Tina
As soon as I hang up the phone, I realize the cops aren’t going to be able to help me. I can hear the sirens in the background and know they’re on the way, but Chester is a shifter. I know Landon thinks he can handle it, but he doesn’t understand what happens when someone can literally change their body into that of a huge animal.
I’ve seen Chester shift.
I’ve touched him in shifter form.
He’s huge, and beautiful, and terrifying.
The thought of Chester taking my child makes me sick to my stomach and I feel like I might throw up, but even worse is the idea that Chester might hurt him. What if Landon gets there and Chester hurts Blake just to prove a point? What if he hurts Landon, too? What if this all ends and I’m left with nothing, with no one?
What will I do then?
I grab Fawn’s arm as she walks by.
“I’m so sorry,” she says again, shaking. Tears are streaming down her face.
“You didn’t know,” I say for the millionth time, trying to keep it together. I’m devastated, but I can’t really blame Fawn. She did her best, and she didn’t know Chester wasn’t supposed to be able to get to Blake. Honestly, the thought that he might try to take my son never even crossed my mind, so I didn’t specify that when I signed Blake up for daycare.
I should have told every damn daycare employee that my son was only allowed to be picked up by me, but I didn’t.
I screwed up.
I messed up royally and now a monster has my baby and my boyfriend.
“Listen,” I tell Fawn. “When the police arrive, tell them to go to the Riverdale Apartments complex, okay?”
“Why?” Fawn asks, eyes wide and blinking. “Why can’t you?”
“Because I have to go save my baby, Fawn. Just do it.”
I turn then and walk away. Aside from Fawn, no one seems to notice I’m leaving the area. I shouldn’t be going. I’m supposed to wait for the police. They’ll want me to give a formal report of what happened and file paperwork and give a statement, but I don’t have time for that.
When it comes to my son, every second counts, and I’m not waiting another one.
I get in my car and head straight for the apartments where Chester lives. The asshole moved into a cheap, dingy place that isn’t fit for rats: much less people. I don’t know why he picked such a terrible place to live. He’s got a job. He should be able to afford a real house or at least a livable apartment. Then again, maybe this is part of his ploy to get me to give him money.
Anyone will assume that someone living at Riverdale doesn’t have any money and needs financial help. Is this part of his plan to get the judge to rule in his favor?
I scream as I drive, and I hit the steering wheel out of pure frustration.
“Please,” I whisper. “Please let Blake be okay.”
Just before my stomach gets the best of me, I arrive at Riverdale and park my car. I get out of the vehicle and look around. Which apartment is Chester in? I know he lives on the first floor, but which room?
I don’t have to wait long because I hear a growl.
I hear a loud, terrifying growl, and I know it’s not Chester.
Jaguars don’t sound like that.
Bears sound like that.
“There’s another shifter here,” I whisper, looking around, and I get even more scared for my son. Where the hell is Blake? Is my baby okay?
“Tina!” A familiar voice calls my name and I turn to see Joyce running across the parking lot. How the hell does she run so gracefully in those damn heels?
“Where are they?” I ask. I know my face is red and my nose is snotty from all the crying and screaming I did on the way over. “Where’s my baby, Joyce?”
“I think Landon found him,” she whispers. A man appears beside her: one of Landon’s colleagues. Lyon, I think.
“Oh, he found him.”
We turn toward the sound of the growling.
“My baby,” I whisper, and take a step toward the building, but I needn’t have bothered. Just then, we hear a loud crash and the sound of wood splintering and breaking. Two animals come barreling out of the side of the building, completely destroying the wall. They both appear to be uninjured and unharmed, totally ignoring the way they just tumbled out of the apartment building.
One of the creatures is obviously Chester. The jet-black fur is a dead giveaway. Even though he’s completely evil, completely terrible, it doesn’t take away from the fact that as a shifter, he’s beautiful.
The other is a bear who is far more beautiful than Chester. He’s far fiercer. He’s much bigger.
And I know without a doubt in my soul that the bear is Landon.
It has to be.
“Landon is a shifter?” I whisper, not quite understanding what’s happening.
“I’m surprised he didn’t tell you sooner,” Joyce says. “I knew you’d be able to handle it.”
“Maybe he was scared of rejection,” Lyon pipes up, but I ignore them both and watch the way Landon and Chester are fighting in the parking lot. Chester growls and scratches at Landon, but Landon barely seems to notice. He’s got size on his side, and strength, and after some tumbling and growling, he quickly pins Chester to the ground.
It doesn’t take long at all.
“Aw,” Casa appears next to me. “That fight was over before it even started. Not fair. I was hoping for some fun. I at least wanted time to get popcorn while we watched the fight.”
I hear a cooing and turn to see Blake in his arms.
“My baby!” I take Blake from Casa and hold him, smell him, touch him. I count his little fingers and his tiny toes and then I just hold him close to me. “You saved him,” I tell Casa. “Thank you.”
Casa holds perfectly still as I give him a hug. It’s a small gesture, a small offering for everything he’s done for me.
“It was Landon, really,” Casa says, and I turn back to where my bear still has my ex pinned on the parking lot pavement. People from the apartment building have come out to stare. Several people are taking pictures with their cell phones and a few are on the phone, undoubtedly calling the police about a disturbance.
As I watch, Landon finally pulls his eyes from where he has Chester pinned down and he sees me. Our gazes connect across the parking lot, and I realize that I want to spend the rest of my life with Landon.
I want to spend the rest of my life loving this bear.
I want to spend the rest of my life by his side.
And the realization makes my heart sing.