We’re creatures of habit. Too much change doesn’t go over well with us.”

  Mal didn’t need to be told that. He didn’t respond and stood back, his mind whirling.

  So Paul Stark’s daughter took off at the first whiff of trouble, just like I’m planning to do.

  Oddly, knowing that gave him more confidence in his decision to leave Chicago behind.

  “Surely you can feel change coming,” Colville breathed and Mal shrugged nonchalantly.

  “Maybe,” he agreed.

  But when it does, it will have nothing to do with me.

  Chapter Nine

  Now Where To?

  Brynn was left to her own thoughts that day while the family headed off to work and school. It was something that she could have done without.

  All afternoon, she paced through Lena’s house, her mind wandering to worst case scenarios as she counted the ways things could go wrong.

  She desperately wanted to call Mal and beg him to come and get her but she didn’t dare.

  He can’t know you’re panicking as badly as you are.

  Peter had not kept his skepticism secret and both the boys pelted her with endless questions until Brynn was emotionally exhausted.

  “You have to forgive them,” Lena told her when they were alone the previous night. “You can’t blame them for being curious about you.”

  “I don’t,” Brynn lied. She had been very much looking forward to the time alone… until it had come.

  Suddenly, Brynn was crawling the walls, her body trying to shift in the stress she was under.

  What if I shift here? What will Peter or the boys do to me?

  She didn’t want to believe that they would harm her but who could know?

  As the day crept by, Brynn had worked herself into a frenzy. Lena’s house no longer felt safe and she knew she had to get out of there.

  But Mal will never allow it. He’ll insist I stay here, even for a couple of days.

  They’d been through it a thousand times already, it felt like. There was only one solution that Brynn could think of—she needed to go back to Chicago and stay with Stella and Paul until Mal could come for her.