Ready to Bear (4 page)

“Bet you didn’t expect to see me again so soon,” he whispered close to her ear. He didn’t want Eric to overhear him.

Her eyes slid back up to his, and that was when he saw her eyes widen in surprise. “It’s you,” she said in a practically non-existent whisper.

“William,” he said. He hoped to distract her from whatever dark place her thoughts had taken her. “My name is William, but you can call me Billy, and you’re Thea.”

“Philips,” she said. “Thea Philips.” It was as if adding the distinction of her surname was important to her. Clearly, she didn’t want to try trading on the Carmichael family connection. He thought that was interesting and refreshing.

“Billy Miller,” he said as he smiled softly down at her. They had made their way into a doorway and proceeded up a narrow set of stairs. Billy could hear the music from the club vibrating through the walls. Although it wasn’t the kind of situation he had anticipated running into, he was grateful that he didn’t have to step foot inside the club. It would have been too much for his senses to handle, and he needed to stay sharp.

“The sheriff,” Thea said slowly, bringing his attention back to her. They arrived at the top of the stairs. Eric unlocked the heavy steel door in front of them and slid it open. The building housing the club had the appearance of an old warehouse.

“There’s a couch right over there,” he said gruffly, pointing across the room.

Billy noticed that the room was like every city loft that he had ever been in. The exterior walls were made from stone, and the furniture seemed to all be made out of shiny hard metal. There were nothing but hard angles and harsh light everywhere. It was the exact opposite of the kind of world where he felt comfortable.

He saw the leather couch Eric indicated sitting against the far wall, and he headed in that direction. As he settled Thea onto it, if felt as if she clung to him. He didn’t move away. His heartbeat was surely noticeable to her, and he felt warm as he allowed himself to cradle her against his chest for just a few moments beyond appropriate.

“Perhaps someone would be willing to tell me exactly what the fuck just happened out there now?” Eric said, interrupting his thoughts.

Immediately, Thea’s grip sprung free, and she slid away from him. Billy regretted the loss of her warmth against him. He took a deep breath and stood. He didn’t flinch under Eric’s hard gaze.

If there was one thing that Billy knew how to do better than anything else, it was stand up to an alpha.

Thea was in shock. She still couldn’t quite process what had happened since she first heard the gravelly voice of the man behind her in the alley. She had been attacked and dragged back into the alley against her will. If the man standing in front of her hadn’t come when he did….she felt hard shudders wrack her body.

The fog in her mind over what had almost happened finally started to clear. She swung her legs out, and her feet hit the floor. The cool surface brought her around the rest of the way. She wasn’t going to crumble under the weight of the emotions swirling through her body. She found sure footing in facts.

“I came to get Alex,” she said. Her throat felt hoarse as if she had been screaming for hours. In fact, she had given herself over to that violence, willingly or not, with little more than a whimper. She hated herself for that. She should have fought back harder, although the sting in her jaw reminded her that the situation could have ended much worse.

“What are you even doing here in the city?” Eric’s gaze zeroed in on her. “You weren’t supposed to get back until tomorrow.”

“I changed my flight,” she said. She felt bone-weary. “I sent Alex a text this morning. He has school tomorrow, Eric.”

“Wait, wait,” Eric said. “What does Alex have to do with what just happened out there?”

“If you or Alex had bothered to answer one of my ten phone calls, I wouldn’t be here,” Thea said.

“What the fuck? This was my fault?” Eric’s voice raised in a signal that he was prepping for a fight.

“Lower your voice,” Billy said. His voice was little more than a low rumble.

Thea couldn’t believe it. The coincidence of seeing this man twice in the same day seemed extraordinary enough, especially now that she also knew who he was. She had been an idiot for not placing him earlier, but, of course, in all the photos where she’d seen him, he’d been in the background. The man standing in front of him always commanded everyone’s full attention. Lukas Kasper, alpha of the Greyelf Grizzly Clan. He was legendary already, and he’d only been the alpha for a little more than a year.

Eric’s gaze zeroed back on Billy. “Look, jackass. You’re in my club right now, by my invitation. I’d toss you out on your ass right now if it wasn’t because…”

“He saved my life,” Thea said. She was pleased that her voice was steadier than she expected. She got to her feet and found that she could stand. That was good. Billy put out a hand to steady her, but she stopped him. “I’m fine.” Thea wasn’t used to playing the part of the damsel in distress, and she wasn’t about to start now. “You should be thanking him instead of threatening him.”

Eric looked as if he would rather eat a dead animal’s carcass. She wasn’t sure what she expected. Eric was a good guy, but he could let his emotions cloud his judgment. She wondered how many millions of dollars had slipped through his fingers because he had gotten personally worked up over some perceived slight in his business dealings. Of course, what was a couple of million to Eric anyway? Pocket change.

She put her hand out to Billy. “Thank you.” It seemed woefully inadequate considering the circumstances.

He stared at her outstretched hand. He took it slowly in both of his, and they were so big it was as if they swallowed her hand whole. Thea felt a rush of heat at his touch. “No thanks necessary. It’s part of my job.” She felt her insides melt a little bit at his words, and the intensity of the look in his eyes as they seemed to sweep over her from head to foot assessing her condition. She had just met him, and yet she felt his concern for her well-being. She imagined that made him good at his job.

Eric snorted and rolled his eyes. “Now that you’ve done the world a continued service, Sheriff, maybe you can tell me what you want so we can put your furry butt on a plane back to Greyelf in the morning.”

“Eric!” Thea said. “You’re being rude.”

“It’s okay,” Billy said. His eyes twinkled. He bowed his head towards hers. “I’m used to it.” He didn’t seem to care if Eric heard him or not. His eyes swung back to her stepbrother. “I was on my way here tonight because I’d like a word with you and your partners. It won’t take more than a few minutes.”

“Kyle and Tony aren’t here,” Eric said.

It floored Thea how difficult Eric was being given the circumstances. “If memory serves, right now Kyle and Tony are in the VIP lounge drinking a bottle of scotch and probably getting lap dances from some shifter groupies,” Thea said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m sure they can spare a few minutes for the sheriff.”

Eric’s face settled into a thin frown. They stared at each other, but Thea refused to back down. Billy had saved her life. If all he wanted was to talk to her stepbrother and his partners, she’d make it happen. She at least owed him that, and so did Eric whether he liked it or not.

“Fine,” Eric said finally. “Five minutes. We’ve got a lot of VIP guests here tonight. We don’t have time for this.”

“Five minutes is fine,” Billy said with a bland smile.

“Can you ask Sophie to bring me up a pair of the shoes from the back? She knows my size,” Thea asked as Eric headed toward the door that went to the club. The club employed a small number of go-go dancers that worked on particularly busy nights. Kyle, who ran the club, was particular about their outfits, and eventually found it was easier just to keep a selection of clothes on hand for them. “Oh, and Eric?” Her stepbrother stopped but didn’t turn around this time. “Alex is going home with me as soon as we’re done here. No arguments.”

Eric gave a slight shake of his head, and then he left the room.

She glanced over at Billy and found him giving her an appraising look. “Remind me to have you give me a few pointers on dealing with difficult alphas,” he said with a wry smile.

“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit,” Thea said. She felt a head rush and faltered for a moment. She found herself in Billy’s arms once again. She should push him away, but she didn’t. She needed to stay in the present, and she enjoyed being in this man’s presence. She wasn’t ready to think about what had happened in the alley. It was the past now. Time to forget. “After all, you are a sheriff and a councilmember of your clan. Surely you’ve mastered the fine art of negotiation and dealing with tricky people.”

“I’ve noticed that a certain kind of person, particularly those of the female persuasion, seem to have a far greater influence than I do most of the time.” Thea noticed that prospect didn’t seem to faze Billy. He was simply saying it as a matter of a fact.

“Some men would find that frustrating or annoying, if they thought that undermined their own authority.”

“There are simply more than one ways to skin a cat. I’m open to any of them,” Billy said. That twinkle in his eye was back. “Are you feeling a bit steadier on your feet?”

Thea realized that she was still standing in the circle of his arms. She blushed and sat down breaking the circle. “Sorry. I think I’m just a little bit shaken still.”

Billy sat down next to her. Although their legs didn’t touch, she felt the proximity of his body to hers. She glanced at him from beneath the curtain of her eyelashes. He looked different than earlier today, when she had seen him outside the airport. More self-assured and definitely cockier. She had seen him expose a vulnerability earlier, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all. In fact, he was looking her over now without bothering to keep his appreciation in check.

He caught her assessment, and he shook his head with a grimace. “Sorry. After what you’ve been through, I’m ogling you like some asshole. I’m sorry. I was just thinking about what a coincidence that we’ve run into each other again. But now really isn’t the time for pleasantries, is it? You need a little time to process and decompress.”

He was right. She had just been through a traumatic experience, but for some reason, she felt calm. She wasn’t completely settled yet, but having Billy next to her had an effect that she couldn’t put her finger on. She didn’t feel as if she had anything to be afraid of. She almost said so, but stopped herself when she heard the knock on the door.

“You decent in there?”

She wanted to sink into the floor. Billy stood up with a start, but Thea waved him to sit back down. “It’s okay. She’s with me.” She thought about her words and grimaced. “Come in, Sophie.”

Her best friend swept into the room with her usual dramatic flourish. Thea was dismayed to see that Sophie looked even more attractive than normal, but of course, it was a fight night. Sophie was the lead bartender at the main bar at Urban Dwellers, and she knew how to dress to maximize tips from the crowd.

In addition to wearing three-inch heels (Thea had no idea how Sophie worked in them through her long shifts), Sophie wore skintight black leather pants and a matching bustier that more than accentuated her ample bosom. Her blond hair fell in perfect ringlets framing her heart-shaped face. Sophie’s silver eyeshadow should have looked overdone, but instead it made her icy blue eyes pop, even in the fluorescent light of the office lights overhead.

She realized that Sophie was waiting for an introduction. She sighed. One look at Sophie, and she was sure that Billy would find her meager attributes lacking in comparison. She brushed that thought aside, though. Why did she care what Billy Miller thought of her or Sophie? “Sophie, this is Billy Miller. Billy, this is Sophie. She works downstairs.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sophie. How are you this evening?” Billy said.

“I’m doing just fine, sugar,” Sophie said, batting her eyes. Thea felt as if she wanted to vomit.

“You bringing shoes for our friend?” he asked.

Sophie produced a pair of black ballet flats and a bottle of whiskey from behind her back. “I’ve got them. And I brought this too.” From behind her back in her other hand, Sophie revealed three shot glasses.

“Oh no,” Thea said, shaking her head. “I hate whiskey.”

Sophie knelt down in front of her, and her face softened. Thea saw her concerned friend there beneath the showy makeup. “I heard Eric whispering to Big Mike that somebody attacked you in the alley. You okay?”

Big Mike was the head bouncer at the Urban Dwellers. He had been one of the bouncers with Eric in the alley.

Thea heard flashes of grunts in her mind and felt the phantom poke of the knife in her side again. She cleared her throat, wiping those thoughts away. “I’m fine. You know what? A shot sounds awesome.”

Sophie’s face broke into a wide grin. “You came to the right place, sweetheart.” She quickly poured the amber liquid into the shot glasses, but when she tried to hand one to Billy he shook his head. “You on the clock or something, Sheriff? Surely you take a night off every now and then.”

Billy looked surprised and cocked his eyebrow. Thea almost wanted to laugh. “Believe it or not, your name is fairly well-known around these parts.”

“Me?” Billy looked chagrined. “Why?”

“The big sheriff of Greyelf taking down all those bad guys and saving his alpha’s life last fall? Did you not read the news?” Thea asked.

“We kept all of that out of the papers,” Billy said with a frown.

“Shifter news isn’t the same thing as mainstream media,” Sophie said, tossing her curls over her shoulder. “Word gets around when something big goes down. Not to mention, your alpha has been quite the pain in the ass for a lot of people around here.”

“That sounds about right,” Billy said. “Lukas has that effect on a lot of people. But he’s getting shit done.”

“A fine justification,” Thea said. She took the shot glass from Sophie and considered it for a moment.

“Bottoms up, baby,” Sophie said as she clinked her shot glass against Thea’s. Then they both knocked back the shot.

The liquid burned going down the back of Thea’s throat, but it instantly warmed her limbs. She hadn’t realized that she was so cold.

“Where’s Alex been tonight?” She knew that if she asked Sophie she’d get a straight answer.

“Look, Eric’s had him in a separate VIP box all night. I think he put an Xbox in there or something to keep the kid occupied and off the floor. I’ve been checking on him. It’s not a big deal, Thea.”

Thea felt her anger flare again. “It
is
a big deal. The club is no place for a fifteen-year-old boy.”

“That boy could be phasing any day now,” Sophie said. “You can’t keep him away from the reality of the world he lives in.”

“There are plenty of shifters out there who have no interest in seeing other shifters try to tear each other apart,” Thea said. It was the same argument over and over again with the people in her life. She wasn’t trying to shield Alex from the truth about his potential nature. She just didn’t see why he had to be up close and personal to the animalistic nature of it all. Her eyes landed on Billy. “You’re an impartial third party.”

Billy put his hands up. “This sounds like business I shouldn’t be involved in.”

“No,” Thea said. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey and poured herself another shot. “I’m not a shifter, so everyone around me seems to think that should mean that my opinion doesn’t matter as much as theirs does.” She looked pointedly at Sophie. Sophie was a panther shifter. Sophie rolled her eyes.

“Well, yes, I am a shifter, but still, I’m not sure that I’m the best one to ask,” Billy said stiffly.