Bear: Chapter 13
I knew that I had made things awkward between me and Ilara. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I wanted to explain myself and why I’d reacted the way I did the night of the party, however, the explanation got pushed to the side when on Monday, we got word that someone matching Todd Hamilton’s description had been seen in Hunters Creek at the gas station.
Outlaw was the one to pull me into his room and tell me the news. Apparently, Outlaw had what I would call an informant network around the area and who knows where else. He’d given these informants a photo of Todd and told them if he was spotted to let him know. One of them had called and said he thought he’d seen him.
I and several of the guys went on a run to check it out. Obviously, he wasn’t still there, but we searched around the area hoping to spot him. No such luck. We’d talked to the clerk at the gas station and requested if he saw him, to call us. He’d promised he would. We’d given him a copy of the photo and told him there would be a reward if he led us to Todd.
So, ever since that, I’d been spending my time when I wasn’t at The Dark Angel, riding around looking for Hamilton. I did it during the day and even at night. I wanted him gone. Ilara needed to be able to leave the damn compound by herself. It was wearing on her. With this added patrolling and the bar, we hadn’t spoken about Saturday night or spent much time together.
Most nights, I still made love to her and she responded, but I knew it was still on her mind. I was determined that tonight, after the club’s big party, we’d clear the air. I did want to be able to be more aggressive in the bedroom with her, but not if it would cause her to have flashbacks to her rape. She hadn’t gone into many details about what he specifically did to her. I wanted to do things like blindfold her and play with toys. Would she like that? It would kill me if I let go and I scared or hurt her.
She’d gotten dressed for the party. She was wearing another outfit I’d bought her. She made me ache when I looked at her. She was so beautiful, sexy and I loved that she was mine. I needed to make sure she understood what she truly meant to me.
We went and hung outside for a while as our guests arrived. This time, Bull decided to only have the Dublin Falls chapter and the Iron Punishers. He was afraid it might be too much for Ilara to meet all our ally clubs en masse.
As expected, all of them loved her. The guys did their teasing of how much better some of them were than me. She laughed and took it in stride. The old ladies welcomed her with open arms. Everyone was making a fuss over Hope. She looked like a little doll. I was so damn proud to call them mine.
That was earlier and now it was evening and the cold had sent us inside. I was talking to Blade and Gunner from Dublin Falls, when Ilara came over to me carrying Hope. She’d been with several of the women when I last checked on her. They had been in what looked like an intense conversation. Hope had been with the other kids in the basement with the sitters. “Bear, I’m going to take Hope to the house. She’s fussing and won’t settle down. The other kids and babies can’t sleep. I don’t know if she’s cutting more teeth or just feeling poorly.”
I looked at Hope. She did look upset, and she was rubbing her face into Ilara’s shoulder. I gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Sugarplum, you wanna go home and take a bath?” She nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you guys later,” I told Gunner and Blade.
“Honey, no, you don’t need to leave. We’ll be fine. I’ll get her settled. If she feels better after her bath, I’ll let you know.”
“No, I’ll come too,” I told her. She put her hand on my chest.
“You need to stay. You haven’t seen your friends for a while. Enjoy some time with them. I’ll get to know everyone better next time. I won’t feel right if you don’t stay,” she insisted. We argued for five minutes before I finally gave in. I did insist on walking them to the house. The temperature had plummeted, and she was shivering when we got inside the house. I wrapped her and Hope in my arms.
“Okay, I’ll be back later. If anything changes, call me. No need to walk back in the cold. I won’t be long. I have something I want to take care of, then I’ll be back. Love you.” I gave her and Hope a kiss. Ilara gave me a kiss back and told me she loved me. I reluctantly went back to the party. I wouldn’t stay long. However, I wanted to talk to Reaper and Terror about what we were doing to find Todd. I didn’t know how much Bull had shared with the two of them. I wanted to have backup if it became necessary. And there was one other thing I needed to do.
Ilara:
It had been over an hour since I brought Hope home. She’d taken a bath then I got her settled in her bed. She was fussy, but she’d fallen asleep. It was time to check on her again. I tiptoed into her room and over to her little bed. She’d kicked off her blankets. I leaned down and felt her forehead. I gasped. She was hot, like really hot. How in the hell had a fever come out of nowhere that fast? I picked her up. “Hope, baby, open your eyes for Momma,” I told her. She didn’t move. It took me shaking her gently and raising my voice to get her to open her eyes.
Her eyes were dull and feverish looking. She looked miserable as she laid her head on my shoulder. Goddamn it, I needed Bear. I hurried to our room and grabbed my phone. I hit the speed dial. It rang once then went straight to voicemail. What the hell? He never had his phone off. I tried again. I got the same thing. Though I hated to take her out in the cold, I wasn’t leaving her alone in the house while I went to get him.
I wrapped her snuggly in a blanket, grabbed my car keys and purse, and went out to my car. I drove the short distance to the clubhouse and parked. I jumped out and ran inside with her clutched to my chest. The room was noisy and the laughter, conversation, and music made it impossible to yell and be heard. I was frantically looking for him and he was nowhere to be seen.
As I worked my way through the room, several people asked if I was okay. I told them I was looking for Bear. They all said they hadn’t seen him for a while. I was about to cry in frustration when I thought of his room. Maybe he went there to get away from the noise. He’d told me that sometimes he used to do that. I headed down the hall.
I was halfway down it when his bedroom door opened and he stepped out. I opened my mouth to call out to him, but before I could say anything, I saw him hold out his hand and a woman stepped out of the room. She was young, maybe around my age. She was smiling up at him and he was smiling down at her. I noticed she was beautiful and her hair was slightly messed up. I heard her chuckle. “Do you think I look presentable?”
He responded to her as he touched her face. “You look beautiful. Let’s get you out of here. I need to get home to my old lady.”
“What are you going to tell her about me?”
“I’m not going to mention you, darlin’. I need to decide how to tell her about you.” As his words and actions sunk in, I died inside. He had gone to another woman. It was obvious something significant had gone on between them. He was in his bedroom with her, while I was supposedly safely tucked at the house. He’d told me not to come to the clubhouse. He’d been planning this. I wondered what excuse he’d have come up with to stay or get away from me if Hope hadn’t gotten sick.
I turned around and hurried back toward the door. I didn’t stop to speak to anyone who spoke to me. I was getting the hell out of here. As I got near the door, I stopped. Hell no, I wasn’t going to leave without telling him what I thought of him. I whipped around and stomped back toward the hallway. He was coming up the hall with her holding onto his arm. His eyes widened when he saw me. He came to a dead stop. “Ilara, what’re you doing—”
“What am I doing here? I was coming to tell you that Hope is sicker, and she needs to see a doctor. I tried to call, but your phone is off. I see why now. You were busy entertaining your little friend. Don’t let me stop you. I don’t need your help. I don’t need or want anything from you ever again. Fuck you, Bear!” I screamed the last part. Hope burst out crying. I swung around and raced toward the door.
I could hear Bear yelling at me to stop. I didn’t slow down. I’d almost made it to the door when Outlaw stepped up and grasped my arm. “Ilara, what the hell is wrong?”
“Why don’t you ask your brother, Bear? Oh, just make sure you don’t interrupt him with his little fuck buddy.”
“Fuck buddy, what the hell?” he exclaimed in shock.
“Yeah, her.” I pointed. “I guess being faithful isn’t in his gene pool. I don’t have time to argue with him. Hope’s sick. I need to get her checked out by someone.”