The Sheriff and His Air Goddess [The Shifters of Freedom Springs 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Maia Dylan

  These were two of Aeron’s demons. Two minions to the demon who thought to take his world, the demon who for all intents and purposes couldn’t take fucking no for an answer, and the bastard who thought to take his mate from him. Ryan felt his rage consume him, and when the two black floating bastards jumped the poor bear at the same time, one of them got a pretty good grip on the bear’s flank.

  Roaring more in rage than in pain, the bear turned its giant head and snapped at the demon that had caused him the pain, but missed. Ryan made a quick decision, then launched himself from his hiding place, sprinting as silently as he could, then hurling himself at the demon who was about to deliver the killing blow to the bear, snarling and growling as he twisted in the air so that he could land on the fucker.

  As soon as he could, he used his claws to dig into the demon’s neck, ignoring its scream of pain and fury. With a growl of rage, he pulled his claws through its neck, almost rending its head from it with one swipe. Ryan felt a white-hot pain stretch down his right side and knew that the bastard had gotten in a swipe. Enraged that he had allowed the prick to tag him, Ryan swiped a second time, and this time he removed the bastard’s head.

  He howled in satisfaction when the thing exploded into a cloud of back ash and the smell of sulfur burned his nose and had him sneezing. Fuck! He really hated the smell of sulfur! It burned his nose. Shaking it off, he turned to face the fight that was still going on between the bear and demon. Ryan could see that the right side of the bear glistened wetly, and he could scent its blood in the air.

  The demon was using its ability to float, or fly, or whatever the fuck the thing did to avoid the huge paws of the bear. It was also smaller and faster and wove in and around the bear, getting in the odd swipe of its claws, making the bear roar with rage. Ryan stepped forward to help, and the huge bear swung its head in his direction. The look it gave him clearly said, “Back the fuck off.”

  This told Ryan two things. The bear was pissed and wanted to take the fucker itself, and this was no natural bear. He was one of the few bear shifters left in the world. Ryan had heard tales of times when there were clans of bear shifters throughout the world, but for natural reasons, the clans had diminished in numbers until there were only a few familial units left throughout the United States. Ryan inclined his head, then sat down on his back haunches and waited.

  The bear suddenly rose up on its hind legs and seemed to stretch beyond its limits, but it was enough to hook its huge claws into the black cape of the demon. Ryan knew from fighting them that it wasn’t made from any material he knew of and that it couldn’t be removed. It was as if it was their skin, and it would retract so that their skeletal hands and gnarled claws would emerge to be used as weapons.

  Once the bear had it in his grip, Ryan saw what looked like a viscous liquid around its mouth before the bear bit down on the creepy bastard. Once the demon was locked between its jaws, the bear dispatched the thing quickly before roaring its satisfaction to the world, even before the ash had dissipated completely. When the sound ended, the bear turned with a grunt to look at him, and Ryan gave him as much of a grin in his wolf form as he could. And fuck him if that bear didn’t damn well return it.

  Taking a chance, Ryan called upon the power of his shift and reached for his human form, sending his wolf form into the background. With the white-hot pain of the shift, and a shimmer of light, Ryan stepped forward in his human form.

  “Well, are you going to shift back or what?” Ryan grinned as he paused for dramatic effect. “Liam.” He laughed when the bear grunted what sounded suspiciously like a curse and rolled its head. Then he stood in awe as the animal shimmered before him and then became his deputy. A disgruntled and unhappy-looking deputy.

  “Shit. How’d you know it was me?” Liam grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the heavily bleeding wounds across his back and side.

  Despite the pain of his own wounds, Ryan adopted the same stance but grinned back at Liam. “Had to be you! Heroic, fighter, bad tempered, and hairy, all points to you,” Ryan laughed when Liam flipped him off. “All my life, either me or one of my brothers has been roaming around these woods. We have never seen a black bear come this close to town. During a fight with some fucking demons, and a god who wants to take over the world, a big, hairy black bear comes out of nowhere and saves my ass, then disappears all hero-like. Everything pointed to you, my friend.”

  “Yeah, well,” Liam said as he suddenly ran frustrated hands through his hair and exhaled. “Congratulations for being so fucking smart.”

  “There was something in your bite just now. Poison?” Ryan asked. He had heard that there were some shifters who emitted a venom-like substance when they killed.

  “Yeah, it’s toxic to humans, floating demon fuckers, and other shifters. I can control when I use it. Otherwise I just rip the fuckers to pieces.” Liam shrugged in a move that clearly said, “What are you going to do about it?”

  Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “What’s crawled up your ass and died? Why the attitude?”

  “Well, in case you can’t tell, I’m bleeding like a stuck pig all over the place, and that pisses me off. Add to that, you now know that I am a bear shifter, and as I refuse to pledge to any alpha ever again, I’m probably going to have to leave.” Liam sighed. “Which is a real damn shame, because I was starting to really like Freedom Springs.”

  “Why the hell would you think you had to leave?” Ryan threw his arm out to encompass the forest. “Freedom Springs is neutral. Dude, we don’t have an alpha as such. We live as a pack, sure, but we are our own men who answer to no one but the laws and morals that should govern all men. As long as you can live like that, then you are more than welcome here.”

  Ryan waited as Liam stared intently at him, almost as if he were weighing Ryan’s words to see if he were telling the truth. Liam grinned suddenly and went to say something, but both froze as the sound of people running in their direction came to them through the forest. They were a slight distance away but not making any move to hide the fact that they were coming at them.

  Liam moved quickly toward one of the trees off to the side of the clearing and grabbed a backpack that had been secured there. He pulled a couple of pairs of running shorts from the bag and tossed a pair at him.

  Ryan sent him a look of gratitude as he pulled the shorts on. Whoever was coming their way was human, even though there were wolves running with them. Ryan had a feeling he knew exactly who it was, and he definitely wanted to have his man bits covered when they finally got there. He had just turned back toward the direction of the pounding feet as three women, flanked completely by three wolves, ran out of the forest.

  All three of the women were breathing heavily after the run, and his brothers were all glaring at him like it was his fault.

  “Hey, guys!” Ryan decided to bluster his way out of it. “You just avoided the segment of today’s excitement, where Liam and I dispatched two of Aeron’s crew. It was quite the celebration. I’m sorry you missed it.”

  The three wolves turned to look at Liam at the same time and tensed. Ryan knew that they could scent that he was shifter, and they were assessing the threat level to their mates. Liam lifted his hands nonthreateningly and cast a glance to Ryan.

  “It’s all right, guys. Liam is the bear shifter that joined us the last time we danced with Aeron.” Ryan watched as the three offered wolfy grins, and then they made their way back into the forest. All of them were wearing the custom-made satchels that carried shorts and would want to cover their man bits just as much as he had.

  “You’re the bear!” Casey asked, pointing her finger at Liam just in case anyone was in doubt who she was yelling at. Ryan shook his head as Liam just nodded at her with a tolerant look on his face.

  “Well, shit,” Micah said as he left the forest clad in a pair of running shorts and moved forward to shake Liam’s hand. “That makes total sense, I guess. You sure as shit are bigger than any wolf shifter I have ever met, yet every
time we met, I caught the scent of a shifter but couldn’t place it.”

  “Yeah, well, there aren’t that many of us left.” Liam shrugged. “And I have become very good at disguising the fact that I can shift into a five hundred–pound bear with nothing more than a thought.”

  Ryan frowned. “Where is your family and your, what, pack?”

  “Sloth,” Ariana answered as she stepped closer to Liam.

  “What?”

  “It’s not a ‘pack’ of bears. It’s a ‘sloth.’” Ariana hadn’t taken her eyes off Liam, and that made Ryan a little uncomfortable. And jealous as hell, if the truth be told.

  “If you’re the bear, how did you get into the rift in the first place? You didn’t come through with us, and I am willing to bet big dollars that you are not the Water Elemental. So how in the hell did you breech Aeron’s shields?” Ariana asked, and now that she had, the rest of them turned to stare at the man in question.

  Liam’s eyes widened, and he looked around the group all staring at him. “I have no idea what in the hell you are talking about. I was drawn to Freedom Springs from the moment I saw the name on a highway sign, and thought I’d check it out. I don’t know who Aeron is. I have absolutely no desire to ‘breech his shield.’” Ryan couldn’t stop the grin when Liam actually mimed the quotation marks when he said that, obviously thinking there might be an alternative meaning. “I would bet with you that I am not the Water Elemental because, again, I gotta tell you, I have no idea what you are talking about.

  “That day on the ridge, I was happily rambling through the forest, as bears tend to do on their day off, and I felt drawn to that spot. I walked up a pathway and felt this weird tearing inside me, a rending feeling like I was being pulled in different directions from inside.”

  Ryan nodded. That was a pretty damn apt description of what it had felt like walking through that barrier thing Aeron had placed around the area.

  “Then, I came upon a scene from some fucking sci-fi flick that I would normally have watched the shit out of if it had come on TV. But it was all too real when I saw two of the black floaty bastards trying to behead a wolf, and jumped in to help. That turned out to be a great idea, and no doubt will do stellar things for my career, as the wolf turned out to be my boss!”

  “I don’t know how you got up there, but you saved Ryan. Thank you,” Ariana said, her voice a little breathy, which made it sound smoky and, well, hot. Ryan growled as he stepped forward to stand between them, and Liam held his hands high again. “Oh, for God’s sake.” Ariana stepped forward and punched Ryan hard in the shoulder. He turned back to her and watched as she shook her hand as if hitting him had hurt her. “Goddamn shifters who feel like they’re made of goddamn concrete.”

  “Sorry, baby.” Ryan threw her a grin. “Is it my fault I get hard around you?” He grinned wider at his joke and loved that her eyes widened and began to drift down his torso before they flew back to his eyes and the most alluring color rose in her cheeks.

  “Oh, you are such an asshole!” Ariana turned, and would have no doubt stomped back into the forest, but she stopped, and the double take she did almost had him laughing. “You’re hurt!” She moved closer and lifted his arm up from his side to inspect the damage. Ryan couldn’t help but flinch as the move opened the gash again, and it began to bleed sluggishly. “Shit, it’s still bleeding. Casey! Throw me the first aid kit.”

  Ryan would have normally brushed off any help, because, well, he was a shifter, and this would heal fast enough, but as an excuse to get Ariana’s hands on him, he wasn’t above faking it a little.

  “Yeah.” Ryan winced. “I got hurt taking out one of those demons on my own. I went over to help Liam then.” He didn’t add that Liam had, in fact, dispatched his own demon and was probably more hurt than he was. He might have been an idiot to spout shit to her a while ago, but he wasn’t a completely stupid dumbass.

  Ignoring the rolling eyes of his brothers, and a bear shifter who also shook his head, Ryan leaned into the touch of his mate. He had to bite his tongue to hold back a groan at the feel of her fingers brushing against his side. He felt his dick twitch and start to harden as Ariana carefully wiped the blood away from the gash. Damn, it felt like fucking heaven having her hands on him, tending to his aches. It made him want to—

  “Fuck!” Ryan yelped as Ariana poured what must have been hydrochloric acid on the wound. “What the hell are you trying to do to me, Ariana?”

  “Oh hush, puppy,” Ariana scolded over the sniggers from the peanut gallery. Ryan glared at everyone standing behind his mate. “It needs to be cleaned. You don’t know what those damn demons had under their nails.”

  “Ow! Shit!” Ryan began walking back, flapping his hands gently at his mate, who kept pace with him as he tried to get her to stop her ministrations. “Damn it! Ariana, would you stop!”

  Ariana looked up, and Ryan saw her eyes glinting with mischief. Why the little minx.

  “You’re getting a kick out of hurting me with that shit, aren’t you?”

  “Of course not.” Ariana stood up, then grinned. “Well, maybe just a little.”

  “You do know that admitting that invites retaliation, right?” Ryan stalked toward her, and was about to grab her and pull her into his arms, when she frowned. Ryan thought she must have been thinking about their earlier conversation, and he knew he had to apologize.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Huh? Ryan’s eyebrow shot up, as that was in stereo. He and Ariana had apologized at the same time. Vaguely, he was aware of the others walking back toward the Pagan Stone and where they had left their cars, no doubt giving them a little privacy.

  “Now, I am pretty sure why I am apologizing, but honey, you are going to have to enlighten me as to why you feel the need to as well?” Ryan asked. Ariana’s gaze had dropped to the forest floor, and he didn’t like not being able to see her beautiful green eyes. Stepping forward, he gently slid the side of his index finger underneath her jaw and lifted her head so that he could look into her eyes. He frowned to see the turmoil rolling within them. “Ariana? Talk to me, baby. Please?”

  Ariana swallowed hard, and Ryan suddenly didn’t know if he wanted to hear what she had to say. There was only so much rejection a guy could take.

  “Casey told me that perhaps I haven’t handled our…situation as well as I could have.” Ariana nibbled on her bottom lip, and Ryan’s dick shot to full mast in a second. Jesus, this woman had him triggered to fire so damn fast it was almost embarrassing. “Everything I have said, everything I have insisted we do since we have met is what I think is for the best. Well, it was what I thought was for the best. But Casey made me see that perhaps you would see it more of a rejection than what I intended it to be.”

  Ryan made a mental note to buy Casey whatever the hell she wanted when he caught up with her. “Yeah,” he said with a nod, “I do see it as a rejection. Not just of what the Fates believe to be what’s best, but of me as a mate.”

  Ariana’s eyes filled with tears, and Ryan panicked.

  “Please. Baby, please. Don’t cry,” he murmured as he raised his hands to cup her face, then gently pressed kisses across her cheeks, his wolf whimpering at the salty taste of her tears.

  “That was the last th-thing that I w-wanted you to th-think,” Ariana whispered, and the regret in her tone had him stepping into her more firmly. Wrapping his arms around her, he leaned forward to press his forehead to hers. “I truly thought n-not being with you, or acknowledging the mating bond between us, would be what was b-best for you. But I see n-now that it was only what was best for me.”

  Ryan froze for a second, then immediately dropped his hands and stepped back, so fast Ariana stumbled slightly, and he shot a hand out to grab her arm to stop her from falling. Once she was steady and she looked at him in total confusion, he dropped his hand and stood back even further. So this is what it feels like to have your heart ripped from your chest while it’s still beating.

  “Ariana.” Ryan’s
voice came out raspy, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to shift the lump that had suddenly formed there. “As your mate—wait…no, as a man who has come to care and appreciate you for what and who you are, I must do what is best for you. There is no alternative but to ensure your happiness and safety. If not being mated to me”—God, that hurt to say—“is what is best for you, then, okay. I’ll stop bothering you and making you uncomfortable. I’m, ah…well, I’m sorry. Why don’t you catch up with the rest? I think I’ll just run back to town from here.” Ryan turned and moved to run back into the forest.

  “Wait!” Ariana cried out and grabbed his arm. Ryan stood stock-still, his entire body motionless with tension.

  “I did it again. I said the wrong thing. Well, not the wrong thing exactly, but the wrong way! I wanted to say that it wasn’t you I had been trying to spare, but myself! Gah—” Ariana made a sound filled with frustration. Then she moved so that she faced him. Damn, she was so beautiful, her long black hair almost shimmering with a hint of blue in the sunlight, green-upon-green eyes that were so bright they were almost like a reflective pool, and he ached to count the freckles that were sprinkled across the bridge of her nose and cheeks with kisses.

  “I have dreamed of you all my life.” Ariana’s voice rang clear, no hesitation and no grief. “You have come to me in times of need, in times of joy, and whenever I doubted my choices in life, you were there. The day I called you to ask for your help in rescuing Casey, I knew who you were. Then, when Dad and I arrived here in Freedom Springs, and we met, I felt the mating bond snap between us, and all I could think about, all that was running through my head was how was I going to say good-bye to you.”