Page 85 of Trusting Her Bear
“I don’t think that’s going to go over well,” he says dryly.
“The important thing is that you don’t leave her side,” I stress.
“I won’t,” Micah promises, and then we both look at Heath.
“Heath?” I ask.
“I’m honored,” he finally says. “I will protect her with my life and not leave her side,” he promises harshly.
“Thank you.” I nod at them and slip between them, moving quickly down the stairs. I am well aware I am leaving my mate in the hands of monsters. That is the point. They will release their beasts if anyone tries to take my mate. Sometimes, the monsters are the good guys.
I call Bash as I jog away.
“Are you on the move?” he answers.
“Yes. They aren’t that far away.” I enter the trees on the other side of the road from my place.
“I’m assuming they are leading you. I had plenty of time to track the phone.”
“I know.” My eyes scan the path in front of me.
“Are you sure you want to go alone?”
“Yes. Kade and Cash are trailing. They know not to get too close.”
“I don’t think he is working alone.”
“He isn’t. We smelled different scents in the apartment and outside.”
“And you still want to go alone,” he states.
“Yes. Do you have doubts about my fighting ability, vampire?”
“Yes.”
“Asshole.” I smile slightly.
“I will be around, just in case,” he says.
“I know,” I say and hang up. I turn off the ringer and send Kade and Cash a message, instructing them to hang back further. I don’t smell any unknown shifters yet, but I caught their scent and I don’t want them to interfere.
Bash tracked them to an area in the middle of these woods, but they could be anywhere out here so I have to be prepared for anything.
I stop and close my eyes. I let the sounds of nature around me flow through me, letting me know the natural noises. The sun is rising, but the trees are so dense it seems like it’s night. I call on the mask I used when I was hunting killers, pushing away every emotion that is tied to who I left at my place. I push away any fear or insecurity. I concentrate on the need to kill the person who’s fucking up my life. I merge further within, pulling on every aspect of the bear inside me, depending on his senses and vision.
He is always part of me every minute of the day, a comforting presence, protecting us with his power. Through the minutes of the day, I don’t rely on him as much, but I need everything he can give me now.
In Bash’s messages, he also informed me that this shifter, or shifters, has killed humans. He pieced together the path they took to get here, and there were many suspicious deaths along the way. The human police are investigating them, trying to find logical explanations for the claw and bite marks. We will have to send a vampire to clean up the mess.
They are also putting our world at risk.
This I also can’t ignore.
I blink and open my eyes as I go back in time. I am a killer. I do it well.
Today will be no different.
No matter how difficult some of those kills were, the one today will not be because I have something to protect that means more to me than anything ever has. Back then, I was fighting for shifters and the world we inhabit. We are a secret. A fairytale in books and imaginations. Most humans have no idea of the monsters who walk among them, work beside them, and eat at the next table. I was protecting their piece of mind and preventing the fear that would consume them if they found out how many of us are living with them. Even though we are stronger, have magic within us, and are very hard to kill, they could hold the power in a fight between thousands.