He’d almost forgotten what he was doing and who he was with. He scolded himself to pay attention but it was difficult.
The fucker had done the one thing he never should have, and that was fuck with Tonic’s mate. She didn’t know it, of course, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true.
Maya Osborn was half-Bear, but far as he could tell, she’d never shifted from skin to fur. She was special though. Folks around her called her a Bear whisperer and he’d seen it in the flesh.
In fact, it was the first time he and Locke had met Nita. The she-Bear had almost lost control of her Sow at Bar None the second she’d met and recognized her fated mate in Tonic’s brother Locke. But Maya had thankfully talked her down.
It was the single most amazing thing he’d ever witnessed. Miraculous really. A Shifter on the cusp of his or her change was dangerous to be around, but Maya had simply knelt by her side and whispered to her calmly, fearlessly. Afterwards, she’d given him the cold shoulder and he could hardly blame her.
After all, he’d been yelling at her one minute and figured he had been the cause of Nita’s initial upset, even if Locke’s sudden appearance had pushed Nita over the edge. No, he didn’t blame Maya for not speaking to him that night.
As usual, he’d been rough around the edges. Tonic was a good-looking guy and was able to rely on that and his animal magnetism to land him women in the past. But Maya was not just a woman.
She was his mate. And he had gone and run his mouth like a wet-behind-the-ear cub. He couldn’t help it though. She’d knocked him completely off balance. He’d seen her in town earlier that day and recognized what she was on the spot so he asked her out.
She seemed reluctant to turn him down but she did. So, when Tonic saw Maya at the bar that night, he went apeshit. What was he supposed to do?
After one good sniff he knew she was his mate, and she did not seem to know it. What the fucking fuck was that about? The female had said no to going out with him because of some thing or other, but it had obviously been a lie, or so he had assumed.
Seeing her there had set him off, and without thinking, he told her so. Tonic did not like being lied to, so he let her have it with both barrels loaded.
Fucking idiot.
Of course, he’d wrongly assumed she had given him the brush off. As it turned out, her circumstance had changed and, asshole that he was, he’d never given her his number so she’d gone out with a friend.
As was her right, you fucking neanderthal, he scolded himself.
Maya had had no way of getting in touch with Tonic and he’d completely overreacted. Pretty much fucking up his chances for life, or so he’d assumed.
Of course, he’d been doing his best to make it up to her ever since. Thought he’d made some headway over the holidays when her stepmom, Jillian Osborn and Nita’s own father, Timothy Jacobs, had announced to everyone’s surprise that they were a mated couple.
He’d been there for her after Jill was in an automobile accident. Spent Christmas Day staring at her all throughout dinner and when small gifts had been exchanged.
He’d gotten her a Kindle Fire, and she’d given him goofy socks with polar bears in Christmas hats on them. Tonic had loved the silly gift. Even wore them on occasion simply because she’d given them to him.
Maya had seemed thrilled for her stepmother and new stepfather. Afterwards, she had sent them off on their extended honeymoon with well wishes and cheers.
Tears were still in her blue eyes when she’d waved them away and Tonic could only imagine how she’d felt when Jillian gave her stepdaughter an enormous surprise gift before taking off.
The deed to the flower shop, Flowers by Jill, that they had both worked so hard to make a success. It was a small business, but he knew how much it meant to her.
That was the reason why he was near to losing his shit ever since Bowie told Roxanne who told him that she’d been one of Crawford’s targets as well.
Motherfucker, he growled.
“Uh, Tonic, I appreciate the ride, but I’d like to get home in one piece,” Roxanne, the former Ice Queen of her Skulk, hissed and held onto her protruding belly as he rounded a corner.
“I’m sorry, Roxie,” he said and immediately slowed down, “I know better than to speed with a female in tow. My bad.”
“Is something on your mind?” she asked kindly.
“Yeah, uh, I guess you could say that.”
“Care to share with the class?”
“Oh, hell, I fucked up with Maya. She won’t answer my texts or calls, and I don’t know what to make of it. I thought we had come to an understanding, a truce of sorts at Christmas, but it’s been days since,” he grumbled.
“Well, she’s probably reeling after what Bowie discovered today. He already told her,” Roxanne added gently.
“What? Fucking hell!”
“Tonic, maybe you should call her? I mean I would hate it if I was alone with no family to help me through this.”
“I have called her today, well, before I knew about this, but she don’t answer.”
“How many times did you call?”
“Five or six.”
“Whoa,” she whistled, “you know there is a difference between attentive and obsessive right?” she asked eyebrows raised, but he had nothing to respond with.
“Well, maybe she’s just upset. Still, I couldn’t deal with that kind of thing alone. Thank the gods I have Bowie now,” she added and looked at him with her face full of concern.
Shit, he was an ass. Of course Maya was probably upset and scared. He tried not to feel jealous of his cousin’s relationship with Roxanne, but how could he not? He wanted that for himself and Maya.
That kind of closeness and constancy. Just knowing she would be there for him each and every day, why that would be like his own personal sun coming out every morning to shine on him and warm him right down to the bone.
“Now, I know that look,” Roxanne grinned at him, “It’s like that now is it? Well, listen up cousin, it wasn’t easy for me and Bowie at first either. Making a relationship work takes a lot of devotion, commitment, and understanding. It takes work to work, Tonic,” the fiery redhead narrowed her eyes and nodded at him.
Boy, was she going to make one tough mom, he thought and gave her credit. She would need to be if her cub was anything like its father. LOL.
“Tell her how you feel,” Roxanne continued.
But could he do that? Shit. He wanted Maya. He needed her. So much it hurt to be without her, but he had no experience with emotions like these.
He was a complete mess when it came to affairs of the heart. What could he do? He was born in the middle of nowhere in fucking Alaska and had very little to no upbringing in the ways of females.
Tonic was the computer nerd of the triplets. Brainy, but still big and strong. Though he was the smallest of the three Nanouk brothers, he was still bigger than most Shifters. Polar Bears were fucking giants in the wild too.
Tonic was simply used to relying on brute strength and posturing when dealing with people and other Bears. He was much more at home with his keyboard and monitors spread out before him. But how was that going to win him points with his mate?
“Look, Tonic, you need to talk to her, well, more like with her really. Just be sure you are not talking at her. Those are two very different things, you know,” she said and patted his hand as he pulled up in front of her house.