Bears in Blue Shifter Romance Box Set

by Mia Taylor

  He was met by a sea of deadpan looks.

  “We need to get Simon out of the 22 and into exile before Paul Stark makes his move.”

  Or my father, Luke added silently, but he didn’t need to add to the confusion.

  “How?” Malcolm asked. “How do we do that?”

  August scoffed and waved his hands around the room.

  “I would say he’s a little outnumbered,” the former detective snapped. “He can’t take on all of us.”

  “Who’s to say he doesn’t have allies in the department?” Malcolm insisted and Luke’s eyes fixed on him.

  “What does he have on you?” Luke demanded. The hostility was palpable as everyone looked toward Malcolm. He paled noticeably.

  “He doesn’t have anything on me,” he muttered, looking away, but Luke could tell he was lying.

  “Mal,” Charlotte Pinkerton spoke. “Whatever you tell us, we can protect you. That’s what we’re supposed to do—as cops and bears. We’re being manipulated. All of us.”

  “I can’t tell you,” Mal muttered. “But I can’t be a part of this.”

  He turned to leave but several others blocked him.

  “Let him go,” Luke sighed. “It doesn’t do us any good to keep him hostage.”

  “What if he warns Simon?”

  “I’m not working with Simon!” Mal snapped and Luke suddenly understood.

  “You’re working with Stark.”

  Mal looked at him, his eyes dull.

  “He has information that will hurt my mate,” he breathed. “I can’t help you but I swear I won’t say anything.”

  “My father is not going to step one foot inside the 22,” Melissa told him, stepping forward. “I promise whatever he has on your mate, it will never come to light.”

  “You can’t promise that.”

  “Watch me,” Melissa told him with frightening intensity. “Because I have enough on him.”

  Malcolm exhaled slowly and reluctantly reclaimed his seat at the bar.

  “So, how are we doing this?” August demanded. “Are we going to storm the 22 and just force Simon out?”

  “It’s the best way to ensure Stark stays away. His beef is with Simon, not the CPD. I’m sure he wanted a part of the action, but truthfully, his sleuth isn’t sophisticated enough to run the department…” Luke thought aloud. “With Simon gone, he’ll have no cause to come for the CPD.”

  “I’ll keep my father at bay,” Melissa told Luke. “You head up taking out Simon.”

  “Wait!” Rhett cried out. “Then what?”

  “Then what what?” Luke demanded. “Then we’ll be done with this craziness and get back to our lives.”

  “Not without someone running the 22.”

  A wave of panic washed over Luke as he realized what Rhett was saying.

  They still needed a lieutenant heading the department, at least until they could repair the split and get mortal cops back inside.

  “Ressling can handle it for now,” August suggested and Luke balked at the suggestion.

  “What? I’m a beat cop—”

  “You’re a beat cop who is about to fell corruption inside our department.”

  “Our department?” Melissa echoed. “Are we cops again?”

  The couple eyed one another and Luke felt a smile twitch at the corners of his mouth as he realized that August was coming around.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” August muttered, some embarrassment in his tone. “All in favor of Ressling running this thing, say ‘aye’.”

  “AYE!” the group chorused and Luke was beginning to feel light-headed.

  In less than forty-eight hours, you’re supposed to be handing in your resignation, not taking a promotion to a job you’ve never done.

  But he knew he was the one who had brought everyone together. He couldn’t fail them now, not when so much was at stake.

  “What about my father?” he asked weakly.

  “No one cares who your father is,” Rhett chuckled. “Half of us are in this job because of daddy issues.”

  “Hear hear,” Melissa conceded, sighing.

  Tell that to the Illinois DA, Luke thought with some bitterness. But as he looked around, he wondered if he hadn’t been on the wrong path all along. The respectful faces of his colleagues staring up at him, looking for direction, made him think that perhaps he’d been blind to what was in front of him the entire time.

  “So? Do you accept your position?” August demanded and Luke nodded slowly, knowing that he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

  First we topple this house of cards. Then I can worry about my future.

  He knew that it didn’t matter what he did—as long as his future involved Lily.

  Luke pushed the thought aside, a shiver of apprehension sliding through him. There were too many bears who knew that Lily was aware of them now. Once the danger surrounding the 22 was resolved, he would still need to find a way to protect her from those who would want to silence her.

  ~ ~ ~

  They treated the ambush the same way they would a SWAT approach. In some ways, Luke was reminded of the bank robbery as he slowly made his way into the front of the 22. The building was surrounded by the bear cops he had just met with, each taking a position which would ensure they were close enough if things went south.

  The desk sergeant barely acknowledged him when he entered.

  “Is Simon in?” he asked Hamilton, who grunted and nodded toward the back office.

  Inhaling, Luke steadied his nerves and headed toward the room, mentally preparing himself for whatever reaction Simon might have. He’d envisioned every scenario imaginable when driving back from the bar. In one, Simon would pick up and leave quietly.

  In another, he would throw a fit, shift and attack him. In yet another, there was pleading, reasoning, justifying.

  No matter what happens, I’ve got this, Luke assured himself. He knocked on the door.

  “Come in, Ressling.” The response made Luke’s blood run cold.

  How did he know it was me?

  Slowly, Luke opened the door and froze.

  Rand Simon and his father sat inside the office, a cup of coffee before each of them as they seemed to engage in casual conversation.

  “W-what the hell is he doing here?” Luke choked. This was one situation he had never imagined.

  “Come in and sit down,” Rand chuckled, gesturing at a chair. “I’d introduce you but I see that’s not necessary.”

  “What is this?” Luke growled, his face growing hot in indignation.

  “A truce,” Rand replied. “Your dad and I were having a discussion about the future of the 22.”

  Luke’s eyes bugged.

  “You’re discussing the future of the precinct with him?”

  “Is that any way to talk about your father?” Stephan sighed. “This generation knows nothing about respect, Rand, am I right?”

  “Your father has a lot of good ideas,” Rand snickered and Luke felt his stomach lurch as he realized what his father had done.

  He’s not making an independent play for the stationhouse—he’s teaming up with Simon. He already warned him about Stark.

  “What can I do for you, Ressling?” Simon asked, sitting back in his chair. His dark eyes glittered knowingly and for a terrifying second, Luke thought he might vomit.

  “You need to leave,” Luke said dully, knowing his words had no effect now. With Stephan’s criminal connections, Paul Stark was no threat to Ressling, even with half the precinct against him.

  Dad only told me about Stark to out the disloyal cops and I walked right into his trap.

  “Leave? Where do I have to go?” The mocking tone got under Luke’s skin but he managed to keep his composure.

  “I know who you are, Simon. You’re a conman.”

  “That’s a terrible thing to say to your superior, son,” Stephan chided him. “Forgive him, Rand. His mother did an awful job raising him.”

  “You won’t get away wit
h this,” Luke hissed, turning his anger onto Stephan. “The bears won’t stand for it.”

  “The bears will do what they’re told if they want to be cops,” Stephan retorted. “If they don’t, they can leave and they’ll be replaced with bears of my choosing.”

  “Oh gods…” Luke breathed. “You… it’s always been you!”

  “Of course,” Stephan chuckled. “Very little happens in this country without my knowing. Rand has been working for me for decades.”

  “Now, don’t say things like that aloud, Stephan,” Rand joked. “Think of the impropriety.”

  “No,” Luke said flatly. “I don’t care who is pulling the strings. This ends now. Get out, both of you.”

  The two older bears lost the genial expressions on their faces and without warning rose to advance on him, their lips curled over their snouts.

  “Or what, Luke? What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t care what your connections are,” Luke spat back. “You’re still outnumbered. There are more of us than there are of you.”

  Stephan’s eyes gleamed and Luke felt an unexpected flash of terror when his father backed down. Rand remained in his face but Stephan sat again and examined his nails.

  “You have a short memory, Luke,” he sighed. “Or a selective one.”

  “You’ve lost this one, Dad,” Luke insisted. “Give it up. Go sink your claws into another city. Chicago belongs to us.”

  “What did I tell you the last time we spoke?” Stephan continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “What did I warn you about?”

  “Go now and I won’t call in for backup. We’re happy with exile but if you push it, I can’t say what will happen,” Luke rushed on, trying to keep his voice from wavering. He owed it to the bears to see this through. He would get rid of Rand and his father, even if they attacked.

  “You’re not listening,” Stephan sighed and waved Rand back. “Show him.”

  Rand snarled at him, snapping his teeth once before retreating toward his desk where he reached for a tablet.

  “Look, son,” Stephan sighed. “Look what you made me do.”

  But as he spoke, Luke knew exactly what he was about to see, even before he looked at the screen before him.

  “She looks scared, doesn’t she?” Stephan murmured. “And she’s not a bear. She’ll never survive that cold for long.”

  With a trembling breath, Luke’s eyes fell on the image before him, Lily bound to a chair, tape over her mouth and eyes as she sat in a nondescript dark room.

  “So you see, Luke, you can’t do anything to me or Rand, not if you want to see your little damsel in distress again.”

  Fury surged through Luke’s veins.

  Without warning, he pounced onto his father, knocking him clean against the wall, a powerful paw at his throat.

  Rand howled and lunged to pull him off but the door flew open and the other bears swarmed.

  “Where is she?” Luke hissed as the cops took on a howling Rand. “Tell me where she is and I will see you get the antidote.”

  His father’s eyes widened as the silver dart appeared in Luke’s hand, inches from his neck.

  “You wouldn’t!” Stephan gasped, trying to shift, but the lack of oxygen to his lungs was preventing him from fully turning.

  “You have two seconds,” Luke whispered. “One…”

  “You don’t have the balls,” Stephan choked. “You never did. That’s why you’ll never be more than a—”

  “Two.”

  Luke plunged the dart into his father’s neck and watched as shock colored his face. He dropped Stephan and watched as the older bear crumbled to his feet.

  “You’re about to fall unconscious,” Luke told him in a flat, conversational tone. “Once you do, you will never wake up. If you want an IV to save your life, I suggest you tell me where she is.”

  Stephan’s eyes bulged, glassing over as he gasped.

  “T-the b-b-base…”

  His body collapsed and his lids fell.

  “Get him to the bear hospital,” Luke muttered, rushing from the office. “But make sure they draw it out. I want him to suffer.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Decisions

  The basement was musky, like basements were.

  I shouldn’t have opened the door, Lily repeated to herself over and over, but no matter how many times she told herself that, there was nothing she could do to change what had happened.

  How did I let myself get caught up in this?

  But the answer was simple enough—she loved Luke, even if it was to her own detriment.

  There was no doubt that the outcome to her feelings was going to be something like this, something dangerous, maybe deadly.

  They won’t kill you. They’ll let you go.

  She tried that mantra in her mind for a while, wondering what it would take to get them to do just that.

  Since she’d been snatched from the hotel room, the place where Luke had promised she would be safe, she had not seen nor heard a single soul. She had lost all concept of time. There was tape covering her eyes, blocking out any light or movement, but Lily was certain she was in a basement. The smell was unmistakable.

  She reasoned she couldn’t have been there very long. She was thirsty, her lips dry beneath yet more tape over her mouth, but there was no weakness in her to indicate she’d gone without food for an extended period of time.

  Someone has to come. No one would be so cruel as to leave someone to die in this way.

  Of course, until a week ago, Lily had not believed in shifters either. Who knew what anyone was capable of anymore?

  “LILY!”

  She heard Luke’s voice yelling for her but she was sure she was hallucinating. Even as she heard the thump of footsteps heading her way, she knew it couldn’t be real.

  Luke can’t know where I am. My lover can’t come and save me. That only happens in movies. You’re just imagining his—

  “Oh my gods, Lily!” The tape ripped off her mouth and Lily sucked in a breath of air. “Talk to me! Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head, not trusting her voice, even though she’d wanted to do nothing but scream her head off from the moment she’d found herself in that position.

  “Please, say something!” Luke begged, slowly peeling the tape from around her eyes. It caught in her hair but she barely felt the pull against her scalp as she blinked rapidly.

  It really was Luke!

  “Y-you found me!” she gasped. “H-how?

  “Never mind that now,” he growled, untying her hands and feet before scooping her up into his arms. “Are you okay? What did that son of a bitch do to you?”

  “Nothing,” she sighed. “I-I shouldn’t have opened the door.”

  “It’s not your fault,” he growled, striding toward the unfinished wooden stairs leading up from the cold basement. “This is my fault. I didn’t realize he was such a sadist.”

  “Who?” she demanded. “Who did this?”

  He didn’t respond and she encircled her arms around his neck as he effortlessly climbed the steps. The muscles in his jaw twitched as they burst through a door and Lily’s eyes bulged.

  “Whose house is this?” she breathed, taking in the opulence of the mansion.

  “My father’s.”

  “Oh.”

  Her heart swelled with sympathy, her own plight ignored as she read the pain in Luke’s face.

  “I’m sorry,” she breathed and he paused to stare into her face in disbelief.

  “You’re sorry?” he repeated. “For what?”

  “Parents are… complicated.”

  “Complicated and evil are two very different animals,” Luke muttered, making his way to the front door. Lily clung to him until he gently placed her in the back seat of his Altima.

  “I’m taking you to the hospital,” he explained before closing the door. “And then we’ll have a long talk about everything.”

  “A-am I still in danger?” she whispered and to her cha
grin, Luke looked away.

  “Not from my father,” he answered. “He’ll never bother anyone again.”

  The words should have sent a chill through Lily but she couldn’t feel bad for the fate of a man who had locked her in a basement bound and gagged.

  “Luke, do we have to hide again?” she murmured when he climbed into the driver’s seat.

  He turned and met her eyes, the worry evident in his coffee-colored irises.

  “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I have no idea where we go from here, Lily.”

  They held each other’s gazes for a long moment and Luke tried to smile, but the effort was futile. For the first time since she had known him, Lily realized that Luke was scared.

  And that terrified her, too.

  ~ ~ ~

  Two uniformed cops stood outside her room, a fact that didn’t make Lily feel any better after the doctor examined her.

  “I told you, I’m fine. I wasn’t even there very long,” Lily insisted. “Can we get out of here?”

  “Right now, this is the safest place for you,” Luke sighed. “I know I’ve said that before, but this time, it’s true.”

  “What’s the problem? If your father isn’t a threat anymore…”

  “Lily, bears know that you know about them now. I don’t know what they’re going to do about it.”

  A familiar worry flooded her gut.

  I should never have told him the truth. I could have gone on pretending that I never saw anything…

  “Who would come after me for knowing this?” she asked weakly, the desire to fight draining from her body. “Will they kill me?”

  “No one is killing you!” Luke growled but Lily wasn’t sure if he was as confident as he sounded.

  “Come here,” she told him, extending her arms toward him and he stopped pacing the room to stare at her.

  “What?”

  “I just want to lie with you for a minute,” she murmured. He didn’t need a second request and in seconds, he had climbed up into the bed beside her to envelop Lily in his strong arms.

  “No matter what happens,” she breathed, “I will always treasure the time we’ve had together.”