Bear Necessities by Dana Marie Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

gut.
The man was a Bear like him.
    He
trusted another Bear a hell of a lot more than he trusted a human paramedic.
“How is she?”
    The
man pushed Chloe’s light jacket aside, baring her shoulders. “She’ll live.”
    The
weary pain in the other Bear’s voice was a dagger in his gut. “Live how?”
    A car
screeched to a halt next to them. A blond man stepped out, his eyes concerned.
“Let me through.”
    Surprisingly,
the men did. Bunny, however, wasn’t moving. Not until he scented Puma.
    “I’m
Dr. Jamie Howard. I saw the lights.” He knelt down next to Chloe, taking the
bag a dark-haired woman, also Puma and smelling strongly of Dr. Howard, handed
him. “What happened?”
    “Julian
Ducharme. I’m a nurse and acquainted with the patient. I don’t know what
happened, but her injuries are bad.” Julian began a catalogue of Chloe’s wounds
in a cool, professional tone that left Bunny feeling left out in the cold.
    “Bunny?
Who is she to you?”
    He
turned to find Tabby standing in front of him, shivering in her light dress. He
took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her
against him. He needed comfort, the scent of Chloe’s blood poisoning the air
around him.
    It was
bad. He knew it was bad, just as he new his paltry gift was of no use here.
“She’s my baby cousin.”
    Tabby
sighed. “Oh, sugar.” She pulled his head into the crook of her neck, and held
on tight. He took a deep breath but nothing could wash away the metallic tang
of Chloe’s blood.
     
    Tabby
could barely see what Julian and Dr. Howard were doing. Bunny took up a lot of
space in her field of vision, but she could hear what they were saying and it
wasn’t good. Julian seemed to think he could help if he had time alone with
her, but time was rapidly running out along with the other woman’s blood. Bunny
trembled in her arms, his hands fisted at the small of her back. She knew he
wanted to help, but there was no way he could. Even Tabby could see Chloe was
beyond saving.
    So she
held on as hard as she could, feeling the fine tremors racking her mate’s body,
while her friend knelt at the side of a dying woman.
    “Make
them go away, doctor. Get them away and I can save her.” Julian’s voice was
intense.
    “At
what cost?”
    Bunny
stiffened in her arms at Dr. Howard’s soft words.
    “Let
me do this. I can save her, they can’t. Trust me.”
    She
almost walked over to tell Dr. Howard that Julian could be trusted, but before
she could the man sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.” Dr. Howard walked over to
the paramedics who’d huddled off to the side. “These are her family. They want
a moment alone with her.”
    “Sir,
she’s not going to make it.”
    Bunny
keened softly, the sound full of anguish. His arms surrounded her, held her
while he trembled.
    “Let’s
grant their wish. It’s not like it will hurt anything, or anyone.”
    Somehow
Dr. Howard got them away, got the paramedics to give them a moment of privacy.
    Bunny
let her go, grabbed hold of Julian’s hand and placed his other on Chloe’s
shoulder. Tabby watched Julian take a deep breath and…
    That’s
when Tabby knew she was losing her mind.
     
    Bunny
relaxed and allowed Julian to direct the path of the healing. He might be a
Bear, but Julian was trained as a nurse and had far more knowledge than Bunny
could lay claim to. Modern medicine had made the healing the Bears did easier,
allowing them to know the ways in which the body functioned, but it came at a
price. A price Dr. Jamie Howard somehow knew about. The small amount of healing
Bunny could do might keep his cousin alive long enough for them to get her to
the hospital, but it would leave him exhausted. He knew he’d sleep around the
clock after they were done.
    He
began to assess the damage. He could feel every cut, every bruise, every single
broken bone his cousin suffered from. There was no way, no way they
could save her. Her body was too injured to sustain life. It