Bear it All (7 page)

“Well, it seems like everyone is getting along just fine, but if you’re almost done, we have some food and things to talk about.” She opened her eyes and saw Millie smirking at her by the door. Blushing, she bowed her head into Sam’s shirt as he laughed and hugged her tight.

“Seems playtime is over, let’s get you some food so we can talk.” She nodded and together the three of them made their way to the living room to hear her fate.

Chapter Eight

“
You have failed me. You are no use to me, and the plan will still work as long as the others are not found.” Billy watched as the Master walked back and forth.

“It wasn’t my fault, Master, she did come back, and I would have her if it wasn’t for the bears. You never said anything about shifters coming, Master.” Billy was furious at the situation he was in. He wasn’t given all the information and had he known she knew bears and others, he would have taken her away from that town.

“Do not address me in such a manner. I am your Master and Master of all, and you will do wise to remember it. The other shifters I had taken notice of, but the bears were unexpected, and will cause a problem. They need to be removed and the girl brought to me. I will remedy this situation myself. Now be gone before I change my mind and take your miserable life you maggot.” Once again the puff of black smoke filled the area, he was hiding and the Master disappeared.

He had lost several of his lemmings with the fight with the damn shifters, the disgusting mutated freaks of nature. He was able to make it out the house without anyone finding him, but he would take care of them, all of them, and soon, Cece would be in the arms with his Master and he would be free to not watch the mousy little woman anymore. He smiled as he rubbed his hands and knew the right place to look for some help. It would take a couple days, but she would die, even if it was the last thing he did.

*****

Sam sat in the living room looking around the area with Cece sitting between him and Greyson. Cece seemed to be more comfortable with them than before. With his arm around her neck, and Grey’s hand on hers, she retold the story about her life with her brother.

“You see, mom and dad didn’t know about Billy. He just showed up one day with a birth certificate saying he was dad’s. Dad of course looked into it and found out his mom had passed like Billy had said. We took him in and it seemed that people took a liking to him right away. But when we had outings Billy was always sick, or had something to do and couldn’t come. He would take trips to visit his grandparents, which I knew nothing about. Mom and dad did that stuff. Then he left, saying he had found work and would come back. When my parents got into the accident, he showed up to help me grieve, but when the Will was read, it seemed he got everything. Once again, Billy always seemed to get his way with things. I just thought it was me, but then Billy kept telling me I needed to spend more time with my friends and such. So, I never questioned it. He started drinking and the first time he hit me I was shocked, and then embarrassed. I didn’t go to school the next day, and played sick. It just spiraled since then.”

“But what about school for him?” Becky asked.

“He did homeschool and graduated early. No one ever questioned it.”

“Did he ever say who he was working for?”

“No, he just left, came back for a couple months, and I dealt with him, he always took money and then left again. It was off and on like that. I would count the days until he left. It was the only thing that gave me comfort.”

“Well, I’m not sure why you didn’t tell us.”

“I wanted to, so many times, but I was ashamed, and then he threatened to kill or hurt all of you. I didn’t need him finding out about shifters or anything like that. It would have cost me more to lose you than myself,” Cece confessed.

“Baby girl, we have some information you need to know. Do you think you can handle it?” When she nodded Sam started, “Well we found out he wasn’t really your brother. Whoever set him up did the background to cover everything up pretty good, but we found better records and more accurate. He was sent to you, you have no blood with that man.” She looked at him and suddenly tears welled in her eyes.

“I don’t know why I am crying, I’m so mad, sad, and mostly relieved that we are not related. I spent years praying we weren’t, and I was right.” Sam wiped away her tears, but it seemed more information was needed.

“Then why did he want me?”

“I can answer that, finally.” Every one turned to watch Xandria place her hands in her lap before telling the tale.

“You see, many years ago when the prophecy was written, magic was already creating back up plans if you will. It split important people apart, and by Rebecca coming into her own powers, and the twins on the way, she has become a beacon of hope, a ray of light. With knowing magic and key people would come into their abilities, is why Amelia has been working with me to harness her talent. But it seems since you have met your mates, yours have started to come forth. You, my darling child, are the Keeper.”

“What the fuck is a Keeper?” Millie spat out, but earned a look from Gage who shook his head at her before the woman shut up.

“Well, it’s a bit complicated to explain, but I will do my best. A Keeper, is the one who is the keeper of knowledge. The one who would be able to understand and explain powers and abilities of others as they find their way home. You will be able to tell if something is dark magic, or good magic. It will become second nature to you. You will simply know things. Have you ever wondered why you read something, but saw more than what was on the pages. Why you come up with ideas of how to help train or why things happen. You have been the Keeper since the beginning. If dark magic or the Coven was to get you, they would be able to take you places and find the lost souls and they would be able to harness their talent and magic for themselves.”

“Okay, so she has always been the Keeper, but why now is she in danger more than when she lived with the psycho?” Sam was going stir crazy not knowing anything.

“That’s a great question, Samuel. You see, like Rebecca and Amelia, they didn’t come into their powers, or control them, until they were mated. A mate grounds them and helps understand things clearly. Once you three are a mated couple, she will suddenly realize everything, but would be vulnerable.”

Greyson started to see why things happened the way they do, but why them. He didn’t understand it. Sure they were smarter than the average bear, but seriously.

“And before you can ask, Greyson, a bear is what is needed for her. She needs someone, or two someones strong enough to help guide her. You both have talents that will help aid her in her quest. Bears have strong minds, and strong hearts, and know what she will need. The great Luna and the fates did not just pick someone to sit back and watch, no, you were chosen to help her. Trust in yourself, bear.” Xandria smiled at him and it seemed to be better. “Now I must go. I am never far away.” The damn woman shimmered in lights and went away.

“Okay, that was cool,” Sam said in awe. Grey was in total agreement.

“So who’s hungry?” He could only laugh as Becky came into the room with a plate of food and his stomach rumbled.

The small house was filled with so many people and he was happy that Dmitri and the rest of the men offered them a beer and stood outside while he grilled up some steaks. It was a good thing he was hungry too because they had a lot of food. He watched from the outside looking in through the glass door as Cece talked with her friends. Lily had checked her over again, and said her throat would be sore tonight, but she would be better in the morning. He was still shocked at having a healer, or witch, in his presence. She was something else, so much different than he would have suspected. He had thought of them as old dark looking women, not a young woman with raven hair and green eyes. She was pretty, but no one looked at good as his mate. Her sexual undertones were there but hidden. She spent a good chunk of her life trying to be invisible and he was going to show her she wasn’t.

“Cece is something special.” He heard Nik say.

“Yeah she is, she hides from herself to go unnoticed, but it’s hard to dismiss her natural beauty and kindness,” he responded.

“We knew she was something different when our mate was taken. She had a way to calm us down and make a crazy situation seem manageable. Hell, she discovered how the hell to kill a crazy ass troll,” Axel chimed in.

“She knew Becky needed to embrace her witch and helped push her. The signs were all there and we missed them as well. But I am seriously sorry, man, for not catching something else wrong with her personal life. Becky and Millie said she got moody periods and just needed alone time to figure crap out. They both thought it was because her brain was overloading, but I never would have guessed she was getting beat. And I promise, hell, all of us promise that we will do our best to find this bastard and kill him,” Axel stated once again.

“It’s okay, man, really. We will be fine. I think we will take her home with us tonight so the three of us can talk. Plus, we have to work tomorrow and find some help at the bar. It’s small, but it’s ours and we have a great business. Maybe all of you can meet us there tomorrow,” Grey suggested. He was doing his best not to drag his mate out now and keep her safe, but he knew she was safe within this house. Soon the steaks were done and all of them gathered around the tables and living room. It was comfortable conversation, which included them telling them about their time in the military.

When the clock started to tick past ten at night, he could see Cece was getting tired again and knew the day was wearing on her.

“I think we need to get you home, love. We can see your friends tomorrow.” He went to lift her and was shocked when she agreed without any complaints. He could only smile when her friends hugged her and she told them she would see them tomorrow at the bar and could call anytime. Sam followed behind and was happy Tiny was staying there and had taken their truck to Becky’s house.

The ride home was quiet, and as they approached the house he saw the reason why. Cece was asleep in the passenger seat. He couldn’t help but smile at the trust she had instilled in them both already. She had shown them she could look past the hurt and shit she had been through and find something good to hang on to. He was in awe about her.

Sam opened the door while he carried his little sleeping beauty. She didn’t make a sound, just snuggled closer to him as the night air sent a chill through the air. Sam once again ran inside and opened the front door. He didn’t need to say anything about which room they were going to place her as they took her right into the guest room she had slept in the previous night. As he laid her in the middle of the bed, it bothered him how uncomfortable she looked.

“Do we change her or leave her clothes as is?” Grey didn’t know the protocol on this.

“Um, well I hate sleeping in pants, but she might feel better out of her friend’s clothes and into something clean. I can grab a t-shirt she can sleep in.” Grey nodded as Sam went about gathering things for bed. Grey removed her sweatpants that were entirely too long for her, and the giant sweatshirt that belonged to Becky. Once she was laying in the bed, he took time to admire her. She was simply beautiful. Not wanting to be a complete pervert, he tried to avoid her breasts, but he couldn’t help notice how perky they were, even for being small. He was a breast man, and hers fit just right on her frame.

“I got the shirt and a bottle of water in case she wakes up and gets thirsty.” Grey lifted Cece up and Sam pulled the shirt over her.

“Dude, did you grab an extra-large for her?” He looked and the shirt once again swam on her, looking like a dress hitting the bottom of her knees.

“No, actually that’s a medium and from my high school days. She is just so damn tiny,” Sam chuckled. Grey had to agree. Not wanting her to wake up alone he wasn’t surprised when Sam started to undress and crawled in next to her on the left while he did the same on the right. Clicking off the light he realized two things right away. One, they needed to look at a larger bed other than a king, and two, sleeping next to his mate never felt so right.

Chapter Nine

Sam had woken early and wasn’t able to sleep anymore. Part of it was because his brain was over processing everything that happened, and the other was because with Grey and Cece in the bed, his ass was falling off. He went to the kitchen and started some coffee. It was only five in the morning, but he enjoyed the morning quietness of the house. He pulled out his laptop to try to get some work done. He wanted to make sure that today’s delivery was set up, he had a large party coming in tonight who had a flavoring for a certain type of Vodka. Everything looked in tack and then he went on to his next issue, since it was too early to check stocks with the market closed right now, he pulled up the website for custom made beds. He was on a hunt to find them something they all could sleep on. Granted every bed in the house were king size, it wasn’t really intended for two sleeping bears and their mate. He smiled at the thought, his mate. Never in a million years would he had pictured her to be the way she was. He admitted she was stronger than she gave herself credit for. Cece had to deal with her brother and his abuse while finishing school and working. Not to mention her crazy friends, and yes, he could say they were crazy. All of them had their own personalities. As he clicked next on the list of beds, he heard someone coming down the stairs.

“What are you doing up? Is everything okay?” The sweet sound of Cece made him stop and look up. She was standing there in front of him like a vision. Her hair tousled from sleeping, dark glasses hung off her face and she was wearing nothing but his shirt as part of it hung off her shoulder. He had so much he wanted to say about her beauty and inner strength as it shined through, but all he could muster up was, “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself. You okay? I didn’t mean to kick you out of bed, you know I could have slept on the couch so you could have had the bed.”