MY EYES FELT LIKE SANDPAPER as I attempted to open them.
“Be still, Ashlee. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal.” Callie’s tender voice spoke as she wiped a cool washcloth against my hot forehead. Was I running a fever? Did I get sick?
“What happened?” I couldn’t remember much, other than a man trying to bite me and another man coming to our rescue.
“We were attacked.” Callie continued to cool off my skin with the damp rag.
“That man, he was delusional. He thought he was a… a… vampire.” I whispered the last word, unable to trust what I was saying.
“He is a vampire,” a deep male voice spoke from across the room. I squinted my eyes and saw a shadowy figure leaning against the door jamb.
“She doesn’t need to hear that right now,” Callie hissed.
“She needs to know the truth so she can protect herself.” He took a step into the room.
“You can wait until she recovers before springing the news on her.” Callie dropped the rag into a bucket with a healthy splash.
“You don’t expect me to believe any of this, do you? Vampires don’t exist.”
“They do, and unfortunately, this vampire now has a taste for your blood.” The man stood next to me. “You need to learn about them and how to protect yourself, in case he attacks again.”
The moment I could focus on his handsome face I felt something click deep inside. He was tall, rugged, and muscular. His face was chiseled with a strong jaw and high cheekbones. He wore his sandy-brown hair feathered back, but it was his forest green eyes that pulled me in like a magnet. His angry scowl only added to his appeal. Call me a masochist, looking for pain, but there was something about this man that drew me to him despite his obvious dislike of me.
“Are you the one that saved us?” I asked.
“That doesn’t matter.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“It does.” I forced myself to a sitting position. “If it was you, I figure I owe you a thank you.”
“No need,” he headed toward the door, “but if you’d really like to thank me, you can learn to protect yourself. I won’t be around all the time to save you.” He left abruptly on that note, and I found myself missing him.
“Who was that?” I whispered.
“That was Tucker. He’s the leader here.”
I looked around the room. It was strangely decorated, like half of it was a home, and the other was earth. I was in a comfy bed made out of thick wood logs, covered in fur skins. The floor was made of stone, like no other tile I’d ever seen before. One wall looked like the side of a mountain, the rest made of painted sheetrock, I guessed.
“Where are we?”
“He brought us to his den so we could recover. You lost a lot of blood.”
Memories came flooding back. Callie being attacked. My attempt to protect us with pepper spray, which was useless against the man with glowing eyes and sharpened teeth. “Oh my god, Callie, you were knocked out! Are you okay?”
“Just a bump on the head. I’ll be fine. You took the brunt of the attack.” Callie burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, Ash.”
“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault.” I reached for her hands. “It was that crazy maniac who was into role playing games or something.”
Callie pulled her hands away. “No, that’s not it. He…I shouldn’t have signed us up for Aphrodite’s Love Connection. I should’ve known better when my aunt recommended it.”
I frowned. “You’re confusing me.”
“Don’t you see? I signed us up for a supernatural dating site. I didn’t know, but I should’ve known when Elizabeth recommended it.”
“Callie, you’re talking crazy.”
“No, that’s just it, Ash, I’m not crazy. I’m a witch, and Andre, our attacker, he’s a vampire. I should’ve recognized that, but I, he attacked before my senses could see what he really was, and Tucker is a bear shifter.”
I stared at her, waiting silently for the punchline. There were no such things as vampires, witches, and shifters, not in real life. They were things of fiction. When Callie didn’t finish the joke, I burst out laughing.
With no words, Callie picked up a candle and blew across the wick. Suddenly, it burst into flame. I screamed and scrambled off the bed, far away from my best friend. “What? How did you? I mean, that was a trick, a slight of hand, a magic trick, right?”
“It was magic, but not a trick. I am a fire witch.” She tried to explain, but I couldn’t comprehend the words she was speaking. They didn’t make sense in the sentences she formed.
I shook my head, over and over again. Denial and I were fast becoming best friends. “No way, this isn’t happening. I’m dreaming. I need to wake up now.” I pinched myself and yelped at the sharp pain. “I am dreaming, right?”
Callie shook her head. “No. You’re not dreaming.” She pulled out a strange looking pewter amulet with a red gem in the center. “I need you to wear this. It will help to protect you.”
I slapped her hand away and the necklace went flying. “Stay away from me.”
“Ashlee--”
“No, your joke is getting really mean.”
“You need to hear me. I’m not joking. This is real. I never meant to bring you into this world, but now that you are in it, you’re, well, in it.”
“What does that mean?”
“You can’t unsee or unknow what you know. Before you could ignore the strange things, explain them away. You won’t be able to do that anymore.” She took a step forward, and I stepped backward. “Worse, they’ll know you can see them. Tucker is right, you need to protect yourself.”
Callie closed the gap between us, and I stumbled backward falling over a wooden rocking chair. “Get away from me. Leave me alone!”
“I’m trying to help you.”
“Help? You’re nuts. If what you’re saying is true, you’ve ruined my life.”
“Ashlee, I’m so sorry.” She started sobbing.
I didn’t want to hear it. “Get out! Leave me alone.”
It was the first time I’d seen Callie defeated. Her shoulders slumped, her eyes red from tears. I felt sadness for her, until I remembered the hot water she got me into. There wasn’t another word exchanged. She just left.
Chapter Six
Tucker
HIS HANDS FISTED AT HIS sides as he walked away from his bed with the blonde human in it. There was something about her that ate him up from the inside out. It could be her beauty, her innocence. Perhaps it was her ignorance. The woman was in danger and she simply chose to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend it wasn’t real. Denial was not a good place to live when you knew supernatural creatures existed. Most likely it was her inability to protect herself, and the way his bear responded to her scent and presence. One minute he wanted to shake her into understanding, and the next, he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her silly. Then he’d take her to his bed and show her pleasures beyond anything she’d ever experienced before. Damn woman was getting under his skin.
He needed a distraction. Work. It was time to work. Anything to get Ashlee out of his system. He ignored his desire to return to his room and show her how much of an animal he could be with his mate. How well he could pleasure her, make her scream with delight. What he wouldn’t give to hear his name tumble from her lips in the moment of ecstasy.
He ran a shaky hand through his sun-kissed brown hair. Work. He needed the distraction. He ignored his beastly drive and headed toward the main hall. Grayson, his right hand man, was hunched over the area map in talks with their enemy, the alpha wolf, Brand. They’d been in heated talks for three days and were nowhere near a workable solution.
Tucker took a deep breath to center himself before entering. “How are things coming along?”
“Terrible,” Brand growled as he ran a hand through his dark, shaggy hair. “Gray is absolutely useless in these talks.”
“Watch it, wolf!” Gray snapped, his hazel eyes tu
rning dark, a sign he was reaching his limit.
Tucker stepped between the two snarling men and did his best to calm the situation. He took a page from his mother’s diplomatic approach handbook, rest her soul. “So where are we running into problems?”
“Your man wants to claim all the waterways, which will leave my pack hungry in the winter.”
“Okay, that is fair. We can’t leave you starving in the winter. How do you propose we work a compromise?” He hated being the rational one. His bear wanted to tear the wolf from limb to limb, but that would cause war, and war would cause death on both sides. His bears were already struggling in numbers, and they couldn’t afford to lose more. They were a very secluded people and shared their homes with so few. Mating was difficult by nature. Offspring were rare. Without the numbers, the wolves would take the entire territory. This treaty needed to happen or they’d be pushed out.
“We’ll take the waters up north.” Brand pointed at the map.
“The upstream waters of the north will keep us from the salmon run in the fall.” Gray sat down in the chair and tossed his blond hair behind his shoulders. “You know this is a major source of food for us through the winter.”
“Could we share the water from September to November?” The words tasted bitter as they left his mouth, but Tucker needed more give from Brand. The truth was, giving up any water through the territories was going to be hard.
“We might as well share the water all year.” Gray spoke with sarcasm.
“Why is that not possible?” Callie entered the room with caution.
“Excuse me? Who is she?” Brand whipped his head around to get a look at the tall, willowy, brown-haired witch.
“She is a… friend,” Tucker lied, “and she is under my protection. Both the witch and the human. What are you doing out of the room?”
“It doesn’t matter. I could hear you yelling from across the house and thought I’d come and help.” She looked down shyly. “I’m fairly good in negotiations.”
“Wolves and bears do not share anything.” Brand stood with his arms crossed. It was obvious the man wasn’t willing to give an inch. “And we sure as hell don’t need a witch aiding us in peace talks.”
“Not sharing is a ridiculous notion. It seems to me, putting up boundaries will only lead to more fighting. At some point, one bear or wolf will get into the wrong territory and fighting will ensue. Why not avoid this outcome completely and become allies?” Callie suggested.
“Our animals won’t allow such a compromise. We are driven to claim territory. It is a biological imperative,” Tucker explained. They were warriors first and foremost, it was what they were created for. There was little changing that reality.
“Adapt your imperative.” Callie raised her chin in defiance.
“You’re mad, woman.” Brand shook his head.
“My name is Callie, and I am far from mad, just logical. We can’t keep fighting among supernatural races or we’ll wipe each other out.”
“Why did you bring a peacemaker to our talks, Tucker?” Brand turned his anger to the bear alpha.
“I didn’t, but she has a point.” He ran a hand through his sandy-brown hair and pointed to the map. “We have plenty of territory to share hunting grounds. We can set up camps on opposite sides of the river and share the entire area.”
“And when we’re fighting over food, who gets the final say?”
“Split it,” Callie interjected.
Brand snorted. “Madness!”
The door burst open and Andre entered the room with seven other vampires. “Where is she?” He sniffed the air and turned red eyes to Tucker. “I smell her sweetness.”
Chapter Seven
Ashlee
NOTHING ABOUT THIS WORLD IS okay. I really believed I was in a waking nightmare. My best friend is a witch, a witch with real power. Fire power. Vampires, werewolves, even bear…shifters exist? It was unbelievable. None of this made any sense. Suddenly my world was collapsing in on itself. To make matters worse, now there’s a vampire after me, a stranger who wants to kill me for what? Why? I rubbed my face and wiped the tears from my eyes. Something, self-preservation maybe, told me I needed to be stronger, that I wouldn’t survive any of this if I didn’t find my inner strength. The same inner strength that my mother and ex-husband tried to destroy. The power that I had spent the last few years trying to rebuild. It was easy to be weak, but if there was one thing I’d learned about myself these last few years, I wasn’t one to take the easy way out. Not anymore.
I washed my face, pinched my cheeks to add a little color to them, got dressed, found my purse and lipstick on the dresser, and grabbed my infuriating high heels. Those would not go on my feet until it was necessary. After one final look in the full length mirror, I took a deep breath. Disheveled and sad-looking were the words of the day for my appearance, but there was little else I could do until I was home, safe and sound, so I headed out of the room to find a way out of this nightmare and back to my normal life.
The yelling and crashing down the hall gave me pause. I didn’t want to be one of those naïve girls who ran toward danger in a horror film, but a quick look around told me there was little other direction to go. I had the choice of opening doors which led to who knows what supernatural surprise, or head toward a possible exit. I counted to ten, and took the few steps down the hall to the main room. It was another decision I instantly regretted.
Tucker was fighting the vampire, Andre. There were other men battling it out. Claws, wooden stakes, and sharp teeth were flying as everyone brutally attacked each other. When one of the men disappeared in a puff of smoke after being staked, I suddenly felt like I was on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. My brain told me to run, but I was transfixed with the horror and frozen in place.
Tucker grabbed my attention. The rest of the chaos happening in front of me faded away. He moved with such precision. It was obvious he was a trained fighter, and Andre was going to struggle to keep up with the man. It wasn’t until a dark-haired stranger turned from a human to a wolf right in front of me that I could finally peel my eyes away from Tucker. He was magnificent. The human wolf was frightening. This time, a scream escaped my lips and I ran. I didn’t know where I was running. Somehow, I blindly made it out of the house and into the wild, taking cover in the trees that surrounded the property. I didn’t stop. Even when my lungs burned and my feet were numb from running barefoot, I didn’t stop. I needed to escape from the man-wolf, the fights, the magic. I needed to escape from this supernatural world that I didn’t belong in.
Chapter Eight
Tucker
THE BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM CUT through his soul and distracted Tucker long enough to lose his advantage against Andre. Seeing Ashlee run out of the door, into the wilderness, allowed Andre the opportunity to knock him backward and start pummeling his face. He did his best to block the assault and tried to regain his footing. He needed to end this now and go after Ashlee. There was no way she’d survive the terrain for long.
Brand pulled Andre off of Tucker and moved to yank his heart out of his chest.
“Stop!” Tucker yelled. His words saved Andre’s life, but his goal wasn’t to save the vampire, it was to keep the wolf and bear packs safe from retaliation. He’d investigated Andre while Ashlee was recovering, and he knew the demon was connected to Prince Samson. Killing Andre would cause a war neither wolf or bear pack could afford.
Brand turned narrowed, grey eyes on Tucker as he slammed Andre against the wall. “You mean to show this beast mercy?”
He needed to be careful how he answered Brand. He couldn’t show weakness. It would shatter all the work he’d done with the alpha wolf and it would show Andre he had the upper hand. If he showed his inability to kill the vampire, then Andre would win and he’d never regain enough power to protect Ashlee. Neither option would do.
“This is our fight, not yours. I need to interrogate the man before I dispose o
f him. Gray, put him in the cells,” Tucker ordered.
Gray grabbed Andre and slammed him into the wall. “Sorry about that. I must have a little blood in my eyes.” He escorted their prisoner to the basement.
“Brand, you’ll have to excuse me. I must go after Ashlee before she gets hurt. Please accept my hospitality. You and your men can stay here for the night. Gray will see that you’re comfortable.” Tucker headed out after his woman, her scent still strong on the wind.
***
Ashlee
The air around me chilled as night began to fall. I shivered as I headed toward the east, thankful the sun was still in the sky offering a little bit of warmth against my exposed skin. The skimpy dress and heels were the worst clothing possible to wear on a hike. It was good that I’d hiked this area before. I knew where I was, in the general sense, and which direction I needed to take to get back to town. Unfortunately, the hike would be a long and treacherous one. Night was coming and there was no way in hell I was going back to that creepy compound. I needed to find shelter. Which meant I needed to stay close to the mountain and pray I could find a tunnel or some fallen trees that would create a makeshift den.
But first I needed shoes.
I found a sturdy tree trunk and started hammering away at the heels of my pumps. When they loosened enough I was able to pull the heels off, and suddenly, the fancy shoes were flats. It wasn’t until I went to place them on my feet that I realized how bloody and bruised my walking sticks were. That was when the pain started. I told myself they looked worse than they were, and it was probably true. My best bet would be to find a stream and wash them off. I’d treat them with peroxide when I got home. I pushed the pain down. It was simply a distraction that kept me from getting home.
Once I had reasonably decent shoes, I re-started my trek east. My mind kept flashing back to the man that attacked me in the alley, the bite marks on my neck, Callie setting the candles on fire with magic, her offering the necklace which I tossed across the room, the amulet I wished I was wearing at the moment, the fight in the main room, the man who turned into a wolf, the vampire that disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Tucker, the man that intrigued and terrified me in the same instance.
Bear-i-licious Cowboy (Aphrodite's Love Connection Book 1) Page 3