Page 36 of Bad Blood Bear

He was silent for a long minute, still holding her hand. “She was such a joyful person,” he said. “So kind to everyone. We weren’t part of a crew or a clan—we lived by ourselves in a cabin I built her in Georgia, up in the mountains.” A small smile came across his face. “We were so happy.”

He trailed off. Lissa wanted to ask what happened, but she didn’t want to scare him off. She just waited.

“You know how Flynn told you not to tell anyone we’re shifters?” he said. “That’s because when humans find out about us, they try to hunt us down. Someone—some shifter hunters—found out we were living out there alone. They came after us, and Angie was killed.”

Lissa sucked in her breath. “That’s horrible,” she whispered.

Tank nodded.

Lissa put her other hand over his and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “No wonder you don’t want to get involved with people. They suck. And the ones who don’t—it hurts so much when you lose them.”

“Yeah,” he said.

They sat there together, leaning on each other. Gradually, Lissa felt her muscles relax in the warmth of Tank’s presence.

“I’m glad you have that picture to remember her by,” Lissa said.

Tank nodded. “After she died, I kind of went crazy for a while,” he said. “I left our house—just walked away. No photos, nothing. I couldn’t stand to be reminded of her.”

Lissa nodded.

“But then it hurt too much not to have anything,” he said. “Like she was not only gone, but she never existed.” He gazed at the drawing. “So I drew that picture,” he said. “There was a photo in our house—my favorite one of her. I tried to re-create it as best I could.”

“It’s beautiful,” Lissa said sincerely. “It makes me feel like I know what she was like, just by looking at it.”

She’d been happy and beautiful and loving—just what someone like Tank needed. Not broken and messed up, with a baggage train a mile long.

But then, Lissa had never thought she was Tank’s perfect woman. She’d never been anyone’s perfect woman, and now with this bear inside her, and Brother Damien’s evil magic—she wouldn’t ever be.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy bread and honey.

“Thank you for telling me about Angie,” Lissa said. “And thank you for saving my picture of Brother Matthias.”

“You’re welcome,” Tank said. “Thank Xander too, would you? I think he needs people to say nice things to him sometimes, even if he won’t admit it.”

“Okay,” Lissa said. “So what now? Where should I put my things? Can I take a shower?”

Tank grinned at her. “One thing at a time,” he said. “You feel up to going outside? I have something to show you.”