by Kim Fox
Grease let out a long sigh. “They experimented on me. For three years.”
Tempest had tears in her eyes as she listened.
“They made me stronger, faster, and implanted these painful spikes in my back,” he said with a shudder. “They made my bear crazy. They tormented him every day to try and turn him into a merciless killer.”
“Did your bear kill the people in the town?” Ryder asked. He had to know.
Grease looked him right in the eye and didn’t flinch. “No. The Northern town was where their experimental facility was located. I escaped and tried to get help in the town. I compromised the civilians and the General gave the order. He had every single one of them killed because of what I told them.”
His head dropped down as his shoulders shook with a heavy sob. Tempest rubbed his back. “It’s okay,” she whispered.
He wiped his eyes and composed himself. “They blamed it on me, so I ran. I’ve been running ever since.”
Tempest sat down next to him. “And you came back here…”
“For Lily,” he said. “They must have known I would eventually come back to see my daughter. She’s so beautiful.” She looked at Tempest and smiled for the first time. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
“Gorgeous,” Tempest said, tearing up again.
“Who is this general?” Grant asked. “The one who runs the program.”
Grease shuddered. “A horrible man,” he whispered. “They call him The Angel of Death.”
“What’s his real name?”
“General Hunt.”
Ryder noticed that Maximus and Lachlan gave each other a long look at the mention of the name.
“The mystery client,” Logan said, looking pale. “Wasn’t his name G.H.?”
Grant didn’t say a word, but he took a long deep breath.
“You’re working for him,” Grease said. “He’s paying you to bring me back in.”
“How can we know you’re telling the truth?” Grant asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“You can’t,” Grease said with a helpless shrug. “But just know that he’ll come for you next.”
“This is all bullshit,” Mack said, unable to take it anymore. “He’s trying to play us, boss. Think about what you’ll give up if you let him go. Two million dollars. We’ll lose the ranch, our home, your family’s legacy. Let’s bring this lying murderer in and get paid. You owe that to the proud hardworking Claytons that came before you and the ones who will come after you.”
Ryder’s heart was racing as he listened. They all knew what was on the line here, what would happen to the ranch if they didn’t get the money for Grease’s bounty.
But Grant was a man of integrity. He wasn’t about to bring in an innocent man, no matter what it cost him.
And neither was Ryder.
“Hit him with that magic juice again,” Mack hollered in frustration. “He’ll tell you he’s lying his ass off.”
“He’s not lying.”
Everyone turned to Maximus who had been watching the whole exchange closely. “He’s telling the truth.”
“Please explain,” Grant said.
Maximus took a deep breath and sighed. “We’ve heard of this General Hunt before. He had planned to recruit our crew into his little program by kidnapping our mates. Just like he said.”
Grease was silent as he watched the alpha of The Grisly Grizzlies.
“Vesuvius was behind it,” Maximus said.
“Vesuvius?” Grant asked with wide eyes.
Ryder swallowed hard. Vesuvius was one of the three dragon shifters who ran the town of Redemption Creek. If he was behind this special military program then they were in a lot more trouble than they had initially thought.
“Don’t worry,” Maximus said with a nod. “Vesuvius won’t be coming around here anymore.”
Ryder breathed a little easier. That could only mean one thing: The Grisly Grizzlies had taken care of the dragon shifter.
But the dangerous General was still out there.
Grant stared at the polar bear shifter for a long time. All he had to do was hand him over to his new client and all of his problems and worries would be solved.
He sighed. “I believe him.”
“Me too,” Tempest whispered.
Grant shook his head. “I don’t want to, but I do.”
He offered his hand to the broken man. Grease hesitated for a second, but then slapped his hand into his. Ryder’s alpha pulled him up to his feet.
“You’re free to leave,” he said as he looked around for his jeans. “You won’t get any more trouble from us.”
Mack was pacing by the far wall, but this was too much for him. He punched the door open and stormed out.
“We don’t have much to give you,” Grant said as he found his pants. He pulled out his wallet and took out all of the cash that he had. “But it’s all we can do.” He walked back to Grease and slapped it into his big palm.
Ryder grabbed his own wallet and pulled out the seventy-four dollars inside and added it to the pile.
“I only have four,” Tempest said, cringing as she added it to the pile. “It’s been a rough year.”
Grease put a hand on her shoulder and smiled sadly. “For me too.”
Logan, Bryce, and Maximus all gave him what they had as well.
Everyone turned to Lachlan whose bloody shoulder was still slowly healing.
“Get fucked,” he said. He rolled his eyes and then dug into his pocket. “Fine.” He threw a few bucks on the floor in front of him that Logan scooped up and added to the pile.
“One last thing,” Grant said. He pulled out the key to the truck and held it up. “This will help you move a little faster. It’s the red pickup outside.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Grease said as he looked around at all of the shifters who were helping him in his time of need. “Thank you all, so much.”
Grant handed him the key and then gave him a quick hug. “Don’t mention it. You take care of yourself.”
“You too,” Grease said with a serious voice. “Be careful of the guns. They have darts in there that will put you to sleep. Your animals too. When you wake up…” He shuddered.
Years ago, Ryder heard talk of a serum that could stop a shifter from phasing, but he always thought it was just that, talk.
“He’s going to come for us all,” Grease continued. “There’s no doubt about that. The Angel of Death always gets his targets.”
“So do we,” Tempest said with a wink. “And he just landed on our shit list. Keep your head up, champ. You’ll be with your little girl soon. I’ll make sure of that.”
He let out a sad smile as he looked at her with pain-filled eyes. “I hope you’re right.”
With a nod and a tight smile, he threw his clothes back on and hurried out the door.
“That was our only truck, Grant,” Logan said with a sigh. “And we don’t have money for another.”
Grant and Ryder had lost more than a truck. They stared at the open door as they watched their family legacy vanish before their very eyes.
“You think that’s bad,” Ryder said with a gulp. “Wait until Mack hears that he has to take the bus home.”
Chapter Twelve
Tempest
They didn’t end up taking a bus home after all. Tempest just had to squeeze into the back flatbed of Maximus’ pickup with five ginormous shifters. The first hour wasn’t so bad. The last two were in the rain.
“I still don’t get it,” Mack grumbled when Maximus finally dropped them off at their ranch. The rain had finally eased up to a slow drizzle.
“Oh, get over it,” Logan said, shaking his head. They were all sick of hearing Mack’s whining.
“Thanks again, guys,” Grant said to Maximus and Lachlan. “But next time bring Kneecap.”
Ryder had explained to her that the giant grizzly bear shifter of The Grisly Grizzlies known as Kneecap was definitely someone you wanted at your side in a brawl. When he was
there, Ryder said, you could sit back on a lawn chair with a cool glass of lemonade and watch as he manhandled a few dozen shifters by himself.
“We’re not enough for you?” Lachlan asked with a grin.
“You two are great,” Grant said with a chuckle. “But when you call the Avengers, you expect them to bring the Hulk.”
Maximus laughed and waved as he drove away.
They all silently made their way into their cabins—cold and wet and tired of the shitty day. They each needed a hot shower, a stiff drink, and an early bedtime.
Tempest glanced at Ryder out of the corner of her eye as they walked, joined by the cuffs, to his cabin. There were so many things that she wanted to say to him.
She was proud of the way his crew acted, and was positive that he and his friends were moral men with good hearts.
“You’re incredible,” she said when they stepped inside the dry cabin.
He turned to her with a look of shock on his face. “Me?” he said, stunned. “You’re the one who stopped him. Again.”
“You gave up everything to let him go free,” she said. “Your home. Your family’s ranch. That was huge. You could have just brought him in and taken the money, but you didn’t. You did the right thing, Ryder.”
He sighed as he took off his wet shoes and shook the water out.
“So, did you,” he said when he looked up at her. “You gave up one million dollars.”
Tempest blew it off. She didn’t feel like she had given up anything. Grease deserved to go free and that’s what she wanted.
Plus, she didn’t feel like she needed that much money anymore. She had Ryder and that seemed to be enough for her.
Well, she had him for now.
“I want to ask you something,” she said, feeling her chest tighten with nerves.
He looked at her funny. “Let me guess? You want to be the first to take a hot shower?”
“Actually, I was thinking we could take it together,” she said with a raised eyebrow. He smiled and it made her heart swell.
“That’s a great idea.”
She lost her train of thought thinking about that instead.
“What did you want to ask me?”
She swallowed hard. Just ask it.
“Now that we’re not looking for a mark anymore, we’re free to go down to Santa Fe and get the spell,” she said, glancing down at the handcuffs that attached her to the man she was falling in love with. Would he still want to be with her when he was free? She was about to find out.
“Oh,” he said, dropping his eyes to the floor. “I forgot about that.”
Tempest hadn’t. She had been worried sick about it since they left the gym.
“I was wondering what… to do… after… that.”
He just stared at her, giving her nothing.
“You guys might need help with General Hunt and I don’t really have a place to live.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Don’t you have an apartment?”
“Kind of,” she said, sucking in a breath. “But it’s kind of in the shape of a storage locker.”
His brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
She sighed. “I live in my car.”
“You want to stay here?” he asked.
“If you want…”
His face lit up in a smile. “Tempest,” he said. “I would love it if you stayed here with me.”
“Really?”
“Really. In fact, I’m dreading driving down to Santa Fe with you.”
She winced. “Because I sing in the car?”
He laughed. “Yes, because of that too. But I’m really dreading not having you by my side anymore.”
“You are?”
“Call me crazy, but I’ve grown to love having you with me at all times. You definitely make things interesting.”
“You’re crazy.”
“You drive me crazy.”
She felt like she was going to float off the ground as he took her in his arms and gave her a passionate kiss.
“I think I love you, Tempest,” he said when he pulled away.
“You think?”
He smiled. “I know. I am in love with you. My badass bounty hunter.”
Tempest could feel her cheeks blushing. “I love you too, Mr. Ryder.”
They kissed again until Ryder unexpectedly stopped. His body froze and his arms dropped from her sides.
“Ryder?” she said, stepping back with an unsure look on her face. Did he already change his mind?
She gasped when she saw his eyes. They were as black as night as he stared at her with a blank expression on his frozen face.
“Oh no!” She grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard. His head jerked back and forth like a bobblehead.
“I broke him,” she said, starting to panic. “I told him I love him and it broke him!”
The panic suddenly vanished, replaced with the spirit of a warm embrace that circled around her core and filled her with adoration and love for the man standing in front of her.
She slid her hands down his shoulders onto his arms as it felt like their souls were connecting. They weren’t just connecting, they were linking together, fusing and uniting in a way that attached their mind, body, and souls better than any magical handcuffs could.
Her whole body was tingling in a good way as the blackness dissipated from his eyes and he came back to her.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
“What was that?” she asked slowly. She felt different. He looked different to her too. Ryder wasn’t just a crush or a new love to her, he was something else. Their connection seemed to run deeper. To her very essence.
“That was a shifter bond,” he said, staring at her without blinking. “You’re my mate.”
“What does that mean?” she asked. “Like, I’m your girlfriend?”
He smiled. “Not quite. It’s a little more than that.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I’m kind of getting that.”
Tempest shivered as he stepped forward and ran his hand through her hair. “It means we’ll be together forever,” he said as he watched her with love and admiration on his face. “It means we’re soulmates.”
“That sounds pretty good,” she said as she took his wrist and kissed his hand. “Do all shifters have mates?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Our animals like to choose one woman for them and we keep them forever.”
“Your animal chose me?”
He nodded.
“Your jerk of a lion?”
He laughed. “He likes you.”
“I don’t like him.”
Ryder rubbed the back of his neck as he shifted uncomfortably. “Well, you’re kind of stuck with him.”
They stared at each other for a few tense seconds. The adoration and lovefest they were feeling a few minutes ago had seemed to have left out the window.
“Let’s try it again,” Ryder said.
Tempest crossed her arms. “Why? So he can drag me across the ranch this time? I still have the bruises all over my body from the last time we met.”
Ryder exhaled hard. “He gets a little carried away sometimes during the heat of action.”
“A little carried away?” she said, raising her eyebrows. “I’m lucky my mother hooked me up with some extra toughness or you would have bonded to a long bloody smear on the gymnasium floor.”
Ryder rubbed his forehead. “Can you just try to meet him again? Please. It will be different this time. You’re his mate now. He won’t do anything that will hurt you. Trust me.”
“I trust you,” she said, feeling unsure. “It’s your lion I don’t trust.”
He gently took her hand and Tempest felt all of her anger start to melt away. This jerk head lion is a part of him, a part of us. I have to try and make it work.
She closed her eyes and exhaled. “Okay. Bring the crazy kitty out.”
“Thank you,” he said, looking relieved.
&
nbsp; They went outside into the grassy area by the pool. The rain was done and the sun was setting, lighting up the sky in the most radiant pink, purple, and blue hues. It looked like someone had spilled a tray of vibrant paints across the sky.
“Just sit down,” Ryder said as he started to strip. Tempest was enjoying the show. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
“I’ll bring him out and everything will be okay. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
Tempest sat crosslegged on the damp ground and closed her eyes. She should have been nervous after what happened the last time, but she wasn’t. She was strangely calm. Maybe it was the bond, or that she trusted Ryder, or maybe so much had already gone wrong that day that she didn’t care anymore.
Strange sounds began filling the air, but Tempest kept her eyes closed. Her handcuffed arm jerked around as a horrible tearing sound cut through the sound of frogs and crickets trying to get laid.
Her chest tightened and she sucked in a breath when the noises stopped. Her eyes were still closed but she could sense a presence beside her. A big presence.
“Oooookay,” she said as she slowly opened her eyes. There was a huge, massive, king of the jungle lion standing a few inches from her face.
He sat down in front of her and just stared into her eyes. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she stared up at him.
Those eyes…
They were a beautiful brown and oddly familiar. Ryder’s words replayed in her head. I’ll be with you the whole time. He was in there. She could feel it.
He looked calm and composed, unlike the last time they had met. Tempest swallowed hard and looked at him closely.
He had a large golden mane that flowed beautifully around him. It was darker in areas and stood straight up at the top. It looks so soft. She wasn’t brave enough to try and touch it yet.
“When was the last time you ate?” she whispered as his mouth dropped open. His white teeth were so big, his tongue so long. His warm breath washed down and tickled her arm, raising the hairs up.
She was attached to his leg by the handcuffs. A ready-made-meal waiting for him on a string.
His body was huge with big powerful shoulders and paws that were larger than her head.