The Bears Shared Bride: A Paranormal Menage Romance by Amy Star Page B

Lavinia a heart-stopping grin and started to lean across the table to give her a kiss when his phone pinged with a text. Sheepishly, he sat down and retrieved the phone. Lavinia understood, just because he was on a date with her didn’t mean he could stop being Alpha for a night. He was always on call for the Tribe.
    Brows furrowed, Parker swiped at his phone and ripped off a swift text. Looking back up at Lavinia, he apologized, “Sorry, I’m not allowed to go off the grid. Where were we?”
    “I think we were headed for a meeting of the minds,” Lavinia said leaning over the table toward Parker for a kiss as her own phone gave off an urgent beep. With a dry laugh, she too sat down to take the text. Glancing down, she saw that it was Thearon. The first line of text was the start of yet another apology and she wasn’t in the mood to take it this evening. Things were going far too smooth with Parker to bring in her complications with Thearon. Hitting ignore, Lavinia sat up and asked Parker, “Want to get out of here? You did promise me dancing…”
    Parker grinned and moved out of the booth with an ease surprising for a man his size. Offering his arm, Lavinia gathered her purse and threaded her arm through his. It felt wonderful to be tucked next to him. The bulk of his bicep, and the strong shoulder, made her feel indescribably safe. They passed the two plain clothed guards on their way out. As the guards were still settling their bill, Parker motioned they would head to the car to wait.
    They were only three steps out of the building – two away from the open door to the armored vehicle – when it happened. A shot rang out and things went blurry. The sounds were intense: the loud report of the gun, a grunt and a shout from Parker and the fury of footsteps running toward and away from her. The feel of Parker knocking her to the ground, her body being covered not once but twice: Parker and then what must have been a guard. The bite of pain was a sharp feeling that confused Lavinia about where it was coming from. Parker’s hit? The uneven bricks of the sidewalk? It wasn’t until she was floating on a cloud of unconsciousness that Lavinia wondered if the cause of the pain could have possibly been a bullet...

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Thearon paced back and forth in front of the window, playing games with himself. If he didn’t look for ten minutes. Then, when he did, something will have changed. If he waited to look until after Parker exploded again and Thearon calmed him down again, things would be different. If he counted the beeps of the machine until he reached one hundred, when he looked, things would be different.
    Unable to help himself, Thearon looked through the thick paned glass. It was threaded through with the crosshatching of wires, which Thearon thought was a little excessive as the woman it encased looked as calm as sleeping beauty. If not for the multitude of wires and tubes attached to her thin and bruised body, he could convince himself she was simply asleep instead of fighting for her life.
    The sound of Parker’s irritation drew his gaze. It was time again for the second game in his repertoire: Being the other half of Parker’s conscience.
    “This was my entire fault. I nodded to our security guards.  Seriously, Thearon, I nodded at them like some jackass who didn’t need security guards in the first place. Like I was going to be enough to protect us. Logic demands that the very need for an armed guard negates the ability to protect oneself from a threat. Ugh, I’m supposed to be the smart one.”
    Thearon quirked a weary eyebrow and watched as Parker ran a frustrated hand through his hair, tousling the golden locks in a way that simply screamed angst. You know what I mean. I’m supposed to be the one who’s good at outings like that. I’m the one destined to navigate the social waters. It was supposed to be a quiet night; a safe place…”
    In Parker’s frustration, his bear started to come