Hers (6 page)

Sammy bounced in her seat with excitement the whole
ten minute drive to the beach. She got her L plates out of the glove
compartment, and as soon as he parked she was out of the car and putting them
on the car.

Slater got out and took a deep breath in of the sea
air before he walked around to the passenger side and got in. Sammy was in the
driver’s side fixing the mirror and seat.

“Okay, so what did you start with Brock yesterday?”

Both of Sammy’s hands sat on the top of the wheel,
and she had a huge grin on her face. “We reversed out and drove down to the end
of the car-park and back again. Towards the end he let me drive up and down the
deserted street.”

Slater wondered why Brock had looked so frazzled
when that was all they’d done. Sammy had talked about yesterday like Brock had
taken her for a proper drive. Shrugging his shoulders he put his seat belt on.
“Today we’ll do the same and get you used to the car. So how about you put the
car in reverse and back out of this spot? Then put the car into drive and go
down to the end and around the roundabout and back again. Just drive the same
as you drove with Brock.”

Sammy nodded, put the car in reverse, put her foot
down on the accelerator and backed out until she hit the curb and went up it.
Slater’s stomach came up and back down in seconds as she slammed on the brakes.

“Crap. Forget I did that.” She shot him an innocent
smile, put the car into drive, and sped down the end of the car-park.
 

Holy
shit!
Thank God he was a shifter, as otherwise he would have just had a heart attack.
In a car-park that the top speed should be twenty kilometers per hour, Sammy
was doing almost eighty. He had no idea how all the wheels were still on the
road as she went around the roundabout. His voice came back up again, and he
yelled.

“Slow down. This is not a marathon. You’re in a
car-park. Didn’t Brock tell you to slow down?”

“No. He told me to have fun and get comfortable with
the car. I’m going a lot slower with you than Brock.”

Slater shook his head. “Slow down and back out
slowly. I might be a shifter, but I’d like to live through this.”

Sammy rolled her eyes at him. “I think you’re being
a bit dramatic.”

“I’m not. You need to slow down.”

. This time when Sammy backed out she didn’t swear
when she hit the curb, but she did slam the brakes on before she put it into
drive and sped off. Sammy slowed down this time but not by much.
 
He grabbed the door handle as she did sixty
around the small roundabout. She hit a pot hole and swerved.

“Stop!
Stop!”

Sammy slammed on the brakes, and the car seemed to
wobble. She turned to him. “I was slowing down. You don’t have to scream at me
to get me to stop.”

“Yes, I do. You weren’t slowing down. For crying out
loud, use some common sense. You go slower around the corners and roundabouts.
That’s why you lost control of the car over the pothole.” He ran his fingers
through his hair, yanking at his hair. “Ease out of park when you’re backing
out and be mindful of the curb.”

“Okay, I get it. But you didn’t have to yell. I’m
only learning.”

“I wasn’t yelling. You almost killed us.”

“I did not. This is an empty car park.”

“What if we were on the road?”

“We’re not. We are in this empty car-park so I can
learn.” Sammy started the car back up and drove down the car-park at a much
better speed.

“This is more like it.”

“If you’d told me you wanted to go slower I would
have gone slower. You said to do what I did with Brock, so I did.”

Slater felt like pulling his hair out. How could
Sammy not know to go slower around corners and roundabouts?
 
“For fuck’s sakes, didn’t Brock teach you to
go slow and stick to speed limits yesterday?”

“Not really. Brock said he wanted me comfortable
with the car first.
 
He said to get a
feel for it and what I thought was safe.”

“Fucking hell, no wonder he looked frazzled
yesterday. Did he teach you anything? How on earth can you think what we did
was a safe speed? Only an idiot would think that!”

“You’re yelling again. There is no need to yell at
me. I don’t like being yelled at or told I’m an idiot. I think I’ve had enough
for today.”

Slater couldn’t believe it. Brock was in the wrong,
and he was the one copping it. “No. You’re not finished. We are going to drive
this car-park if it fucking kills me.”

She pulled to a stop. “I’m not going to do anything
if you keep yelling at me. Please stop yelling.”

Sammy went to get out of the car. He gripped her arm
tight before she got any further. “I’m not yelling!”
Shit.
He was. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to teach Sammy to drive. He
knew aggression and yelling were two of her triggers.

“Let. Go.
Of.
Me. Now.
Slater.”
Sammy wrenched
her arm from his hold as she emphasized every word. When Sammy was free of him
she opened her door and got out.

Smashing his fist into the dash board he swore when
he heard it crack. Getting out of the car he went after Sammy.

“You can’t walk home. Come on and get back in the
car. I’ll drive you home.”

“No, thank you. I don’t feel like going anywhere
with you right now.” He could see the tears glistening in her eyes.

Growling at the situation he grabbed Sammy by the
waist and hauled her back to the car.

“Let me go now, Slater. I can’t believe you’re doing
this to me. Put me down right this minute, or I’ll never forgive you.” She
kicked and banged on his arm.

Placing her down in front of the passenger side he
tilted her head up to him. “You need to calm down. You’re overreacting. You don’t
get to act like a child. This is all over me telling you to slow down. If you
can’t handle this how will you handle the rest? Don’t be an idiot about this. You
can’t run away or ignore the situation any time you don’t like it.”

Oh
crap.
He heard the words come out of his month, and he couldn’t believe he’d grabbed
her like that, and to go as far as to call her a child … surely she’d been
called many things before by that bastard. How could he repeat the behavior? Sammy’s
eyes were as wide as saucers, and he watched as a tear fell down her cheek.

Slater knew he’d done and said the wrong thing. He
stepped back, and as soon as he did she straightened and opened the car door
and got in without saying a word.
 
He
felt like shit. He should never have said anything or do what he did,
especially with Sammy’s history. If his mother ever heard what he’d said he’d
never hear the end of it. She’d told him that humans were more sensitive than
shifters, and if he did what Slater’s father had done to her she would
personally castrate him.
   

Going around to the driver’s side he got in and put
the car seat back and fixed the mirror, started the car, and drove back to
Sammy’s place.

After a good five minutes or so of silence and
waiting for Sammy to say something, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have
said what I did. I thought I was patient, but I’m not.”

Sammy didn’t answer, and he glanced at her to see
her cowering almost huddled in her seat. His heart sank, and he felt worse. His
bear whined, and Slater could feel he was angry with him for treating their
mate the way they had. He hated the way she was right now. He’d rather her
yelling and fighting than cowering in the corner.

****

Brock sat in his captain’s office waiting for him to
come out and tell him why he was called in. The small talk was almost over, and
Brock knew it must be something big if he started the conversation with small
talk rather than getting to the point.

“As I said I’m glad you’re doing better now your
mate is giving you a chance, but I was thinking that maybe you could casually
drop some questions to her about Breakaway precinct. Internal Affairs has asked
for information, and I said I would have a talk to you. I thought you could
maybe slip a couple of questions in.”
 

Brock growled and stood. “I knew something wasn’t
right with that station. I don’t know anyone in our precinct that would let
someone treat their wife, mate, or girlfriend like Greg did. I don’t like
bringing it up as it makes Sammy really uncomfortable. She goes into a shell,
and it takes a while to get her out of it.”

Brock paced back and forth in his captain’s office,
unsure of what he should do. He wanted to make sure his mate was safe, and he
needed to know he could protect her. He needed to know he was better than any
other shifter for her. He would slay all her demons. Maybe if he could find out
what happened and put them all in jail Sammy would feel safe. She might stop
hiding and shrinking back in fear at the mention of Greg or anything to do with
his precinct.

“I’ll do what I can. I’ll work with her. But you
have to give me time.”

His captain stood and nodded.
“Fine.
We will try and see what you can get out of her before we try drastic
measures.”

Brock opened the door and left the office. He hoped
it didn’t come to drastic measures. He didn’t want Sammy in danger.
 

Going to the lockers he got changed and got in his
car to head over for his turn at having lunch with Sammy. He wondered if Slater
had survived her driving. Brock had let her go and have fun yesterday with him.
He wanted her comfortable in the car. He wanted her confident before he drilled
all the rules and instructions into her. Brock hoped Slater wasn’t too hard on
her.
  

He got in his car and started it and drove out of
the car park and to Sammy’s house. Brock pulled up just in time to see Slater
pulling into Sammy’s driveway. Brock got out and watched as Slater got out and
walked around to Sammy’s side. He opened the door, and Sammy shrank back in her
seat.

Brock moved closer and growled when he smelt the
fear, hurt, and anger coming off Sammy in waves. “What the hell did you do to
her?”

Slater turned on him, and Brock could see the worry
and regret in his eyes, although when they saw him they turned to fury.

“This is
all your
fault,
Brock. What the hell were you thinking? You didn’t even warn me she thought she
was a rally racer.”

“Stop.
Stop
right there. This isn’t my fault. When she came home after my lesson she wasn’t
fucking terrified.” Brock caught Slater’s fist as it came at him.

A whimper from the passenger seat had him pushing
Slater out of the way. He knelt down so he was eye level with Sammy.

“Hey, angel, want to tell me what’s wrong?” Brock
kept his voice low and level.

Sammy’s eyes looked unfocused. She didn’t even look
like she was with him. She was far off, someplace safe.

“Sammy, it’s me, Brock.
 
It’s safe now. You can come back. I promise
no one will hurt you or harm you in any way.”

Brock watched as Sammy’s eyes cleared, and she
focused on him. As soon as her body relaxed she took a deep breath and threw
herself at him. Brock wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

“It’s your job to teach me to drive from now on.”

Brock sighed and breathed in her scent as he stroked
her hair. “Sure, angel. It will be a thing just the two of us do.”

Sammy nodded against him, and he squeezed her closer
to his body. This shouldn’t have happened. Sammy shouldn’t have got to this stage.
She’d reported to the police her situation with Greg. Brock kissed her forehead
and stood noticing Slater had left. He’d talk to him later. But after what just
happened he knew he had to find out what was wrong with precinct Breakaway.

****

Brock taught her to drive the rest of the week. He
never yelled, and he stayed calm and never judged or told her she should have
done this or should have done that. Brock explained things calmly.

Sammy felt silly now for the way she’d reacted with
Slater. Sammy wanted to apologize to Slater, but he’d stayed away from her, and
she hadn’t seen him the rest of the week. Slater had sent her flowers, teddy
bears, boxes of chocolate, and apology letters. Tomorrow was Sandy’s wedding,
and she was supposed to be resting and going to bed early for beauty sleep, but
she needed to see Slater.

Getting off the bus she walked down to Glaser. Sammy
could see the waiting line the closer she got for the restaurant and wondered
if she should have come earlier, but she knew Slater would be here at this
time. Debating if she should wait or push her way to the front she sighed in
relief when Anna came down the line checking if people were with a large party
group that was already in and waiting on people so they could order.

“Samantha, why are you waiting out here? Come, come
on in. Slater’s woman doesn’t wait in line.”

“Hi, Anna, is Slater here? I came to see him.”