The Bear Who Loved Me (18 page)

H
ead to Walmart.” Carl's voice was clipped as he thumbed in Alan's phone number.

Tonya shot him a baffled look. “You have a sudden need for Cheetos?”

He shook his head. “Becca's not answering her phone.”

“Maybe she doesn't want to talk to you.”

“The phone is
off
. And the last I knew, she was at Walmart.”

“Maybe she turned off her… Right.” Obviously Tonya had realized that the last thing Becca would do is turn off her phone. “So how do you know she's at Walmart?”

He shrugged, and she rolled her eyes.

“Creepy stalker app, right? And it showed her last location.”

“I asked her permission before I installed it on her phone.” He didn't bother watching for Tonya's reaction. Also, Alan came on the line.

Their conversation went fast. The man had no idea where Becca was, but he'd head home right away just in case. Then Carl answered the unspoken question.

“We've got nothing new on Theo.” Nothing but a whole lot of frustration and fury.

They made it to the mega store in twenty minutes. Another five to scan the area to look for his truck. And then a stop at the security office. Tonya didn't even have to show her badge, because everyone in the area knew who she was. Then it was a long, slow process watching the parking lot video, but eventually it paid off.

They saw her.

And they saw her abduction.

Carl went white hot with fury. Hell, he was a half breath away from going grizzly and smashing up the place, but Tonya kept him calm. She was staring at her phone and using the security office land line to dial, but she paused long enough to shoot him an almost gleeful look.

“We got 'em.”

“What?”

She jerked her chin at the monitor. “They took your truck.”

Yeah, he'd noticed. “I disabled the GPS tracker months ago.”

She shot him a grin. “I know. That's when I put a real tracker on it.”

“What?” He didn't know whether to be furious or gleeful.

“I'm the highest ranking shifter cop in the area. You're my alpha. Of course I'm going to put a tracker on your truck.”

He stared at her. “And you called an app creepy and stalkerlike.”

She grinned. “Doesn't mean I think it's a bad idea.” Then she tilted her phone toward him. “That's where your truck is.”

His expression flattened and his nails lengthened into claws. “I'm going, too.”

She knew better than to argue.

It turned out that being held prisoner was boring. Though Becca was relieved not to be threatened by armed guys with big guns, she discovered that hours of absolutely nothing happening was incredibly tedious. Especially since she couldn't stand up straight in her little cage. She hadn't realized until now just how much she moved in an average day.

Fortunately, the break gave her time to talk to Theo the way they never did at home. Call it making lemonade out of lemons, but part of her appreciated the time to really converse with her adopted son.

He finally opened up about feeling the bear underneath his skin. At first he called it a monster, but by hour three, he sounded like he might like being a grizzly. He asked a ton of questions about the Gladwins and Mr. Max. She answered as honestly as she could, even hinted at the growing fondness she had for the alpha, but didn't go into more detail. The last thing she wanted was to upset Theo, and who knew how he'd react to a new man in her life. Hell, she didn't even know how she felt about the man bear except to spend every other thought on a prayer that he found them soon.

So time passed. If they hadn't been locked in cages and afraid they were about to die, it might even have been pleasant.

Becca was just getting Theo to open up about a girl he liked. She'd suspected as much way back in September, when he couldn't mention his lab partner without blushing fiery red, but he'd said nothing about her since then. Finally, the kid was hinting at the edges of his interest. He wondered how much of his feelings—like for a girl, maybe—were the bear and how much just normal human stuff. Honestly, Becca had no clue, but she certainly wanted to know exactly what he was feeling and what he thought about it and all that stuff boys never ever articulated.

Which made her doubly pissed when the door suddenly burst open and in walked a gangly guy with Einstein hair. Theo's mad scientist, she presumed. His eyes were definitely a little wild as he glared at all three of his captives and started issuing orders. She wasn't sure at first who he was talking to until a middle-aged woman sauntered into the room. Her steps were gracefully fluid and she seemed to move with absolute precision. But it wasn't until Becca saw her catlike, slitted eyes that she gasped.

“They're awake. Tie them up or knock them out. I don't care, but we need them both,” Crazy Einstein ordered.

So much for pretending to be asleep. She'd been so involved in listening to Theo that she forgot she was supposed to be playing possum.

“What about the dog?” asked the weird cat woman. Her voice even had a low kind of purr that was seriously freaky.

“He's nearly gone anyway. Leave him.”

“No,” cat woman said. “Kill him. The less anyone knows—”

“Whatever.” Crazy Einstein plopped down a computer case he'd slung over his shoulder, then scared the hell out of Becca by bringing out a smaller case of syringes and vials. “How much can you carry? Do we knock them out?”

Becca's mind whirled, making deductions as fast as she was able to, given the clutching panic that was churning in her gut. All she could tell was that they were leaving and that these two were trying to figure out the best way to transport them. Which meant two things. First, Carl had found them. Second, her best hope was a delaying action and for that, she had to stay conscious.

“We won't fight,” she said in her most cowed-woman voice. “Please don't hurt us.”

Cat woman's gaze cut to hers, the look hard and cold. “Unconscious.”

So much for pretending to be docile. “Where are you taking us? What's going on?” She didn't expect any answers, but rolling off questions kept their attention on her rather than Theo, who was gripping the bars and looking like he was about to tear them both apart limb from limb. She wanted to tell him to cool it, but frankly, what other options did they have? It's not like she could fight worth a damn. The best she could do was distract them to give Theo time to do something.

Sadly, cat woman wasn't that stupid. She completely ignored Becca and glared at Theo. “Settle down or I'll put you down,” she practically hissed.

“No, no,” said Crazy Einstein as he looked between Theo and Becca. “This is most interesting. He's trying to shift to protect her. Most interesting, indeed.”

That a boy would try to protect his mother? Any other deductions, Dr. Obvious? “Leave him alone!” she cried. “Look, you don't have to cage us. We want to understand this stuff as much as you do.” It was a guess, but it made sense that Psychos 1 and 2 here were trying to figure out the science of shifting. “We'll cooperate. I promise.” Where the hell was Carl?

Meanwhile, Crazy Einstein pulled out a hypodermic and filled it with something that was probably knock-out juice. “Grab her arm,” he said.

“No,” cat woman growled. “The boy first.”

Einstein snorted, his gaze cutting to the door, where two wide-eyed adolescents walked in, both carrying guns. One was a handgun, the other a dart gun. “That's for the boy.”

Great. She'd seen the effect of those darts. Theo was about to be down for the count unless they did something now. And since Carl had been able to take a half dozen of those darts while in bear form, their only answer was to give Theo more mass.

“Shift now, Theo! Go nuts!”

She saw her son's beautiful hazel eyes connect with hers, and then she watched them turn a burnished gold. He let out a roar that started human but grew deeper and angrier with every second. She wanted to watch the transformation. That kind of thing never got old, and she especially wanted to see what kind of bear Theo would become, but she didn't have the luxury of time. She needed to know what else was going on.

Cat woman was baring her pointed teeth and letting out a hiss. Totally creepy. She seemed to be part animal all the time. The thugs were back on their heels, holding up their guns with shaking hands. Both of them started firing wildly, which was good for Theo specifically, but bad for everyone in the room. Bullets and darts started pinging about the small space and Crazy Einstein started screaming.

“Don't shoot! Don't shoot! We need him alive!”

Cat woman didn't bother with words. She simply sliced the handgun out of the thug's hand. At first Becca didn't understand what she'd seen. It was all blood and screaming. But then she saw cat woman's hand was really a paw with razor-sharp claws. She'd sliced right through the guy's wrist while grabbing hold of the gun with the other hand-paw when it dropped. Obviously she didn't care much for her henchmen's health.

Fortunately, Becca didn't have time to process it. Her opportunity had just presented itself. In his screaming, Crazy Einstein had backed up against her cage. He was ducking from the gunshots, the hypodermic still clutched in his hand. And he was not paying any attention to her.

She surged forward, reaching through the cage to grab the needle. Adrenaline made her fast. Mother protectiveness made sure she didn't hesitate. She flipped the syringe around and slammed it as hard as she could into his thigh. He screamed and jerked away, but not before she'd pushed the plunger down. Hopefully it was enough.

Crazy Einstein stumbled away from her, and then in a bizarre twist of fate, he suddenly got a dart in his shoulder. Becca spun to see the thug, doing her best to process the tableau. Best she could guess, dart gun guy had seen his comrade drop and was trying to aim at the cat woman who was really, really pissed off.

And then the pièce de résistance. From somewhere down the hall, there came a roar. A full-bellied grizzly battle cry that had Becca grinning from ear to ear. Finally, Carl had arrived! But her joy was short lived as gunfire erupted as well. Apparently, crazy doctor had more men defending him. But then there was a second roar, which was higher in pitch than the first and equally pissed. Tonya? She could only hope.

Those roars were the final straws for Thug 2. He threw the dart gun at cat woman and took off out the door. The bitch caught the gun easily and spun around to glare at her.

“I am not going easily,” Becca said. Neither was Theo, who was a cramped, pissed-off bear in his cage, tearing at the bars. One glance told her it wouldn't take him long to break free. Especially since none of the tranquilizer darts had ended up in him.

Cat woman didn't answer in words, but if looks could kill, Becca would be dead on the spot. Instead, she squatted down and grabbed drooling Crazy Einstein. It was impressive how easily she slung the man over her shoulder and still had the dexterity to grab the computer bag. Damn it, they were getting away. Becca had to try to delay them.

“You won't get away with this. We'll find you. What the hell are you anyway?”

On a TV show, she'd say something vital. She might even pause long enough for Carl to get here. But this woman was smarter than that. Beyond that first angry glare, she didn't give Becca a second glance. She was off and sprinting in the opposite direction and out the far door. Smart bitch, because at that moment, Theo finally broke through his cage. He burst out with a kind of gleeful rumble that turned into a yip as one of the bars tore through his shoulder.

“Slow down, Theo,” she said. “They're gone.”

Theo wasn't listening. His head had swung toward cat woman and his nose twitched. She could tell he wanted to chase the villains, but it was too dangerous. Cat woman had both guns and who knew how many other men were waiting to shoot.

“You're fine. Stay here. I need you here.”

Theo paused, his nose drawing him one way, his mind pulling him the other. She wasn't sure what he was going to do, but then the noise from the other direction grew exponentially louder. Suddenly more guys with guns burst in from the near door, and these guys looked coordinated. They had a leader barking orders and three others following in a clear retreat. Which would have been fine except Theo was standing there in full grizzly form.

The first guy pulled up with a gasp. The others flanked out and two of them aimed their weapons. There was no time to react. Theo didn't have more than a split second to rear up. And in that frozen moment, she realized he was about to die. These guys were going to shoot.

She screamed. It was all she could do.

U
sually the waiting is the worst part. Carl had had to wait during the drive to an abandoned salt mine near Saginaw. That had been hard enough, but once they'd seen his truck parked near the opening, Tonya had tried to make him wait while local law enforcement mobilized. This was out of her jurisdiction and she—appropriately—didn't want to rush blindly into an underground facility. He'd nodded and told her she had ten minutes to cover the legalities and whatnot. Then while she was on the phone, he'd started “reconnaissance,” checking things out as stealthily as he could.

He hadn't been stealthy enough. In his defense, there weren't a lot of places to hide in a salt mine. Plus the place was supposed to be abandoned. Twenty yards inside the opening, he was confronted by a paramilitary guy with an automatic weapon. Questions were asked. Vague answers given. And then a gun was raised.

Oops. But at least it had given him the excuse to proceed more boldly.

He'd knocked the man unconscious and rushed farther down the huge space. Five minutes later he'd smelled her. Becca. He knew her scent and the spike of her fear. Which is when he'd started running. She was here and he would find her.
Now.

He didn't remember shifting to his grizzly form. For the first time ever, he and his bear were completely unified. The grizzly form was faster and could cover more ground in this massive place, not to mention it had the better nose. All he had to do was follow Becca's scent as it grew stronger and louder in his mind.

And then he'd heard her cry out, the words indistinct.

He'd roared in response and tore faster through the shaft only to be met by more guys with guns. He was lucky. They were shit shots. Or they just hadn't expected a furious grizzly to tear through their ranks. Either way, he'd made mincemeat out of them. It helped that Tonya had joined him a few breaths later, adding confusion and more noise to the mix.

But it had cost him time. And a few bullet hits to his arms.

That's when he learned the worst part of a battle wasn't the waiting. It was the certain knowledge that he was too slow, too far, and too late to stop whatever was happening to Becca.

He knew she was close, but there were all these bastards in between him and her. He could hear her yelling and there might have been gunshots. He redoubled his fury until there were just four guys left. Then they did an organized retreat toward a door. A second later, he heard her scream, this time in terror, while he was still yards away.

He took off. She was there. She was in danger. And when he rounded the corner, he saw the worst sight of his life.

Becca in a cage, screaming for her life.

A young grizzly standing tall before her, his battle cry aimed at the guys with guns. Big target there. No way the bastards would miss. Carl did the only thing he could. He roared his own challenge, trying to startle the shooters, but they were too well trained.

Two spun to face him. Two fired at the kid.

And all the while, Becca was screaming.

Carl charged, knocking the two nearest him aside like they were bowling pins. The other two had taken down the young bear and were now scrambling over the body, where it had crashed against a cage with an unconscious werewolf in it. He smelled the acrid scent of blood and wondered how much of it was his own, how much the youth's.

Then he made it to Becca's cage and ripped at it with all the strength in his claws. She was screaming something, but it was hard to understand the words. He had to get to her. He had to make her safe.

Fortunately, the two shooters had made it over the young and out a far door. They'd run like rabbits and were no longer a threat. The bowling pins were still unconscious. That left this cage his only obstacle. Just the bars that separated her from him.

He decimated them.

She scrambled out as soon as he'd cleared room. Her words were making sense now. She was repeating the youth's name over and over.

“Theo. Theo.”

She touched Carl as she moved past, using him to scramble out. And as she went, he made sure she was whole. No blood. No pain scent. Just the fear for her child. That soothed him as nothing else could. She was safe. Now it was time to save the youth.

He saw immediately what had happened. The youth wasn't dead, thank God. He had taken bullet wounds to the shoulder and arm. The bear needed to become boy, but that wasn't always easy for kids. Especially not in high stress situations. Like after getting shot. The bear was coming back to consciousness, thrashing in his pain. Carl kept an eye on Becca to make sure she didn't get too close.

“You have to be human, Theo,” Carl said, his voice taking the sharp bark of command. “Turn back into you.”

When had he shifted into a man? Once again, the change had been seamless. This form was easiest for communication, so he became a man. The other form was no longer expedient.

“Stay back, Becca,” he ordered. “The last thing we need is another patient.”

“He's been shot,” she said, a near hysterical edge to her voice. She had to get that under control now, so he looked at her calmly.

“He'll be fine if he turns human. The shots will fade.” Well, the arm one would. He wasn't so sure about the shoulder. But a human boy would be easier to control and certainly easier to haul into the nearest ER.

Becca nodded, then pulled herself upright. “Theodore Weitz, you turn human this instant!”

A good try, as the youth's eyes shifted, focusing on Becca. It's possible the rational was gaining control, but it was hard to tell. All they could do was keep talking and hope that they reached the human mind underneath the immediate pain.

“Remember what it's like to be a boy, Theo,” he ordered. “Eating cheeseburgers and skateboarding.”

“Video games,” Becca chimed in. “Playing Warcraft with Tom and Willy.”

“Come on, Theo!” Carl barked. “We've got pie at home. Picture yourself sitting and eating it. With ice cream. Think of the cold, wet sweetness of it all.” Food had always been a great way for him to mentally shift back to human. At least when he was that age. And where the mind went, the body usually followed.

“That's not the way to do it,” a female voice said from behind them. Tonya's voice was dry as she stepped past the sprawled bodies and waved Carl aside.

“Tonya,” he said. “He's been shot. We need medical—”

“Theo!” she interrupted. “Look at me! Look at me
right now
!”

Theo did. His grizzly eyes swerved and then focused on her. Carl watched the young bear's eyes widen and his ears go back. And then suddenly, the snout started shrinking and the fur started receding. Becca gasped and murmured, “Thank God,” but that was all she managed. No one wanted to interrupt the shift back to human.

A moment later, Carl heard two dull pings as the bullets slid from the grizzly onto the floor. Soon afterward, there was only a naked adolescent boy cringing at a seeping wound in his shoulder.

“I've got you,” Becca said as she rushed forward. “You're safe now.”

He was, though damned if he knew how Tonya had done it. He turned to ask and only then realized she was smirking. Well, he realized she was
naked
and smirking.

“You have to give him a real reason to be human,” she said. Then she gestured to her body. “This is what motivates teenage boys.”

He couldn't argue with her there. He also knew that Tonya was absolutely, completely
not
the woman for him, because his only thought was for Becca. He barely even noticed Tonya's nudity.

“Let's get out of here,” he said. “Who knows how many others might still be hanging around.”

“We can't leave Caleb,” Theo said, looking down at the cage he'd been sprawling on. Inside was the unconscious werewolf boy.

“Police are on their way,” Tonya said. “We can hole up here until they arrive.” Then she glanced at Carl. “I'll get your clothes.”

“Get yours, too.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” answered all three of them at once. Which is the exact moment that he finally caught Becca's eye. She was pale and shaky, but he saw strength in her as she tried not to fuss over her boy.

“You okay?” she asked him.

“Only if you are.”

“Yup.”

“Then I'm fine.”

“How many times did you get shot?”

He frowned and tried to take stock. Now that he focused, he could feel the raw burn of pain across one thigh and another high in his belly. Oh, hell. That was going to suck. The thing with shifting back to human is that sometimes the wound healed with the bullet inside. Fortunately, they knew a surgeon who was clued in to the whole shifter world. He'd take care of it.

“I'll be fine.”

“That's not what I asked.”

He grinned. He loved it when she used that snippy tone. “I'll be in the bed right next to Theo. I promise. So long as you're on my other side.” He still wasn't sure she was okay. There might be hidden injuries.

“All he did was take blood from me.”

“He might have done something else—”

She raised her hand to stop him. “I promise to get checked out anyway.”

“Good.”

She smiled. “Good.”

Then Theo grumbled at them both. “When were you going to tell me you two are dating?”

“Um…,” began Becca.

“Oh, look,” Carl said, his voice a little too cheerful. “Here comes Tonya with my clothes.”

“Don't rush on my account,” murmured Becca. He looked at her, startled by her frankly appreciative gaze. Then he felt himself flush hot red, but that was nothing compared to the color she turned when Theo groaned.

“Gross, Aunt Becca! Don't put images in my head!”