Page 28 of Bad Blood Bear

Jasmin said from her barstool, “Then I’ll buy her a drink for a job well done.”

She’d grabbed up one of the shirts from the coat hooks by the door and put it on, but her long legs were still bare, twined around the legs of the stool. “The problem is, if she Changed right after he Turned her, and killed him, then that might be what messed up her bear. The both of them could be so traumatized she repressed her bear, and the memories of what she did.”

Fuck it all. He hated to think of Lissa’s bright soul being tainted by that.

Flynn shook his head. “It can’t just be that,” he said.

Tank glared at him, running his fingers through his hair. “Just?” he repeated. “Isn’t that enough?”

“It doesn’t explain the red glow from her bite mark, or the demon eyes,” Sloan pointed out.

“Yeah,” Xander added. “What the fuck was up with that?”

They all looked at Flynn, who glared back at them. “How the hell should I know?” he asked. “Only thing I can think of is somebody used magic on Lissa—or rather, on her bear. What the magic is or what it does, is anybody’s guess. But it’s probably some kind of binding or domination magic.”

Jasmin asked, “What makes you say that?”

Flynn held out his hand. Blue fire danced around it. “Israel Jonas gave me the claim on this territory with that dragon stone he’s got,” he said. “This blue fire is territory magic, like the kind the wolves have. When I tried to extend my protection to her, as alpha of this territory, whatever magic she’s carrying around jumped up and fought it. Like she’s already pledged to someone else.”

“He didn’t just Turn her, he tried to claim her,” Tank reminded him. “Maybe he sealed the claim with some kind of magic, because it wasn’t a true mating.”

And if he had, Tank was going to kill him twice.

“Well, there’s an easy way around that,” Xander said. He’d gotten his knife back in the confusion, and was twirling it between his fingers. He gave a feral smile, and ran the edge of the blade lightly across his own neck. “Death negates a mating claim. Bleed him out.”

Tank turned to Flynn. “Would that do it?” Because he was willing to drive to Arkansas right now and rip the man’s intestines out.

Flynn shook his head. “You’re asking me? I don’t know shit about magic. But you might be right about the purpose of the spell. An ordinary claim wouldn’t react like that—I had half a dozen Silverlake women here a few weeks ago, all of them claimed and pledged to another alpha, and my power didn’t go apeshit on them. Not to mention, that demon-eyes thing is not normal. Fucker did something to her, though I’m damned if I know what.”

“We have to help her,” Tank said. He was feeling desperate inside, and his bear was pacing and snarling. “Her bear’s tearing her up, and if it’s being magically restrained, it really will kill her.”

He couldn’t stand to see Lissa die. She was so brave, so strong. Such a fighter. She had the spirit of a beautiful warrior bear, and it was killing her.

Tank shifted his weight restlessly against the wall, his hands clenching and unclenching. It wasn’t fair. He’d seen too many people die. Lissa didn’t deserve this. He wanted to leave right now to find Brother Damien and rip his limbs off one by one until he undid whatever he’d done.

He was hurting Lissa.

Tank’s fist crunched through the wall before he even realized what he was doing. It felt good, so he did it again and again. Dust and bits of drywall rained down.

Finally he stopped, his muscles feeling limp. There was a huge hole in the wall, and a pile of drywall fragments and dust on the floor.

He glanced at Flynn, ducking his head. “Sorry,” he muttered.

The rest of them were watching him silently. “We’ll fix it later,” Jasmin said.

Tank turned to Flynn. “Can we still keep Lissa here? Even with the magic?” He didn’t know what he’d do if Flynn said no. Maybe take her to Georgia. He couldn’t just abandon her.

Flynn sighed, scrubbing at his hair. “I’m not happy about it, especially if that magic is going to keep her from submitting to my authority as alpha. But I don’t see that we’ve got any choice. She still has a rogue bear inside her she can’t control, and she’s already attacked people. She’s a danger to herself, to humans, and to the shifter community. We either keep her here, or turn her over to the Council.”

Tank snarled at that.

Flynn continued, “Which I agree is a bad idea, until we actually know what she’s done and who she’s killed, if anyone.”

Tank started flexing his fists again. He wanted to bleed someone. Kill something.

“Tank!” Flynn’s voice snapped through the air like a whip crack. “You need to get some air. Why don’t you drive back over to Lissa’s squat and pick up her things?”

Tank bit his lips. He should do that. It was something he could do for Lissa, and he needed to do something for her. But he couldn’t step away from the wall. He felt like he was tethered to Lissa with a bungee cord. The further away he went, the more it pulled at him.

Sloan said softly, “I’ll sit with her.”

“You can’t—she doesn’t—” She didn’t know Sloan. Tank knew she didn’t really know him either, but it felt wrong to leave her with someone else. He should take care of her.

“She’ll be okay,” Flynn said, shoving alpha authority into his tone.

Tank looked desperately at him. “Promise me you won’t put her in the crazy shed. Even if she goes wild again.”

The crazy shed was the reinforced building with the iron lock—the one Xander had been locked in earlier. They only used it as a last resort, when someone’s animal was so out of control they were a danger to themselves, but Lissa didn’t know that.

“She doesn’t understand yet. She’ll be terrified.”

“We’ll take care of her,” Flynn promised. “But you’re too riled up. You need a breather.”

Tank shook himself. Flynn was right. He couldn’t think straight.

“Okay,” he muttered. “Okay.”