8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Pike

Pike was a naturally easygoing bear. He was slow to anger and quick to calm down. His mother often said he was born smiling and never stopped. While that was a gross exaggeration because he remembered bursting into tears plenty of times as a child, he understood what she was saying.

He was a happy bear who wanted nothing more than for those around him to be happy and content as well. The problem was that in order to make his new mate happy, he’d been forced to drive her to the club to get her car. He’d hoped she would agree to come back to his apartment, but she insisted she needed some time alone.

He’d followed her home and now he was parked across the street, staring at Cora’s little house from inside the Coupe DeVille. It was a white, single-story home built in droves during the 1950s, with a single-car garage and a short driveway. The front yard was a collection of drought-resistant plants and an equal number of large ornaments.

There was even a white fence. It wasn’t a picket fence, but it was white and only a few feet high. Her mailbox was a miniature replica of her house. It was all as adorable as the owner. She’d parked her car out front instead of the driveway or garage. Then she’d collected her mail and let herself into the house as if it was any average day.

But it wasn’t! She was his mate and Kimble’s flock. She’d almost died forty-eight hours earlier. He’d almost lost one of his mates.

What was he doing? If she found him sitting here staring at her house like a creepy stalker, it might make things worse. She’d asked for space and the first thing he’d done was ignore that request.

No matter how much he assured his bear that she was safe, he couldn’t get himself to leave. In truth, it was hanging out with her friend Imani that had put her in the path of danger. Home alone, she probably wouldn’t run into any more vampires or other creatures determined to hurt and or kill her.

Except that wasn’t entirely true, was it? Anyone who watched the news knew that the average American woman was actually a common victim of human crime.

Why did he think that? Now that the thought of someone breaking into her home was in his head, he’d never get his bear to leave. He’d hoped to be back to his apartment before nightfall so Kimble wouldn’t realize he’d been left alone. When the vampire rose from his daytime sleep, he was going to panic when he couldn’t find Pike or Cora. That meant burning through the blood they’d fed him and setting back his recovery.

Frustration made Pike want to bash his head on the steering wheel. He either stayed here and watched over his human mate or rushed home to keep his vampire mate calm. Indecision kept him from moving. His bear side wanted to stay because Cora was the most vulnerable of the three of them. But his human side was more logical and wanted to hurry back to Kimble.

“If we go home, we can collect Kimble and come back here,” he reasoned with his inner bear. Yes, that was an acceptable solution. Reaching for the keys, he was about to start the car when he saw a small pickup truck come to a screeching halt and park cattywampus in Cora’s driveway.

As Pike watched, the man in the pickup got out and jogged around the back of the truck. Instead of taking the little path made of stepping-stones, he jumped over a planter to get to the front door fast. Pike was out of the car and sprinting across the street by the time the man opened the front door and boldly strode into Cora’s house .

Fear for Cora and rage at this stranger made Pike’s bear push to get out. It was hard, but Pike kept his inner beast locked down. When he got to the open door, he almost lost his hold on his bear. The stranger had Cora in his arms and was holding her in the air.

“Let go of me, you idiot!” she demanded, trying to kick her heels back into her attacker’s shins.

With a roar, Pike grabbed the back of the guy’s jacket and hauled him into the air. The attacker let out a surprised grunt and let go of Cora.

“What the fuck?” the guy screeched. Cora landed on her feet and only stumbled a step before she regained her balance.

“How dare you!” Pike shook the man violently. The guy lifted his arms and slipped out of his jacket, getting free of Pike’s hold. With surprising speed for a human, the man twirled around and landed a solid punch to Pike’s belly.

He barely felt it, but the man staggered back, yowling in pain. Holding his hand protectively against his chest, he backed up, herding Cora behind him.

“Run Cora!” the stranger said as he looked around, probably for a weapon. The man's actions were odd considering he’d attacked Cora first, but Pike was too enraged to think deeply about it.

“I’m going to break your legs first, then your arms,” Pike said as he stalked forward. “Then I’m going to keep you alive in a basement until they all set crooked before I let you out!”

“Shit, that’s dark,” Cora said, neatly stepping around the stranger and standing between the two of them. “I think I might be turned on a little.”

“Now isn’t the time to be funny!” the stranger barked at Cora. “Get back behind me!”

Pike got the feeling Cora knew this man. Still unsure, Pike sounded a warning growl when the stranger reached for Cora. “Don’t touch her!”

That made the man flinch back and stop trying to get a grip on her. She was within arm’s length of Pike, so he reached for her. Her gaze intense, she held up a finger, and he stopped, hand in the air .

“That’s one of my brothers,” she said, gesturing behind her with a thumb. “Cooper, meet Pike, the guy I spent the night with. Pike, meet Cooper, my third oldest brother.”

“Brother?” Pike’s anger vanished and a healthy dose of worry set in. Looking beyond Cora, he tried to smile at her sibling. “Hi, uh, sorry about the hand. Want me to look at it?”

“I want you to stay the fuck over there,” Cooper spat out, holding up a hand with one finger bent oddly. “Are you wearing some kind of armor or something? It felt like I punched a brick wall!”

Pike lifted his shirt to show his bare chest. “No armor, I’m, um, just naturally hard.”

Cora snickered, and it took a moment to realize she was reacting to his naturally hard comment.

Cooper shoved her with his shoulder. “Shut up! I'm wounded here, and you're laughing.”

Brother or not, Cooper didn’t get to touch Cora like that. With a scowl, Pike moved Cora away from her sibling. “I’m sorry about that finger, but brother or not, I’ll break more if you keep touching her like that. She’s hum–small, so you need to be more careful.”

“Calm down,” Cooper said even as he backed away. “She’s used to roughhousing. It’s what we do. You know, it’s how we show affection.”

“Not any longer,” Pike said as he drew her back against his front and wrapped his arms around her. His bear calmed considerably now that they were holding their human mate.

Shaking his head, Cooper frowned at Cora. “Tell him we do it all the time.”

“And I tell you to stop every time,” Cora answered. “Everyone else listens to me except you. I’ve even tased you, and you still pick me up. I don’t like it now, and I’ve never liked it. I know you’ve hit your head a lot, but even you should’ve gotten the message by now.”

“Cora, you’re being mean,” Cooper whined as he held up his hand again. “I was hurt trying to defend you.”

“You got hurt punching my new boyfriend,” Cora corrected, then smiled evilly. “But I could fix it for you. Come over here. ”

Cooper tucked his hand protectively against his chest at the same time Cora tried to step out of Pike's arms, but he tightened his hold. “Maybe Cooper should go to the hospital.”

She made a disappointed sound. “You’re spoiling my fun.”

“This is really different,” he muttered. Instead of leaving to find medical help, Cooper kept standing there, eyes bouncing back and forth between him and Cora. “You’re never this nice to your boyfriends. If Andrew or Todd had tried to defend you, you’d have ripped into them.”

“His name was Thomas, not Todd,” Cora said. “And if they had ever tried to defend me from real danger, I wouldn’t have said anything. All they wanted to protect me from was bullshit social situations.”

“You can tell yourself that,” Cooper said with a shake of his head. “But I’ve never seen you let anyone step in like this before. You trust this guy.”

Cora stiffened and when she tried to pull away, Pike let her. It was obvious by her pensive expression that she didn’t like what Cooper was saying, even if it was true. As fated mates, she’d instinctively trust Pike to protect her to the best of his ability. Maybe it would help if she understood it went both ways.

“I know you’d put yourself in danger to protect me,” he murmured. “Even if I didn’t want you to. That’s how the bond between us works.”

“Bond?” Cooper asked from behind her. “What kind of hippy-dippy shit are you talking about? Ted said you two had only been seeing each other for a few weeks.”

“I swear you all gossip more than a bunch of old women at a church social,” Cora muttered.

Pike leaned in close and whispered in Cora’s ear. “Can we feed this brother to Kimble? You’ve got five others. Five is a good number.”

Cora snorted. “He’s not even the most annoying one.”

Pike pretended to be shocked. “That can’t be true.”

“You sort of met the most annoying one over the phone,” she reminded him. “Remember Ted? He invited you to our Sunday BBQ.”

“Yeah, he totally needs to come,” Cooper said, having sidled up close enough to hear that part of their conversation .

Cora took Pike’s hand before turning to face her brother. “Why are you here anyway?”

“We were all worried,” Cooper said. “Dad thought you might have joined a cult or something because you never go that long without answering your phone. Tim was sure you’d gotten kidnapped, and Caleb claimed you’d finally gotten fed up with all of us. I selflessly offered to check on you myself.”

Cora narrowed her eyes at him. “Bullshit. You lost at arm-wrestling, so you’re the one who had to make sure I wasn’t dead or dying.”

An unrepentant grin stretched across Cooper’s face. “Yeah, but it wasn't just that. I was as worried about you as everyone else. I swear.” He tried to hold up his right hand in a solemn promise, but winced and pushed it back against his chest.

“Idiot,” Cora muttered.

Cooper ignored her and met Pike’s gaze. “I’d like to formally invite you to our monthly BBQ this Sunday. Show up at four pm with the meat of your choice. Or fake meat of your choice if you swing that way. I think we’ll probably be grilling some mushrooms and veggies too because Trevor’s wife is a vegetarian.”

Pike looked at Cora. “Do you want me to go?”

“Sure,” Cora said with a resigned sigh. “Like I said when Ted invited you over the phone, you’re going to have to meet them sometime. It’s probably best to get it over with.”

“You make us sound as fun as going to the dentist,” Cooper complained.

Cora raised an eyebrow but didn’t answer. The siblings stared at each other until Cooper broke eye contact with a wince.

“I’ll tell the guys to be nice,” Cooper said.

“I won’t hesitate to fuck any of you up,” Cora warned him. “Make sure they know that.”

Cooper laughed. “I don’t need to remind anyone of that. I still haven't gotten the dead fish smell out of my work truck.”

Cora assumed an innocent expression. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, sure,” Cooper answered. “Oh, and call Calab, he and Janet need help with the kids. And Dad wants you to pick up a few jobs that are too small for him. And… ”

Cora shook her head. “Enough, I’ll call everyone and figure it out.”

“Good.” Cooper turned his gaze to Pike, his expression turning mildly hostile. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

Before Pike could answer, Cooper walked by, deliberately hitting Pike with his shoulder. It didn’t bother Pike, but Cooper ended up stumbling and almost ramming into the front door frame.

“Fuck me,” Cooper muttered. “Built like a goddamn brick shithouse.”

Then he was gone, and Cora strode past him to slam the front door shut. With a scowl on her face, she turned to face him. “Did I not say I needed some space?”

“Um, yeah,” he said. Suddenly he was a three-foot-tall cub being reprimanded by his mom.

“Then what are you doing here?” To his surprise, her expression went from anger to concern. “Wait, where’s Kimble? Did you leave him on his own?”

That’s when Pike looked over at the large window at the front of the house to see the sun setting.

Oh, this was bad.

“Call me for anything!” Pike shouted as he barreled past Cora and out the door.