Benny Read online

  But it was Benny. Somehow, beneath the fear and shaking of her body, as Harley stared up at it, she knew it was him.

  Was this the thing he’d been hiding from her their entire lives?

  The bear’s front paws pounded back down onto the earth, cracking the cement beneath him. When it looked over at her, its dark eyes soulless globes meant only to instill dread, the beast’s gaze softened for a moment, as if in recognition.

  Her heart raced. Her stomach felt sick, like she might vomit. Should she scream? Should she run?

  Instead, she just stayed.

  As if acting on instinct, it quickly lumbered in front of her protectively, blocking the way between her and Van, and in that moment, Harley knew it wouldn’t hurt her.

  But good God, it was terrifying.

  Van cursed, fists clenched as he squared off with the gigantic bear. “Ruined. You’ve ruined everything, human. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  To her surprise, Van drew his chest back, taking in a deep breath before expelling a cone of hot purple flame directly into the path of the bear. The bear moved, blocking Van from her view completely, absorbing the entirety of the flames as Harley heard the sound of sizzling and furious growling.

  To Harley’s knowledge, only dragons could do shit like that.

  The bear didn’t flinch, an unstoppable force, as Van’s flames petered, then ceased. The creature, singed and burnt, miraculously began to heal, and it roared one more time before charging the black-clad man.

  With a single swipe, Van went flying like a baseball, colliding into a nearby brick wall, sending rubble and wet red chunks everywhere. Van collapsed forward, then looked up to see the monster bearing down on him like a speeding freight train, and he leapt to the side as its paw came crashing down, flattening the wall faster than any manmade construction equipment could have ever managed.

  Not only was the bear indescribably large, but the speed at which it could move seemed to defy physics. Like pure evil fueled its unfathomable strength.

  But Harley knew the bear wasn’t evil. As much as her brain screamed at her to run from this predator that was capable of ending her with absolute ease, her heart remained strong with the knowledge that in all their life together, Benny had sought to only protect her.

  And this bear was a part of him.

  “If only I could shift, I would end you, bear,” Van proclaimed, a stream of blood running down the side of his face.

  The bear snarled in defiance of Van’s supposition, lunging forward and snapping at him with jaws so powerful every muscle in Harley’s body braced from the sound it made.

  Van, surprisingly fast for a man of his large build, stepped out of the way. But in an instant, as if he’d anticipated the movement, Benny’s paw rose, then swatted down right onto the spot where Van had moved.

  A thick cloud of dust and rubble kicked up from the impact, and for a moment, Harley was sure Van had been flattened by it. But as the rain cleared away the debris, she could see him trapped beneath Benny’s paw, both hands gripping the bear’s claws as he struggled to break free.

  The beast leaned down, staring into its quarry’s eyes without mercy, without pause. He growled, making thick liquid fall from his black mouth to the ground around Van as the dragon stared petulantly upward.

  “Hey! Over here, guys!” The sound of a man’s voice interrupted the rain-soaked silence, snapping Harley’s gaze to the side.

  At the end of the side street that ran behind Club Crimson, she could make out the shapes of her co-workers and friends running toward her in a small group at a quick jog. At the head of them, Lock led the way, wearing pajama pants but clad in his typical leather jacket.

  “Harley, are you okay?” Max called out as they approached her. “We saw strange light coming from the club and called Lock and Tasha over…” But his words stopped as he and the others all caught a glimpse of the formidable black and gray beast.

  In unison, they skidded to stop a short way from Harley.

  “Holy shiiiiiiiiiiit…” Lock’s curse drawled on as he appraised the bear from head to toe, mouth agape.

  Benny, aware now of the others approaching, looked up at them and growled angrily, as if annoyed at being disrupted while in the middle of dealing with his prey.

  “That’s certainly an… interesting sight,” Fifi exclaimed, his damp silk pajamas clinging to his chest.

  “Oh God, it’s horrible,” Jackie said, covering her mouth with her hands.

  Both Max and Lock stepped protectively in front of their mates, while the bear growled more earnestly, as if warning them away.

  “What is it?” Tasha asked in wonder and fear.

  “Dammit, Benny,” Lock said. “I’ll probably have to shift. Max, get ready to back me up if—”

  Fifi interrupted him. “I’ll handle this. Everyone, behind me,” he said, rolling his sleeves up as he came to the fore of the group. Even the usually unflappable wolf wanted to approach cautiously.

  “No, wait! It’s still Benny. He’s in control of it,” Harley called out to her friends.

  Maybe no one had ever seen Benny’s bear before. Or maybe the creature was just too inhuman for them to believe it wouldn’t hurt them.

  “Here, I’ll show you,” she added.

  She took a single step forward, and the bear’s eyes shot to hers, locking her entire body in place.

  “What are you doing? Don’t go over there. It isn’t safe,” Lock said, beckoning for her to come toward them instead.

  “I’ve got this. Trust me.” She tried to calm her friends, hoping it would calm her too. But her heart was going faster than if she’d been running a hundred-meter dash.

  “Are you willing to take that chance?” Max exclaimed, sounding incredulous for probably the first time in the big lion’s life.

  “It’ll be fine.” Her words felt like they would freeze to ice in her own throat. But she took another step, then another. At first, the bear cocked its head to one side, black eyes so dark they made tar pits seem like a cheery, sensible color.

  Harley was halfway there. Then three-fourths of the way. She could see Van clearly now, lying beneath Benny’s paw, helpless and staring up at her, but she ignored the man, keeping her eyes on her best friend, reaching out to him with her thoughts as if they could touch him somehow.

  The bear’s hackles slowly lowered, and its mouth relaxed, the growling from the back of its throat finally ceasing. She raised her hand, her brain imagining a horrible scenario where the bear clamped its jaws down on her, but she pressed forward to meet Benny.

  Then finally, her fingers were only inches away from the beast’s head, and suddenly, it leaned to meet her hand. The cold, matted fur was thick and prickly, but she petted him as relief washed over her like a cleansing flood.

  “I knew she was a dragon heart,” Van exclaimed, followed by a whoosh of air as the bear pressed its paw downward and onto him.

  But Harley could only feel love and affection for the creature. For Benny. Her Benny. And when she scratched the back of the bear’s ear emphatically, it let out a pleased huff.

  When it turned to look back at her, Harley swore she could see a hint of hazel beneath the black mirror of its eyes. For a long moment, they just watched each other, Harley finally understanding everything Benny hadn’t been able to tell her for such a long time.

  He still had a lot to explain about what had happened tonight, but they would figure it out. She just knew it in her heart.

  Suddenly, there was the sound of a man grunting, heaving something, and both she and Benny looked down to see Van prying himself free beneath the bear’s gigantic paw. The bear growled, but Van leapt off the ground and onto his feet with surprising agility, turning to face them.

  And from her side, she could see the others coming closer too, joining her and Benny as they bore down on the man who had almost ruined everything.

  “You can’t possible fathom the forces you’re up against. Your destiny was not here, dragon h
eart,” Van said, eyes darting to Harley, then the encroaching party of best friends and their mates.

  “I don’t think you understand the forces you’re up against either,” Lock said, cracking his knuckles as he came forward.

  “But we’re more than happy to show you,” Fifi joined in as he and Max both advanced. Meanwhile, Benny remained by Harley’s side, so close she could feel him breathing.

  Van’s eyes went wild, searching for an escape, backing up until he was thoroughly cornered against Club Crimson.

  But before the group could make good on their unified threat, all of a sudden, a door-shaped wall of mist appeared directly behind Van. Its border was gray and ethereal, like smoke, and in a flash, the door seemed to open, making a great black darkness appear only a few feet from Van’s back.

  “What? No, it can’t be.” Van’s voice was shocked as he turned to appraise the thing that no one present could explain.

  Harley and the others didn’t even have time to move as suddenly, a black, misty tendril shot out from somewhere deep within the doorway, grasping Van by the wrist and forcing him toward it.

  “You can’t take me back. I’m not done yet,” he shouted angrily as another tendril came forward, then another, pulling at him with increasing force. With a furious cry, he turned toward the group, attempting to escape the tendrils’ grasp.

  But apparently, it wasn’t enough, and he disappeared into the black void. There was the sound of a heavy door slamming shut, and as quickly as it had appeared, the doorway dissipated into mist, completely gone.

  “That… was weird,” Max said, speaking for all of them.

  “Right. Weird. None of us here could explain that,” Fifi said, looking to the side.

  “I’m just glad it’s over,” Harley exclaimed as the horrific bear nuzzled into her side playfully.

  Well, almost.

  “Hey, I guess dires aren’t that bad,” Tasha exclaimed, coming forward to give the bear a scratch. But when her hand touched its coarse, matted fur, she pulled away, trying to not look disturbed.

  “No. It is. It really is that bad,” Max said, looking the thing up and down, a frown on his face.

  “Agreed. No wonder Benny was searching for a cure for so long. That thing is abso-fuckin-lutely monstrous,” Lock exclaimed with wonder.

  “Hey, he’s mine, and he’s perfect,” Harley said, and Benny growled in seeming agreement.

  “And that’s why he’s your mate,” Fifi said, and Harley couldn’t tell if he was being approving or condescending. Maybe both.

  “I’ll just stay here until he shifts back. That is assuming he can?” Harley asked, looking at the bear, who looked back at her curiously.

  Then suddenly, it was getting smaller, the fur withdrawing to flesh. Max and Lock both covered their mate’s eyes as suddenly, a normal-size, completely naked Benny lay facedown on the ground at Harley’s feet.

  Immediately, she reached down to help him up, and Fifi pulled off his shirt to cover Benny’s bottom half, then came around to help him to his feet too.

  Somehow, where the giant pole had been sticking out of him, a purple and red spot showed on his chest that she could see slowly healing. It must have been flung aside when Benny shifted.

  What a relief.

  Benny, groaning from the effort of standing, suddenly seemed to wake up, eyes going wide as he looked wildly at her, then at the rest of his family.

  “Whoa, what happened?” He seemed more shocked than even Harley felt at the moment.

  “Dude, you shifted,” Lock said.

  “And you didn’t even murder everyone. Congratulations,” Fifi said with a grin, patting Benny on the back.

  “I did?” Benny paused, gaze coming back to Harley. For a moment, his hazel eyes just rested on her. Then they seemed to clear with recognition. “Yeah, I did. But what about Van?”

  “Van?” Tasha asked.

  Benny just shook his head, his arm coming around Harley and pulling her into his side. Just the feel of him next to her, normal and hers all again, was more relieving than she could have possibly imagined.

  “I guess I have some explaining to do,” he said apologetically, looking at Harley as he spoke.

  “Yeah, you do. You can thank us later. Right now, you two need to go talk,” Lock said emphatically, putting his arm around Tasha as they headed off, both of them throwing a wave behind them as they disappeared down the street.

  Max nodded at them, and Jackie said good-bye before they, too, disappeared.

  “And get some pants. I want my shirt back,” Fifi said, tossing his head as he strutted away, going off in a different direction than the others.

  “Thanks, Fifi,” Harley said. And everyone else.

  Fifi just gave them a thumbs-up, not turning as he walked away, leaving her alone with Benny outside Club Crimson.

  “Want to get inside out of this rain?” Benny asked, looking around at everyone, fairly confused. He palmed his side, wincing. “I think I recently had a hole in me.”

  Harley laughed. “Yeah. Let’s go talk in the club.”

  Chapter 17

  Once he was inside and properly clothed again, Benny didn’t know whether to be relieved or horrified that everyone had seen his dire bear after so many years of holding it back.

  He was too tired to really care but knew he’d be dead if it weren’t for the thing inside him.

  He was just glad to have Harley with him, not looking at him any differently. She’d not only stayed; she’d calmed him. Though he’d been in the background of everything that had happened, he’d been vaguely aware.

  He felt so stupid now for trusting Van, but that’s what desperate people did. Trust people they shouldn’t.

  He realized now he’d made himself vulnerable by trying to handle everything on his own when he could have always involved Harley.

  But how could he have known?

  “Are you okay?” Her curls were wet from the rain, and the smooth spirals fascinated Benny as she helped him sit down on a chair in his office.

  She knelt in front of him, lifting his shirt to survey the damage from the pole.

  “Looks like you’re going to be okay. There’s only bruising now.” She shook her head. “I thought you were done for.”

  “I would have been if you hadn’t come for me,” Benny said. “It would have been too late by the time my friends got there.”

  “But they did come,” she said. “And they didn’t run from you, no matter how scary you were.”

  Benny nodded. “It’s definitely been a weird night.”

  “It’s not weird,” she said, putting his shirt down. “We all love you. It doesn’t matter what else you are. Besides, you didn’t hurt anyone. If not for your bear, you would have been killed and I might have been kidnapped.” She let out a little shudder.

  He cupped her face. “I would never have let that happen.”

  She looked up at him, her face still speckled with water, stress lines under her eyes. “Right, and your bear helped you out.”

  He leaned back on the couch, rubbing his eyes, trying not to think of everything that could have happened.

  He felt Harley’s warmth on the couch next to him and relaxed slightly. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

  “It doesn’t matter what he’s capable of,” she said. “It’s what he chooses to do, which was protect us.”

  “I just want to be a normal shifter,” Benny said. “Dires are formed by trauma and come out all wrong.”

  “Or maybe they are formed because their host needs them. Maybe after all you went through, you became extra strong in order to survive.”

  “I became crazy.”

  She leaned her head against his shoulder. “If that was crazy, then I’m glad you’re crazy. I love you just as you are. I wouldn’t change anything, and I hope someday you feel that way as well.”

  Benny stood up abruptly, deciding there was only one way to truly show her who he was, and he might as well get it over w
ith.

  Because her accepting everything about him made it hard to not just mate her right there.

  He walked to the desk and rummaged through it until he found the news clipping he’d dropped the other day.

  He walked over to Harley and handed it to her, walling himself off emotionally as she read.

  Her eyes widened as she brought the clipping closer, and she let out a little gasp, covering her mouth with her small hand.

  “Good God, what did they do to you?” Her eyes were glittering with tears as she handed the clipping back. “What did they do to make you do that?”

  Benny blinked. He’d expected a lot of questions, like why he had gone so far, why he had killed both of them, why he hadn’t told anyone and turned himself in.

  Why he had just let the authorities think it was an animal attack that killed his parents.

  Benny sighed, trying not to feel cold inside. “I can’t believe you would ask that. You should think I’m a monster. A murderer.”

  She climbed onto his lap, straddling him so she could wipe away a tear he hadn’t known was on his cheek. “You are not a monster.” She put a hand on his chest. “You are the man, and bear, I love.” She let out a shaky breath. “I wish I was a dire bear so I could have protected you. What did they do to make you do that?”

  “Why aren’t you asking why I never told you? You shouldn’t have grown up with a murderer. I should have turned myself in.”

  She shook her head. “You were a child. Besides, you didn’t do it. Also, your parents were shifters, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Then it was a fight between wild animals, and they lost.”

  “But I had a dire bear. It wasn’t a fair fight…”

  She scowled. “I’m sure that didn’t bother them before. Benny, when you came to my house, you were covered in bruises.”

  Benny felt tears fall freely then. It was like something inside him had been waiting for him to feel sympathy for himself. For being a child in an impossible situation. He pulled Harley in against him, wrapping his arms around her tight.