Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kyle

"Time to go," I told my sleuth mate, Asher.

The prick was staring at his computer screen like it'd personally offended him. It wasn't a hardware issue, our other sleuth mate, Lucas, would've been in here, fixing anything technical.

No, it was the contents of Asher's email.

The human public thought we ran a security company. Our shopfront was discreet, bland looking, office building, but what we did was not. Bankrolled by the deep pockets of the bear community, ours was a business that protected a very specific clientele: women and children trying to get free of their abusers. Run as a not for profit, it made for a nice tax break for our investors, but for Asher…? It was personal. He was studying a new case that had been funnelled our way through some back channels from the police, which is what had him staring at the computer screen as if it had committed whatever act of cruelty he was reading.

"Ash—" I started to say, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder, but he shook me off.

"This—"

"I know, Asher." Every damn day we dealt with horror on a scale that beggared belief. Every day men went home and hurt their kids, their wives, and their girlfriends like it was completely normal to brutalise those that you loved, when all we wanted was to find the other half of our heart. Hold her close and protect her from the horrors of the world, not be the source of them. "I know, mate, but we need?—"

His head jerked up, and those icy-blue eyes met mine, making clear how this would go. We were supposed to be heading out bush to take fur, let the bears inside us out. What we did, what we saw each day, was hard on our beasts. I had to fight to keep my bear down each time a bruised child or a battered woman walked in our door with haunted eyes. My big Kodiak wanted to roar his disgust, right before he rampaged through the streets, smashing every man we knew that abused others until they were bloody smears on the ground.

But I couldn't allow that.

We kept silent, quiet, hidden in Australian, American, European, and Asian cities across the world, hiding what we were. So, if we had a chance of maintaining control, we needed to get the fuck out of this office for the weekend.

"Ursula!" I shouted, not afraid to call for back up when needed.

"Hey." Asher's foster sister walked in the door, nonchalantly unwrapping the tape from her hands. "Is Fuckface being a martyr again?"

"No—" Asher snapped.

"Yes," I countered.

"Ashy…" She reached over and ruffled his dark hair, his elbow jerking up to knock her away, but he pulled his punches at the last minute. A small moment passed when their eyes locked together, speaking of the bond between them. She sucked in a breath, then let it out slowly, the same way we all did when dealing with our glorious leader. "You need to go and take fur with Kyle and Lucas."

"A new case has come in," Asher said, stabbing a finger at the screen. "Physical and emotional abuse?—"

"And I'll take care of it." She glanced back at the door. "The team that you painstakingly put together will triage it and bring them in, starting the process. You know what Elodie said last time."

Elodie was our in-house shrink, mostly dealing with the complex needs of our clients, but we were regularly dragged in to sit on her comfy couch. Burnout in people who worked abuse cases was high, she'd informed us, and so she made it her business to ensure we all took breaks.

Like I was trying to get Asher to do right now.

"I've got the car ready…" Lucas walked in, squinting behind his glasses when he noted the tense atmosphere in the room. He raked his shaggy blond hair back from his face and then scanned the lot of us.

"We're coming." I jerked Asher's chair back, ready to drop down and fireman carry my sleuth mate out the door if that's what it took, but he nodded and forced himself to his feet.

"Update me," he told Ursula.

"Absolutely not gonna do that."

This was why I brought her in. She was smart, capable, but most of all, she could hand Asher his arse if she needed to. The bond they shared went beyond blood, beyond even the connection between our animals. His eyes met hers, and for a moment, they just stared.

She saw him, the polar bear that my foster brother transformed into, and she didn't look away for a second. The beast, the man, they knew they'd met their match, so he shook his head and then turned to us.

"Let's get on the road."

As if I hadn't been trying to get him to do just that. I rolled my eyes internally, the Kodiak inside me making clear we could knock snow boy on his arse when we both took fur, but I wouldn't allow that. Our bears were equally matched, but as men? Asher needed control too much for me to try to take it away from him.

"Some burgers on the way from that nice diner," I said, nudging him in the ribs. "Some beers when we get to the campground, then when night falls, we can take fur and go for a romp through the forest…"

Even if I wasn't convincing Asher, I was one hundred percent on board. The bear was pressing hard on the bond between us, making me feel like I was coming apart at the seams. It'd been a tough, tough week, one where I started to wonder if we'd ever make a difference, and I told Asher all of that. The sharp look in his eyes, the way he sized me up, made Ursula snort. Taking time away for himself was anathema to my sleuth mate, but looking after someone else? That was always the way in with Asher.

"Maybe we'll pick up a few steaks on the way," he said in a grudging tone. "Feed the bears. Killing and eating those deer was a mistake."

Our police contacts let us know that the park rangers had sent evidence their way, wondering what the hell killed the feral deer. The only apex predators capable of doing that in Australia were saltwater crocodiles and you didn't get them this far south.

"Scotch fillet?" Lucas asked hopefully.

"Prime beef for bears that'd eat a dead cow if given a choice?" Asher shook his head. "Sure, why not."

He was walking towards the door, that's what mattered. I shot Ursula a grateful look and she threw me a thumbs up, right before she sat down in Asher's chair, ready to work the case.

My breath came more easily the minute we got into the car. Lucas had stashed everything we needed in the back, but Asher had to check it. One small compliment had Lucas flushing, but then we were on our way. Out of the city, away from the humans and all their shit.

Free, even if it was just for a moment.

Excitement always thrummed through me the moment we came to the campground. Sometimes it felt like we spent our days pretending to be something we weren't. The human was an important part of me, but there was more, much more. The Kodiak bear stamped his paws inside me, roaring in anticipation, but if he hoped to be let free instantly, he was disappointed. The next site was filled with people, something that had my heart sinking. People rarely came out this far from the city, so we usually had the place to ourselves.

Then I heard the shouts.

I'd become particularly sensitive to the sounds human men made. My job meant I needed to know who was escalating and recognised that he'd met an equal and opposite force and no more harm would come to his victims. The raucous noises now had my ears pricking up, and as Lucas and Asher jumped out of the car, they came around to my side, staring at the people partying by the river.

"Something that needs to be dealt with?" Lucas' tone was short and clipped.

The nerdy guy who spent his time bent over his computer, finding evidence to be used in cases against abuse perpetrators, was nowhere to be seen. His eyes glowed gold behind his glasses.

"Not yet…" Asher replied firmly, but his voice trailed away as we saw a woman separate herself from the group.

Most of the men were too intent on drinking, talking shit or doing whatever bullshit they were focussed on to see her, but we did. Always women, always children, I was doomed to scan, scan and read body language constantly, looking for clues that someone wasn't feeling comfortable.

She wasn't.

Her steps were furtive, like she was slinking away from the group, not wanting to be seen. This was the pace of prey, scared of being detected. That enough would've had me stepping forward, but the bear going perfectly still, his entire focus on her had my feet moving of their own accord.

Towards her.

Not just a woman scared. I'd seen enough of them to know exactly what to do, but…

"Her…"

Lucas' sigh contained all the same longing, feeling I was experiencing right now. Asher too, if that strangled sound was anything to go by. It wasn't just some woman who was sneaking away, though that was enough to cause us concern.

It was our fated mate.

"We need…"

I had ideas, thoughts, a plan, but that all shattered when I saw him rise. An older bloke, complete with beer gut, I knew that sly look well. He was the predator, the enemy she was trying to slink away from, and that had me moving forward, at first in a jog, then a run as she disappeared into the shadows beyond the bonfire's flames. He went after her, that's what had the bear gifting me his strength, so it was his paws and my feet, slamming down on the ground as we raced towards the other half of our heart.