Page 142 of Choose the Bears

“Love bombing.” I had a language for that now. “I don’t know if it’s deliberate or something some guys just do instinctively, but it's what happens. For a short period of time, they’re the perfect guy.”

“Long enough to suck you in.” Her voice was like razor blades scraping against gravel, her eyes narrowing. “Long enough to make you love them. No, not them. The idea of them, an ideal they can’t maintain, never intended to maintain, until they have you right where they want you–even at the end.”

Her expression was stricken.

“I thought he was going to kill everyone in this building.” Her words came faster and faster. “I thought he’d blow the place up.” My hand snaked across the table and gripped her hand. “I thought…”

“I know.” I gave it a squeeze. “I know. You didn’t take the kids outside because you wanted to protect them, protect all of us.” The look of pain in her eyes killed me, because it was completely unearned. She’d done nothing but been brave enough to leave Phil. “You’re the real hero.”

“I nearly got you killed!”

“No, Phil did.”

My eyes went wide then, remembering my own shame. Mine was much more prosaic, the marks Mike left on me not physical, but still there. They had me shrinking back from my fated mates when they came into my life, despite the fact all they did was look after me. He conditioned me to keep away from the people who wanted to help.

So he could still hurt me.

“We aren’t the ones that should be apologising.” My heart lightened in ways I couldn’t really quantify. “We didn’t do anything wrong. We…” My gaze locked with hers. “We were the victims.”

Mary gripped my hand right back then.

“We were the victims,” she said with a nod and for just a moment, we sat with that idea.

Not for long, though. Mary’s youngest started crying because the balloon bear had popped and she was forced to pull away and pick him up, settling her child on her hip. I watched it as if it was a TV show playing out, not reality. Everything felt a little strange, unreal. Perhaps that explained the way I jumped when Elodie came and sat down across from me.

“I know you’re probably not super keen to talk to me,” she said with a wry smile. “That makes sense. Not everyone likes talking to psychologists, but after what you went through, I just wanted to make sure you knew my door was always open if you want to talk.”

“I do.” My reply was instantaneous, blurted out without thought, and she blinked in response. “I wasn’t ready before, but now…” I nodded. “Yeah, pencil me in for an appointment. I think I’m ready to talk.”

Author note:reading a lot of reviews has made clear that some readers get super upset if there’s any story threads left open, even for minor characters. They view this as a cliffhanger, though that’s not the actual definition of one. If you’re one of those people who’ll have a terrible reading experience if everything isn’t tied up in a neat little bow, don’t read any further.

Chapter 73

Asher

Some weeks later

“He’s dead?” I’d been in two minds about allowing Imogen to see the news today, but the others made clear that trying to keep something back from a fated mate that could see inside our heads was stupid and pointless, so I looked over the breakfast table and into her eyes. Relief, that’s what I saw, then compassion as Imogen looked across the room to where Mary and her family sat eating. “Phil’s dead?”

“Appears to have been an accident,” Kyle said, barely suppressing a smirk. “Very sad.”

“It’s not helping our side of things, though.” Lucas was flicking through his paper, then went to the headlines. “The prime minister has declared a state of emergency about the whole shifter thing.”

“Probably in response to pressure from world leaders,” I replied. “Big questions are being asked. Is this just an Australian thing…?”

It wasn’t, we all knew that. While the First Nations people of Australia had people who could shift into native wildlife, the ones they saw that day were the colonial imports like us.

“Not that we can do much about it,” I said. “What does everyone else have on today? I’m going to be stuck in meetings with leaders from the different shifter communities. Everyone’s still trying to deal with the fall out. Luc, Kyle, you’ll be around tonight? I have to step out for a little while.”

“Step out?” Imogen’s eyes met mine, and not for the first time did I relish the fact I could stare right back. “Where to?”

I fobbed her off with a story about a meeting about funding, but what it really was, was this.

That nightI got dressed in dark, unobtrusive clothes. Rye had assured me that my part in this ritual was a small one, over and done with quickly, but never trust a fox, that’s what everyone said. Instead, I slotted weapons into my jacket, my ankle holster, and the back of my jeans, making sure I had something to deal with almost any eventuality before setting out.

“You’ll be safe?”

I blinked and turned to find Imogen standing there, dressed in those cute bunny pyjamas I pretended to hate but secretly loved.

---