Chapter 18
Alek slowly regained consciousness to a world of aches and pains. Even his fur hurt. His thoughts shifted swiftly back to the situation at hand, and he staggered to his feet to help Lachlyn.
A nose bumped his back leg. He looked back and was startled to see a brown bear lying near him. He inhaled and knew it was Lachlyn. But how had she shifted? He turned to her and pressed his nose into her thick, furry neck and inhaled again. Her naturally sweet scent had deepened, but it was definitely his mate.
He sat on his haunches and looked at her, wishing he could talk in his shifted form. His injuries were still healing, and he’d heal faster in his form than if he shifted back to human. She was bigger than him — by at least several hundred pounds — and covered with thick brown fur. Lethal-looking black claws tipped her large paws. Pride wove through him. His mate was a bear who no one would tangle with. He rubbed his cheek against hers and purred, and she made a soft, rumbling sound. When they both shifted back, they’d have plenty to discuss.
He’d start off by telling her how beautiful she was. And how proud he was of her. He’d been unconscious after the bear tossed him, but he knew that she’d protected him. If that had driven her to shift to protect him, then he was grateful for the aches and pains. He scented over her to make sure she was okay, and after finding no open wounds, he settled against her belly, resting his head on her back.
Around them, the bears had been defeated. He didn’t see Jericho or his father, but he knew the male would not have left unless he’d known that Lachlyn was safe. Six other bears had come with Detroit and most of them had shifted. The cats had outnumbered them, but the bears were trained fighters in their shifted forms and the cats were not. They teamed up against the bears. Alek didn’t remember much after getting knocked out.
Some of the cats had shifted back, including his father and his uncles. Grant and Aaron raced into the house to check on Sam and Henry, and his father and Uncle John were standing near a mountain lion who appeared to be unconscious. He tipped his head and listened.
“Where did she come from?” his dad asked.
“No idea. But it can’t be a coincidence that a female showed up just when the bears did,” John mused.
His dad looked up at the house and said, “Aaron, bring out some of that rope from the garage.”
“Rope?” John asked.
His dad shrugged, rubbing two fingers along his jaw like he did whenever he was in deep thought. “She’s a female and can’t be trusted. We’ll tie her up and put her in the storage room on the first floor. When she shifts back into her human form, we’ll arrest her for trespassing and take her to the station.”
Aaron walked out of the house with a length of rope and gave it to Alek’s dad. His dad moved to the female and lifted her head to put the rope underneath her when Micah and Tristan stalked forward and growled. Tristan snapped at James as he and Micah closed in on the group, trying to put themselves between the female and the males.
His dad stepped back in surprise, dropping the rope. “What the hell?”
Aaron said, “Guys, we know she’s a female, but we need to keep her until she shifts back into her human form. Then we’ll get her the hell out of here as fast as we can and find out what she knows.”
John nodded. “Don’t worry. She won’t be here long.”
They growled again, and his dad snarled. “Enough! We need to get her locked up before she wakes up.” He shouldered the cats away, ignoring their loud complaints. Alek watched as his father tied the rope around the female’s neck, leaving enough room so that when she shifted, she wouldn’t choke, and then he and John lifted her and carried her into the house.
Micah and Tristan tried to follow them into the house, but Aaron shut the screen door on them. “She’ll be gone before you know it, guys. Settle down. Go hunt some rabbits if you need to run off some steam.”
To Alek’s surprise, the two brothers didn’t take off, but instead paced back and forth in front of the screened-in porch, yowling and snarling their complaints. Alek wondered what their issue was. He personally didn’t care about the female except for what information she could give to them about the females, and he was leaving that to his dad and uncles. He had much bigger things to deal with.
Lachlyn lifted her head and scented the air and rumbled an approval. She nudged Alek’s side and he stood, giving her room to get to her feet. She turned towards the woods, and within a few minutes, an enormous brown bear moved through the trees and into the grass. She made a happy, barking sound, and Alek realized he was looking at Jericho. He was at least twice as big as Lachlyn, if not bigger. He limped and Alek could smell blood on the air.
Lachlyn and Jericho met, and Alek let them have a few moments together as they met for the first time in their bear shifts. After a few minutes, they joined him, and Alek saw that Jericho had a wound to his shoulder that was restricting his movements. Jericho nodded his head at Alek, and he returned the gesture. Jericho slumped down to the ground and exhaled a deep sigh. Lachlyn lay next to him and motioned for Alek to join them and he did, sitting on his haunches and watching the goings-on in the yard.
His dad and John came from the house, and along with Grant and Aaron, they began to check on the cats and the bears. The bears were all either injured or unconscious.
Alek was surprised when Lachlyn’s Uncle Don stepped around the side of the house along with many of his people. Alek’s dad went over and shook Don’s hand.
“I wish I could have gotten here sooner, but it looks like you and your pride handled them. Is anyone in need of medical care?”
Don instructed his people to handle the bears from Jericho’s former den, and he walked around to the cats to see if anyone needed help. From what Alek could tell, most of the cats were banged up, but no one was seriously injured. Don stopped in front of them and looked at Jericho’s shoulder.
“It’ll be good in a few hours if you stay in your shift.”
Jericho made a sound of agreement.
Don turned to Lachlyn and touched the top of her head. “Look at you, Lachlyn. Aren’t you gorgeous? You look just like your mom, darlin’. She’d be really proud of you. Both your folks would be. In a few hours, your body is going to shift, and it’s going to hurt like a son of a bitch. Don’t fight it. Just let it come.”
He moved to Alek and looked him over and then said, “When she shifts, she’s going to be exhausted and sore. Run her a hot bath to soothe her muscles and give her some ibuprofen for the pain. She’ll be starving, so make sure she eats before she falls asleep, and expect her to sleep for at least twelve to fifteen hours. I know you’ll take good care of her.”
Alek yowled in agreement and Don smiled, gave a tug to Lachlyn’s ear, and moved back over to help his people with the bears. The bears in their shifted form who were conscious were fitted with thick collars attached to chains and led to the front of the house. The unconscious bears were rolled onto some kind of wheeled cart and pushed away. The one bear who had remained human was unconscious, and he was strapped to a backboard and taken to the front of the house. Don told Alek’s family that they were going to deal with the bears according to den law and left. Alek didn’t know what “den law” was, but if his father hadn’t insisted on taking the bears into actual police custody, then he had a good reason for it. There were things that were just were-business, and this was definitely one of those occasions.
The cats had all shifted and gone into the house, leaving the three of them alone in the yard. Alek allowed himself to shift, knowing that he would need to prepare something for Lachlyn to eat and draw her bath. He knelt and stroked the top of Lachlyn’s head. The fur there was short and soft. She lifted her head and made a humming sound. “You’re so beautiful, sweetheart. Thank you for protecting me. I’m so proud to be your mate.”
Torn clothes littered the backyard, but he left the cleanup for someone else and headed inside.
Tristan and Micah were arguing with his dad and un
cles. “You don’t understand,” Tristan said with an aggravated groan. “We need to see her.”
Aaron shook his head. “No one gets in until she’s conscious and in her human form. Until then, the room is locked and she’s off limits.”
Micah scrubbed a hand over his short blond hair and growled. “We don’t want to hurt her. We want to take care of her. Please!”
Alek raised a brow at his father who shrugged. Opening the fridge, he rummaged inside looking for something for Lachlyn to eat. Because of the sheer number of people in their house, there weren’t often leftovers, so he made two roast beef sandwiches for her and grabbed a bottle of cranberry-peach juice.
John sighed loudly. “Look, guys, we understand your feelings. It’s hard to see a female and not wish that things were different for our kind. But you can’t forget that she is a female, and females are not known for their touchy-feely behavior. She was here for a reason, and until we know for certain, no one but James, Grant, Aaron, and I are allowed in.”
Tristan opened his mouth, and James said with a loud voice, “It’s not up for discussion. Go get cleaned up, and we’ll have a pride meeting in the morning to discuss things. But nothing is changing the fact that she is going to leave here in her human form in handcuffs and will be spending some time in jail. Understand?”
For a brief moment, it looked like Tristan would argue again, but Micah touched his arm and shook his head. The two turned away and headed upstairs without another word.
His dad looked at him. “Were you hurt at all, Son?”
“Just a little banged up, but I’ll be fine.”
Grant smiled. “Your girl shifted.”
John said, “I thought she wouldn’t ever be able to?”
Alek shrugged, unable to stop the proud grin that spread across his face. “The situation must have provoked whatever latent shifting abilities she had.”
Aaron nodded. “Stress and fear are powerful motivators, especially for shifters.”
His dad said, “Take good care of her and Jericho. We’ll see you all tomorrow. And let us know if you need anything.”
“Will do.” He left the kitchen and paused at the backdoor to see that Jericho and Lachlyn were standing at the door to the screened-in porch, still in their bear forms. He opened the door for them and they ambled inside. He followed them upstairs, chuckling at the absurdity of the situation, and opened the door to their bedroom.
Flipping on the light, he watched as Lachlyn stretched out on the floor and Jericho joined her. Alek put the food on the dresser and went to clean up in the bathroom. An hour later, he and Jericho, who had returned to his human form with only a scar on his shoulder to show where the wound had been, were trying to coax Lachlyn to shift.
“Just let go, Sunshine,” Jericho urged. “Don’t be afraid of the pain. It’ll pass quickly and you’ll feel better.”
“Aren’t you hungry, sweetheart?” Alek asked. “You have to shift so you can eat.”
She lifted her head and glared at him. He laughed and shook his head. “Don’t be mad at me, honey.” He sighed and crossed his legs, resting his forearms on his knees. “When I shifted the first time, I was scared as hell. I’d watched my brothers shift and all my uncles and my dad, so I thought it was no big deal. But the closer it came to my time to shift, the more worried I grew. I was standing outside in the dark with my family, butt naked and shaking like a leaf. My dad told everyone to shift and hunt so I could have privacy, and then he whispered something to Eryx, who nodded and disappeared. A few minutes later, Eryx came back into the yard with a squirming rabbit in his jaws. Everything inside me went on high alert, and I actually felt myself starting to shift. ‘Don’t fight it, son,’ my dad said, and then he took the bunny from Eryx’s jaws and held the squirming thing up in front of me and then put it on the ground and patted its fuzzy butt, and that thing took off like a shot. That’s all it took. I dropped to the ground and shifted and went looking for that bunny.”
Jericho chuckled. “In our former den, the male’s first shift was always watched by everyone. I wasn’t allowed to show any fear, but inside I was terrified. I mean, picture being a sixteen-year-old kid, standing naked in front of everyone you’ve known your entire life.” He shuddered as if remembering the scene. “I was screaming in my head for the bear to shift so I could get it over with. I’d never been so happy to be in pain in my entire life.”
A soft, groaning sound came from Lachlyn, and he and Jericho watched as she began to shift. Alek’s eyes filled with tears as he watched her struggling to change back into her human form. Her furry body jerked and twisted, and the sounds of her bones cracking and snapping back into place filled the room. The fur and claws receded and she held herself up on all fours for just a heartbeat and then collapsed onto the rug.
“Ouch.”
Alek and Jericho chuckled, and Alek wiped a stray tear from his cheek. He got up and went into the bathroom, turning on the faucet to fill up the tub. Jericho carried in a clearly exhausted Lachlyn and settled her in the tub. She moaned and her legs moved restlessly in the water.
Alek soaked a thick, soft hand towel in the water and laid it at the back of the tub, urging her to lean back and relax. With some effort, she stretched out. Her legs and arms tensed, and her hands clenched.
Jericho knelt next to the tub and massaged her calves. “Do you have any aspirin, Alek?”
“Sure,” Alek said, opening the medicine cabinet and retrieving several pills. Lachlyn opened her mouth, and Alek put the pills on her tongue and gave her a drink of juice.
He knelt next to Jericho and followed his lead, massaging her hands and arms. When the water was high enough, Jericho turned it off, and Alek brought the sandwiches to her. She didn’t want the bread, so he fed her the deli meat piece by piece and gave her sips of juice in between. When she was finished eating and soaked for a few more minutes, Alek could tell she was about to fall asleep. Jericho turned down the bed, and Alek lifted Lachlyn from the water and dried her off.
He put her in bed, and she rolled onto her side with a groan, closing her eyes. Alek climbed into bed with her and Jericho got in on her other side. In the darkness of the bedroom, Alek listened to Lachlyn’s steady breathing as she drifted off to sleep. Jericho broke the silence.
“I think it was stress.”
“That caused her to shift?”
“Yeah. I mean, she’s twenty-five. It should be nearly physically impossible for her to shift.”
Alek leaned up on his elbow and looked down at Lachlyn. “Do you know what happened?”
“She came out, and one of the bears grabbed her. Before I could do anything, a lion knocked the bear off her. I saw you get knocked out, but I couldn’t get to you. She stood up and shifted. Then she knocked the bear who was attacking you away and stood over you protectively. So either stress from the fight or fear that you were going to be killed drove her to be able to shift.”
“Whatever the reason, I’m glad that she’s okay, and you, too.”
“Me too.”
Alek settled back on the bed and closed his eyes. He wanted to ask Jericho about his dad, because he knew that he hadn’t been among the ones who were taken away by Don’s den. But he didn’t want to pry.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Jericho said after several quiet minutes.
“He’s dead?”
“Yes. And he’ll never be found.” He paused. “I didn’t want Lachlyn to be burdened with the sight.”
“Do you want to keep it from her?”
“No. She’ll sleep easier knowing that we’re truly free.”
Alek knew that he would, too.
Jericho chuckled. “Now, you can marry her for real.”
“And you can join the family officially.”
Plans could be made later. For now, he could rest in the knowledge that Lachlyn and Jericho were free from the threat that his father had posed.
He would never forget how close he’d come to losing everything.
; Chapter 19
Micah Harrison prowled back and forth in his bedroom. His whole body was tense and his stomach was in knots. During the fight, he and his brother Tristan had been fighting alongside Hunter and Ray against one of the bears, and had just subdued the beast, when he heard a commotion from the side of the house.
Micah saw a female mountain lion leap at a bear who had grabbed Lachlyn. She was magnificent. She was small and perfectly formed. Her fur was golden and her face was marked with white. Everything in his world narrowed down to her, and he snarled in rage as the bear kicked her. She flew through the air and smashed into the corner of the screened-in porch. His cat yowled in alarm. He glanced at the unconscious bear on the ground and then raced towards the female to protect her.
Tristan had been equally entranced by the female, and the two of them scrambled to help. They attacked the bear before he could get back on his feet. By the time the male was unconscious, the other bear den had shown up and was in the process of rounding up the attackers. Micah growled angrily at the unconscious male, wanting to bite off the leg that had kicked the female. Tristan chuffed at him, and the two turned to move to the female. But James and John beat them to her and were standing close, looking down at her with wary anger. He and Tristan moved to put themselves between her and the lion males. Micah knew how the males felt about the females, and he didn’t want to risk her being hurt.
James had practically ordered them away like bad cubs in need of punishment. It had torn Micah up to see them tie a rope around her neck and carry her inside.
He’d pushed himself to shift as soon as possible, and he and Tristan had conferred that they both wanted to protect the female. The lion males had refused to allow them to see her. Micah wanted to tend to her wounds and feed her. He wanted to curl around her and protect her while she slept. Something strange had happened to him when he saw her. He didn’t know exactly what was happening, but he knew that being away from her was tearing him to pieces.
Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two) Page 13