What a Bear Needs (The Wild Side) (11 page)

His grizzly nudged, pushed, trying to get his feet to move but he refused. If he ran now, she’d remember, she’d know that he wasn’t strong enough to face whatever this was with her. So he stood there, he stood and watched as Cree became something else, as it took over and forced its way out. He listened to every cry, every snarl and he never moved except to drop to his knees.

Cree’s hands fisted as she pounded the floor, sobbing.

Maddox tentatively angled towards her, pushing her hair back. “Hey. Hey
.
Look at me, Cree.” She shook her head. “Yes
,”
he challenged. “Look at
me.”

Her head rose and she blinked. The hopelessness in her stare broke his heart. He clenched his jaw and grasped one of her hands. “Let go, baby.”

 She tried to turn away from him. “No.”

“Cree, I’m asking you to trust me. Just let go
.”

“I won’t come back,” she cried.

“You
will,”
Maddox growled. “I swear to God, I’ll make sure that you do but you’re putting yourself through unnecessary pain and I can’t keep watching that so you have to let go.”

Panting, she raised her watery stare. “Don’t make me do this Maddox.”

“I don’t have a choice, darling,” he breathed, cupping her face.

Maddox pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose and murmured, “I’ll be here the entire time. I won’t leave you. I won’t lose—”

She jerked away and tumbled to her back. A low rolling of a bay came from her throat, transforming into an all-out roar as the beast inside finally clawed its way out; overtaking her in one fell swoop. The fur on her hands spread while her bone structure realigned and mutated. Cree ripped away the shirt and her chest seemed to cave in before pushing outwards again. Every second looked agonizing, every second left him on edge and then there was silence.

A black panther lay where the love of his life once was, its torso expanding with each breath. There was a soft chuff and then it was rolling to its side, large form adjusting once it got to its belly. Its muzzle rose from the floor as it seemed to suddenly notice his presence and stiffened, before casting that light stare his way.

Maddox didn’t moved, didn’t even flinch. Cree was in there. No matter how deep it may have been, she was in
there.
He reminded himself of this fact repeatedly as the beast got to its feet and made a step in his direction. Without breaking the panther’s intent gaze, he rested against the side of Cree’s bed and waited. It assessed him.

Tucking in his lips, he blew out a hard breath through his nostrils then simply said, “Hi.”

The beast obviously had no interest in small talk because it lunged, pinning Maddox to the bed with its paws placed against his shoulders. Stiletto sharps claws extended but left the muscles unpierced.

He then found himself
staring up into irises so pale that the only things discernable were the pupils. A snarl that looked less than friendly in the pitch black of Cree’s bedroom and a weight pressing into his chest that was incredibly disconcerting, accompanied said irises.

“Since I have a penis—no matter how small it may be at the moment because of what is currently occurring—I will 
not 
lose what little dignity I have left and scream,” he quietly said. A soft puff of air wafted across his temple. “It’s quite obvious that I don’t have much by way of options right now. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’re studying me because I’m absolutely
beautiful and not because you want to see what my thighs muscles taste like with a light seasoning of lemon pepper and a garnish of basil.”

Maddox could clearly see that feline face, infinitely black, ears pressed to its skull, lip curled. “It really doesn’t matter what form Cree takes,” Maddox murmured. “That look of disgust and disdain is fully recognizable.”

It watched him closely and
yes, it looked as though it were weighing whether or not his death would be entertaining enough to hold its interest. “I take it you’re not here for possible spooning.”

The panther leaned forward and he wondered how long he could keep up his comedy stylings before it got annoyed with his presence. He could always shift and slap it around but he’d risk hurting Cree and that just
couldn’t
happen.

He drew in a slow deep breath, the muscles in his lower back screaming in protest of his falling asleep on furniture that was entirely too small for his much larger frame. If Maddox had a choice, Cree would’ve been in
his
bed, enjoying the dexterity of his mattress.

Sadly, all he’d gotten accomplished was glaring at the ceiling and listening to her restless movements in the next room before eventually giving into the urge to make her acknowledge his presence. Some semblance of a truce had taken place between them, only for Maddox to have to deal with an overgrown Bombay making itself quite comfortable of his most vital parts.

“On a scale of one to ten, how friendly are
you
, Mr. Cuddles?” he muttered, reaching out a hand. The snarl it emitted made him withdraw said rather hand quickly. “That would be a negative three eh? Was it the 
mister 
that caused offense? Because to be honest, you’re quite pretty; if a bit…
heavy.” 

It growled.

He grimaced. “Did I say heavy?
I meant sturdy. Sturdy is most definitely the word for you. And if I may add—”

The cold wet nose that pressed to his is what truncated Maddox’s words.

“Okay,” he softly stated. “You’re fucked off because Cree leashes you,
all
of you. I understand that, really I do, but this
is not the way to endear yourselves to her because let’s be honest—you need one another.”

That muzzle pulled back a bit as the panther’s ears twitched. Its head lowered, maw opening and then it roared. The echo of it seemed to shake the very floor beneath them, sounding off its frustration as aggression made its fur stand on end.

Irritated, his grizzly shoved against its own confines and he didn’t cage it this time. No, he allowed the panther to feel the full force of his own resentment—his disappointment
—
as he leaned forward and met its roar with one of its own. The bed frame trembled along with Cree’s dresser. Maddox felt tension that had been steadily mounting for days pour out with every reverberation of sound that left him.

The feline froze in its place, looking as though it wanted to recoil. But it stayed, obviously determined not to show any vulnerability.

“Yeah,” he sneered. “My angst is a lot fucking louder than yours. A competition in grievances is not
what you want so simmer down and do something else besides tempting my bear into making an appearance that won’t be enjoyable for
any
of us.”

Amazingly, it quieted, clearly sensing that funny Maddox had traipsed off somewhere getting lost in discontentment. His brave face and joking manner was gone. For Cree he’d keep that up but in the presence of what was causing a huge shit storm in her life, he couldn’t be bothered. He’d had her, he’d had her close and she hadn’t wanted him to let go. The way she’d clutched onto his forearm in sleep had soothed the doubt that she’d run the first chance she got.

Far from an idiot, Maddox was well aware that’s what she’d been up to after coming home in the middle of the night. He’d scented her the moment she was close to the cabin and waited until her boots crunched just feet away to gage which door she’d creep through. The guarded expression she wore finding him in her home told him all he needed to know.

 “You scare her,” Maddox quietly told the panther. “You scare her because she’s afraid of what may happen once she fully accepts you again. And to be bonded to something that’s unpredictable—sporadic
—
is terrifying. Your annoyance is palpable but you need to grasp that her safety and the safety of others is needed before she can accept what can’t be changed.”

There were no more roars, snarls or the like. He slowly reached upwards. “So let me help.” His fingertips stretched, finding the beast’s nape. It flinched but didn’t move away. Swallowing, he ran his hand around to its chin and lightly scratched. “Let me show her why she shouldn’t hide you; why she shouldn’t be afraid to connect. Let me show her why this
is
a gift.”

A purr tumbled out and the panther’s paws fell from Maddox’s shoulders, hitting the floor with a soft thump
.
He rubbed harder, watching as the fierceness began to shed; giving way to something that wasn’t mindless rage or irritability. Pleasure from the affection began to radiate from the beast as it shuddered.

Maddox’s lips started to curl as he rubbed its chest. “When I told Cree I wanted to pet her pussy, this is not
what I had in mind.”

The feline snorted and he laughed in response. “Exactly why
did
you come roaring out?”

Cree’s panther rose—because essentially it did belong to her whether she liked it or not—trotted away from him and towards the ruined door. It stopped and cast a stare over its shoulder in his direction as though asking for permission.

“Ah, you want to go hunting
,”
he stated in realization.

There was a nod.

Maddox’s head tilted. “Were you the one who came out to play last night?”

A head shake.

He winced. “Which means there’s something else large, angry and interested in the entrails of defenseless wildlife.”

Until the day that he died, Maddox would swear he saw the feline smirk before it took off.

With a sigh, he followed after it and suddenly understood why his third nipple hadn’t been the curse he always thought it to be.

***

There were some that would argue the advancement in age left elders, matriarchs, without the ability to experience the exciting pulse of discovery, newness. They’d say that days gone by had shown those who’d come before them all the world had to offer. They’d prattle on about life being fulfilled and enthusiasm being quelled as the years passed. They’d be
wrong
; they’d always be wrong.

Nasnaana Daniels had seen the spoils of war—both human and supernatural—and had helped bury the bodies of lost loved ones. She’d seen the seed of childhood take root and branch out into maturity. She’d enjoyed lovers and the laughter of pups. She’d walked miles aimlessly just so she could enjoy the cool breeze of the mountain side, take in the beauty surrounding her but until this very moment, as she sat alone on her front porch and stared at the moon, Nasnaana knew she’d never
truly
lived. Because something was coming that would sweep aside all other eras. A daughter of the tribe would soon return home and remind Nasnaana’s people of what power really was.

Eight

She was being carried. And there was humming. Loud, obnoxious, really fucking awful, humming. There was exactly one
person she knew who had
that
particular talent.

“Maddox?” Cree’s voice—to her own ears—sounded rough; almost as though her throat had been blasted in shards of glass. Her lashes flicked upwards and the assault of the sun’s rays caused her to slam her eyes closed again.

“Ah,” the male carefully cradling her whispered. “Sleeping Beauty awakens.”

“Sleeping Beauty feels more like
meth addict in rehab.
Exactly what happened to me that you’re carrying me? Did Fallon finally fulfill her promise to break my legs and leave me in the middle of the woods?”

There was a snort. “I see the sassy new humor she has didn’t tamp down on the violent urges.”

“You’ve noticed the sassiness too?”

“It’s hard to miss. She wears it as much as she does those flannel shirts that Ransom swears aren’t
abominations against God and humanity.”

She wanted to laugh but everything hurt. The chuckle tumbled into a groan.

Maddox’s hand on her thigh briefly squeezed. “Ten more minutes and you’ll be home, baby.”

Cree put her head to his shoulder. “What did we do?” she rasped.

“Do you remember anything about last night?” he queried.

Shaking her head, she took in his smell and felt somehow soothed by the familiarity. “No. It’s all kind of fuzzy after the cuddling.”

He dropped a kiss to her temple. “Good. Then you won’t attempt shanking me when you realize I fucked up your bedroom door.”

“Why would you…?”

It slammed into her like a freight train, leaving her momentarily stunned.

Running.—Coming home to an irritable grizzly.—“We’re discussing
you.”—“
You think this is a fucking
gift?!”—
“I
love
you.”—Maddox’s lips on hers.—Maddox kicking in her bedroom door.—Maddox invading her space.—Maddox remaining in the same spot after she’d told him to run.—“Cree, I’m asking you to trust me. Just
let
go.”

Cree’s gasp was loud and hard.

Maddox stopped walking and gently shook her. “Cree?
Cree?
You’re alright. You’re fine.
Deep breaths. That’s it.”

She shuddered and shoved at his chest. He took the hint and sat her on her feet. It was then that she finally noticed the blood caked under her nails and the t-shirt draped over her frame.

Pacing away from him, she pushed her hair back and kept her eyes on the ground until he took grip of her shoulders and spun her back. “Hey, yeah, you. You can look at me.”

No, she really couldn’t; she’d never be able to look at him again. As a matter of fact…

“Stop,” Maddox growled, pulling her back when she tried to turn away from him. “
Stop.”

Cree chewed her lip, shifting from one foot to another.

With an exasperated sigh, he put his hands to her waist and lifted her above his head.

“Hey!”

“If I’m the object that happens to be beneath your feet while looking down then it means your eyes are focused on me
,
does it not?” he queried. “So let’s have a quick discussion about what you will
not
be doing.”