“Then they are as dumb as he is, and you’re being equally as foolish.”
“Okay, well, if you are too stubborn to help yourself, will you at least take care of yourself and Mom? The bears might come for you next. It would be better if you left for a few days until I can take care of all this, if I can take care of it at all.”
“I’m not leaving my own house, and I can protect your mother.”
“Against Alpha bears? Really?”
“Yes. If I must,” he replied stubbornly.
Kat threw up her hands in disgust and headed for the door. Her mother followed her out onto the porch, speaking quietly.
“I’ll help you, Kat. Just let me talk to him and we’ll get the money together. He’s just angry about it all. You know how stubborn he is.”
“Thanks, Mom. What I need most from you is to stay safe. If he won’t leave, could you at least go without him? Maybe you can go upstate to Aunt Susie’s house for a visit?”
“I won’t leave your father. I know he’s an old fool, but he’s my old fool. Someday, you’ll meet someone, and you’ll understand that they aren’t always perfect, but they are always ours.”
“I think I may have already, Mom,” Kat said.
“Really? Travis? The one who’s gone for your brother? The one who brought you here when you passed out?”
“Yes. It’s been a little crazy since we met. It’s like we know each other so well and don’t know each other at all.”
“You’ll know all you need to know in time. Good or bad. It sounds like you’re taken with him, and not just any man would stick his neck out like this for someone he’d only known a brief time. I guess that’s the Alpha in him. I could smell it on him when he was waiting with us in the hallway.”
“You disapprove?”
“No. I don’t disapprove at all. I once had ambitions to marry an Alpha, but then I met your father and forgot all about that possibility. What he lacks in brawn and bravery, he makes up for in intelligence and kindness.”
“Except when it comes to Mike.”
“He’s just frustrated that the apple fell so far from the tree. He’s disappointed. He talks a big game about tough love and all that, but he’ll come around.”
“I hope so. Mike needs us. He needs all of us.”
“He needs rehab, honey. If you get him out of this mess, that is where he needs to go.”
“I know, Mom. Doc told me the same, but I guess I already knew. It’s just a matter of convincing Mike that he needs to go too.”
Kat’s Mom kissed her on the cheek and told her goodbye before going back inside the house. Kat went back to her house and sat, staring at the television blankly. It wasn’t even on. She just was lost in her own head at the moment, wondering what was happening with Mike at the bear’s cabins. Was he okay? Was Travis okay? Were he and his guys even there yet?
She fidgeted and squirmed on the sofa, anxiously waiting for Travis to return and tell her what had happened. What a nightmare this was for all of them. The more she considered it, the angrier she became. Her Dad was right about one thing; it was selfish of Mike to put them in this position. Still, how could he have known the bears would go to such extremes to get their money out of him? How had he even ended up so much in debt with them anyway?
She was at her wit’s end by the time she heard Travis’s old Bronco pulling into her driveway. She met him at the door and froze in horror. He looked like he’d bathed in blood, and she couldn’t tell if it was his own or someone else’s. He pushed inside and stood in the middle of her living room, looking like he might pass out in a moment.
“Oh, God. You’re hurt. How badly?” she asked, beginning to check him over as best she could.
“I’m fine. It’s mostly not mine,” he said, wincing a little as he turned.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m fine.”
“What about Mike? Did you get him?”
“Yes. A couple of the guys took him back to my place and will stay there with him for the night to make sure he’s okay.”
“How was he? Is he okay?”
“He’s roughed up a bit, but nothing that won’t heal. Once they get him secured, they’ll get him to shift into wolf form so he can speed up getting better.”
“Thank God.”
“Are you packed?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s get out of here.”
“Don’t you want to clean up a little? Are you planning on walking back into your hotel looking like Carrie after her high school prom?”
“I’ve got some wipes and a jacket in the truck. I’ll make do. Right now, I want to get you out of here in case someone comes looking for you. What about your parents? Are they secure?”