Connected (Gem Creek Bears Book 5)

by Jennifer Snyder

  It wasn’t much, but would have to do.

  I made my way back outside. The guys were still going at it. They’d made it to their feet again and were sparring. As I hurried down Ruby’s steps, I glanced at the RV next door. It was still dark, and no one was peeking through the blinds that I could see. Even if they were, all they’d see were two guys fighting.

  Thankfully, neither had shifted yet.

  Still, this fight either needed to end or move to the woods. The last thing we needed was for someone to step out and try to break up the fight. They’d for sure catch a glimpse of Marshall or Rafe’s shifter eyes, and there would be no way to explain it.

  I paused once I was a few feet away from the guys and lifted the fire extinguisher so I could read the sticker. Pictures were printed on a tag of how to use it, but I couldn’t make them out very well in the dark. If I could just spray Marshall, then Rafe might be able to take advantage of the situation and take him down.

  But what if Marshall did the same? What if I distracted Rafe too, and Marshall was quick enough to use it to his advantage?

  I abandoned the idea and decided to bang Marshall over the head with it instead. Rafe slammed his fist into Marshall’s side. It was the same side he’d nailed before, but Marshall still didn’t go down. He growled and his eyes glowed brighter. I half expected him to start foaming at the mouth.

  What the hell was wrong with Marshall?

  I didn’t understand why he was here. All I knew was that this crap needed to end before everyone in the campground woke and came to see what was going on.

  Rafe twisted around, ducking another blow from Marshall and positioning the coyote shifter so that his back faced me. I slammed the fire extinguisher into the back of Marshall’s head as hard as I could. It made a loud clanking noise. His hand came up to rub the area, and then he slumped forward to the ground. Rafe flashed me a crooked grin.

  “That was a badass move,” he said, sounding breathless. He stepped closer to me. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. I noticed the neighbor’s light came on at one point and figured I needed to help you subdue him before they came to help. I didn’t want anyone to see either of your eyes doing that shifter glow thing,” I said.

  He chuckled. “That shifter glow thing?”

  I noticed he was holding his side and there was a trickle of blood coming from a cut above his brow. “Are you—? Rafe, watch out!”

  Marshall had gotten to his feet. He lunged for Rafe with something in his hand.

  When Rafe’s eyes widened, and a groan left him, I knew Marshall had stabbed him. Air hissed from Rafe’s lungs as he fell to his knees in front of me.

  “One down. So many more to go,” Marshall said, his tone so low it didn’t sound human.

  His eyes flashed silver as they locked on me, and my heart thudded forcefully inside my chest. When Marshall took a step closer, the light from the nearby lamppost better illuminated his face and I spotted blisters trailing up the left side of his neck. A few dotted that side of his face as well.

  I knew what they were from—the shifter sickness.

  “Right now, though,” Marshall said, sauntering toward me. “It’s your turn.”

  On instinct, I spun around to run inside Ruby. My only thought was to get inside and lock the door. I didn’t make it past the second step, though. Marshall was on me with lightning speed. He grabbed me from behind and pulled me down the stairs. My ankle twisted when I fell, and I busted my knee on the final step. Pain rocketed through me, but I still dug my nails into his arms and struggled to get free.

  Marshall’s grip on me didn’t loosen. Instead, it tightened.

  One of his hands came up to fist my hair, and he jerked my head to the side. He banged it against the ground so hard my teeth clicked together and my brain rattled. The coppery taste of blood exploded in my mouth, and stars dotted my vision. I continued to thrash at him, but it did nothing except excite him.

  “Tris will break apart when she finds you dead. It’s going to be priceless,” Marshall muttered, a sick smile twisting his chapped lips.

  “Tris?” I whispered.

  This was all about Tris? I realized then that Marshall was here for some sick revenge against her.

  His hands moved to wrap around my throat. I clawed at him, but he didn’t seem to feel the damage my nails were causing.

  “Don’t,” I croaked. Words that would make me seem like I was begging for my life built on my tongue, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of hearing them. Instead, I pressed my lips together and continued to put up a fight, thrusting my hips and swinging my fists. None of it seemed to matter. His fingers only tightened around my neck.

  Until something flashed in his eyes—the spark of a new idea.

  “Wait. Maybe I should bite you. Yeah. You’d become a coyote, which I’m sure would be something she’d hate even more than finding you dead.” His wicked smile grew. “Yeah, I think I like that idea better.”

  “Not happening, psycho!” Rafe shouted, his tone wheezy.

  He’d made it to his feet without either of us noticing and held the fire extinguisher in his hand. He smacked it against Marshall’s head, forcing him to fully release me and slump to the side. I crawled away from Marshall, nausea rolling through me, and propped myself up at the base of Ruby’s stairs.

  Shifter magic charged the air.

  I glanced between Marshall and Rafe, unsure who was about to shift. I spotted the fire extinguisher and the knife Marshall had used on Rafe. The fire extinguisher was closer. Gravel dug into my palms and my head swam with dizziness as I crawled toward it.

  “What the hell?” someone shouted.

  My head snapped in their direction, and I spotted Cato rushing to Rafe’s aid. I stopped crawling and pressed my fingertips to the area of my head where I felt the most pain. It was tender to the touch and sent ripples of nausea racing through me.

  That jerk gave me a conclusion.

  A loud growl and then the sound of flesh being torn sounded. My heart dropped as I shifted to see what happened. Rafe lay sprawled on the ground, blood all around him.

  “Get Tris,” Cato ground out, his eyes locked on the woods behind Ruby. “Get him some help. I’m going after Marshall.” He bolted into the woods before I could say a word.

  I got to my feet, my eyes focused on Rafe. White-hot pain shot through my ankle and the ground swayed as I made my way to him.

  Holy crap, there was a lot of blood.

  “Rafe,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “Rafe!”

  When I reached him, I placed a hand to his chest. His eyes fluttered, and I couldn’t tell if he even knew I was with him. I reached into my back pocket for my cell, but it wasn’t there. My heart rate spiked. Shit. It must have fallen out when Marshall attacked me.

  Stupid short shorts, and their dumb small pockets.

  I glanced around, searching for it. It was near the bottom of the stairs. Rafe groaned and a gurgling sound happened.

  He was bleeding out.

  My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I pushed myself to stand. I had to get to my phone. I needed to call Tris. She was the only one who could save Rafe. When I made it to my cell, I dialed Tris’s number and hurried back to Rafe’s side. The phone rang, but Tris didn’t answer.

  “No!” I hung up once her voicemail clicked on and tried again. No answer. “Damn it, Tris!”

  “Penny,” Rafe whispered.

  I fell to my knees and squeezed his hand. “Shh,” I insisted. “I’m here. Just hang on.”

  I pulled my shirt off and pressed it against the wound in his shoulder. Marshall had torn into it, ripping out a chunk. It lay on the ground, inches away. I dialed Tris again with my free hand, hoping she answered this time. I needed her.

  Rafe needed her.

  “Oh my God!” a woman cried. “What happened?”

  I glanced up to see the mom from the minivan, my new neighbor, walking her tiny dog.

  “An animal
attack,” I said. It was the first thing that came to mind. Hopefully, it was believable enough.

  “I’ll call 911,” the woman insisted, reaching for her cell.

  “No!” I shouted, knowing an ambulance and cops was the last thing Rafe needed right now. What he needed was Tris to get her ass here. He needed his Mystic.

  “He needs an ambulance,” the woman said, her tone high and strangled. “He’s been severely injured.”

  “I already called. They’re on their way.” The lie rolled off my tongue. I moved to dial Tris’s number again, but Billie jogged up.

  “What happened?” Billie asked, her eyes going bright as she and her bear surveyed the scene.

  “Marshall,” I said. “Get Tris.”

  Billie didn’t hesitate. She bolted for Tris’s cabin, and I sighed with relief. Rafe moaned. His eyes fluttered again, and I knew he was barely hanging on. He was on the verge of blacking out on me. He’d lost too much blood.

  “Hey. No. You stay with me, Rafe,” I insisted, smoothing my free hand along the side of his face.

  His eyes opened and locked with mine. His bear was there, making his eyes shine with his brightness. The woman’s little dog barked, and she jerked his leash, trying to get him to shut up. The dog didn’t listen.

  Was it because he could sense Rafe’s bear so close to the surface?

  “Stay with me,” I said, holding Rafe’s stare and trying my damnedest to tune the dog out. “Tris will be here any second. She’ll heal you.”

  He said something, but his voice was weak. I leaned closer to his lips, so I’d be able to hear better. “You’re half naked,” he said. “If I died right now, I’d die happy—but I’d be happier if you kissed me.”

  Was he serious? That was what he cared about right now? Me being in my lace bra, kissing him?

  I laughed. It bubbled from me, no doubt making me sound crazed, but I didn’t care.

  The woman behind me said something, but I couldn’t hear her over her dog’s incessant barking. I leaned forward and brushed my lips against Rafe’s, giving in to the temptation I’d had since first seeing him. A crackle of electricity zipped through the air when our lips touched. I leaned back against my heels, putting enough space between us so I could look him in the eyes. They were still bright with his bear.

  “What the heck was that?” I asked. Was that what it felt like to kiss a shifter?

  A smirk twisted the corner of Rafe’s lips, but he didn’t speak.

  “Oh, geez! He’s lost a lot of blood,” Tris said, making her way to us.

  I hadn’t heard her Jeep pull up but noticed it now. The headlights bathed us in brightness, allowing me to see the extent of Rafe’s injury.

  “You can still heal him though, right?” I asked Tris, pulling away to give her room to do her thing.

  “Yeah, but it’s going to knock me out for a while. This is bad.” Tris shifted her attention to Rafe. “I’ll heal you. You’re gonna be fine, but you have to promise me something. Promise me you’ll look out for Penny while I’m out. Promise me you’ll take care of her and make sure she stays safe until I wake up.”

  Rafe’s eyes locked with mine. “I promise,” he whispered.

  Electricity pulsed through me again. Not as strong as when our lips had touched, but it was definitely there. I dropped my hand to my side and leaned back against my heels, watching as my best friend worked a miracle. Liam and Billie were talking with the woman. I could hear them, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. All I knew was that her dog had finally shut up.

  I watched as Tris hovered her hands over Rafe’s shoulder, where his deepest wound was, and a golden light spilled from her palms. While it wasn’t the first time I’d witnessed her healing someone, it was the first time I’d been this close.

  The magic she wielded was nothing short of amazing.

  Rafe’s shoulder healed in less than a minute. When Tris pulled her hands away, all that was left was a pink patch of skin where Marshall’s bite mark had been.

  “Roll over so I can heal your back. You’re losing a lot of blood back there too,” Tris insisted. Her voice was soft and exhausted sounding, like she felt weak already. Rafe rolled onto his side with a groan, and within another minute or so, he was healed. Tris leaned against her heels and wiped at her brow. She didn’t look good. Her face was pale, and a thin layer of sweat had broken out across her skin. “Keep Penny safe,” she said before blacking out.

  Rafe caught her before her head hit the ground. Liam swooped in and picked her up. He headed toward Ruby.

  “Are you okay?” Rafe asked. His eyes trailed over every inch of me. When his gaze fixed on my busted knee, he leaned forward and gently cupped it. “You’re cut. Nothing a band-aid and a little honey won’t help, though.” His thumb moved in slow, soft strokes over my skin while he continued to cup my knee.

  “Honey?” I asked.

  “It’s good for cuts and burns. As long as you use the raw, unfiltered stuff. It has antibacterial properties. My mom used to use it whenever me or one of my brothers skinned our knees or something.”

  “I’ve never heard of using honey for things like that.” I licked my lips. The taste of blood greeted my tongue. Either I’d bit my lip too hard, or it was the remnants from when Marshall was banging my head into the ground.

  “It works. Burns a little, but it helps stuff heal faster.” He nodded to Ruby. “There’s a bottle inside. Let’s get you doctored up.”

  I shifted to stand, but my ankle protested. Pain shot through it, traveling up my leg, and I winced.

  “That doesn’t look good,” Rafe muttered. Before I could reply, he bent forward and scooped me into his arms.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling the same zing of electricity hum beneath my skin wherever we made contact.

  What was that?

  “You don’t have to carry me,” I said. “I can hobble inside fine. I don’t think it’s broken, just a bad sprain.” I hoped, at least.

  “I’m good with carrying you.” He winked.

  Damn, Rafe was hot.

  “Billie said this was Marshall,” Liam said to us when we stepped inside Ruby. “Where did he go?”

  “Cato went after him, into the woods,” I said. My gaze drifted to Tris. Liam had laid her on my bed and pulled a thin sheet up to cover her. I knew she was only sleeping, but I hated how eerily still she was.

  “He was crazed,” Rafe said, setting me at the booth and shifting his attention to Liam. “He’s gone rogue, and the sickness has him.”

  So, he’d noticed the blisters too.

  Rafe stepped to the cabinet next to the sink and pulled out a small first-aid kit and a bear-shaped container of honey before grabbing a paper towel. I stifled a grin, unable to take my eyes off the honey jar.

  “Shit.” Liam ran his hands through his hair. “He’ll be hard to stop, then. Feral.”

  “That’s why I had a hard time taking him down. He put up one hell of a fight,” Rafe said.

  He bent before me onto one knee and then cupped my calf, drawing my foot up to rest on his knee. His hand lingered there while he took in my cut. Sparks of electricity pulsed beneath my skin at the feel of his touch again. He uncapped the honey and squirted some on the corner of a paper towel.

  “I’m not going to press hard, but just know this might sting a little,” he said, hovering the honey-soaked paper towel corner over my wound.

  “Okay.”

  I held my breath, waiting for him to dab the honey on. When he did, it didn’t sting as much as I thought it would. The honey was cool and sticky, soothing even. When Rafe finished spreading a thick layer on, he cupped my knee again and leaned forward to blow on it. Heat spread through my lower stomach at the site of his pursed lips so close to my skin. When his eyes lifted to lock with mine, I nearly came undone at the heat in his stare.

  God, I wanted to kiss him again.

  Rafe leaned back on his heels and grabbed a band-aid from the first aid kit.

&nb
sp; “There,” he whispered after covering my cut. “All better.”

  “Thank you,” I said, holding his stare.

  “We really should head to the woods and look for Cato,” Liam insisted, startling me. I’d forgotten he was here. “If Marshall’s a rogue now, Cato shouldn’t have gone after him alone.”

  “What was wrong with Marshall? I mean, I know he has the shifter sickness, but you two make it seem like going rogue makes him a monster,” I said.

  “He sort of is. Some shifters can live a life of solitude, but others can’t. They go rogue. Their animal needs companionship. If they don’t get it, they go feral—which can make their human side go insane,” Rafe said.

  “How long does it take to go rogue?” I asked, knowing Marshall hadn’t been on his own for long.

  I couldn’t remember exactly how long ago it had been since everything at his grandfather’s cabin went down, but I knew it couldn’t have been more than two months.

  “I don’t think he was mentally stable to begin with,” Liam interjected.

  He had a point. Anyone who willingly went along with the crap Ezra had done wasn’t all there in the head. They’d done some horrible things while trying to find the Mystic. They’d killed innocent girls.

  Footsteps sounded from outside Ruby. Liam and Rafe both tensed, immediately going on high alert. Rafe positioned himself in front of me, while Liam did the same for Tris. When Cato charged inside, bloody and battered, everyone relaxed.

  “Did you get him?” Liam asked.

  Cato’s jaw was hard set and his eyes burned bright with his bear as he shook his head. “I lost him.” He smoothed a hand over his blood-crusted forehead. “I tried to keep up with him, but I couldn’t. I attempted to track him after I lost him.”

  “Do you remember where you lost him?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah, but I don’t think knowing will do us any good. His scent is everywhere, Liam, and he set more traps than we thought.”

  “Shit,” Rafe ground out.