by Zoey Harper
Colton was tenacious. If he somehow managed to live past today, Colton would find him again. His tracker friend Kylo would make sure of it. All Tegan needed to do was stay alive.
Flynn shrugged. "Smart move, but it's no good. As you can see, we've been expecting you."
Now it was Tegan's turn to stop smiling. "It was a setup," she mumbled.
"Of course. I had to spend more money than I liked to get spotted in quite a few different places, but I left enough crumbs for you to find."
Flynn clapped his hands together. "It was a lot of work, but now you're here. Although, I'm a little disappointed. Where's your bear friend? He wouldn't have sent you on your own."
Tegan folded her arms. "As I said. I'm a sniper. I came here to find a location. He's in town looking for you."
Flynn scoffed. "How dumb do you think I am? I wouldn't be spotted out and about again."
Tegan saw her opening. While she'd done her best to stall, the men behind Flynn were getting bored, and Flynn himself was probably ready to put an end to his run.
The first step would be to kidnap Tegan and use her as a bargaining chip.
Tegan swallowed thickly. At any moment, they could grab her, and that would be that. Colton wasn't armed, and even if he was, there was no way he'd take a shot when Tegan was close by.
There was also the fact that gunshots would draw police attention. Using firearms was always a last option. No shifter chose it without giving it much thought.
I've got to shift. I've got to shift and throw them off their game.
That should give Colton enough time and create enough chaos to put their hostage plans on the back burner. But Tegan couldn't shift. She hadn't for years. The last time she did, a group of men was about to rape her.
Tegan's breath hitched as the memories flooded her.
"Aww," Flynn said, "don't be scared. It's not you that we're after. Just the bear. And you're going to help us get him."
Tegan steeled her voice. "You'll never be free, you know."
Flynn sneered. "And how do you figure that, princess?"
"You stole from Patrick Hargrove; then you were dumb enough to sell in his territory. He's never going to stop hunting you."
Flynn placed a hand against his chest and sighed. "Oh no! How will I survive?" He laughed, and his men joined him.
"You won't," Tegan said. "Not with this kind of security."
You've got to do it. It's now or never.
Tegan scoffed. "God, Flynn. I understand that even a gay shifter has sexual needs, but surrounding yourself with ass isn't the way to go. What do they do? Fuck you whenever you have a good day?"
Tegan held a hand up and chuckled. "No. I'm sorry. I can see you've got a couple of power bottoms here. You probably like getting it up the ass more than all of them," Tegan said, pointing at the wolf shifter closest to her.
A split second later, a punch to the cheek sent Tegan to the ground.
"I'm not a faggot," the wolf said, raining down blows on Tegan's body.
She kept her hands up to protect her face. If she couldn't breathe right, this would be over faster than she'd thought.
Tegan felt her wolf begin to stir within her. Then the unfamiliar feeling of a surge of anger washed through her.
Her wolf was waking up! All she'd needed was to put herself in yet another life and death situation.
It's about time.
Tegan's joy quickly faded as agonizing pain took over. Her wolf burst forth without much warning. Bone crunched, and muscle shifted.
Tegan screamed in horror. It had been far too long since she'd shifted. She’d forgotten the horrifying pain of her body rearranging itself.
Seconds later, she was in her wolf form. Before the shifter above her could scramble away, Tegan sank her teeth into his neck.
The man howled, but she hung on. The other two men tried to pull him off Tegan, but she held on.
The amount of blood rushing into her mouth eventually hit Tegan's gut. She unclenched her jaws and let them get the man off. She wished she could spit in animal form, but she settled for allowing the majority of the blood to drip out of her mouth.
Tegan faced Flynn and his men. By this point, the wolf she'd bitten had been laid on the ground, and the bear and remaining wolf were mid-shift. Flynn glared at Tegan.
"I wasn't planning on killing you, but now I have to. You fucking cost me another bodyguard!"
A heavy thud sounded as the bear shifter completed his shift and his front paws landed on the ground. He stalked toward her. The remaining wolf shifter, whose coat was brown, stood beside Flynn and watched.
"Kill her," Flynn said. "And make it hurt. I'm tired of all the fag insults. There's more to me than that."
Tegan's heart constricted. She hated to play dirty. That's not who she was or what she did. But Colton's story about how mad Flynn got when he first suggested he was sleeping with his bodyguards got her thinking that while it wouldn't work on Flynn a second time, it might work on his new bodyguards.
Well, you got your wish. Now you've got to fight.
Tegan lowered her head and stalked around the bear. A black coat of fur covered his mammoth size, casting a shadow over her.
Tegan was bigger in wolf form, but that wasn't saying much. Most wolves towered over her. If she was going to take him down, she needed a quick strategy.
Tegan darted to the left, hoping to run around the bear’s back to bite him, but he turned just as quickly as she did it.
Flynn chuckled. "I don't make the same mistake twice. I hired much better fighters."
Tegan quickly turned to watch Flynn. He was leaning against a tree watching the fight like it was a bit of reality TV. Tegan wanted nothing more than to tell him to save his commentary. Instead, she stalked around the bear once more.
"Come on, Ryan," Flynn said. "I'm getting bored."
Ryan charged at Tegan, his heavy footsteps thundering in her ears. Tegan did her best to stand still while staying light on her toes. Most wolves liked to pounce. Ryan would be expecting that.
At the last minute, she darted to the right. For a few seconds, she was happy that she'd dodged the bear, but then a massive paw tore across her belly, flinging her straight into a tree.
Tegan heard the sound of bone crunching as pain seared across her back. She must have looked before she ran. That was the only way he'd have caught on to that move.
Tegan tried to get up, but her back protested in the worst way. She lay on the ground whimpering, her tongue hanging out as she tried to catch her breath. The sound of Flynn's laughter rang in her ears as she waited for the dizzy spell that had taken over to fade.
When Tegan peeled her eyes open, black spots filled her vision, so she shut them again.
This was not what she'd had in mind, and Tegan could feel the magic within her moving at a snail's pace. Blood was seeping from her belly, and the little magic she had was doing nothing to stop it.
At this rate, I'll be dead before Colton gets here.
Tegan opened her eyes and saw Ryan, the bear, standing a distance away staring down at her. His ego was probably swelling right now as he watched his victim suffer. The way his black eyes didn't even blink told her he was a sadist.
Tegan tried to get up once more, then howled as her back protested. She probably hadn't broken anything because she could move, but she'd bruised something. And now, she'd be no use to Colton when he got to her location.
She was the one that insisted on scouting by herself. If they'd been together, none of this would have happened.
Tegan had just made things harder for Colton. That was the one thing she'd promised herself she'd never do.
Colton had his flaws, but Tegan had deep-seated issues. The kind that affected her on a daily basis. She'd seen how Colton glared at every male wolf that got too close to her on her behalf.
It was sweet, but it was starting to affect their time out together. Tegan knew it would take time to get over her anxieties, but in the meantime, she'd
promised herself that in every other situation, she wouldn't make life harder for Colton.
Yet here she lay, having made a gamble and lost, doing just that.
"What the fuck?" Flynn yelled.
Tegan peeled her eyes open just in time to see a large brown bear tear down the hill to their clearing. He slammed straight into the black bear, and the ground shook as he landed on top of him. Loud groaning and the gnashing of teeth filled the air.
Tegan mentally smiled. Colton had come for her, and based on the sounds she heard, he'd come with a vengeance.
The bleeding in Tegan's belly continued, but she felt the throbbing in her back ease a little. She wondered if it was her limited magic kicking in, or if she'd just gotten accustomed to the pain.
Tegan forced herself to open her eyes. She couldn't pass out. If she did, then Flynn and the second wolf could still capture her and create a hostage situation.
Colton had done her a huge favor by coming in when he did. Hell, he must have run all the way in his bear form just to get to her this fast. Tegan would not repay his courage with laziness.
Tegan's heart skipped a beat as she watched the second wolf pounce onto Colton's back. It wasn't fair for him to face two opponents. Tegan then turned to Flynn, and her mouth went dry.
Flynn's eyes were shut as he crouched on the ground. He was about to shift!
Tegan couldn't let that happen. It would put Colton in an even worse situation with Patrick Hargrove. Besides, she wanted all this madness to end so that they could get back to their lives.
Tegan howled as she forced herself to roll over onto her paws. The sound of her howl was covered by the noise the two bears made. Tegan took advantage of it.
She gently stalked toward Flynn. When she saw feathers beginning to cover his neck, she picked up the pace. Her back ached like nothing she'd ever known, but she pushed on.
This wasn't just about her. It was about Colton, her mother, and her sister. For the first time in her life, Tegan was in a position to do something that would positively impact others’ lives.
She would not fuck it up.
Flynn's eyes flew open a second later. "Oh, for fuck's sake," he said.
His feathers receded, and he got up. Flynn quickly reached behind him and pulled out a gun.
Flynn was reckless and selfish to pull a gun right now. Two of his bodyguards were still tied up in their fight with Colton, not to mention the third that lay on the ground bleeding out.
In the middle of all this, Flynn was about to shoot Tegan, draw the police's attention, then leave his men to fend for themselves.
Tegan decided she wouldn't feel guilty if she got the opportunity to shoot him, but the chances of that were looking slimmer by the minute.
Once the gun was pointed in her direction, Tegan screeched to a halt and did her best to dart to the side, but it was no use.
A loud gunshot rang, and a searing pain tore at her left thigh. In a split second, she lay on the ground, her entire body one large pain. Her heartbeat slowed, and her head swam with dizziness.
I hope I did enough to help Colton.
With that thought, Tegan blacked out.
14
The sound of the gunshot snapped Colton out of his calm, but deadly, fighting mode. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tegan's silver wolf drop. His stomach dropped and time seemed to slow.
This entire time, Colton had thought he had a grip on the situation. He'd managed to buck off the brown wolf that kept jumping onto his back, and he and the black bear were going toe-to-toe. Colton had already found that he was weak on his left side, and was slowly wearing him down.
Then Flynn had shot Tegan. The eagle shifter had shot his mate and tried to take away the one thing Colton couldn't live without.
Colton rose up to his hind legs and shoved the black bear as hard he could. He ignored the wolf's attempt to stop his advance, and he rushed at Flynn.
The eagle shifter crouched on the ground, and dark brown feathers started to cover his neck. This idiot had shot Tegan. No. First, he'd set up a trap, chased her, and now he'd shot her.
Colton pounced on Flynn without a second thought. He swiped his paw across his neck. Once, twice, thrice. He carried on until the wolf managed to jump on top of his back and sink his fangs into Colton's back.
Colton growled but didn't try to buck him off.
He looked into Flynn's lifeless eyes. He wanted to remember this moment. So that no matter what happened with Tegan, he'd know he'd killed the man that tried to take away his mate.
Once he got his confirmation, Colton turned around, careful not to look at Tegan's wolf. If he did, his emotions might get the better of him.
Now, he needed to turn into Colton the beast.
Colton walked away from Flynn's body, the wolf still hanging on to him. He had to give the wolf points. He had a sharp bite.
Unfortunately for the wolf, Colton's body had gone numb. Now he was ready to kill. Technique and strategy be damned.
Colton stalked past the black bear, who watched him wearily as he panted. It seemed he had tired after their bout. Colton mentally scoffed.
That's the problem with big guys relying on their size and ignoring fitness.
Fitness in human form and animal form were connected. While animal form gave rise to certain advantages, there came a point where those advantages didn't matter.
Take Colton, for instance. He'd trained in both animal and human form every day from the ages of thirteen to twenty-one. His bear may not look muscled under all its fur, but it was.
Colton had plenty of energy left in the tank, and it was time to use it.
Once he was a decent distance away from the bear, he carried out a move he'd seen Keith do. Colton threw himself over backward and crushed the wolf under him. He instantly felt the pain in his back lessen.
The wolf had shifted back into human form. It usually happened once a shifter got injured. Their magic could only accomplish so much. Sustaining animal form and healing a significant injury put too much of a strain on a small reserve.
Colton then rolled to the side and rolled over the wolf once more. Hearing the sound of bones crunching, he got to his feet. When he turned to the bear, he found the man in human form, his brown eyes wary.
Colton stalked toward him. He wouldn't respect shifter rules and shift back to his human form. This man had attacked Tegan.
Colton didn't need to see the event. As soon as he'd rushed in, the man had seen the satisfied glint in the bear's eyes. Even though he hadn't been the one to shoot Tegan, he'd have to answer for laying a hand on her.
Colton stalked toward the naked man, who took several steps backward and frowned.
"Shift, you moron," he spat, hyperventilating.
Colton followed him around, and they danced around each other. The bear shifter probably regretted his decision to shift, but he needn't have. Colton was going to kill him in either form. He stood no chance.
"Fuck this!"
The man charged up the hill, but he was too tired to make good ground. Colton tore after him, eating the field up with a few strides. Seconds later, he dragged the man to the ground and raised his paw.
The man's brown eyes widened in panic. "No, please. It was Flynn's idea. I never—"
Colton swiped a claw across his neck, then got off him. As he moved down the hill, he looked at the carnage. Four bodies lay lifeless in the clearing, and one breathed gently by a tree.
Colton carefully stalked toward Tegan's wolf before shifting back. He was sore and wounded, but he could already feel his magic beginning to deal with the worst of it.
Colton rubbed his hands on the grass, getting as much blood off them as he could before approaching Tegan.
A sob got trapped in his throat as he got a close look at his mate. Blood dripped from her gut and her thigh. The sound of her raspy breathing told him her body was struggling to heal.
But that wasn't the worst part. Tegan was still in wolf form. Regular shifters chang
ed back to their human form when they got injured badly.
Tegan's wolf should have retreated to save her body from losing so much blood in its bigger form. The fact that she hadn't meant that Colton couldn't take Tegan to the hospital. If he didn't get her to shift back, she'd die out here.
"Damn it, Colton!"
Colton bit his bottom lip and racked his brain. His mouth went dry as he tried to come up with something that would get Tegan to shift back. Colton knew that only injury would force a person to do that. Tegan was already severely injured, but she still hadn't shifted.
Colton stretched out a hand and stroked Tegan's fur. He needed confirmation that she was alive because her chest was barely rising.
Colton's eyes watered and his throat constricted. It was all his fault.
He'd known deep down that he shouldn't let an unarmed innocent head out to the forest by herself. But Tegan had been so convincing, and he'd wanted to prove to her that he believed in her.
Stupid fuck. There are other ways to show that.
Colton's heartbeat raced, and he held back a scream as he berated himself for putting his mate in this very position. Hadn't he promised Tegan he'd take care of her? Now, at the first test, he'd failed.
"Come on," Colton said to himself, rubbing his hands together. "Think, you fuckwit! Think!"
Colton shut his eyes. The image of Tegan suffering like she was only served to distract him. He needed to pull himself out of the equation and focus.
How else can you get someone to shift?
Colton repeated the question over and over, but his mind drew a blank. Then a couple of minutes in, a memory floated to his mind. He'd been about eleven years old and had just woken up in his mother's room.
His mother sat on her bed staring at him, her eyes wide with fear. He lay naked on the floor looking up at her.
That was the first time he'd shifted in his sleep. He'd walked into her room through the door she always kept open for him and scared the living daylights out of her.
Colton's eyes snapped open. "Love! Love and talking!"
He quickly drew closer to Tegan, ignoring the fact that his knees were covered with sticky blood.