by Joyce, T. S.
“Clayton will put a kill order on you,” Ian warned. All he wanted to do was kill Miller now. Rip him limb from limb. Maul him because Miller didn’t deserve the honorable death he’d given Cole. He didn’t want to wait, but he had to. Clayton gave the orders. Clayton was judge and jury.
“Nah, he won’t get to me in time, and some things are just worth it, you know? Like with you. I told you I’d hunt you and anyone you loved if you killed my brother and what did you fucking do? You tracked him down. Did you think I was joking, Silver? Did you think I was talking to hear myself speak? You aren’t untouchable!” Miller’s voice pitched high and shaky, and he shook his head hard and gripped his hair. “Not untouchable,” he muttered to himself through gritted teeth, slapping the side of his bloody face. Crazy wolf. Miller dragged his narrowed, blazing eyes to Elyse and jammed a finger at her. “I’ll see you soon, pretty bitch.” With one last empty smile, Miller disappeared into the thick grove of trees.
“Ian,” Elyse said in a frightened voice.
“I know,” he said, pacing the tree line.
“Ian!”
“Get inside,” he gritted out, right before he sprinted for the trees.
Waiting on an order from Clayton wasn’t going to work. Ian’s bear was already ripping out of him and seething for Miller’s blood. He’d threatened his mate, and the price for that was death.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Ian’s bones snapped and his body reshaped and grew. Dark fur shot out of his skin, prickling like millions of needles, and long, curved, black claws replaced his fingernails. Shaking off the last tingles of the Change, he inhaled deeply and bolted through the woods. A long, lone wolf howl lifted and echoed through the night woods, a taunt that urged an answering snarl from himself. He was going to kill Miller. Hang shifter laws, he was a fucking McCall, and he was sinking deep into insanity just like all his ancestors. And now, that crazy sonofabitch’s attention was on Elyse in some twisted game of vengeance. Miller couldn’t live another day to plot and plan against everything that meant anything to Ian. He couldn’t be allowed to hurt his Elyse.
Rage pounded through his blood, urging his heart beat faster, like a pounding war drum. Perfect—because this was war.
Ian pushed himself faster through the woods, around pines and western hemlock, yellow cedar and spruce, across the prickling pine needles that blanketed the floor. The moon was half full above him, peeking through the trees and casting the wilderness in blue rays of light that trickled through the canopy.
Miller’s scent was stronger now, and he dug his claws into the earth, pushing his muscles faster. Ian was at his prime at this time of year. Strapped with muscle and power, not yet affected by the fatigue that would come for him soon.
The sound of a car engine revved. No. Ian pushed himself harder, faster, panting as he charged through the woods behind that crazy wolf.
He could see taillights now, and from the open window of an old beat-up, mud-brown Bronco, Miller’s insane laugh cackled. Miller hit the gas just as Ian swiped the back end, sending the SUV spinning. Ian skidded sideways through the loose dirt and scrabbled for traction behind the Bronco.
Miller was accelerating, getting away as Ian dug his claws in and gave chase. He was fast, but Miller had worn a path through the woods where he’d probably parked to steal from Elyse many times, and he was hitting forty miles per hour, then fifty. Fuck!
The back-end of Millers ride faded in the distance, and then his red taillights disappeared altogether.
Ian skidded to a stop and arched his head back in rage.
And then the woods were filled with the roaring of his bear.
****
Elyse clutched the gun tighter as an enraged roar rattled the woods, raising all the fine hairs on her body along with it. Birds lifted from the trees, the cicadas went quiet, and inside her veins, blood pounded with adrenaline and fear.
She trusted Ian—trusted him with her life. Yes, even after he’d lied about how he’d known Cole, she could still feel his love. He would protect her from Miller’s dark promises.
Her hands trembled badly as she waited by the open front window. Wolf or bear—which one would come back for her?
Please let it be my bear.
But if it was the wolf, she was going to fucking annihilate him.
Movement captured her attention in the dark woods, and she lifted her rifle through the window and put the crosshairs on the form meandering through the trees. Deep breath. Click—the safety was off.
A soft grunt sounded from the animal, and a long, frozen puff of breath steamed in front of him. Much too tall to be a wolf, Ian’s bruin bear ambled from the woods.
Click—the safety was back on, and Elyse lowered her weapon.
Her mate didn’t look injured, but he swung his weight from side to side in agitation. If he hadn’t Changed back, it was because he couldn’t. Perhaps he’d gone too long between shifts, or perhaps he was too close to hibernation to Change back. No, no, no.
Elyse threw the door open and ran to the edge of the stairs. He won’t hurt me.
“Ian,” she said on a scared breath. He just couldn’t be Changed for the winter season already.
At the muscular hump between his shoulders, the bear was taller than her by a few feet, and even though she knew it was Ian, it was hard to advance on the massive grizzly. He wouldn’t hurt her. He wouldn’t. She was his mate.
Gasping, she stepped down the stairs slowly, hand out, shaking fingers outstretched.
“I love you, I love…you,” she murmured, her voice as meek as a mouse’s.
Ian grunted again and stopped swaying. He averted his dark gaze and angled his head, giving her his neck. She blew out a long, trembling breath as she slowly approached.
If she’d had any lingering doubt he was her bear before now, his ripped ear put her at ease. Still, five feet away, she couldn’t make her legs move forward. She stood there frozen, fingers out, helpless to move toward him any farther.
Ian ghosted her a glance, then lowered his head and took two powerful steps forward, forehead against her middle. She stumbled backward and held onto his big, block head just to stay upright. There was a humming in his throat that filled the air as she slowly rested her cheek on top of his head, near the ripped ear. The nerves left her slowly as they stood there, touching. Animal and human, bonded so deeply that neither one of them could be whole without the other.
Slowly, Ian lifted an intimidating claw and wrapped it gently around her back, then settled back on his haunches and pulled her toward him. She didn’t fight him. Couldn’t. He was hers, and if he wanted to be closer, she understood the instinct. She couldn’t stop stroking his coarse fur. Her thin nightgown wasn’t meant to meet air this cold, but Ian sat up and pulled her against his massive chest as the gown billowed around her legs and her hair lifted in the chilly breeze. Here, in his powerful arms against his heavily furred torso, the chill was banished and her fear along with it. Ian was so big, so powerful and protective, she couldn’t help but feel safe from the rest of the world—Miller included.
Elyse tucked her arms between them and rested her cheek against his chest. His breath was deep and steady, and the drum of his heart beat had slowed to match hers. Neither one of them were scared here in the dark yard of their home.
Ian rubbed his giant muzzle over her face, and his lips lifted against her skin. His gleaming teeth grazed her, and as he eased back, he snuffled loudly against her hair. He scented her gown and between her breasts as if he was allowing his animal to put everything about her to memory.
“My mate,” she whispered.
Ian responded with another soft noise in his throat.
“Tell me you can Change back, Ian.” Tears burned her eyes and blurred her vision. “Tell me you aren’t Changed for the winter.”
Ian released her and backed away, shaking his head sharply. With a soft roar, he strode for the woods.
Baffled, she waited for her beloved to return. Without
his warmth, the autumn air lifted her dress and chilled her blood, raising gooseflesh over every inch of her body, but still, she waited. And when Ian, human and naked, strode from the tree line, blue moonlight illuminating his bare torso and powerful legs, her face crumpled with relief. Her Ian was still here.
“I didn’t catch him,” he said in a gravelly voice. He looked sick about it.
Elyse held her arms open and sighed as he lifted her off her feet and spun her slowly. “I can’t protect you when I’m sleeping, Elyse.” The gravel in his voice turned to glass, and a slow, angry rumble vibrated against her belly.
“Oh, Ian. You don’t have to.” She eased back and cupped his cheeks, so certain of her destiny now. “You protect me during the warm season, but now it’s my turn to protect you. We’re a team.”
Miller’s threats had opened up something dark within her. Something fearsome that had only existed in the shadows of her soul before. He’d made threats on her mate and on her, but her fear had changed in those minutes she’d been waiting for Ian to return from hunting that damned wolf. If she wanted to keep Ian, she had to be his protector when he hibernated, just as he’d done for her this past month.
She’d always thought herself too weak for this life. It had been her greatest fear, but she’d been wrong. Ian had shown her how strong she could be.
As it turned out, she wasn’t the damsel in distress.
She was the knight.
And she’d be damned if anyone hurt what she and Ian had built here.
Chapter Twenty-One
Elyse’s boots splashed onto the beach as she jumped out of Ian’s boat and helped him drag it up the bank, out of the way of the changing tide. She’d never been to Afognak before, but even from here, she could see where the rumors of its haunting came from.
The morning fog rolled in waves across the pine forest, and the forest floor was like none she’d ever seen. Covered in moss and intertwined tree roots, it was a lush kind of green that only existed in dreams.
Ian didn’t speak, but then, she wasn’t surprised. He’d explained to her that the island required silence if they wanted to take red meat from it. Sitka black-tailed deer were abundant here, but so were brown bears. This island could give and take away so much.
Even Miki trotted silently beside her, brushing her leg every other step like the Velcro dog he was becoming.
It didn’t surprise her at all that Ian had called this place home. He was tough as leather and his inner animal was as wild as these woods.
The second she stepped onto the squishy moss forest floor, chills blasted up the back of her neck. It was so quiet here. Ian was always silent when he moved through the woods, but here, with the lichens under her rubber-soled hiking boots, even she, in her natural human clumsiness, was silent when she moved.
Ian handed her a backpack, then pulled on his own. In silence, they chambered a round of ammunition in their rifles and checked the safety on each, then shouldered the weapons and made their way up a small trail that led upward between two moss-covered boulders.
Ian pointed out a set of enormous grizzly tracks on the beach sand headed up the same trail, then cupped the back of her head and whispered, “How old?”
She squinted at the prints, bigger than her head, and remembered everything Ian had taught her about tracking animals over the last month. These were half dry on damp sand. “A few hours at least,” she whispered against his ear.
As a reward, he leaned down and sipped at her lips, massaging the back of her hair gently. “Good. Keep alert, but he should be out of the area. They’re on the hunt right now, not sleeping much, trying to build up last minute fat reserves for winter.”
Ian had been doing the same thing. Even nervous about following a grizzly trail, she smiled. While her backpack was full of ammunition, deer tags, hunting knives, and a bedroll tied on the outside, his was full of food.
The deeper they hiked into the Afognak woods, the eerier they became and the thicker the fog rolled in. Sometimes they walked blind in the thick cloud cover and other times hiked through a clearing, surrounded by the thick fog. She relied on Ian’s instinct to guide them because she couldn’t see any great distance in front of her. They could be hunted right now by a brown bear, and she wouldn’t know, but Ian constantly turned his head at every sound. This way and that, he angled his ears, and she could almost see him identifying each one and tossing them away as non-threatening.
The claw mark on her leg was almost healed, but it tingled here in the quiet wilderness of the haunted woods. The remembered pain from that bear raking its six-inch claws through her flesh made it hard not to panic and give in to the claustrophobia that the island pressed against her.
Deeper and deeper Ian led her into the heart of the island, each step silent against the spongy moss. The vibrant green lichens grew so thick on everything, she could be walking over boulders, tree roots, or bones of the dead, and she would never be able to tell the difference.
Ian’s need to bring her to Afognak wasn’t just about hunting or showing her his charred den. He hadn’t been able to get a hold of Clayton to tell him about Miller’s threats, and Elyse knew a piece of her mate was hoping there would be an order for the crazy wolf waiting at the entrance of his winter den where they’d always been delivered before.
They weren’t hunting now, though Ian’s eyes were always scanning their surroundings, as were hers. It was natural to search for opportunities now that she’d been on hunts with Ian. He was slowly adjusting her instincts, honing them to look for wildlife that could serve as food during their long winters. She was more aware of her surroundings than she ever had been.
Over a rocky ridge, a Sitka doe bounded away. Ian’s gaze followed her until she disappeared, but he didn’t seem inclined to track her. Not now. Instead, he turned and offered his hand up the side of a slick, exposed rock surface, helping Elyse up. And after what seemed like hours of hiking, half-afraid of what would charge out of the fog, Ian led her into the small mouth of a cave. She had to crouch down to get through the opening. Once inside, she could stand.
Ian squeezed her hand, pulling her to a stop, then kissed her forehead. “Welcome to the Monster House. Stay here,” he said on a breath as he clicked his flashlight on. “Let me make sure it’s clear.” Of grizzlies claiming my den. He didn’t have to say the last part, though. She was understanding more and more about Ian’s life and of the wild animals he had to live alongside.
Two minutes later, and he was back. He jerked his head in invitation, and she pulled a headlight from her backpack, slid it onto her forehead, and clicked it on.
The cave smelled like smoke and charred wood, and when she laid eyes on the rubble, she hated Miller even more.
He’d taken Ian’s home from him.
There were burnt remains of what looked like a cabin built into a corner. She moved through a scorched doorway and bit her lip as she arched the beam of her headlamp over the rubble. Everything was ash and blackened wood remnants, and she couldn’t even tell what the furniture had looked like before.
“I slept there,” Ian whispered, pointing to a corner. Only a few spruce limbs remained. Pine and smoke clogged her throat, and she pulled the front of her jacket over her nose so she could breathe easier. “Over there was a dresser. Nothing fancy. I made it one year when I miscalculated my hibernation and had a week to kill up here.” He faced her and dragged her waist closer, then dipped his lips so close to her ear she could feel the vibration of his murmured words. “Over there was a stool I stacked my clothes and pack on, ready for when I woke up. I always kept money from my deliveries in a safe so I could go find food immediately when I woke up.”
“Tell me about your first hibernation.”
He let off a soft breath and hugged her closer. “It was the only one my brothers and I did together. Our bears were juveniles then, and we could stand to be around each other. And we were so scared about what was happening, it was a comfort not to be alone. We were sixteen, and
Dad hadn’t told us what to expect. Whenever we asked him, he would say, “It’s instinct, boys. You’ll know what to do.”
“And did you?”
Ian shook his head slowly, the scruff on his cheek rasping against hers. “No. We were all scared shitless, and when Tobias went down while we were out in the woods, Jenner and I dragged him under a rock ledge. Only, he hadn’t Changed into his bear before he fell asleep, so he woke up a few days later, starving, and we had barely any food between us. He woke up the next day, too, and Jenner and I didn’t know what to do. We were getting tired and didn’t know how to feed Tobias if we were asleep. The fifth day, Tobias Changed into his bear when he woke up, but he wasn’t right. He was what they call a winter bear, ravenous. He almost killed Jenner.”
“Oh my gosh, Ian. What did you do?”
“Sewed him back up as best I could. His healing had already slowed down like the rest of his body, and Tobias was in the wind, hunting for anything that would sustain him. Jenner and I figured out we needed to sleep as bears or starve, so we Changed and waited, scared, clinging to that shallow rock face, scared that Tobias would come back. Scared that he wouldn’t. Tobias showed up on the sixth day. He was still a bear, but the crazy was gone from his eyes. He was dragging his body, exhausted, and we all tucked ourselves in that tiny den and went to sleep. It’s a wonder a hunter didn’t find us. We were so close to the hunting cabins here, and we nearly froze because the den we’d chosen was too shallow. And when we woke up after hibernation, it was war. We were starving to death, emaciated, and none of us had the sense to Change back. We just went to battle, bleeding each other until we were all nearly dead. That was the first and last time we hibernated together.”
“I can’t believe your dad let you go into it blind like that. It makes me sick to think of you that young, trying to figure all of this out. It’s too much on a kid. Too much.” She squeezed her eyes tightly close and thanked God Ian had survived at all.