Guardian Bears: Lucas

E
mily hated the walk home
. The area was unfamiliar, and she kept glancing behind her at every little sound. The fear was almost becoming natural to her now, after days of living with it constantly. It was a second nature she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to shrug off.

I can't live like this forever
, she told herself as she approached her door. A last glance behind her and she saw someone at the corner, a large man wrapped in a heavy coat, walking in her direction. Was he following her? Was he one of the monsters? She couldn't tell, couldn't even see if he was looking at her as she fumbled with her key. The man didn't seem to be paying her any attention, but that didn't stop her heart racing as she finally managed to get the door open and duck inside.

The door slammed behind her, a barrier between her and the frightening man outside, and Emily could breathe again. She hurried to her bedroom, sat down hard on the bed, and took deep breaths trying to calm herself.

This is too much,
she thought.
I have to do something, get some help.
But she had no one to turn to. No one who would believe her, or who she wanted to bring into this mess. There was only one option that she'd been able to find, much as she hated the idea of it. But she didn't have a choice. She picked up her laptop and opened it up, bringing up the browser window she'd been hesitating over for the last three nights.

Emily stared at the screen. The idea of bringing someone else, a stranger, into the mess she was in was terrifying. She couldn't imagine telling them what was going on, and she didn't want to put someone else's life on the line unless they knew what they were facing. Again she hesitated before filling out the form, hoping some other option would occur to her. But nothing came, and she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. She needed some protection, something or someone to keep her safe.

The website itself was sparse, poorly designed and plain ugly. Looking at it, she knew she could have done better herself in an hour – but that wasn't the point. She wouldn't be hiring the Guardian Bears for their web-design skills, after all.

There were hardly any details about the company on their site, but it did say that they were specialists in protecting people and dealing with unusual problems. And that was exactly what she needed. Whoever, whatever, was after her, it was certainly unusual! But even so, she hesitated. They might be used to dealing with strange things, but her problems went beyond just 'strange'.

And what if the people looking for her were tracing her credit cards? She hadn't used them in days, trying to be safe, but if she hired the Guardian Bears she'd have to.

Outside, on the street, someone walked past. Emily's head snapped up at the sound of footsteps paused outside the window. Before she could decide whether she wanted to see who it was, they walked on, oblivious to the fright they'd given her. That was the push she needed to make up her mind.
I need to do something!

She started to type, filling in the bare minimum of the forms the site presented.
Personal Protection, that sounds like just what I need,
she thought as she wrote.
There's no need to tell them what I need protecting from!

* * *

"
W
e got one
!"

Lucas looked up from his desk, raising an eyebrow questioningly. It was late to be at the office, and he hated writing up paperwork, but it had to be done. That didn't mean that his partners had to be
enthusiastic
about it.

Marcus was oblivious to his annoyance, though. The other man stood up and strode to the office printer, picking up a handful of pages and bringing them over to Lucas. "First time a client contacts us from your website, I thought you'd be happier."

That
made Lucas smile, just a little. "I told you the website was a good idea."

"Sure you did," Marcus said, looking amused. "And now you can deal with the work it got us."

The Guardian Bears only cases thus far had been brought in by one of the three of them. The three bears all had their contacts, and it made things easier when they were dealing with known problems. It had been Lucas who'd pointed out that they must be missing a lot of problems faced by people who didn't know to contact them.

The website had been his suggestion for fixing that, and in many ways it was his baby. Marcus and Karl, the other two bear shifters who made up the Guardian Bears, had both been skeptical.

Taking the papers Marcus offered him, he looked at the top sheet of paper and frowned.

"That's awfully thin for a case," he said. Marcus laughed.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get. A nervous client who doesn't say what's bothering her."

"No details on what she's worried about at all?" Lucas shook his head. "Why?"

"You're reading everything she sent us. No details, just that she needs someone to protect her."

Lucas' frown deepened, and he started to get second thoughts about his idea.
I don't want to waste my evening on something that doesn't even turn into one of our cases. Maybe I should have made the questions more detailed.
But he hadn't wanted to intimidate any potential clients
.
"This could be anything. No reason to even think it's our kind of case. We could refer her to a normal private security firm if there's no supernatural threat involved."

"Oh no," Karl said, looking up from his desk and shaking his head. "We paid for the website, we paid for the charm on it – and that wasn't cheap – so we're not turning away the first job that it brought us. Even if it is short on details! If it's nothing, you get to be the one to explain to the client that she needs to get someone else in."

Lucas growled at that. Karl was looking all too happy to drop him in this, but he had to admit the man had a point. He'd insisted on the website for advertising, but they were a
specialist
security firm, dealing with problems for the shifter and supernatural communities. It wouldn't do for them to get buried under piles of work which any mundane firm could handle, and that made advertising tricky.

Fortunately, they had made some friends with their work, and they had a lot of contacts. Including a more than a few people who had supernatural talents of their own. Calling in one of those favors had gotten them an enchantment on the website that meant it should only draw in clients who had supernatural problems.

So either this client had the right kind of trouble for them to be interested in, or he'd wasted the firm's capital on a charm that didn't work.

"Fine, fine, just stop grinning like that," he finally said, standing and shaking his head. "But this isn't my field, you know. I might just piss off the client."

"You'd prefer something more exciting than babysitting a new client? Wouldn't we all." Karl smirked and shook his head. He was the biggest of the trio, which was saying something, but his friendly face still made him the best for dealing with new clients and so he was usually the one who ended up working with them. "Look, go and check it out, that's all. If you really need someone else to take over, I'll do it. And if something's wrong with the website, we need to find out before we get more clients like this. We'll can always refer her to someone else if that's the case."

Lucas snorted, but then nodded. He couldn't just dump this in the others' laps, after all. The two of them were his only real friends, and if Karl and Marcus wanted him to take this job, he would. Dull as it sounded, at least it was better than sitting by the phone waiting to be called as backup. He'd done too much of that on the last job they'd had.

Marcus put an arm around Lucas' shoulder. "You never know, you might find you like the job, or the client."

Lucas shook his head and grinned ruefully. "Sure, sure. Whatever."

Marcus had found his mate on his last mission, and that was great for him. But now he seemed to be pushing Lucas to find a woman every time they talked, as though he wanted to spread his happiness around. It got to be a bit much sometimes. Hell, it was getting downright aggravating.

Lucas liked women fine, but he didn't need one around all the time. He was fine as he was, and wished his friend would respect that.

E
mily couldn't keep still
. Now that she'd taken the plunge and hired a bodyguard, waiting for him to arrive was more stressful than she could have imagined. Before, she'd felt almost resigned to her helplessness. Now that someone was on the way to protect her, suddenly the danger she was in seemed more real. Whoever was after her could appear at any time, and what if they got here before her protector did?

Every noise outside made her jump, and she crept to the window, checking to see if there was any sign of him. The street outside was empty, quiet, and somehow that made it worse. If there were people out there, surely she'd be safe from an attacker. With no witnesses, though, anything could happen.

Turning back to the laptop she considered emailing the company again and asking how long she'd have to wait. She'd asked for him to be here as soon as possible. But the website hadn't told her anything other than that her order had been accepted and her card had been charged, as though she'd been arranging for a grocery delivery rather than in fear for her life!

Before she could make up her mind about contacting them, she heard another sound outside. A heavy footstep, approaching her front door. Spinning back to the window, she peeked out and gasped in horror.

Walking up the path was a man out of her worst nightmares. A huge, towering monster of a man, well over six feet tall and almost as broad across the shoulders, he looked like a terrifying thug. His dark hair was cut short, his strong jaw shaded with stubble, and his mouth was set in a hard line. His eyes were narrowed, glaring around as he made his way up to the door with a smooth economical grace.

His arms were so muscular that she wondered where he found clothes to fit them, and he didn't look like he was carrying an ounce of fat. His whole body was chiseled muscle, and he looked like he'd be able to smash through anything in his way. Exactly the kind of man she was afraid of finding her.

The man stood for a moment at the door, looking around left and right. Emily quietly backed away from the window, hoping he hadn't seen her move, and then rushed to the back of the small apartment. There was a window in the bedroom that didn't face onto the street – she still had a chance to escape!

The doorbell buzzed, a long insistent tone that somehow managed to take her by surprise as she was opening the window. She bit down a yelp of shock, grabbing the laptop from the bed and stuffing it into its bag as she pulled her way outside. Trying to do two things at once was a struggle and a second buzz from the door made her jump. Her head smacked into the window frame with a dull
thud
and she cried out as she fell to the ground outside.

Where do I go?
She asked herself, picking herself up and hoping he hadn't heard the noise. She moved towards the back of the house, hoping that there was a way to make it to the next street and cursing herself for not having checked before.
This was the last place I could think of to stay – what can I do now? If they can find me here, they can find me anywhere.

She didn't even know who was after her. How could she avoid them, when they could find her but she knew nothing about them?

She was preoccupied with that thought as she hurried around the back of the converted garage, and smack-dab into the chest of the huge man who'd been at the door moments earlier. Emily screamed and jumped back, adrenaline surging through her system. Not only was he terrifyingly big, he was fast too. And quiet on his feet when he wanted to be, it seemed. The big man froze for just a second, looking as surprised as she was, and she took the chance that gave her.

She swung the laptop bag by its strap, all her strength powering it into his face. His hand came up, lightning-fast, but he couldn't quite get there in time to stop the corner of the laptop smacking into his face with a meaty
thud
.

He grunted in pain, dropping the bag to cover his eye with his hand, and Emily made a break for it, turning around to run for the road. She didn't make it more than two steps before he caught up with her, grabbing her and throwing her to the ground. Emily landed on her butt with a gasp, the impact driving the air out of her, and she looked up at the man towering over her.

His eyes were narrowed, glowering down with a rage that looked strong enough to kill. They were a cold sky gray, she noticed, thick dark brows curving angrily over them. Her eyes were suddenly picking out details she'd usually miss as she prepared to die.

But he didn't move towards her. He just looked down, from her to the laptop bag that lay on the grass beside her and back again. After a long moment, he growled. "What the hell did you do that for?"

The skin around his left eye was darkening, bruising. Emily stared up, too scared to speak, torn between being proud that she'd managed to hit him and terrified of what the monstrous man would do in return.

Finally, he took a step forward. Emily instinctively shrank back, scrabbling along the ground until her back met a wall.

"Don't hurt me!" Her voice came out a squeak, sounding ridiculous in her ears. She knew she had no chance of running, no chance of getting away – this man moved with the speed of a striking cat right after being hit in the face. She couldn't hope to outdistance him.

He stopped, looking down at her with an expression she couldn't read. Angry, yes. But there was something else, something which made his face close up and his lips narrow as he looked at her. The pause stretched, and Emily couldn't work out what he was waiting for.

Maybe he's not here to kill me?
Could she allow herself that hope? She hadn't thought she could, but if he wasn't attacking her now, then maybe, just maybe…

Slowly, carefully, trying not to startle the man, she reached for her laptop. Her hands shook as she lifted it and offered it to him. The man's face darkened further, and his eyes locked with hers. The powerful intensity of those steel-gray eyes made her shudder, but she couldn't look away.

With one steady hand, he took the laptop case. She let go, hoping that was all he wanted, but he stayed there, mouth narrowing further. They stared into each other’s eyes.

"Why the hell do you think I'm going to hurt you?" His voice was gravelly, powerful, and angry. "If you're Emily Shaw, I'm here because you hired me to be here, and if you're done attacking me I'd like to find out what for."

He didn't wait for an answer. His powerful hand closed around her forearm, and with no sign of effort, he lifted her back to her feet, letting go as soon as she had her balance. Emily stared at him, her mouth gaping wide as she tried to process that.
This
was the bodyguard she'd hired? This, this
thug
?

She felt her legs go weak as she stared at him, and the world seemed to close in around her. The edges were dark and everything was spinning. The only solid thing in her world was his face, hard and stern and angry. Then even that faded to black.

* * *

L
ucas swore
, catching the woman as she fell limp. He hadn't meant to frighten her, but that didn't seem to count for much – she had fainted dead away.

What was she doing running out of the side of her home, anyway? She'd hired a bodyguard so presumably she had
something
to worry about, but she should have been expecting him.

He rubbed his eye, wincing slightly.
Yeah, that's going to be a shiner,
he grumbled to himself, wondering what he was meant to do now. He'd heard a noise at the side of the house and gone to investigate, only to be clocked in the head with a bag by his client, and then frightened her into unconsciousness by accident. This wasn't a scenario that any of his training prepared him for.

I can't just leave her here.
Sighing, he picked her up and carried her around the building again, hoping no one would see him. It wouldn't be easy to explain what had happened, and he could hardly be sure that she'd vouch for him when she regained consciousness.

Luck was with him, though. The street was still deserted and while the door might have been locked, that wasn't much of an impediment to him. Slipping a set of lock-picks out of his pocket, Lucas had it open in seconds and carried his new client into her living room. The apartment was small, very small for a man his size, but at least it was decently furnished. He put the woman down on her sofa to recover and considered his options.

First of all, he took a good look at his client. Usually, he'd at least have had a photo to work from if he hadn't already met whoever he was working for.
Another problem with that damned website,
he thought, cursing himself for having come up with the idea.

She wore her hair long, and the tangled blond hair fell over her round face, hiding it. Her eyes were closed now, but he'd seen them when she had stared up at him in terror. Bright blue, sparkling like the sea. She was wearing old blue jeans and a baggy top that obscured her figure, though it looked like she was curvy under it, and she had a pair of sneakers on. At least if she was going to try to run, she was dressed reasonably for it.

I guess I might as well get on with my work,
Lucas thought when it became clear she wasn't waking up straight away. He set about securing the small building, closing and locking the door. He made a mental note to upgrade the locks into something he wouldn't be able to open with a paperclip and half a minute. The door wasn't solid enough to resist much force, but that would have to wait.

The kitchen area was small, and there wasn't anything there to worry him. The bathroom was secure, windowless, and cramped. Last, he checked the bedroom, closing and locking the window Emily had escaped out of.

And that was that. It was a tiny place to call home, and he noticed that there were no personal things in it. There were no personal touches at all, really, almost as though it was a hotel suite. By the time he had come back to the living room, Emily was stirring on the sofa, so he sat down in the chair opposite her. If he could make himself smaller, maybe she'd find him less intimidating? It seemed worth a try.

Emily still squealed when she opened her eyes and saw him there, sitting across from her. She sat up, clutching a cushion to herself like a protective amulet, and stared at him for a long second.

"Don't be so scared," he growled, and then breathed deeply, trying to control his irritation. That tone wasn't likely to reassure her, he realized, and tried again. "My name is Lucas Barns, I'm from Guardian Bears Security, and I'm here to help. You hired us, remember?"

"I – I'm sorry," she said, voice small and scared. "I didn't know who you were. I thought you were here to hurt me!"

She was looking at him with a mix of terror and awe, which only fueled the anger burning inside him. He didn't like that she was afraid of him. And he didn't like that someone was scaring her enough that she'd react to a stranger at her door like that. First running, then trying to fight. And when that didn't work, she'd just given up.

It made him mad that she'd just begged him not to hurt her, just given up on fighting back or escaping him so easily.

With an effort, he hid his emotions as best he could. The effort came too late: Emily shrank back into the sofa and he cursed under his breath, sitting back and trying not to loom over her. The small space made that difficult, but it was all he could do.

Now that she was awake, he could see her better. She pushed the hair from her face and looked at him, blue eyes wide. Her face, now that he could see it properly, was pretty, though she was pale enough that he thought she didn't spend enough time outdoors. Still, she had a charm about her. A nice, normal prettiness, with a cute blush on her pale cheeks.

"Don't stare at me like that," she muttered, looking away at last. Lucas shook his head.

"I've got to know what you look like," he said. "I'm meant to be here to protect you. I can't do that if I can't recognize you easily. Or if you attack me and run off like an idiot!"

He hadn't meant for that last bit to come out as a snarl, but he couldn't help himself. His eye was throbbing with pain, but his pride was more injured – she really shouldn't have been able to take him by surprise like that. He wasn't looking forward to telling Marcus and Karl about that one.

She shrank back from him again, by now edged as far back as possible into the corner of the sofa. But her eyes flashed with something other than fear.

"I thought you were one of
them
," she said, venom in the word. "I did what I had to, to get away."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't great. If I'd been a bad guy, you'd have
really
been in trouble."

"Hey, at least I hit you! Some bodyguard you are if
I
can give you a black eye," she snapped. Before he could reply, the flash of fire in her eyes was overwhelmed with fear, and she looked away.

Lucas had to laugh at that, rubbing the spreading bruise. It was a bit bleak, but there was genuine humor in it. "You did, I suppose. I'm not sure you ought to remind me, though."

"Sorry! I didn't mean that," she said. "I didn't mean to, it was just a reflex."