by T. S. Joyce
“Moira was mistaken. I was the one who ruined your life. You just haven’t realized it yet.”
“Did you pull me from the fire?”
A single nod.
“Why were you there?”
“Because it was my job.”
She could decipher the wavering note in his words enough to know that wasn’t the whole truth. She pulled her shoulders up to her ears and scrunched up her nose. “Honestly?”
“Fuck,” he muttered, looking out the window as he released her wrist. “I’m a firefighter. I was at the station when the call came through.”
“Were you scared, running into those flames?”
“No. I was scared that when I came out with you, you’d already be gone.”
Truth.
Her heart thumped erratically against her breastbone. “Why do you care? You don’t even know me.”
Dade lifted one shoulder in a miserable half-shrug and rubbed his hand down his short blond stubble. It made a scratching sound against his palm. She stared at his facial hair, shining gold in the sunlight that streamed through the window. She wanted badly to touch, just to see if it was as soft as it looked. His eyes were still bright but had lost that muddy, wild color. “I care about what happens to you. I care if you’re safe. I care if you’re happy.”
“But why? What have I done to earn that? I thought you disliked me.”
“What?”
“You sped off and sprayed me with gravel instead of offering me a ride when my bike tire was flat, Dade. That’s the least romantic thing I’ve ever encountered, and it happened to me.”
He grimaced and rolled his bandaged shoulder. “Look, I know it’s a lot to take in, and I promise I’ll tell you everything, but I’d rather do it in private.”
She made a show of looking around. “There’s no one here but you and me.”
Dade stared at her long and hard. “Boone can hear us clear as day, just like you could hear the officers talking across the hall if you chose to listen. There’s a security camera in that corner and another over there.” He pointed, and sure enough, there were. “Not to mention, the room is likely bugged.”
“Okay, you’re scaring me.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
“Then why did you say you ruined my life? And why am I in a hospital room guarded by cops and mobbed by a crowd holding Cage the Animals signs?” Her voice wrenched up to a Level Shrill, but she was in it now—full blown panic mode and gaining speed like a boulder down a mountainside.
“Quinn,” Dade warned low, holding his hands out. “You have to stay calm.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m a buck twenty-five with flimsy arms. I’ve never hurt anyone in my life. Why is everyone walking on eggshells every time I ask serious questions? Who locked me in that room, Dade? I heard someone come in. Who set that fire? I want to know everything.” Her vision blurred with unshed tears, and she blinked them back, determined not to show him how weak she felt. “Who gave me these?” She yanked her hospital gown up around her thighs, exposing the burns that stung relentlessly with a bone-deep, throbbing ache.
Dade reared back as if he’d been slapped. He stood, then retreated a few steps away from her. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he linked his hands behind his head and let off a helpless sound.
“Who, Dade?”
“Me, all right? You have those because of me.”
Horror congealed in her veins, making it hard to move. “You set the fire? You locked me in that room?”
“No, but I might as well have. If I’d have just stayed away from you, Shayna would’ve left you alone. You would’ve never been on her radar, but I put you right in her path.” Dade’s eyes filled with emotion as he swallowed hard and looked ill. “Shayna locked you in that room and set the fire, but it wasn’t for you, Quinn. She was trying to get to me.”
“But…you don’t know me. Why would this Shayna woman go after me if I’m a stranger to you?”
“Because you’re mine.” The words came out gritty and low, almost too quiet for her to make them out.
“What?”
“Because my animal chose you. Because I want you. Because I can’t see anything but you.”
“But you peeled out and threw gravel in my face!” None of this made any sense. He didn’t like her. He struggled to even be nice to her.
“I was trying to throw Shayna off your trail. She was tailing me, and I wanted her to think you didn’t mean anything to me, but she went after you anyway. It was a dick move, leaving you on the side of the road like that—”
“This isn’t how picking someone works! You haven’t even kissed me! How do you know I’m yours when you haven’t even kissed me?”
Dade rushed to her and cupped her neck. Hesitating only a moment, he leaned down and pressed his lips onto hers.
Quinn gripped his shirt and pushed him, her instincts poised to claw him—for the unexpected kiss and everything he’d just admitted. But Dade didn’t give an inch. Instead, he cupped her other cheek and angled his head, then licked the closed seem of her lips, melting her completely.
Flutters started at her toes and worked their way into her stomach as she gripped onto his wrists to keep his hands there. She was safe like this, with him. Dade was big and strong. He’d pulled her from the burning building and had come right away so she wouldn’t be all alone here in this hospital. And this big, tough, scarred up man had just admitted to feelings for her—deep ones. The kind that she’d been missing for so long. The kind she’d wanted from him. As much as she tried to convince herself he was dangerous to her heart, Dade was what she’d yearned for. Since he’d come into the vet clinic and been tender with her tears, she’d been enamored by him, despite his moments of confounding aloofness. She’d stayed up nights thinking about him, and her heart pounded every time someone entered the vet’s office on the off-chance that it would be him. Silly? Sure. She was acting like a school girl with a crush, but she couldn’t help it. This man intrigued her in ways that were utterly baffling and exciting at the same time.
With a soft gasp, she opened her mouth and let him taste her. His jaw worked as he maneuvered in between her spread thighs and leaned his body closer. His warmth seeped into her, and she cuddled closer, desperate to forget everything that had happened, even if it was just for a little while.
Dade’s hand gripped her ribs, arched her toward him until she sat on the very edge of the bed. A soft groan of want escaped her lips. His breath shook as he eased back and plucked at her lips once. Twice. Leaving her with delicious little smacks until, at last, he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. She understood. She was savoring him, too.
“Wow,” she murmured, leaning her cheek against his palm and feeling utterly drunk.
His sensual lips turned up in a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Quinn.”
Confused, she frowned and eased back. “Sorry for what?”
“For this.” He brushed his fingertips down her arm and pulled her wrist until the underside of her forearm was exposed. A faded, pink scar in the perfect shape of teeth marks decorated her pale skin, just inside her elbow.
“Is that a…”
He nodded, failing to meet her eyes. Leaning down, he kissed the scar gently, then rubbed the pad of his thumb across the raised mark.
“Why did you do that?”
He winced at the accusation in her tone, but hang it all. This morning, she’d been happy. She’d known exactly how her day was going to go, and now, because of Dade, she was hurt and scarred and in trouble with the government, and this was all too much.
“I did it because I thought it would save you. It’s a claiming mark.”
“And a claiming mark means I’m yours?” Anger blasted through her chest as she clutched wads of her hospital gown in her fists. He’d done something to her that meant a lot more than she was ready for, and without her consent. She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip hard to stop the tremble
there. “I want to go home.”
He looked sick as he nodded slowly.
“Please,” she begged in a ragged whisper.
“Okay, Quinn. I’ll see what I can do.”
Chapter Seven
Quinn sat there wide-eyed with her lips pursed as she listened to Dade ream out the police guards who seemed determined to keep her here. She could both see them through the window and hear them clear as day.
“We aren’t under arrest, are we? No? Then we’re going.”
“We have strict orders to keep her here until we hear otherwise.”
“For what? She isn’t some lab rat. She’s a person, just like you. I’ll write down the address where we will be staying, and you can follow us there and watch over us until you realize how fucking boring that job is since we’re just people who get up every day and go to work. Just like you.”
“Monroe,” Boone’s softer voice sounded. “You know us. Have known us for years. Have we ever hurt anyone?”
“No, man, and I hate this, too. You’ve only helped people that I’ve seen. I’ve watched you Kellers run back into burning buildings just to make sure they were clear and that everyone survived. Do I think this is right?” The dark-headed man shook his head. “But I have orders.”
“She can’t finish healing here, Monroe. She needs to be with her crew where we can take care of her. Adjusting to what she is in a sterile room with protesters outside won’t work for her. It’ll hurt her worse.”
“For chrissakes, Keller,” Monroe muttered.
The other uniformed guard muttered, “I hope you aren’t seriously considering letting her go. She could be dangerous.”
“Look, kid, you’re new. I’ve worked with the Keller brothers for years and had no idea what they were capable of because they obviously expressed massive amounts self-control. If Dade says they can rehab her better at her home, I trust him.”
“You trust him with the public’s safety?”
“He’s a damned good firefighter who has served his country on two tours. I trust him. And you—don’t be like one of those protestors out there and ignore what you’re seeing right in front of your face. You’ve been standing in the presence of two grizzly shifters, and neither one has eaten you yet. She’s half-healed without assistance, and Dade wants to take care of his mate. Right? Did I say that right?”
“Yeah,” Dade said, casting a worried glance at the window.
They argued on, but Quinn couldn’t hear anything past the words “grizzly shifter” and “mate.” She’d thought Dade was putting her on when he talked about changing into a bear, but no way were the cops in on the joke just for the benefit of a laugh at her. And those protesters outside were holding signs about caging people up. No, not people. Animals.
Dade was an animal.
Her breath stuttered in her throat as the Keller brothers entered the room again. “You weren’t kidding?”
Dade flashed a frown as he grabbed a black duffle bag off a chair in the corner. “About what?”
“About being a bear?”
“No, I wasn’t kidding.” His voice sounded exhausted as he pulled out a pair of cutoff jeans and an oversize navy T-shirt with the Breckenridge fire department logo in the upper corner.
“Boone, turn around.”
His brother did, and Dade pulled the ties loose on the back of her hospital gown.
Quinn jerked away. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you undress.”
Snatching the clothes from his hand, she said, “I can dress myself.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.” She waited. “Turn around!”
Boone snorted a laugh from the other side of the room as Dade spun slowly to face the wall.
“Whose shirt is this?” It was large and fell around her knees. She tied it in a knot at her side so it wouldn’t cover the short, cutoff denim and brush her injured legs.
“The shirt is mine, and the cutoffs I borrowed from my future sister-in-law, Rory. Moira will have to bandage you up again before we go.”
The familiarity with which he spoke her name brought something foggy and green through her. “How do you know Moira?”
“She’s—” Dade threw one of the cameras a quick glance and turned around just as she was trying to get the shorts over the burn marks on her legs.
Dade stepped forward until he was flush with her, then pulled outward on the hems of her shorts as she eased them over her legs so the fabric didn’t touch her skin. Straightening, he whispered against her ear, “Moira is one of us.”
His lips brushed her sensitive earlobe, and a shudder shook her spine and landed in her shoulders. Embarrassed by how easily he drew a reaction from her body, she dipped her gaze to hide the blazing heat in her cheeks.
When he eased back, a cocky smile ghosted his lips. “You ready?”
She nodded, afraid if she spoke her voice would crack on the emotion of how not ready she was to face the crowd outside.
“Maybe I should go alone. If all those people are here because of something to do with you, maybe it would be better if I just snuck out a back door.”
The smile faded from his face. “They are at the back doors, too, and Quinn?”
“Yes?”
“They aren’t here for me and Boone. They’re here for you.”
****
Dade stepped into the sunlight and shoved his sunglasses over his eyes to cover the feral color that would no doubt be there until he got Quinn somewhere safer. She’d been wary of his touch earlier, but now, he wrapped his hand around her smaller one and led her through the first line of news reporters.
“Are you angry with what he’s done to you?” a woman called out, holding a microphone too close to Quinn’s face.
“Did you shift in the hospital?” another yelled.
“Don’t answer them,” Dade growled out, shoving his way through the crowd.
“Have you ever killed anyone?” That one was directed at him, and he sure as shit wasn’t admitting to his transgressions. All of his kills had been ordered by IESA or necessary when he’d served.
“Have you ever mauled a human while you were a bear?” another asked.
Microphones were everywhere, and he ducked and weaved until the crowd surged in so close there was no pathway toward the black SUV that was waiting.
“Boone,” he snarled.
“On it,” his brother said.
Quinn made a pained noise behind him as she was pushed by a reporter who’d been shoved into her. “Hey!” he yelled as Boone skirted around him to clear a path. “Back the fuck off! She’s hurt!”
“Dade,” Quinn said on a breath. Her soft gray eyes were wide and frightened and something inside of him snapped.
“The next person to touch her is going to lose a fucking limb. Back. Off.” He shoved a man who was being jostled into her and scooped Quinn up into his arms.
She buried her face against his chest as camera flashes surrounded them. Her arms went around his neck, and he held her closer as he made his way through the hole in the crowd Boone was unapologetically creating with his wide shoulders.
He settled her gently into the car, ignoring the clawing hands at his back. Boone took the front seat with a somber expression, and when the doors were closed, the driver honked and began to make his way forward.
“Quinn,” Dade said, drawing her attention from the masses outside the window. “This is Mason. His boss is a very powerful ally to shifters and has sent Mason to us as a bodyguard and driver when we need him.”
“Damon Daye isn’t just an ally,” Boone muttered. “He’s one of us.”
“A shifter?” Quinn asked, the word sounding strange from her lips.
Dade sighed and nodded. “He’s a much bigger shifter than we are.”
Mason chuckled. “It’s nice to meet you, Quinn.”
She reached around the driver’s seat and gripped his offered hand. “Nice to meet you, too. So, are you one of them too then? A bear shifter?
”
Mason ran a meaty hand over his shaved head and took a sharp right onto the main road that bisected a stretch of piney wilderness. “Close, but no. I’m a boar shifter.”
“A boar? Like a pig?”
“Ha!” Boone said from the front seat. “She just called you a pig shifter. Mason isn’t one of those plump hams that roll around in the mud. Think more like the streamlined, wild predator with long tusks.”
“Oh.” The word came out as soft as a breath, and Dade squeezed her hand to reassure her she was safe.
“Moira said you don’t remember much about what happened,” Dade murmured.
The crowd thinned and Mason picked up speed.
“I remember the fire. And someone locking me in. Shayna, I mean. I never saw her. Has she been arrested?”
“She’s in the wind, but don’t worry about her,” Mason said in a steely voice as he turned onto the main road lined with woods as far as the eye could see. “Mr. Daye has hired trackers to take care of her. She won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“Here,” Boone said, handing Quinn his phone.
Dade fought the instinct to hide what he’d done for as long as possible. She’d find out eventually, though, and the sooner she dealt with what she’d become, the better.
She let his hand go to grip the phone in both palms. She hit the tiny triangle play button on the screen.
Footage from the local news station played, beginning with a somber woman reporting on “bear men” with supernatural abilities living among the general population. The video of Dade pulling her arm to his mouth and clamping down followed. A soft gasp left Quinn’s lips as Dade began to strip off his turnout gear beside his brothers. The cell phone video wasn’t the best quality, but it had picked up almost everything they’d said. When it panned to Quinn’s Change, Dade turned away and looked out the window.
Cody had played the damned thing on repeat at the meeting he’d called, and there was only so many times he could watch Quinn suffer like that. The first Change was always the worst.
“Oh, God!” she cried. “That’s not me. That’s not me! I’m not that thing.”
That thing. He was that thing. The disgust in her voice gutted him. He watched the passing lodgepole pine forest and agonized at the hitch in her voice. At the soft splat her tears caused against her legs. At the heartbreak in her voice when she asked, “Why? Why did you do put that thing inside of me?”