BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (111 page)

Jenna stared at Bruce. Would it really have been so easy?

“I’m not giving Darren up, Bruce,” she finally said. It wasn’t an answer to Bruce’s statement. It wasn’t anything except a low blow and it showed in Bruce’s face. Jenna felt bad. She felt guilty about what she’d been doing, and she felt guilty about hurting Bruce – when she left, and now.

But he wasn’t going to sit on her couch, uninvited, and tell her who to date. Or be friends with. Or whatever.

“He’s dangerous, Jen,” Bruce said, getting up. “You have to stay away from him. Not just for the Family’s sake, but for your own. Once he’s gotten what he needs from you, he might not just let you go. The Assassins don’t care who gets in the way when they go on their killing sprees.”

Jenna pursed her lips together, swallowing down the insults that she knew would just hurt Bruce that much more. She shook her head slightly, and only when she trusted herself did she speak again.

“I’m sorry how things worked out, Bruce,” she said. “I’m sorry you got hurt and I’m sorry that being with me made all of this worse somehow. But it’s over now. I don’t want any part in this. Please just leave me alone.”

Bruce’s voice was pleading when he spoke again. “If you send me away now, not even the bond can protect you. Saying it out loud will revoke my protection over you. The bond will still be there, but I won’t be able to keep you safe.”

“I’m not asking you to keep my safe, Bruce,” Jenna said. “I’m asking you to let me go.”

Bruce looked like Jenna had stabbed him. His face twisted in a mask of pain and he doubled over, holding onto his stomach. His breathing became ragged and for a moment, she was scared something was really wrong with him. But then he straightened himself up, and she watched as he pulled himself together again. She saw him rebuild himself in front of her eyes.

“If that’s what you want, Jenna,” he said and his voice was flat and lifeless. Just like his eyes. “But you have to listen to what I’m saying about this Darren of yours. He’s going to hurt you. I want to save you, even if I can’t have you. Please, just stay away from him.”

He didn’t say any more than that. Jenna expected him to put up more than a fight. He had, after all, married her. How could he just let her go? But that was what she’d wanted, right? To be free of him?

He walked toward the door and let himself out. When the door clicked shut the sound echoed through the apartment and she was aware of how empty it was, how small she was in the middle of it.

She’d just watched Bruce walk out of her life. Why did she feel like she was falling apart?

Chapter 5

Bruce left El Verano behind. His feet were heavy, but his heart was heavier. There was no reason now to shift into a bear, to keep track of the bond. He didn’t need to look for Jenna anymore.

He got on a bus and traveled North, away from the Assassin that was spending time with his wife, away from the woman that didn’t want him. The bond was stronger than it had been the whole time he’d been searching for her. Great. Just when Bruce wished he could forget about her forever, she was going to be a constant reminder in his gut.

As long as she was alive he would feel her. As long as
he
was alive he would pine for her. That was what a mated male did when he lost his female.

But there were other things to worry about now. The Assassins had sent him a warning. He hadn’t died because they were going to use Jenna. And she hadn’t listened to his warning, so they were going to come. If he tried to stop them, they were going to kill Jenna.

He knew that Darren would keep his word.

The only thing that was left now was to get back to the Family and warn them. They had to prepare for battle and hope to God that they were going to make it out on the other side alive.

Traveling home took less time, and at the same time, it felt much, much longer. He dreaded going back to his cave. He dreaded passing the town where Jenna had lived. But he had to go back. Dwayne’s words hit him full on.

Are you willing to give all of us up for her?

Bruce realized that in a way it was exactly what he’d done. Not intentionally. Not outright. But in a few days, come full moon, all hell was going to break loose, and they might all die. All because he couldn’t let go of a human woman.

Bruce was suddenly angry. The anger was so sudden and so intense that it felt like it physically shoved him. He was so angry with Dwayne. If he had been able to foretell that Jenna would be Bruce’s downfall – the whole Family’s downfall – why hadn’t he said something before? Bruce was going to find the psychic and work him over.

When the bus deposited him at the dirt road that led up into the mountains and to Williamsburg, Bruce ran into the trees. He didn’t follow the dirt road, and when the bus was gone and he was sure he was alone, he shifted. In bear form, he felt loose and free.

For the first time, he was relieved that he felt less emotion as an animal. The bond was an annoyance, nagging at him as he ran like a string was tied to his foot, but he ignored it and kept going.

It was still daylight, a dangerous time for him to be running so close to town, but he was going to be quick in passing it.

He made his way up the mountain side, pushing through bushes and shrubs, yanking out small trees. He left a trail of destruction behind that mimicked the devastation he felt on the inside.

The sun was low on the horizon. The night was on its way, Bruce could feel it. He wanted to get to the damn human that called himself one of the shifters before the others were alert.

Bruce made it to the plateau. He heaved and panted, making groaning noises. He scraped the ground with his paw, claw marks making grooves in the dirt. When he realized he was alone, he let out a long growl that ended up sounding sad rather than angry.

And that just pissed him off more.

Dwayne came out of the trees as if summoned. If he knew what was going to happen, he didn’t show it. He looked at Bruce’s bear, blinked as if surprised. Bruce didn’t wait. He stormed the man, shoved him against a boulder with his paw against his throat.

Dwayne kicked and fought and his throat made scraping sounds as he tried to suck in air around Bruce’s paw, but there was too much anger inside of Bruce to let up.

He couldn’t scream and shout at Dwayne as a bear. Generally, he stopped doing whatever he did, stopped his emotions and focused when he needed to change, but not this time. He was too angry, and he didn’t want Dwayne to get away.

So with the rage still burning inside him, bitter on his tongue, and his paw against the man’s throat, Bruce shifted.

The change was awkward. He ended up bent forward, head level with Dwayne’s chest. But his hand was still around the man’s throat and all that rage was right where it had been before.

Some things didn’t change during the shift.

“You have made my life a living hell, do you know that?” he sneered at the psychic. Dwayne’s eyes were calm. His hair had come undone when Bruce had grabbed him and it hung in dark strands over his shoulders, but save for the hair Dwayne looked calm and peaceful.

“I know you’re angry, Bruce,” he said in a calm voice.

“Don’t you dare tell me what you know and don’t know,” Bruce said and he realized he was yelling. Well, if anyone else wanted to come and hear it, good. The sun was below the horizon now and the night was coming. The others would come out soon.

“You couldn’t just have told me beforehand that this would be a living hell, and then I would never have saved her?”

Dwayne didn’t look surprised or confused. Instead, he just nodded.

“There are times when I have the same questions. When I wonder why I only saw what I saw when it was too late. No one likes to hurt.”

Bruce wanted to crush Dwayne’s windpipe and watch the man drown in his own blood. Maybe then he would feel the way Bruce was feeling, like everything that meant life had been ripped out. But he didn’t, because Dwayne was Family. It went deeper than blood that you didn’t hurt Family.

Bruce felt other emotions push up in his throat, drowning the anger out, but he was more afraid of sorry and pain than he was of anger. He tried to bring it back, tried to conjure up the rage he’d felt a moment before.

“It’s okay, Bruce,” Dwayne said, and suddenly Bruce wanted to cry. He swallowed hard. He was so
not
doing this in front of a Family member. Great big bear shifters didn’t cry.

“She will be safe,” Dwayne finally said. “I can’t tell you that she will find her way home. I can’t tell you that you will survive this. I can’t tell you because I don’t know. What I do know, I say. But what I can tell you, is that this is not the end.”

Bruce heard a twig snap, and when he looked over his shoulder the rest of the pack had assembled. They were all watching him strangle Dwayne, Tara included. She stood to the side, looking fierce and wild, and… bored. Bruce turned his attention back to Dwayne. It seemed ridiculous now, standing there with his fingers wrapped around his throat when he didn’t want to hurt him anymore.

He let go and Dwayne found his balance. He rubbed his throat with his hand and took a deep breath like he was testing if it still worked right.

“No,” Bruce said in answer to Dwayne’s statement. “This is just the beginning.”

“Well, nice to see you finally decided to join us,” Tara said when Bruce had turned away from Dwayne and made his spectacular comment. “Was the human a disappointment?”

Anger started up again in Bruce, an itch at the back of his skull that he couldn’t scratch, but he let it slide.

“We’re in trouble,” Bruce said. Tara laughed like it was a joke, and her voice had a mocking quality to it that encouraged the anger.

“We’re always in danger because of you, these days. Tell me what it is. Is the human pregnant? Are we going to have to deal with half-breeds now?”

Bruce balled his hands into fists.

“No,” he said through clenched jaws.

“He’s right,” Dwayne said, interrupting the argument, slicing through the tension. He turned his head sideways like he was listening, but everyone knew that he was feeling instead.

“They’re coming.”

It didn’t take an explanation to know what Dwayne meant by ‘they’. The realization that it had become life or death hit them all at about the same time. It was the same time that fear, a collective, breathable fear, wrapped around them. 

“How did they find us?” Tara asked and her eyes were wide. For the first time since Bruce had joined the Family, he saw terror in them. Her animal was far from reach. Her eyes weren’t flashing white. They were wide and shimmering and very human.

“They’re tracking us,” Bruce spoke up. If Dwayne had wanted to say it, well, Bruce had gotten there first. He was going to just throw it all out there. “They’re using Jenna.”

The words were barely out of Bruce’s mouth when Tara hissed at him. She launched, the humanity of a moment before forgotten, and they both tumbled to the ground. She was on top when they came to a stop, and she pinned Bruce down with a preternatural strength that he couldn’t beat despite the fact that she was a woman.

“You and your disgusting love for those damn humans! I knew it was a mistake to let you get involved. This is the last time I have a turn of mercy. For anyone.”

That was mercy? Bruce didn’t have time to think about her words before she kick-started her change right on top of him. It was close to the full moon now, just days away, and the power in the air was palpable. He could reach up and grab his own change if he wanted to.

But he didn’t want to fight. He had nothing left to defend, not against his own Family. If they fought now, they weren’t going to make it.

“Don’t do this,” he said to Tara as he watched her shift. The sensation of it all happening on top of him was strange. He felt the bones in her legs against his sides where she straddled him. It was rough, scraping and popping. Her skin split open, fur crawled over her body and her long sharp nails were in front of his face before her human face had disappeared completely.

Bruce was aware of a warm liquid that had spilled out of Tara when her skin had split. It soaked through his clothes and he shuddered, disgusted. Nothing about Tara was beautiful and elegant, not in a way that was remotely human.

She was all animal, and it showed more and more.

“Stop it!” someone yelled from the side but Bruce had his hands full trying to keep those claws from scratching his eyes out. It was like Tara was taking out all the fear on him, using him as a scratching post until she could collect herself.

He was all for helping out the Family keep it together for the war that was no doubt to follow, but he wasn’t going to do it at the expense of his own life.

Dammit. Hadn’t he lost enough already?

Someone yanked Tara off Bruce. She hadn’t expected it and that was probably the only reason why it had worked. She was completely leopard now, but a human scream still ripped out of her throat and pierced the night air.

“We have to stand together as a pack!” someone shouted again, and this time, Bruce recognized the voice as Stephen’s. He pushed himself up and noted Stephen and Lori standing behind Tara. They must have worked together to get her off him.

“If the Assassins come and they find us fighting like we are now, it will be an easy kill all round. Hell, Tara, you nearly finished Bruce off for them.”

Tara looked at Bruce and the deadly look in her eyes made his skin crawl. He’d been wrong about the fear. What he saw in her eyes now was pure hatred, there was no trace of fear at all.

She couldn’t speak because she was leopard and with the level of anger vibrating through the air around them, Bruce was sure she wouldn’t be able to change back. Not yet. Her animal was loose and Stephen and Lori weren’t flanking her for the fun of it.

Bruce had a feeling that if it weren’t for them, he would be ripped in pieces by now.

“Tara is angry with Bruce for endangering the pack,” Dwayne said, speaking up for the first time since Bruce had attacked him. After being on the receiving end of all that anger, Bruce felt bad about what he’d done to Dwayne earlier. He looked at Dwayne, opened his mouth to speak, but the psychic shook his head.

Either Dwayne knew that Bruce was remorseful, or he didn’t want to talk about it in the volatile atmosphere. Both were possible.

“She feels that Bruce should be punished, and if it means that lives will be saved through his death and the termination of the bond, then so be it.”

Bruce realized that Dwayne was playing interpreter for the wereleopard that was losing so much of her humanity that it was still hard to refer to her as Tara. He also realized that it was true. As much as he wanted to believe that it wasn’t all his fault, he was to blame for what was happening.

If he’d steered clear of the humans, lived like a true shifter in the mountains, this wouldn’t have happened.

Of all the shifters, Lori was the one that spoke up and her words surprised Bruce.

“We can’t change what’s past. We’re here now and the Assassins are coming.”

She turned her head to Bruce.

“Where are they coming from?” she asked.

“El Verano. It’s about four days south on foot.”

She nodded as if it was all business. “And when did they find out where we were?”

“They hadn’t yet. They were still working on it when I saw Jenna. That was two days ago.”

It was about facts now. Facts that they could build upon to create a war strategy. They had to find a way to survive the attacks. When the Assassins came, there were going to be a lot of them.

“My guess is two days,” Cleveland said and everybody’s heads turned to him. He spoke so seldom.

“That puts us right on full moon,” Rosa said. “We’re stronger then.”