In a Badger Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,109
graveside had mortified and embarrassed her big sister, she had failed to see how much their father had managed to hurt Charlie . . . again. Even when you hated your father, you didn’t actually want to know that he’d never cared. At all. That he’d only wanted sons and not the amazing daughters he’d been lucky enough to have.
Daughters that other people would have been proud to have.
Stevie glanced around, saw that everyone was watching them. Not wanting all these nosy badgers in their business, she grabbed her sister’s hand and dragged her to the other side of the establishment, heading toward the hallway where the four old grizzlies were standing.
As she neared the bears, one pointed at her and began, “This area is off—”
“Bears!” she screamed, startling the four males and sending them off in different directions. Stevie didn’t know why she’d screamed that, but it was the only way she could think of to alleviate her panic in that moment. She wanted a quiet place for her and her sister to talk without all their relatives listening. But that meant she had to get past the bears she’d been terrified of.
So she’d screamed. She’d screamed, “Bears!” And it had worked! Which was very nice. She’d have to try it again . . . at some point.
Stevie went down the hall and opened the first door she came to. And that’s where she and Charlie froze, gazing at the two females across the room from them. One sat on a card table. She looked vaguely familiar but clearly not important enough for Stevie to make sure she remembered her down the line. But the other woman . . . the one standing by that card table . . .
That was the woman Stevie had accidentally mauled at the Jean-Louis Parker rental house.
Eyes wide, her prey . . . er . . . the poor female stared like she was afraid Stevie was going to come for her again. Not surprising, her fear, considering the damage Stevie had done to her.
Bruises covered her face and ran down her body. Easy to see since she wore a tank top and shorts. Anything exposed seemed to have a bruise or cut on it.
Stevie felt horrible. She’d never meant to hurt anyone that way. And her cousin Mairi didn’t count because she’d hurt their dog!
While Stevie and her victim stared at each other, her friend’s confused gaze continued to bounce back and forth between them.
They were all silent for several very long seconds until Charlie said, “Hey! Aren’t you the dumb-ass who hugged my sister?”
That’s when Stevie yanked Charlie from the room, slamming the door behind them.
* * *
“That’s the woman that kicked your ass?”
Blayne faced her best friend in the world. “You didn’t see her, Gwenie! She was huge!”
“She’s not a hundred pounds soaking wet. And honey badgers are like—”
“She’s also half tiger.”
“So am I. When I shift, I’m three hundred pounds. Pop-A-Cherry,” she went on, using their one-time team captain’s derby name, “is about a thousand pounds when she shifts—”
“I don’t care. I’m telling you that girl was, like, a billion pounds.”
Gwen smirked. “Just admit you were beaten up by a little girl.”
“I was not!”
* * *
Stevie pushed her sister into an empty room, closed the door, and then locked it. She rested her head against the wood and tried not to cry.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She faced Charlie. “Are you kidding? Did you see that poor woman?”
“Yeah, I saw her. And she shouldn’t have grabbed you. Someone grabs me, I beat the shit out of them.”
Stevie crossed her arms over her chest and began pacing the room. “This is why I should look into—”
“If this is about fucking with your DNA again . . . just forget it. I mean it.”
“You can’t tell me what to do. I’m an adult. And if I want to get—”
“Something that is unnatural and not fair to you?”
“Was it fair that I beat that woman to hell and back?”
“She shouldn’t have touched you. It’s not like you sneezed and accidentally shifted. And we’ll get your panic disorder under control. I have faith.”
“Wouldn’t you at least like to stop worrying about that part of me?”
“That part of you is you. I want you the way you are. Gaining control of something is not the same as eliminating it forever.”
“It’s not like I’m getting anything surgically removed. I don’t know why you’re so against this—you don’t shift.”