Bearly Enough (24 page)

The bear!

Stone!

“Zane!” Gabby cried, “He’s going to get himself killed!”

Lucy looked quickly back to Gabby and Zane and then at Stone
and Evan.

“I can’t get involved!” Zane argued, “I’m hurt as well, and
it’s not my battle to fight.”

Lucy tried to process what Zane said, and then she noticed
the huge gashes on Stone’s body.

“Oh, my god,” she murmured. “Stone! No!” she screamed,
hurtling forward to help as Gabby cried out for her to stop.

Lucy didn’t know what she was going to do, but she couldn’t
allow Evan to hurt Stone. She could tell that Stone was badly wounded, and she
knew Evan was going for the kill.

Jeremy was clearly dead, and Evan had already shifted and
was turning on Stone.

Stone would never survive this.

Even in his bear form, Lucy could see that he was barely able
to move—he must have had a surge of energy when he attacked Jeremy.

Evan stopped, his black eyes glinting in the moonlight, and
he snarled at Lucy, slowly standing up on his two hind legs.

Fear gripped her.

She suddenly remembered everything that had been ingrained
in her as a child.

All the words, thoughts and feelings flashed before her:

Bears are wrong.

Bears are bad.

Bears kill.

Evan was going to kill her—he was now standing at his full
height on his two hind legs and there was nothing anyone could do. Stone was
hurt, and the others were too far away.

Somewhere behind her Gabby screamed.

Lucy wasn’t ready to die.

She looked wildly around—looking for something, anything
that she could use to defend herself.

And then she saw it.

Lucy bent down, grabbed the crude weapon and clutched it,
knowing it was the only option she had.

She needed to protect herself and Stone, who had collapsed
to the forest floor.

Screaming, Lucy ran straight for Evan, just as he pounced on
her.

Lucy held up the sharp branch and waited for whatever was to
come next—possibly death.

She felt the impact of Evan and then felt the dangerously
pointed stick make contact with his skin. He let out an ear-shattering howl of
pain. He fell farther onto Lucy, thus forcing the stick deeper inside of
himself. Then he collapsed entirely, pinning Lucy beneath him as he began to
make a sick gurgling sound.

Lucy screamed, trying to wiggle out from under him as he
tried to swipe at her. She could feel warm liquid on her and she yelled again.

She felt Evan scrape at her scalp and she cried out from the
pain of his claws scratching her. She knew she had injured him, but he was
still more than capable of hurting her while she was beneath him.

And then she felt large hands pulling her out from under him,
and she was free. She glanced up and saw Stone, who pulled her close before
falling to the ground. She looked at him and saw that he was bruised and
covered in blood.

“Stone!” she cried shaking him, “Stone!”

She absentmindedly put her hand to her head and pulled it
back to see that it was bright red.

She didn’t care.

She shook Stone again, screaming as she lost control. She
was pulled off of him, and she yelled and protested as Gabby managed to drag
her away.

Lucy rolled over in bed, groaning, feeling more exhausted
than ever before. She burrowed further under the sheets and then she realized
that she didn’t recognize the lavender-hued bedspread.

She sat up quickly, her hand flying to her throbbing head.

“Hey,” Gabby said softly.

She was sitting in a rocking chair next to the bed, a
blanket pulled over her.

The night came rushing back to Lucy.

“Where is he? Where’s Stone? Is he okay?” Fear gripped her
heart and she braced herself for the worst.

“He’s okay. He’s resting, but he’s okay.”

Lucy’s entire body relaxed, and she felt herself sob with
relief as she fell back into the pillows.

“Shh, it’s alright,” Gabby said, climbing out of the chair
and resting on the bed next to Lucy. She rubbed Lucy’s shoulder, reminding her
of when they were little. “It’s okay.”

She studied Lucy closely. “You really care about him, don’t
you?”

Lucy nodded; she was so overwhelmed with her feelings for
Stone that she was unable to speak.

“I’ll explain everything to you,” she frowned, and Lucy
could tell that something was bothering her.

“What? What is it?” she pressed.

“Zane and I had to contact your tribe to tell them what happened.
I guess it’s technically not your tribe. At least not yet” Gabby corrected
herself.

“Why did you have to contact them?” Lucy asked, still too
relieved that Stone was going to be okay.

“We didn’t know what to do with the bodies,” she looked
carefully at Lucy, “Jeremy and Evan are both dead.”

Lucy couldn’t deny it; there was a part of her that was
immensely relieved.

“And we didn’t want either of you accused of the crimes, nor
did we want our tribe to be implicated. So we went to your council and our council
to explain what happened,” she paused. “Zane and Quentin have been behind
closed doors with them all night.”

The blinds were drawn shut in the room, so Lucy had no idea
of what time it was. Gabby followed her gaze then reached over and pulled back
the shades. “It’s nearly lunch. You’ve been out for almost nine hours.”

“When can I see Stone?” Lucy asked. At this point, she could
care less about what the council thought. She just wanted to see Stone with her
own two eyes and know that he was safe.

“You can see him soon. I think you should eat first,” Gabby
hesitated. “There is one more thing though.”

“I’m not eating until I see him,” Lucy said loudly, her body
tense.

Gabby nodded.

“The councils agreed on one thing almost immediately. They want
you and Stone back on their lands as soon as possible.”

“What?”

“I wanted you to stay here so that we could take care of you
both for a few days, but they want to care for you on their own territory.”

“Is Stone in any condition to be moved?” Lucy asked.

Gabby bit her lip. “He can be moved, but it will be
difficult. Once Zane and Quentin are out, I’ll know more.” She took a deep
breath. “Come on. Let’s get you over to him.”

Lucy nearly leapt out of bed, but then she cried out in
pain, and fell back.

“Be careful!” Gabby ordered. “You were attacked last night!”

Lucy winced. “Right.”

 Slowly, she swung one leg over the bed and then the
other. She was wearing a nightgown now; she assumed it belonged to Gabby, and
she could see that her legs were covered in cuts and bruises.

“Oh, shit,” Lucy whispered.

The look on Gabby’s face told her that her legs were not the
worst of her injuries.

Lucy got onto her feet, with Gabby’s help, and she could
feel a sharp pain in her side. She clutched it and felt a thick bandage.

“Cracked rib,” Gabby grimaced. “Come on, you better look in
the mirror.”

Lucy hobbled over to a mirror in the bedroom, which she had
finally recognized as the guest room in Zane and Gabby’s house. At first she
didn’t recognize the person staring back at her.

Her entire face was covered with cuts and small bruises.
There was one extremely large purple bruise on her cheekbone where Jeremy had
slapped her, and there was a huge gash below her right eye—she couldn’t even
remember how it had happened.

She gingerly touched the gash, wincing.

Finally, there was the large wound just below her hairline,
and she knew that had to be from when Evan fell on her, and she had felt his
claw slice at her head.

She turned away from the mirror, her eyes filling with tears.
“I look awful,” she whispered, “I can’t look at myself.”

Gabby rubbed her shoulder gingerly. “It all will heal, Lucy.
In a month or so, you won’t even know.” She lowered her voice. “You’re lucky to
be alive.”

Lucy nodded, knowing that Gabby had a point. She laughed
weakly. “I guess you’re not mad at me anymore, now that I nearly got myself
killed,” she joked.

Gabby shot her a look. “I am still mad,” she insisted. “If
you had come here with us the other night, then none of this would have
happened!”

“You would rather that I be here and unhappy, then to be
with Stone and be happy?”

“Let’s not talk about it now,” Gabby said carefully.

Unbelievable.

Even after all of this, Gabby still was upset that Lucy
hadn’t chosen the Virtus tribe.

Lucy wasn’t going to worry about it now; the most important
thing was Stone.

Carefully helping Lucy, Gabby led her down the hall to the
other spare bedroom.

“He looks bad,” Gabby warned before they entered the room.

Disbelief was Lucy’s first thought.

There was no way that the person lying in that small bed
could be Stone. Carefully, she moved closer, and she let out a small gasp when
she was absolutely certain that it was him.

Half of his head was bandaged, and the part of his face that
remained visible was purple from bruises and dark red from wounds. He was
wearing a t-shirt, but his arms were covered in cuts, and one arm was held in a
sling. His legs were under the sheets, but she could tell that the left leg was
wrapped in a cast.

“Oh, my god,” she murmured, feeling her legs grow weak
beneath her. She turned to Gabby. “Has he woken up yet?”

Gabby shook her head. “Not yet. We had our healer come—she
helped both of you—and she apparently had to give Stone a very large amount of
medication to manage his pain.”

Lucy choked back a sob and went to the bed, carefully
sitting down next to Stone. She caressed his hand, taking in his broken and
beaten body.

“I don’t want to wake him,” she whispered, mostly to
herself. He looked so peaceful, and she could only imagine the pain he would be
in when he woke up.

“You do know that he will heal more quickly, right?” Gabby
asked.

Lucy’s head snapped up. “What?”

Gabby sighed. “There’s a lot you don’t know. Part of the
werebear DNA allows them to heal at a faster rate than a normal human.”

It made Lucy think of when Stone had explained that he
couldn’t contract STDs due to his powerful DNA. Gabby was right—there was so
much that she didn’t know, even about herself.

“Will I heal faster?” Lucy asked quietly.

Gabby shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve yet to
discover what our blood can do, other than guarantee bear cubs.”

Lucy made a mental note to ask Karina whenever she had a
chance. Karina claimed to be a historian for the tribe, so Lucy would start
with her.

“We should let him rest,” Gabby said softly, “Especially if
he will need to be moved soon.”

Lucy nodded, rising slowly as her body protested. She
followed Gabby out into the hallway and quietly pulled the door closed behind
her.

“So what happens now?” Lucy asked.

Gabby turned to look at her. “You tell me. Do you still want
to return to the Cruentus?”

Lucy thought about it. She was terrified after what happened
with Evan and Jeremy, but she believed that now that they were dead there would
no longer be an issue. Her choice was simple.

“I want to be wherever Stone is.”

Gabby shook her head in disbelief. “That tribe is
sick
,
Lucy. They tried to hurt me
and
they tried to hurt you! They kept you a
prisoner!”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Really, Gabby? You of all people should
understand!”

Gabby crossed her arms over her chest, accentuating her
curves. She looked like the bossy big sister that Lucy remembered from her
childhood. “You would be
safe
if you stayed here. I can’t protect you if
you leave. And you know that the tribes don’t get along.”

“So what do you suggest?” Lucy said angrily. “I want to be
with Stone! He nearly died for me last night, so if that doesn’t give you some
indication of our relationship that I don’t know what does!”

“I understand that you have feelings for him. Really, I do.
But are you sure they aren’t feelings that came from him holding you captive?”

Lucy threw her hands up in exasperation and then winced with
pain. “They are not just
feelings.
I am falling in love with him!”

There. She said it.

It was out there.

There was no hiding it from Gabby now.

“Even when I was being held
captive
, he was good and
kind and took care of me. I chose to have a life with him, and I have to trust
that things will be okay when we return.” Though she knew that was much easier
said than done. She was already fearful that there would be others in the tribe
who would share Evan and Jeremy’s sick view of how to proceed with Lucy in the
tribe.

“I can’t help you if you won’t let me,” Gabby told her.