Bear Naked (Halle Shifters) (17 page)

“Wonderful.” Just what she needed on top of everything else. A big, furry ass.

“Look on the bright side. You’ll be able to open the pickle jar all by yourself now.” Ryan laughed as she smacked his arm and curled his fingers around her claws, hiding them from general sight. “Where’d your brother and sister go?”

“They left soon after you did. Temp said something about going back to their hotel to get some rest.”

“Did he?”

She didn’t like the speculation in Ryan’s voice, but she couldn’t blame him. He was attacked right after Temp and Faith left. It would be natural to suspect the new element in their lives.

But Ryan hadn’t seen the way Temp had looked at her or the gratitude in Faith’s eyes when she’d returned her sister’s embrace. The two of them really wanted a life that included Glory.

And the dread she’d seen on their faces whenever their father was mentioned was all too familiar. Ryan didn’t know what it was like to fear a parent, to know what it was like to realize that the person who was supposed to protect you was the one you needed protection from. But Glory did, and so did Temp and Faith.

If they were acting, they were damn good at it.

“Barney is going after the guy who did this.” Ryan’s embrace tightened. “And so will I.”

“What? No.” The guy had already hurt Ryan once.

“Listen. You know Gabe is a Hunter, right?” Ryan let go, cupping her face in his hands. “Remember what Barney said when we met with my family?” She nodded reluctantly. “Barney swears I’m one too.”

She studied his expression, the determination on his face. The man was stubborn. If he truly believed he was a Hunter, nothing she said or did would deter him from becoming just that. “Do you think you are?”

Ryan reluctantly nodded. “Yeah. I think I am.”

She blew out a breath. “What does that mean? Because Gabe and Sarah were separated for months while he trained.” And if Ryan left for months to be trained, Glory would damn well be going with him.

“Don’t worry so much. I’m not leaving. I told him he could shove it up his ass if he tried to get me to go.”

Glory immediately relaxed. As stubborn as he was, Ryan would put his word to her above anything Barney wanted. Ryan wasn’t going anywhere. “Good.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to train, and train hard. If I’m going to be a Hunter, I’m going to need to learn everything Barney and Gabe can teach me.”

“As long as you come home safe at night, that’s fine by me.”

She squirmed in his grasp when she realized what she’d just said. Damn it. Why did she keep stripping herself bare in front of him? She might as well tattoo
Ryan’s
on her ass, because now the shifter had to be aware he owned it.

Glory wasn’t willing to admit out loud what else the Bear owned. Not yet, anyway. Let him work a little harder before she admitted to him how she really felt.

The satisfaction in his gaze wasn’t making it any better. She had the bad feeling he was already aware just how much Glory was willing to give up for him. “That’s a promise I intend to keep, sweetheart.” Ryan kissed her, holding her with a possessiveness that should have had her fighting to get free.

Instead, she sank into his embrace, giving as good as she got. Because damn it, if her ass belonged to Ryan, then Ryan’s belonged to her.

And it was about time she laid her own claim on the man who’d knocked her off her feet.

Ryan had refused to leave the shop, even to return home long enough to get his laptop. He sat in Tabby’s empty station, watching like a hawk every single customer who entered, sniffing the air to make sure there wasn’t anything odd about any of them. It was almost closing time, and he’d stayed right there the whole day.

Glory would never admit it, but just having him around calmed her. Knowing he was right there where she could keep an eye on him had soothed that strange feeling of
other
inside her. She’d been shaken to the core, more by the attack on him than on herself.

It had been unexpected, the rage that had filled her at the thought of Ryan so badly hurt he needed Super Bear’s special touch. And until they caught the fucker who’d hurt him, she was going to insist he bring his laptop to the shop with him. Between Tabby, Cyn and Glory, Ryan would be safe.

She snorted, amused at the direction her thoughts had gone in. The man was the size of a small country. She was pretty sure if she told Ryan why she wanted him here, in her sight, he’d laugh his majestic ass off at her.

Either that or she’d find herself bent over the break room table again. She shivered. She wasn’t sure if she wanted a repeat performance or not. The fact that she’d done him on there was going to fuel her fantasies for years, but the look on Julian’s face had embarrassed the hell out of her.

Ryan fucked like a god, and that bite? Her cheeks flushed as she remembered how wonderful that bite had felt. Glory was looking forward to a repeat of
that
performance. She’d had some pretty decent sex in her life, but Ryan’s bite took it to a whole other level.

I’ve developed a new kink, and its name is Ryan Williams.

Just as Glory was getting ready to close her station, the bell over the door jangled. A familiar voice called out, “Ryan?”

Glory grinned. Chloe had been coming around more often, getting out of her postage-sized apartment, much to her brother’s relief. They were all thrilled that Chloe felt well enough to try and get out more. She’d tired so easily in the early days of her healing. Hell, she still tired quicker than Glory liked. “Hi, Chloe.”

Chloe squeed and hugged her. “Congratulations!”

“Huh?” Glory returned the hug.

“You’re mated. That means we’re sisters!”

Glory shouldn’t be surprised that the Fox could scent that on her, but she was. “I didn’t know you could sense that.”

“You smell of each other.” Chloe looked genuinely happy for her as she pulled back. “You’re good for him, you know? Most women bore him pretty quickly, but not you.” Chloe waggled her brows. “Keep him on his toes.”

Glory eyed him sideways, almost grinning when she saw him pale. “Has a lot of girlfriends in his past, does he?”

Chloe started to laugh. “Cheerleaders were all over him in high school. And in college? A couple of sorority sisters got into a fistfight in the student center.”

“Chloe!” Ryan whined.

“What? Should I tell her about all those bored housewives watching you when you were working the landscaping part of the business?” Chloe leaned in and whispered loud enough for all of them to hear. “The late-night phone calls kept waking me up. The best one was the lady plumber who kept offering to check his pipe for leaks.”

Glory didn’t know whether to laugh or snarl, but the decision was taken out of her hands when Ryan abruptly stood and covered his sister’s mouth. “Ixnay on my ipes-pay.”

Glory lost it. “Let me guess. You trimmed her bush?”

Ryan turned bright red. “I did not.”

“I think he raked her leaves.” Chloe was giggling behind her hand.

“You suck.” Ryan took hold of his sister’s head and pushed her gently away. “Little sisters just suck.”

Chloe was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. “P-planted his tree in her garden.”

“I did not!” Ryan threw his hands in the air. “She was hairier than I am!”

Glory collapsed into her station chair, laughing so hard her stomach hurt.

Suddenly Ryan turned on his sister with a scowl. “Did you walk here alone?”

Chloe, still laughing, nodded.

Ryan growled. “It’s not safe to be walking alone at night.”

Chloe stilled, then sighed. “I’m okay, big brother. I’m not nearly as fired as I used to be, and I’m using all my Foxy ways to stay safe.”

“Foxy ways?” Glory watched the interaction between brother and sister with a smile. The love between the two was obvious, and it did her heart good to see it. She wanted that back with her own brother, that teasing camaraderie they’d had out of their father’s sight. “What does that mean?”

“Foxes are adept at hiding themselves. We can puzzle our scent to the point where we almost smell human. Pumas, whose animal counterparts are solitary in the wild, asked for the gift of the Pride, giving them the same advantages Wolves and Lions have.”

It was strange, the way Chloe’s speech problems seemed to come and go, but Glory was beginning to understand them a little. It seemed the more nervous Chloe was, the worse her speech became. But when she was comfortable and at ease with the people around her, the strange little quirks disappeared almost completely.

“Lions? How many types of shifters are there?” She’d gotten some of this from Tabby, but hearing it from another perspective might help her understand it better.

“Lions, Tigers, Bears, Wolves, Jaguars, Cheetahs… Name a predatory mammal and odds are good there either are, or were, shifters of that race.”

“Wereorcas.”

Chloe stopped. “Or not. I don’t think there were ever Orcas, were there?”

Ryan shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I have no idea.”

“Huh. So what gifts do the others have?” Glory settled on the chaise, smiling as Chloe took a seat next to her.

“Lions have the ability to command other shifters, making them the rulers of the shifter world. The Leo, the one who tools us all, is always a white Lion.” Ryan watched his sister and Glory on the chaise with a strange half smile on his face. He looked utterly content that they were there. Glory bet his protective personality was purring over the fact that the two people he considered his to protect were both safely in his sight. “I haven’t met a Tiger personally, but I understand they’re fierce warriors who have a half-man, half-Tiger form.”

Whoa. That sounded massively cool. “Like a werewolf, but in cat form?”

“Exactly. Then there’s Cheetahs, who are super fast.”

Glory remembered that there were Cheetahs. One of them had broken Cyn’s jaw. “Yeah. Are they all assholes?”

Chloe choked on a laugh.

Ryan shrugged. “No more than any other shifter species. Hyenas are very resistant to poisons and diseases, Lynxes are even better than Foxes at hiding their presence. Coyotes can tell if you’re lying to them or not, Jaguars can bite through almost anything… Man, there are a couple of other species, but I don’t know any of them personally. I’m not even sure I could find a Hyena or a Jaguar, honestly.”

This was a lot of information to take in. “You said the Lions were the kings of the shifter world.” How cool was that? “So it really is all about Simba?”

Chloe started laughing. “Do not ever call a Lion Simba or Nala. They fate that shit.”

Ryan ignored them both. “The Senate rules us much like Congress or Parliament rules the humans, creating and enacting laws and watching over the shifters. They’re the ones who send out Hunters to take down rogues.” Ryan leaned forward. “When we’re around humans, we discuss Packs, Prides and the Senate as if we’re talking about a business. The Senate actually runs a legal corporation headed by the Leo, a charitable organization that’s mostly concerned with the conservation of endangered species.”

“The foundation only accepts donations from shifters, so they don’t really fall under federal scrutiny. They keep it small, but they do a lot of good. The Wildlife Conservation Foundation is helping to repopulate the wolves in Yellowstone National Park and gives big cats born in the U.S. a safe environment to live in.” Chloe’s enthusiasm was apparent. Her face lit up as she discussed the foundation. “I’d hoped to work for them one day as a pet.” Chloe’s expression turned glum.

Ryan ruffled his sister’s hair. “We’ll figure out a way for you to work with animals again, Chloe. Trust me on that.”

She shrugged, but her smile was stronger. Chloe was nothing if not resilient. Glory had no doubt the family would figure out a way for Chloe to live out at least part of her dream.

“So Barney works for the Senate and the Leo.”

“Mostly the Senate, yeah, though I have no doubt if the Leo called on him he’d answer in a heartbeat. And so will I once I’m fully trained.”

Glory took a good, deep breath. There was the faintest hint of that strange something she’d come to associate with shifters, and it was coming from Chloe. “What’s that smell?” She leaned closer to Chloe, sniffing near the other woman. She was the source of the odd, faint scent. “Is that what a Fox smells like?” It was so faint it was barely perceptible, and it disappeared altogether as she leaned closer to Chloe.

Chloe looked startled. “Wow. You’re scenting things already?” She smirked at her brother. “She’s gonna be strong, Ryan.”

“Yes, she is.” And he couldn’t sound any prouder of that fact. His arm wrapped around her waist and tugged her off the chaise and onto his lap. “She
is
SG, after all.”

“Which stands for Super Glory, of course.” She elbowed him in the stomach.

“Of course,” he grunted.

Chloe just shook her head at them. “You two are nauseatingly cute.” Glory stuck her tongue out at Chloe, who laughed. “Want to go grab a bite to eat? I’m carving.”

Glory was slowly getting used to the random switches in Chloe’s words. “I think we can do that. Ryan?”