While his mind reeled, her hands worked to check his wounds. Emmy gently lifted the fabric of his shirt and pressed her hand to the space where the bullet wound had been. He felt the metal inside his body shift and sting. She made a sound with her tongue before moving onto the slow healing knife wounds. The ones on his arm and side were nothing more than shallow gashes now.
His shoulder, on the other hand, pumped fresh blood onto her lap. Emmy pressed the heel of her palm to it to staunch the blood flow, bringing a hiss to his lips.
“Big baby,” she said under her breath.
When he looked to her, there was a sad smile on her lips. He clenched his fists at his sides in an effort to keep from kissing her. The urge to pull her mouth down to his was all consuming, as if the touch would put everything he’d done behind them. There was no ignoring what he’d done.
Back at the cabin, Reid slammed the car into park and jumped out to jerk open the back door. He yanked Boomer out of the car by his ankles, earning a soft protest from Emmy. Boomer’s ass hit the ground with a jarring thud. Before him, Reid stalked back and forth.
He was livid.
“How dare you,” he growled. “How dare you endanger all of us like that!”
Neither noticed Emmy’s movement until she appeared between Reid and Boomer. Her frame was a small, inconsequential in the world of bears, and yet she managed to become an imposing force anyway. She stepped into Reid’s space, her chin tilted to meet his gaze.
“Everyone is alive. For now, we have to focus on getting the bullet out of his abdomen.”
Reid’s gaze snapped to Boomer, brows lifted in surprise. “You were shot?”
Boomer laughed, the sound growing weak. His stomach burned, made worse by Reid’s manhandling. He reached for the healed skin of his stomach and ran his fingers over the space. This was going to hurt a lot more, he thought.
Reid grumbled under his breath, something about idiots and dicks. Boomer would have socked his friend in the face when he glared at Emmy, but his mate flashed a short middle finger in her own defense. It gave Boomer hope.
Hope that she wouldn’t leave him after this was said and done. He knew she had every right. There was no bond in the world that could force her to live with someone who couldn’t keep her safe. Boomer had already proved himself foolish and unworthy. He didn’t deserve her.
He never had.
Nothing good in life ever belonged to Boomer. He tried not to think about it, about how he and the others moved from place to place, from job to job. Boomer never laid down roots, never had the chance to find a place he could have called home. He explored each stretch of wilderness his job found him in, but no matter how far he searched it was all wild freedom. The only home he’d been able to find lay with Emmy and that had been smashed.
“Inside,” Emmy commanded.
Reid reached for Boomer, but he shoved the shifter away. He didn’t need Reid’s help. The fire consuming his abdomen was nothing. He would bear it and walk on his own. Still, his feet staggered beneath him, betraying his weakness.
Emmy ran for the giant first aid kit he’d pulled out her first day with him. Boomer collapsed into a chair while she dug through it. Gauze patches and tubes of antiseptic ointment went flying across the table before she growled like a bear.
“Do you not have any scalpels? With the rate that shifters heal, I wouldn’t think this was the first time someone needed something cut out of them.”
“No scalpels. Sorry.” He bit out the words, losing the fight to his pain. Was his body pushing it to the surface? Surely if he had the energy to shift, the transformation would expel it from his flesh. But, he didn’t have the energy he needed. The bear was trapped inside his mind, screaming for Emmy to understand their plight.
His mate lurched away from the table and plucked a knife from the block next to the oven. The clicking of the gas stove filled the room. Both Boomer and Reid watched in silence as she plunged the blade into the blue flame.
“Reid, get a towel and drench it in rubbing alcohol.”
He nodded and disappeared into the bathroom, only to come out with a bath towel.
Emmy looked from the full-sized towel to Reid and back again. “I meant a hand towel. I thought that was clear. This will work for now.” She snatched it from Reid, leaving the towering blonde searching for a response.
When she knelt before Boomer and her eyes rolled up to meet his, his heart broke. He wanted to lose himself in those dark orbs, to tell her he’d done everything for her. She flashed a quick smile and warned him that this would hurt. Boomer nodded and tore away the already ripped shirt.
She wiped the blackened knife blade on the wet towel to sanitize it. Her fingers found the lump of the bullet in his body and she pressed the tip of the knife against his skin. Boomer opened his mouth to tell her she should have sharpened it first, then she pressed. He expected searing pain, but the fire that already filled his body dulled the blade slicing through his skin and flesh.
“Where did you learn how to do this? I thought you had amnesia?” Reid mumbled in the background, as if distracting himself with his own voice.
Emmy was kind enough to answer, revealing that she was a registered nurse and that her memories had come back after the cookout.
“Oh, well.”
Boomer had never seen Reid so frazzled. The normally silent and stoic man was twisted and harried. He didn’t know how to sit, pacing through the small kitchen only to further fray Boomer’s nerves. He snapped at him to sit and all Reid did was pause.
“Who were you fighting? Are there hunters after us and we didn’t even know?” Reid’s hands fisted at his sides.
Boomer opened his mouth to speak, but Emmy pressed the knife deeper and it hit the metal of the bullet, drawing a sharp gasp from Boomer. She took the moment, and Boomer’s forced silence, to explain for him.
“This idiot went to talk to my ex-husband. That was the coward crying in the corner of the motel room. I don’t know who the other man was.”
“Just a gun-for-hire,” Boomer managed to say through the pain his mate was causing. “Hayden was putting a hit out on one of us. Maybe both. I’m not sure. He wasn’t all that talkative.”
Emmy had spent too much time around the bear shifters because she began to growl. Boomer gasped once more when her fingers entered his body. He stiffened just as she grabbed the bullet and pulled it free.
“You. Make him something to eat.” She jerked her chin at Reid.
Reid met Boomer’s eyes, as if to ask if she was being serious. Boomer grinned. Reid huffed and threw his hands in the air before turning toward the fridge and yanking open the door.
“So, he was a hit man?” Emmy asked, her brows pressed together with concern.
Boomer reached for her, to soothe away the lines of worry on her face, before he let his hand fall. He didn’t deserve to touch her. Emmy needed to move on, to find someone who could truly keep her safe. The bear growled at his imagined defeat. It wasn’t ready to give up on her. It would make her see what they’d done.
Too bad what they’d done was fail.
Emmy tossed aside the bloody steak knife and let her shoulders sink. She didn’t look at Boomer while the seconds ticked by, but she eventually let her head rest against his knee. His chest tightened. He didn’t deserve her attention. She shouldn’t have even freed him from the stuck bullet.
Boomer wanted to tell Reid to help her pack and take her somewhere far away from here. He and the other bears could deal with the hit man Hayden invited into their lives. Emmy could get on with her life somewhere new. He waited for her to ask for it, herself. She deserved to be free of him.
Yet, when she lifted her head from his knee, her words took him by surprise. “How are we going to deal with this? I saw the look on that man’s face when he realized you were different. I don’t think he’s going to stop looking for you.”
***
Damned idiot, Emmy thought. Another, very loud, part of her wanted to kiss him
for what he’d intended to do. She knew Boomer might have killed Hayden, but she also knew he’d gone out to make Hayden leave her alone. Had the hit man not been there, his plan could have worked.
Behind her, Reid was slamming condiments and lunch meats onto the counter. His shoulders vibrated with anger that he’d kept pent up while she worked on Boomer. While he slathered mayonnaise onto a slice of bread, he grumbled under his breath.
“How did you know to come looking for Boomer?”
Reid’s head jerked up. She watched his lips twist into a frown. “I was in town earlier today when I heard talk of someone new in town. He stirred up a fuss because of the weapons he brought. Everyone in town knows you don’t need an automatic rifle to hunt deer. When I saw the guy talking to your ex-husband, I knew Boomer would get himself into trouble.”
Emmy wanted to shrink into nothingness. This was all her fault. She and her awful taste in men had brought this upon Boomer’s head. It was affecting his friends now, too. How could she live with herself knowing that Boomer’s pain was her fault?
She moved to stand, feeling Boomer’s gaze on her skin. While it didn’t feel accusing, she accused herself enough for the both of them. If only she had succeeded when she threw herself down that hill. Maybe then Boomer’s life would be free of the pain she’d brought into it. Reid wouldn’t be panicking over their safety.
She ran her hands through her hair and tugged, as if that might release some of the tension in her body.
“I’ll go talk to him. Maybe if I do what he wants, he’ll call off the hit man.”
Boomer shot to his feet. He winced, but the pain didn’t slow him down. Before she knew it, he was standing in front of her. “You are not to go anywhere near Hayden. Do you hear me?”
She choked back a sob that rose suddenly. “What else am I supposed to do? It seems like all I do is leave pain and destruction in my wake. I can’t bring that into your lives!”
His smile was soft and sweet. She leaned into his touch when he brushed his thumb against her cheek. Boomer was more than she ever could have asked for. She never deserved him. That much was clear. She was going to miss him.
“Listen to me. Nothing that man has done is your fault. He’s his own monster.”
“But this wouldn’t be happening if I wasn’t here!” She pulled away. It was the truth, and it frustrated her that he couldn’t see it.
Reid slammed the countertop. “If you two are done whining at each other, I think it’s time to address the real issue.” He turned toward them, looking between the two faces. “That man might just be a human-hunter, but he got a taste for shifter back there and he’s not going to stop. It doesn’t matter whose fault this is. Only that we stop it. Now.”
Chapter Fourteen
Emmy sat on the front steps of the cabin, her head in her hands. She was left out of everything, made to sit at home and wait for Boomer and Reid to return. There was no way to contact them while they prowled. All she could do was count the seconds until one of them returned.
Just to be defiant, she hadn’t prepared any dinner. She wasn’t a housewife. She wouldn’t stay home and prepare all of his meals while he made her worry. The temptation to call Dominic and compare recipes, or Orion and watch him concoct a machine to clean for her, was creeping through her mind.
It wasn’t just boredom that plagued her. In the back of her mind was the incessant fear that Boomer was hurt again. Sure, he healed quickly, but the fight had taken a lot out of him. She could tell by the ashen shade of his skin when he woke. The food they’d crammed into him the night before hadn’t been enough to replace what he’d lost.
Boomer should have taken more time. He should have returned to full health before they went hunting this hunter. Instead, they’d pressed the issue and disappeared into the mountains. She understood their impatience, but she wished she could do more to help.
If Boomer had given her what she wanted, then she could help. Instead, he felt the need to protect her from her own desires. Emmy knew what she was asking for. Perhaps not completely, but she had a good grasp on the situation. If she had her own bear and the strength that went along with it, then Boomer wouldn’t have to worry about her.
Boomer and Reid were out searching for the hunter, but they’d forgotten about Hayden. The rumble of an engine up the hill set her heart racing. It could have been any of the other bear shifters, but she knew it wasn’t. She shot to her feet and fumbled for the door. The thick wood between her and Hayden would only hold him off for so long.
Once more, she yearned for the strength Boomer and the others displayed. With it, she could have stood tall and proud. She could have fought back. Instead, she was hiding with her back pressed to the inside of the cabin door while she strained to hear over her own heartbeat.
The car engine came to a standstill, humming just beyond the door. She strained to hear, hoping for a familiar voice. Quickly, she scanned the kitchen before her. When her eyes fell on the phone on the counter, she cursed under her breath.
Emmy had known better, but with everything that happened between her and Boomer, she’d forgotten. Hayden tracked her through the phone’s GPS. Over and over, he’d found her through her last contact to the real world. She should have gotten a new one, but she didn’t trust that he wouldn’t be able to find her still.
The phone must have found signal at some point and gave away her location. Now, she was alone. There were no other houses for miles, no one else who could hear her screams.
On the other side of the door, footsteps scuffed toward her. Her chest ached from the tension. As she expected, Hayden’s voice sounded, calling out to her.
“Come out here, Emily. This vacation of yours is over. I’ll forgive you if you quietly get into the car.”
No, he wouldn’t forgive her. Every day, he would look at her with the same disdainful glare and silently accuse her of betrayal with each staggering fist. Hayden would never show her any kindness. Not as long as he saw her as an object.
She pulled her knees to her chest to hide the tremble in her limbs. What could she do to make him leave? Was there even an option other than the one he’d presented? She hoped that if she stayed silent long enough, he would assume she wasn’t home and leave.
That would never work, she realized. As soon as Hayden thought no one was home, he would force his way inside. She wasn’t sure if he would trash the cabin or search for clues as to where they’d gone. Either way, Hayden would find out she was there.
“Go away,” she called out.
He laughed from the other side of the door.
“I mean it! A bunch of very large men are on their way here right now.” It was a bluff. She had no way of contacting any of the other bears. Tears burned her eyes. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to the floor, fighting back the tightness that overtook her throat.
Desperation was sinking in. Her options were limited. She couldn’t bluff if panic took over.
“I’m not afraid of your supposed body guards. They aren’t here right now, are they?” He kicked the door as punctuation for each sentence.
She swallowed the yelps that tried to leave her. This wasn’t how it was going to end. Hayden wasn’t going to win. Emmy wanted a long and happy life with Boomer. She deserved it after all she’d gone through.
To think that she deserved happiness was a new feeling, but it was one that bolstered her. It helped her pick herself up off the ground. She grabbed a knife from the block near the stove, one larger than the steak knife she’d used to extract Boomer’s bullet, and hid it behind her thigh.
The door burst open, the lock mechanism breaking off the frame. Boomer could fix it later, she told herself. The silhouette of Hayden stepped forward. He didn’t fill the frame like Boomer or the others. His small stature was almost laughable beside her bear shifters. She’d lived around them for a while now.
If she could stand beside the bear shifters, unafraid, then she could stand against Hayden. Hadn’t he already put her
through the worst already? This was no different. Hayden could put her in the hospital, but she would survive. She would cling to life because she had a reason.
Theodore.
Knowing his real name sent a thrill though her. It brought a smile to her face.
If she screamed, would they hear it? How long would it take for them to come running? All she had to do was land one good blow on Hayden and run. As long as she could do that, she might be able to get away from him.
“What kind of depravity are you living in? Is this how you see the rest of your life?” Hayden knocked a mug from the nearby table. It crashed to the floor but didn’t break. Instead, coffee splattered like blood across the linoleum.
“It doesn’t matter what you think of it,” Emmy declared. “This is my life and you need to leave.”
Hayden laughed. He wasn’t afraid of her. She used to cower before him. She’d lived each second fearing the pain that would come. It’d burnt her from the inside out until she was nothing more than a walking shell.
Life here had replenished her. She was whole again, and she would never let Hayden take that away from her. Not if she could help it.
“Get out,” she demanded. “Go back to your life. You have a job that must be missing you.”
Everyone else always loved Hayden. It was that bright smile and charming demeanor, the one he took off the minute he passed through the door.
“Oh, I’m going back soon. I just needed to finalize this divorce you started. Women are so much more sympathetic when you’re a widower.”
One by one, his words sank in. Hayden hadn’t come to take her back. He’d come to kill her.
Emmy wasted no time. She opened her mouth and let out a piercing scream. She knew little about the shifters but hoped they would hear her. While Hayden cringed at the sound, she darted past him. He wasn’t slow. His arm snaked out to grab her.
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