“I got this alone,” Bolder grumbled and put the truck into gear.
“Later,” Locke said and patted the side of the vehicle before turning to share a concerned look with Tonic, “He’s getting worse.”
“Yes,” Tonic agreed.
He wished he could help, but he couldn’t even solve his own problems. How could he be of use to anyone else?
“So?”
“So what, Locke? Look, I will handle this.”
“Are you sure? Nita thinks you might upset her more-”
“That is not my intention, I swear. Look, tell her I said don’t worry, okay? Just go home to your mate and take care of that niece or nephew of mine that she’s working on growing,” he winked at his brother and the big man just laughed.
Fatherhood was going to suit Locke just fine. A pang of longing made him rub his chest right over his heart, and, for a moment, Tonic thought how wonderful it would be if he had the same thing to look forward to.
That could be me, he thought, but he’d fucked up his opening with the one woman in the world he wanted. Fucking hell.
Maya, his Polar Bear growled her name softly. The huge beast pined for his fated mate more and more each day.
The fact that she was in his home, and yet so far out of his reach, had caused Tonic to pace like a sonovabitch most of the night. Finally, in the bitter cold darkness, he’d gone out for a run in his fur. he came home just in time to see the half-fallen tree come down the rest of the way.
It had landed even closer to the house than he’d anticipated under the weight of more heavy snow that had started to fall while he’d been out. New Jersey was looking at one of the wettest winters on record.
Luckily, it hadn’t done any damage to their cabin or to sweet Maya, he’d thought and sent a prayer of thanks to whatever deity had been watching over the precious female. Afterwards, he’d texted his brothers to come help him move it safely off the property and out of the way.
Tonic had always been one to take on the responsibility of keeping others out of trouble, though he was more of a loner than the other two Nanouk brothers. As a child he’d done poorly in school, but that had more to do with the fact he’d have rather been playing on his computer than talking to his teachers.
What could he say? He simply did not get along with people and preferred to read and mess around online with other antisocial nerds and geeks. Okay, so he’d been known as something of a hacker, but he tended to be more playful than actually damaging like some of that crowd.
He’d already spent some of his considerable talent and time looking into Maya’s business and what he found, he did not like. It seemed Peter Crawford had in fact taken out a loan while leveraging all of her personal funds and the business property as collateral.
He’d also cleared out an old trust that had been set up for Maya after her father had died of some rare form of cancer that even his Shifter’s healing abilities could not fix. It was not much by today’s standards, but it was her birthright. Her stepmother, Jill, had squirrelled it away for her until she was an adult and Maya had never touched it.
Now, she didn’t have the chance thanks to Peter Crawford. The fucker would pay for that. Tonic would make sure of it.
The forged signatures would be hard to contradict as they were done so perfectly, in fact he suspected Jill had signed the documents at some point unwittingly and Peter had forged the dates.
At any rate, the bank was looking to collect on the one and a half-million dollar advance on the loans that Peter had stolen and hidden away for himself.
The lousy piece of shit excuse for a fucking Bear was lucky he’d left town. On the other hand, it was a pity too. Tonic’s Polar Bear was looking forward to tearing him limb from limb.
Grrr. His Bear began to scratch and claw, the enormous beast wanted out. He wanted to rage and tear apart the whole fucking world for daring to hurt her. The gentle female was much too good for the con Crawford had subjected her to.
Protect mate. It was a simple enough thing. Except for one thing, Tonic never marked or claimed Maya in any way. Hell, he wasn’t sure she would let him now.
Still, his bear knew who she was to him and the animal wanted her badly. He wanted her more with each passing day. But he had to be sure before he spoke the words. Couldn’t risk telling her if she was going to reject him.
If Tonic lost control of his Bear, as was often the case when a Shifter lost or was refused by his mate, the Devlin brothers would kick his sorry ass the fuck out of Barvale. Then where would he be?
No, he had to fight against the black rage that was building up inside of him. He might never be able to persuade Maya to take a chance on him, but he was no use to anyone if he went rogue. And who would be there to protect her if he was gone? It did not bear thinking about. No pun intended.
“Tonic?” the sound of her voice brought his head up and he locked eyes with hers unerringly.
“Maya,” he said her name, and it was like a switch went off inside of him.
His animal, who was so angry just a moment ago, near to violence with his claws popping out and white fur dotting his skin, was now docile as a kitten. His claws receded, and he felt his skin lose its fur, returning to its bronze smoothness. All that and more just at the sound of her sweet voice, like a caress he’d waited days on end to feel brush across his hair-roughened face.
Fucking pathetic when he thought about it like that, but for a Shifter on probation, as he was with the Clan, Tonic appreciated the calming affect she had on him. It was better than any drug or alcohol, or so he’d assumed.
Her light, flowery scent filled his nostrils and inside, his animal, chuffed happily. Maya’s light hair was still damp from the shower she must’ve already taken, and he could smell his own soap on her skin. The scent filled his Bear with pride. He liked the fact that she’d used his soap, slept in his bed, and called his name when stepping outside.
Hell, he hadn’t even considered what would’ve happened had she called for one of his brothers or used their toiletries.
Shit. This is what it came down to. Jealous over some fucking body wash? He really was pathetic.
Her lips turned down in a frown, and he realized she was probably picking up on his emotions. It was a strange, wonderful gift she had. Maya Osborn was part-Shifter and part-human, like most folks, but she could not transform into a Black Bear.
At least, not as far as he knew, and yet, he often wondered if that had more to do with the astounding control she seemed to have over not only herself, but other Shifter’s beasts as well. But she was still special, in phenomenal ways he could not explain.
He’d seen her talk down more than one member of the Clan on occasion, and it was truly a miracle. Facing down a full-grown Shifter was no small feat, it took guts and powers he could only hope to understand someday.
Tonic had only ever heard legends of things like that, stories the elders back home used to tell around campfires of powerful medicine men with the same gift. he recalled the folklore that had been passed down to him, back when he was just a cub in his old Clan in Alaska.
Stories of Bears who could perform such feats were known as Omega where he was from, but these Shifters in the lower states seemed to have lost touch with the old stories. Omega Bears were not common among Bears as it seemed more a Wolf trait, but they were not completely unheard of either.