Page 21 of Choose the Bears

Jade nodded and then left us to it, shutting the door behind her.

I turnedinto a grizzly bear when free to shift, and right now brown hair prickled across my arms as Imogen filled us in. Mike had come back, that instinctive sense that his girl was slipping from his grip forcing him to leave the party. That or Phil. He was the part of this that really concerned me, but right now, I took Imogen’s hands and inspected them as she set the icepack she’d had wrapped around her fingers aside.

“Does this hurt?”

I flexed a finger gently and she shook her head. That didn’t totally convince me, but if it was sprained, she wouldn’t be able to hold a yelp of pain back. I didn’t want to let her go, but forced myself to pull back.

“I’m fine.” She tucked her hands up into a ball in her lap. “Really. It was an overreaction, calling you. Mike tried to steala bottle of Coke.” She snorted then and smiled in a well-practised way, but there was no warmth in her eyes, just a grey haze of long-suppressed fear. “It’s nothing. I’m just being overly emotional?—”

“He scared you.” Asher’s eyes were like lasers every time he looked at you, cutting through the bullshit to the raw, pink meat of you. I found it uncomfortable to be subjected to it, so I couldn’t imagine what it was like for Imogen to be on the receiving end of that scrutiny. “He scared you, and it’s OK to admit that.”

“And move on, right?” She looked at each one of us. “I want to just move on from all of this, so?—”

“Is this the kind of stunt that Mike pulled often?” Kyle asked, his tone far gentler. “Or is this a change in his behaviour?”

“He…” She didn’t want to tell us, watching for our reaction before she admitted it. “This is a change. He didn’t mess with my job. We needed the money coming in to keep a roof over our heads.” Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “I guess he doesn’t need that anymore.”

We all look at each other, thinking the same thing.

Was this all Mike was going to do? Just a little public tantrum at the shock of being dumped ‘suddenly,’ or…? That unknown component with human men was what made our work so damn difficult. Mike could be about to go on a bender, drinking his sorrows away, forgetting about Imogen the moment he fell into some other girl’s arms.

Or…

The possibilities, of assault, physical or sexual, of hurting her, harm that may end in her… I swallowed hard, pushing that thought aside, not wanting to revisit it.

“We said that the next few weeks would be risky.” I kept my voice low, even as I reached out and placed a hand on her knee. My awareness narrowed down to her body, feeling the way sherelaxed rather than tensed. “Maybe this is it for Mike. Maybe he’ll stay away.”

I was telling her what she wanted to hear, her head nodding along with each word, but Asher couldn’t let that slide.

“Stay with us.” Her eyes flicked up and widened as she stared at him. “At our headquarters, I mean. It’s set up to keep women like yourself safe.”

“Women like me?” The fire was back in her voice, her smile a sardonic twist as one eyebrow rose. “Women who what? Have their hands squeezed? A boyfriend that tries to steal a Coke on her dime?” She shook her head. “How freaking big is this place, because half the men out on the floor right now,” Imogen stabbed a finger at the door, “say shitty things to their wives, critique them for getting chocolate as they go through my checkout, nag them about spending too much on things she likes while he dumps expensive steak on the conveyer belt. Kids nag their mums. Mothers snap at their kids. People are mean to each other every day, but they don’t get locked away in some facility for their own safety.”

She got to her feet, flicking her hands down her front.

“Thanks for coming. I really appreciate it, especially as this was an overreaction on my part. I was scared and not thinking straight. Next time?—”

“You’ll call us.” I took her hand, gently rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. “Please, call us. If Mike, if Phil…”

That was the name that made her stiffen, making me and the bear come to alertness.

“Phil…” She shot me one long, grudging look. “He was with Mike. When shit was going down, he tried to make me serve him. He…” She straightened up, staring the lot of us down. “Bought a packet of kitchen knives and some Vaseline.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Mary’s still with you, right?”

“Right,” Kyle replied.

Her jaw tightened, but she was determined to go back to work, that was clear.

“So why the hell would he need knives…?”

We could answer that question, but she wasn’t ready to hear it. The dream, that she could get free, move on, live her life, was still there, tantalising her with the possibilities.

“Tonight,” I said, clutching at the straws I had. “We’ll be by your place to beef up security, swap over that door.”

“Right.” It was the gratitude in her eyes that had me gripping her hand tighter. “Thanks, I’ll be home around…”

“Vaseline.”Kyle growled out that word as we exited the supermarket. “Kitchen knives.” He stopped in the car park and stared at us. “Just posturing, scaring Imogen?”

“Or escalating.” Asher’s arms crossed his chest. “We’re not going to wait around to find out. One of us will be here to escort Imogen to her car at the end of her shift while the other two are carrying the door and other shit upstairs to her place.”

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