Page 44 of Bear's Midlife Surprise

“Alright. We’ll go outside and talk. But one wrong word, one word I don’t like, and you’re going to find out the hard way why I went undefeated in the cage,” Clay growled.

Kier nodded gravely and pushed through the door first. As soon as he was outside, Tavish rushed over and locked it. He sprinted for January and was moving her out the back door before she could say anything. She did splutter out nonsensical syllables and finally she planted one palm on his chest as they stepped outside and spun away from him.

“What are you doing? You can’t just leave your friend out there to face that guy alone!” She sounded pissed with him. It wasn’t her safety that she was worried about at all.

“Trace?” Tavish hollered into the clinic.

Josephine appeared instantly, sticking her head out the back door. “He went out front already. You guys go. He said you would get January out of here and I could come with you if I wanted to, but I’m going to stay at the clinic. And with Trace, obviously.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.” Josephine wasn’t a woman to be moved when she’d already made up her mind and he didn’t want to lose any time. “Trace is keeping the peace. He doesn’t think anything will go down. He doesn’t know what’s happening and neither do I, but he said to convince you to go. Get January out of here just in case. She’s pregnant.”

“Trace wouldn’t want me to leave you here.”

“Trace said it was my choice. He knows I’m stubborn and that I’ll be fine. He’s also defending the clinic if anything should go down out there.”

January crossed her arms. “I’m not going either, then.”

Josephine’s eyes widened and she looked at Tavish with a sort of apology. “You should go,” she urged.

“I don’t think that guy’s a maniac, but he is burly. If Trace and Kier need backup, Tavish should be here.” January craned her head up. “There’s a second floor in here. We can go up there and lock all the doors in between. I don’t think he brought backup, and we’d stand a pretty good chance calling Sam or anyone else before he could get to us. Not that he would. He seems to be here to defend his sister’s honor. Against Kier.”

“Fuck.” This was turning into a huge mess.

Josephine nailed him with a look. “Do you know something that you aren’t telling us?”

“I don’t have time to explain.” It was easier to state what was probably true than actually put a truth out there that wasn’t his to tell. Tavish gently nudged January back inside. He bolted the door. Josephine threaded her hand through January’s.

“We’ll head upstairs now. I’m going to call Sam immediately.” Josephine said.

“Let him know what’s happening, but tell him not to come down here. Tell him we’re handling it, but he will probably have to let Clarence know.” Tavish knew Pinefall’s alpha was an old man. He seemed too sweet and kind for the job, maybe a bit too naïve—and a whole lot just tired.

“Will do.” Josephine tugged on January’s arm and moved her to the stairs.

The last Tavish saw was January’s head cranking around before she turned the corner, her eyes wide and unfocused but her jaw was steely and determined. She wasn’t afraid. She’d talked about heading out of Greenacre earlier because it wasn’t safe, but here she was, standing her ground to make sure others were going to be okay. Tavish admired her bravery and hated it at the same time. She should be far away from here. He should be far away with her, getting her to somewhere absolutely safe. But did such a place exist?

By the time he made it through the clinic’s front door, putting himself between it and hell or goddamn high water and anything else that was even going to think about getting through it, Clay shook his head and Kier shook his too and both men turned in opposite directions. Tavish hadn’t caught a single bit of it, but whatever had gone down, it hadn’t been blows or bloodying each other. No one had shifted. Was Clay satisfied with what Kier had said or was he going for reinforcements?

“He’s heading back to Pinefall,” Trace said. He clapped Kier on the shoulder. “It seems he believed that Kier was telling the truth about not knowing about the baby and promising that he’d do the right thing by Taylee.”

Kier was pale and shaking and Trace had to slip an arm under his shoulders and walk him back in the clinic.

“I think he needs some peach juice,” Trace joked, but Tavish nodded. He locked the front door behind them.

“Go ahead. I’m just going to keep watch for a bit. Josephine and January are upstairs. Jos called Sam already to let him know what was happening. I told her to tell him to stay away from here, but to let Clarence know.”

“Good call.” Trace’s brows shot up. “January stayed?”

“I wanted her to go. I wanted to take her as far away as I could get her, as fast as was safely possible.” A wave of shame washed over him. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to abandon you.”

“Don’t apologize for taking care of your mate,” Kier said, clearing his throat. “I got us into this mess by meeting with Tay secretly. Neither of us were ready to tell anyone yet. I’m sorry that Clay found out the way he did. He admitted he only knew because she was sick four mornings in a row. They work from home together, and she tried passing it off, but Clay has a child. He knows the signs. She couldn’t lie to him, and when she admitted it, he pressed her for a name. She didn’t want him to go berserk is my guess, so she told him who it was before he tore every house down in Pinefall looking for the culprit. Clay can be scary, but he’s a good father and a good man when it comes down to it. He didn’t want to tear me apart, he just wanted me to say that I’d look after his sister and be a father to that baby. I gave him more than that. I told him I loved his sister, that she’s my mate. I didn’t get into the fact he has no right to interfere because he does. We made it his business and everyone else’s when we didn’t tell a soul about us. It put you guys in the line of fire, which I never saw coming, and that was a damn short-sighted mistake. I’m sorry to both of you.”

“I knew Jos would be fine,” Trace said. “But I wasn’t going to let Clay come through that door and I wasn’t going to let him pound you into the ground. Josephine wouldn’t let anyone mess with her clinic. She might not be a shifter, but she’s meaner and scarier than ten bears combined if someone threatens her home or her children.”

Kier still looked shaken. He’d just found out he was going to be a father, and not from his mate either.

“Juice,” Trace said, guiding him to the kitchen. “Now.”

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