Ranger Bear (Return to Bear Creek Book 11)

by Harmony Raines

  “Listen, Avery, until an hour ago, you had no idea that shifters existed,” Jacob began.

  “So? Knowing you can change into a bear has not made a difference in how I do my job.”

  “I’m not saying it has.” Jacob looked out across the valley. Manny and Joe had nearly reached the crater. They were moving slowly, obviously tired, but soon they would be disappearing into the hole and out of sight. The drug smugglers might be watching right now. A cold sliver of dread trickled down his spine. “What if the drug smuggler is watching? What if he’s seen us? Or they, we have no idea how many there are. That might be why they chose this place, it’s remote and secluded.”

  “I thought you said there was no one around?” Avery watched Jacob’s expression; he was trying to figure out how to put his fears into words. “Just tell me.”

  “What if the smuggler is a shifter too?” He rushed on. “That would make the location make more sense. I couldn’t figure out why anyone would haul drugs up a mountain. But what if the dealer is a smuggler, and brings them straight here?”

  The air left her lungs in a rush. “Of course,” she breathed. “You said that shifters aren’t just bears. Which means, the smugglers could be anything.” Her eyes widened. “What about birds?”

  Jacob nodded. “Makes sense. Although a mountain lion or cougar would be able to carry more drugs.” He gave a sheepish grin. “I’m holding onto the hope the smugglers are not bears. Or at least are not people I know.”

  “A bird makes so much more sense. No customs. No passport controls.” She put her fingers to her temples, to stop the pounding in her head. “Shit. This is just crazy.”

  Jacob looked up at the sky. “It’s going to be getting dark in a couple of hours. Those two looked as if they were in a hurry. My guess is whatever is going to go down, is going to happen soon.”

  “OK. Let’s do this.” She stood up, and headed toward the edge of the tree line.

  Jacob took hold of her arm and pulled her back to him. “Avery. Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’m going to go in there and tell them that I’ve been sent to help them. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they believe me.” She smiled. “You might want to give a roar or two, just to add to the atmosphere of panic I want to convey.”

  “Panic?”

  “I’m going to tell them that you chased my partner away. That whoever they answer to knows the ranger service is onto them, and I’ve been sent to lead them off the mountain.” She pointed to his pack. “You have the satellite phone. Any chance of us getting backup?”

  Jacob shook his head. “Not without something concrete. Mountain rescue will come up here with Brad, but I can’t risk calling them too soon.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Agreed.” Jacob looked kind of distraught, as he looked at her, and then out across the open grassland. He really did care for her. More than a ranger should care. Her expression softened, and her body language followed.

  “Listen, Jacob. I know you have this crazy stuff going on.” She circled her finger around as she pointed it at him. “But I have to do my job. Part of being in a relationship means letting the other person be who they are, and do what they are trained to do.”

  She was as crazy as him. They were not in a relationship, they’d only just met. But the depth of passion and longing in his eyes when he looked into hers stole her breath. She would have to be made of ice not to melt into his arms…

  Job to do, not happening, she reminded herself.

  “Go do your job. I’m your backup.” A haunted look passed over him, and then it was gone. He straightened, and the man who swore she was his mate slipped away, to be replaced by the mountain ranger, who was also here to do a job.

  Avery would be lying if she didn’t admit that a part of her slipped away too. The part that secretly longed for a good man and a couple of kids. But seeing the same crap people did to each other every day had worn away at her, made her believe that there were no good men, and the world might be too scary to bring kids into.

  Was Bear Creek the answer? A small town, with a good man. Could she be content with that life? And if she chose it, would she be letting down her father, the man who had inspired her to be a cop?

  “Avery?” Jacob’s hand on her arm pulled her out of her reverie with a start. “You OK?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded once, before breaking contact with him and lifting her pack. “Here’s the plan. I’m going to go over there, and tell them a bear chased me and my partner, and I don’t know what happened to him. If I can gain their trust, I might be able to get them to tell me who in the police force is behind Lonnie’s suspension.”

  “Then you want me to creep up on the crater?” He didn’t look too pleased. “You are going to be out of sight for longer than I’d like.”

  “I can handle those two punks. But I’m going to need you to handle whatever else comes our way.” She meant whomever, or whatever, was bringing the drugs, she just wasn’t ready to admit that the dealer was a shifter. Getting her head around the fact that shifters even existed was going to take a good while.

  “I’ll shift, and make my way to the crater. You need to make sure they stay down. I don’t want them to see me. My bear senses will keep me aware of anyone else who might be coming our way. Of course, that means if it a shifter who brings the drugs, they may have the same enhanced senses.”

  “That’s a risk we have to take.”

  Jacob looked out across the flat valley, and then pointed to where a couple of small boulders sat to the north of the crater. “That’s where I’ll aim for. It’s further away than I’d like, but close enough.”

  Avery looked with him. “Maybe we should go together. We can split off, and I’ll hang back until you are hidden.” Her brain reassessed and recalculated before she nodded. “Good, that’s the plan.”

  “OK, we go together, split off, I go to the boulders and keep my head down.” He pulled his radio out of the pack. “We can use these to communicate, but once you go in, I’ll maintain radio contact unless you need me.”

  “Good idea.” Avery took her radio out of her pack and switched it on. “Testing. Over.”

  “Received. Over.” Jacob pulled her into a bear hug, and she didn’t resist. Instead, she clung to him, not wanting to leave his side.

  “I can look after myself,” Avery said as she stepped back from him, trying to persuade herself she didn’t need him. Which was a lie, but her need for him was more personal, more intimate. But they had come this far, and she had to finish the job she had set out to do.

  “My priority is your safety.” His breath was warm on her neck, and she pulled away while she still had the strength.

  “I need to do my job.” Her strength ebbed, the tiredness that threatened to consume her crowding in.

  Jacob peered past her, looking up at the sky. “Sunset is in an hour. If this deal goes down before dark, it’s going to be soon.”

  She looked behind her out across the valley. It was truly beautiful. But she wasn’t here to sightsee. Turning back to Jacob, she took a step forward and kissed his cheek, watching the surprise spread out across his face. Then with a soft smile, she headed out into the valley, with her shifter by her side.

  She could look after herself, but there was something about having a man who would always have her back, and never let her down. Warmth spread through her body, the woman inside of her recognizing the man by her side. But that woman wanted to do more than recognize him, she wanted to make love, and make babies.

  Avery swept those romantic thoughts aside. Time to concentrate on her job. Once it was done…well, that opened up a world of opportunity.

  Chapter Fourteen – Jacob

  He didn’t like the plan, but there was no real alternative. Not unless they both waited outside the crater for the smugglers to appear. However, Avery wanted to attempt to get Manny and Joe to tell her who in the police force was involved. Which would be easier if they trusted her. But understanding her motives and
being happy with them were two very different things.

  “You should have rested more,” Jacob told Avery as they made their way across the open valley.

  “In an ideal world I would have. But we don’t live in an ideal world.” She cast him a smile that was supposed to make him feel better. It didn’t work, the strain on her face made him question whether she could handle herself if it came down to a fight with the two men in the crater.

  “Bear Creek is about as ideal as it gets.” Jacob kept his eyes trained on the crater, and allowed his bear senses to roam. They were not as strong when he was in his human form, and this bothered him. “I need to shift.”

  She looked at him sharply, and then nodded.

  Jacob shifted mid-stride, not slowing as his human side slipped from this world, to be replaced by his bear. Avery gave him one quick glance, and then turned to look ahead. He was disappointed she still seemed hostile toward his bear. Then she did something unexpected; she reached out and touched his fur with her fingertips. His bear shivered in delight, and as he looked up a small smile flittered across her lips.

  It was a start. A start of something he was determined would blossom and grow. She was his.

  His bear wanted to roar at the mountain, to warn the world that Avery was his mate, and anyone who touched her, anyone who hurt her, would have to answer to him, and his claws.

  This was a completely new experience for Jacob. He wasn’t an aggressive man. The only people he’d ever fought with were his brothers, and those fights had never been serious. How he was going to keep himself under control, he wasn’t sure.

  But he would. For Avery. Anything for Avery.

  “We should split up.” Avery slowed, adjusting her pack, and took the two-way radio from the outside pocket where she had concealed it. “I’ll wait until you are hidden, and you turn on the radio. OK?”

  His bear nodded and forked off to the north, heading for the boulders that should provide him with good cover. He jogged on, reaching the boulders a few minutes later. Shifting back to his human form, he took the radio out of his pack and flicked the power on.

  “I’m here. Over.”

  “Going in.” The radio crackled and then she added, “Maintain radio silence. Over.”

  “Will do. Good luck. Over.” I love you. If only he could tell her those three words.

  Jacob settled down with the radio set to receive, and then he waited. Squinting, he looked out across the valley, which was cast in long shadows from the peaks that towered above them to the north. He watched as Avery approached the crater. Around ten feet out, she stopped, and her voice reached him over the radio as she called, “Hey there. Manny. Joe. Is that you?”

  There was the sound of cursing, and someone moving around. Then a voice called, “Who the fuck are you?”

  “Phoenix. Lazarus sent me.” Avery’s voice was confident, as if she belonged.

  “Who the fuck is Lazarus?” the voice asked again.

  “You don’t know Lazarus?” Avery sounded wary. “Are you Manny Maxwell and Joe Hislop?”

  “What the hell business is it of yours?” A head popped out of the crater, and there was the sound of loose rocks falling before a man stood looking at Avery.

  Jacob’s bear itched to come forth and get over there to rip the guy’s head off. But Jacob stayed in control.

  “I came here to find you. With my partner.” There was a hitch to her voice. “The bear got him.”

  “Fuck!” Another figure appeared over the side of the crater. “That mad son-of-a-bitch bear nearly got us too.”

  “He was sent to hunt you. Lazarus sent me and my partner as backup.” Her voice drifted off.

  “Backup? Fuck.” The guy spun around, looking all around the valley. “Is he here? The bear.”

  “No, he stayed on the other side of the pass. I don’t think he can get over the rocks, but I can’t be sure. All I know is we can’t go back that way.” Avery lied like a pro.

  “You know another way down?” One of them asked.

  “I do.” Avery’s voice turned to one of suspicion. “But how do I know you are who you say you are? If you don’t know Lazarus?”

  “Tell us who Lazarus is, and we’ll confirm his identity.”

  Avery held her hands up, as if to push them back. “Whoa, wait a minute. Are you cops?”

  “No.” The sound of spluttering and a laugh came over the radio. At the same time, his bear senses picked up the presence of another shifter.

  Come on, Avery, get your intel.

  “So you tell me who your contact is. Or I’m going to leave you to be bear fodder.” She folded her arms, and stood leaning back as she watched the two men look at each other. Avery pushed harder. “Look, I came here to protect my boss’s investment. I’m beginning to think you two aren’t it. What? You think I’ll just protect you from the bear anyway?”

  “Listen, I’m Manny Maxwell. This is Joe Hislop. We don’t have code names.”

  “Disposable,” Avery said, which didn’t go down well with either of the men in front of her.

  “What the fuck do you mean, disposable?” Manny asked, his anger mounting.

  “If you know real names, then my guess is Lazarus is going to make sure, if you are caught, that you don’t live long enough to give up his real name,” Avery mocked.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Joe asked, his voice wavering as he looked to Manny for reassurance.

  Avery lifted her hand and he heard her make a sound like a gun going off. “Or maybe he’ll send someone to rip your throat out.” She gave a sharp intake of breath. “The bear. Shit, Lazarus has betrayed us all.”

  “No fuckin’ way. Why would he send you to help us? And then send a bear.”

  “A setup.” Avery began to pace up and down, more curses came from the two men. “I’m out of here.”

  “No, wait. Maybe we can all get out of this alive. And if it is a setup, we take the drugs and split the money.”

  “How do you know the drugs are even going to get dropped?” she demanded.

  “We don’t.”

  “So why would I stay? I don’t owe Lazarus a thing. I doubt I’ll see my money.” She stormed off, but one of the men followed.

  “Look. You’re here. And we’ll give you half if you stay and help us avoid the bear.”

  “First you have to prove you are who you say you are. I am not getting shafted again.”

  “OK, how do we prove it?”

  “Names. You prove to me you know Lazarus, so that I know you aren’t sleazeballs trying to con me.” She pointed her finger at the man, intimidating him, pushing him back toward the crater.

  “Chief Banner. He heads up the police force over in Holloway County. This is his retirement fund. He’s my mom’s uncle.” Joe blurted the words out, while behind him Manny put his face in his hands and howled.

  “What the fuck have you done?” Manny demanded of Joe.

  “Got us a way out of this.” Joe turned on his accomplice. “We talked about this, we were always going to be the ones thrown under the bus. You knew that. He always says blood looks after blood, but that ain’t true.”

  A sound pierced the quiet of the mountain valley. The two men started, and spun around to look up at the sky. “He’s here.”

  “Let’s get the drugs and get out of here,” Avery said, taking charge of the situation.

  “You should hide. If he sees you, he’ll split, there’s only supposed to be the two of us,” Joe said.

  “Where the hell am I supposed to hide?” Avery asked.

  “In the crater. There’s some boulders, and we can put our packs over you too.”

  It had to be the dumbest idea Jacob had ever heard, but he watched as they all went into the crater, out of view. All he could do now was listen and hope that it all went to plan. The sound came again. An eagle, if he wasn’t mistaken. Of course, they were big birds, and would be able to carry a large amount of drugs. They also wouldn’t look out of place here on the mountai
n. Unless someone took a closer look with a pair of binoculars; if they did, they would get a big surprise to see an eagle carrying packets of drugs. He got a glimpse of how crazy this all must look to Avery.

  Jacob ground his teeth together, hating to think a shifter was involved, but it seemed more likely. The only other explanation was that someone had trained the eagle to fly here and drop the drugs. Less likely, but still possible.

  He shifted around the side of the boulders, scanning the sky as another cry pierced the air. Then he saw it, a big bird silhouetted against the skyline. Jacob kept still as the bird circled around, surveying the ground. This bird was ideal: big, strong, and no doubt with enhanced senses that would be able to detect any movement on the ground. Well, Jacob did not intend to be its prey. Not today. There was only one hunter on this mountain, and that was his bear.

  As the eagle moved closer to the crater, its circling flight became tighter as it descended down toward its destination. Jacob held his breath, willing himself to stay in his hiding place. Then, the radio crackled into life, and he heard Avery’s voice as she whispered, “He’s here.”

  Jacob didn’t waste any time: he propelled himself forward at a run, shifting midair to land on all four paws, his claws tearing into the dirt as he set off toward his mate. He had to get there fast, he had to stop the eagle from escaping. This was their chance, their one and only chance to break this drug ring.

  He ran like the devil was chasing him across the valley floor, the crater getting closer with each huge stride he took. Jacob kept a constant watch on the skyline, dreading that the eagle might take off and escape. But he didn’t, and Jacob hurtled forward, only slowing when he neared the edge. He could not charge straight in there, not without the risk that they would get away.

  There were so many questions he needed answers to. Did the eagle shift? Were they facing three men or two? Was Avery still safe? Had they played her, knowing all along she was a cop?