Boarlander Cursed Bear (Boarlander Bears Book 5) by T. S. Joyce Page B

crossed his arms over his chest and pled the fifth.
    “I talked to your first alpha, and you know what he told me?”
    “Carl is a vagina who should shut the hell up about other peoples’ personal business.”
    “He said you had a mate named Shalene Dunleavy, who died, and another mate, who also died. So imagine my surprise when a girl with the same last name as your first mate shows up, and your bear is already so deep in devotion to her, that you, the biggest, single pain in my ass, grows manners overnight. Who. The fuck. Is she?”
    Clinton tossed a glance through the woods to the soft glow of the fire some distance away. “She’s my first mate. My only maybe, I don’t know.”
    “So she didn’t die?”
    “No, and I didn’t tell Carl she died. I told him I lost her, which I did. And she might as well have died because she has no memory of her old life or of me. Happy?”
    “You should tell her who you are.”
    “Fuck off, Harrison.” He made to leave, but Harrison gripped his arm and prevented it.
    Clinton growled a warning. “Careful, alpha. This story is much deeper than you can guess.”
    “Then enlighten me. You lying to her? She’ll find out, and when she does, you’ll lose her.”
    “And if I tell her, I’ll lose her.”
    The fire left Harrison’s eyes, and uncertainty flashed across his face.
    He released Clinton like a good bear, so he tossed him a bone. “Shae was taken from me and from her family when she was sixteen. For two years, she was in a testing facility because they thought she was me. They thought she was a bear shifter. They probably found out real quick she couldn’t Change, but they needed humans for their program, too. It was two fuckin’ years before I could find her and negotiate her release.”
    “With what?”
    “With myself. And part of the deal was that her memories were wiped. That’s the only way they were gonna let her live after what she’d seen, and I was okay with that.”
    “Shhhhit.” Harrison linked his hands behind his head and took two steps back. Smart man because Clinton’s bear was ripping at his insides to bleed that mother fucker.
    “If you were me, and Audrey had been taken, and if God-knows-what had been done to her in that two years, would you force her to relive that? Or would you let her move on and just go hard trying to make her happy for the rest of her life?”
    Harrison’s eyes were on the fire in the distance for a long time before he murmured, “I don’t know, man.”
    Clinton lowered his voice to an angry whisper. “I just got her back. I just got a second chance. I’m trying not to fuck it up, so please keep this shit to yourself and let me keep her.”
    Harrison looked sick, but he nodded and murmured, “Okay. I won’t say anything.”
    Clinton cracked his knuckles. With a pissed-off sigh that tapered into a growl, he strode off. And because he was working on himself for Shae’s sake, he remembered his manners and muttered, “Thank you,” over his shoulder.
    There was no right or wrong answer. Telling her what had happened would get her scratching at memories that needed to stay buried. What would it help if she remembered what had happened to her? She would be as dark as him. Two years had ruined him. Poisoned him. Killed the good parts of him, and he wanted better for Shae.
    He wanted her to be happy.
    Clinton was willing to lie to her until her dying breath to keep her safe from the awful memories she’d made between those white walls. Screw what that said about him. The truth was for do-gooders, but he didn’t give a shit about anything other than Shae’s smiles.
    He wasn’t lying to her.
    He was protecting her.

Chapter Thirteen
     
    Alyssa startled awake, every muscle tensed. It was dark and smelled of earth and pine sap.
    Where was she?
    A strange, familiar sensation washed through her, and she bolted upright.
    Something heavy fell from her waist to her lap. “What’s wrong?” Clinton asked, his arm