Page 18 of Bad Blood Bear

Chapter 8

Tank kept one eye on Lissa as he drove, muttering every curse word he knew. She had something inside her, and he’d bet money it was a bear. From the looks of it, she had no control over it whatsoever.

She might not have ever Changed before. That happened sometimes, when someone was Turned into a shifter instead of being born one, like Tank was. They managed to survive the bite and the infusion of shifter magic, but they fought the Change so hard they suppressed their animal, which just fought harder and harder to get out.

It rarely ended well, and the longer it went on, the less chance of a happy ending. But he couldn’t let her try to Change until he had her somewhere safe and contained.

Somewhere that wasn’t in his truck in the middle of town.

He reached over to touch her, trying to reassure her animal, and she bared her teeth at him and snarled. Her eyes were glowing red and her canines were elongated.

Holy fuck. She wasn’t going to make it to the compound. Even if she only half-changed like she had last night, teeth and claws only, she was about to go berserk. He couldn’t restrain her while they were inside the truck, and he sure as hell couldn’t let her out, even if they made it to the woods. She’d hurt herself, or run off, and this would just turn into a bigger mess.

A garish sign caught his eye: The Barbecue Palace.

Food.

Meat calmed her down. Her bear wanted to kill, but if it couldn’t, it went for cooked meat.

Tank took a hard right into the parking lot and gunned it up to the drive-in microphone. He rolled down the window and started belting out orders, one eye on Lissa.

“Give me two super-size orders of beef ribs. No, make that three. And burgers, those big half-pound ones. Four. No, six. And some Coke or something. Two of them.”

After an excruciatingly long pause, the bored voice of the employee read the order back. Tank yelled “yes!” before they even gave him the total, and moved forward to the window, where he handed over his debit card.

Tank drummed his fingers nervously on the steering wheel, trying to think loud enough that Lissa could somehow hear him. Don’t shift. Don’t shift. Don’t growl. Don’t look at the teenager in the drive-through with your scary red eyes.

He could swear she was a bear, black bear maybe, but he’d never seen eyes like that on any shifter. They gave him the willies.

Finally, after what seemed like two or three years, the food was handed out the window in two huge bags. Tank pulled forward, then popped the lid on a container of ribs and handed them over to Lissa. “Here,” he said. “Eat this.”

She gave him one feral look and tore into the ribs like she hadn’t eaten in days. Hell, maybe she hadn’t, despite the money and food he’d left her. For all he knew, she was doing drugs or something and not eating.

He pulled over to the far corner of the parking lot and cut the engine. He kept the ribs and burgers coming, taking away the empty containers and replacing them with full ones. He managed to snag most of an order of ribs for himself, hoping it would steady his bear, but Lissa being all riled up riled him up as well.

Don’t shift. He didn’t even know who he was talking to this time.

He let her stuff herself until her lap was a mess of paper wrappings, cardboard takeout containers and uneaten buns. Even though she barely knew he was there, feeding her satisfied something deep inside him.

Finally she slowed down, and the glazed look faded from her eyes. She glanced over at him, as if startled to see him there, and then looked at the mess of food wrappers in her lap.

She bit her lips, like she was trying to think of something to say.

She didn’t meet his eyes, but she smelled embarrassed, and confused, and scared.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

She shrugged, and he could see her putting on her armor—the “I can take care of myself” attitude that she needed to survive. “Fine,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He sighed. “I don’t know,” he said. “Because it’s perfectly normal to have your eyes go red, and growl at people, and eat more meat in one sitting that somebody your size should be able to eat in an entire day.”

She shrugged again, but he could smell how upset she was. “I was hungry?” she offered in a small voice.

He took a deep breath. “You’re not fine,” he said. “And I’m pretty sure I know what’s wrong with you.”

She gave a snort, but still didn’t look at him. “I doubt that.”

Slowly, carefully, he reached out and grazed his fingers over her left shoulder, right where it met her neck. “Let me see,” he said softly.