by Jane Jamison
“Fuck this.” Rick stalked out of the room. She couldn’t stop him anymore than she could force him to tell her what she wanted to know.
But she had to try. Gunner was more sensible, more accommodating than his brother. “And your eyes. Why do you get that weird amber color in your eyes?”
“So you’re questioning me about our eye color now? What can I say? People’s eye color change all the time. It depends on what you’re wearing.” He glanced down at his body. “Or what you’re not.”
“They don’t change like that.” She sat beside him. Even after having already made love, the urge to kiss him almost overpowered her anger. Whatever it was that they had between them, it was relentless in its conquest. She was ready to surrender to its will again. “Please, Gunner, if you care for me, you’ll tell me the truth.”
“Okay, fine.” He glanced at the door. “Rick’s going to kill me for telling you, but here it is. You thought he roared like a bear, right?”
“That’s what it sounded like.”
“Well,” he dragged in a breath, “that’s because it was the sound a bear makes. You see, Rick and me? We’re werebears. Men who can change from humans to bears.”
She stared at him, trying to understand what he’d said. Her stare soon turned into a dark glower. “Fine. Don’t tell me. But at least don’t feed me some nonsense about being were… Whatever you are.”
“Werebears. We’re werebears.”
She broke into a belly laugh. She had to give it to him. He could always make her laugh. “Okay, sure. You’re werebears. Now tell me the real truth.”
He opened his mouth to speak and she was sure he was going to finally tell her the truth. The house phone interrupted her chance.
“I have to get this.”
“No, you don’t. Let Rick pick up.”
He shook his head, then answered the phone. “Gunner here.”
* * * *
Rick had already gotten dressed in clean clothing by the time Gunner caught up with him. His brother’s expression was sour, telling him more than he wanted to know.
“Fuck. Who called?”
“Wallis Rilas. He said he found a dead cow and an injured calf on the road between our places.” Gunner looked like he was about to say more, then slammed his mouth shut.
Wallis was a werebear who liked solitude and rarely interacted with anyone. The fact that he’d called about the cow instead of handling the carcass himself meant it was bad. Real bad.
“What were you going to say?” He studied his brother, sure that something was up.
“Uh, nothing. Just that it doesn’t look like we’re going to get any rest.”
“Nope. But getting with Mallory was better than any amount of sleep.” Gunner was out of the room, no doubt to get to his room for clothes.
Why can’t we find that damn wolf?
With werebears and werewolves alike searching for him, Rick couldn’t figure out how the bastard had eluded them. It just didn’t make any sense.
The day had already sucked enough, but now that the wolf had made another killing and Mallory was mad as hell, it was going to suck even more. She had a right to know everything. Lying to her, even by omission, was eating away at his gut. He vowed they’d tell her as soon as they had enough time to deal with her reaction, good or bad. So far, they hadn’t had enough time at home to do more than sleep and eat. They were in and back out hunting as soon as they could.
Bullshit.
The real reason twisted his gut a little more.
What if we tell her and she leaves?
He shook the awful thought away. Gunner was right. Telling her would have to happen soon. Real soon.
He met Gunner downstairs, ready to spend the rest of the day and night searching for the wolf. He’d have to saddle up another horse so he could let his favorite, Gallahad, get some much needed rest. When the hell was he going to get his own much-needed rest?
Gunner was faster than he was in getting another mount ready. “Rick, I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I told her.”
Rick froze. “You told her what?”
“About us.”
Shit. “Without me?”
“Come on. I’ve tried to get you to tell her. So, I just decided to get it over with. She knows something’s up and she has a right to know.” Gunner paused, yet he knew he was going to say more. “I think you’re afraid to tell her.”
“Bullshit.” His brother knew him all too well. Besides, he’d already admitted as much. “So? What’d she say?”
Gunner turned away. “She didn’t believe me.”
Laughter rolled out of him, then the mirth changed to sadness. It was going to take a lot to convince her. “At least you got it out of your system. But don’t worry. We’ll do it when we get back.”
“We’d better.”
“Just get ready to go.”
He’d just cinched up his saddle when he noticed that his brother had led Sweetie Pie out of its stall. Gunner pointedly ignored him, which was never a good sign.
Shit. Tell me he isn’t saddling that horse for her.
“Damn it, Gunner.”
His brother held up his hand in a feeble attempt to ward off Rick’s rage. “I know. But I’m getting caught between the two of you bullheaded, stubborn—”
Gunner stopped, his gaze going past him. Rick didn’t need to turn around to know she was there. He could sense her as though the connection had snapped a chain around his neck and turned him toward her. She was irresistible even when he wasn’t looking at her. When he finally did, she took his breath away. Had he ever told her as much? He promised he’d tell her that along with everything else.
As soon as we have more time.
Coward.
“Those are the same thing. Stubborn and bullheaded, I mean.”
Rick couldn’t find strong enough words to say what he was feeling. Or maybe he could and knew he shouldn’t. If he did, they’d never make it back out to the hunt. Instead, he’d carry her back into the house, lock the doors, turn off the phones, and keep her in bed for the next week.
He mounted his horse, which was safer than looking at her. Instead of saying what he wanted to, instead of telling her how hot she was, he ground out his order. If nothing else, he’d keep her safe. “You’re not going with us so just get on back in the house.”
“Aw, crap.” Gunner handed the reins to Mallory, then got on his horse. “I’m out of this. You two figure it out.” He clucked to Fleet, urging his horse out of the barn. “See you there.”
“Mallory, please, all I’m doing is trying to keep you from getting hurt.” Trying to talk to her was like trying to talk to a stone wall.
She tossed her hair over her shoulder, then put her boot in the stirrup and slung her leg over her horse. “Suit yourself. I’m going whether you want me to or not. Deal with it.”
Her gaze shifted to the rifle that rested in the holster slung behind the saddle. “Or are you going to shoot me to stop me?”
“Of course not, Mallory. Don’t you get it? I’d never hurt you. And it would kill me if anyone else did.”
She blinked, surprised at his revelation. Her mouth parted in a way that nearly drove him wild with need. “I’m going and you’re not stopping me.”
Damn, but he liked a feisty woman, even if she was irritating as hell. Maybe because she was stubborn. And especially when her backside looked so damn good in a saddle.
I should tan her hide. Not that it’d do any good. But shit, it’d feel good to do it.
He admired her stubbornness. She reminded him of himself. As far as he was concerned, that wasn’t a bad thing. It was that last thought that finally convinced him to do what she’d told him to do. Just deal with it. “Gallahad, stay away from females. They’re more trouble than they’re worth.”
Trouble came in a different form as they rode over to the side road that lay between Wallis’s and their ranches. He heard the cow before he n
oticed its dead calf. Her plaintive mooing reached across the expanse of the pasture, leading them to her like a signal beacon. It churned his gut, but he kept a straight face, knowing Mallory would find the scene difficult to take.
As they crossed over from the downed fence to the dead calf, he could already hear her sniffs. Damn, how he hated to hear a woman cry, but it was worse knowing it was his mate that fought back the sobs. He had to give it to her, though. Her face was scrunched up as she teetered on the edge of breaking down, but she managed to keep from letting go completely.
“Babe, you don’t have to see this.”
* * * *
Mallory shook her head at Rick. Gone was the anger she’d felt toward the men. In its place came the utter heartbreak for the calf and its mother. Determined to face the horror, she pulled her horse up to Gunner’s, then slipped off. She couldn’t, however, bring herself to get too close to the calf. Even from several feet away, she could see the mutilation it had suffered.
Gunner bent over the calf, checking for who knew what while Rick dismounted and headed toward the gully on the other side. She didn’t have to ask to know what was lying there.
Gunner straightened up as his brother came to his side. “She’s dead?”
She trembled when Rick didn’t answer right away.
“No.”
The mother had survived. “Should I ride back to the house and call the vet?” At least there was hope for one of the animals.
Rick’s face said otherwise. “No. She’s too badly injured.”
“But I don’t understand. You said she was alive.” Did he plan on lifting it onto his horse? That didn’t make sense, given the weight of the animal.
Rick let out a ragged breath, and for the first time, appeared defeated. He strode to his horse, stopped as though reconsidering his plan, then pulled the rifle free of its holder.
He couldn’t be serious. And yet, the tautness of his back, the fierceness of his expression, said he was.
“Rick, no. You can’t kill her.”
He walked back toward the gully. “I have to.”
She jumped off her horse and ran to his side. The cow lifted its head and let out another baleful moan. Mallory turned away. The cow’s insides were pulled out of her body and she was covered in blood. It was a wonder that she was still alive. But she was alive.
“We have to try and help her. Please, let me get the vet. I can lead him back here.”
He yanked his phone out of his pocket. “Don’t you think I want to call him? But it’s no use. She’s already as good as dead. Even the vet can’t save her.”
“At least let him try.” She couldn’t, wouldn’t let him kill the poor animal. Wasn’t it enough that her baby was dead? She clutched his arm, but he yanked it away.
“Let it go. The only thing I can do now is to put her out of her misery.”
“No, don’t. We can think of something. Please, give her a chance.”
He broke away from her a second time. “Damn it. Stop grabbing my arm before you get hurt.”
“But you can’t. I’ll do anything. I’ll call for help and bring the best veterinarian in that I can find. You can’t just—”
It happened so fast that her mind couldn’t comprehend it. The blast of the rifle discharging stunned her, bringing her to an abrupt stop. Fresh blood spurted from the wound in the cow’s head.
Gunner took her by the shoulders and pulled her into his arms. She shook, unable to control her body’s reaction. Closing her eyes and blocking out the sight of Rick, the rifle still in his hand, she pushed her face against Gunner’s chest and let the tears she’d fought against so valiantly take over. Rick’s footsteps echoed in the ensuing silence as he strode back to his horse.
“She was still alive. He didn’t have to kill her.”
Gunner would agree with her. But if so, why hadn’t he stopped Rick from killing an animal that needed help?
She flattened her hands against his chest and lifted her gaze to his. “He shouldn’t have shot her. We could’ve gotten help. He could’ve at least let us try.” He was with her in this. He had to be.
“Mallory…”
She refused to believe he wouldn’t agree. “What is it? You know he was wrong to shoot her.” She searched him, trying, hoping he’d say yes.
“No, baby, he wasn’t wrong. It was the only thing he could’ve done. It was the humane thing to do. She was beyond help.”
Pain tore her apart like she had a rabies-infected animal caught inside her trying to get out. She stumbled away from him, too sickened to touch him any longer.
“Get a grip, woman.”
“Get a grip?” She whirled to confront Rick who had just shoved his rifle back into its case. “Get a grip? Are you fucking kidding me? You shot that poor animal without even thinking about ways to save her. You did it without feeling a damn thing about it, too.”
“Come on, baby, you know it’s not like that.”
“Do I, Gunner? I don’t think so.” She backed away, keeping her distance from Rick who had gotten back on his horse. “Maybe this is the real you. Maybe you’ve put on a show this whole time and now I’ve finally gotten to see the real Northman men.”
“Baby, you’ve got to listen—”
“No, Gunner.” Rick’s expression was filled with a sadness that she’d never seen. “Let her talk.”
She knew she’d better stop, but she couldn’t. Had she been wrong about them from the start? Had she given not only her body, but her heart to two men who could be so ruthless?
“You shot her and I think you liked it.”
“Mallory,”—the warning was clear in Rick’s voice—”you’re going too far.”
She kept her eyes on Rick as he leaned forward in the saddle. The softness of his voice chilled her more than any of his heated outbursts.
“I’m going to say this once and that’s the end of it. Only God Almighty could’ve helped her. And if you hadn’t noticed, I’m not a god. I’m just a man trying to run a ranch in times that make it anything but easy. I treat my animals with respect and I try to treat people the same way. That fucking wolf terrorized her. He killed her calf, then dragged her through a barbed wire fence. Then he came after her.”
She took in the downed fence. What kind of wolf could break a fence like that? Not an average size one, but the one she’d seen in the barn could have.
“These animals aren’t our pets. We treat them right, but in the end, ranching’s a business. Sometimes it can be a rough business, a heartless business. When an animal needs to be put down, then we do it. We don’t like it, but we do it because that’s what’s right for the animal. Despite what you might think right now, we don’t let our animals suffer. To not put her down would’ve been cruel. That’s the way it is on a ranch. If you can’t handle that, then maybe you need to leave.”
He wanted her to leave? He couldn’t have hurt her more if he’d pulled out his rifle and shot her.
“Rick, shut the hell up.” Gunner shook his head, his glare still aimed at his brother. “He didn’t mean it, baby.”
She didn’t want to believe him, didn’t want to let the nagging idea that he was right surface past her heartache. Defiance and stubbornness joined her denial. “I know you’re hiding things from me.” The need to confront them had finally boiled to the surface. Her pain and her fury had to have a target, and right then, that target was Rick.
She’d gone that far and there was no turning back. Her plan had failed, so what did she have to lose? “I’m talking about how your eyes get this amber color in them whenever you’re turned on or angry.” She pointed at Rick. “See? That’s not a normal change in color.”
Rick closed his eyes. Had he done so out of frustration or to hide the amber from her?
“And your arm. You can’t tell me that your wound just went away. Hell, even a scratch would still have left a mark on your arm.”
He opened his eyes, eyes that were filled with pain. “Are you finished?”
A flash of the tender side of Rick came back, but it was gone so fast she wondered if she’d even seen it.
“I shouldn’t have said that. Gunner’s right. I didn’t mean it. I spoke out of anger. But at the same time, if you can’t accept us the way we are, then what else is there to say? It’s your choice, Mallory. All I ask is that you make it soon. Don’t drag it out.” Rick took hold of the reins, then swung his horse around. He turned and gave her another sorrowful look, then put his horse into a gallop.
She couldn’t stand all the emotions warring inside her. Seeing the cow put down had struck her in the core, digging its sharp claws into her. Part of her denied that he was right, and yet, another part, the part of her that reasoned, grew louder.
“Baby, try and understand. Rick’s not the best with words, but once his anger takes over…” He closed his eyes as though gathering his resolve, then opened them and met her gaze. “We want you to stay. More than anything, we want you to stay. Let me talk to him.”
She yearned to hold him, but couldn’t give into the need. He sighed and stepped away.
“And what about the poor animals?”
Gunner mounted his horse. “There’s nothing we can do now except drag their carcasses back to the house and dispose of them.”
“He just shot her. Without even trying to get her help.” She clung to her need to be right. Was it a matter of ranch life? Or were Rick and Gunner not the caring men she’d thought they were?
“You’re wrong about that.” He glanced in the direction Rick had gone. “You pushed him when he didn’t deserve it, Mallory. He’s as torn up about the animals as you are. Maybe more so. Your pushing him didn’t help things.” He leaned back in the saddle and took the reins. “Are you coming?”
“In a minute.”
Gunner looked in the direction Rick had gone. “I don’t like leaving you out here by yourself.”