Page 80 of Choose the Bears

Greg was a fox shifter, and where there was one, there was always many. Other mechanics came strolling out of the garage, ready to take a look. That had the bloke looking squirrelly which was… interesting.

“Maybe.”

Greg was noncommittal.

“Look, I don’t have time to fuck around,” the bloke said, like he was the one with the power here. There wasn’t anothergarage for miles in any direction. “The engines been making this fucking noise for the last few hours of the trip, and I can’t push it past 60km an hour. The temperature gauge is in the red and?—”

“We’ll take a look at it,” Greg told him. “Pub’s that way. You’ll want to rent a room.” He looked the car over, as if he could see something we couldn’t. “Parts for a late model car like this need to be ordered in.”

“What?” This bloke was human, so I nearly laughed as he fluffed up like a cat, as if that would be enough to impress Greg. Even in human form my boss could put this prick on his arse so fast his head would spin. “I need to get on the fucking road, mate.” Only Australians seem to be able to use that word with such venom. “Got places to be.”

“Try your luck on the road then.” Greg took a slow step forward. He was a little bloke, wiry, but strong, and I think that’s what had the customer thinking he could intimidate my boss, but that was never going to happen. “Or buy a new car.”

“I can’t…”

I felt a moment of empathy for the customer then, because I knew well how implacable Greg was. I’d raged, swore, cursed, and generally made a bloody fool of myself when I first started here months ago and he’d just stared at me the entire time, waiting for me to exhaust myself like a child having a tantrum.

“I can’t afford to do that,” the guy said finally, minding his tone.

“Then we’ll make sure you have a detailed quote for repairs sent over to you today, so you can determine whether or not you can afford them.” The guy seemed to sense he was being dismissed, so he nodded and then thrust out the car keys. “And what was your name, mate?” Greg asked.

“Phil,” the customer ground out. “My name is Phil Jackson.”

Chapter 42

Kyle

Fuck, we were doing this. We were really doing this.

I watched as Asher shoved the gym doors open with a growing sense of unreality, but that didn’t stop me from hustling after them. Lucas too. I shot my sleuth mate a look then hissed, “Didn’t you tell Imogen?”

“I…”

The way Lucas’ voice trailed away told me everything I needed to know, but then my nostrils flared, sucking in his scent.

And hers.

Deep, sweet as honey, and twice as tasty, it was like nothing I’d smelled since we met Imogen, so that meant…

“You fuck…!” That came out as a hoarse whisper rather than a shout, even if that’s what I wanted to do. “You…”

I knew that if we managed to woo our mate successfully one of us would end up in bed with her first, but right now I hated that it was Lucas. Not because he was first, but because he hadn’t done what he hadn’t given the opportunity to choose to do so with her eyes open, the truth of us in front of her.

So we’d have to do that now.

“What…?” Her voice carried across the cavernous space of the gym, part protest, part plea, and she looked around wildly, wondering what the hell the big deal was, right before Asher jerked his zip down. “Whoa, what the…?”

Her eyes staring, wide open and unblinking, I’d never forget that moment, because I was watching them, not my sleuth mate. I caught the moment her pupils blew wide, when reflected in those dark depths Asher’s polar bear appeared. Then her rapidly sucked in breath, her mouth going slack as she just stared.

This was it, the do or die moment. She’d either accept the bond or reject it. My heart hurt it was beating so fast. For her, I realised. I’d known that the entire time, but it was an academic thing until this point.

If she rejected us, I’d never see her smile again. Never see the way her brown eyes sparkled when she let herself laugh, or the way her hair slipped over her shoulders. Never hear her voice. Never talk to her about some dumb shit. Never get close to her, smell her scent in the air. Never listen to the things she had to say, from simple and prosaic to so damn awful my fangs ground together. I think I knew how she felt right now, teetering on the precipice of something massive, but there was only one way forward. We had to toss ourselves off that edge and into the unknown, because there was no way of knowing where we’d land. Asher’s bear’s whuff was all the command I needed. I jerked my t-shirt off, then my shorts and then summoned him forward.

Whoa, boy. Whoa!

Communicating with the bear directly was never an easy thing. Our brains worked so very differently–right now he strained against any control I had, his nose working as his paws landed on the gym floor, right before he craned his neck to get closer to her. And she…

I expected fear, screams, for her to run out of the gym and keep on running until her legs gave out. Tales of women doing just that peppered the stories the elders told us, but they never said anything about this. A slow smile spread across her face and a spark lit in her eyes, growing brighter and brighter as Lucas took fur as well, our bears jostling closer to get to her.

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