Bear Necessities (25 page)

Becky
laughed. “Hey, if it were up to me, you’d have the right to choose. I didn’t
get that right and neither did Emma.”

“So
you didn’t want to be changed or mated?” Cyn pounced on the Beta’s words with
childish glee.

Becky
laughed. “Oh, hell yes, I wanted it. I just wanted to choose
when
.”

Tabby
laughed. “See? I told you it’s not that bad.”

Becky’s
slow smile was wicked. “Nope. Not bad
at all
. And having your mate
change you makes it even more special. Emma and I were both human when Max and
Simon marked us. They’d been changed by the old Alpha, Jonathon Friedelinde,
and from what Simon said, he wishes it had been a little bit different.”

“Why?”

Cyn
had a good question. Tabby hadn’t met a made shifter before. Her old Alpha
wouldn’t allow it, except between mates.

“The
mating bite masks the pain of the shifting bite. The only other human I know of
who was changed by a non-mate is Sheri Giordano, and she had been beaten nearly
to death. She still bears the scars of the fight she had with a rogue Wolf.”
Becky’s hand drifted up to her neck. Tabby knew she had a set of scars there
from her own run-in with a rogue. “It can be done, and has been done, but I for
one would rather have pleasure than pain. I don’t like pain. It hurts me.”

“Becks?
Who are you talking to?” Emma walked in from the back room, her brown eyes
twinkling merrily until she caught sight of Cyn’s face. “Cyn! Tabby! How are
you? Oh, your poor face!”

Tabby
bowed her head in respect to her Curana. “Emma.”

Emma’s
eyes widened. “It’s true. Max accepted you into the Pride.” She laughed, the
sound loud and merry. “Rick is going to shit a brick.”

“
Emma!
”
Becky rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Ignore her. Listen, Cyn? I’m going to get you some
ice for that cheek, okay? Have a seat, I’ll be right back.”

Cyn
sat. “Thanks.”

“Rick
should be here in a day or two.” Emma smiled gently at Tabby. “Did you think I
was going to leave you an Outcast?”

Tabby
shuddered. She did
not
want to meet the Poconos Alpha or his Luna!

Becky
returned with the ice pack and handed it to Cyn. “Put that on your face. Do you
need some ibuprofen?”

Cyn
shook her head no, her eyes darting around the shop.

Tabby
leaned closer to Becky and whispered, “How the heck do I get out of meeting
Rick Lowell?”

Emma
snorted and handed a glass and two pills to Cyn. “Take that, no arguments. You
need to go to the hospital?” Cyn shook her head again and swallowed the pills,
looking stunned. “And you!” She pointed to Tabby. “Rick isn’t that bad. And
Belle is going to
love
you.”

Tabby
was horrified. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Would she prefer my ass with A-1 or
Heinz 57?”

“Wuss,”
Emma coughed into her fist. She laughed when Tabby blew her a raspberry. “I
mean it. Rick really isn’t as bad as he’s made out to be. He just
looks
scary.”

“I’m a
Pride member though, right? He can’t make me go away?”

Emma’s
expression softened. “No, Tabby. No one can make you go away now except you.”

“Okay.
Wow.” Tabby blinked away the tears that sprung up out of nowhere. God, she was
turning into such an idiot. “Thank you.”

“The
worst Rick could do is decide he wants nothing to do with you, and knowing him,
that won’t happen. Be honest with him, about everything. He’ll treat you
fairly, I swear.”

Tabby
bowed her head again. “Yes, Curana.”

“Cyn?”

Tabby
flinched. Julian had found them.

“What?”

Cyn’s
belligerent tone wasn’t a surprise to Tabby, but from the shocked looks on Emma
and Becky’s faces, it was to them.

His
eyes flashed at the sight of her bruised face. “Do you want to talk about
this?”

“What’s
to discuss? You made a decision about my life without bothering to… What’s
wrong with your hair?”

Tabby
turned. Fully half of Julian’s hair was still white. Gray lights danced in his
eyes. Whatever he’d done to help Chloe, he wasn’t fully back from it. He looked
exhausted, otherworldly. “The healing was more difficult than I anticipated.
She was farther into the dreamscape than I’d originally thought.”

Huh?
“What the hell does that
mean?”

Julian
smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it.” He turned his attention back to Cyn.
“Let me heal that. Please?”

Tabby
grabbed hold of Cyn’s arm. “Please let him, Cyn.”

“All
right.” She handed the ice pack to Becky and moved toward Julian.

The
man was shaking, whether with exhaustion or rage, Tabby couldn’t quite tell.
His eyes were still deep, dark brown, but those silver flecks were throwing her
off.

His
fingers drifted across Cyn’s face. The white in his hair deepened, the bruise
disappearing under his hand. The swelling went down, the black and blue turning
a healthy pink.

When
he was done, he was shaking like a leaf.

“Wow,”
Emma breathed. Tabby was pretty sure it was the first time the woman had ever
been shocked speechless.

“I
know you don’t trust me. I was hoping to give us both some time, get to know
one another before I changed you. Is that such a bad thing?”

Cyn
shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “You also said it wasn’t time yet. Can you
please explain that to me?”

His
eyes closed wearily. “I…know things. It’s part of who and what I am, but what I
see is incomplete. All I know is that if I change you before it’s the right
time, there will be serious repercussions.”

“What
kind of repercussions?”

He
opened his eyes. Something in his expression sent a shiver down Tabby’s spine,
and suddenly she knew why Julian had been holding off on marking Cyn. “Neither
of you will survive.”

Julian
nodded. “It’s coming soon. I can’t see what’s going to happen, but I know that
a decision must be made that will change everything.” He held out his hand to
Cyn. “Please. Trust me.”

Cyn
studied Julian. Tabby couldn’t read her expression. It was closed off,
introspective. She figured Cyn must be weighing her own past against what she
saw of her friends’ future. “Give me one thing. One piece of information I
don’t know. Everything I’ve learned about you, about
us
, I’ve had to
hear from other people. Give me something of yours.”

Julian
lowered his hand. “I’m not sure I’ll survive what’s coming next.”

Cyn
took a deep breath and nodded. “That’s the reason you haven’t
marked
me?” She made little quotations with her fingers.

“One
of them, yes.”

She
took her eyes off of him. Her foot started to tap. “You were trying to save my
life.” She glared at him. “We’re going to have a nice, long chat about what you
should and should not hide from me. Understand?”

He
nodded. Whether or not he agreed with it, Tabby had no clue.

“All
right. You do what you have to and I’ll do the same.”

“If
you become Puma or Wolf, you’ll lose your life.”

He
sounded so certain, Tabby couldn’t doubt him. “Cyn, you should wait.”

She
nodded. “I’m not an idiot.” She turned back to Julian. “Give me reasons why you
want things from me. I’m a lot more likely to listen to that than some bullshit
about not being ready. Got it?”

He
nodded again.

“I
will deal with you later.” He opened his mouth to speak, but Cyn held up her
hand, stopping him. Tabby could tell she was still furious, that Latina temper
still riled. “I have to go clean my shop. Tabby, do me a favor. Make sure he
gets home. He looks half-dead.”

“We
can drop you off first.”

Cyn
smiled. “I could use the walk.” She headed for the door, making sure to avoid
touching Julian on her way out. “Bye, Emma. Bye, Becky.”

The
women echoed her goodbye and watched her through the plate glass window. Julian
kept his back to the door, his expression blank. Tabby knew he was hurt by
Cyn’s rejection.

“Well.
That was fun. Not.” Emma shook her head, her hands on her hips. “Someone needs
to give her a time-out. Maybe a nap.”

Tabby
started to laugh. Julian rolled his eyes. “I’ll take care of her, don’t worry.”

“Whether
she likes it or not?”

Tabby
jumped to her friend’s defense. “She doesn’t think she needs taking care of.
She’s got reasons for why she’s acting the way she is. I know some of them, but
not all of them. Emma, remember what you told me about Rick, that I should be
honest with him and tell him everything? Julian, that’s what you need to do
with Cyn. She sort of had a mushroom childhood.”

“A
what?”

“She
was plunked down in the dark and fed a lot of bullshit.”

“Oh.
Yeah, that would do it.” Emma waved. “Listen, I have inventory to sort out.
I’ll talk to all of you later. And Tabby? Be available when Rick gets here,
okay?” Before Tabby could protest, Emma was back through the curtain,
effectively cutting her off.

“Nice
exit.” Tabby turned back to Julian. He was smiling. More of his hair was its
natural black. Very little could keep Julian down for long, not even rejection
from his mate. Tabby bet he was already figuring out ways to get around Cyn’s
temper.

“She’s
good at those.” Becky settled back down on the couch. “Crisis over?”

“For
now,” Julian said. He gave Tabby a long look. “We need to talk.”

“Ugh.
More talking? I’m all talked out. How about hunting?”

Julian’s
expression blanked. “Hunting?”

“No
lunch. The pizza’s probably long cold by now and Alex already ate without me.”

“He
wouldn’t want you out there by yourself.”

She
grinned. “I won’t be. You’ll be with me.” She reached up and patted his cheek.
“Couldn’t you go for a nice warm rabbit right about now?”

“Fine,
but you’re letting him know where we are.”

“Can
do. C’mon, let’s go. I’m dying for a good run.”

“Amen.”
Julian shuddered all over. “I’d love to get into my fur.”

“Then
it’s a done deal.” She knew just the place to take him, too. Far enough away
from the college that Gary couldn’t give her grief without disobeying the local
Alpha, yet close enough that she wouldn’t have to drive into the next town over
just to avoid the college. She waved bye to Becky and dragged Julian out of the
store. “C’mon, the car’s this way.”

Julian’s
smile turned grim. “Of course it is.”

She
stopped. “Uh-oh. Why do I have the feeling this is one of those I-know-something-you-don’t-know
moments?”

Julian
stopped. “You’re taking me into the woods northeast of Halle, the ones farthest
from the college. We’ll change, run, and Gary will be there. We’ll fight. I’m
pretty sure you’ll survive.”

Tabby
blinked. “How the
fuck
does Gary know we’re going running? We just
decided that!”

“He
doesn’t. He’s deliberately ignoring Max’s direct order to stay on the college
campus. Why, I have no idea, but there it is.”

Shit.
“Okay, maybe Burger King for
lunch.” Or maybe they could go in a completely different direction, like right
behind the campus?

He
shook his head and grabbed her arm. “If we don’t do this now, people will die.”

Well,
shit. “Where’s Alex?”

Julian
shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything after…”

Oh.
Oh shit.

After
he’s dead.

She
pulled out her cell phone and handed it to Julian. “Start dialing.”

He
looked startled, but only for a moment. He began to punch in numbers, his face
tight. “Bunny? Meet Tabby and me in the woods northeast of Halle. We’re going
hunting.” He winced and pulled the phone from his ear. Tabby could hear Alex
roaring on the other end. “Listen to me! It’s
important
.” The commanding
tone was back in Julian’s voice. On the other end of the line, Alex stopped
roaring. “I had a vision. You need to meet us there. Got it?”

“Got
it,” she heard Alex rumble. She unlocked the doors of the Jeep and settled in,
buckling her seat belt. Julian joined her and she started the engine. “Keep her
safe, Julian.”

“I’ll
do my best.”

She
took off with a squeal of tires, heading for the outskirts of Halle.

“Do
better.”

She
felt a grim smile flirting around her mouth. Her big, overprotective Bear was
having a fit that he wasn’t the one there to protect her.

“We’ll
be in those woods in about twenty minutes. Get there as fast as you can.”
Julian hung up the phone and placed it on her console.