Ian looks down at his arms and flexes. “Do you think she'll be afraid of my ink?”
I shake my head, because that won't be what scares her when she finds out about werebear. “She already knows about your tattoos, and she's coming. My guess is she finds them hot. Relax.”
He raises his eyebrows. “The dream version does.”
I chuckle and hold up my hand. “I don't need any more information than that.” But I need to warn him she won't know he's a werebear until tomorrow. Considering the need for secrecy, we want to be sure she plans to stay.
The front door of the house opens to a large great room, and that leads to what would traditionally be a family room. It was designed as a home gym instead and has everything we need. Ian and I wander over to the area we use to fight, and I say, “Tomorrow we plan to tell Lily about werebear. Do you want to be present for that?”
Ian answers, “Yes, I think so.”
“Okay. I don't know if you heard about how Sierra and I found out, but we're taking precautions this time.”
The grin on his face tells me he knows the story about how I almost shot Keith, thinking he was a traditional bear. “No guns?”
I chuckle and then say, “No guns. We're meeting at Keith and Sierra's.” Keith has a large glass wall that will let Lily feel safe watching a shift happen on the other side.
Ian climbs onto the rowing machine, and I get on the elliptical to warm up my muscles while we wait for Sierra. The hum of my machine is methodic and lulls me into my thoughts of introducing Lily to her new life.
Sierra arrives when I've just begun to stretch. She says, “Hey, guys, sorry I'm late.”
While usually pale, she seems even more so today, and I'm worried about her. Something seems off about her relationship with Keith lately, and I bet Victor is the reason.
I get up and walk over to give her a hug. “Have you been sleeping much? You look tired.”
She sighs as she welcomes my embrace. I speak to her in my head. “Is it Victor?”
Sierra's body tenses, and I pull away to look at her face. Her eyes are red from crying, and she nods.
Ian is stretching, and I say to him, “Ian, we need a little girl time. Be right back.”
He replies, “Music?” One of the problems with supersensitive hearing is privacy, but if he puts in earbuds to crank the tunes, we'll get some.
“Yes, please.” I grab Sierra's hand and lead her to the kitchen. A chair scrapes against the tile floor as she seats herself at the kitchen island, and I say, “Talk.”
“He's in my head all the time. I can't shut him off, and the other night—” She squeezes her eyes shut, and a tear rolls down her cheek.
I reach over and take her hand as she continues. “The other night he started talking to me when Keith and I were having sex. Victor could hear the dirty things I was saying to Keith and acted like I was saying them to him. Talk about ruining a moment.”
The sun is shining into the kitchen, and it bounces off the silver appliances with brightness that is a stark contrast to Sierra’s dark eyes. A low growl rises from my throat. “We need to find a way for you to shut him up.” What have I done to my best friend? I gave her the tattoo that brought her here. I need to do something.
“That's the thing. We can't because he's an alpha. Do you think I can learn to keep him from hearing me talk to Keith?” Sierra's eyes look big in her face, and it makes me realize she's lost weight. I wonder if she's been eating much lately.
“Let's ask Donna. Victor in your sex life is creepy as hell.”
“Yeah, being watched was never my fantasy, you know?” Her mouth forms into a small smile, and I squeeze her hand before letting go.
“What does he say to you the rest of the time?”
“There is no rest of the time for Victor. He always talks about us and the things he wants to do to me.”
“Honey, why didn't you tell me this sooner?” I push hair behind her ear, and I’m struck by how delicate she is right now.
“I kept hoping he would stop if I ignored him.” She takes a deep breath and practically whispers, “Carly?”
Sierra's lower lip begins to tremble, and I want to hold her in my arms like a small child.
“What?”
“He's begun to be in my dreams, and—” The tears she was holding back fall freely as she says, “In the dreams, I'm starting to like it.”
Crap, this is bad. “Okay, we need help. I'm going to get Donna over here and send Ian home.” I grab a box of tissues and set it beside her before I walk out of the room.
On my way to Ian, I speak to Donna in my head. “Sierra and I need you. We need to shut up an alpha. Can you come over?”
She replies quickly, and I imagine Donna peeling off dirty garden gloves to come take care of business. “On my way.”
33
Chapter 3
Carly