by Kim Fox
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow before turning back to the road. “Yeah.”
“Why were you guys fighting?”
Ashton smiled. “For fun.”
“That is considered fun?” she asked, staring at him in shock. “That looked awful!”
He laughed. “Shifters are a little tougher than humans,” he explained. “It doesn’t hurt us as much as it would hurt you and when it does, we heal fast. The pain doesn’t last too long and we’re so used to pain with phasing so often that it’s nothing.”
Lauren stared at the dusty dashboard and tried to understand but she couldn’t.
“Well,” she said, holding her arm. “I’m sorry I ruined your fun.”
“That’s okay,” he said, giving her a warm smile. “I’m sorry that I traumatized you.”
Lauren giggled. “I’ll send you my therapy bills.”
“Can you do me a favor?” he asked, his body tightening up. “Since I saved your ass back there. Can you not tell anyone that I’m a shifter or that you saw anything shifter related tonight?”
Lauren looked down at her fidgeting hands that were resting in her lap. It was the best story of her life but she had already decided not to tell anyone, even her shifter-loving friends.
“Your shifter secret is safe with me,” she said, nodding. “I promise.”
“Thank you,” he whispered, still staring ahead.
“Lauren,” she said, smiling at him as he looked at her in confusion.
“Huh?”
“My name is Lauren since you were dying to know,” she said sarcastically.
She smiled when she saw his sexy lips sound out her name.
“I was dying to know,” he said with a grin. “Ever since this afternoon. But I was just trying to get you home alive first.”
“You noticed me?” she asked, her heart quickening as she looked over at him. He looked even hotter up close with his tight white t-shirt clinging to the hard ridges of his body. His face was serious as he stared at the road while she waited for an answer.
“How could I not?” he asked, rubbing his chin. “You fell.”
“Right,” she muttered, feeling her cheeks turn red. Shit.
“I’m kidding,” he said as he broke into a laugh. “You’re a beautiful woman. Of course, I noticed.”
The ride was over too soon. Lauren still had so many questions to ask him but the inn was up ahead. He pulled into the ranch and parked the truck beside Pam’s car.
Great. The Shifter Chasers are back.
Some alone time would have been nice to replay every sentence that this mysterious hottie had said to her but instead she’d have to listen to her friends blab on about the boring museum when she had lived the real thing and wasn’t able to say a word.
“Are you staying at the inn?” she asked, trying to sound casual. In reality, she wanted to get as much information on him as possible.
“I live here,” he said as he turned off the truck. He pointed to the trailers in the back. “The one with no lights on is mine.”
Second to the left. Lauren was going to remember that.
“Oh,” she said, unfastening her seatbelt. “I guess, I’ll see you around.”
“I’d like that,” he said, turning towards her.
Warm shivers erupted through her body as they stared at each other for a long moment. An electric current of attraction passed between them, making them both smile.
Lauren was the first to break, turning away with hot cheeks. “Thanks again,” she said, opening the door and slipping out. “I owe you big time.”
“No, you don’t,” he said, still sitting in the truck.
Damn! Why did you get out?
He looked like he wanted to make a move but it was too late now. The moment was over.
She cursed under her breath as Ashton stepped out of the truck and walked around to her side.
“I’ll see you around,” she said, tucking a strand of her short black hair behind her ear.
“Alright,” he answered with a sexy smile. He stared at her for a long moment until she lowered her head and walked to the inn.
Don’t turn around.
But she did.
And he was still staring. She gave him a shy little wave and then disappeared inside with her heart thumping.
Lauren walked up the stairs with a permanent smile on her face. She had to hold onto the railing tight because she was starting to get dizzy with sexy thoughts of Ashton.
“There you are!” Pam said, jumping off the bed when Lauren opened the door of their room and stepped inside.
“We were worried about you,” Summer said, looking concerned.
“I was just,” Lauren said, trailing off while she tried to come up with something. “I was just looking at the stars outside.”
“Why?” Brenna asked, scrunching her nose up. Brenna was always more into the stars in Hollywood rather than the stars in the sky.
“Come check this out,” Pam said, sitting on one of the two double beds that they were sharing. “Pictures of real legitimate shifter fur. Wolves, bears, lions, you name it.”
Lauren smiled to herself as she sat down and took Pam’s phone. “Wow,” Lauren said, jerking her head back. “Two hundred and nineteen pictures.”
“Yup,” Pam said proudly. “And we’re going to look at every single one.”
Lauren clicked through the photos, looking at each one but not seeing any of them. She was too busy picturing the real thing.
five
“Shifter Canyon today!” Summer shouted as she high-fived Pam.
“Shifter what now?” Lauren asked, climbing out of bed. She had barely slept a wink last night but for some reason, she was excited to get up. Ashton had been on her mind all night and she couldn’t wait to see him again.
“Shifter Canyon,” Pam said, frowning at her. “Didn’t you read the itinerary that I sent?”
“It’s a canyon where shifters go to worship their Gods,” Summer explained. “It’s a three-hour hike but that’s okay because we’re almost sure to find some shifters. My friend online has a friend who did it and she saw a whole pack of wolf shifters phase into their human forms.”
“Oh, really?” Lauren asked, looking at her skeptically. Normally Lauren would have loved that. She wouldn’t have expected to see any shifters like Summer’s urban legend spouting friend claimed, but a three-hour hike through a canyon in Montana sounded beautiful.
“You’re coming right?” Pam asked, narrowing her eyes on her.
But today was different. Lauren only wanted to see one shifter. A sexy bear shifter named Ashton.
“My stomach,” she said, still clutching it with a fake grimace. “It still hurts.”
After about an hour and a half of faking being sick, the girls left and Lauren was free to explore the Wilde Ranch all by herself. Well, hopefully not by herself for long.
She put on her best outfit, one that hugged her good curves while being baggy over her bad curves, fixed her hair and makeup, and walked around the inn trying to look casual as her eyes darted around constantly looking for someone.
It was another beautiful day with the warm sun heating Lauren’s shoulders as the cold wet morning dew on the grass tickled her toes through her flip flops. She moaned as she stretched out her body and closed her eyes, letting the heat of the sun wash down on her face.
“Wow,” she said to herself when she looked near the parked cars. There were ravens everywhere.
Everywhere.
It was almost kind of creepy.
There must be at least fifty of them. She walked over to explore.
She moved slowly and quietly so that she wouldn’t scare them away, keeping close to the trees so that she would blend into the background.
It was then that she saw a man in the middle of it all. He had black hair and a black goatee and one of the ravens was perched on his shoulder. All of the birds seemed to be staring at him as he looked in the trunk of the police car.
/> He’s a cop? What else is he?
Lauren watched, wondering why he had an entourage of birds with him when the asshole from last night, Gunner, came walking down the road as naked as he was yesterday when they had first arrived.
Lauren slipped behind a tree and hid, watching as Gunner walked past the bird man.
“Why don’t you put some fucking clothes on?” the bird man said, glaring at Gunner. “There are women around.”
Gunner smirked at him in a challenging way. “Are you afraid the women are going to like what they see?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Gunner,” the man said, flexing his arms as he spoke. “The only one who likes looking at you is you. Everyone else just wishes you would go away.”
Gunner stopped on the path and turned towards him. “Not everyone,” he said, sneering at him with cold eyes. “Joan likes having me around.”
The bird man slammed the trunk of the police car closed and marched up to Gunner who was standing in a wide stance with his hands on his hips and his chest thrust out. Lauren gulped as she watched the two men about to collide into each other like two furious trains on the same track.
She had an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach as she looked at their clenched jaws and heated eyes. Their arms were flexed, their hands squeezed into fists as they came together. Their body language was radiating violence.
“You stay away from her,” the bird man hissed, stopping an inch from Gunner’s face. “Just give me an excuse, Gunner. Just give me a fucking excuse.”
Gunner raised a finger and pushed it into Rhett’s chest. “There’s your excuse, Rhett. What the fuck are you going to do?”
Rhett wasn’t bluffing. He pounced on Gunner with his fists flying, landing punch after punch on the naked man. Gunner fought back, grabbing a hold of Rhett’s arm, twisting him around and punching him in the stomach.
Lauren wanted to rush out and stop the two men from hurting each other but she just ducked down behind the tree instead, watching as nausea crept up her throat. The men were so fast, moving in a blur as they beat each other up.
“Hey!” It was a woman’s voice and she sounded pissed.
Lauren whipped her head around to where the sound came from and saw a tiny woman rushing over with her hands clenched into fists. She looked furious as she ran, her face twisted in anger as she watched the two men fight.
She was so tiny, about half of Lauren’s weight, but there was a fire in her that made Lauren even more nervous.
The woman grabbed a fistful of Rhett’s black hair with one hand and a fistful of Gunner’s blonde hair with the other. “What the fuck is wrong with you two?” she screamed, ripping the two fighting men apart. “You’re always at each other’s throats!”
The more they grimaced in pain, the harder she seemed to squeeze their hair as she yanked them around.
“It was him,” they both said at the same time.
“It’s both of you!” she hissed, throwing their heads away as she let go of their hair.
The two men stood up, huffing for breath with their messy hair standing straight up. Both of the men’s eyes softened as they looked at the tiny woman who was sticking a finger from face to face while she shouted. “We’re a crew! You got that? I finally have something good here and you two keep fucking it up!”
“Joan,” Rhett said, spreading his hands out in front of him. “It’s always going to be like this with him here. We’re never going to be a crew while he has these…feelings.”
Gunner crossed his arms over his massive chest, turning his head away as he bit his bottom lip.
Joan looked up at the gorgeous blonde man and sighed. The anger in her body seemed to fade away with the light breeze. “We’ll figure it out,” she said, looking down at the ground between them. “Eventually.”
“We won’t,” Rhett said, shooting Gunner a fierce glare. “You know what has to be done.”
Joan let out a heavy sigh. She shook her head as she looked back up at Rhett. “You’re going to be late for work,” she said softly. “Call me later.”
Rhett tensed up as his back straightened. He shot Gunner a quick glance and then sighed as he looked down at Joan. “Fine.” He walked to his police car and yanked the door open.
This is better than a soap opera. Lauren was enthralled as she watched. Who knew there would be so much drama on a ranch?
Rhett sped away kicking up dust as his police car barreled down the road leaving Gunner and Joan by themselves.
Lauren watched in awe as every single black bird took to the sky and followed his speeding car down the dirt road.
“Joannie,” Gunner said softly, stepping forward and taking her hand in his.
“Don’t,” she said, yanking her hand away as she turned away from him. “Go get dressed. We have guests walking around.”
Gunner took a heavy breath as he looked down at her stiff body. She was clearly upset.
“Okay,” he whispered before walking away.
Joan raised her head before he got too far away. “You know I never asked for this,” she said, thrusting her hands on her hips.
Gunner stopped and turned with such a sad face that it nearly broke Lauren’s heart to watch. “Neither did I,” he whispered back. “I’m just trying to make the best of it.”
“Well, you’re doing a shit job,” she said, swallowing hard. “It’s never going to happen between us, Gunner. You have to let it go. I bonded to Rhett.”
Gunner winced at her words like he was just punched in the gut. “You tell me to let it go,” he said, his voice trembling, “but I can’t let it go. I don’t want to let it go.”
Joan’s eyes dropped to the dirt as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, looking like she was going to crumple in on herself.
“I love you, Joannie. And loving you has been the best thing in my life,” he said softly as he stepped towards her. “Even if you don’t return it. I don’t want to go back to being me before I loved you. I don’t want to lose you.”
Joan looked up at him with pain in her eyes. “You never had me, Gunner.”
He took a step towards her, his body dangerously close. He tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear as he stared at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
“Just once,” he whispered as he moved in, his lips a breath away from hers.
Joan closed her eyes as he dragged the back of his fingers along her jawline. Her lips parted slightly as his mouth hovered over hers.
“No,” she said, turning her head to the side.
Gunner sighed as he straightened back up, his one chance over.
“I’m with Rhett,” she said as he stepped back. “I love Rhett.”
“Is there any way?” he asked, looking desperate as his face twisted in pain. “What can I do to be with you?”
Joan held her breath as she shook her head slowly. “Nothing,” she whispered, biting her bottom lip. “I’m sorry.”
Gunner jerked his head to the side, his eyes starting to water. “It can’t be this unfair, Joannie. Life can’t be this unfair. There has to be a way for you to see the love between us.”
Joan’s chin trembled as she shook her head, looking sorry that she had to break his heart like this. “You’re clutching at straws, Gunner. I bonded to Rhett.”
Gunner dropped his head with the fatal blow. He stood there for a moment, staring at the ground while his heart broke. “He’s a lucky man,” Gunner said, running a hand through his long blonde hair. “I’m sorry if I came between you two. It won’t happen again. I’ll stay out of your fur.”
He turned and began to walk away, only stopping when Joan stepped forward.
“Where are you going, Gunner?” she asked.
“I can’t stay here,” Gunner whispered. “It’s killing me.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I know.”
Lauren’s eyes were watering as she fought back tears. Her heart was breaking for the poor guy. She could feel the love that he had
for her, she could see the desperation on his face, she could hear the heartache in his voice.
“I just wish-” Joan said, swallowing hard as her trembling words caught in her throat. “I just wish we had met under different circumstances. You’re a good man, Gunner. No matter what you think about yourself.”
Gunner turned away like she slapped him.
“You’ll find a mate who will make this all seem like a bad dream one day, Gunner,” she said. “And I hope on that day, we can be friends.”
“Friends,” he said, huffing out a breath as he shook his head.
He watched her for a moment, staring at her face like it was the most beautiful thing in the world and he was seeing it for the last time. Lauren’s chin trembled as she watched the heartbreaking scene, wishing that someone would look at her like that one day.
“Goodbye, Joannie,” he said, his eyes lingering on hers. “You take care of yourself.”
He turned and walked away with his head hanging low.
“Gunner,” Joan said, sighing as she watched him walk away. “Gunner, you don’t have to go. We’ll figure it out.”
He didn’t turn back this time. Lauren wanted to rush over and give the poor guy a hug. She didn’t care that he was a bit of an asshole to her last night. She didn’t know the hurt and pain that he was going through, being utterly in love with a woman who didn’t feel the same. It was devastating to watch.
“Shit,” Joan said, kicking the dirt as he walked into his trailer and closed the door. She took a deep breath as she looked up at the sky. “Fuck.”
Lauren wished that she could go over to the tiny woman and do something to alleviate her pain but she just stayed there, hiding behind the tree instead. It would be a little awkward to come out of hiding now and let Joan know that she had witnessed a very intimate moment.
Joan left, breathing deep breaths as she walked to the inn and disappeared inside.
Lauren felt emotionally drained as she came out of hiding and walked back to the inn. Her eyes were still watery and every step was a heavy one as a weighted feeling hung down on her.