Page 37 of Choose the Bears

“No.” Why did I say that? Sleep was the best thing for me. In its sweet oblivion. I wouldn’t see Phil, his frenzied eyes, hear his foul words, so it was the best place for me. “I need…” Both Ursula and Ginny seemed to hang on my every word, and that was unnerving in itself. Why the hell did two strangers care what I had to say? “I need to see Asher.”

Because in my mind I saw it, the moment when he rode to my rescue. Each man was incensed by Phil’s behaviour, but Asher… I could see it then, his feral look of fury that was almost inhuman in its ferocity. He was a wildfire ready to burn down everything in its path.

Everything that would hurt me.

“I need to see Asher,” I repeated much more firmly.

“OK, I’ll take you to my brother,” Ursula said.

Not long afterwards,I had some painkillers in my pocket and a brace and a sling on my arm, but none of that seemed to matter. I followed Ursula deeper into the building, past a roomthat looked like a commercial kitchen, an adjoining one acting as a dining room, a few families lingering over their meals. Another looked like a library, and in it I saw a cluster of kids sitting on the carpet, listening to Kyle tell a story about a grumpy bear. He looked up as we passed, as if sensing our presence. We didn’t stop, not even when we walked past a darkened room full of computer monitors, neon lights playing over Lucas’ face as his hands flew over the keys. To my shame, it wasn’t him, them that I needed. They were doing civilised things, gentle things, and what lurked inside me wasn’t that. Like a snake, it curled in my belly, dripping caustic venom, right up until the point we reached here.

“He…” Ursula let out a sigh as she rested her back against the gym door. Her smile was rueful but heartfelt. “He’s wound tight right now.”

“I need to see him.” Why did those words come out so hard, so fast. “I need?—”

“I’ll never stop you from getting near to Asher.” She nodded. “I think he needs you too, but… This kind of thing. What happened to you, it’s a trigger for him. Just know there’s buttons like this.” She pointed to a red button stuck on the wall. “Press it and the whole building will come running, OK?”

If I was sensible, that would’ve given me pause, but it felt like all good sense had been stripped from me. I was careful, planned my escape from Mike with meticulous detail, aiming to do it without help from anyone, and look where that had gotten me. Out of my old place, but still… He couldn’t even come down to do his own dirty work, letting Phil stand in for him.

Being sensible got me nowhere, so I reached out with my good hand, frowning at the slight shake there before pushing the door open.

Chapter 20

Asher

I needed to kill him

In my mind, it played out over and over. Phil, torn in half, his viscera oozing all over the ground. His fucking head torn from his shoulders, his blood fountaining over me, each splatter a blessing. That fucking sneering mouth caved in and then… The bear was right there with me, proposing more and more brutal ways for the man to die, primarily at the hands of his fangs and claws, when all of a sudden he went quiet. I was just left with the pain, the sweat, and the shock of my fists driving themselves into the heavy boxing bag over and over until he forced me to turn around.

I didn’t want my mate to see me like this. Not stripped down to the waist, sweat pouring off me. Not red faced and panting, every muscle trembling with the effort of keeping myself right where I was.

To stop from running towards her, sweeping her off her feet just to feel the weight of her in my arms.

“Asher…”

The way she uttered my name would always haunt me. Little more than a breath, I’m not sure if a human man would hear it, but I was no human. My feet moved of their own accord, taking one step than another, but when she stiffened in the doorway, I stopped. I’d never do anything to scare her. Never hurt her, make her sad.

Never lie…

That thought was a rope around my neck, cutting off the air I was sucking into my lungs, leaving me breathless.

“Asher.” Her voice was firmer now, and she stepped into the gym. Me, the bear, heard every single step on the sprung wood floor, willing her to come forward. “Asher, I…” I needed to hear the end of that sentence like I needed my next breath. “I…”

I was the one that turned into a wild animal, but she? She looked like one right now, her limbs carrying the same kind of tension a deer’s might, ready to spring away. Or run forward. Imogen forced herself to take slow, measured steps towards me, and as she got closer, I breathed her in.

Her scent was always honey sweet, but right now there was an edge to it. The sour of fear, but more than that, a strange kind of fire that had my tongue sliding across my teeth as if to get a taste of it.

“I just wanted to say thank you.” I shook my head, not wanting her to ever feel like that was needed, but she forged on. “God, what would’ve happened if you didn’t come?” That sour scent grew stronger for just a second, but it faded when she stopped staring into space, seeing the horror of it all over again. When she looked at me here, now, with her. “But you did. You did.”

“Always will.” I was too fucking close to the edge. The bear and I were always an uneasy alliance. Every day I had to bargain with him to just get through what I had to do. But now? With my mate standing right there in front of me, her eyes tracing theshape of the body that got that fucker away from her. Who’d tear apart the world for her the moment she indicated that’s what she wanted. “Always, Imogen. He’ll never get within ten feet of you if I have a thing to say about it.”

“Yes.” She nodded to herself, her confidence growing as her eyes slid upwards and then locked with mine. “You mean it, don’t you?”

This was a perilous time and the smart part of me, the bit that listened to Elodie’s advice when she did whole staff training days, told me to step the fuck back. Imogen was so bloody vulnerable right now, ripe for trauma bonding, but a relationship based on shared pain was doomed to always revisit it. I should get the fuck out of here, grab the psychologist and then make sure my mate had a session with her.

But I didn’t.

I watched Imogen step closer as if tugged by an invisible cord, but I knew what it was. The mate bond was an almost physical presence. Every muscle locked down to stop me from closing the gap between us.

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