Page 75 of Bearly Hanging On

It couldn’t be that bad, could it?

Part of me was dead sure Mack was over reacting. He was a grumpy prick most days, so that’s what this was. It had to be. Like I was well acquainted with dysfunctional family dynamics, but then again, no matter how toxic things got, none of us had killed each other. As we pulled up outside of their place, I stared at Mack, wanting to ask for more details. As if sensing that, he was out of the car in seconds, scanning the pretty garden beds, the front of their house, before going around to my door.

“Come inside.” Mack took a deep breath and then let it out. “Please, Harper. He’s really close to the surface.” His fingers flexed, and I saw those claws, the smattering of hair replaced by thick grey fur. “Please?—”

I slid out of the car and pressed my palm against his, not mentioning the fact that the texture was now rough like a dog’s footpad, and that gave him all the permission he needed. I was hauled up to the front door, several locks disengaged, then asecurity system beeped as he pressed in a combination in the hallway, before dragging me deeper into the house.

“Nice place…” My feet were forced to move fast to catch up with him. “Thanks for the tour.”

“In here.”

I thought I might end up in his room, or Tor’s or Kieran’s, but instead we walked into one that was spotlessly clean and beautifully appointed. One that didn’t belong to any of them if the still quality of the air was anything to go by. He flicked the light on, revealing pearl grey walls, pretty floral curtains, and the biggest bed I’d ever seen.

“I knew these guys would fit right in here.”

Tor was doing his best to act all chill, but his nervous smile made clear how he actually felt. The massive stuffed tiger was placed on the bed, somehow dwarfed by its breadth. Mack fussed with the thermostat, the unit beeping as he fiddled, then Kieran brought the other two toys in.

“Is the front door locked?” Mack skewed the bear shifter with his gaze. “Is it?”

That’s when I stepped forward.

“We’re home now.” My hands went to his wrists, and I felt the tension there. It took everything in him not to throw me off. “We’re safe.”

“Not yet.” Mack nodded sharply. “Stay here.” He glanced at the others. “You stay with Harper and keep her safe. I’ll…”

He didn’t want to tell me what he was going to do, so I followed him as he marched out. Walking into his room, I watched him wrench open his wardrobe, then pull a long case out. Never would I have guessed what was inside it. The locks undone, the lid lifted, revealing a very well looked after, old rifle.

“Are you serious right now?” He ignored my question, drawing it out and then squinting as he looked down the scope. “Mack?—”

“I tried to get out.” There was something empty and grey about his tone. “But when I did, I tried to take my mother with me. She begged me to leave her.” Bullets were retrieved from a box and the rifle was loaded, the sounds making my whole body stiffen. “She was his fated mate.” A look sideways and his eye glowed bright silver. “He would never let her go.” He flicked the safety on and then put the rifle back down. “That’s what she told me, and she was right.”

I wanted to retract my question, walk out on this conversation, because I wasn’t going to like the turn it took. Instead, I planted my feet, staying in place, even as my heart started to beat furiously.

“He would never let her go, never let her have other mates.” Mack shook his head. “He killed them, anyone who’d help her get free of him.” How could someone tell a horrendous story like this in such a soft voice? “He tried to kill me for daring to leave, but that was a half-hearted thing. But when he saw I was trying to take my mother with me?” His smile was the same one you saw on bleach-white skulls. “That’s when it got serious.”

He tugged up his shirt, revealing the long faded, silvery scars that could’ve only been left by a wolf’s claws. I hadn’t seen them in my dream version of him, so they looked wrong now.

“Him or me, and I chose me.” His claws lengthened and he stared at them for a second, flexing his fingers, before they receded. “I killed him, but in his dying breath, I was forced to watch her run towards him and then him break her neck.” He took a swinging step forward. “I wasn’t the only witness.”

If his parents were dead, who was left to hunt us? I was about to find out.

“My brother, Dax.” His lips twisted into an ugly smile. “My twin, my dark half, he saw the whole thing, and…” He blinked as he stared at me. “Has never forgiven me for it. In his mind, I’m the one that caused it all, robbed him of both father and mother.Eye for an eye, that’s how wolves work, and now he’s decided to collect.” He picked up the rifle, holding it with way too much ease. “But if he tries breaking in here, I’ll make sure him and his flunkies go with me.”

“What..?” That came out of my chest in an ugly croak. “Are you fucking serious right now? I get I don’t go furry on the full moon?—”

“That’s a myth,” he told me.

“You’re a myth!” In the whole history of dumb comebacks, that was the worst. Enough to have him snorting despite himself. “Surely this is the time to get the police involved.” I was losing him with every word, his eyes going hard. “There’s shifter police, right? We could report?—”

“What?” The gun was set down carefully, right before he stepped closer. “Tell them what, Harper? That my brother is a homicidal maniac? They know. They fucking know.”

“Mack…”

I turned around to see Kieran standing there with a frown, Tor at his side.

“No.” I shook my head abruptly. “I need to hear it.”

There was something holding Mack back, and now was the moment when I’d find out exactly what.

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