by J. K Harper
Cortez had texted her earlier in the day just to ask what she was doing. Hearing from him made her heart pitter pat. But when she'd asked how he was doing, his answer had been vague. Okay. Call you when I'm on my way back into town tonight.
She answered him with smile, heart, and kiss emojis, feeling silly as she did. Then she simply said, Yes.
Jessie, who was clearing tables near her, caught her unfocused gazing at her computer. "Nickel for your thoughts?"
Haley smiled halfheartedly and leaned back to stretch. "My thoughts aren't worth that much today, to be honest. Where's Grant?"
A proud smile blazed over Jessie's face. "He went to work with Shane today. Which means Shane is letting him ride in front of him on the tractor while he clears some snow."
Haley sighed at the sweet image. "It sounds more productive than my day's been. Jessie," she asked, hesitantly. "Do you know anything about guest complaints at the lodge?" She kept her voice low, mindful of out-of-towners who might be seated at some of the tables nearby. Everyone in the place was probably too busy enjoying baked goods and coffee as they chatted amongst themselves to pay any attention to what she was saying, but she wanted to be careful.
Jessie finished wiping down the chair seat and then came and stood by Haley's table. "Not much. I think Quentin and Abby are in charge of that kind of thing. Shane does behind the scenes stuff, like maintenance, so he never knows anything about the guests. Since I work here, I don't hear much scuttlebutt about the lodge. Why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering," Haley hedged. But Jessie was sharp.
"Ah. Something go on with a tour?" She framed her words carefully, probably also mindful not to be talking about lodge business in a public place. But Haley knew that Jessie understood why she had asked.
Clinking her often-gnawed fingernails against her laptop, Haley nodded.
Jessie sighed. “Poor Cortez. That sucks. He's had such a tough time these past several months since the accident. But you've made an enormous change in him, Haley. I can see it. Everyone else can, too."
Haley looked up at Jessie's kind expression. "A big enough change that can help him when he keeps getting knocked back down?"
Jessie made a face. "That's a good question. I don't know, but I will say this. He has a much better chance now that you're in his corner. Hey, before I forget, we're thinking of having drinks in town tonight. Me, Shane, Quentin and Abby. I bet Beckett and your friend Pix would come, too," she added with a knowing grin.
“Probably,” Haley agreed. She had barely seen Pix for days now, since her friend was ensconced in some sort of love nest at Beckett's place outside of town. She was thrilled Pix had met her mate, knowing what a big deal that was for shifters.
So was Cortez her mate now too? She wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure she was ready for that. After Justin, being anyone's mate seemed like an undertaking that might be fraught with peril.
As soon as she thought that, though, she knew the difference. She'd never really wanted to be with Justin, not deep down. Not in the way she should have. But Cortez? Oh, yeah. He was hers. Down to her toes, she knew that.
As Jessie headed back behind the counter, Haley thought about what she had said. After several more minutes, she realized she wasn't getting get any more work done at the Mountain Muffin this afternoon. She might as well head back to the house and do something useful, like clean for a while. She packed up her stuff and headed out the door, waving at Jessie. As she went out into the dull, gray day, she passed more people heading in to grab a treat. Their casual cheer irrationally bugged her. Had any of them been guests at the lodge and taken a tour? Maybe complained about Cortez? She frowned at people on the street, recognizing how ridiculous she was being.
It just sucked so much not being able to help him. She might as well take it out on innocent strangers while she walked back to the house.
On an impulse, she veered off onto a side street to head down to Silvertip Creek where it gurgled in frozen passage through town. She liked to walk this way, even though it was out of the way and would take her twice as long to get to the house. But it usually wasn't crowded, and on a day like this one, in which gray skies and flat light made everything seem dull and uninspiring, she might even have it to herself.
As she walked, she tried to organize her thoughts into something that made more sense and thus would give her something to hold onto. An anchor.
1. She really liked Deep Hollow. The community was tight-knit but welcoming, and she felt comfortable here. Like she belonged.
2. She was making some real friends here, like Jessie and Abby. A girl needed strong girlfriends that were fun and would have her back. She instinctively knew that both of them fit the bill. And she would be the same right back for them.
3. Although she hadn't seen Pix in almost three days, they talked and texted. It was clear that what Pix had with Beckett was real. Pix always had been a wanderer, but it sounded like she was going to settle into Deep Hollow, which was awesome. Having her bestie here would make Haley feel even more grounded, not to mention just completely thrilled.
4. This was a fantastic place to be a writer. She could go hiking in the mountains to clear her head, hang out at the Mountain Muffin to get a boost of energy by being surrounded by others, and even if she didn't actually make it as a writer on her own, she could probably get a job at the bakery or maybe even up at the lodge cleaning rooms or something.
5. No, screw that negative shit. She had to stop being so anxious about her writing. She had to shove aside the nasty old voice that her ex had stuck inside her head that said she couldn't do it without him. She'd been getting good feedback from her beta readers about this book, and she could just feel how strong it was. She only had one chapter to go, and it was going to be good. So basically, she was a kickass writer for sure, and she just needed to stomp on all the ugly bullshit from the past until it was squished into nothing. Stomp stomp stomp.
6. Cortez. He knew how to kiss. Ooh, did he know how to kiss. And he knew how to be nice. He also knew how to be wild, in a super sexy way. Most important of all, he knew how to look right into her and see all the best parts, and then hold up a mirror to her so she could see them too.
7. Cortez again. She for real, truly deeply madly, loved him. Enough said.
8. He was battling inner demons of doubting himself and being unsure about his future, just like she was, but she could see so clearly that he was strong and powerful and would be able to get past anything. Especially with her around to help him see that, just like he was helping her see the same about herself.
9. But right now, she wasn't quite sure how to help him see that, since she was doubting herself again too. So that sucked.
10. Biggest of all: She'd already decided, deep in her heart and on every level of her soul, that this was her new home and that Cortez was her man, forever. Definite truth.
Just listing everything out in her head like that made her feel calmer. Better. More on top of the situation. When Cortez got back later today, she would throw him down on the bed and have her dirty way with him, even though it made her laugh to think that she would ever remotely be able to throw him down considering he was about twice the size of her. Then they would kiss the doubt and fears out of one another, and everything would be okay.
Satisfied with her thoughts, Haley blinked and took note of her surroundings. She was at the river, almost to the bridge. As she'd suspected, no one else was around. She sighed at how pretty it was, despite the grayness of the day. Oh yeah, maybe that was number eleven. Okay then:
11. The natural beauty around here soothed her soul as much all the other good parts. That was super important.
Just before she reached the bridge, her phone jingled in her pocket. Fishing it out, she saw Pix's name flashing on the screen. Hurriedly tugging off her mitten, she swiped to answer with a delighted, "What's up in the love nest, Pixie girl?"
But Pix's tight, worried voice stopped her dead in the middle of the bridge.
"Haley, I just saw Justin in town. Where are you?"
A coldness that had nothing to do with the day seemed to creep through Haley. She stood rooted to the spot on the bridge, listening to the icy chuckle of the creek below. "What? That's impossible.” Her voice croaked on the words. “He doesn't know where I am. Maybe it was someone who just looked like him?"
Pix shut down her grasping at straws. "No, it was definitely him. I'd recognize that shitweasel anywhere. I don't know what he's doing here, but I don't like it. Where are you?"
Haley shivered, peering at the dimly lit trees on the other side of the creek with trepidation. "I'm on the creek bridge. I'm heading back to the house."
"Beckett and I will meet you at the house. He texted Cortez and told him to call right away, but hasn't heard back yet. He might be working somewhere in a part of the lodge that doesn't have any cell service. How worried do you think we should be? Justin's probably just being an asshole, but I don't understand why he's actually here." Pix sounded concerned. Really concerned. She knew as well as Haley what a monstrous asshole Justin had turned out to be.
"I don't get it either—" Haley barely began when a familiar voice behind her suddenly cut her off.
"Hello, Haley. Imagine running into you out here in the middle of nowhere. Or should I say, in the middle of shifter territory?"
Haley whirled around in shock, her body completely icing over at the voice—and the words.
Her ex-husband, Justin, stood right behind her. The brutally cold look in his eyes and the bizarre, unhinged smile on his face froze her in sheer terror.
“Hey, baby. Miss me?”
15
Haley stared back at Justin with the usual stupid reaction that happened when she was really knocked off her axis: she couldn't speak. Words died in her throat, jumbled up in her mind, and she didn't know what to say. Stunned like a deer in the headlights, about to be run over.
In her ear, Pix was saying with increasing urgency, "Haley? Haley, what's going on? Is he there? Haley!"
Justin suddenly lunged forward. Haley squeaked and jerked back, dropping the phone to the ground. With a glacial smile, he shot his leg forward and neatly kicked it off the bridge. Her phone was swallowed into the icy creek below.
She stared at him in horror, her heart beating inside her like that of a tiny little creature that had suddenly encountered a deadly predator. Finally, she managed to shove words past her constricted throat. "What—what are you doing here? My phone," she added disjointedly, looking at the creek before she looked wildly back at him. She took half a step backward. "How did you find me? And how do you know about shifters?" The words came faster, spilling heedlessly out of her as her shocked brain caught up and tried to find some coherence.
Justin smiled at her. A calculating, still utterly creepy smile that went nowhere near his eyes. "Because I'm smart, Haley. I tracked your IP address through that last email you sent me. I also had a very good source of information here that told me you were around."
He tracked her IP address? The insidious lengths to which he would go became crystal clear and even more terrifying. Staring at him, this man who once had been her husband, someone she so foolishly had thought she loved, and really seeing the truth of how genuinely screwed up he was, made something else even more clear.
Cortez wasn't fucked up, nor was he a fuckup. Haley wasn't fucked up, either. No, Justin had just proved to her what true ugliness really was. He was beyond repair. He was a monster. She blinked, stunned at the clarity she'd never before truly recognized.
She'd never been the broken one.
Instead, Justin had been the messed up one all along. He'd just made her feel like she was the one who could never be healthy and whole again. She'd bought it, but it wasn't the truth. It never had been.
"How do you know about shifters?" she asked again, her voice still ragged, trying to buy herself time. She literally had no idea what he was capable of right now, but she knew if he tried anything really scary, she couldn't defend herself. Justin was a pretty big guy. Nowhere near as big as Cortez, but bigger and much stronger than Haley.
His eyes never left hers as he spoke. It was unnerving. "Remember Marisa? The woman I left you for?"
The blunt, perfunctory way he said it took her breath away. How had she ever thought he was a good person?
She moved her head in a jerky nod.
"As it turns out, she was special in more ways in one. She's a panther shifter. She explained everything about shifters to me." A brash grin lined his face, though his eyes were still dead pools of black.
Panther shifters? Like the ones who'd given Cortez such a hard time? Suddenly, despite her fear, she just wanted to reach forward and slap that ugly grin off of him. Narrowing her eyes, she shot back, "There's no such thing as panther shifters. That's just a highfalutin' name for mountain lions. She sounds like a snob." Haley was half delighted and half shocked at her boldness, but Justin's face instantly became so angry, so ruthless, her heart almost stopped.
"What the fuck do you know, you stupid little cunt. All you were ever good for was working for me."
His menacing voice rattled her entire body. Her mind now beginning to gibber with fear even though she tried to hold onto her anger, she steadily replied, "I never worked for you, Justin. I was working for us, you and me both, but you never appreciated it. You lost out on a good thing when you screwed me over."
He sneered, curling his lip. Haley caught a glimpse of something horrifying in his mouth.
Long, sharp canine teeth.
"Oh, my god," she breathed as a deep, instinctive terror clawed its way through her. "What are you? Did she turn you?"
She didn't know it was possible for shifters to show part of their animal while still in human form. But Justin had sharp teeth in his mouth. Teeth like a big cat's.
"Yes. Everything is more amazing now that she turned me, Haley." Something strange lurched in his eyes then. A flash of something more than the cold darkness. A flash of something distinctly not human. She took another step backward.
Had Pix heard her say where she was? Would she know? Haley was alone with someone who clearly was a madman, a madman who now was very lethal. Haley was just a human. Vulnerable. Now, she understood why Shane wanted Jessie to turn. Haley couldn't protect herself against a shifter. Especially not one who seemed insane.
Justin started to laugh, revealing those sharp teeth. Haley could hear her own terrified breathing, ragged and loud in the oppressive silence of the day. She could see it in his eyes now. True, literal madness. Had getting turned into a shifter made him insane? Were mountain lions insane? Or...maybe Justin always had been insane and she'd just never seen it.
"Being turned made me realize what I had been missing. It also made me realize our story isn't over yet, Haley."
He stalked toward her. Hissing. Hissing, like a fucking cat. Holy shit. Kitty, kitty, big fucking kitty. Big, dangerous, menacing kitty.
Her heart was catapulting out of her chest, her limbs liquified by fear. Once again, she couldn't move.
"Our story is that you can come with me, Haley.” He grinned in a way that raised the hair on her neck. “Not with that stupid bear you've been hanging out with. Your place is with me."
Her blood curdled. What? She stared at him in shock.
He laughed. “Oh yes, I know all about that fucking bear. I've been around here for a while now. Watching you. Watching you with him.”
Her stomach lurched. The cat scream in the woods at Cortez's place that day. Justin.
"I'm with a group of shifters who are much better than any of the ones here, Haley. You can join us. You will join us. It's a completely new world." He laughed suddenly, an ugly, definitely crazy sound that scratched the air, making her recoil. "Just think of all the new stories I'll have for you to write down and sell so we can make even more money than we did before. We need that money." His lip curled up in a snarl. A very animal-like snarl. Holy fuck, that was terrifying.
Ha
ley shook her head. Focus. She had to stay calm and focus, or else she would die. She tried desperately to make her voice nonthreatening, though it shook so hard she almost couldn't speak. “W-what happened to the new writer you found. C-can't he write down stories for you?"
She was close to the other side of the bridge. It was completely insane and stupid, but maybe if she ran for it, she'd be able to hide in the trees. No. That was totally dumb. As a shifter now, he'd be able to smell her no matter where she headed. Besides, she wasn't sure she could get her legs to work, she was so scared. Cortez. Where was he?
I can't rescue anyone anymore, Haley.
No. He would find her. She believed in her man. Her bear. She had to believe in him.
"The new writer was okay but then he got greedy. He wanted credit and more money. I had to cut him loose. You, Haley.” Justin's eyes bored into hers, gleaming in an eerie way. They were freaking her out. “You'll come back to me. Especially after I bite you and make you mine."
Wait, what? She stared at him in deeper horror. No. No, no, no. Why hadn't she asked Cortez to turn her already? She could defend herself if she was a bear. She could—
"I'm ready, Haley. Are you?" Justin's eyes suddenly glowed a bright copper.
She opened her mouth to scream.
Too late. He changed into an enormous mountain lion and leapt at her like a snarling, clawed wall of doom.
16
An earthshaking roar shattered the silence as Haley turned to run. She slipped on some ice and went down, hard. Screaming, she tried to scramble back to her feet, but Justin grabbed her foot and yanked at her.
Then suddenly, he let go.
A chorus of horrifying growls and snarls ripped through the air, coming from everywhere. All around them. She staggered up and turned around, holding onto the bridge railing, and stared. An enormous, stunning chocolate-cinnamon bear grabbed the mountain lion, his dinner plate-sized paw raking with huge, lethal claws down the cat's back, eliciting a yowling shriek of rage and pain.