Page 22 of Dr. Bear's Mate
“No,” Blake agreed, keeping his attention on her as Tanith padded across the room and sat on the end of the bed, “I can’t fix you. Do you know why?”
“Because you’re not a god?”
He bit back his smile. Good grief, the kid was smart. “No,” he said, then stilled her tidying with a hand on her shoulder. “It’s because there’s nothing to fix. You’re perfect, just the way you are.”
“I’m sick,” Hayley countered, her cheeks coloring slightly. “I’m not perfect. I’m broken.”
“You’re exactly who you were supposed to be.” He could hear Tanith sniffling behind him; he couldn’t imagine having a chronically ill child, especially one with a disease that caused as much physical pain as sickle cell anemia did. Hayley pressed her lips together tightly, considering his words, and Blake withdrew his hand. “You fight every day to be you, sick or not. You make beautiful pictures. You’re smart. You’re talented. You love Wonder Woman.” That managed to coax a smile out of her. “Hayley, I don’t know if you realize it, but you’re perfect just the way you are.”
He didn’t want to glorify her illness, nor did he want to detract from her very real suffering. However, Blake had seen so many patients succumb to their illnesses: they let it define who they were as people. Sure, her problems weren’t going to go away by changing her mindset, but Hayley was so much more than her sickness. The sooner she came to realize that, the higher the chance it wouldn’t consume her. If Blake could do anything for her, he hoped to help her avoid that. Being consumed by a disease left patients as shells of who they could be, who they were meant to be. Hayley didn’t deserve that. She had a whole life left to live.
“I think we have time to do a movie tonight,” Tanith interjected, her voice quivering slightly.
When Blake looked back at her over his shoulder, he noted that her eyes were red, but her smile was bright.
Hayley’s spirits lifted considerably at the announcement; she practically bounced right off the bed. “Really?”
“Sure,” Tanith said, and the affection was so plain in the way she looked at her daughter that it made Blake’s heart ache. “Of course. But only if you pick it right this second. That way we don’t spend all night trying to decide.”
Hayley let out a little yippee before bouncing toward her door—with notably less energy than a healthy girl her age, but Blake could see she was trying. It made him love her right then and there.
“Sorry, I just had to change the subject,” Tanith told him as they got up to follow her, presumably to the living room. “There’s only so much health talk she can take, even on a good day.”
“I understand,” Blake promised. “Let me know if I overstep.”
“You did great.”
They smiled at one another before exiting her bedroom—and the second he passed through the doorway, he caught a whiff of an all too familiar scent.
Cougar.
Blake stilled, senses on high alert. “Tanith, get Hayley and go to her room.”
She continued sauntering down the hall, oblivious to the danger. “What?”
“I…” How did he say this so he didn’t sound insane? “I think I heard someone out back. Just…please, get her and wait somewhere while I check it out.”
The difficulty of forming a coherent sentence when all his inner bear wanted to do was shift and tear that lurking cat apart could not be understated. There was no time to argue, no time to properly explain. If he had to, Blake would put both of his girls over his shoulder and barricade them inside the bathroom.
Tanith whipped around, perhaps finally hearing something in his tone worth her attention. “Blake, what is it?”
“I heard…something breaking,” he told her. “Please, just do as I say and I’ll explain after. I promise.” He knew Tanith wasn’t the type to go for the “do as I say” routine, but there wasn’t time to fight about it. “Please,” he whispered heatedly. “I promise I’ll explain. I think you’re in danger.”
“Should I call the police?”
“Not yet. Let me go have a look first, but keep the number on standby.”
Much to his relief, Tanith actually listened to him. She disappeared down the hall for a moment, then hurried back, tugging Hayley along by the hand. Their eyes met briefly as she passed, and he hoped she could see that he wasn’t just joking around with her. Moments later, she had the door to her bedroom locked behind her. Teeth gritted, he stalked through the house, following the scent of the intruder to the kitchen, then to the sliding door that led out to Tanith’s mostly grassless backyard. Although he couldn’t see anything, his inner bear was going ballistic, desperate to get out and defend his family; that had to mean someone was nearby.
Blake stripped down quickly, leaving his folded clothes on the kitchen counter next to the doorway, then opened the sliding door and shifted. He sauntered out in black bear form, nose lifted up high as he breathed in deep. The scent was fresh, strong. Yet the warm early evening wind had already started to carry it away.
Huffing, Blake stalked the perimeter of the back yard, moving along the cement wall fence, on the prowl for anything out of the ordinary. Fortunately, there weren’t many places to hide besides the cactus garden along the back wall, though the stone flooring, beige and cut in even squares, covering the ground held the scent of cougar paw pads well. They had definitely been here.
Just as he rounded the opposite side of the house, another scent tickled his senses.
Blood.
He bounded the rest of the way across, then shifted back to his human form when he discovered smears of fresh blood along the walls. It was uneven work, like someone had done it with their hands and not a brush. Even as a human, he could scent the blood belonged to livestock of some kind—cow, or maybe pig. Hopefully, said farm animal hadn’t also been a shifter before the cougars drained him.
When he was sure there were no cougars on the property, or in the back yards of Tanith’s immediate neighbors, he hurried back inside, dressed himself, and then used her hose on high power to clean the blood off. For the most part, it disappeared, streaking down the wall in red drizzles before disappearing under the stone path. But the scent lingered. He suspected he wouldn’t be able to shake it even after he left.
Not that he planned on leaving tonight. Blake would find a way to persuade Tanith to let him sleep over. They needn’t be intimate; being there while she slept, on guard, was more than enough for Blake and his inner bear.
For now, however, he had two frightened girls to calm—and a lot of explaining to do. He hurried inside, not wanting to leave Tanith in the dark for long, all the while wondering if he was the reason the cougars had targeted her. Maybe his presence put Hayley and Tanith in more danger. Maybe it would be better if he left.
He snorted. Fat chance of that happening anytime soon.
“Try your best, assholes,” he muttered. “I’ll be ready for you next time…”