Tempting the Bears

by Tianna Xander

  In other words, he wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to freak out on them when he arrived, carrying Aiden on his back.

  Don’t you worry about me. I don’t think your shifting shape is scary at all. If you want to know the truth, I think it’s cool. She headed for the shed. I’ll be fine. Just get back here so Aiden can heal.

  Her stomach felt as though it had a lead ball in it. It almost hurt to swallow, with her throat tight with worry. Her eyes burned as she thought of Aiden. He could die and she hadn’t once told him how she felt.

  It didn’t matter that she hadn’t known herself. She should have known. How could a person fall in love with another and not know it? She’d probably had done so while she was still in Scotland, but had pushed the realization aside when she’d been told about her grandfather.

  She opened the shed door, grabbed the snow shovel from its hook, and headed back to the cabin. She had to hurry. Ten minutes wasn’t a lot of time and the cellar doors were covered with a thick layer of snow.

  Several minutes later, if someone had asked her how she’d managed to move so much snow in so little time, she wouldn’t have been able to answer them. Still, she had the doors open by the time she heard the crunching of the snow, peered into the woods, and saw a huge white bear through the trees.

  Roxie stepped up onto the porch. Even though she was relatively certain it was Calum headed her way, she wasn’t stupid. She wanted to be sure she could beat the bear inside if she had to.

  It didn’t matter that as far as she knew, the only polar bears in Michigan were shapeshifters or the ones in zoos. She wasn’t taking any chances. If the guys were offended by that, they were just going to have to learn to deal with it.

  It wasn’t until the bear was about fifty feet from her that she saw Aiden’s unconscious form on its back.

  “Calum!” She hurried down the steps and over to the cellar door. “In here. Thankfully, the steps down are made of stone, so you shouldn’t have to worry about them breaking. Take him inside and I’ll meet you down there with some fresh sheets and blankets. There’s a couple of beds down there. It’s where Angel and I had our sleepovers when we were younger. Gram was always afraid we were going to come in from ice skating on the lake and mess up her floors.”

  Spinning around, she ran back up the porch steps and into the house. It wasn’t until she’d grabbed the sheets and blankets from the linen closet that she realized she’d left the front door open. She ran across the room, closed it and flipped the deadbolt into place.

  The hiss of the potatoes boiling over caught her attention on the way past, but she didn’t want to take the time to deal with it.

  “Crap!” Why hadn’t she thought to turn that off after Calum had contacted her? “Here!” She shoved the bedding at Calum, who knelt next to Aiden on one of the beds. “I have to turn off the stove.”

  She wasn’t even sure he’d taken them as she was running back up the stairs. “Less than a week in the cabin and you’re trying to burn the damned thing down.” She scowled as she turned the knobs on the stove, shutting everything down, including the oven.

  Grabbing the largest mixing bowl in the kitchen, she filled it with warm water, grabbed a new roll of paper towels from under the sink, and headed back down the stairs.

  “How is he? Is he going to be all right?” She was almost afraid to look at Aiden as he lay so still on the bed.

  Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for the worst as she glanced past Calum, who ran his hands over his best friend’s arms and legs. No doubt checking for breaks.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Calum had half expected Roxie to lose her shit when she saw him carrying Aiden back through the woods. His best friend’s blood had covered his back, the bright red a stark contrast with his fur.

  Instead of freaking out, she’d been calm. She’d even had the presence of mind to shovel the deep snow off the cellar doors so that he could carry his friend into the relative privacy of the basement.

  Slowly, he lowered himself to the floor and shifted, with his best friend still on his back. That was how he’d had to get him up there, and keeping him on his back when he kept sliding from one side to the other had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do.

  He rolled gently to the side, shifting Aiden from his back. Standing, he stretched, then bent to lift Aiden’s limp form onto the bed. He stared at his best friend, a lump in his throat. He wasn’t sure if he’d passed out because of blood loss, or if it was because of his head injury. Either way, it wasn’t a good sign.

  “We’ll need some bandages and warm water. Do ye have a first aid kit?” He glanced over his shoulder as he knelt next to the bed. He needed to check Aiden’s injuries. His broken leg was rather obvious when getting a look at it. His shin bone had ripped through the front of his leg. Other than that, he was guessing without some sort of healer around.

  He pulled his phone from his pocket and speed-dialed Alexander Fraser, one of the clan’s medical experts.

  “Hello.”

  “Are ye at the cabin yet?” He didn’t waste time with pleasantries. By the looks of it, there wasn’t much time to waste. Aiden needed care, and he needed it fast.

  “We arrived about an hour ago, why?” Alec sounded alert. He probably sensed there was an issue. All healers had a way of knowing when a clan member needed care.

  “Aiden’s been in an accident and we need ye here fast. Come straightaway, across the lake if ye can.”

  “I can’t do that and bring supplies.”

  “Then have one of the others bring them. Ye can make do with what we have here until they arrive. Aiden needs ye as fast as ye can get here.”

  “Good idea. I’m on my way.” The phone went dead. Alec wasted no time when it came to medical emergencies.

  Roxie hurried down the stairs and crossed the basement, handing Calum the first aid kit with trembling hands.

  “Tell me he’s going to be okay.” Tears sparkled on her lashes. She blinked them away and knelt beside the bed.

  “He’ll be okay.” Calum wasn’t sure who he was attempting to comfort the most, Roxie, or himself. “He has to be.”

  “Hello, the house! Is anyone down there?”

  “Who—”

  “Just a friend of ours. We’ll have more company in a bit. Alec came across the lake.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. “He’s come to help Aiden. He’s one of our clan’s healers.” He raised his voice. “Come in. We’re down here!”

  Alec entered the basement, his hair still wet from his swim. “Holy shit!” He whistled low. “Was there anything left of the car?”

  “Not much.” Calum moved out of the healer’s way. “He has multiple injuries. I think he’s bleeding internally. Thank the gods he was wearing the safety belt.”

  The healer knelt beside the bed, his experienced hands moving over Aiden’s long legs, a slight glow emanating from his hands.

  “He has one broken rib and four cracked ones. He has an obvious compound fracture, and his skull is cracked. It’s a good thing he has a hard head.” He turned to Calum. “Ya should hae known not to let this daft bastard behind the wheel of a small vehicle.”

  He held his hands over Aiden’s head.

  “Most of the blood is coming from the head injury. There’s a lot of blood vessels in the scalp and they bleed bad enough to look more serious than they are. Not to say this isn’t serious. How much blood was left at the scene?”

  “Enough that he contacted me, but lost consciousness before I got there.”

  “I thought as much.” Alec stood with a sigh. “Help me get him onto the floor. We’re going to hae to help him change. He’ll heal faster that way.”

  “On the floor?” Roxie glared at them. “He’s injured. We should call an ambulance. He should be in a hospital, not laying on my basement floor!” She held one of Aiden’s hands to her chest as though that would somehow stop them from the task.

  �
��Roxie, darlin’, we need to help him change into his bear. He’ll heal faster and much more efficiently that way.”

  “Oh.” She bit her lip and glanced down at Aiden. “I suppose having him on the floor would be better than having the bed splinter and break under all that weight.”

  “It would,” Calum agreed. “Would ye care to help? He could still do with a pillow, or ye could rest his head in your lap if ye wish.” He smiled at her, hoping to break the tension. “I’m sure he won’t complain.”

  “Gavin contacted me through our link. He and the others are here,” Alec said as they lifted him from the bed and gently set him on a blanket Roxie hurriedly spread out for him. “I told them to come on down. I hope ya don’t mind.”

  “No.” Roxie met his gaze. “I don’t mind. Just help Aiden. That’s all I ask.” Kneeling, she placed a pillow beneath his head.

  “Help me roll him onto his right side. It seems to be the least banged up.”

  By the time the two of them finished rolling him to his side, Alec’s three companions had filed down the steps and stood ready to help. What was it about these shifters? It was too bad the rest of the world couldn’t be like them. They took care of each other.

  “Roxie,” Calum said as he moved toward the newcomers, and waved toward Alec who was already tending Aiden’s multiple wounds. “That there is Alec Fraser, our healer, and those big bastards are Gavin, Rory, and Niall.”

  “Gentlemen.” She nodded once before shifting her gaze back to Aiden. “Are you guys going to help him, or just stand there gawking?” She pressed her lips together. “I don’t know what you think, but I’m of the mind that he’ll heal faster if you help him instead of stare at him.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Roxie rested her hands on her hips and glared at the four big Scots who stood doing nothing, while their friend worked to save Aiden. If they thought she was going to leave, they were mistaken. She had no intention of leaving Aiden’s side while he was fighting for his life.

  “I don’t know if you’re afraid I’m going to see some secret healing... thing, but it’s not going to happen.” She snorted. “Like I don’t know what you all are.” She waved toward Aiden’s still form, growing more agitated by the minute. “Help him shift, already.”

  “This could get messy, ma’am.” Alec took a large black backpack from one of the men. She thought it was Rory. He had nodded at that name when Calum had done the introductions, earlier.

  The healer unzipped the pack and started pulling plastic-wrapped medical supplies out and lining them up on the blanket next to Aiden. She wasn’t sure what most of them were, but the healer’s movements were fluid and methodical. He was experienced, that much was obvious.

  “I might hae to incise him.” He glanced at her, his steel blue eyes seeming to stare right through her. “Watching isn’t for those with a weak constitution. Frankly, having you faint in the middle of a surgery will be a distraction I don’t need.” He brushed a stray lock of dark hair from his eyes with the back of his arm.

  “Don’t you need to wash, or something?” She couldn’t help worry about germs. None of them looked dirty. However, one didn’t need to see microorganisms to know they were there.

  “No.” The man moved to sit near Aiden’s head. “I’m Gavin, by the way.” His dark chocolate gaze met hers. “Germs dinnae affect us. Not like they do humans, anyway.”

  “Oh.” Roxie chewed on her bottom lip for a moment.

  She wasn’t sure she could watch them work. The whole idea of none of them washing before a surgery was almost enough to make her want to leave the room. After all, she wasn’t even sure she wouldn’t faint if Alec sliced Aiden open. She’d never watched someone go through a surgery before.

  Still, she couldn’t bear to leave. What if the worst happened? If so, she wanted to be with him to say goodbye. And waffling wasn’t doing Aiden any good. The longer it took to convince them she’d be okay, the longer it took for Aiden to get the help he needed so desperately.

  Just thinking about it nearly made her cry out. A sharp pain knifed through the center of her chest at the thought that he could die here in her basement. Taking a deep breath, she stiffened her spine and tilted her chin up.

  “I’ll stay. And I’ll do my best not to faint when you have to cut him open.” She knew he’d have to cut his leg to fix the compound fracture. That was a given.

  Moving to the blanket, she lowered herself to the floor and snuggled up against Aiden’s back. “Will I be in the way here? I could be here to comfort him and bury my face in his back if there’s something I don’t want to see. It’s not that I just want to be here for him. I have to be here for him.”

  “If he can feel ya during a healing, he’ll assume you’ve agreed to be his mate.” Alec glanced from her to Calum. “He’ll assume you’ve agreed to become both of their mates. Are ya prepared to live with that?”

  “I’ve already done that.” She glared at the men. “Stop stalling and start healing him, dammit.”

  It worried her that Aiden stayed so still and quiet as they talked around him. She just wanted the men to shut the hell up and start taking care of him before the unthinkable happened.

  All five of the men knelt around Aiden’s still form. Calum moved behind her, his body pressing against hers as he put his hands gently on Aiden’s neck and the base of his spine.

  None of them said a word. They just rested their hands on him and Aiden’s body started to shift. His body shimmered and became translucent as his bones reshaped. He grew more body mass and fur. Like magic, he changed from a large, handsome man to a huge polar bear in front of her eyes.

  Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her face into his soft fur. She’d always thought bears would have a coarse coat. Perhaps real polar bears did, but Aiden’s fur felt almost as soft as his thick, dark hair.

  “Okay. Let’s get busy, here. We don’t have time to fuck around any more than we have.” The sound of fine metal instruments clanking together came after Alec’s declaration.

  Roxie stayed where she was, her chest pressed against Aiden’s warm back, her fingers buried deep in the bear’s coat. Tears burned her eyes and her throat felt tight as she prayed for Aiden’s survival.

  Was his accident a punishment for her loving two men? Had it happened because she wasn’t meant to share her life with the two shifters? Was there really a god and Aiden’s death would be a way to keep her with only one man?

  Please let him live. She didn’t know what she would do if he didn’t. She wanted to bargain with the powers that be. She wanted to say she would give him up if only he could live, but she couldn’t. She wanted to. She knew if she was stronger, she would strike that bargain, but she wasn’t strong enough for that. She knew if he lived, she could never give either of them up.

  Roxie wasn’t sure when it had happened. Perhaps the time they spent together in Scotland had been the beginning of their strange love affair. Her grandmother had always said, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Perhaps it was their separation that had cemented her feelings for the two men. She’d thought of them almost constantly. She’d wished for their strength, for them to lean on, when she sat next to her grandfather’s bed waiting for him to pass over into the afterlife.

  However or whenever it happened, she was in love with the two shifters and she would do anything to be able to spend the rest of her life with them.

  One tear leaked from her eye, then another and another until she pressed her face tighter against Aiden’s back and stopped fighting them. Once the tears started, she couldn’t stop them. She sobbed into Aiden’s fur, begging him to hold on, to fight his way back from the brink of death—for her, for Calum, for the life they would have together and the children they would bring into the world.

  Several hands grasped her, pulling her from Aiden’s side. She fought, trying to stay next to her injured mate.

  Strong arms wrapped around her, holding her
tight against a male’s long, hard frame. It took a bit, but she finally recognized Calum’s unique scent.

  Turning, she wrapped her arms around his neck. All of her hopes and dreams for the future included the two men, and she couldn’t imagine facing the future without both of them in it.

  Chapter Twenty

  Aiden clawed his way up from some dark abyss where he could feel nothing, hear nothing. Pain slammed into him as he continued to scratch his way back to consciousness.

  The sound of Roxie sobbing so close made him want to wrap his arms around her, comfort her. Why was she crying? Had someone harmed her? Surely Calum would never allow anyone to cause their mate such pain.

  A low groan rumbled from his chest as he grew more and more aware of his surroundings. The pain grew worse. Hell, it even hurt to breathe. The scent of other males filled his nose and he wanted nothing more than to warn the four men away from his mate, but he hurt too damned bad to do anything but think about how badly he hurt, and his mate.

  Somehow, he’d managed to shift into his other form. Then he realized he could never have done it by himself, or even with Calum’s help. The other males surrounding him had helped him shift into his bear form. To heal. He took a deep breath and immediately regretted it.

  Okay. The intense pain every time he inhaled told him he had a few broken ribs. Unfortunately, he knew that feeling well.

  Someone rested a large hand on his head. The scent of blood invaded his nose. Whose blood? He let his brain process the information. It was his own blood.

  “Easy, Aiden. You’re pretty banged up. We’re doing our best to help ya.”

  He recognized the sound of the healer’s voice. They’d called them out to help keep the developers from trying to purchase Roxie’s land. The memories of the last few hours came rushing back. The moose, tumbling down the steep incline in the little car, his injuries, everything.