Guardian Bears: Marcus (12 page)

T
he battered old
car drove through the darkness, and Lisa yawned. Beside her, Hazel smiled, as though happy to be on an adventure.

It’s been a long time since she’s been anywhere,
Lisa realized.
Even this far.

They’d planned to head on to the next town, and see if the motel there had any rooms free. It wasn’t much of a risk, not this time of year - the bigger worry was that it might be shut, business would be so slow.

“Won’t be long now,” she said, not sure if she was speaking to Hazel or to herself. The road was eerie in the dark, no lights but theirs as they sped through the woods.

No, that wasn’t right. There were lights behind her, another car closing on them. Lisa glanced at her speed and shook her head. Whoever was behind them was clearly in a hurry to get somewhere, and didn’t mind taking risks about it.

“Idiot,” she said under her breath, slowing a little and making sure he had plenty of space to pass her.

She felt her mother tense as she looked around, “Don’t slow down.”

“What?” She looked at her mother and saw that her face was pale and frightened. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s not a car.”

She looked back and saw the lights separate in the mirror. What she’d thought was a single vehicle was two bikes, speeding to overtake them.

“They can’t be here for us,” Lisa said, trying to sound reassuring despite the pit of dread that was opening in her stomach. “The only person who knows we’re on the road is Marcus, and he wouldn’t have told anyone. Unless -”

Her heart skipped a beat, and she felt her hands tighten on the wheel.
Unless they made him.

Hazel shook her head sharply. “Don’t be silly! You know that he’d never give you up, no matter what - and he can take care of himself. We need to look after us, right now.”

Quickly rummaging through her bag, Hazel pulled out a revolver. Lisa stared at it for a moment, appalled, before bringing her eyes back to the road. How had she not known that her mother had a gun?

She dragged her attention back to the road and tried to ignore the pit opening in her stomach. Her fingers trembled until she clenched them tight on the wheel, knuckles whitening as she glanced into the mirror again. The bikers were just behind them now, and her little car wasn’t going to outrun them. Not that she’d have trusted her driving in a high-speed chase, anyway. No matter how easy the movies made it look, she knew she’d be more likely to run herself into a tree than to get away, even if she could go fast enough.

Hazel twisted in her seat as best she could, trying to aim the gun at their pursuers. It wasn’t easy, and Lisa winced at the thought of this turning into a shootout. She slowed down.

“What are you doing?” Hazel looked around at her, eyes narrowed and gun mostly steady in her hands.

“I’m not going to get us into a crash, mom,” Lisa replied, pulling the car over beside the dark and looming trees. The bikes passed them and pulled to a halt a few yards ahead. Behind them, more lights were approaching. “We can’t fight them and we can’t run. Let Marcus know what’s happened, he’ll… he’ll do something.”

He’d better
, she thought, undoing her seat belt and steeling herself to get out of the car. Hazel’s hand closed on her wrist with a vicelike grip.

“No you don’t! You’re not going out there, Lisa, not with them.” The venom in her voice was harsh, angry, and afraid. Lisa looked at her mom, tears welling in her eyes.

“I don’t have any choice! I’m not going to let them hurt you, mom, and if we try to fight, that’s all that will happen. We can’t win.”

“We might. I’ve got enough bullets.”

Lisa wrapped her arms around her mother and hugged her tight. Her heart ached and her mind was numbed by their near escape. But if the Serpents were there for her, not Hazel, then her mom could still get away.

“I’m sorry, mom,” she said, her voice wet with tears. As she sat back from the embrace, she reached for Hazel’s hand, pulling the revolver from her grasp. Her mother took a moment too long to react, and by the time she was reaching for her gun, Lisa was opening the car door. She dropped the pistol outside and stepped out following it.

“I can’t let you throw your life away defending me, mom,” she explained, not wanting to look back and see her mother’s reaction to her betrayal. “You can still get out of this okay.”

The bikers were nearly at the car now, and she straightened, looking up to greet them. Behind her, in the car, her mother cursed.

“Well, fancy meeting you here, Lisa,” Cal said, grinning nastily as he swung down from his bike. Lisa’s heart froze - why did it have to be him?

I should have expected this,
she thought.
Of course he wouldn’t give up a chance to harass me again if he could get it.

She felt scared, yes, terrified even, but more than anything she was tired of this bullshit.

“Just get it over with, Cal. Do whatever it is you’re going to do.”

Cal laughed, his comrade joining in. Behind her, Lisa could hear another group of bikes pulling up.

I love you, mom, but there’s no way you’re a good enough shot to take on this many
, she thought, glad she’d gotten the gun away from Hazel before she tried anything foolish.

Cal stepped close, looming over her, the darkness obscuring his face. It almost looked as though he had snake eyes, though Lisa knew that must be a trick of her imagination. His hand reached up to hold her chin, pulling her up to face him. She shuddered at his touch but kept herself from pulling away.

“I reckon I owe you for the sucker punch that fucker Marcus laid on me,” he hissed, squeezing her face savagely.

“He beat you fair and square,” she told him fiercely, forcing the words out past his hand. “If you want to argue that with someone, pick a fight with him. I’d love to watch a rematch.”

Cal just laughed, dragging her back to his bike. The Serpents laughed with him, grabbing her arms and ignoring Hazel’s shouts. Taking some rope, they quickly lashed her hands together, and then to his bike.

“You’re going to regret this,” Lisa promised them, trying to keep her voice from shaking like a leaf. “Marcus is going to mess you up.”

The bikers laughed. “He’s not going to do shit,” one of them said, giving her a hard slap. “And you know it. Not with your life on the line for his good behavior.”

Cal smirked. “That’s if he’s even still alive. Wouldn’t want to bet on him getting out away from his meeting with Vance with all his bits intact. Shame, I wanted to be the one to finish him, but at least I still get to pay you back for betraying me, you bitch.”

They’re just trying to scare me
, Lisa told herself. But if that was true, they were succeeding. In all the years that they’d been apart, she’d never doubted that Marcus was alive. Doing something dangerous, perhaps, but she’d never doubted that he’d come out of it alive and in one piece. Now, though, her heart was in her mouth as she thought of him. Could they be right; could he be dead?

Wouldn’t I know? I’d feel it somehow, right?
She couldn’t be sure. The icy fingers of fear wrapped around her thoughts, and she couldn’t concentrate. Whatever connection there was between her and the bear who’d claimed her as his mate, she couldn’t feel it, or him. A small whimper of fear escaped her lips and she heard the bikers around her laugh at her distress.

They looked up as another bike approached down the road, its engine filling the quiet air of the night with its roar.

“Expecting someone else?” The biker holding Lisa’s right arm asked. He let go and took a step back, looking down the road at the headlight.

Cal shook his head, frowning. “Nope. Shouldn’t be anyone but us here.”

The oncoming bike slowed, stopped. The light switched off, and the moonlight fell through the canopy overhead to reveal the rider: Marcus.

Even in the pale moonlight, even at a distance, it was clear that he wasn’t at his best. He didn’t have a jacket or a helmet, and his white t-shirt was torn and covered in dark splashes of what could only be blood. His face was streaked with it too, and as he got off the bike, Lisa saw that he was unsteady on his feet.

But then he straightened and looked up the road to the group of Serpents surrounding her, his fury written across his face. Lisa felt her captors deflate as he fixed them with a glare.

“Let her go and leave,” he shouted, taking a step forwards. “I’ll give you one chance to get out of here, and that’s all.”

Cal laughed, but it wasn’t the confident laughter he mocked Lisa with. Now he sounded scared, laughing to convince himself that he was in control.

“Didn’t expect to see you, Marcus. That’s a bonus – we get to kill you and then have our fun with Lisa. You don’t think you can take us six on one, do you?”

The other Serpents spread out, and a couple reached under their jackets to pull out pistols. Marcus shook his head, bared his teeth, and growled.

The sound wasn’t human. It resonated, filling the woods, making everyone freeze. Even Lisa’s blood chilled at the sound and it wasn’t aimed at her. She found herself surprised that the gang members didn’t simply keel over in shock.

It did keep them in place for a moment as Marcus charged, rushing towards them with inhuman speed. In the blink of an eye he changed, grew, bursting from his clothes as a great grizzly bear barreling towards her and her captors.

One of the gunmen managed to shake free of his paralysis and pulled the trigger, the crack of his shot swallowed by the woods. The bullet went wide as the bear rushed him, but the noise was enough to shake the rest of them out of their shock and into action.

The Serpents scrambled for their guns, all apart from Cal and the biker beside him, who gunned their engines and pulled away as Marcus smashed into the first gunman, swatting him aside with a great sweep of his claws. Lisa shuddered at the fountain of blood he sent flying along with the man’s pistol. Others jumped back, one trying to bring a shotgun up, others blazing away wildly with handguns.

Lisa whimpered at the sight, twisting to see what happened as Cal tried to control his bike. The bear smashed into the group of bikers with a terrifyingly controlled fury.

He had the skill of a trained warrior, an elite soldier - and the strength and toughness of a bear, the claws and teeth to match. The Serpent with the shotgun tried to raise it to his face, but he ducked around the muzzle. The shot roared into the night an instant before Marcus’s great paw smacked down onto the face of the man who dared to threaten him.

Lisa watched the man go flying into his friends, the shotgun falling from his grip. She saw a bullet from one of the handguns hit home, but the wound on his shoulder only seemed to enrage Marcus more. He turned to snarl at the biker who fired it, the man turned tail and ran, dropping his gun as he fled into the darkness.

Smart man, for a Serpent
, Lisa thought. Her heart was in her mouth as she watched Marcus fight on, but he didn’t seem to mind the wound at all. A wide sweep of his arms smashed another Serpent into her car with an impact that sent the small car skidding aside. She tried to see if her mother was all right, but couldn’t make her out through the chaos.

“Let’s get out of here,” the biker beside Cal shouted, and twisted his throttle, accelerating into the night. Cal didn’t need any persuading. His rear tire smoked as he gunned his engine wildly, and they sped off.

“
M
arcus
!” Lisa shouted in panic, trying to get his attention, and the bear’s head snapped round. With a great roar, it bounded off after them, but the bike was already moving and he had so much distance to cover. Lisa’s blood ran cold as she despaired of him reaching her in time.

The distance didn’t stop Marcus. His great paws slammed onto the asphalt, pushing him forwards with a speed that shocked her. Even as the bike picked up speed, the bear closed the gap behind them, great bounding leaps carrying him ever closer to them. She saw the other bike fall behind as its rider tried to find an angle to shoot at Marcus without stopping the bike.

The bear was level with the rear tire, and without breaking stride, he struck a casual blow that sent the bike spinning, tumbling, crashing. The Serpent riding it was flung free and Lisa winced at the sound of his impact on the road, but Marcus’ focus didn’t leave her.

Over the sound of the engine, Lisa thought she could hear Cal swearing as he glanced back to see what had happened to his friend. Seeing the bear right behind them, he shouted something she couldn’t make out and yanked at the handlebars, dragging the bike away. It wobbled as he fought for control, and for a moment Lisa thought that they were going to crash.

Marcus was close enough that if her hands had been free, she could have reached out and touched him. Even in the darkness, she could see the intense passion in his eyes, his focus on keeping her safe, his love for her. There was pain, too, from the wounds he’d suffered in the fight, but she could see the determination in him. The absolute unwillingness to let anything stop him so long as she was in danger.

But even as fast as he was, could he outrun a bike when it got up to speed? She didn’t know, but she didn’t think so. And if Cal could get some distance, he’d be able to get backup, and Marcus had already been in too many fights. Icy fear washed through her, and a strange calm came with it.

The bike slowed, just a little, as Cal fought to get it under control. Marcus could have smashed it then, maybe, but with her aboard, he seemed unwilling to take the chance.
My darling bear, you can’t risk hurting me, can you? No matter how badly you get hurt, defending me.

Lisa gathered her strength and threw her weight sideways. Her movement caught Cal by surprise, and before he could correct for it, his balance was gone too and they were falling.

The ground struck hard, and she lost track of what was happening for a moment as pain shot through her. She thanked her lucky stars that they hadn’t been moving faster, but even so the fall seemed to go on forever. The ropes binding her to the bike pulled at her arms, keeping her from raising them to protect her head, and the impact left her seeing stars.

Eventually, the world stopped rolling around her, and she lay still, trying to take stock. Both of her arms felt like they were on fire, and her left leg was a mass of blinding pain. But nothing seemed to be broken, and she could feel everything. The pain was bad enough that she almost wished she couldn’t, but it still seemed like a good sign.

Rough hands grabbed her, fingers digging painfully into her arms and making her scream. Cal laughed, a rough, nasty sound, ignoring her pain and pulling her to her knees. Lisa felt something cold, metal, pressed to the side of her face, and froze.

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on,” he called into the darkness, his voice unsteady. “But I’ve still got a gun and I’ll kill her before I let you have her!”

The blinding pain receded slightly, and through the tears in her eyes, she could see Marcus, the bear only a few yards away. He growled, his eyes focused on the revolver in Cal’s hand. Slowly, he took a step backward.

“That’s right, you monster,” Cal said, sounding more confident as the bear backed off. “You get away from us, you hear?”

Marcus took another pace backward, near the tree line now, and then another. The great bear was almost invisible in the shadows, his eyes fixed on Cal, and Lisa whimpered as she felt the gun move from her cheek. She saw it as Cal raised his arm to aim at the bear - a huge, heavy revolver, the kind that could do some real damage if it hit.

The bear turned and bounded into the trees before he could take his shot. Lisa felt her heart sink as she lost sight of him, but the noise of his passage through the woods stopped almost at once. Marcus was still close by, watching them.

Cal tightened his grip on her and tried to drag her back, out onto the road. She cried out as he pulled - her aching arms were still tied to his bike, which was too heavy for her to drag. She heard Cal curse again, and couldn’t help smiling, despite the pain. He was stuck. Without her as a hostage, there was nothing stopping Marcus from rushing him, and he was close enough to the trees that he wouldn’t have much chance to take a shot.

“Where are you hiding, monster?” Cal shouted at the woods, his pistol sweeping across the darkness. “Come out and let’s finish this!”

Silence was the only response, the oppressive silence of the forest which seemed to loom closer with every passing moment. He waited a second, then another, and his gun started to tremble. Lisa listened carefully for any hint of what Marcus was up to, but there was no sound to be heard.

“All right, we’ll play it your way,” Cal said, and let go of her. For a moment, she wondered if he was about to let her go, but then his hand was on her again, grabbing her bruised arm, twisting and squeezing. She screamed as the burning pain shot through her.

“Come out where I can see you and I’ll let her go,” Cal shouted. “Otherwise, you can listen to your precious Lisa suffer till you change your mind!”

His hand was strong, crushing her bones as he wrenched her arm upwards. Lisa’s legs gave out from the pain and she tried to bite down on her scream, willing Marcus not to fall into this trap.

I can take it
, she told herself, not sure if she was lying. She sank down, whimpering as Cal relaxed his grip slightly.

Her eyes closed against the pain, she thought she heard something. A quiet scraping sound, coming from above. Trying not to react, not to draw Cal’s attention to it, she focused on the ground beneath her, the rough asphalt, the pain in her leg and her arms.

Cal’s boot came down on her thigh, his weight leaning into her wound, and she screamed loud and raw. This time she didn’t even try to restrain herself, howling in agony and hoping that it would cover the sound of whatever Marcus was doing.

Throat raw, her screaming subsided when Cal lifted his foot, and Lisa found herself panting for breath, tears flowing freely.

Come on Marcus, please hurry,
she thought.
I can’t take much more of this!

The sound came again, something scraping on wood high up in one of the trees beside the road.

She felt rather than saw Cal raise his boot again, and whimpered as she tried to prepare for the agony. Above them, wood creaked under a heavy weight, a branch shifting, and both Lisa and Cal froze, their eyes snapping upwards.

From the branches of the nearest tree, a grizzly bear looked down at them, eyes blazing with anger, teeth bared and claws digging into the wood. For the briefest moment, none of them moved, and then Cal leaped backward, bringing up his revolver.

The bear jumped too, sailing out of the tree and coming down on him before he could pull the trigger. The huge brown shaggy shape of Marcus slammed down its full weight on her captor, and the only noise Cal made was a
woof
of air forced out of his lungs, and a sickening crunch.

Lisa looked away and covered her eyes, not wanting to see any more. There was a final gunshot and then silence.

After an unbearably long moment, she heard footsteps and looked up again. There was Marcus, naked and blood-covered, stumbling around the bike towards her. As she watched, he slumped down to the ground, landing heavily on the asphalt.

“Marcus!” She called out, but he didn’t answer. Tugging frantically at her bonds, she tried to go to him, pulling at the bike, but her limbs were weak and trembling from the terror she’d been through, and hurt too much to apply pressure. She sobbed in fear and frustration.

Slowly, he managed to turn his head and look at her, a smile spreading across his lips. Relief flooded her, and she sat back beside the bike, shaking. He pulled himself forwards, panting with effort, rising up and stumbling to her side. The knots holding her to Cal’s motorcycle parted quickly for him, and he sank down beside her, gasping for breath.

“Are you all right?” she asked frantically, looking him over. She thought that a lot of the blood wasn’t his, but too much was.

“I’m fine,” he said with a grin that covered the pain he must have been in.

“Fine?
Fine?
” Lisa’s voice rose in hysteria and outrage. “Marcus, you’ve been shot! You’re bleeding!”

“I’ve had worse,” he said, shrugging. She couldn’t imagine what ‘worse’ would look like, and didn’t want to. “And anyway, I’ll be fine as long as you’re all right. You’re safe now, so I’m fine. No arguments.”

She sighed, frustrated by his attitude but happy he was alive to make that ridiculous argument. Happy that she was free and able to hear it. “Okay, I guess I owe you that. No arguments.”

“Good girl,” he said, sitting up and wrapping her in his strong arms. “Now I need to make a few phone calls and finish this. The Serpents will be packing up and leaving, as quick as they can now. With Vance and most of the rest of the leadership gone, there’s no one to keep them here. And the FBI will be
really
interested in the missing persons cases that can be traced to them - no amount of control over the local police will keep them safe at this point. They’re done.”

With a great heave, he lifted himself to his feet, and she came with him. Lisa winced as she tried to put weight on her left leg and felt a wave of pain from it, and Marcus was unsteady as he leaned into her. Despite his insistence that he was fine, she could tell that the evening’s work had taken its toll on him. Supporting each other, they started to walk slowly back down the road towards her car.

“Thank you for saving me,” Lisa said as they walked. “I thought I was done for there.”

“Never while I have breath in my body,” he replied, sounding tired but proud. “I’ll always keep you safe, Lisa.”

“Well, I know that
now
,” she said, grinning up at him, feeling as exhausted as he sounded. “But it was scary for a couple of minutes! And then there you were, coming to the rescue.”

The car was waiting for them beside the road, and Lisa was just as glad it had been knocked aside during the fight. She’d rather not see too much of what Marcus had done to the other Serpents - several of them had been in good enough shape to make it back to their bikes and get away, it seemed, but the rest were still lying where the bear had batted them. She shivered and looked away.

Beside her, she felt Marcus tense. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked. “I mean, with who and what I am? I’ve never shown an outsider what I can do, what I
will
do, before. But I’m a warrior, a soldier, as well as a bear. And I’m the boy who loved you years ago before he left to join the Army, the boy who loved you too much to risk being around you and put you in danger. You’ve seen all of me now, and I need to know - can you still love me, Lisa?”

She looked at him, nervously swallowing. “I… Marcus, I love you, I loved you before you left and I still love you. You’ve just rescued me from a crazy gunman, and got shot doing it! Why would you think I would love you
less
for that? I love you, and I love all of you, bear, man, and boy. If you don’t believe I love you now, what could possibly prove it to you?”

Marcus lifted his weight from her and sank down to the ground. For a moment, panic overcame her and she thought he was succumbing to his wounds. But then he smiled at her from one knee and took her hands in his.

“You can marry me,” he said, looking into her eyes. “Tell me you’ll be mine, and be with me forever. Be mine, Lisa, and I’ll be yours, and we’ll be happy together forever.”

She could barely hear his words over the pounding of her pulse, and her good leg trembled, threatening to give out. She couldn’t find the words, staring into those intense, dark eyes.

“Yes,” she finally managed. “Oh my God, yes!”

His arms circled her and held her tight, keeping her up as she embraced him, running her fingers through his hair. Marcus laughed and she joined in, injuries and fear forgotten. Finally, finally, they were going to be together and everything was going to be alright. It was as though a long dark night was ending at last, and the dawn was breaking on their real life, a life shared with one another.

The moment was finally broken by a pointed cough from the car.

“I approve of your choice, Lisa,” Hazel said, amused but stern, “and you don’t need to worry about getting my blessing, Marcus. But you really should have found some clothes before you asked her, you know. At least if you were going to do it in front of me.”

“Mother!” Lisa said, feeling her cheeks go red as she looked away hurriedly. Marcus blushed too, looking more embarrassed than she’d ever seen him.

“Sorry, Hazel,” he said, pulling himself upright. “It was a spur of the moment thing.”

“The best proposals are, I suppose,” Hazel said, and Lisa could hear her smile in her voice. “And anyway, this way I get to see
all
of why my daughter likes you so much.”

“
Mother!
” Lisa couldn’t help laughing despite her shock, and soon the three of them were all laughing, relief flooding through them. Marcus quickly grabbed a towel from the car and covered himself, before borrowing Lisa’s phone to make some calls.

“Let’s get home, sweetheart,” Hazel suggested. “If the Serpents aren’t a threat anymore, we should get your man’s wounds cleaned and dressed, and Marcus will need some rest after that. He’s earned it!”