Unbearable: Russet Falls Series (17 page)

“Gabby! Please!” He grabbed her arm
to spin her around, desperate to kiss her, to touch her, to feel her warmth.

He felt the electricity between
them.

And he knew Gabby felt it too.

They stared at one another, heat
coursing between the two of them, until Gabby wrenched her hand from his.

“Fuck you, Zane,” she spat. “Now
get out.”

Gabby watched Zane leave, looking
more broken then she had ever seen a person look. It just didn’t seem right.
Zane was always so confident, so sure of himself, almost to the point of arrogance,
so to see him so dejected just seemed, well, wrong.

But she let it go.

He had killed her father!

She sat down on the bed, staring
out the small window. Beyond Alicia’s property line were trees for as far as
Gabby could see.

The forest.

Filled with other freak show
shifter bears, as well as other clans who wanted to get their hands, or
paws
,
on her.

She shuddered as she thought about
how close she had come to death the previous night, and how foolish she had been
to put her sister and mother in danger. Gabby knew now that she had no choice
but to accept her fate.

The thought depressed her, and she
burst into tears.

How could she ever be happy here?

How would she ever learn to feel
comfortable around these people?

But a small voice inside her head
told her that it might be nice to have a community, a family.

Gabby had always been a bit of an
outcast thanks to her mother’s drunkenness. She had never been able to have
friends over to the house, and as she got older, it was harder and harder to
maintain relationships. Her two closest friends had gone away to college, and
then remained in those towns, vowing to never return to Russet Falls. Other
than Paul and Lucy, who else did Gabby interact with?

It was a depressing realization,
and it made her feel even worse about herself. She did her best to focus on
Lucy instead. She needed to find out what Quentin had done to help her, and she
needed to find out when and how often she could see Lucy. She could live
without a lot of things, but she couldn’t live without her sister.

Determined, she stomped down the
stairs. She was going to give Alicia and Grayson a piece of her mind and get
some answers. But all the hot air went out of her when she caught sight of
Alicia’s face.

Wow.

She must not have slept at all last
night, and suddenly Gabby remembered about Alicia’s nephew.

Crap.

No way was she going to make a big
fuss in front of Alicia while she was dealing with her own issues.

“Good morning,” Alicia said,
sounding as if she had been crying all night. “Want me to make you some
breakfast?” She moved toward the cabinets, but Gabby quickly jumped in to stop
her.

“No! I’m fine! I don’t want you to
go out of your way to do anything for me. You’re dealing with enough.”

Alicia gave her a sad smile. “Thank
you. But I know that you’re dealing with quite a lot too.”

Gabby nodded. “It’s fine. Really.
I’m sure you don’t want me in your way.” It was so uncomfortable. She missed
the privacy of living alone. She wanted her own space back.

“Well, help yourself to whatever
you want,” Alicia said, just as Grayson came walking into the kitchen. “We’re
going to spend the day with my family, so you have the place all to yourself
today.”

“Err, thanks. Umm, can you tell me
where I can find Quentin?”

Alicia nodded. “He lives two doors
down.” She pointed in the right direction.

“Thanks.” Gabby didn’t recall the
houses being close together, so she assumed she would have a nice long walk to
get to his house.

“Oh, and some of your stuff is in
the living room,” Alicia said.

She and Grayson left, and Gabby
settled in and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She also needed to talk to
Michael and to find out more information. She knew that Zane could give her the
answers she needed, but there was no way she was going to deal with him.

Gabby decided to check out the
living room, and she was shocked to see the entire contents of her closet
packed nicely into four large cardboard boxes. When had that happened?

Relieved to have some of her
things, she rifled through the clothes, pulling out a pair of her shorts and a
t-shirt that actually fit her. Since she would be walking, she put on a pair of
her sneakers and threw her hair up into a messy bun.

She hurried out the door and headed
in the direction Alicia had pointed. The houses were definitely not built close
together, and she made her way down the street. It was a bright, sunny day and
it felt good to be out in the fresh air. She finally passed the first house, a
tiny brick home, and then continued walking toward a large stone house in the
distance.

When she reached Quentin’s house
she realized that it looked much older than she had originally thought. She
knocked on the door and Quentin answered, looking tired, which seemed to be the
look everyone had today.

“Oh, Gabby, hi,” he said, clearly
flustered. “Umm, come on in.”

Gabby wasn’t sure why he was being
weird, but when he pulled the door open, she saw why.

Zane was sitting at his kitchen
table.

“Seriously?” she muttered.

“I think the two of you had the
same idea,” Quentin said kindly.

“I’ll be going,” Zane said,
standing up, looking painfully at Gabby.

“Good idea,” she snapped.

“He means well,” Quentin explained.

“I really don’t need your input,”
Gabby said, a little more harshly than she had meant to.

Quentin nodded.

“Gabby, you can’t ignore me
forever,” Zane said as he passed her.

“Watch me.”

Gabby thought it was an accident
though she couldn’t be sure, but Zane brushed against her as he passed. She
felt her body spin with sensation, and her breath caught in her throat.

Damn Zane and his ridiculous body!
She refused to be attracted to him! It had to stop!

He smirked and then left.

“What an asshole!” she exploded.

“Did I miss something?” Quentin
asked confused.

Gabby sighed. “No, nothing. I’m
sorry. And I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I just wanted to see how Lucy was
doing. And I guess my mother. And,” she rambled on, “I was really hoping that
someone around here could tell me when I can see my sister again and how often
I can see her. Because this is complete and utter bullshit if I can’t see her!”

Quentin nodded, perfectly calm as
always. “Lucy is doing fine. I left her early this morning. She doesn’t have
any serious injuries, though she’s definitely going to be bruised for a bit.
Her lip didn’t need stitches—just going to need some time to heal.” He frowned.
“Your mother seemed fine too. I got her upstairs to her bed and told her she
needed to sleep it off.”

“Yeah, well I’m sure she slept it
off only to start a new bender this morning,” Gabby huffed.

“Maybe. But it probably isn’t going
to be that easy.”

Gabby gave him a funny look. “And
why not?”

“Because I dumped all the liquor
after I helped your sister to bed.”

Gabby’s jaw dropped as she stared
at Quentin. Then she burst out laughing. “Are you serious?”

“Yep. Your momma was as drunk as a
skunk. Nothing good can come from being that drunk. She’s not doing either of
you any damn good wasting away because of the bottle.”

Gabby was seriously impressed.
“Wow. I really can’t believe you did that.”

Quentin shrugged. “Just seemed like
the right thing to do.”

“Well, thank you. For everything.
For helping Lucy and for taking care of my mother.”

“It was nothing, really. And your
sister was very sweet, even though she seemed to be in pain.”

Gabby winced. “Do you know if I can
see her?”

Quentin frowned. “It’s not up to
me. You’d have to take it up with Michael.”

Gabby rolled her eyes; she had
figured as much.

“But Michael’s a good guy,” he said
quickly, “And he would never keep someone from their family. He’s all about
family.” He paused, as if debating on saying something. “And hey, look. Zane is
a great guy, too. He’s got a bit of a big head to go along with all those big
muscles, but he means well, and I know he feels awful after learning what he
did to you. I know it’s hard, but try to cut the guy some slack.” He looked at
Gabby’s face. “If you can,” he added quickly.

For some reason, Gabby let her
guard down. “I just don’t think I can. He
killed
my father. My whole
life was one big shit pile because I had to grow up without a dad and with a
mother who turned into a drunk after she lost her husband.” Angry tears pricked
at her eyes, but she refused to cry over something that had already brought her
so many tears and so much heartache. “It’s just not possible.”

She took a deep breath, gathering
herself. “I really appreciate your help with my family. I’m going to head over
to Michael’s and see what I can work out.”

Quentin frowned. “Michael probably
won’t be able to see you today. There’s a lot going on with the clan since the
cub was killed.”

Oh. Right.

Gabby sighed. “Crap. I knew that.”
As much as she wanted to see Lucy, she knew that her troubles were not as bad
as the family grieving the death of their young son. “What is going on with that
if you don’t mind me asking? I keep hearing people talk about cubs being
killed.”

Quentin nodded. “You should be
informed, since you’re basically one of us now.”

Gabby wasn’t sure if she liked the
sound of that, but she let Quentin continue.

“Someone has been sneaking onto our
lands and killing our cubs. We’re not sure who it is, but we have a strong
feeling it’s the Atrocitas clan.” He saw Gabby’s confused looks. “There are
three bear clans around here. The Atrocitas, the most bloodthirsty, the
Cruentus—definitely the cruelest.” He paused. “That was your father’s clan,” he
added apologetically.

That didn’t really matter to Gabby.
She knew that her father had been anything but cruel and that he had hated
bears, which made her think that he had probably hated what he was. That would
explain why no one else knew about it, including her mother. Her mother would
never have been able to keep that quiet, especially after all her years of
drinking.

“And then, us—the Virtus. Anyway,
we think it’s the Atrocitas killing the cubs, just as we were certain it was
the Cruentus coming after you.”

“But why would they kill kids?”
Gabby asked.

“Because we’re already a dying
breed. All the clans are, but our tribe is suffering the most. The more we mate
with humans, the more we dilute our blood, and the less shifters we produce.
When my parents were growing up, the clan was filled with cubs! But now barely
a quarter of the children born to this clan are shifters. Soon, we’ll be
non-existent.”

Gabby made a sour face. “Which is
where I come in.”

Quentin shifted uncomfortably.
“Sort of. Your blood is rare and powerful. You would produce shifter children
if you mate with a bear. That would help our clan in more ways than one.”

Gabby didn’t want to think about
that just yet. “But you think the other clan is killing the cubs so that they
can hurt the Virtus?”

“Sure. Fewer cubs means less bears.
Fewer bears means less competition. Personally, I think they want to diminish
our tribe as much as possible, and the bastards will move onto the Cruentus
tribe next.”

Gabby swallowed. It didn’t sound
good.

“So you see, Michael has his hands
full.”

She could certainly see. “Yes. I
suppose my needs can wait.” She looked around his kitchen and uncomfortably
realized there was no other reason for her to stay. “I guess I’ll be on my way
then,” she said, moving towards the door.

“I know this can’t be easy, Gabby,”
Quentin said kindly, walking her to the exit.

She shook her head. It
wasn’t
easy. And she knew if she opened her mouth to speak, she might cry.

Really, now.  She was an emotional
train wreck!

“But I promise you, we’re a nice
bunch. And there are plenty of men in this tribe who would be lucky to have
you.”

Gabby studied Quentin, wondering if
he would pursue her. He wasn’t wearing a wedding band, and his house had the
empty feeling of a person who lived alone.

“Thanks,” Gabby said. “See you
around.”

She left Quentin’s house and slowly
began walking back to her temporary home.

Zane changed his clothes after
coming home from work and took out a cold beer from the fridge. He headed out
to his back patio, which faced the woods, and settled himself into a chair
before twisting off the top.

It had been a long and strange
week, and he was frustrated that he had made no progress with Gabby, though he
didn’t know why he was still expecting her to forgive him. He had known from
the moment he learned of this twist of fate that Gabby would not be able to
ever look at him the same way again.

Michael had allowed Gabby to visit
her sister two days ago, though Sam and Tommy had shadowed her for protection.
Zane knew her sister, Lucy, was graduating from high school at the end of the
week, and Michael had given Gabby permission to attend. He also had just lifted
the ban on suitors, and now Gabby was considered an eligible female.

The thought of other shifters vying
for her affection made his blood boil. He nearly crushed the bottle in his
hands. His bear roared angrily and he felt the familiar ripple of his muscles
begging for the release of the shift.

He took a deep breath, feeling the
wave of hair wash across him and then recede. There was no reason to lose
control out here on his back deck. What was done was done. He couldn’t change
the past. He would just have to continue living with the biggest mistake he had
ever made.

Frustrated, he took another swig of
his beer. He leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes, and let his mind wander.
Of course, his thoughts returned to Gabby, and he found it sickeningly ironic
that she was now living under the same roof as his ex-fiancé. He knew Michael
didn’t get caught up in petty matters, and that he had simply made a practical
choice, but Zane couldn’t help but wonder if he could have picked a different
place for Gabby to crash.

After a while, he wandered inside,
finding some chicken and deciding to grill it, the only version of cooking that
he did. He heard footsteps in the grass alongside his property, and he tensed;
he wasn’t expecting anyone.

Michael came into view, looking
tired. He hadn’t been at work today because he had been tying up the last loose
ends of Liam’s death.

“Hey,” Zane said. “What are you
doing out here?”

“Just thought I’d stop by.”

Michael wasn’t one to socialize.

“Really?”

“Well, I thought I’d stop by and
discuss some work things since we didn’t catch up today.”

That’s what Zane had thought.

Zane nodded, flipping over a piece
of chicken. “Want a beer? I’m grilling some chicken here, and I’ve got plenty.”

“Sure. I’ll take both.”

Zane went inside and came out with
three more beers. He wanted another, and he figured that Michael might want
two; he looked like hell.

Michael cracked one open, looking
out into the woods. “This is a great backyard,” he commented.

Zane laughed. “Same view as
everyone else.”

Michael smiled. “I guess so.”

“So what’s up?”

A long pause. “You know that the
clan is free to pursue Gabby now?”

Zane narrowed his eyes. “How could
I forget,” he growled.

“Sam was the first to approach
her.”

Zane made an animalistic sound deep
in his throat. His bear was ready to burst through. “He’s just a fucking kid!”

Michael shrugged. “He’s the same
age as her,” he pointed out.

Zane found that hard to believe,
but Michael was right. Gabby just seemed older.

Michael laughed. “She turned him
down, though. Slammed the door right in his face. I believe her exact words
were ‘I don’t date pricks that kidnapped me.’ ’’

Zane laughed in spite of himself;
that sounded like her.

“Tommy isn’t even going to waste
his time. Apparently, Gabby had some major issues with him since he was the one
who had to restrain her in the van.”

Zane remembered as he flipped the
chicken. He had been so angry at how Sam and Tommy had handled that situation,
but now he smugly enjoyed how they had ruined their chances with her.

Good.

“And you?” Michael asked quietly.
“Will you pursue her?”

Zane scoffed. “We’ve been through
this. She made it perfectly clear that she wants nothing to do with me.”

Michael frowned. “But you two would
be a good match.”

“Yeah, well in case you forgot, I
killed her fucking father.”

“I didn’t forget,” Michael snapped.
“In case you forgot, my father put his ass on the line for you.”

That immediately shut Zane up. He
and Michael both knew that Michael’s father might have very well died because
of his involvement in protecting Zane. “I’m sorry,” Zane apologized, “I’ll
never forget what your father did for me.”

Michael nodded “It’s in the past. I
just feel like you and Gabby would make a good match.”

“Yeah, well, those days are over.”
Zane frowned. “I guess Mick is going to try, huh?”

Michael shook his head. “I told him
not to even bother. I think he blew his chance last week.”

Zane smirked. Then another thought
crossed his mind, and as much as he
hated
the thought, it seemed to be
the best option, considering the choices.

“What about you?” Zane asked
through gritted teeth. The thought of Michael and Gabby was nearly unbearable
but at least he trusted and respected Michael.

Michael shook his head. “No,” he
said firmly.

Zane was intrigued. “Why?”

Michael turned to look at him.
“Because I can see how you feel about her. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Yeah, well, I’d rather you were
with her than some other shithead,” Zane mumbled. He didn’t want Michael to go
get all sappy on him—that was
not
their style.

Michael looked out over the grass.
“I’m not sure if a mate is in the cards for me.”

“And why not?” Zane demanded. That
was just plain stupid. Michael was the alpha, after all.

Michael shrugged. “No one has ever
interested me. And I’m not crazy about going human.”

And by going human, he meant dating
outside of the clan. Zane understood. It was best to date in the clan; to help
strengthen their population, but Zane also knew it was slim pickings. The
eligible shifters were going to be all over Gabby like flies on shit.

Zane thought he had it all figured
out with Alicia. She was one of the clan, their babies would have been shifters
– life seemed to be going great. And then, BAM. Grayson came out of nowhere and
swept her off her fucking feet.

“Don’t think about that,” Michael
said, and Zane rolled his eyes. Of course Michael could read his thoughts—they
had been so damn strong. “You’re better off without her,” he added.

Zane shrugged. He went in and got
two plates for the chicken. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

“Thanks,” Michael said as they dug
in.

“What about Quentin?” Zane asked. 
He didn’t like that either, but after Michael, Quentin was the next clan member
he could probably tolerate the best.

“I thought about him too,” Michael
explained, “but I think Quentin’s mind is elsewhere,” he said slowly.

“Huh? Who?”

“I don’t know if I should say, and
it’s just what I’ve picked up. He hasn’t said anything.”

Zane knew Michael never talked
about others, so he was surprised that Michael was even mentioning it at all.

“I think he’s interested in Gabby’s
sister.”

“What? Lucy? She’s just a kid!”

“Well, she’s an adult, technically.
And like I said, it’s just a feeling I picked up on.” He shot Zane a deadly
look. “Don’t say a damn thing.”

“Sure, sure. Alright, got it.” He
tried to imagine Quentin and Lucy. It was too damn weird.

He sighed. He wasn’t going to enjoy
watching Gabby be pursued by the clan. Sometimes life just fucking sucked.