Flame (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 4)

by Ophelia Sexton

  He recognized Kara immediately, of course, because of her TV appearance.

  "Damn, Kara, what happened?" he greeted her in a teasing tone as she hobbled her way across the living room. "You forget to tuck and roll on landing?"

  "Yeah, well, at least I didn't end up stuck in a tree like you," she countered. "What's this I hear about you trying to walk out to meet the chopper?"

  Thor rolled his eyes and shot Cassie a glance filled with mock hurt. "I thought we agreed that was going to be our little secret!"

  Cassie couldn't help smiling as she replied in her sweetest Southern Belle mode, "I don't recall making any such promise. Kara, Betsy, and Darren are all pretty worried about you."

  There. I hope he has enough information to fake it for a while.

  Then Betsy bent over the couch and shone a pen light into Thor's eyes.

  "Hey, doc. Nice to see you," he said, a little tentatively.

  "I heard you really messed yourself up this time," she said.

  But she was smiling fondly down at him as she said it. And Cassie saw Thor take that ball and run with it.

  "Well, you never want to see me, otherwise," he said, raising his splinted arm to clap his hand over his heart. "Ouch."

  Cassie's fleeting, completely irrational flash of jealousy disappeared when she saw Betsy roll her eyes.

  And neither of their scents betrayed any sexual interest in the other. Likewise with Kara and Darren. It was clear that all of three of them liked Thor and knew him well, but they were all just friends.

  "Serves you right," Betsy said severely. "Now hold still while I look at your arm."

  While she began her examination, Kara and Darren took up positions on either side of Thor, with Darren perched on the arm of the sofa.

  Wanting to give Thor some space while his friends caught up with him, Cassie busied herself pouring glasses of water for everyone, then dug in the cupboards to see what she could rustle up in the way of snacks.

  In her experience, shifters were always hungry, but never more so than when they were hurt.

  While she worked, Cassie overheard Kara, Thor, and Darren chatting, the flow of the conversation occasionally pausing while Thor answered Betsy's questions about whether something hurt with an occasional sharp "Ow!"

  Cassie noticed how Thor let Kara and Darren do most of the talking and cleverly used the information he gleaned from the conversation to ask follow-up questions.

  So far, none of them seemed to have caught on to Thor's amnesia. Cassie wasn't sure how talkative Thor normally was. But if he was being quieter than usual, the others must be chalking it up to the extent of his injuries and the fact that he must be in a lot of pain.

  In fact, Cassie even overheard Dr. Chang tell her patient that while she was concerned about the dried blood in his ears and around his nose, he didn't sound confused or slurred.

  Then Cassie's phone rang. She drew it out of her pocket and stared incredulously at the Caller ID displayed on the screen.

  Why would Amanda be calling her now, of all times? Why, it had to be way past midnight in Germany right now!

  Cassie hit Answer. "Amanda?"

  In the living room, a burst of laughter exploded at something Darren had said.

  "Hi Cassie," Amanda said. "Uh, did I call at a bad time? Are you having a party?"

  "Not exactly," Cassie said. "Would you believe I had a guy in a parachute drop in on me today? He's a firefighter who got blown off-course."

  "No way!" Amanda exclaimed. "Is he yummy?"

  "Very yummy," Cassie confessed, keeping her voice low and hoping that Thor and his friends were sufficiently distracted not to use their shifter super-hearing to eavesdrop on her. "And he just asked me out for a date."

  It made her feel weird and kind of breathless to say it out loud.

  "No WAY!" Amanda's voice rose an octave with excitement. "A cute firefighter? You should totally do it."

  Cassie found herself grinning. "I'm planning on it. So what's up with you? It's the middle of the night in Munich—is everything okay?"

  Amanda didn't say anything for a moment, and Cassie's heart sank.

  "I'm…not sure," Amanda finally said. "I had the weirdest phone call a few hours ago. I mean, it didn't really seem weird at the time, but the more I think about it, the weirder it feels. And the more I thought I needed to call and tell you about it."

  Amanda's words felt like a bucket of cold water, quenching the warm glow that had kindled in Cassie's middle at the thought of going on a date with Thor Swanson. "Who was it? What did they want?"

  "He said his name was Edward and that he was a friend of the family. He said that no one had heard from you in a while and that your dad was really worried about you, so Ed had promised to try and find you. He asked me if you were okay."

  "Please tell me you didn't tell him where I was!" Cassie said, forcing the words out. She felt like someone was strangling her.

  Difficulty in breathing usually meant that she was starting another panic attack. But she couldn't afford not to hear the rest of what Amanda wanted to tell her.

  "Uh…" Amanda said hesitantly. "He sounded really worried about you, and when he mentioned your dad, I told him you were fine and house-sitting for me…" Her voice trailed off again.

  "Shit." Cassie cursed herself for not telling her friend the real reason she'd dropped out of her graduate program and left Texas.

  They had met in the dorms during their freshman year at UT and instantly bonded as BFFs.

  But Amanda was an Ordinary, and it would have been too difficult to explain about arranged matings between shifters. Or the power that Ed Baldwin held as First of the New Braunfels Pride.

  "I'm so sorry," Amanda said. "This Edward guy sounded really nice on the phone. I thought he was totally legit. It was only after he hung up that I started to wonder how he'd gotten my number in the first place and why your dad hadn't called me himself."

  "Yeah, Ed can be a real charmer," Cassie said bitterly. "It took me a while to figure out what a creep he really was."

  "Oh, God, Cassie. I am so, so sorry!" Amanda wailed.

  "Not your fault, sweetie. I should have told you why I suddenly decided to quit my Master’s program to go on this little road trip," Cassie said.

  "What are you going to do now? Are you going to be okay?"

  "I'll be fine," Cassie assured her, though she felt about a million miles away from fine right now. "And I appreciate the heads-up. But I'm sorry…I can't stay and house-sit for you any longer."

  "I totally understand," Amanda assured her. "Oh, God, Cassie. Is this guy stalking you? Shouldn't you call the cops and get a restraining order or something?"

  Cassie sighed. If only it were that easy where an alpha male sabertooth shifter was concerned! But she didn't want to involve some innocent police officers in her mess and possibly get them badly hurt or killed.

  "It's just my word against his right now, and he's a really important guy in my hometown. I just need to get out of here before he arrives. I'll be fine. I promise."

  "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I fucked up." Amanda sounded distraught.

  "Please don't apologize. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was really going on. I was…ashamed and embarrassed," Cassie said.

  "Text me tomorrow and let me know you're safe," Amanda ordered, and Cassie heard the guilt and fear in her friend's voice.

  "I promise. And I'll be okay. Really," Cassie assured her around the lump of terror stuck in her throat. "Now, go to bed and get some sleep. You'll need it for all the sightseeing—or beer-drinking—you have planned for tomorrow."

  That finally got her a laugh from her friend. "Stay safe. Talk to you soon, Cassie."

  "Talk to you soon." Cassie ended the call and stared at her phone, feeling utter despair.

  At least she'd managed to help Thor before she had to bug out. He'd be safely gone by morning, when she planned to pack up the Subie and get the hell out of Cougar Creek.

  She'd have to drop
by the diner and quit. Which she felt terrible about, because her boss Ted was already short-handed, and her unplanned departure would only make his life harder. Damn it.

  But first, she had guests to tend to.

  Cassie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She shoved her phone back into the pocket of her jeans and picked up the tray she had loaded with bottles of water and a big plate of sliced cheese, salami, and crackers.

  It was then that she noticed that the living room had gone quiet at some point during her conversation with Amanda.

  Oh no! How much of that did they overhear?

  It was impossible to have a private conversation with shifters anywhere in the house, but it was common courtesy to try not to listen in on someone else's phone call.

  Cassie wasn't that lucky. Everyone in the living room, even Darren the Ordinary, stared at her with varying degrees of concern as she entered with the snacks.

  She saw Thor's nostrils flare slightly as he took in her scent, which was probably pungent with her inner turmoil. Cassie could try to pretend all she wanted that she was calm and collected, but she knew that she couldn't fool a room full of shifters, not when her heart was still pounding and her hands were shaking.

  "Cassie, who is Edward Baldwin, and why is he after you?" Thor asked in that soft rumbling voice of his.

  He wasn't even trying to pretend that he hadn't heard everything she and Amanda had discussed just now.

  "I know plenty of shifters in law enforcement, if this guy is threatening you," Kara offered.

  Cassie blinked. She'd expected contempt and disdain once they realized she was a shifter who had chosen to run rather than fight.

  Respect was for winners. Losers were on their own. That was the sabertooth way.

  But Thor's team really seemed to stick together. They worked to help people. To save them.

  Maybe they can save me too?

  As soon as the pathetic thought crossed her mind, Cassie knew she couldn't do it. Couldn't draw these brave, decent people into the cutthroat nastiness of sabertooth pride politics.

  She shook her head. "It's—it's really nice of you to offer. But I've got this, thanks."

  Can they smell the lie?

  Apparently, yes.

  "I want to help you. And I'm not going to leave until I'm sure you're safe," Thor said firmly.

  His gaze caught hers, his hazel eyes lightening to gold.

  "What the hell are you talking about?" Betsy demanded, looking from Cassie to Thor and back again. "You need to go to a hospital, Swanson."

  His lips thinned to a firm line. His gaze never leaving Cassie's, he slowly shook his head.

  "Dude," Darren drawled from his place at the end of the couch. "Do you know how much paperwork we're going to have to do for a helitack dispatch? Especially if we return without an actual patient onboard?"

  "Cassie, you need help. Let me help," Thor said, ignoring his teammate.

  "He's stupidly stubborn, but I think he's right," Kara said unexpectedly. "We shouldn’t leave Cassie alone here." She grinned up Cassie. "So how do you feel about coming along to the hospital, since Thor here won't leave without you?"

  "I—" Cassie found that she really wanted to go and make sure Thor was really all right.

  But if she went, how was she going to get back here again in time to pack up everything?

  The nearest hospital was a good ninety-minute drive away, and even if she could afford the cost of a taxi or an Uber ride all the way back here, no driver in his right mind was going to want to drive down ten miles of rutted gravel road in the middle of nowhere.

  Besides, Thor had his teammates and a real doctor now. They didn't need her. And they certainly didn't need her problems.

  So much for that dinner date, she thought bitterly. I'll be three states away by the time you heal up, Thor Swanson.

  She hated Ed Baldwin more than ever. His ability to screw up her life was the gift that kept on giving.

  "I'd like to, but I can't. Sorry," Cassie said. "And don't you dare skip out on going to the hospital, mister."

  She returned Thor's glower with one of her own. If any of the sabertooth males she knew had frowned at her like that, she would have instantly backed down, afraid of what they might do to her if she didn't behave contritely.

  But somehow, she wasn't afraid of Thor. Her gut told her that he was not the kind of person who would lash out at her over a difference of opinion.

  "Then I'm staying here." He tried to cross his arms over his chest and winced as he jarred his fractured forearm.

  Betsy rolled her eyes, and Darren shook his head with a Can you believe it? expression.

  But Kara had an odd expression on her face as she glanced between Cassie and Thor, and Cassie saw the female firefighter take a deep sniff of Thor's scent.

  "You can't stay here," Cassie told him. "You're hurt, and I don't want to put you in danger. Also," she added with brutal honesty, "I need to pack up tonight, and you'd only be in the way."

  "Ouch, feel the burn!" Kara fanned herself with an exaggerated gesture.

  Thor seemed unfazed. He lifted his left arm, the uninjured one, and put up a finger. "One, I don't intend that either of us hang around here and just wait for the bad guy to show up." He raised a second finger. "Two, I've got a proposition for you."

  "What kind of proposition?" Cassie asked warily.

  At the same time, Kara said, "So what's the plan, Thor?"

  Cassie badly wanted know this too.

  On the one hand, she couldn't help the warm feeling that came with the knowledge that Thor wanted to protect her from Baldwin. On the other hand, she really didn't want to put him in danger, injured as he was.

  "Well, can I get you to take me home to, uh—" he threw Kara a quick glance. "Bearpaw Ridge, Idaho? I think that maybe I'll heal up faster in familiar surroundings."

  Kara's eyebrows shot up. "I thought that you and your mom didn't really get along?"

  Thor froze, and Cassie realized that he still couldn't remember his past. "Uh, maybe the sight of me, injured and helpless, might mellow her a bit?"

  Thor might be hurt, but he looks anything but helpless, Cassie thought.

  "Maybe," Kara allowed, her tone cautious.

  "Right," continued Thor, obviously eager to move on. "And Cassie just let us know that she wants to leave here in a hurry. So I'd like to ask her to drive me home. It'll be a win-win situation for both of us."

  It was unexpected, coming from a man she'd only met a few hours ago, but it wasn't the worst plan Cassie had ever heard.

  And it'll be a chance to get to know him better, her inner cat whispered to her. See if he's really as nice as he smells to us…

  A road trip with Thor was a very tempting prospect. Much more appealing than the thought of parting from him.

  But still, Cassie hesitated.

  This is crazy, she tried to tell herself. I just met him two hours ago. But it just felt so right. How can I say yes?

  "C'mon Cassie. Say yes. Please?" It was Thor's please that made her resistance crumble.

  "Okay," she found herself saying. "Yes." And she couldn’t help smiling down at him.

  Betsy sighed loudly and sat down on the coffee table.

  "All right," she said wearily. "I can see it's useless to argue with you, Swanson."

  She paused as Kara snorted loudly. Thor just nodded serenely.

  "Right." Betsy then turned to the sole uninjured member of the team. "Darren, I'm going to put a cast on Swanson's arm and leg. Will you go fetch the supplies from the chopper? They're in the lime green bag."

  "Sure thing, doc," said the big Ordinary man.

  As Darren left the cabin, Betsy turned a stern gaze on Thor. "No X-rays, no MRI…this is a bad idea, and you know it."

  Chapter 4 – Unexpected House Guest

  The next 45 minutes passed in a bustle of activity.

  Darren returned to the cabin with a big, bright green soft-sided bag. Betsy opened it and pulled out an int
eresting array of rolls of soft bandages in different types and colors, along with several contraptions made of molded plastic with wide Velcro-fastened straps.

  By this time, Betsy had pulled Thor's dark T-shirt up to his armpits and was taking photos of the huge, dark purple bruise on his ribcage.

  "I can write you a note for six to eight weeks off work, since that's how long it would take an Ordinary to heal up," she told him. "But for the last time, I am advising you to go to a hospital."

  Cassie tried not to stare at his impressively broad chest and the tight six-pack beneath, all covered with just the right amount of dark hair, but Thor noticed anyway.

  He winked at her, and Cassie felt an odd flutter in her chest.

  She went to stand next to Kara as the doctor deftly began the process of applying the removable casts to Thor's right arm and leg.

  "I strongly advise you not to shift for at least a week, to give your bones a chance to knit," Betsy said as she slid a narrow, stretchy stockinette over Thor's foot and up his leg. "Not to mention it'll hurt like hell if you try shifting with broken bones. But you can take this cast off for short periods of time, for example, if you want to take a bath or shower. Just dry everything really well before you put the cast back on."

  Once the stockinette had been smoothed over the injured limb, Betsy carefully fitted and buckled a pair of the molded plastic pieces of the cast around Thor's leg.

  She worked quickly, and within a couple of minutes, Thor was encased in the contraption from his toes to the top of his thigh.

  The removable cast on his arm reached from his hand to just below his elbow, and Betsy produced a real sling from the depths of her bag to replace the makeshift one that Cassie had fashioned out of gauze.

  "You did a good job with those splints," Betsy said to Cassie. "And the fact that you managed to keep my patient on this couch and relatively still until we arrived made my job easier. Thank you."

  Cassie blinked, surprised by the unexpected compliment. "It was nothing," she said. "Just some first aid training I had a few years ago."

  "It wasn't just nothing," Thor countered. "You did the right thing at the right time. Do you know how unusual that is?"