Page 107 of Choose the Bears

Stay,I told him through our link.Just stay.

For you, anything.

There wasa timelessness about the room. The door was closed, the curtains drawn, so you didn’t see the light change as the sun moved overhead, but at some point, I was forced to pull away. Asher moved quickly, grabbing his t-shirt off the floor to mop up the mess, very gently cleaning off my now sensitive flesh.

“Well, if I’m going to get the police to do my dirty work, I’m going to have to review more of this footage.”

“Show me.”

That was delivered awkwardly as I pulled my clothes back on, but any embarrassment I might’ve felt was extinguished by his smouldering look. Asher followed my every movement with all the fascination of a bear on the hunt. I was willing to bet salmon, or whatever they ate, didn’t sidle up to the bear, though, snuggling back into his lap. His arms went around me, and he unlocked his computer.

“At first I was going through security camera footage, looking for clues as to where Phil had gone.” Asher’s lips were just by my ear, making me shiver as they brushed against the shell. “But I was also searching for evidence of…” I looked over my shoulder as his voice trailed away. “We feel like his abusive behaviour is escalating. He’s feeling small, weak, being arrested for hurting Mary and then having to get bailed out until his hearing, and that’s not a good thing. It makes him more likely to lash out. When he hurts a woman, he feels strong again.”

“He can’t hurt me.” I stared into his eyes. “He’s just one dickhead and you guys are bear shifters. He’ll never get within ten feet of me without becoming a bloody smear on the concrete.”

I saw then Asher’s fangs as he grinned at that idea, but the happy moment wasn’t to last. His mind was always racing, I realised, jumping to the next conclusion.

“No, he won’t ever lay a hand on you or Mary, but…” He stared at the screen, then pulled up the first lot of security footage. “There are other girls out there. It won’t make him happy to transfer his rage to her, but he’ll do it.” Asher’s focus intensified as he scoured the video playing. “He’ll have to find another victim, or he’ll be forced to face the fact that he’s a complete piece of shit.”

I turned back to the computer screen and stared myself, hoping all we ever saw was boring footage of cars passing by on the road.

Chapter 56

Jesse

There was something wrong with this Phil guy.

I saw it when he was fall-down drunk in the middle of the day, then again when he thought he could bully Greg into reducing the cost of the repair bill. This was a man who thought he could push people around, move them right where he wanted them.

I knew that because I’d done that often enough myself.

But sitting at a bar, nursing the same fucking beer for hours, the glass well and truly warm as he stared at Daisy? Yeah, I’d never done that. I had a girl to go home to, and then I didn’t. Trying to find someone to replace Maddie hadn’t worked out really well for me. Hooking up with someone else hadn’t looked like this, though. Phil watched Daisy’s every move with a weird kind of hunger that made the leers of every other prick in the place seem like nothing.

“Your shot.”

I spun around with a silent snarl to find Greg standing there, meeting my gaze with equanimity. Probably because he could’vejammed his pool cue so far up my arse I’d have to open my mouth so he could chalk the end.

“Right, got it.”

I leaned over the pool table, trying to assess the balls and find the best shot to take, but Greg just snickered.

“Head’s not in the game.” He nodded to the bar. “Wants to be somewhere else. She’s pretty.”

“Not as pretty as you, but…”

One of the other foxes I worked with ruffled my hair, forcing me to shove him off.

“Fuck off, it’s not like that.”

“What’s it like then?”

I knew this look from Greg. He’d stare right through you, into the depths of your soul if you weren’t careful, but I didn’t want him to see this. That turning my back on Phil felt like turning around on a feral wolf or a bear or something. You could almost feel their hot breath on the nape of your neck.

“There’s something not right about that bloke,” I said, then took my shot, sending the green ball spinning uselessly to the centre of the table.

“Got that, did you?” Greg gave me a slow nod. “Pretty perceptive for a human, bear boy. Cunt stinks.”

“Fear, death, and not his own,” one of the other guys said, collecting up our empty beer glasses, ready to return them to the bar. “He’s bad fucking news. Someone needs to keep an eye on Daisy.”

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