by M. L. Briers
“I can’t bring that kind of trouble to your door,” she shook her head again, and he heard the catch in her voice.
She was going to cry … he hated to see a female cry, but his own mate … he thought that might rip him apart.
“Lorelai…” he started towards at full speed, and she backed away from him, still shaking her head, denying him his right as her mate to take the worries of the world from her shoulders, to make everything right.
She can’t leave… he growled and his beast growled harder.
She’s mine…
My mate. My life. My forever love.
She can’t leave me…
I won’t let her leave…
I can’t let her leave…
Whatever this is … whatever is wrong – I’ll kill to fix it … to keep her here with me.
We’re a family.
We’re going to have a family.
Cubs.
Family.
Mine.
Just tell me who to kill…
Just tell me who to kill to make this right again…
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
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“Talk to me, Lorelai,” Jack demanded. “Please…” he begged.
He reached out and snagged her upper arms, wrapping his large hands around the padding of her jacket and hauling her towards him. She didn’t fight him – he thought she might…
“I have to go,” her voice sounded small, too small, too much in pain.
“Do you want to leave?” Jack’s heart stopped beating inside of his chest – he was sure of it – sure that it was never going to start again, and then she shook her head as tears spilled over down her cheeks, and his heart tried to reach for her through his ribs…
Every inch of his body felt as if it sighed with relief. He rested his chin on top of her head and curled his body around hers, holding her so close to him that she had to know that he’d kill to protect her. Die for her.
“You don’t understand…” Lorelai held onto him.
In the midst of her madness there he was. He felt solid – not just the size and strength of the man, but his whole presence, his whole being felt like no matter what came at her, for her, for them … he could handle it.
“Tell me, sweetheart,” Jack would beg her if he had too.
“He killed a man – he killed him and I saw it, and now he wants me.”
There it was – the story that he knew that she had the first moment he’d laid eyes on her – she was in trouble, big trouble. He didn’t give a damn what kind of trouble it was … she was his mate.
“Yeah, well … he’s gotta get through me first, Lorelai, and that’s not gonna happen.” Jack swore right then and there – it wasn’t going to happen. Not then – not ever.
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“So this is Sleepy Hollow…” Lorelai looked around the little town that had been hidden away behind Jack’s bar. It consisted of one post office that doubled as a small grocery store, a one pump petrol station, and a small bakery.
“Sleepy Hollow?” Jack frowned.
“Mystic Falls?” She raised her eyebrows and almost begged him to get the references in popular culture… “Oh come on, you have a vampire, and paranormal running around, all you need are some witches, ghosts, demons…” she chuckled.
“Bite your tongue,” he warned and she chuckled.
“Mr Superstitious…”
“Yeah, well, I don’t like to tempt fate,” he grumbled.
“I thought you liked fate because it brought me to you,” she grinned and he rolled his eyes, reached out an arm around her waist, and yanked her up against his hard body.
“That’s different, I’m not going to be Buffy the Vampire slaying all over the mountain…” he growled and she gasped in disbelief.
“You’re a secret Buffy fan!” She teased and he grumbled and growled some more.
“Not a fan, damn it. I might have caught a show or…” she raised just one eyebrow at him, “a season or three… maybe…” he bit out, embarrassed.
“I preferred Angel myself,” Kiel’s voice made Jack tense and he turned towards the man on a deep warning growl… “Still not bonded I see.” He offered.
“I liked Spike,” Lorelai offered and the vampire grinned wildly at her words.
“Interesting choice,” Kiel said.
“No, it’s not interesting, it’s not anything – go away.” Jack growled back.
“What are you doing out with her when you haven’t bonded yet?” Kiel asked and Jack rolled his eyes.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we need supplies,” Jack grumbled back.
“I suppose you couldn’t have been expected to foresee your mate showing up … supplies is acceptable.” Kiel shrugged.
“Acceptable? Out with me?” Lorelai asked, not sure that she wanted an answer to that.
“It’s just that until we bond…” Jack started.
“He’s going to be like a bear with a sore head around unmated males who get near you…” Kiel announced and Jack growled in annoyance.
“I was speaking to my mate,” he bit out.
“Yes, you were too slow and mine was funnier,” Kiel offered back and Lorelai sniggered.
“You two need to get a room,” she chuckled and Jack rolled his eyes back in his head at the thought of it, while Kiel snorted his contempt for her words.
“Just supplies?” Kiel demanded.
“Just supplies,” Jack assured him.
“Go ahead, I’ll make sure all unmated male shifters keep out of there.” Kiel said and Jack frowned.
“What?”
“It’s a small shop and you’re a big bear, you figure it out.” Kiel offered back and set Lorelai off to chuckling again.
“Wow! No words,” she offered when Jack twisted his head to look down at her.
“I’ve got some…” Jack growled out, and from his tone she could have compiled a list of every one of them.
“Be nice, he’s being helpful,” Lorelai whispered.
“You can’t whisper around big ears – and he’s meddling,” Jack grumbled again.
“Yes, but in a good way,” she offered back lightly and heard Kiel chuckle. That sound was melodic and caught her ears.
“Listen to your woman, Jack. She talks more sense than you do,” Kiel was baiting the bear, poking it with a big stick.
“Would you like to take this outside?” Jack growled.
“We are outside,” Kiel pointed out, smug to the last word.
“Inside then,” Jack grumbled.
“Defeats the purpose of me guarding the shop – it would still get demolished, don’t you think?” The vampire offered smug to the last, and Jack went to take a step towards him. Then remembered that he still had an arm around his mate and her hip glued against his.
“You two really are an old married couple,” Lorelai sniggered as she went to step towards the shop, but felt Jack’s arm clamp down tighter around her. “Possessive much?” she teased up at him.
“Protective,” he offered back.
“That too. I’m hungry, can we go in now?” She asked and watched a total change in the man.
“Hungry … let’s go,” Jack said, practically carrying her towards the shop.
“She learns fast,” Kiel chuckled as Jack shot a glare back over his shoulder.
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Lorelai stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart hit her ribs and she suddenly felt nauseous just from the sight of the black sports car that sat outside of Jack’s bar.
Jack’s noted the way that she’d ground to a halt and stopped in time with her. His eyes went to hers and he literally watched the colour drain from her face at the same moment that the scent of fear came from her…
His bear rose within him, clawed to be released, and Jack fought hard to keep the beast at bay.
He dropped the bags in his hand and reached for her, bringing her right to his side with
one arm wrapped around her body. He could feel her shaking … as if the scent of fear wasn’t bad enough to set his beast off within him…
“Something you want to share?” Kiel’s voice drifted to him from somewhere just behind his right shoulder.
“I need to get her home and then you need to send the owner of that car my way,” Jack growled out.
“No … Jack,” Lorelai protested.
Now that Tom was there … Now that it was deadly real, she didn’t want Jack to have any part in it.
I should have left…
He’s got a gun…
Shifters were shifters, but guns were guns…
I should be gone…
Maybe I can still run…
“I understand,” Kiel offered back, listening to the thoughts inside of her mind. “You know…” he started to offer his services, but Jack cut him off.
“My mate, my fight.” Jack growled back.
He left the bags on the ground where they lay and walked her towards his truck…
He figured that then was as good a time as any to end her fear. He just needed a little privacy to do it.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
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“Judy, Scotch,” Kiel perched on the stool at the end of the bar. His eyes were on one person and one only. The stranger on the stool at the other end.
Ironic that the man would sit on Jack’s stool…
Judy placed the glass down in front of him and he dropped the money on the counter before he nodded towards the man who had his back turned to him and a mobile phone pressed to his ear.
“Been asking questions about the girl that Jack helped out,” Judy whispered. She knew what Kiel was and she knew that she didn’t need to scream her words from the rooftops for him to hear her.
“Get any answers?” Kiel asked.
“Not a chance,” Judy gave a low chuckle.
“He was never here,” Kiel offered back.
“Who?” She chuckled again before taking the money and turning on her heels back towards the cash register.
“It pinged where? Cos there’s squat all where I’m standing…” Tom barked into the handset. “How far? What am I paying you for? Rough estimate … got it, and I won’t be needing your services again…” He yanked the handset from his ear and angrily swiped over the screen.
Kiel hated the guy already. Not just because he was trouble, but because he thought himself a hard man … he had no idea what he was facing on the mountain, and that knowledge warmed him.
The man stepped down from the stool. He was solidly built, for a human, but Kiel knew that pound for pound the man was no match for Jack. He wasn’t worried.
Tom reached out and downed the last of his drink. Without saying a word he headed for the door.
His eyes only briefly flicked towards Kiel, but the moment that they did he sensed a change in the man. As their eyes connected; he noted the way that Tom’s hand flexed at his side as if he was missing something that he wanted against his palm.
He kept walking, and it was only the sound of the door opening and slamming closed again that triggered Kiel to move.
“Thanks, Judy,” Kiel said, before turning and following the man out of the bar.
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Kiel wasn’t sure if the other guy on the end of the phone gave really good directions, if it was fate, or just dumb luck that took Tom the long way around to Jack’s cabin, but that was where he ended up.
Night was closing in. Perfect for vampires and shifters, but the human was out of his depth.
The vampire had a hankering to take this guy out back on the road, and to make out that he’d just drove on through after getting the blank stare from Judy, but Jack had told him to point him in his direction, and he had a feeling that this would always feel like unfinished business to the mates.
Normally he didn’t have any qualms about sticking his nose in where it didn’t concern him, and yet this time felt different…
Fate had put them all on this mountain for a reason. He just hoped to hell that it wasn’t one sick joke…
When Jack pulled open the cabin door the vampire second guessed his choices. Jack had made it plain that this wasn’t his fight … he had to stick with that line and not cross it.
Kiel watched as Jack closed the door behind him and started out towards his truck. He guessed the shifter had a plan, because he would never have left his mate alone, and he would have heard that sports car driving down the lane a long time before the human had parked it out of sight at the end of the turning.
Jack eyed the area and almost bit out a growl when he spotted the vampire hiding in the tree line. He’d told him to stay out of it…
The human was edging slowly around the side of the cabin using the bushes as cover. He was loud and clumsy, at least by shifter standards, and Jack knew the man wouldn’t last five minutes out on a hunt – his prey would have heard him coming from a mile away.
He tracked his progress by sound alone until the man got caught in the winter winds that blew something fierce up on the mountain, but right now they were gentle by comparison, bringing his scent right to Jack’s nose.
Then the vampire moved and Jack groaned inwardly at having to track the pair of them and keep an ear out in the cabin to make sure that his mate didn’t do anything stupid.
When the human stepped on a twig and the crack pierced the silence, Jack almost groaned at the clumsy stupidity of the man. He certainly wasn’t army trained either – that was a given.
According to Lorelai he was just a thug that she knew from her neighbourhood, and Jack didn’t have any qualms about ending him – he just wanted him to show his hand first.
Jack’s bear was desperately clawing within him. The beast wanted out, but then his bear didn’t give a damn about shifter rules – it just wanted the taste of the human’s blood on his fangs.
Jack tried to hold onto his anger, his temper, as it raged inside him. The human was a threat, and he was on his territory … this wasn’t going to end well…
Jack was momentarily distracted by the movement of the vampire as he moved fast across the landscape, blurred in Jack’s vision. He was headed towards the human and Jack’s bear roared within him … slighted by the vampire’s involvement.
Kiel had seen the light from inside the cabin reflecting off the barrel of the gun and had done the only thing that he could … he covered the land in no time at all, appearing in front of the human in the blink of an eye and without warning … and that was when the sound of a shot rang out into the night.
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Lorelai jumped at the sound of the shot. Fear froze her heart and her mind.
For what she thought might have been the longest moment of her life she stood welded to the spot, unable to move, unable to think, unable to breathe … and then that fear kicked her backside into gear and she was running towards the door of the cabin.
Jack had made her promise to stay inside. He’d made her promise to stay hidden … none of that mattered now because of that shot, because it could have been Jack that lay dead or dying on the frozen ground…
With shaking hands she reached for the door and wrenched it open. Throwing her body outside into the muted light on the land. The light from the cabin mixed and vied with the moonlight to light her way as her ears picked up the sound of movement at the side of the cabin and her legs took her towards it.
She could scarcely breathe as she rounded the corner and almost cried out at the sight of Jack, alive and well, and swinging one big fist into Tom’s face … the man was lifted off his feet as the blow hit, and it sent him backwards through the air.
The hard thud as he hit the ground made her want to cheer, and she didn’t have a damn clue why…
She’d never been a fight fan, but the sight of her mate decking that man filled her with so much damn happiness that she could have done a happy dance right there and then.
Ja
ck was alive. There had been a shot and her mate was alive.
That was it. That was all that she needed…
Then she saw a horrifying sight that made the blood drain from her head and chill her very soul … Tom had grabbed for a gun that had been strapped to his ankle …
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
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It all happened so fast that Lorelai couldn’t manage to force the words from her brain to her lips.
Tom aimed the barrel of the gun at Jack … there was a loud crack that made her jump and stopped her heart from beating … stopped the world from turning around her as time seemed to stand still …
Jack’s body violently jerked backwards and twisted sideways … a moment later there was a loud roar that hit her ears and made her jump once more … and then Jack’s bear burst from within him so violently that his clothes tore from his body as the beast ripped free of the man … and there he was – one huge brown bear that charged forwards on a deafening roar that made her heart punch her ribs…
Lorelai’s eyes took him in …
“Breathe now…” Kiel’s melodic voice spoken beside her ear shocked her body into action and she wrenched in a breath that she didn’t know she needed…
Jack’s bear reared up just as Tom, stunned by the twist in events, lifted the barrel of the gun once more … Lorelai wanted to cry out a warning to the bear, but it was already too late … with a swipe of his claws the beast put an end to it…
“And breathe…” Kiel demanded again and Lorelai complied, but more than that – she made a gasping, tortured sound that drew the bear’s attention around towards her… “That’s me outta here…”
Kiel took off away from Lorelai. That was one mad as hell bear and he didn’t want to be in the firing line and poke the damn beast for being too close to his mate.
Lorelai’s eyes took the bear in … beautiful … and deadly. The beast let out a sorrowful groan that made her heart jump within her once more.