Dana Bell - Bear Necessities

“No, but you’re bordering on rogue, boy.” Gabe took a stance to Max’s left, placing himself between the girls and the Wolves. “And rogues are my specialty.”

“Go back to school, little boy. If you grow up to be a real Alpha, you’ll understand what I’m doing here. Until then? Stay out of town. You’re not welcome here anymore.”

“You might want to consider going to another school. Maybe one closer to home?”

Gabe frowned. “Who is your Alpha, anyway?”

Gary gulped. “We’re leaving.” He scrambled out the door, dragging his friends with him.

Gabe shook his head, glaring at the trio rushing down the street. “What the hell is going on?”

“I have no idea, but I plan on finding out.” They exchanged a look before Max turned to the girls. “You three okay?”

“One of them hit Cyn.” Tabby lifted her head and took her first real breath since Gary had entered Living Art. Max had reined in his power. She could stand again.

She rose, grimacing at the sounds of broken glass underfoot.

Glory groaned, staring at the shattered glass counter. “Hell. We can’t open for business like this. Somebody will get hurt.”

“How did you know that you could make me Pride?” Tabby was still stunned. She was part of something again. She hadn’t even realized how tense she’d been until Max accepted her into his Pride. She felt so loose, so relieved, she was dizzy with it.

Max shrugged. “I didn’t. I just know Rick’s Luna is a Puma, and she’s now part of his Pack. I was hoping you wouldn’t need a Puma mate for it to work.”

Tabby paled. “What would have happened if it hadn’t worked?”

Max grinned. “You’d still be under my protection until Rick arrives.”

Arrives? “Um. The Poconos Alpha is coming?” Tabby backed away, bumping into Cyn and Glory.

“Ow. Shit. I can’t believe that asshole punched me.”

Tabby turned, thoughts of the scary Wolf Alpha driven from her mind. “Oh crap.

Cyn, you okay?”

“Let me see.” Max walked around her to help Cyn and Glory to their feet. His fingers lightly stroked the red, swollen flesh. “You’ve got one hell of a bruise.”

“Ow.” Cyn winced, pulling away from Max’s fingers. “That mutt is going to pay for this.”

“Let us deal with it.” Gabe picked up a piece of art, placing it on a stool near the shattered counter.

“Change me so I can deal with it myself! I’m sick and tired of the Fuzzy Club traipsing in and out of my place and wrecking my life!”

Max chuckled. “I heard that a certain Bear had it in mind to take care of that himself.”

Cyn screamed. Everyone stared at her, shocked. “Does everyone know about this but me?”

Max backed up, his eyes wide. “Maybe we should just go now.”

Gabe backed up right along with his Alpha. “Good idea.” The two men fled, heading in the opposite direction from Gary.

“Cowards!” Cyn shouted after them.

Glory giggled. “You just scared off one of the most powerful men in town.”

Cyn wrinkled her nose. “He may be an Alpha, and he may be powerful, but deep down inside? He’s still a man.” She kicked a piece of glass across the floor. “Put a pissed-off woman in front of him and he runs like the yellow-bellied coward he is.”

Tabby’s jaw dropped. “You have met Max’s wife, right?”

Glory was laughing so hard Tabby wasn’t certain she was breathing.

Cyn rolled her eyes. “C’mon, let’s get this cleaned up before The Three Bears show up. God knows which of us will have to play Goldilocks if they do.”

“Want me to have Julian look at that bruise?”

The glare Cyn shot at her should have turned her into a pile of ash.

Watching her two friends get mated was going to be so much fun!

She took the broom Cyn handed her and sighed.

Yeah. Fun.

“Well?”

“Nope. Nothing.”

Bunny sighed. Ryan was even more frustrated than he was. He’d dragged his cousin out of the hospital for lunch, hoping to get the man to relax. Hell, he’d even let Ryan have all the cantaloupe this time.

If Ryan clenched that fork any tighter, he’d bend it right in half.

Yup. This is working out well. His cell phone rang. “Tabby?” He winced. He’d meant to pick her up for lunch, but he’d gotten sidetracked. “I’m sorry, baby. I forgot. I took Ryan to lunch.”

“That’s not why I called.” She paused. “Well, okay, that’s one reason.”

Bunny frowned. She sounded shaken. “What happened?”

“Couple of things. Don’t freak out.”

Okay, those three words had him on his feet, reaching for his jacket. “Tabby. Tell me.”

“Gary came to the shop. There’s some damage but no one was seriously hurt.”

Bunny growled. He gestured to Ryan. “Gary was at the shop.”

Ryan was on his feet in two seconds flat. He dropped some twenties next to their half-eaten food and they raced for the door.

“You all right?”

“Yeah. Max and Gabe showed up and rescued us.”

Bunny slowed down. If the Puma Alpha and Second had been there, he doubted Gary got much more than threats out. “Anyone hurt?”

“One of Gary’s minions landed a blow on Cyn, but she’ll be all right.”

“You called Julian yet?”

“I’ve been ordered not to.”

But she hadn’t been ordered not to tell Bunny. “Good girl.”

“Thanks. I’m not supposed to tell Ryan either.”

He laughed. “Too late. We’re headed your way.” He put his hand over the receiver.

“They’re fine. Gabe and Max rode to the rescue.”

Ryan straddled his bike and reached for his helmet. “Good. But I’m still heading over there.”

“I know. Let me call Julian. Cyn’s the only one who got hurt, but the girls are pretty shaken up.”

Ryan nodded and strapped on his helmet.

“We’re on our way, baby. Need us to pick anything up for you?”

“Lunch would be good.”

He winced at the amusement in her voice. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She sighed dramatically. “You forgot me. I understand.”

He could feel himself blushing. Damn it. How did she keep doing that to him?

“Pizza good?”

“Works for us. Oh, and make sure there’s at least one meat lovers, extra bacon, okay?”

“Done. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.” He waved Ryan off before dialing Julian’s number.

“’Lo?”

He didn’t bother with any preliminaries. Julian sounded really out of it. “Gary attacked Cyn. She’s okay, but we’re heading over to Living Art to check on her.”

No response.

“Julian?”

“When you finally face him, make sure you give him a swipe from me.”

“So you think he’ll go after them again?”

Julian sighed. “Let’s just say I don’t see any other possibilities.”

“Are you heading to the shop?”

“Does a bear shit in the woods?”

Bunny laughed shortly. “Meet you there.” He clicked shut his phone, called Lou’s Pizza and ordered three larges. He straddled his Harley and started off, wondering what else had Tabby upset. More than Gary’s visit was bothering her. She’d sounded…excited. And he bet that Max and Gabe were the source of that excitement. Maybe Gabe had something on Gary, or would be able to get a warrant now that the man had vandalized the shop and harassed Cyn. He sort of understood why the sheriff hadn’t arrested him on the spot. Putting a shifter into a human jail was always problematic. Still, knowing Gary and his friends were locked up, even overnight, would go a long way toward easing his mind.

Hell, at this point he bet all of them could use a break. He’d help the girls get the shop cleaned up and locked up for the day. Then he was going to take Tabby house hunting.

He arrived at Living Art with the pizzas, a plan already forming. All thoughts flew right out of his head when he saw the shattered glass countertop with the baseball bat stuck in it. “Son of a bitch.”

“That’s what I said.” Ryan’s jaw was clenched so hard Bunny was surprised his teeth hadn’t snapped off.

“We’re fine.”

Ryan glared down at Glory. “He attacked you.”

She shrugged. She was doing her damndest to look nonchalant but Bunny could see the way she was shaking. “He attacked Cyn and Tabby. I was along for the ride.”

Ryan took a deep breath. Then he took another one. Bunny could see his Bear shifting under his skin, dying to get out, hunt down the man who’d dared threaten his mate, and tear him to pieces. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

“Get in line.” Julian stepped into the chaos. Silver still peppered his hair, and his dark eyes sparkled with gray lights. “Where’s Cyn?”

Glory inched away from Ryan and earned herself a low growl. “She said she was going out for a bite.”

The three men froze. “She wouldn’t.” Bunny stared at the curtained-off area, wondering if she’d really be that stupid.

“She would.” Julian walked around him, his gait still unsteady. “Where’s Tabby?”

“She left. She said she had to make sure Cyn didn’t do anything stupid.” Glory frowned, staring at the three groaning men. “What?”

“Did you think she was going out for lunch?”

“Well, yeah.” She blinked up at Ryan. “Wasn’t she?”

“Shit. You think she went to Aunt Laura?”

Ryan shrugged. “She did before. Mom told her no, that it was up to Julian to do the honors.”

Julian groaned. “Crap.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “This keeps getting better and better.”

“We’ll find her, Julian.”