Bear Naked (Halle Shifters) (22 page)

Barney nodded. “He was one.”

“Was?”

Glory closed her eyes as Hope confirmed all their worst fears. No wonder they’d never found her.

Barney didn’t move a muscle. His expression remained serene, calm in the face of Hope’s overwhelming fear. His hand was still held out for Hope to take, or not. “Yes. Was. A Hunter who turns bad is just another rogue.”

“Just like a human cop who goes bad is just another criminal.” Gabe held up his badge. “He
will
be brought to justice. I swear it.”

Barney smiled so sweetly Glory was shocked. She’d never seen such a soft expression on the Hunter’s face before. “Come with us, Hope. See your family. There are three Hunters here just to protect you, and the Senate knows who you are. All you need to do is tell me the man’s name.”

She barely heard Gabe’s indrawn breath. “Of course. If we know his name, we know everything about him.”

Barney never stopped looking away from Hope. “Yup.”

Glory wanted to drag her sister out of this depressing room and into Ryan’s car. “Please, Hope. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.” Hope eyed her warily. “What are you?”

Glory didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Grizzly. Ryan is my mate, and we just claimed one another, so I haven’t even gone through my first change yet.”

“Whoa.” For the first time Glory saw some of the girl she’d known in the suspicious woman before her. Hope’s eyes lit up, a small smile creasing the scar on her cheek. “Your ass will finally be bigger than mine.”

Glory laughed, aware she was close to tears. “Bitch, you always had a fat ass.”

She grunted as Hope dove into her arms. “I really did missed you. It’s why I came back. I wanted to see you, just once, before I ran again.”

“Missed you too. So much.” She held tight, terrified Hope would disappear like she had all those years ago. “I’m glad we found you before you left.”

“He’ll come back.” Hope was shaking so hard Glory was afraid she’d rattle to pieces. “He always finds me.”

“Then we’ll be here to stop him.” Glory said the one thing she could, closing her eyes at the irony of it. “You’re not alone anymore.”

Hope sobbed.

Glory wasn’t that far behind her. She couldn’t seem to stop the tears that came. She finally had her twin in her arms, and she had no intention of losing her again. “Let’s get you home, okay?”

Hope sniffled. “Okay.”

“Can you tell me his name?”

“His name.” Hope turned toward them, tears running down her cheeks. “Tito Salazar.”

Barney quivered, but that was the only sign he gave that he might recognize the name. “Good. Thank you, Hope.” Still using the unusually gentle tone and touch, he guided Hope and Glory toward Ryan’s car, careful not to touch Hope. “I’m a Bear as well, a Grizzly, and Gabe is a Puma. The local Pride has taken your sister and her friends in, made them Pride.”

“I’m authorized to inform you that Max and Emma, our Alpha and Curana, are willing to extend the same protections to you that your sister enjoys.” Gabe held open the backseat door for Hope. “We want you to have as many options as possible.”

“I just never want to see Tito again. I barely got away from him. If he finds me again…” Hope bit her lip, and even in the early morning darkness Glory could see how she shook. “You don’t know what that son of a bitch did to me.”

“We’ll stop him.” Barney gestured for Glory to climb into the car next to her sister. “Is there anything in the motel room you can’t live without?”

Hope shot a despondent glance toward her temporary home. “I’ve learned there’s very little I can’t live without.”

Glory couldn’t stand it anymore. She took hold of Hope’s hand. “Let’s see if we can change that, hmm?”

When Hope leaned her head against Glory’s shoulder, it took everything in her not to break down and weep like a child.

Chapter Fifteen

Hope had been through a rougher hell than any of them had dealt with before. Barney had done his best to seem as unthreatening as possible, and all of them were treating her like a china doll that could break at any moment. Hope was impossibly traumatized, and might never fully recover from her ordeal.

He very much doubted Hope had slept with her abductor willingly.

Gabe sighed. “I’ve got more bad news.”

“What now?” Crap, could this night get any worse?

Gabe shot him a worried glance that had Ryan’s claws extending, ready to protect and defend. “I’m not just smelling the rogue Wolf around here.”

“Fuck.” Ryan took a deep breath, sneezing as the strong odor of dust, mold and a very familiar, very frightening Puma filled his nostrils. “Is that…?”

Gabe nodded.

“What the fuck is
he
doing around here?” Last Ryan had heard the good doctor was secluded with his family, refusing to speak to anyone.

“I have no idea, but I’m worried.”

“You think he’s gone crazy on us?” It was possible. Ryan didn’t know of anyone who survived the traumatic loss of a mate the way Jamie Howard had. If Julian hadn’t saved him, there would have been a double funeral in Halle.

Marie Howard had been the daughter of the previous Alpha, and much loved in the community. Her death had hit the Pumas of Halle hard, none more so than her mate. He was just glad that Jamie was the only one who seemed to place his mate’s death at the feet of the Cynful girls. Even if it wasn’t fair, he could almost understand why. It was Tabby’s ex-Alpha who had taken his mate from him, and Julian who had saved Jamie’s life, leaving him forever denied his mate.

“It’s possible. Hope has victim written all over her. And Ryan…” Gabe shot him an unreadable glance, “…Jamie used to take care of…
certain things
for the Alpha that were better left to the Hunters.”

“Shit.” The easygoing, affable man Ryan remembered wouldn’t hurt a fly, but if what Gabe was saying was true, it could spell big trouble for the Walsh family. “Tell me.”

“Only because you’re a Hunter, Ryan.”

He got that, he really did, but this secretive stuff was going to get old fast. This might be Puma business, but right now it was Ryan’s business as well. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” He made an impatient gesture. “Spill, damn it.”

Gabe almost chuckled at that, but his expression remained grim. “When Emma Carter first mated Max, there was some opposition to her becoming our Curana, specifically from a woman named Livia Patterson. She’d been Max’s girlfriend in high school and always assumed she’d become his mate and co-ruler of the Pride. She lorded it over anyone and everyone, even the people who called her friend.”

“But then Max met Emma?”

Gabe shrugged. “They all went to the same high school, but Emma was younger. I think the mating instinct didn’t kick in until he met the adult Emma. Anyway, he met up again with Emma, he marked her, and declared her his Curana instead of Livia. Livia was furious, and in a fit of rage attacked Becky Holt at the annual masquerade ball.”

“Which is when Becky got those scars.” The Beta mate had deep, savage-looking scars on her shoulder, ones she hid in the long, curly fall of her hair, but Ryan had seen them.

Gabe nodded as he led the way out of the motel room. “Yup. She bit her, but didn’t try and change her. She just wanted to prove that Emma’s weakness for her friend would be her downfall, but she wasn’t aware that Becky was Simon Holt’s mate.” The glass artist and Beta of the Puma Pride was an easygoing man much in the same mold as Bunny. Ryan was willing to bet he had the same protective instincts Bunny had too. “Emma forced Livia to submit to her, cementing her place as Curana, and she and Max Outcast Livia.”

“Let me guess. Livia couldn’t let it go?”

“Of course not. Bitch always thought she was owed more than she was worth. She came back and went after Emma and Becky a second time, poisoning Becky and threatening her with a gun. Simon wound up killing Livia when she attacked Becky, and Jamie made the body…disappear. And it wasn’t the first time he’d done something like that for the Pride.”

“And you know that because you’re a Hunter?”

Gabe stared at him. “Because I’m Marshal’s Second. This wasn’t something that could be hidden from Adrian and me, not when we’re part of the ruling hierarchy. Max had to tell us, but the rest of the Pride has no idea that Livia is dead.”

Ryan would never understand the whole Pack/Pride thing. They took their whole “ruling hierarchy” thing far too seriously. In his family, they all would have known what happened and done their best to make sure no one ever found the body. It was what family did for each other. “No one questioned it?”

“Nope. Everyone assumed Livia was gone, that she took her Outcast ass and just disappeared. There wasn’t any need to tell anyone what really happened. I think the only people outside the Pride who know are Rick and Belle Lowell, and that’s only because Livia was Belle’s best friend before she went after Emma.”

“So why is Jamie Howard hanging around here?” Ryan sniffed the air, recognizing the lingering traces of Dr. Howard now that he was looking for them. “He’s not here now.”

“I have no idea. Maybe he decided to go after Glory’s attacker?”

“That doesn’t make sense. He still blames Cyn and Julian for losing Marie. The last person he’d help would be Glory.”

“Then he’s here for Hope.” Gabe shrugged. “If he’s been watching her, I have to wonder how he’ll react when he realizes she’s gone.”

“He’s not a rogue yet.” Ryan knew it the way he knew his mate’s scent, or that little gasp she gave just before she came.

“No, but he’s come close. Too close. And now this, watching a woman who was on the run from an abuser?” Gabe sighed roughly. Jamie’s actions were wearing the Second down. Everyone had loved Jamie Howard, but now several Pumas feared him. “I don’t know what to think.”

“Are we certain he’s watching Hope? He could be here for some other reason.” Ryan stared out into the darkness, trying to see if he could find the hidden Puma.

“I don’t know for sure.” Gabe sighed. “But for some reason I don’t think he’s out here hunting bunny rabbits.”

“That Spidey sense of yours is tingling?”

“More like fizzing.” Gabe shook his head. “I have no idea what’s up with him, but we need to figure out what the hell is going on.”

“We’ll watch for him, then.” Ryan clapped Gabe on the shoulder, hoping to offer some reassurance. If one of his relatives went bug-shit insane, he’d be weary too. “His scent wasn’t anywhere near Glory’s apartment.”

“So maybe he’s not interested in Hope at all. Maybe it’s something else he’s come out here for.” Gabe put the shopping bags in the trunk. “Here’s hoping he’s just out here taking his aggression out on poor, defenseless Thumpers and Bambis.”

Ryan nodded. The last thing they needed was Doctor Demento going after Glory’s sister. Hope had been through enough. She didn’t need to add a brand-spanking new stalker to her list of woes. “How do we deal with Hope? She’s been changed against her will. She may not want to be around other shifters.” A lone Wolf, one who wasn’t rogue, wasn’t unheard of. It was rare, but it did happen. Packs and Prides would view such a Wolf warily, but the shifters who formed family groups would be more open to them.

“We let her decide.” Gabe shut the trunk. “If she chooses to stay in Halle, we talk to Max and Emma about bringing her into the Pride. If she needs other Wolves around her, we send her to Rick and Belle.”

Ryan didn’t know Hope well enough to guess what she might choose, but he did know her sister. “Glory won’t be happy if Hope decides to go to the Poconos rather than stay here.”

“It’s not about Glory. It’s about Hope, and what she needs in order to heal.” Gabe stared at the two women in the back seat of Ryan’s car. “If the closeness and security of a Pack are what she needs, that’s what she gets.”

“And Glory will be torn between following her twin and staying in Halle with Cyn and Tabby.”

“Maybe Temp and Faith will go with Hope. Rick Lowell isn’t nearly as backward as his grandfather was. He’s accepted humans into his Pack. Hell, his Omega just mated one. He’ll be fine with it.”

“And if Faith becomes a Wolf as well, she’ll be better able to protect herself from her father if the good Reverend ever comes back for her.” He couldn’t see a man like Temperance Walsh bowing down to any Wolf, even Rick Lowell. They’d have to figure out something else to do with the man.

Gabe nodded. “In the meantime, let’s get the girls back to Halle.” He glared around at the darkness. “Something doesn’t feel quite right.”

“Do we need to check it out?” The Wolf who’d hunted his mate could be in the woods, watching them, but Ryan didn’t scent anything.

“No, it’s not that. I think we’re being watched, though.”

“I think you’re right.” Barney sauntered over to them, keeping the women in his sight at all times. “But whatever it is doesn’t feel hostile.”

“I’m not an Omega. I couldn’t tell you whether or not it’s safe.” Gabe blew out a breath. “I’m going to follow you back, get Hope settled with Max and Emma. I called on the way over here, and they told me that if Hope really was here they’d take her in, no questions asked.”

“Will she be all right with them?” Ryan’s mate was talking quietly to her sister, her voice a barely audible buzz against his senses, but her tone was easy to distinguish. She was keeping her twin calm, Hope leaning against Glory as if weary beyond endurance.