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“Not dating Thalia, claiming. There’s a difference; it means I’m not going to look at another woman because you’re it for me. You’re stubborn, hot-headed, quick-tempered, sharp-tongued, judgemental and blinded sometimes. But you’re also loyal, creative, strong, forgiving, independent, generous and caring. And I tell you now, you ever sacrifice yourself again, I’ll paddle your ass until you can’t sit down.”
“Those two men would have hurt Rain,” I said, and Bear shook his head.
“No, they needed Rain to get the patent and item. They may have scared him to death or possibly broken an arm, but they needed him alive. Thalia, you handed yourself to them on a platter,” Bear refuted. I stuck out my bottom lip.
“Yes, but I didn’t know that,” I denied.
“No, you didn’t, and you gave them a weapon to use against Rain. Rain is guilt-stricken at your injuries. Man’s not stopped apologising to anyone who will listen. But I think what happened with us set you off on a tangent, and you weren’t thinking,” Bear argued.
“That I can’t deny. I was so upset at having riled you and being misunderstood. I just couldn’t find the correct words to explain what I was feeling,” I said.
“And I get that, Thal. I’ll work on not storming out and try to listen more. I got a temper too, baby, and I thought you were rejecting me because I was a biker. Until your grandmother explained, I’d no idea how Damon had treated you. Nor did I understand how you sometimes struggled to get words out,” Bear said.
“Not always, just when I’m flustered. It rarely happens except when I’m feeling a great deal of emotion. When I said I was worried the others would know you’d stayed, I didn’t know that you intended to… claim me. I thought we were fuck buddies, and I was ashamed that the others might think I was easy and open to all,” I explained.
“Get that baby, but the only one thinking it, was you. Clio, from the moment you swung a leg over my bike, everyone knew where we were headed, baby. Honey, everyone did bar you,” Bear chuckled. I laughed and winced. “Are you okay?”
“Pain,” I gasped as something twisted inside me. I drew in another ragged breath.
“Press the button by your side; it activates pain relief,” Bear said, and I hit the button. I felt pain coming from a multitude of places.
“My injuries?” I rasped.
“He stabbed you sixteen times and sliced you another fourteen. Your finger and breast….” Bear’s voice caught and faded.
“He mangled them,” I said, and Bear nodded.
“Doc’s worked to tidy up your finger; we thought you’d lose the breast. That’s what they told Clio. But they saved it; I’ve not seen it, but it’s not pretty,” Bear said softly.
“So they’ve left me scarred,” I muttered, unsure how I felt about that. I was upset, but beyond that, I wasn’t sure. I was only young. To be so badly scarred was overwhelming.
“Not for long, I’ve been speaking to your grandmother. She knows a specialist in Switzerland who is fantastic at scar removal. As soon as you’re fit to travel, she’s flying you over to Europe to see him. One or two may remain, but he thinks he can remove the worst,” Bear said, stroking my hand. My eyes kept closing, and I mumbled an agreement before slipping off to sleep.
???
“You cheat!” I shrieked a week later sat in Hellfire’s clubhouse. Shee grinned at me as he stole my cards, and I threw a pillow at him. Kelly chuckled as Clio poked her head over a settee.
“I warned you not to play with Shee; he’s an outright cheat,” she said and sank back down. Hellfire was holding what they called a hog night, which just meant roasted pig and beers. Grandmother sat on a sofa with Callie. Callie had become Grandmother’s new project; she was determined Callie would have the career she wished for. It was funny how Grandmother had settled into their lives, including bullying Polly into moving to Spearfish.
Rain had been forced to agree to spend weekends and vacations in Spearfish with us. Clio was confronted with a determined Grandmother who would be a vital part of her great-grandchild’s life. Chance had been amused and then frightened by Grandmother when she realised he’d no living parents, and she took to mothering him. Bear was much the same as Grandmother set her beady eye on him too.
It was a sad fact that Grandmother had wanted a large family, and our parents’ actions had destroyed her dreams. Grandmother had explained how father’s parents were out-and-out control freaks, and they’d undercut Grandmother and Papa. To the extent of shamelessly using blackmail. It was dumb luck I’d got ill, and Grandmother had refused to let me be adopted out. Father’s parents had seen us as a sign of shame, where Grandmother had seen us as a gift from God. Grandmother had further explained what I hadn’t.
Father’s parents had isolated our parents, so the adoption of the other four was forced through. They thought that covered up the shame of our parents. In fact, it bit them on the ass when our parents couldn’t have any more children. But even that hadn’t made them regret their actions.
Grandmother and Papa had tried to stop the adoptions and even put in to adopt the other four themselves. But the Grandparents Winchester had snuck the other four out. Grandmother and Papa had been so heartbroken they’d forced themselves to move forward and not think about the four grandchildren they’d lost. Not until I found out.
“Thalia, leave the boy alone,” Grandmother said, lifting her head to gaze at me.
“Shee cheated,” I spluttered.
“That is not an excuse to get violent,” Grandmother chided, and Shee poked his head out. Shotgun’s grandmother, Rose, began to laugh at the mulish expression on my face. Rose visited several times, a kind woman several years older than Grandmother. The two of them got on fabulously. And Grandmother had been seeking houses large enough to hold her growing family. She wasn’t ready to give up the family home but thought she’d spend time here and there.
“Whatever,” I muttered and received a stern glance from Grandmother.
“Thalia!” Grandmother snapped at my surliness, and Bear chuckled. He sat on the arm of the chair I was in and tucked me into his chest. I murmured happily and snuggled in. Most of my bandages had come off apart from one wrapped around my ribs where there’d been a deep stab wound and the one on my breast.
The first time I’d seen it, I’d broken into floods of tears. My entire breast was mangled, not just from the burning of my nipple, but it had got infected. Surgeons had removed further parts, and it was totally disfigured. I couldn’t stand to look at it and refused to let Bear see it. I was toying with having it removed and reconstruction done. Bear was happy to let me make the decision I needed to, and I couldn’t stand the thought of Bear seeing the managed skin.
