Bear Necessities (17 page)

The
curly haired woman held out her hand. “I’m Becky Holt.”

Bunny
returned her greeting. “Alexander Bunsun. Nice to meet you. This is my mate,
Tabitha Garwood.”

Tabby
smiled weakly and clung to his hand with a grip he just knew was leaving
bruises.

Becky
Holt pointed to a tall, dark-haired man with muscular arms and an easy grin.
“That’s Simon, my mate. He’s the Beta of our Pride.”

“Pleased
to meet you.” He exchanged nods with the Beta, keeping hold of Tabby’s hand. He
could feel his mate trembling next to him.

Emma
nodded toward a striking couple seated on her sofa. The man was dark-haired,
with the same golden skintone Tabby had. The woman seated next to him was the
palest woman Bunny had ever seen, with snow-white hair, pale blue eyes and
pearly skin. Lying at their feet was a golden retriever in a guide dog harness.
“That’s our Marshall, Adrian Giordano, and his mate, Sheri.” The couple nodded
at them, but quickly returned to their conversation. Bunny wasn’t fooled.
Something about Giordano’s body language told him that he and Tabby had the
lion’s share of the Marshall’s attention. “Gabe and Sarah, our Omega, aren’t
here yet, but they should be shortly. There were grumbles about coffee and
doughnuts.”

“Doughnuts?”
Becky shared a wicked, intimate grin with her mate. “I love doughnuts.”

Simon
chuckled. “Bet I know something that tastes sweeter.”

“Oh,
for the love of God, people.” Emma flopped down on the couch. “Get a room.”

“Works
for me.” Simon grabbed a hold of Becky’s hand and began to drag her toward the
stairs, ignoring her indignant squawking.

“Simon,
knock it off. Emma, stop encouraging them.” Max stepped out of his kitchen and
shook his head at his Pride leaders, ignoring Emma’s snickers and Becky’s slap
to Simon’s arm. “You’re making us look like idiots.” He walked over to Bunny
and Tabby and shook their hands. “Alex, Tabby, welcome to my home. Please feel
free to join the insanity.”

“Thanks,
but everyone calls me Bunny.”

The
room stopped dead. He’d never seen anything like it. It was like he’d picked up
life’s remote and hit
Pause.

“I’m
sorry. Did you say people call you Bunny?” Simon, his dark eyes twinkling,
leaned back against the fireplace mantel.

Bunny
nodded. He loved some of the reactions he got when he told people his nickname,
especially other shifters. They tended to range from horrified disbelief to
unstoppable giggles.

“And
you
let
them? Why not strap a cracker to your ass and call yourself
lunch? Ow! Damn it, Becky.” He rubbed the spot on his arm his curly-haired mate
had just smacked.

“Ignore
Garfield, he hasn’t had his Cat Chow yet.” Simon’s eyes flashed down at his mate,
gold sparks dancing in the dark brown.

Bunny
bit back his laugh. “And you’re making fun of
my
nickname?”

Max
rubbed the side of his nose. “Why don’t you two have a seat while we wait for
Gabe and Sarah.” He walked away, pointing languidly at Emma. “Not a word.”

“Damn.
And I had so many of them, too.”

Max
stopped and stared at Emma, one eyebrow rising.

Emma
gave as good as she got, staring right back at her mate. From the way their
mouths were curving, Bunny didn’t think there would be a fight, but the tension
in the room seemed to ratchet up a notch. He wondered if the blond Alpha was
about to drag his small mate up the stairs, Pride meeting be damned.

The
doorbell rang, breaking the staring match between the two Alphas.

“I’ll
get it.” The Marshall stood, moving with easy grace to the front door. “It’s
Gabe and Sarah. One of you get a cold towel, she spilled some coffee on her
hands again.”

Bunny
frowned. “How did he know that?”

Emma
waved Becky toward the kitchen and followed her through. “He’s the Marshall.”

And?

Sheri,
Adrian’s mate, must have seen his confusion. “The Marshall can sense the
physical well-being of every member of the Pride.” She frowned. “Your scent.
It’s so…wild. Not like the other Bear in town.” She stared up at him, her pale
blue gaze unfocused. Suddenly her eyes widened. “You’re a—”

“Hey,
Bunny.” Gabe slapped him on the back, interrupting whatever it was Sheri had
been about to say.

“Anderson.
Learn anything about Chloe’s attacker yet?”

Gabe
shook his head. “I wish I had some news already, but there were no witnesses.
Nobody on the street heard or saw a thing. The evidence we’ve collected is
still at the labs in Pittsburgh, so we have to wait.” He shrugged. “I wish I
had more, but that’s all I’ve got so far. How is Chloe, by the way?”

Bunny
could see the way the small brunette watched Gabe. Her short hair was
windblown, her hands reddened. His fingers twitched, the urge to heal the small
hurt nearly derailing his train of thought. This must be Gabe’s mate, the one
who’d given Gabe fits over Chloe. “Still unconscious. Any idea when her mate is
supposed to arrive?”

“Jimmy’s
coming back?” Emma swept back into the room, a wet towel in her hands. “Here,
Sarah. Wrap this around that burn.” She clucked her tongue. “That looks nasty.”

“Let
me.” He took hold of the poor burned hands and breathed deep, the relief at
being able to heal the small hurt releasing some of his tension. He opened
himself up to his Bear and the spiral of the healing path. He mended the burned
flesh, encouraged the new growth of tissue and forced the skin to reabsorb the
swelling. When he was done, no trace of the burn could be seen, and his legs
were trembling with fatigue.

“Holy
shit.” Adrian stared down at the woman’s hands, his eyes wide. “I
felt
that.” He lifted his face, his gaze narrowed on Bunny. “I’d forgotten Bears
could do that.”

The
woman smiled up at him sweetly. “Thank you.” She patted his arm. “That really
stung.”

Gabe
took one of her hands in his own, stroking the healed skin. “I owe you one,
Bear.”

Bunny
shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with the awed reactions of the Pumas. This sort
of healing was as commonplace as hello among Bears. “It was nothing.”

Gabe’s
jaw clenched. “You healed my mate. That means I owe you one.” His jaw relaxed
and his brows shot up. “Unless you’d rather not have the man investigating the
attack against your mate owe you?”

“Attack?”
Emma frowned, taking a seat on the huge leather couch. “All I heard at the
restaurant was talk of harassment.”

“Tabby
was attacked outside her place of business a couple of days ago. A stink bomb
was thrown through the window, and when she and the other girls ran out, she
was hit on the back of the head hard enough for her to black out.”

Bunny
glared at Tabby. He hadn’t known she’d lost consciousness. He might not have
been quite so calm if he had.

“Look,
before we get too far, why don’t we fill the others in on everything that’s
been going on? We tend to get a little blind to what’s going on outside the
Pride, so they might not know what all’s been happening.” Gabe took a seat in
one of the side chairs and pulled his mate into his lap.

She
settled in with a sigh, resting her head against his shoulder. “Good idea.”

Bunny
took a seat on the couch again, Tabby next to him. Adrian and Sheri took up the
remaining seats, leaving Emma in the other wing chair, Max standing by her
side. Simon and Becky settled on the floor across from the couch, their backs
to the entertainment center. “Okay, here’s what I know so far. Tabby was
Outcast—” he ignored the gasp of his mate “—for something she didn’t do. She
roamed as a Wolf for about eight years before landing in Halle.” He stared at
Gabe, willing him to understand what he was about to say. “And if anyone owes
anyone else, it’s me who owes you and your grandmother for taking care of
Tabby.”

Gabe
nodded, acknowledging what he’d said. Bunny got the feeling he didn’t quite
agree with him, but that was all right.

“Because
of her status, this guy Gary feels he can do anything he wants to Tabby without
repercussions.”

Max
winced. “Unfortunately, he’s right. She’s without the protection of her Pack,
set apart from them for a crime, whether she committed it or not. Unless she
proves she’s worthy of joining another Pack or manages to get her old Alpha to
take her back, she’s considered a criminal and fair game.”

Emma’s
lips curled up in a wicked grin. He’d seen that grin before, on a cartoon when
he’d been a kid. It was the same grin the Grinch had when he came up with his
idea to dress as Santa and steal Christmas. The look sent shivers down Bunny’s
spine. And from the looks her mate was giving her, he guessed the Alpha had no
clue what his little mate was thinking.

“Great.”
Bunny sighed and ran his hand over his bald head. The stubble there rasped
against his palm.
Time to shave again.
“Anyway, he’s egged the store,
bothered all of the girls who, by the way, are all human other than Tabby, and
called her multiple times. I got to see him last night and, frankly, if I
hadn’t been there, I’m not certain he would have stopped at harassing her. As
it was, he tried to warn me off, telling me he had every right to bother my
mate. In other words, he’s stalking her.”

“He’s
given humans a hard time?” Max whistled. “Who’s his Alpha?”

Bunny
blinked. “I have no clue.”

Gabe
shrugged. “I’ve asked him, but he refuses to answer. The only thing I’ve been
able to learn is he comes from New Mexico. I’m still running down his birth
records. The college has been less than enthusiastic about turning over records
and, without a warrant, they’re right. I can’t get one without probable cause.”
Gabe ran his hand up and down Sarah’s back. Whether it was to soothe her or
himself, Bunny had no clue. “Besides, technically speaking, shifter law
is
on his side. The girls at Living Art are aware of what Tabby is and who the
Pride members are, so they’re considered kin.”

Bunny
could feel the helpless rage building up in him again. Did this mean that the
little fucker could keep on taunting Tabby, possibly hurting her, and there was
nothing he could do about it?

Fuck.
That.

A soft
hand landed on his arm. He looked up into the warm brown eyes of the Omega.
“We’ll fix this. I promise.”

A calm
peace he’d never felt off a yoga mat settled over him. He nodded, knowing she
was right. Everything would be fine. Sarah smiled and sat back in her mate’s
lap, her hands curled up in her own. Gabe took hold of her wrists, his thumb
stroking the insides. Something about the caress had Bunny taking notice. He
stared at the sheriff and his mate, and wondered…

“Alex?”

“Hmm?”
He turned back to find Tabby staring up at him. The fact that his name was
pretty much the first word she’d uttered since walking in the front door
soothed something deep inside him.

Tabby
took a deep breath. “Tell them about Chloe.”

He
growled. “Some asshole beat my cousin Chloe damn near to death and left her in
the road like trash. She would have died if it hadn’t been for Julian Ducharme.
She’s still in a coma. Nothing we’ve done so far will wake her up.”

Max’s
blue eyes flashed gold for a moment. “I heard. We’re going to look into that.”
He exchanged a glance with Gabe and Adrian, who both nodded.

Sheri
bit her lip. “Chloe’s such a sweet little thing. Who would want do that to
her?”

“We
don’t know, but so far the clues are few and far between.”

“I’m
betting on Gary and the Gutless Wonders,” Tabby muttered.

“Gutless
Wonders?” Max’s tone was not amused. “How many Pack members does Gary have with
him?”

Tabby
winced. “He has two others who follow him. Oh, and he sent a kid out for a
tattoo of his Wolf. I recognized it from when he changed once, just before he
found out I was Outcast.” And from her tone of voice that conversation had not
been full of warm fuzzies. “He told the boy that if he got the tattoo he could
join his
fraternity
.” Tabby made little quotation marks with her fingers
and made a face. “For all I know, he’s changed people around campus, but since
I don’t exactly hang out there, I have no idea what he’s really up to.”

Max
growled, the sound feral and feline. His sky blue eyes were pure gold. A light
mist pooled around his feet, his power spilling out into the room. Bunny had
only seen something like that once before, when a Lion had tried to make his
father bow down before him.

It
hadn’t worked on William Bunsun, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to work on
William Bunsun’s baby boy. His chin lifted in the face of the Alpha’s anger.

“Why
didn’t I know about this?” Max stared around the room at his core hierarchy,
his expression full of outrage. “He’s changing humans on my territory and I
didn’t know about it?”

“Shit.
How the hell were we supposed to know? How many other Prides do you know of
that are based in a college town with other shifters in it?” Simon showed why
he was this man’s Beta. Other than the twitch of his shoulders and a brief
wince, he stood tall. Even the Marshall was hunched over, fighting his Alpha’s
anger. The only other person in the room who wasn’t bowed down was Emma. Even
Tabby had her head lowered. “For the most part, they’ve come, respected our
boundaries, kept to themselves, and gone home when they graduated.”