by P. Jameson
“What the hell, Bethany?” she roared.
“I’m coming with you. I can help.” There was something off. The rotten feeling in Beth’s gut hadn’t let up since the gunshot. She couldn’t help feeling like this was important. Like it could impact her in some way. It was a sixth sense sort of thing that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.
“No.”
“Who’s hurt? You know, don’t you? Who’s in cabin 12?”
“We don’t have time for this.”
“Then let me come with you.”
Christina slammed her hand into the handlebars of the four-wheeler. Beth had never seen her look so angry. In fact, normally she was zen to the Nth degree.
“Damn it. They’re going to kill me for this. Get on. Hurry.”
Beth climbed on the back of the ATV and held on to the rack as Christina gassed it and took off into the trees. It was only a matter of minutes—maybe seconds—before they were pulling up to a tiny log cabin tucked away off the road.
Christina cut the engine, hopped down, and pulled her pack off. “Listen, this is going to be crazy and I don’t have time to prepare you. So, put your big girl panties on and hold your shit together. Understand?”
The hell?
Beth nodded.
“Let’s go.”
As they approached the small house, Beth could hear the low rumble of a miserable growl.
“Who’s cabin is this?” Beth asked just before Christina opened the door.
The doctor paused, looking uncomfortable. “Renner’s” Then she disappeared through the opening leaving Beth gasping for air.
Inside, the scene wasn’t anything like Beth had anticipated. Magic, Eagan, and the man she didn’t recognize, held down a large animal with black fur. Layna knelt at the animal’s head petting and trying to calm it. The pained sounds coming from what looked to be a big mountain cat, tore at Beth’s heart. The poor thing had obviously been shot by the poachers.
She let out a huge breath of relief, knowing Renner wasn’t hurt.
The animal cried out at the same time Layna spotted Beth. “Oh, no.”
“Shit,” Magic said. “Get her out of here.”
Beth frowned. “No, I can help. I know a little about animals—”
“Leave,” Magic bellowed as the cat hissed and growled.
Eagan let go of the cat and stood. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
The cat made a sound that could only be described as a warning. The tone sent a shiver down Beth’s spine and brought her eyes back to the animal. With one huge paw, he slapped at Magic sending him sprawling backward.
“Fuck! Stop it, Ren.”
Ren? Beth went cold. Did he call the animal Ren?
The three men jumped on the cat wrestling it but clearly still trying to take it easy on the hurt animal.
Christina yelled but Beth couldn’t understand. She could barely hear anything over the awful sounds coming from the melee. There was a yelp immediately followed by a whistle that cracked the air, catching everyone’s attention.
“Bethany, come here,” Layna barked, still kneeling near the animal’s snarling head.
“No, Layna.” Magic went to move but the animal bucked again.
“Shut up, Magic. Bethany, now. Come here.”
Beth slid to the floor next to her friend, and the panther went utterly still.
“Right here,” Layna instructed. “Put your hands on his head like this.”
Beth did as she was told. Sad, pain-filled eyes stared into hers, but there was no aggression. Just such deep sadness, she could almost feel it in her own heart. She rubbed her palm across the short fur on his head. It was soft, but bristly and thick. He didn’t take his eyes from her, but a loud, rolling purr filled the room.
“Okay,” Layna said, carefully. “Get in there, doc.”
Christina went to work on the cat while Beth kept up the petting. Tears filled her eyes as memories from childhood assaulted her. It reminded her of nights with Renner. The sadness in the cat’s eyes now was like looking into a mirror to the past. She’d pet his head just like this.
“The bullet went in under his arm. I can’t get to it like this. He has to change.”
“He can’t,” Layna argued. “Too much pain.”
Christina threw her hands in the air. “I can’t fucking get to the wound, and he’s losing a lot of blood.” She got close to the cat’s face, obstructing Beth’s view of his eyes. “Ren. Listen to me. You have to change. Right now. You’re bleeding out and there’s nothing I can do about it. I need you human.”
Beth frowned. Human? And she’d called him Ren too.
The animal hissed and Beth let her hand travel behind his ears, rubbing soothing circles that brought the purring back.
Magic cursed.
The pool of blood on the floor grew bigger but Beth refused to look at it.
“Renner, you little asshole, change.” Layna’s voice was filled with panic. Her gaze swung to Beth. “You. You can make him change.”
Beth shook her head. “What?”
Layna grabbed Beth’s shirt, bringing her close. “You don’t have to understand what is happening. Nothing will make sense to you right now, but I’m telling you, this cat is Renner. And if he doesn’t change back to his human form, we’ll lose him. He’ll do it for you.”
Beth’s mouth opened and closed but produced no sound even though her mind was screaming a million words.
“Try,” Layna hissed. “Just do it.”
Beth’s gaze went back to the cat. His eyes seemed tortured. This couldn’t be Renner. It was impossible. This was an animal. A wounded animal.
Layna’s eyes were peeled wide with terror. “Bethany, please.”
“I… I…” She looked at the panther. “Renner?” she whispered.
His eyes blinked closed. When they opened they were watery.
“You… you have to change. Christina can’t fix you up like this.”
Nothing happened. He nuzzled her hand with his face.
“If it’s you in there, Renner, please do this. We still have things we need to talk about, remember? You can’t go like this.” Part of her felt the same desperation she saw in Layna. The other part still didn’t believe any of this could be true. But if this was Renner… She couldn’t lose him again.
A sob escaped her throat.
The cat cocked his head.
“Please,” she whispered. “Just change so doc can help you.”
He nudged her hand with his nose. His rough tongue gave a long lick to her palm. Over and over, he licked her hand before laying his head in her lap, giving up.
Anger hit her like it never had before. The bastard. How could he do this to her again? They’d only just found each other again and now he was just going to lie down and bleed out?
Just as she was about to scream for him to try, he began to shake. A tortured growl left his throat and his claws dug into the carpet near her leg. It only took a matter of seconds for fur to fall away and his limbs to become flesh again. If she had blinked, she would’ve missed it.
Renner lay naked and bloody on the floor, shivering. He grunted with each inhale of breath.
“Oh my god.” Beth stayed still as possible so as not to jar him. His worried gaze opened to her. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “You’re going to be okay.”
Christina was already working at a steady pace, with Eagan and the stranger helping. They were going to save him. He was going to make it.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Shh. Later. We’ll talk later.”
“Please. Stay.”
Beth nodded.
Renner winced. “Fuck, doc.”
“Sorry,” she murmured. “It’s deep.”
Keeping her eyes on Renner instead of what was happening under his arm seemed like the best idea. But the pain reflected in his gaze was hard to stomach. She had to do something to make it better.
Drawing on her knowledge
of pressure points, she located the ones she could easily access on the head and neck area. Beth slowly, carefully brought her fingers under the edge of his jaw, between his ear and chin. While rubbing his cheeks with her thumbs, she applied pressure to his jaw. Just enough to activate the nerves.
Renner’s head fell back on her lap.
She walked her fingers back to his ears, rubbing the bone behind them, and then repeated the motion back to the spot on his jaw.
Christina glanced at her. “That’s helping. Thanks.”
Beth didn’t answer. She kept her focus on Renner’s eyes. They were swimming with pain and emotion.
Moving her hands to his temples, she rubbed small circles until some of the tension had left him, then she moved to his brow bone, applying a pattern of pressure.
Time passed while Christina worked and Beth did what she did best: soothed, comforted, calmed.
“Alright, I think that’s it,” Christina said finally. “It tore through the muscle and took a chunk of bone. It will take a few days to come back from this, Renner.”
A few days? More like weeks.
“You need to rest. You hear me? No work.”
He breathed deep and ended up coughing.
“Let’s get him to the bed,” Magic said.
“No.” Renner’s voice was shredded, but his tone brooked no argument. “Stay… here.”
“You’ll be more comfortable on the bed.”
“I’m staying with Bethy.”
Magic frowned at Beth like he expected her to oppose, but she’d do whatever Renner wanted right now.
“On the floor?” he asked, skeptical.
“With Bethy.”
Magic glanced at Christina.
“It’s fine,” she shrugged. “He should stay still for a couple hours at least.”
He nodded. “Alright. Leave him.”
The three men filed out. Layna squeezed Beth’s arm. “Doc and I will check in on you in a few hours.”
“We’ll be fine.” She didn’t know if those words were true. She didn’t know what Renner was or if this was real. Or if he should be in a hospital. Or if she should run.
She only knew she couldn’t leave him.
Chapter Seven
This wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he decided he wanted Bethany’s hands on him. No, his ideas had been much more enticing and involved warm oil and her wearing a lot less clothing. Lying bloody on the floor with all his secrets exposed was not how this should’ve gone down.
A bone deep shiver wracked his body.
“I need to get you cleaned up,” she whispered.
“Not yet.” He needed to rest a while, let his animal begin the healing. Things would hurt exponentially less in a couple hours’ time. “It’ll be easier if we wait a while.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Her fingers threaded through his hair and his eyes closed. Sleep was pulling at him, but he had to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere.
“If you leave… I’ll find you.” Her hand paused on his head. “I won’t keep to myself this time. I’ll hunt you down, bring you home. You’re mine. My Bethy. Bethany. Whatever the hell name you want to go by. It doesn’t matter.” He squeezed her thigh, and was reminded of how weak he was.
She went back to rubbing his scalp. “Sounds like I don’t have a choice in the matter.”
“You don’t. But whether I’m yours… that choice belongs to you.” His words slurred as exhaustion took over.
Bethany sighed. “You’ve always been mine. My sad boy. Now, get some sleep.”
But he didn’t want to be her sad boy. He wanted to be her man. And when he got stronger, he’d show her how much he’d changed. He’d show her what it meant to belong to a panther.
Renner awoke to the sound of faint snoring. Several moments passed before he realized it wasn’t coming from his own mouth. Opening his eyes, he spotted a tangle of dark hair obstructing his vision. He shifted to his back and was relieved that it didn’t feel like being shredded by glass. A blanket had been draped across his body, but he was cold and uncomfortable. The blood from his wounds was drying and sticky.
Bethany was asleep on the floor next to him, her head touching his, but the rest of her body was far away from the mess. Damn, he had a lot of cleaning to do. But just moving to the shower was going to be a chore until he healed a little more.
He reached to touch her cheek, but lifting his arm was like hauling a load of boulders with a pinkie finger. Impossible.
Dark hair spilled on the floor all around her shoulders making her look like a piece of magic among chaos. She looked so perfect like this, relaxed and unworried. He hated to wake her but he needed help in the shower.
The idea of her playing nurse made him smile. This wasn’t exactly how he’d planned to introduce her to the goods, but then sometimes you had to roll with the punches. Or gunshots. Whatever the case.
“Babe.” His voice was a breathy croak. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Babe, wake up.”
Her eyelids twitched, and he made another attempt to touch her. He dragged his hand across the floor until he was close to her face. With his thumb, he grazed her chin. Sleepy eyes opened to him. Their color was different, paler, when they were just opening after a rest.
“How are you feeling?” She didn’t move anything but her delectable mouth.
“Like I need a shower,” he answered.
She stared, and he’d give a nut to know what she was thinking. But he didn’t ask. He’d let her make the first move.
“What are you, Renner?”
Ah, so that’s what was on her mind. He’d tell her because if this was going to work, there could be no lies or half truths.
“A shifter. Part animal, part human. A werecat.”
He watched her carefully.
“I had no idea such a thing existed,” she whispered.
“We’re very careful with our secrets.”
“And… when we were kids? Were you born this way?”
Renner nodded.
“Is that why you left?”
“Yes. I started the change, and I couldn’t risk you and Ryan finding out about me.”
She was silent, staring at him with thoughtful eyes.
“Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
“Why?” The skepticism in her breathed words was a knife to his chest. She sat up. “Ren, you and I weren’t anything. We had a few nights where we connected but the next day, I paid dearly for those precious moments.”
She was right. He’d been horrible to her. He’d fought every feeling of connection, of kindness, of love, because he didn’t know how to handle them. Didn’t know how to keep her and keep her safe at the same time.
Renner struggled to a seat, tucking the blanket around his hips.
“Those nights were everything to me. You can’t know what you did for me, Bethy. How many times I’ve replayed those moments with you, wishing I’d get another chance. And now here you are. I know I fucked up. I know. But we were kids.”
Her eyes glistened with tears. Lifting his hand, he swiped them from her cheeks as they started falling.
“Babe…” Seeing her like this shredded him. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m not weak,” she growled, jerking her face away from his hand.
“I know.” She’d proven it time and time again. Tears couldn’t mean weakness. Because he’d been as weak as they came, and he never cried.
Bethany brushed the wetness away and stood. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Slowly and carefully, she helped him to the bathroom and turned on the shower. As steam filled the room, Renner felt a peace fall over him. Things weren’t okay, but maybe just getting everything out in the open was enough of a start.
“How are we going to do this?” Bethany asked, her cheeks turning a deep shade of pink. “Can you shower by yourself?”
Renner braced himself on the counter. His strength was returning, but only in little bursts.
He was definitely stronger when she was near, but it would take a while before he could do much on his own. For once he was thankful for his shifter qualities. He’d be dead if he was a human.
Damn hunters. Their presence on the lodge property had surprised him. He’d run into the woods and changed after seeing Bethy with fucking Eagan, but hadn’t expected the danger since there was a zero tolerance policy for hunting in the area.
“You’ve got my blood on you,” he murmured. “Maybe we should share the water.”
Her eyes went wide. “Um… that’s probably not a good idea.”
Renner dropped the blanket he’d wrapped around his waist, and her gaze fell to his partial erection before she turned her head away. The skin of her neck streaked with pink as her blush deepened.
He stepped into the stall, closing the glass door behind him. “I guess you’d better stick around then.”
“I’ll just…” Her voice was breathy. “I’ll turn around and you can let me know if you need me.”
“I’ll always need you,” he muttered under his breath.
As he rinsed the dried blood from his body, he watched Bethany turn and brace her hands on the sink. Never taking his eyes off her, he lathered up, careful to avoid the wound under his arm. Her hair was down for the first time, and it was long and gorgeous, even after being slept on. He wanted that stuff strung out on his pillows soon.
Slowly, her head came up until she was staring at his reflection in the mirror. Her gaze flitted away and then back. Renner slowed his washing. With the knowledge that she was watching him, his erection went from partial to fully sprung.
With his hands, he smoothed the lather from his neck, moving downward over his pecs, and slowly, slowly across his abs. Her eyes followed eagerly.
He took the tease farther, gripping his erection and stroking twice before starting the whole process over. Neck, chest, abs, stroke. On the third pass, he kept stroking while she watched, open mouthed. If he was stronger, he’d strip her and drag her under the water with him and lick her into submission.
She squeezed her eyes closed. “I’m uh… going to find some clothes. I’ll be right back.”
Renner leaned back against the tile wall to catch his breath. He grinned, watching her go. He was a cat. He was good at waiting. He’d wait, and when she was ready, he’d pounce.