LITMIR.BIZ

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was much smaller and lighter than the other shifters. As he dug his claws into the flesh of Pyotr’s shoulder, drawing him closer in preparation for a bite, Ged risked another glance in Lidi’s direction.

      He saw at once that there was nothing to worry about. Her speed and agility were astounding, making everyone around her—even Khan and Diablo—appear slow and lumbering in comparison. Relying on tactics that were unusual for a bear, she dodged the swipes of her much larger foe, ducking under his huge paw and emerging behind him to deliver her own hits. It was working. Ged could see blood staining the other bear’s fur and heard his growls of frustration.

      Conscious that at any minute the manager’s door could open, the guests could defy the instruction to stay in their rooms or the police might decide to act, Ged knew they had to move the action away from the public space. He pulled Pyotr to him and sank his teeth into the other bear’s shoulder. The temptation to rip into him and finish it there and then was overwhelming, but bear entrails in the lobby? Try explaining that to a forensics team.

      Instead, he hauled Pyotr in the direction of the kitchens, trusting his companions to accompany him. From the noise level just behind him, he guessed they had followed his lead.

      Once they were inside the storage room, Pyotr sensed what was happening and knew he only had one chance. Lowering his head, he charged at Ged’s midsection with his teeth bared. It was a brave move, but Ged had seen it before. Pyotr was expecting him to drop to all fours to protect his belly, at which point the other bear would tip him over. Instead, Ged waited until the last moment, just before Pyotr’s lethal teeth connected with his flesh. Then he gripped the other shifter and, using his monumental strength, flipped him onto his back.

      Surprise registered in the depths of Pyotr’s eyes as Ged placed both paws on his chest. The final move was swift and brutal. With his thorax crushed, Pyotr was dead within seconds, leaving Ged free to help his friends. Although, as he drew himself up to his full height once more, it looked like his companions were doing just fine on their own.

      Khan, the deadliest weretiger of them all, had one of the bear shifters cornered. Ged recognized his friend’s stance. From the way Khan’s huge fangs were bared and he was poised to crouch, he was going in for the kill. In another corner of the room, Diablo was shaking another of the intruders around like a rag doll.

      That left Lidi. She was still facing up to her massive challenger with a dexterity and bravery that astounded him. With jaws snapping and claws slashing, they were engaged in a classic bear fight, but, as Ged watched, the large male raised a paw and slammed Lidi against the wall. With a snort of rage, Ged made a move to intervene.

      Before he could get there, Lidi was springing back from the tiled surface. As the male swung at her, she ducked low and came up at his side, dealing him a blow in the kidneys that made him howl. When he reached for her, she slipped behind him. In a move that made Ged’s lips twitch into an appreciative smile, she hurled herself onto the other bear’s back, clinging on as she clamped her jaws onto the tender flesh between his neck and shoulder.

      Maybe Lidi didn’t need his help after all. She hung on with her claws and teeth as her adversary tried everything to dislodge her. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was effective. Blood sprayed onto the walls until, eventually, Lidi’s victim dropped to the floor. When she released her grip, he twitched a few times, then became completely still.

      Khan and Diablo had both won their fights. They moved into place, standing one on each side of Ged as he shifted back. A swift glance around the small storage room was enough to confirm that he had no need of their protection. All four intruders lay lifeless on the tiles. The two werecats followed Ged’s lead and shifted into human form.

      “Bears.” Khan shook his head as he viewed the bodies. “Stubborn as hell. They never know when it’s in their interests to surrender.”

      Lidi hadn’t shifted, and with a flash of insight, Ged recognized the reason. In her homeland of Callistoya, there was no shame in making the transition from bear to human. Being naked in front of others was an accepted part of a shifter’s life. But this wasn’t her homeland, and she didn’t know him and his friends. Keeping her head low, she moved restlessly from foot to foot, the classic sign of a bear in distress.

      Slightly bemused that he was already so in tune with her emotions, Ged cast a quick look around. The storage room looked like a scene from a horror movie and they needed to move fast. These bear shifters were dead in the true sense of the word, but only silver could truly destroy their souls. The final kindness to a defeated enemy was to finish them in the manner of a true warrior. That meant decapitating them with a silver sword, the handle of which had been specially adapted so that the person who wielded it could do so without being poisoned. No one said being a shifter was easy.

      Then, of course, would come the task of getting rid of the bear bodies and cleaning up. Modesty should be a long way down the list of priorities. But this was Lidi and she needed his help.

      “Find something so we can cover ourselves.” He jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen.

      Khan blinked at him. “Are you crazy?”

      “Do it.” Ged wasn’t in the mood for a debate.

      Shrugging, Khan went through to the kitchen. When he returned, he had several white aprons over one arm and a scowl on his face. “If a picture of me wearing one of these ends up on the internet—”

      “Quit griping and put it on.” Diablo was already tying one of the garments around his waist. “If Ged wants us to do it, it’s done.”

      Ged gave him a grateful look before placing an apron close to Lidi. “Now turn your backs.”

      “You’ve got to be...” Khan caught a glimpse of Ged’s expression and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay. Okay.” Obediently, he turned to face the wall opposite Lidi. “What is this?” His whisper to Diablo was just audible. “We’re all shifters. Nudity is part of the deal.”

      “Stop being such a tiger. Just for once,” Diablo growled back.

      Ged could hear Lidi moving around behind them.

      “I’m decent.” Her voice was gruff, and when he turned, her cheeks were bright pink. The apron she was wearing was too big and she’d wrapped it tight around her, tying it so it covered her whole body, back and front. Hanging her head, she scuffed the floor with one bare foot. “Sorry.”

      Following on from her strength and courage, her embarrassment revealed a fragility that surprised him. It made him want to go to her, to reassure her, to hold her. No. He had to put those thoughts out of his head. Even if they didn’t have blood and gore to clean up, bear-shifter bodies to dispose of, and a hell of a cover story to come up with, there was no room in his life for a mate. Particularly one as sweet and vulnerable as Lidi.

      “Let’s get moving.” Determinedly, he turned away from her. “We’ve got work to do.”

      * * *

      Ged had told Vasily’s men that he was the King of Callistoya. Did that mean he was prepared to fight for his rights? Lidi didn’t dare ask the question. Having come all this way and already faced a crushing disappointment, she wasn’t prepared to go there all over again. And there were more immediate problems demanding her attention. Although she had wrapped the oversize apron as tightly around her as she could, it kept coming undone and showed an alarming tendency to flap open at the back. Clutching the two sides together, she followed Ged up the stairs.

      This new modesty confused her. Until now, she had never had a problem with nakedness. Back home in Callistoya, she thought nothing of slipping out of her clothes to shift. Life would have been very difficult for werebears if everyone had tried to cover themselves before and after shifting.

      Back in that storage room, she had developed a sudden awareness of her body. It had prevented her from shifting from bear to human. All she knew for sure was that it was more to do with Ged than his friends. It was about how he saw her. It was foolish, but she felt shy around him. And she didn’t want his eyes on her body then.

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