Chapter 25
LvrBoo: I’ve got a good one: Best cuddlers in the changeling world?
H2Imhot: Snakes. Tangle all around you silky and smooth and strong. You haven’t been cuddled until you’ve been cuddled by an anaconda.
4cubs: Um, H2Imhot, different strokes but yikes! Isn’t that how they kill their prey? Anyway, my vote is for tigers. They’re so prowly and that fur . . . mmm.
BB: Bears! Of course the answer is bears! Why is this even a conversation?!
—Forum of Wild Woman magazine
ONCE HE GOT the engine running, Yakov made the mistake of turning on the radio—right as the reporter made an announcement about the killer they were now calling “the Moscow Ripper.”
Wow, real original.
“That’s another reason I want you safe and secure,” he said after the bulletin was complete. “Blond hair, blue eyes, Psy, you fit the victim profile of the murderer stalking the city.”
“I’ll be careful, though if the newscast is correct and the Ripper stalks their victims for days prior to attacking, I’m unlikely to be a target—I haven’t been in the city long enough.” Theo yawned on the last word. “I don’t know why I’m so exhausted.”
Yakov wondered how she didn’t see it—she’d taken emotional blow after emotional blow today. He wouldn’t be surprised if she fell asleep in the car.
As it was, she was barely keeping her eyes open by the time he got them to the apartment. Grabbing her suitcase from the back of his vehicle after parking in the secure underground lot, he ushered her into the elevator operated by either a keycard assigned by building management or by an override code that Yakov was in charge of updating every month.
Because while StoneWater only used one of these apartments, they owned the entire building—and it wasn’t their only property in the city. One of Valya’s early business ideas that had taken off in serious fashion. Buy neglected properties with good bones, use clan labor and smarts to fix and polish them up to the highest specs, then flip them or hold them as long-term investments.
StoneWater properties were now some of the hottest on the market. Because bears knew how to build—and how to create homes that glowed with a sense of welcome. A few beers with friends on a lazy night in the den and Valya would proclaim himself a property mogul—but he only ever kept a straight face for about ten seconds.
Then that big, generous laugh of his would fill the air, making everyone grin.
Valya might find the idea of himself as a mogul amusing, but their entire clan knew their alpha’s foresight meant a more secure future for their cubs. He wondered what Theo would think of the bear Yakov loved as a friend and respected as an alpha. But that was a question for another day.
Today, he ushered her into their apartment as fast as possible.
“Bedroom,” he said, putting her case beside the sprawling bear-sized bed. “Bathroom and toilet are the next doors down. I’ll take the couch.”
Theo stared at the creamy white of the embroidered duvet that sat fluffy and warm atop a neatly made bed. Below that were cream sheets, but the assemblage of pillows provided bright pops of autumnal color.
“There is a large number of pillows.” Theo’s tone was painfully polite, but at least the pillow mountain had shocked her out of her numb state.
“Honest truth,” he said, starting to throw the pillows over his shoulder and off the bed, “I don’t get it, either. But interior décor is Chimeg’s bailiwick and I’m not a stupid bear. I don’t ask any questions.” Was he ever going to get to the end of this pile? “Submissive, my furry ass,” he muttered. “She’s about as submissive as a feral squirrel. Those things look small and cute but they can claw your face off.”
He’d wanted to make Theo laugh with his description of his short-tempered clanmate, but the woman who ordinarily shimmered with contained energy just stood there without moving.
Until at last, she said, “Yasha . . . will you stay? I’m so cold.” A shiver rippled through her.
Yakov didn’t need to think of his answer. “Of course, pchelka moya.” Tenderness burned a fierce and wild need inside him. “Can you stay awake long enough to change into more comfortable clothes? I’ll go do the same.”
When she nodded, he went to hunt out the stash of spare clothes; such emergency wardrobes were a necessity in a race that occasionally destroyed their clothing with an inopportune shift. He found a pair of washed and folded sweatpants that would fit, as well as an old but clean T-shirt. When he heard Theo moving to the bathroom, he busied himself with other tasks so she wouldn’t feel rushed.
But she was back in the bedroom quickly, and then he heard the sound of the mattress being compressed. Leaving his jeans and other clothing on the sofa after quickly getting into the sweatpants and tee, he padded barefoot to the bedroom to find her in bed, curled up on her side. She’d put her hair in a braid and had the sheets pulled up to her chin.
A shiver racked her frame once again even though the apartment was at a more-than-comfortable temperature.
Muting the lights to almost but not quite full dark, Yakov strode to the bed and got in behind her. She didn’t resist when he tucked her against him, her body fitting perfectly into the curve of his own and the vulnerable slope of her nape bare to him.
His bear nuzzled gently at her as, the vanilla scent of her shampoo in his nose, he held her tight until she fell into a deep sleep. Only then did he turn off the lights. But he stayed awake far longer, listening to the rise and fall of her breath, this woman who’d destroyed all his doubts about who she was by telling him the worst of her secrets.
He believed her.
Every fucking word.
What Theo had told him could damage not only her but the twin she loved. It had been an act of desperation rather than of trust . . . but this, tonight, her so vulnerable in his arms, this was trust. “Sleep, milaya moya. I’ll keep you safe.”
But when he came awake in the dead of night, his heart pounding and perspiration sticking his T-shirt to his back, it was with the haunting certainty that he couldn’t keep her safe. That Theo was destined to die, her blood soaking her hands as he screamed, helpless and frozen.
He squeezed his eyes shut, buried his face against the warmth of Theo’s nape, and said, “Fuck that,” under his breath as a gentle rain pattered against the windows. It didn’t matter how many times that nightmare vision tried to convince him of failure, he wasn’t about to buy into it.
No one was going to take Theo from him.
A vow that came from the primal heart of the bear within.