by Zoe Chant
"Yeah, I know!" Axl roared back. "It's about you! I miss Mom and Dad too, but I didn't turn myself into a hermit when they died, and I don't expect everyone else in the clan to give up their lives just because I can't move on from—"
Alec's roar drowned him out. It wasn't a human sound, but a shuddering animal bellow, filled with incoherent fury. As he roared, Alec was already moving, lunging, his bear erupting out of him as he leaped forward.
Axl's bear surged forward, and he gave in to it with mingled disappointment and relief. He'd hoped his big brother would see reason—but his bear didn't give a damn about reason. It just wanted to fight.
The two great bears crashed into each other in the rain, sending mud and water splattering everywhere. They grappled furiously, teeth raking, claws ripping. The taste of blood served only to drive them both to greater heights of rage. Hanks of fur flew and blood dripped off their heavy, wet fur.
Somewhere deep inside, a part of Axl screamed in frustration. He didn't want it to come to this, didn't want to be alpha if it meant breaking Alec to do it. But for Tara, he had to. He wasn't going to allow his mate to be driven from his home, their place of safety, because of Alec's emotional wounds.
Snarling, Alec tried to get a grip on Axl's neck with his teeth. Axl tore free, swatting his brother a vicious clout on the side of the head. Alec staggered, dazed, but came roaring back to rip at Axl's sides with his claws. Axl snapped at his head, tearing out fur. Blood streamed into Alec's eyes as Axl tore open his forehead.
I don't want to hurt you!
But unfortunately his bear hadn't gotten the memo. They might be brothers, but his bear was driven half mad by the combination of the implied threat to his mate, along with the dominance challenge.
Alec would have to yield—wouldn't he? Axl could already tell that his bear wasn't going to back down. Not with Tara's safety at stake.
This could be a fight to the death.
Back and forth they struggled across the farmyard. Both their sides shuddered with deep, heaving breaths. Axl's ears were ringing; all he could hear was his own growling. A sharp pain in his rear leg was registered only dimly; somehow Alec must have gotten his claws there—
Something slammed into them from the side with a deafening roar, knocking them sideways.
Familiar smell, big light-colored grizzly—Cody!
No one ever interrupted an alpha challenge. It just wasn't done. Both Axl and Alec stopped clawing at each other and turned, snarling, to attack Cody. With blood on their claws, the taste and smell of it filling their senses, their instincts were out of control.
Instead of fighting back, Cody shifted, dropping to his naked, clawless human form. His loose hair straggled around his shoulders, sodden with rain.
"Stop fighting!" he shouted at them. "You idiots! Someone is shooting at us!"
Chapter Ten: Tara
Tara couldn't look away from the clashing grizzlies. She was horrified and yet riveted, staring in a train-wreck fascination.
Having met Axl's bear under relaxed circumstances was nothing compared to seeing it going all out. This was like something from a nature documentary. It was a window into a completely alien world.
She hadn't realized until now what being mated to a bear shifter truly meant. She might as well have lassoed a speeding locomotive.
And yet, despite the raw power and savagery on display, she still wasn't afraid of him. There was a part of her that knew, right down to her bones, that Axl wouldn't hurt her. Couldn't hurt her.
She was afraid for him, not of him.
"Why don't you stop this?" she demanded of Axl's cousins, who were watching in silence.
"Can't," Remy said. "Nobody interferes with a challenge."
"They're going to kill each other!"
Since nobody else was doing anything, she started forward, into the rain. Axl wouldn't hurt her, she reminded herself. He'd stop his brother from hurting her too. If she got between them—
A hard hand settled on her shoulder, and she was yanked back to the shelter of the porch. She looked up into Cody's face. His face was made for smiling, but it wasn't smiling now. He looked angry and hard.
"It won't help anyway," he said. "If you break them up now, they'll just have it out some other time. Someone's got to be in charge. Now that they've started it, they have to finish it."
"That's stupid!"
"It's how we are."
"Which is stupid!"
Cody opened his mouth to say something else, but a burst of noise drowned him out. For a confused instant, she thought it was thunder, but it didn't sound right—
"Gunshots!" Cody snapped, just as the sound came again: a short, sharp thunderclap that echoed off the mountains. He pushed Tara at Remy. "Take her inside. I'll get those morons out of sight!"
"But—" she protested wildly. Remy was hustling her toward the door, with one big leather-clad arm around her. She struggled, trying to go back to Axl. He was out there, unprotected, in the open. He'd get shot! "Stop, no, I have to help him—"
"Cody is helping them. The best thing you can do is get to safety."
"But—"
Remy paid no attention to her protests, which devolved into cursing when he simply picked her up and carried her. He was so huge that she had no chance of escaping. When he put her down in the living room, she punched him in the arm. She might as well have hit a brick wall.
"You gonna stay here, or do I have to sit on you?"
She wasn't sure what the answer would have been if Alec and Cody hadn't come in just then, supporting Axl between them. In an instant her fury was forgotten. All three of them were naked and human-shaped, and both Axl and Alec were caked in blood and mud.
"What have you done to him?" she demanded, running up to them.
Alec and Cody eased Axl down onto the nearest chair. "Wasn't me," Alec said, wiping a smear of rain-diluted blood out of his eyes. "Uh. Some of it wasn't me."
"I think I got shot," Axl said, sounding dazed.
"In the leg," Cody clarified.
Alec seemed to be in a sort of shock, too, but this roused him. "Remy, go lock the doors. And get the guns. Cody, get some towels. I'll—"
"Sit down, is what you'll do, before you bleed all over everything." Cody steered him to another chair. Remy had already vanished to follow instructions.
Tara crouched in front of Axl. She didn't know where to begin, or even where was safe to touch him. His bare chest and belly were banded with long red stripes from Alec's claws, and his left shoulder looked like hamburger where Alec had chewed into him. Blood, mixed with rainwater and mud, was pooling under his feet.
"Don't look like that," he said, trying to smile. "It'll heal." The smile dropped away, and his eyes hardened. "Are you okay? The shooter—"
"Is probably after me. I know." She couldn't believe she was being so calm about it. But what point would hysterics serve? She'd been in danger for months; she hadn't realized she'd gotten so blasé about it. "What can I do?"
Cody arrived just then with towels and a large metal bowl of steaming water. "Can you handle a gun?" he asked her. "Rifle, handgun, anything?"
Tara shook her head.
He shoved the load into her hands. "You can help this stupid asshole, then."
"My weapon," Axl began. He started to heave himself out of the chair with obvious effort.
Tara pushed him back down, and dipped a dish towel in the warm water. "Sit still for a minute. I don't even know where to start with this. Do I put pressure on anything? Do you need stitches?"
"Shifters heal fast. I'll be all right in a little while. Cleaning it up will help it heal better."
She began to sponge the blood and filth off his leg. Meanwhile Remy had come back with a rifle and a shotgun. He handed one to Cody and the other to Alec, who dropped the towel he'd been using to mop the blood off himself, and got up.
"Stay away from windows," Alec ordered. "Tara, you and Axl need to move. You're in a direct line of fire through that back
window."
Tara flinched and looked over her shoulder at the big picture window looking up at the mountains. She hadn't even noticed.
She and Remy manhandled Axl over to the couch that Alec had just vacated. Still naked, with blood oozing from dozens of claw marks, Alec limped over to flatten himself against the wall next to the window.
The change in Alec was perceptible. For the first time Tara saw the alpha he clearly was. No one questioned his orders, and the air of command that surrounded him was evident even to her, a non-shifter.
Axl could do this too, she was sure. He had it in him. But she could understand why he didn't want to take it away from his brother. This was an integral part of who Alec was.
"Can someone get my gun?" Axl asked.
Remy crouched next to him. "Sorry, man. You're benched 'til you stop leaking all over."
He reached past Tara and gripped Axl's shin in both hands. Tara had been trying to be careful not to hurt him, but Remy lifted the leg without bothering to be gentle and turned it to look at both sides, ignoring Axl's sharp intake of breath at the pain.
"Looks like the bullet went through, so we don't have to worry about digging it out before it heals in there."
Tara was astonished to see that the bleeding had nearly stopped already. "You said you heal fast, but—exactly how fast?"
"Fast enough," Axl said through clenched teeth. "Remy, put my leg down."
Alec turned away from his inspection of the view out the window. "Did any of you see where the shots came from?"
"No," Cody said. He was on the other side of the window, rifle resting at the ready in his hands. "But they must've been up on the hillside, if they were able to shoot into the yard like that."
"Damn good shots too," Remy said. "Tough to hit anything at that distance."
Axl shook his head. "More like lucky. We were moving all over the place."
Alec glanced at him and didn't say anything.
"Yeah, if they knew what they were doing, they'd have waited 'til they lined up a good shot," Cody said. "Seems like somebody lost their head and tipped their hand."
"Not professional snipers then," Axl said. He had his head tilted back, and seemed to be thinking, while Tara washed the blood away from the gashes on his chest. These were healing, too; the ragged lines had already closed up.
"Do you know who they are?"
Alec's voice was calm, but there was a hard note underneath.
Tara spoke before Axl could. "I'm not sure if they're the same men who were after me earlier, but I assume they're here for me. I'm sorry to have brought this on all of you. I swear I never wanted to cause harm to any of you."
Her hand stilled on Axl's chest, resting on top of the damp towel she was using to clean him, and through the terrycloth she could feel the muscles tensing. The faintest growl rumbled in his chest. Her big, protective bear was preparing to defend her.
As much as she appreciated that, the last thing they needed was for a grizzly fight to erupt in the middle of the living room. She pressed down on the towel, stilling him.
But this time, after a long hard stare at his brother, Alec leaned against the wall with a sigh. "We can worry about passing around the blame later. Right now we're pinned down and have no idea how many people are out there. All we know is, one of 'em has a rifle and they aren't afraid to use it."
"Could just call in backup, couldn't you?" Remy asked. He was still crouching beside the couch, leather-clad elbows resting on his knees.
"Not without giving away Tara away," Axl said sharply.
"Look, forget that," Tara retorted. "If it's me getting arrested versus you guys getting shot, obviously you should call."
"We're also in the middle of nowhere," Cody put in. "And Axl's deputies, great people as I'm sure they are, don't have any experience with our road during a rainstorm. Even if they don't get stuck, it'd take them hours to get up here. Long enough we might as well deal with it ourselves."
"The Circle B clan handles its own business," Remy said with a smirk. He patted Tara's leg. "And that includes you now, gorgeous."
"Uh ... thanks?" She still wasn't sure if she'd forgiven him for picking her up and carrying her inside like a recalcitrant toddler.
"Remy," Axl growled, "get your hand off my mate."
"Knock it off!" Alec snapped. The ring of authority in the words was audible even to Tara. "Bicker later, boys. Right now we need a plan. If calling in the rest of the sheriff's department is off the table—"
He stopped as a roar echoed off the hills. After hearing Axl and Alec's bears roaring at each other, Tara had no doubt that this was a bear too—a big one.
"That was Gannon's bear," Cody said, his voice tense.
Gannon: the mysterious hired man who never came down from the hills. Axl was already lurching off the couch, and this time Tara didn't try to stop him. Instead she put an arm around his waist and he leaned on her to limp over to the window.
"What part of 'stay away from windows' did you miss?" Alec growled.
"They can't see us," Axl said. "Not unless we turn a light on, or get right up against the glass. All they'll see is the reflection off the windows."
He scanned the hill rising into the mist. So did Tara. There was nothing to see except the jewel green of the grass and glimpses of the mountain's rocky slopes through curtains of rain and low-hanging clouds.
Then the bear roared again, and at the same time there was another gunshot, followed by a second. The echoes died off against the mountains, and the Tanner brothers looked at each other.
"We gotta get out there," Alec said. He strode toward the door, still naked. "Cody, Remy, with me. Axl—"
"Yeah, the hell I'm staying here." Axl untangled himself from Tara and took a limping test step. His leg held. "Tara, stay with Remy."
"The hell I'm staying here," she shot back. "This is my problem, remember? I'm not cowering in the house while you guys fix it for me."
Alec looked at her, then his eyes flicked to Axl, and he gave a short, tight nod. "Stay with him. Do everything he says."
Axl retrieved his gun belt and drew a revolver that looked huge until it was dwarfed by his big hand. Remy showed up with a second shotgun, and they all went out onto the porch in a tight knot, staying low.
Alec tapped Remy's shoulder and jerked his head left. The two of them went off the porch and circled around the house in that direction. Axl squeezed Tara's shoulder and urged her off the porch to the right.
They went up the hill slowly, darting from one patch of cover to another. There wasn't much to hide behind: a clump of wind-gnarled trees, a shed with bales of hay in it, a cluster of boulders. Axl and Cody kept Tara between them, and she tried to emulate the way they stayed crouched while moving through the open, as drizzling rain swept over them.
It didn't seem real; it was like being in a movie. A part of her couldn't believe that there were actually people up on the hilltop with sniper rifles. People who had shot at Axl, who were trying to kill her. How could this actually be her life?
She'd tear them apart with her bare hands for hurting Axl, though. They'd crossed a line.
If being naked in the rain bothered him, it didn't show. He was still limping, but his leg wasn't bleeding at all now. There was a vivid pink slash on both sides of his shin where the bullet had torn through, and crisscrossed purplish stripes across his torso from Alec's claws. She couldn't stop looking—which, okay, part of that was because of fascination with shifter healing, but it was also very distracting, even in their desperate situation, to have a naked and incredibly hot man right next to her. Especially her naked mate.
They were about halfway up the hill when Alec's voice called down, "It's okay. There's no danger. Come on up, guys."
Axl and Cody glanced at each other; then Axl looked at Tara. They all straightened up and headed up the hill toward Alec's general location. Tara was huffing and puffing by the time they crested the hill, but the bear shifters moved with their usual power and grac
e; even Axl, with his injuries, wasn't out of breath. Jerks.
Alec and Remy were standing with their guns trained on two tied-up and absolutely terrified-looking men. They'd been stripped to their underwear and there was no sign of their clothes or weapons.
Tara stopped so suddenly that Cody, who was bringing up the rear, bumped into her. Axl looked back at her with concern. "You okay?" he murmured.
"I'm fine." It had just been a shock, even though she'd expected to recognize them. After all, she'd just had a refresher course in their lumpen features at the sheriff's office earlier the same day.
I'm safe, she reminded herself. They can't hurt me. Axl won't let them.
Right now they didn't look capable of hurting anyone. They didn't seem to be hurt themselves, as far as she could tell, but they were scared out of their minds.
"Don't let the bear at us!" the bigger one moaned.
"You realize we're all bears, right?" Alec inquired, tapping his shotgun against his bare leg.
"Yeah, and I'm the one you shot," Axl snapped, pointing to the healing pink mark on his naked shin. "I also happen to be the local sheriff, which means you're both in a lot of trouble."
"It wasn't me, it was Fred!"
"You son of a bitch, trying to sell me out—"
Alec growled. It was not a sound human vocal cords could have made, and as it vibrated through his chest, the two tied-up thugs shut up as if they'd been gagged.
"Now that we've got your attention," Axl said, "why don't you explain yourselves."
"We were trying to scare you," Fred, the smaller and thinner of the two, said quickly. "Right, Frank?"
"Yeah." Frank nodded like a bobblehead. "That's all."
"Uh-huh," Axl said. "Sure. Why?"
"Er ..." This apparently stretched their lying capacity to its limit. They both looked blank.
Tara spoke up for the first time, shoving her way past Axl. "Trying to scare us, my ass. You've been trying to kill me all over the country. You even attacked me in my father's home."
"We didn't know there was a whole nest of bears protecting you!" Fred protested.