Bear's Claim (Bear Heat Book 3) (7 page)

Ethan turned to Baxter and
gave him the go-ahead to interview the leaders of some of the more
prominent bear clans in the city. “It's just to be thorough.
But I have a feeling you're not going to find the killer among any of
the clans,” Ethan said grimly. He agreed with them that
although all signs pointed to the killer being a bear, the savage
murder wasn't committed by a bear shifter.

“It's not a real bear
either,” Baxter said unhappily. “A real bear would have
gone on a rampage. Things would have been overturned and broken.
But everything was in perfect order.”

Ethan nodded. “What do
you think, Thor?”

“As Bax reported,
nothing has been touched in the house. The killing was precise,
premeditated, calculated and clean. The body was messed up and torn
apart but it wasn't done in a frenzy. In fact, the murder has all
the hallmarks of a Mob execution. Cold and cruel.”

“After the arrest of
Ray Shapez, all the other crime bosses must be real jittery,”
Baxter added. “They'd target C-18 to protect their own skins.”

Ethan put down his pen and
leaned forward. “I think you're right. But we don't know
which gang and which boss ordered the hit. It's like looking for a
needle in a haystack. We've got to catch the killer and the
mastermind fast, before another dead body turns up.”

“I'll try to find out
more about the recent activities underground while Bax goes and
investigates the bear clans,” Thor said. “I might be
able to get a lead, and a name or two.”

“I want to help,”
Baxter said, cracking his knuckles. “I can help you get those
names faster.”

Thor and Ethan chuckled.

“I'm afraid I have to
split you guys up so you can cover more ground. Bax, if you can wrap
up your investigation into the clans quickly, I'll let you join Thor
in his underground work.”

“Yes, Alpha,”
Baxter said sulkily.

“Work fast. Get what
you need and get out, understood?” Ethan said, fixing his gaze
on Thor.

Thor and Baxter stood. “Yes,
Alpha.”

As they left Ethan's office,
Baxter clapped Thor on his shoulder and said, “Good luck, man.
Don't have too much fun without me.”

“It's never fun without
you,” Thor deadpanned.

“Aww, you're just
saying that.”

They bumped fists before
Baxter turned to tease Ethan's very chatty secretary, Tabitha.
Tabitha was just about to knock off. She took the day shift, while
Olga, a stern, fifty-something human woman, was Ethan's night
secretary.

He heard Tabitha giggle as
Baxter fired off a joke and a compliment. Thor had a feeling Baxter
wanted to find out something about someone from Tabitha. Thor left
them to it and strode out of the office building.

He rubbed his chest absently.
His bear had been restless and angry the whole day. His beast had
quietened down a bit when he was working the murder case, but now his
bear refused to back down.

Thor got into his car and
peeled out of the parking lot.

His bear was right. He had
to see her.

He didn't know what he would
say when he saw her. He just knew he had to get to her.

It was late afternoon, almost
evening. Aubrey should still be in the hospital. Her shifts were
long but she seldom worked the night shift. He'd heard her mention
that in passing to one of his clan members. He hoped to catch her
before she knocked off. Maybe he could drive her home. Or...ask her
out. Have dinner with her.

He shouldn't have left
without a word. She wasn't a one night stand. She was so special
and amazing. And he was a jerk. He didn't deserve her, but she
didn't deserve to be treated like dirt. He had to make it up to her.
She was too good for him, but perhaps he could be...her friend.

His bear growled. He didn't
want to be just a friend—with benefits. She wasn't just
another woman in his life. She was his life. Aubrey...was his
mate
!

Thor inhaled sharply. He had
known that the moment he set eyes on her. But he'd thought that he
could protect her from his dangerous world, from his enemies by
keeping her at arm's length.

He had underestimated the
pull and power of the mate bond.

It was something that
couldn't be ignored, denied or rationalized away.

They were meant for each
other, a part of each other's hearts and souls. He should have held
on fast to her and not push her away.

There were bears who lived
their whole lives without ever finding their true mates. Thor swore
as he floored the pedal. He was a bloody fool not to have claimed
her and made her his.

His muscles throbbed and
pulsed painfully as he sped towards the hospital. His agitated,
furious bear rose and rippled just under the surface of his skin.

A sudden streak of cold,
stark fear lanced his heart.

He thought he heard a cry at
the back of his mind. It sounded too much like Aubrey's voice.

Something had happened to
her.

Thor's claws sliced out and
he almost shredded the leather off his steering wheel.

“Aubrey,” he
growled.

He should never have let her
go.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

“Come out, Michael,”
Dr. Faizel commanded as he held the glass door open.

Aubrey stared in horrified
fascination as Michael stepped out. The man was wearing only a pair
of boxers and he had a metal collar around his neck. A long chain
dangled from his collar.

“This is Michael,”
Dr. Faizel said proudly, like he was showing off his creation. He
yanked Michael forward by the chain. “He's the first
prototype. He's worked well so far, but there are refinements to be
made.”

Michael lifted his bloodshot
eyes to Aubrey. He was a well-built man with a face that had once
been handsome. But now it was covered with fresh cuts and bruises,
and his eyes were filled with regret and loathing.

Aubrey squinted at the poor
man and she felt the instinctive urge to see to his injuries. “How
did you get those cuts? You need to get them cleaned up.” The
nurse in her spoke up. “Michael, how did you hurt yourself?”
she said in a gentle, soothing tone.

Michael merely shook his head
at her. His black hair was short and disheveled, and there were dark
shadows under his eyes. He had been stripped down to his boxers and
chained and collared like an animal. But his eyes were human and
intelligent.

Aubrey turned to Dr. Faizel
and was about to demand that he let the man go when the doctor's
phone chirped shrilly. Dr. Faizel turned away to take the call and
Aubrey could only hear his curt, short replies. “I'll be right
there,” he snapped. He clicked off his phone with a frustrated
grunt and hurriedly locked Michael's chain to the leg of Aubrey's
steel table. Michael had no choice but to crouch at the foot of
Aubrey's metal bed.

“Hey! Hey, where are
you going? You're not leaving us here!” Aubrey yelled after
Dr. Faizel as he walked briskly out of the chamber. She heard his
impatient orders to the mercenaries just as the chamber door closed
leaving Aubrey alone in the chamber with Luke and Michael.

Aubrey peered over the side
of her steel table and whispered, “Michael? Michael, can you
talk to me? Who are you? Were you a patient at the hospital too?
I'm a nurse, and Luke here is my patient. Did Dr. Faizel stick a
needle into you and drag you here? Talk to me. I can help you
escape.” When Michael didn't reply, Aubrey hissed, “You
don't want to be chained here forever, do you?”

“I killed him.”

Aubrey blinked.

“Huh?”

“I killed him,”
Michael repeated, staring straight into Aubrey's bugged eyes.

Aubrey swallowed. “Who...who
did you kill?”

“A good man. My boss.
He would have been my boss,” Michael said hoarsely.

Aubrey gulped and took a
deep, steadying breath. “Can you...tell me why you killed him?
And why are you here? How did you…?”

“Kill him?”
Michael cut in. “I ate him.”

“Ha. Ha. Not funny.”
She stared at him for a few painful heartbeats. “Shit.
You're not joking,” she muttered.

Aubrey whimpered and tried to
inch away when Michael pulled himself up and knelt at the side of her
table. “Has he given you the injection?” Michael's eyes
bore into hers as he growled out the question.

Aubrey shook her head. “No,”
she squeaked. “Not me. Him.” She swiveled her eyes
towards Luke, who was moaning on the other table. “Dr. Faizel
injected Luke with some drug that made him appear dead. Then he
brought him back to life again with another jab.”

Michael stared at Luke. “You
have to get him out of here. Don't let him become like me.”

“You?”

“I'm a killer,”
Michael stated. She heard the rancor, shame and bitterness in his
voice. “A weapon. A monster.”

Despite her fear, Aubrey
wiggled her fingers from under the metal restraints and managed to
touch Michael's shoulder. “You're not a monster,” she
said softly. “You're a kind, good man. I can see it in your
eyes.”

Michael's laugh was a harsh,
grating sound. “You haven't seen me when I'm in my other
form.”

“What other form?”

“Dr. Faizel injected
something into my blood, something that makes me change
uncontrollably into a beast, a monster.”

“Oh God...”

“He's going to do the
same to your friend there. You have to get him out before he is
Changed.”

Aubrey raised her head and
stared at Michael's cut, wounded face. “We'll all escape,”
she said. “We'll help each other. You'll come with us.”

He gave her a brief, sad
smile. “It's too late for me. But I'll use what little time I
have left to help you.”

“No, it's not too
late,” Aubrey said fiercely. “It's never too late.
You're a good man...”

“I'm a murderer,”
he reminded her. “I...”

“I know. You ate him.
But tell me something, Michael. Did you want to eat him?”

“No. God, no.”
Michael closed his eyes, looking sickened. He clutched the sides of
his head and doubled over. “No...no!” he roared, and
when he threw back his head, Aubrey saw that his eyes had turned
yellow and feral, and there were sharp, lethal claws glinting from
the tips of his fingers.

She made a strangled sound
but she couldn't look away. The man was changing before her eyes,
but he didn't shift fully into an animal. He was no shifter, she
could see that.

His change was tortured and
messy. He clawed at his own skin as he changed, and she saw
pinpricks of blood on his skin as tufts of fur pushed out from his
smooth human skin.

“Michael,” she
whispered fearfully. “Please...”

He turned towards her,
panting and snarling. She held his gaze unflinchingly until his eyes
stopped glowing and as he blinked, the fur receded from his body and
his claws retracted slowly.

Michael crouched before her,
shivering and bleeding.

“I told you,” he
said in a raw, ragged voice. “I am...”

“You're not a monster.”

Aubrey stared at the top of
his bowed head for a long time. “You are not a monster,
Michael,” she repeated quietly.

He looked up at her and
snarled, “How can you say that? I killed...my friend! I tore
open his body, and I ate his organs. That voice—that voice in
my head, Dr. Faizel's voice, kept commanding me but I just couldn't
swallow Walter's flesh and organs.”

Aubrey winced. “Oh,
Michael...what has Dr. Faizel done to you?”

“It's not the doctor.
Someone else is behind this. Dr. Faizel is working for Alberto
Birns,” Michael spat.

Aubrey furrowed her brows.
“He did mention that name, but I have no idea who Alberto Birns
is,” Aubrey said, glad that her voice sounded steady, not
hysterical.

“Alberto Birns is a Mob
boss. He's the boss of the second largest crime gang in the city.
He's always wanted to be the biggest, most powerful Boss, the Boss of
the bosses.” Michael rattled off the information with a
faraway look in his eyes.

“How...do you know so
much about the Mob? Are you a gang member?” Aubrey gulped,
wondering if she had a violent mobster crouching just inches from
her.

“No.” Michael
smiled. For the first time, she saw the light return to his deadened
eyes. “I was a cop. I was to be Walter's deputy, help him
fight organized crime and clean up the city. It was my job to know
who's who in the underground world. But now...” He turned
away from her.

“I deserve to die for
what I did.” His voice was soft but firm. “I can't live
with myself, but...I don't want to die a monster.”

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Thor ran from the hospital
car park straight through the main entrance and into the lobby. He
skidded to the reception counter and said, “Where can I find
Aubrey Williams?”