Chapter Eight

Tom growled inwardly, looking over the car that Nick had finished up while he showered.

Nick chuckled. “You can only look at my handiwork so hard before you finally admit that you’re just trying to avoid the poor girl.”

“You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Tom warned, glaring at his older brother.

Nick said nothing more, but shot back a sly grin.

“Oh, don’t start,” Tom snapped. “I’m not avoiding her. I’m not avoiding anyone. I’m just making sure you didn’t make more work for me for when I get back to the shop. That’s it.”

“Ah, and I suppose if you accidently get covered in more oil, you won’t conveniently have to take another shower,” Nick teased lightly. Tom shot him another glare and he held up his hands in a placating gesture.

If Tom was honest with himself, Nick was totally right. The heat that ignited in his final shared gaze with Savannah before he’d left was intense, immediate, and he wanted nothing more than to share another moment like that with her as soon as possible. His bear demanded it. The lack of control he was having over his emotions and urges shook him to his very core. As a human he knew she was a stranger, so his fierce attraction to her despite that clashed with the person he was at his very core. He didn’t know himself anymore. He was lost with her here and he didn’t know how to fix it.

He’d tried reading her, but she was so versatile. Her behavior in the office had been the polar opposite to the timid girl that struggled to keep from quaking at the very sight of him just the day before. She radiated confidence, sass, and a promise of something more dangerous. Everything he and his bear could ever want. What changed? Was it because she’d seen his bear? Did she feel closer to him for having seen all of him? Did he feel any different towards her after seeing her bear? He couldn’t tell. He only knew that he found Savannah Danvers beautiful as both human and bear.

Tom’s bear gave an approving growl, the feel of it rumbling deep in his chest, but he waved it away. Beauty aside, he’d only known her for one day. He and Nick were still licking their wounds from Lucas’s attack only a few weeks prior, and Dan was still recovering from near death in the shop’s back lounge. They couldn’t afford to take risks for Savannah right now. This was one of the times where he absolutely could not think with his bear. Its instinct lacked a logic that could very well get them killed.

“Hello?” Nick called, waving a hand in front of Tom’s face. “Earth to Tom?”

“Sorry,” Tom mumbled. “I got a little distracted there.”

“With?”

Tom shrugged. “Life, mostly.”

“Uh-huh,” Nick replied, one eyebrow cocked inquisitively. “Life, eh?”

“Nick,” Tom warned, but his brother was already waving him away.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but you really ought to get going,” he chided. “It’s one thing to try and convince everyone that you don’t have feelings for her. It’s another thing to completely ignore her. That’s just rude.”

Tom bristled at Nick’s words and sly grin, knowing that he was right. No matter how much more time he needed, he couldn’t wait around for much longer without it becoming offensive.

With a glare at his brother and a promise to keep his mind strictly on the task at hand, he re-entered the office. “Let’s get this over with.”

***

The trip wasn’t actually as bad as Tom thought it would be. It seemed they both had similar plans of just keeping to their own thoughts most of the time—save for the occasional guidance on what brands to buy, pass on, and bulk purchase—though Tom couldn’t help the occasional sidelong glance in her direction when she wasn’t looking. She really was quite striking.

There was only one blunder—they’d just walked into the office supply store when Savannah flinched, clenching her leg. He went to reach for her almost instinctively, nearly making contact before she stumbled awkwardly backward. It turned out that the splinters from the chair caused some irritation on her calf, but she was in no need of Tom’s help. He made sure to order a new chair as his first order of business, but even as they headed back to the office, he was still smarting from her rejection.

Savannah turned to him slightly as they made their way down the street side. “Thank you, for escorting me. I know you probably think I could have figured all this out on my own, but I really did learn things today. You were a big help.” She averted her gaze. “I know you were probably really against it, so…”

Tom frowned. “I didn’t much mind it, actually.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “Well then, maybe…” Her voice trailed off a bit, and he watched as she physically gathered her resolve. “Look, however well it actually went, I know you didn’t want to take me at first. And that is mostly in part because you don’t trust me.”

She turned to him again, gaze more intense than Tom thought the situation warranted. “But you took me there and helped me out despite that. So I want you to know I appreciate it. Okay?”

Tom swallowed deeply, trying hard not to stare at her cold-blushed cheeks, a bright pink against the dark waves of her hair. She looked so sincere and honest, and in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to tell her that she was wrong and he’d totally learn to trust her easily, but deep down he knew she deserved the truth.

He sighed, a long puff of white breath billowing before him in the cold weather. “My brother and I, we’ve been through a lot of bullshit lately, Savannah. I don’t trust easily.

“What happened?” she asked quickly, eyes inquiring.

He had the feeling that she’d been aching to ask him all along but thought it impolite. As he looked into her wide honey-brown eyes, cheeks flushed from the cold and soft lips pressed together in concern for him, he decided that telling the whole truth just this once would be worth it. He told her about the Northern Wind, the events leading up to Nick confronting them. He left the part about Dan out; she’d likely find out about him soon enough. He’d washed his own dishes again that morning and turned down his pain medication.

As he spoke, he watched as her face shifted from a look of shock, to sadness, and even fear. At the end of his explanation, she was back to concern, and maybe a bit of surprise, though he wasn’t sure why. “That sounds awful,” she whispered. “I’m not surprised that you don’t trust me. I’d act exactly the same way if I were in your shoes.”

“Glad you understand,” he replied, and he meant it. It felt good to finally unleash some of the burden he always had a habit of shouldering alone. Too often he seemed to be the only one worrying or the only one that exercised caution. With Savannah, he finally felt like he didn’t have to face that responsibility alone.

As he took a deep breath, the sudden heady aroma of Savannah’s bear wafted past him. His bear raised its head high sampling the scent with an eager anticipation. When Tom tried to stamp it down, a grown rattled loudly and angrily within him.

Beside him, Savannah shivered, and he could tell it wasn’t from the chill of the air. “You feel it, too?” she asked, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as if she had to physically hold her bear inside.

“Yeah,” Tom replied. “I think they might be tired of being cooped up.” Despite the warning bells, a wicked grin slid over his face. “Hey, wanna go for a run?”

He heard her take a soft, sharp intake of breath. “I, um… Won’t Jo and Nick worry?” she asked. “I don’t want to give a bad impression, especially not on my first day.”

His grin grew. “It’ll be fine. Just a quick run. We’ll be back way before they even think twice about where we could be.”

He saw her ponder internally, but she didn’t take long to say yes. Carefully setting aside their bought supplies, they set off for separate foliage so they could shift in privacy. Tom could barely get his clothes off before his bear sprang from his skin, none too gently. He could tell his beast was tired of being denied its innate wants and desires, everything in his being screaming out for something more with the beautiful bear that strolled out from behind a nearby bush to join him. Her coat was a light brown and her eyes nearly golden, reflecting mischievously in the dusky setting sunlight. She was undeniably breathtaking.

Without warning, she took off full force into the forest. With a happy roar, Tom bolted after her, and for once, he was glad that he didn’t take the time to overthink things.

It wasn’t often that he allowed himself to see so freely.