Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Misty

When the pounding had started, I knew it was trouble. I rushed Cricket to the fire escape after I made sure the coast was clear. My brave daughter, unfortunately, knew the drill. Her father’s sleuth came around every once in a while to try to get me to turn her over. If Adelaide were here, I wouldn’t be taking it this far. The bears didn’t like her, I suppose, having a human woman break the big bad bear’s arm when he tried to grab Cricket that first time had made them wary. Nobody would have expected the five-foot-four blonde bombshell to know how to fight back, and she used that to her advantage. Ever since then, Tanner has talked a big game when she was around and harassed us, but never made a move. The thing was, he wasn’t entirely wrong; my daughter needed people like her. Just not these ones.

I was trying to wait it out, hoping they would just walk away, not getting anywhere, but then the banging turned into the type that would eventually break the door down. Now, that, I couldn’t have. I took a deep breath and glanced out the window, where Cricket waited, ready to bolt up to Mrs. Gonzalez's apartment. These bears wouldn’t mess with her, but I didn’t know why.

I, however, didn’t want any trouble with my landlady and boss, so I made my way to the door. “Go the fuck away, Tanner, you have no right to her. I’m her mother,” I spat out.

“That's where you're wrong, and you know it. She needs the sleuth,” Tanner shot back.

I let out a huff. Not in a million years would MY daughter need the likes of them. “Over my dead fucking body will she go anywhere near the likes of you assholes, now fuck off!” I insisted from the other side of the door, taking a glance out the peep hole. One man, that's all he brought with him, he had to bring Butch. The man that eyed Adelaide like a piece of meat he’d like to try. My blood boiled.

“That can be arranged. I tried to be nice about this, Misty,” he said, and the pounding was replaced by the sound of a body ramming into the door. Fuck… now I began to panic, they never got this bold when Adelaide was with us.

“I swear to whatever the fuck is out there if you break my motherfucking door, I’ll castrate you!” I threatened. It was what I wished I could do, but we all knew that my threats were pointless. What could a human woman do against a few bears? Go down fighting, that's what, I decided as the door shook again and rage overtook my fear. I would do whatever it took to get Cricket the time she needed to make it up to the next floor. I grabbed my brother’s old baseball bat that leaned next to the door. I kept it around to honor his memory, imagining I was him ready to knock one out of the park. I was poised to send these bears back to their makers.

The door splintered and a hand reached inside towards the knob. I wacked it with all I was worth, and the arm pulled back through the hole with a groan and a curse. Another blow to the door and it caved in at the hinges. The sounds of shuffling and curses. A scream, the door fell through with the weight of a body and I put my entire weight into a blow.

“Shit,” a hoarse gravely voice exclaimed as I went in for another blow to the enemy. The bat was caught in mid air.

“I’m not your enemy, woman,” the man huffed out, yanking the bat from my grip. I stared down at the behemoth of a man with piercing silver eyes and salt and pepper hair, who rose to his massive height. He had to be at the least 6 foot 4. I was fucked. The man chucked the bat on the sofa as I staggered back. He rubbed his shoulder giving me his back as he looked out into the now empty hall.

“Pussies,” he grumbled under his breath before turning back to me. “I’m Beck,” he said, rubbing his shoulder that I had made contact with. “I’m a friend of Adelaide’s”. And just like that my heart sunk. If he was here something had to be wrong.

“Is she okay? Did he find her? Where is she? She was almost to where she was headed, the other day,” I rambled out, my greatest fears for my friend running through my mind. All scenarios were terrifying.

“Nothing like that, as far as I know, she made it. I’ve just been keeping an eye on you because she was worried that if the asshat connected you to her, he would come looking. Good thing I was around. Who were those two anyway?”

I breathed in a sigh of relief. Adelaide was okay. This was the guy she told me about, I realized, taking in the biker jacket and boots. She trusted him, but could I?

“You're the guy that got her out?” I asked.

“Yeah, that's me,” he said, staring at something beyond me. The sound of the window pushing open had me spinning to look as Cricket climbed inside.

Shit shit shit!

My head swivelled to his as his nostrils flared, and I moved to put myself between him and my daughter. He was one of them, I could tell by the way he carried himself, he would have to get through me first.

“Easy firecracker,” he said, as if coaxing a scared animal about to strike. I suppose when it came to my daughter, I could be just that, an animal, just like them if need be. “I know what you're thinking, I’m not like those guys,” he said, pointing to the broken door and the hallway. “I’ve spent almost two decades helping women like your friend. The only thing I want from you is,” he paused, glancing at Cricket, before he chose his words carefully for young ears. “Some help taking care of the man who wronged her,” he said, pausing to gauge my reaction.

When Cricket’s father’s brother found out recently that Cricket bore a bear, it hadn’t surfaced yet, but she had the signs: the hearing, eyesight, and strength beyond her size. He had become obsessed with not only getting his hands on her but also me. Seems a human female with just the right makeup could still produce shifters even if only half of their kid’s DNA was animal-bearing. I was a diamond in the rough, and Cricket was a rare female bear. Something coveted and highly sought after, like a prize. My ex’s sleuth would sell her to the highest bidder and force me on my back to make them more.

How did I know, outside of his chivalry with Adelaide, that I could trust him with this? I didn’t, but like humans, there was the good, the bad, and the ugly. He had been Adelaide’s savior, that in and of itself had to account for something, not to mention scaring off my problem. He was here to protect me from Creedon but he had seen other trouble coming and stepped in. I glanced at him again. Tall, broad of shoulder, tattoos, and a visible scar across his cheek