Bearly Enough (11 page)

“Stone! Get your ass out here
now
!”

Wrapping a towel around his torso, he cursed, refusing to
look at Lucy. If he looked at her, who knew what his body would do. He grasped the
doorknob, and then yanked it open, feeling his breath catch in his throat. His
entire body was on fire, and his bear was just below the surface, bellowing for
release.

Stone came face-to-face with Jeremy, and the look on
Jeremy’s face was so severe, so incredibly furious, that he gulped and closed
the door behind him. His dick began to go limp, which was probably for the
best.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Jeremy asked slowly,
each word deliberate, his teeth clenched. A vein just above his right eye
pulsed angrily. Clearly, Jeremy was trying to control his temper.

Stone went to open his mouth but Jeremy was too quick. He
grabbed him roughly, slamming him up against the wall and holding his forearm
along Stone’s throat.

“Fuck!” Stone exclaimed, but he couldn’t move.

“It is taking every ounce of my self-control not to shift
and rip your fucking throat out,” Jeremy hissed. “Could you fuck things up
anymore?”

Stone couldn’t breathe and his vision was getting blurry at
the edges; Jeremy was cutting off his oxygen.

Jeremy noticed this and released Stone, who stumbled on his
feet.

“What the hell?” he yelled, rubbing at his sore neck.

“Shut the fuck up!” Jeremy snapped, shoving Stone.

Stone froze, trying to control his own anger. “I got carried
away,” he argued.

“Carried away?” Jeremy echoed. “Try harder to not get
carried
away
. We basically kidnapped her last night, and now I hear the two of you
going at it in the shower?’’

“I didn’t fuck her,” Stone muttered under his breath.

“I don’t care whether you fucked her or you didn’t! The
point is that we are her captors! And the last thing we need is another fucking
mistake because one of us gets too close to her and gets blinded by our dick!”

“What are you implying?” Stone growled.

“You know exactly what I’m implying! You let your dick guide
you instead of your brain. Be smart! The Virtus will be here soon, wanting to
claim the princess’ sister. We need to be alert.”

Stone felt anger coursing through him like a river. How dare
Jeremy give him a hard time about thinking with his dick?

Stone knew there was some truth to his words, but he sure as
hell didn’t need Jeremy reminding him.

“Don’t forget that you told me to get close to her,” he
reminded Jeremy.

“Yes. As a tactic. Nothing else!”

“Well, maybe that tactic failed.”

Jeremy stood extremely still, and Stone could see his
wolfish sixth sense at work. He keenly observed Stone, his eyes raking over
him, taking in every nuance, as his brain seemed to play catch up with his
observations.

“Leave.”

“What?” Stone stared at him, clenching his fists by his
side.

“You heard me. Get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Yes. You. Are.”

Stone shuddered as he felt the power of the Alpha order move
through his body, resonating so deeply within him that he knew he could do
nothing to fight Jeremy’s orders.

He turned around, striding down the steps, his head held
high.

Torin was waiting for him by the door.

“What the hell, man?” He said in a low voice.

Stone rolled his eyes. “Don’t. “

“Is it true? Did you fall for the chick?” His eyes searched
Stone’s face. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s hot.”

Stone was bothered by Torin’s sexual comment about Lucy, but
he refused to let it show. Stone shrugged. “What does it matter? What Jeremy
says goes.”

Torin nodded wisely and gave Stone an apologetic look.

“This is bullshit!” Stone snapped, before heading out the
door.

He jogged back to his own house, not paying any attention to
the chilly morning. His thoughts raced, and he kept seeing Lucy’s naked body,
dripping with water, and he could feel her soft skin under his hands and hear
her quiet moans of pleasure.

He yelled—to no one in particular, just out of frustration.
He had been trying to protect Lucy, and instead he had only fucked things up
more. He had half a mind to just return her to the Virtus, but he knew that
would get him banned from his own tribe, and he couldn’t risk that.

Like always, when Stone got upset, his thoughts drifted to
Joy. She had been only eight years old when she had died six years ago. Stone
had been nearly eighteen. 

Torin had just turned twenty-one and had moved out.

Stone let the memories wash over him, as he always did. He
saw things through his parents’ eyes first, and then relived his own memories.
No matter what, it didn’t make the events any easier.

Overwhelming grief and guilt crushed him as he thought of
Kato.

Kato, his friend, had left the tribe, and Stone would never
have the answers he sought. Even if he had managed to track Kato down, he knew
that Kato would never answer, would never comply, and would never admit to any
involvement.

Kato had been three years younger than Stone, but he had
somehow seemed three years older. He had been sharper, faster, wittier, and
smarter. The whole tribe knew that Kato was destined for great things—even at a
young age, he was clearly a leader, and Stone felt privileged that Kato wanted
to be his friend.

But things became strained as Stone began to stand out more
and more from his younger friend. Stone had bulked up and was showing aptitude
in other areas, beyond his home improvement skills. Kato grew jealous, but
Stone thought that Kato would understand; after all they hadn’t been competing
with one another.

Stone pressed his hands to his temples, trying to force the
memories out, yet it was the same pattern as always. He flashed back to how
much Kato had appeared to care for Joy. Kato, being an only child, had loved
spending time at Stone’s house—they were like one big happy family. And Joy had
looked up to Kato so much. Sometimes when she was angry with Stone, she would
even go to Kato to complain.

Kato never shared how truly jealous he was of Stone; not
just of Stone’s achievements, but of Stone’s entire life.

The day rushed back in on him.

It was one of the first days of spring; it had been late in
coming that year. The flowers were finally budding, the air was heavy with the
smell of fresh rain, and the breeze was so soft, so gentle, that it felt like
it was kissing your bare arms.

Everyone had been enjoying the outdoors, but Joy hadn’t felt
well and went home to lie down. Stone’s mother had taken her back, and when she
knew that Joy was asleep, she had come back outside to join the family.

The details got dicey there, but Stone thought he had
finally pieced it together.

Kato must have been watching closely, perhaps he had even
played a part in making Joy ill. He waited until he knew Stone’s mother had
gone outside again, and then he went to the house. Stone imagined that his
mother could have left the door unlocked, or Joy might have let Kato in.

Kato had probably started off sweet, offering to take care
of Joy, the little sister he had never had and supposedly loved. He wouldn’t
have alarmed her at first, Stone could see it all, Kato was so smooth and
calculating.

And then, like a python, he would have struck.

Stone’s stomach was sick as he thought of his beautiful baby
sister, with her soft wavy hair, her eyes wide and terrified, as Kato held her
down and suffocated her with a pillow.

They had been able to determine that much, at least.

Joy had been suffocated first.

As if that hadn’t been bad enough.

Last came the assault—the cutting.

Stone was so sick that he stopped and threw up on the side
of the road.

He remembered how well Kato had played along—how he had
acted shocked and grief-stricken, helping Stone’s reeling family. But then Kato
slowly began to distance himself.

At first, Stone thought it was his fault, that he had been
pushing Kato away, that his family hadn’t been as welcoming because they were
so consumed with grief. Yet when Stone tried to include Kato, tried to bring
him closer to the family, Kato resisted, ever so slightly.

Again, so smooth, almost undetectable.

And then, after a few months, Kato’s story fell through. He
had claimed to be with other clan members, but Stone’s father had learned that
the times didn’t match up.

Kato stopped coming around for Sunday dinners; he made
excuses and began to run with a different crowd.

A year after Joy’s death, questions were beginning to
surface, and Stone felt the divide between them, felt the accusations hanging
in the air. To make matters worse, his parents were now questioning Kato, and
the guilt Stone felt was all consuming. How could
his
friend, someone
who had been loved by his family, possibly be considered a suspect?

Questions began to grow in the tribe, and Kato, who had always
maintained his innocence, began dodging these questions. And then, like a thief
in the night, he disappeared. One day he was on tribe lands and the next day he
wasn’t.

There was only a trail of his scent that led north, nothing
else.

Everyone had assumed Kato’s fleeing was an admission of his
guilt.

Stone clutched at his stomach, feeling small and weak as he
approached his house.

Why did he do this to himself? Why did he torture himself
with these memories?

He stumbled inside and took a hot shower to clear his mind.

It cleared his thoughts of Joy and Kato, but only made him
think more of Lucy.

After he dressed, he paced downstairs.

Alright, so he had overstepped his boundaries, that was
true. But he couldn’t stand
not
to be around Lucy. He
needed
to be
near her, and he liked to think that Lucy wanted him around, too. She had
certainly been into things in the shower.

He dialed Torin’s number, but he didn’t answer.

Trying to distract himself, he headed into his basement and
began working on putting up drywall. It was a good use of his energy and his
pent up sexual frustrations.

He worked throughout the morning, barely stopping, keeping
his mind laser-focused on his project. Eventually he put down his tools, wiping
at his sweat.

He imagined that he heard a sound.

Just as he was about to pick up his nail gun again, he heard
the same sound.

It sounded like a woman yelling.

Lucy!

He ran upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, and burst
through the basement door just as he heard pounding on his front door mixed
with Torin’s gruff “Stone!” and Lucy’s angry shriek.

He threw open the front door and Jeremy and Torin came
barreling in, pushing Lucy forward. She looked angrier than a cat in heat.

“What the hell is going on?” Stone asked, slamming his front
door.

“I’d like to know the same thing!” Lucy quipped, shooting
Torin and Jeremy hateful looks.

“She’s a damn live wire,” Torin muttered.

“Fuck you!” Lucy snapped. She then turned and looked at
Stone. “Is he seriously your brother?”

“Yes,” Stone answered, surveying his three guests, “he is.
Now can someone tell me what is going on?”

“These two buffoons told me that you had left, and since
you’re the only asshole that I know around here, I demanded that they bring you
back,” she huffed.

Stone raised his eyebrows. Clearly Jeremy and Torin didn’t
find this funny.

Lucy was dressed in a pair of much too baggy shorts and an
oversized white t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back on top of her head, and even
without makeup, she looked beautiful.

Stone was in trouble.

Lucy looked around the room at the three men.

Or should she say bears?

The world as she knew it was no more, and she realized it had
become the stuff of fairy tales. Or should she say nightmares? She didn’t know
any fairy tales where Prince Charming turned into a big, angry bear.

She snorted with laughter; was she considering Stone to be
her Prince Charming?

The three men looked at her as if she were crazy, which only
made her convulse into giggles.

“What the hell?” Torin scoffed, and Jeremy backed up as if
Lucy was the plague.

“Jesus Christ,” Stone muttered, grabbing her by the wrist
and dragging her into the kitchen. He pushed her into a chair and rummaged
around in his cabinets. He plunked down a plastic cup in front of her and
pulled a soda out of the fridge. He rummaged around some more, giving her ample
time to admire his physique.

Even though he was a crazy bear, and a complete asshole, she
couldn’t deny that he looked like walking sex.

He threw a pack of crackers down in front of her.

“Eat,” he growled. “You’re losing your damn mind.”

“So what if I am?” she challenged, “You guys are going to
kill me anyway, right?”

Stone stared at her, and seemed speechless.

Torin and Jeremy appeared behind him, also looking shocked.

Stone looked back at the other two men and then over at
Lucy.

He shook his head.

“No,” he whispered. “We have no intention of killing you.”

What?

Lucy stared harder, wondering if she had heard right.

“You—you aren’t going to kill me?” she stuttered. All along
she had figured this was it for her. She hadn’t even been fighting hard because
she figured it was a battle she couldn’t win—but now? Now what? Her mind raced as
she tried to make sense of this new information.

Her stomach growled loudly, and she realized that she
couldn’t process this anything until she had food in her belly.

She took a long, slow swig of the soda, and munched on two
crackers.

“You didn’t think to feed her?” Stone asked quietly to Torin
and Jeremy.

“Sorry,” Torin apologized, but Jeremy didn’t seem sorry.

“I don’t have time for this,” Jeremy snapped. “Keep me
posted.” He stalked out of the house, and Lucy wanted to call after him to not let
the door hit him in the ass on his way out, but she refrained.

Now she was left alone with Torin and Stone, and she wasn’t
sure whom she was angrier with.

Stone.

Definitely Stone since she knew him better.

“Now what?” Stone growled to Torin, but Torin only shook his
head.

“Maybe someone should ask me what happens now?” she snapped,
crunching into another cracker. She was dressed in some ridiculous oversized
clothes from Torin, and what she really wanted was to punch these two idiot
bear brothers in their faces.

Torin rolled his eyes. “Is she always like this?” he asked,
with a hint of annoyance.

Stone smirked.

She needed to figure a way out of this. If they would just
leave her alone for a few minutes, then perhaps she could sneak out. She
figured that all she needed to do was run toward the woods.

“I need the bathroom,” she announced.

Torin and Stone exchanged looks. Stone went to speak, but
Torin cut him off.

“I’ll take her. I saw how well that turned out for you
earlier.”

“Asshole,” Stone muttered.

Torin motioned for Lucy to follow him, and they walked down
a small hall. She had to admit that Stone’s house was nice. It hadn’t looked
like much from the outside, but inside everything looked new, and it was airy
and open, giving the home a much bigger feel.

“I’ll leave the door cracked,” Torin said, as he pointed to
the bathroom.

“Like hell you will,” Lucy snapped. “You’re not going to
watch me!” She slammed the door in his face.