A glance outside to find the world peaceful would help to ease the tension rising within him. Not wanting the outside light to wake her, he separated the curtains just enough to look out. At the late hour, only a few cars passed by on the road, while off in the distance he could hear police sirens. They were rushing to a call, making him long for the action. To leave the police force had been the right decision, though. If anyone had found out he was a shifter, he would have put anyone who’d worked with him in danger. He was tired of living in the shadows and at Crimson Hollow he didn’t have to do that any longer. For the first time in his life, he could embrace his bear.
“No! Please don’t…” Swift tossed and turned, her arms pinned to the mattress as if some invisible force was holding her there. “Don’t! Leave them alone!”
He crossed the room in a flash and sat down on the bed. “Swift, wake up. Come on baby, it’s just a dream.” He pulled her into his embrace, holding her hands in one of his to stop her from fighting him. “You’re safe, Swift. Breathe, remember where you are. I’m here with you.”
In between deep, heaving breaths and the tears, he rubbed small circles along her back. He wanted to take away the terror that coursed through her, and the memories that brought the nightmares to life.
“I’m okay…” She stopped fighting him and collapsed against him. “It was just a dream.”
“How often do you have them?” Without releasing her, he adjusted so he could put his back against the headboard and cradle her against him, making the most of their body contact. “No wonder there are dark circles under your eyes if you’re going through this every night. I’m surprised the people in neighboring rooms haven’t called the police. Or at the very least, complained to the front desk.”
“It’s not every night, but they’ve gotten more frequent and have grown stronger since I’ve left the tribe.”
“Because you’ve disconnected yourself from your Chief. Jase might be a bear but he’s your Alpha; he can keep some of this at bay through your connection with him. You’ve shut him out. They will continue to grow in power for as long as you let them control you. We need to get you back home.”
“In the morning.” She rolled over to her side and laid her head on his chest, her hair brushing against his chin. “I’m so tired.”
“Okay, baby, just rest.”
“Stay.” She draped her hand over his waist and let her fingers dig into his hip as she pulled herself closer to him. “Just hold me. Keep my demons away…just for a few hours.”
“Just sleep. I’m not going anywhere.” He pulled the discarded blanket over them and scooted down in bed, doing his best to make himself as comfortable as he could get. It didn’t matter; he wasn’t tired. As long as she slept, that’s what mattered. It might be the first restful night’s sleep she’d have had in weeks.
My sweet mate, I can’t take away the memories of what happened, but I can help you embrace your feisty side and move forward with your life. You have more fight in you than you think. Trust me and we’ll get you through this.
* * *
Vibrations jarred Swift from her restful sleep, forcing her to open her eyes. The urge to bitch at whoever was calling disappeared as she woke to find herself in Brett’s arms. It wasn’t her cell phone going off, it was his, and he already had it pressed to his ear. She glanced over him to the nightstand alarm clock and the bright red letters told her it was just before two in the morning. Whoever was calling wasn’t bringing them good news. Calls in the middle of the night brought nothing but trouble.
Was Jase calling to bitch at him for not returning to Crimson Hollow? No, Jase would have chewed him out once they returned. Unless something had happened to the tribe. Terrible ideas multiplied within her thoughts as she waited for him to stay something.
He glanced down at her and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Okay, we’ll be ready. Meet you outside in ten.” He ended the call and placed the phone back on the nightstand.
“What’s wrong? Is Jase pissed?” Even though she doubted it, she wished this could be true. A pissed off Chief would be better than the alternatives.
“We’ve got to go. Get packed.”
“I thought…” As he started to sit up, she was left with no choice but to slide out of his embrace. “What happened to me making the decision? You promised you wouldn’t force me to return.”
“I’m not.” He stood and pulled her up onto her knees on the bed. “We don’t have to go to Crimson Hollow but we can’t stay here. Damn it, Swift. Don’t fight me on this. Let me protect you.”
“What do I need to be protected from? What’s happened? Noah wouldn’t call at this time of night if something hadn’t happened. Was it the tribe?” Questions flowed from her, one after another, without giving him a chance to answer.
“Just get ready and let us get out of here.”
“Don’t shut me out. If you want me to trust you then you need to tell me what the hell is going on.” Even as she fought for him to tell her, she got off the bed and began to throw her belongings in her suitcase. She didn’t have much, just one duffle bag. Not having a car, she had been forced to walk from the tribe’s land until she reached the bus station, so she hadn’t wanted to carry much.
“There was a meeting for shifters in the area without their own groups or tribes.” He grabbed his wallet and slid it into his pocket before grabbing his gun from the nightstand and attaching it to his belt. “They were killed.”
Dropping the last of her clothes into the bag, she turned to face him. “Killed? All of them? I thought they were only going after certain animals.”
“They were, but I guess they got tired of only getting one or two at a time.”
Not being fazed by his presence, she slipped out of the cotton shorts she had worn to bed and into the jeans she’d tossed aside while she was packing. “Who are these people? They have to have a name.”
“Humankind Saviors—they also go by The Saviors. They believe they’re saving the human population from the filth.”
“We’re humans, too.” She slammed the shorts she’d taken off into the bag and turned to go to the sink area and gather the rest of her stuff. “We have families and friends that would grieve for us. What makes them so much better than us?”
“Nothing, baby.” He came up behind her and laid his hands on her shoulders. Rather than turn her around to face him, he stared straight at the mirror, watching her. “They’re willing to die for their cause, which makes them much more dangerous. They’re on a war path tonight so we need to get out of here. If you don’t want to go back to Crimson Hollow, fine. We’ll have Noah drop us off at another town, wherever you want, but we can’t stay here.”
“Drop us off?”
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as if to stop the panic blooming within her. “Their strategy has changed and with Noah being Jase’s guard, he needs to get back to protect the Chief. I’ll have someone bring my truck, so we can return to the tribe whenever you’re ready—unless you’re willing to come back for me to get my truck. I can have someone bring it to town and you won’t even have to go to the compound or see anyone.”
“I…” She leaned back into his embrace. As she’d fallen asleep earlier, she had made a promise to herself to trust him and allow him to help her. His touch helped keep the worst of her fears from overwhelming her, while she couldn’t go around attached to his hip for the rest of her life, their mating would help. It would be selfish to mate with someone just to overcome the darkest parts of oneself, but they could help each other. They’d make each other stronger. Or maybe he’d make her stronger, but there had to be something she could do to make him a better person. They were meant to be together—that must mean something. She just needed to trust that. “I’ll go…home.”
Chapter Five
Crimson Hollow was just as Swift had left it weeks earlier. The only difference was, she had changed. It might have only been a week since she’d left but she’d survived.
Years before, when Sin had begged her to leave with her, she couldn’t do it. She had been terrified that they would be eaten alive out there alone without an Alpha to protect them. While she might have only left because she felt Jase would have forced her to do so eventually, she still survived and was stronger for it.
“Come on, Noah will speak with Jase and I’ll walk you home.” Brett opened the truck door before climbing out and offering her a hand.
“Surely, Jase would allow you a few hours off.” She wasn’t sure what she was doing but she didn’t want to be on her own. The desire to be alone with him, as they’d been at the hotel, overwhelmed her. She wanted to be back there, curled up with him in bed. There was nothing sexual about it, but she needed the comfort and understanding she found in his arms.
“Jase knows how to reach me if he needs to but I’m not planning on going to him now.”
“What are you planning?” She accepted his hand, even though she didn’t need it to get out of the truck.
“What would you like me to do?”
Stay with me. Not wanting to admit she wanted him to come home with her, she brushed off the opportunity. “Do you always answer a question with another question?”
Outside of the cab, he pressed her against the extended cabin, letting his body brush along the front of hers. “Say it. Say you want me to stay with you.”
“I…I…don’t—”
“Don’t deny it, beautiful.” He leaned down until his face was just above hers and she thought he was going to kiss her. “You want me back in your bed, don’t you?”
“Yes.” The word came out breathier than she expected and she leaned forward, hoping to close the distance between their lips.
“Let’s go.” He took a step back, popping the intimacy that had developed between them in their closeness. Reaching into the back of the pickup, he grabbed their bags before turning back to her. “Your place or mine?”
“Do I even…umm…have a place anymore?” She had left; maybe someone had moved into her cabin. It was one of the nicer ones with two stories and close to the Chief’s own home.
“Sin has it ready for you. Fresh sheets, stocked with your favorite foods, and everything you might need. Ari and Kaden have installed a security system. Everything is ready for you.” He slipped his free arm around her waist and started toward her cabin.
“A security system?”
“Part of the changes happening here. Everyone is getting a system with panic alarms. They will all be connected to Jase and Sin’s cell phones, alerting them if anything happens. Another precaution that Kaden suggested. Guards will be at the doorsteps of whoever is in trouble within seconds. Does that give you peace of mind?” He didn’t look at her as they made their way to her place and she considered what he’d said.
It did make her feel safer, but it also made her wonder if there had been any attacks on the tribe while she was gone. There was a perimeter fence, guard houses with round-the-clock guards on duty, and others circling the perimeter. Wasn’t having each house alarmed overkill?
“Why does the idea of an alarm make you tense?”
They climbed the two steps onto the deck of her cabin. She pulled her key from her pocket and turned to him. “Has there been an attack since I’ve left? Alarm systems on every house seems like a waste of time, money, and manpower.”
“Nothing has happened since the drunk asshole plowed his truck through the back fence.” He pulled the key from her hand, opened the door, and ushered her inside. “Security systems are just a precaution. It’s Ari and Kaden’s business. There’s no reason not to utilize every option we can to keep everyone safe. The systems are not happening overnight and other things are taking priority as needed. Your cousin ordered this to be completed before you arrived because she thought it would make you feel safe.”
“How is it that every time I close my eyes I see the horrors of what happened, while Sin is able to let go of the past and get on with her life?”
“That is something you’ll have to ask her, but she did tell me not a day goes by when she doesn’t remember what happened.” He pushed the door shut behind them and dropped the bags next to the door. “She forced herself to continue living because that’s what her family would have wanted. She had Jase to help guide her through it when you first arrived here.”
“Jase.” She shook her head. “I remember, just after we came here, I was curled up in a ball in the corner while they were playing. How could she do that? She’d just lost her family. We’d just lost everything but she was playing like there was nothing wrong.”
“She was five.” He took her hands into his and brought them to his lips where he laid a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “Everyone takes something like that differently. You can’t blame her for needing the escape and wanting to be a kid again.”
“I don’t. I’m envious of it.” She glanced around the living room of her cabin until her gaze landed on the photos on the mantel above the fireplace. “It took time but I was able to put my fears aside, at least for the most part. I had a relatively normal life for a while, except I was terrified to leave here, but when the attacks started again…”
“Zoe arrived and you wanted to help her but everything came rushing back to you,” he finished for her. “That’s when the memories and anxiety returned.”
She nodded. “If I could do it once, I should be able to do it again.”
“You’re doing it.” When she turned back to face him, he continued, “Back at the hotel, your fears were rising again but you batted them away. You’re trying and while it might not be easy right now, each day will be easier. You won’t be alone; I’ll be by your side as you go through this. Sin, Jase, Garret, Noah, and the whole tribe are here to see you through it.”
“I’ve screwed up so much and now I don’t know how to make it right. Zoe blames herself and thinks I hate her. Camellia and I had a huge fight before I left and I accused her of sleeping with the enemy. Her mates, Ari and Kaden, did nothing to me but I couldn’t stop thoughts of them being outsiders sent to kill us from entering my mind.”
He placed his hands on her hips and brought her to stand in front of him. “Do you know the best thing about our kind? We’re forgiving. Camellia, Ari, and Kaden won’t hold what you said against you. They’ll forget it because we’re all family. We can go see her in the morning if you’d like? But first I suggest you get some sleep.”
“What about you?” Her lips curled up into a smile and she shook her head. “Screw it. I’ll just say it. Stay…stay with me.”
“Well now, that changes things.” In one quick motion, he scooped her into his arms. “Which way to the bedroom?”
“Upstairs.” Her voice squealed a little with surprise. “First door at the top of the stairs. But this is only to sleep, nothing more. Not yet.”
“I didn’t try to have my way with you at the hotel, did I? Being in your home doesn’t mean I’m going to become a ravishing bear.” He climbed the steps two at a time, making quick progress to her bedroom.
For the first time in years, she felt alive when he was around. The heat in his eyes told her he desired her. All of it was giving her something new to focus on—to replace the bad with good for the first time since the tragedy. The excitement took over the terror that normally coursed through her.
Mating—maybe that’s what she needed. Or maybe it was just Brett that she needed. Maybe they needed each other.
Chapter Six
They’d returned to Crimson Hollow a week earlier and Brett had practically taken up residence with Swift, yet they had not made their mating official. He had given her time to adjust and they were working on keeping her terror from overwhelming her. They’d made tremendous progress with that even as The Saviors were continuing their terrorist actions across the country. Swift was able to keep her fears from overwhelming her. All of these developments made him want his mate that much more. He wanted her for her, not to save her from the anxiety. He wanted to claim her as his and to
make her scream his name until her throat was raw.
His cell phone vibrated with a text message from Sin. Two new guards arriving tonight. They’ve worked for Ari’s company and passed background checks. Break the news to Swift. Would be better coming from you. Don’t forget dinner—my place at seven.
After reading the message he tossed his phone on the cushion next to him and leaned back with his laptop on his lap, working on the guard schedule Noah had asked him to manage. But, his mind wouldn’t stay focused on the rotation of the guards on duty; rather, his thoughts drifted toward his mate. How was she going to take the news? So far she had adjusted okay to the new members who’d joined while she was away, but having two new guards coming to them might unnerve her. He hated the idea of all their work being spoiled because of an adjustment within the tribe’s dynamics.
“Brett, you here?” Swift called as she walked through the front door.
“In here, baby.” He closed the laptop and set it aside. “How did lunch go with Camellia?”
“Good.” She sank down onto the sofa next to him. “She says she forgives me and at first it felt like there was still tension between us but as lunch went on…I don’t know, it was just different. We were at ease again. It’s hard to believe she had any time to have me over for lunch when she’s got two demanding bears as mates.”
“Hey now, I’m not demanding.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her near him until she snuggled against his body. She fit against him as if she was meant to be there. Her head rested against his chest and the scent of her vanilla shampoo drifted toward him.
“No, it’s me who feels like I’m pushing.” She tipped her head up toward him. “Do you want me…I mean this?”
“Is that what’s been bothering you?” He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “You’re feisty and beautiful. How couldn’t I want you? You’re my mate. I want to explore every inch of your body, teasing light kisses over it until you’re begging for more. I want your legs wrapped around me as I’m fucking you and I want to hear you scream my name as your body gives into me.”
Swift Move: A Crimson Hollow Novella Page 3