CHAPTER 3

“Tabby? Seriously?” Bunny shook his head and helped her off his bike. “And you’re making fun of my name?”

“At least I can blame my seriously screwed up parents. What’s your excuse?” Tabby nodded at Bunny regally as he held open the door to Noah’s. He’d asked Anderson to recommend a restaurant in the area and from his enthusiastic endorsement he had decided to give Noah’s a try. He’d made the reservations and requested a nice, private table.

“It’s taken from my last name. It’s a nickname.”

“It’s a sucky nickname for a shifter to have,” she muttered softly. “Bunny. Geez. Might as well call you Food.” She shuddered delicately as they waited for the hostess to seat them. “Who came up with that anyway? And why didn’t you tell me to wear pants?”

Bunny grinned, knowing it looked predatory. “I enjoyed it.” She’d ridden on the back of his bike, those long sleek legs of hers bared almost to the point of indecency. The heat of her had been intoxicating.

Tabby rolled her eyes and followed behind the hostess. “Are you sure you aren’t a Wolf?”

Bunny began singing “Little Red Riding Hood” under his breath, that deep, gravelly voice sending shivers down her spine. But when he reached the point about being everything a big, bad wolf could want, Tabby had to stop

for a moment. She shook her head at him, amusement lighting her face. “Don’t you mean big, bad Bear?”

Bunny held out her chair, a wolfish grin on his face. She allowed him to seat her, shaking her head. Lime green strands drifted across her face. And damn, what a face. She had the exotic good looks of a woman who had some Mediterranean blood somewhere in her gene pool. She was golden-skinned and full-lipped, with big brown eyes and lashes a mile long that perfectly framed a strong nose and determined chin. She wasn’t classically beautiful, especially with her hair the way it was, but Bunny was already hooked. He could almost taste her. Like a ripe golden apple, she’d be tart and sweet on his tongue, a craving that would never go away.

This was going to be fun.

“Well? Out with it, Bunny. Who, what, where, why and how badly did you mangle them afterwards?”

He chuckled, trying to hide how uneasy the word mangled made him. She had no idea. “My cousins. I have five of the little shits. Ryan, Chloe, Keith, Heather and Tiffany are all my first cousins. They’re the ones who gave me my nickname.”

“Wow. Your aunt must have been churning them out.”

“Don’t make me order you a bowl of milk.” Bunny didn’t even flinch when Tabby punched him in the arm. She, however, got a very pained look on her face and surreptitiously tried to shake out her hand. “Ryan and Chloe are brother and sister and the children of my dad’s

first cousin, Uncle Steven. Keith, Heather, and Tiffany are my Aunt Stacey’s kids. Aunt Stacey happens to be Uncle Steven’s twin sister.”

“Big family. Must be nice.” She looked sad for a moment then shook her head. He wondered what that was all about. “You have any brothers or sisters?”

“Eric. He’s my younger brother. He thinks, like you do, that Bunny is a stupid-ass nickname. He refuses to call me that. He mostly calls me Alex.” And that meant something to him, that only those closest to him called him Alex. He’d never tell the cousins that, though. They loved the nickname they’d given him and, frankly, he was amused by it.

“Good for him.”

“He also calls me SFB.” “SFB?”

“Shit For Brains.”

She choked on her water. “Seriously?”

He nodded, and waited for her to stop laughing. It took longer than he’d thought it would.

“So? Why Bunny?”

He shrugged. “I hate fighting. They’d try to get me to fight and I’d do my best not to. After a while, they started calling me Bunny because, and I quote, I’m ‘soft, fuzzy and completely harmless’.”

It had taken him years to shrug off the fury that sometimes rode him with vicious spurs. Meditation, yoga, even avoiding certain foods helped him keep control of the

anger that had been his bane as a teenager. Now he wore the nickname Bunny as a badge of honor, a way to remind himself of where he’d been and was now headed.

That direction now included the woman toying with her water glass across from him. He couldn’t wait to get started.

“So, what do you do for a living?” Tabby took a bite of her twelve-ounce steak and moaned. Bunny damn near came in his jeans at the sound. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her mouth. “What?”

“Nothing.” Bunny took a bite of his own seafood alfredo. “This is good. Remind me to thank Gabe.”

“So. What do you do for a living, Bunny?”

Bunny swallowed another bite of alfredo. “I’m a landscape architect.”

She stared at him. He waited for the question most people asked him. “What’s the difference between a landscaper and a landscape architect?”

“It means I have a Bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. I’ve worked in a corporate environment for years designing landscapes, both soft and hard. I understand the horticulture of the area I work in, and what laws need to be followed where. I design for people who have pools, need stonework, or want their landscape graded but have to deal with county restrictions on water drainage. I design structures to code, and help them deal with regulatory boards. In other words, I’m fully licensed

and accredited in the state of Oregon, and I’m usually in a suit.”

His mate stared at him like he’d grown a second head.

Finally Tabby gulped. “Is that Bunsun with an ‘e’ or a ‘u’?”

He smiled. He was surprised. She didn’t look like someone who would have dealings with corporate landscaping. Maybe she had a relative working for him? They had branches all over the United States, and he’d pegged her accent as Deep South right from the beginning. “U. My parents are Will and Barbra Bunsun.”

“Holy hell.” Tabby sat back and stared at him. “I thought your name sounded familiar.”

Bunny held up his hand. “Before we go too far, I live off my wages, not my dad.” He put his hand down. He’d been thinking about this for a while. “And not even that right now. I’ve decided I don’t want to do corporate anymore. I want to start working residential.”

Tabby stared at Bunny in shock. “Bunsun Exteriors. Damn. Never thought I’d meet one of the Bunsuns this far north.”

“I’m surprised you’ve heard of us.” Most people not in the business didn’t even know who Bunsun Exteriors were. From the sound of her accent, she had to know his name from someplace other than their Oregon branch. They had some southeastern branches, but they were small. His father was looking at expanding further up the east coast, but it was going to take time.

Tabby’s face closed up tight. “I have an uncle who works for your company.”

Bingo. From her southern accent, she had to be from Georgia, or one of the Carolinas. Maybe Tennessee? All of them had a smallish Bunsun branch, nothing like the corporate offices they had on the west coast. “Dad’s company.” Bunny leaned back, wondering why she’d suddenly gone cold. “Tabby?”

She blew her bangs out of her eyes. “Guess you should know. I’m Outcast.”

Bunny paused. Being Outcast was a serious thing among those who lived in Pride or Pack families. Bears, not being pack-minded, didn’t have nearly the same reaction to that sort of thing. Bears were more into small family groups and, unlike wild bears, the males stuck by their mates. “Mind if I ask why?”

She bit her lip, that small hint of vulnerability waking every protective instinct Bunny had. “I was seeing the son of the Alpha. Micah. He was…sweet, and kind, and liked being around me. The Alpha didn’t approve, he thought I was trouble.” She shrugged. “Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. I liked to dye my hair different colors, I had some trouble in school, and I had a tattoo.”

She had a tattoo? He couldn’t find one on her arms, legs or shoulders. He’d definitely have to explore that later.

“But I never broke anything that belonged to someone else,” she continued, “I never hurt anybody who didn’t throw a punch first, and I never stole anything.”

The fierce way she said that last had Bunny growling. “You got Outcast for stealing?”

She winced. “Yes.”

Bunny was already shaking his head. “You’re not a thief.”

Her eyes went wide. “You believe me?” “Yes.”

Her hands covered her mouth, those brown eyes of hers filling with tears. “Oh, God. How can you believe me? You don’t even know me.”

Bunny covered her hand with his. “I just do.” Not that it would matter if she had. She was his mate. He’d tell her the sky was orange if it would make her smile. “Tell me what happened.” Maybe he could find out what had happened and clear her name for her.

Tabby took a sip of her water. Her hand was visibly shaking. “Um, I was seeing Micah, like I said. Well, he asked me to come over to his house when his parents were out. I did, and we wound up in his room. His parents came home before we got too far, though, so I tried to sneak out of the house. Of course, the Alpha caught me trying to leave, but instead of asking me what I was doing there, he assumed I was there to rob the place.”

“What?” Bunny was outraged. How could an Alpha make assumptions like that? Where had the Omega been during all of this?

She nodded. “He was fed up with me. So he gathered the Pack and asked if anyone would speak for me.” She

swallowed hard enough for Bunny to see, and she wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Not even my parents would.”

“What about your lover?” And didn’t it just bite his ass to say that?

She laughed. “Are you kidding? Micah couldn’t stand up to his father. The Alpha was furious, I mean scary angry, and if Micah had tried to defy him I don’t know what would have happened to him.” She rubbed at her wrist. Bunny wondered if she was remembering a bruise there, or some other damage.

“So he declared you a thief and threw you from the Pack.” Bunny could feel the rage building under his skin. “How old were you?”

“Fifteen.”

“Fifteen?” Bunny could feel his chest rumbling. He held back his roar of outrage with difficulty. Some Alpha bastard needed to die painfully. He controlled his Bear with difficulty. “How did you live?”

“I ran mostly in Wolf form, lived off the land, avoided everyone and everything, for fear they’d be able to tell what I was. I wound up in Mrs. Anderson’s backyard about six months ago, and I’ve been here ever since.”

“How old are you now?” Bunny knew he was about to lose it. That Alpha had thrown an innocent child out into the woods, no Pack or family to protect her.

“I’m twenty-three.”

He felt his eyes turn brown. Bunny stood and walked away, knowing he was inches away from shifting. Eight

years. Eight years she’d been without protection, alone and hungry and afraid. He could feel his Bear shifting beneath his skin and knew that if he listened to her story for one more minute, he’d be asking her the name of her Alpha. If he knew the name of her Alpha, there would be a Pack looking for a new one. He’d be on his bike and heading for Georgia to maul the son of a bitch.

He walked out into the cool spring air and took some deep breaths, hoping with everything in him that he’d be able to calm himself before he did something stupid. Because Bunny wanted to kill for her, and until he got that side of himself under control, he couldn’t go back into the restaurant.

Tabby would have enough to deal with when she found out exactly what he was capable of.

Tabby watched Bunny stalk out of the restaurant, leaving her alone at the table. Totally humiliated, she waited for the waiter to come and give her the check. She hoped she had enough credit to cover the cost.

How could she expect anyone to understand what it was like to be unjustly Outcast? She was lucky the Pumas had taken her in. At least she hadn’t made the mistake of going to the Poconos Alpha. If her own mate reacted like this, she could just imagine what the Pack Alpha would have been like.

A warm hand covered hers. “Tabby?”

She stared at Bunny, his image wavering before her, and only then realized that she was crying. “I’m sorry.” And she should be. She was an Outcast. Someone no one wanted to be near.

Who had she been kidding? Bunny could go his merry way now. Outcasts had no place in their society. She hadn’t even bothered trying to make her way back into a Pack. As far as he knew, she really was everything her old Alpha had accused her of being.

“Shit.” Bunny crouched next to her, his expression full of sincere regret. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry, Tabby. I didn’t think about how you’d take me walking away.” A soft kiss landed on the top of her head. “Do me one favor.”

“What?” She sniffed.

“No matter how many times I ask, don’t ever tell me the name of your ex-Alpha.”

“Why not?” Her Wolf snapped to attention as his hazel eyes bled slowly to dark brown. A predator looked out at her through them. He looked lethal, ready to take out the world if she asked him to. It was strange to see that look in the eyes of a Bear. She’d thought Bears were more like her friend Julian, soft and sweet with a quirky humor, but Alex’s eyes were those of a hunter. Maybe they were only that predatory where a mate was concerned? “Oh. That’s why.” She knew her mouth was trembling. Hell, all of her was trembling. No one had stood up for her in years, other than Cyn, Glory, Julian and Gabe.

She darted a glance at Bunny and caught him smiling at her. He was still stroking her fingers, sending tingles down her spine. His heat and scent surrounded her, his eyes still a deep chocolate brown. God, she actually felt safe. How the hell had that happened? She hadn’t felt truly safe since the day her parents and her Pack turned their backs on her.

“Is everything all right?”

She looked up to find the waiter standing by their table, a concerned look on his face. “Everything’s fine.” She pulled a tissue from her purse and wiped her eyes.

“Can we have a moment? I think we’re going to have dessert and coffee. The tiramisu looks really good.” Bunny took a seat next to her, scooting his chair closer, angling his body in between hers and the waiter’s.

Big goof. From the look on his face, he wasn’t about to let anyone near her he didn’t approve of personally. It was sweet, in a caveman sort of way, but could be a real pain in the ass if he chose to act that way at LA. She could feel her lips curving up in a smile at the protective gesture. She cleared the last of the tears from her throat. “I’m thinking of the French silk pie.”

“Two coffees?” The waiter left to fetch their desserts after they nodded, leaving them alone.

He stroked her fingers, refusing to let go of her hand. His eyes turned back to the warm hazel they’d been before she began discussing her Outcasting. “Did you really live in the woods all those years?”

“Yes. If it wasn’t for Gabe and his grandmother, I’d still be living out there.” Or dead. But she wouldn’t say that in front of the increasingly growly Bunny. His chest was actually rumbling.

“Where are you from originally?” The question was innocent, but Bunny’s expression was anything but. In the dim lighting, she couldn’t quite see the color of his eyes, but she thought they might have darkened just a hair.

She decided it couldn’t hurt to answer in a roundabout way. “Georgia.”

“Near Marietta?”

She shot him a look. No way was she confirming that he was right. Besides, she’d probably given it away when she mentioned her uncle worked for his father.

Bunny sighed. “Is there any way for you to join a local Pack?”

“The closest sanctioned Pack is in the Poconos, about two hours away.”

Bunny smiled sweetly as the waiter set the deserts on the table and left. “Ah. So, whereabouts in Marietta is your Pack, anyway?”

Tabby decided to try a little soothing of her own. She reached up and patted Bunny’s cheek. “Down, Baloo.” Bunny looked startled. “For a Bear, you’re awfully growly.” Tabby shook her head before taking a bite of her pie. Mmm, chocolate. Screw that whole “chocolate isn’t good for canines” shit. After what she’d just gone through, she needed her fix.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. I know a Bear or two, and I thought most of you were pretty laid back.”

Bunny scowled. “And you think I’m not laid back?”

Tabby tried to hide her growing grin behind her coffee mug, but knew she’d failed when Bunny just shook his head.

They left the restaurant in total accord. Bunny helped Tabby onto the bike and climbed on after her, careful not to jar her. “Want to head to my place?” He had every intention of claiming her tonight, but had no desire to do so in her tiny apartment with her roommates down the hall. He took a deep breath. He longed for the scent of his mate to fill all the empty places inside him.

Instead, he caught the scent of something else, something terrible. “Chloe?” And blood. Lots of blood.

“Chloe? What about Chloe?”

“Tabby?” The scent was stronger now, the breeze bringing him his cousin’s pain. He handed Tabby a helmet, the need to move, to protect his little cousin gripping him with steel hands.

“What?” She shoved the helmet on and wrapped her hands around his waist.

“I need you to hold on.” He started the bike, roaring out of Noah’s parking lot. He ignored Tabby’s squawk of surprise, concentrating only on getting to Chloe.

He turned the corner and found an ambulance, lights flashing in the darkness. They illuminated the body of his little cousin sprawled on the street, her red hair mingling with the blood under her, around her. The paramedics bent over her body worked frantically to save her.

“Sir!”

He was off the bike and charging for the scene before anyone could stop him. Chloe was hurt. Chloe needed him. Ryan was going to freak if anything happened to his baby sister. He needed to call Ryan…

Oh fuck. She looked dead. There was a stranger bent over her, obviously not a paramedic. The man had long, dark hair bound in a braid, but that was all Bunny allowed himself to see. “Chloe?” If he could just touch her, he might be able to help heal her.

One of the paramedics stared at him with sympathy in his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly.

Someone was tugging on the stranger’s arm. “Sir, you need to step back and allow us to do our job.”

“I’m a nurse,” the man growled, deep, bass, primal. It went straight for Bunny’s gut. The man was a Bear like him.

He trusted another Bear a hell of a lot more than he trusted a human paramedic. “How is she?”

The man pushed Chloe’s light jacket aside, baring her shoulders. “She’ll live.”

The weary pain in the other Bear’s voice was a dagger in his gut. “Live how?”