by Bianca D’Arc
That was the last thought he had before he engaged with the first man. They weren’t coming at him one at a time. No, that would be too honorable for scumbags like these. They were ganging up on him, but Trevor didn’t give a shit. He would take them all down until no one stood between him and his mate. They didn’t know it yet, but the five bounty hunters were all going to need a doctor very soon.
Beth was shaking, surrounded by five big men who were definitely not locals, and most assuredly not bears. She knew the scent of bear shifters now, and although these guys smelled of fur, she couldn’t place what kind of animal shared their skin. It didn’t matter, though, because all five were intent on capturing her and taking her back to Jonathan. One of them had said as much, telling her they were taking her back to her father whether she liked it or not.
She’d told them in no uncertain terms that Jonathan was not her father, but they didn’t seem to care. The fact was, Jonathan had put a price on her head high enough to get these goons to come after her, and she was in big trouble. She knew it, and she could do nothing about it, which frightened her most of all.
Then, a piercing whistle filled the air, and the five men around her turned as one to face the woods and the man coming out of them. Bright stars above, it was Trevor. Thank the Goddess!
That thought was followed quickly by fear for his safety. He was a soldier, but there was only one of him against five big shifter men who looked like they knew how to fight. She was worried for herself, but now, she was worried for Trevor, as well.
He said something to the two men who had tried to grab her arms, and they eased off, though they still boxed her in. She guessed they were waiting to see how the fight with the other three went before they laid their hands on her. Beth wished she knew how to fight on land like she did in the sea. She wished she had her trident. She’d gladly stick the pointy forks into the two jerks that penned her in.
She couldn’t get away from them, but somewhat to her horror, she had a clear view of the fight going on just a few yards up the street. Three hoodlums were ganging up on Trevor, but he was holding his own. In fact, he was coming out on top.
She’d known he was a soldier, but the skills he displayed now, fighting three on one in hand-to-hand combat, impressed the hell out of her. He was a blur as he moved from motion to motion. Block to kick, to punch that made her wince as she clearly heard bones cracking. Not Trevor’s bones. His opponents.
One by one, they fell to the ground, whimpering in pain, blood flowing from numerous places. She’d always known Trevor was a badass, but when he walked quietly forward, leaving a trail of bodies behind him, the look on his face told her she hadn’t even guessed at the full extent of his badassery.
He was unharmed. His hair might be a little mussed, but other than that, he was clean. It was his attackers who were bleeding all over the place.
Trevor strode forward, toward her, and she’d never been happier to see him. Or more impressed. Her mate was a rock star. A soldier who knew how to kick ass when needed and strike fear into the hearts of dominant male shifters everywhere. She would’ve creamed her panties if she wasn’t still shaking in her boots.
“You two want to join your friends?” Trevor asked the men who were still at her sides. One of them retreated a few feet, but the other pulled a gun out of his waistband and aimed it at Trevor.
Heart in her throat, she watched what she expected to be a standoff. But Trevor wasn’t stopping. He kept coming, and the men at her side began to tremble. They were scared! She could smell the fear, even though mer noses weren’t as acute as a bear’s.
“You pull that trigger, son, you’re a dead man. Look around. You take me down, you’ll still have to deal with them.” Trevor nodded toward a spot behind her and then off to her side.
Beth dared to look and found the man who’d backed off was being held firmly by the deputy sheriff. The mayor and what looked like the entire town council were gathered behind her.
The guy with the gun saw what she saw, his eyes widening in sudden fear. Close up, she thought maybe he was some kind of cat shifter, and he was certainly no match for half dozen bears—some of whom were already showing signs of fur and claws.
Thank the Goddess! The cavalry had arrived.
Not that Trevor couldn’t have handled it on his own. After seeing him in action, she had no doubt he’d had something up his sleeve to deal with the cat and his pea shooter. She’d have to ask him about it—later—after she had a chance to squeeze him for all she was worth. He’d saved her.
Not only was he her mate. He was her hero.
Trevor didn’t want to admit how badly he’d been shaken by seeing his newfound mate surrounded by those five ruffians. When the one next to her pulled a gun, he’d about gone out of his mind. He wanted to tear the man to pieces, but the other bears were around her now, and he sensed they wouldn’t approve. This was their town, after all, and Trevor had to abide by their rules in their territory.
After the former Special Forces unit led by John Marshall showed up, the standoff ended rather abruptly. The jerk with the gun might be brave enough to challenge one grizzly, but not an entire team of bears who had claimed this territory as their home.
Trevor walked right up to the cat shifter and took the gun out of his hand. He held the other man’s gaze as he expertly popped the clip of ammunition out, then removed the bullet that had been waiting in the chamber. Useless now, with no load of deadly metal inside it, Trevor tucked the handgun into one of his pockets, the ammo going into another. No sense wasting a decent firearm when he still might need all the firepower he could get to protect his mate.
By that time, Brody was there, behind the shaking cat shifter. If not for Brody taking the bounty hunter who had drawn steel on Trevor into custody, things still might have escalated. Trevor was shaking with anger at not being able to pummel the bastard into the ground, but then, he realized Beth was standing just a few feet away. She was shaking too, but not with anger. His poor baby was afraid.
Turning to her, he let the other bears handle cleanup. All that mattered right now was Beth. He trusted that the Grizzly Cove town council—Spec Ops warriors, one and all—would know what to do with five mangy shifter bounty hunters. Trevor went to Beth and took her into his arms. His heart filled with tenderness when she clung to him.
“Come here, sweetheart,” he whispered near her ear. “It’s over now. You’re safe.”
She didn’t say anything for a long time, and while he was conscious of the other bears working around them, Trevor remained aware of the danger of staying out in the open on the street, but with so many others around at the moment, he figured they were safe enough. Still, he wanted her off the street, somewhere safe—or someplace that he could make safe.
That thought in mind, he realized the half-finished hotel might work better than he’d thought earlier, especially now that the bounty hunters would be at the other end of town, in the jail. With the assistance of John and his team, Trevor could make his hotel room into a mini-fortress. And when Ezra arrived, he’d need a place to sleep.
The room next to Trevor’s was open and ready. Trevor knew his old friend wouldn’t object to adding his own layer of protection by setting himself up in that room. He’d already volunteered to help in any way he could, and Trevor knew Ezra well enough to be certain that if he gave his word, he wouldn’t go against it, even if it meant passing up a huge bounty.
Unlike most in his profession, it wasn’t all about the money for Ezra. It was more that he enjoyed the lifestyle, and he was a bit of a lone wolf…for a bear. He also had a sense of honor that ran strong. He would never double-cross a friend, which was why he’d earned Trevor’s friendship and trust.
Trevor was glad to feel Beth’s trembling ease. He rubbed her upper arms with loving strokes, just waiting for her to calm down a little more before he moved them both off the street.
“You feeling any better, honey?” he asked, pulling back slightly to meet her gaze.
“Trevor…” She swallowed hard before continuing. “You were amazing.”
Her words surprised him, but they also made him smile.
“You think so?” He dropped a kiss on her lips, uncaring of who saw them. He loved the way she felt in his arms. As if she’d been made to be there.
“I know so. And I want to learn how to fight on land.” He was pleased by the steely determination that entered her eyes. This incident hadn’t cowed her. It had only made her want to be stronger.
“That’s my girl,” he whispered. “I’ll teach you anything you want to know, all right?” He couldn’t stop smiling, which was a new sensation for him.
“I’ll take you up on that,” she promised him, her body still and completely under control now that the danger had passed.
Trevor realized a large part of her fright had been in not knowing how to defend herself out of the water. His girl was a warrior, at heart, but she was still learning. It would be his honor—and his pleasure—to teach her self-defense and see her blossom into the tigress she was becoming.
“Will you stay with me up here on land until this is over?” he asked, his heart clenching in anticipation of her answer.
She nodded immediately, setting his heart free. “Nansee sent me. She told me there were sharks making headway through the ward, and the water isn’t really safe for me right now.”
Trevor frowned. He would’ve liked her to say she would rather be with him than under the waves, but perhaps it was too soon to hope for that. Still, she was going to stay with him. He’d have time to work on their relationship while she was on land. It would be all right. He could work with that.
“Trev, I think your friend is here. Either that, or we’re about to have another incident on Main Street,” Brody said, coming up behind Beth. Trevor looked up to see the sheriff’s gaze focused behind Trevor, toward where he’d left those three bounty hunters bleeding on the pavement.
Sure enough, there was Ezra, rolling silently into town on his Harley. He’d apparently shut down the engine some distance away and had used the downhill that led into the main part of town to make his approach as close to silent as he could manage. The bike was slowing now as he rolled up to the edge of the battlefield. He met Trevor’s gaze and nodded once, parking the bike at the edge of the incident scene.
“Yeah, that’s Ezra,” Trevor confirmed to Brody. He saw the sheriff give a hand signal to the other bear shifters of his unit, and they let Ezra through without challenge. Trevor noted Ezra took his time to look over the fallen on his way.
“Who’s that?” Beth asked, drawing away from Trevor.
He didn’t really want to let her go, but there was work to do. He released her with a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder, but he didn’t let her go too far. He kept hold of her right hand with his left, unable to relinquish contact completely.
“Honey, that man is a bounty hunter,” he told her flat out, noting her little gasp of apprehension. “But I can assure you that you’re in no danger from him. He’s an old friend of mine, and we’ve worked together a few times. He’s a man of honor, and he’s come to help.”
“How?” she asked on a whisper.
Trevor smiled as he looked at her. “He’s got the inside track on the bounty side of this, and he knows most of the folks working in his field. He also knows all the tricks. Trust me, he’s going to be a great help here.”
She looked at him for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. “I trust you, Trevor.”
He didn’t have time to answer in words because Ezra was almost upon them, but he squeezed her hand. Then, it was time to go to work. Trevor faced Ezra with Beth at his side, determination stiffening his spine. This threat to his mate would not be allowed to continue.
No way. No how.
Beth was amazed by what she’d just witnessed. Not only had Trevor taken on and defeated three huge shifters, but the cavalry—in the form of the town council of Grizzly Cove—had come to help. There had been no hesitation. They’d worked as the tight military unit she’d heard they’d once been to contain the situation and keep her safe.
They’d come to her rescue when there was little in it for them. She knew intellectually that the bears of Grizzly Cove had become allies of her people, but if Jonathan was behind this, there was probably a lot of money to be made by letting her be captured. She hadn’t really expected, when push came to shove, that the bears would work this hard to keep her.
It brought a tear to her eye to learn that the bears here were as good as their word. They hadn’t let her be taken. They’d put themselves in harm’s way to help her.
No one more so than Trevor, of course. She owed him so much, but then again, she loved him. He was her mate.
Wow.
Love. Yeah, that was it. She was in love with the big bear who had just nearly ripped the arms off three giant guys who had threatened her.
And now, it looked like he’d called in a favor from at least one of his contacts. The man on the motorcycle approached them, and she realized he was as big as Trevor and the other bears of Grizzly Cove. Another bear? One who apparently made his living as a bounty hunter?
Stranger things had happened.
The man stopped a few yards away from them and tilted his head to the side, gesturing behind him, where the town’s doctor—a polar bear shifter named Sven—was seeing to some seriously broken bones. The newcomer narrowed his eyes a bit.
“Your work?” he asked, his voice a deceptively lazy drawl.
Trevor nodded. “Know them?”
“Yup,” the new man said.
Beth wanted to scream. Did they only speak in single-syllable words?
The new guy’s gaze went to their clasped hands. “That her?”
Stars above! What would it take to get a full sentence out of him?
Trevor’s hand tightened on hers for a moment as he seemed to puff out his chest just the tiniest bit. What in the world was going on behind that stoic façade?
“She’s mine,” was Trevor’s surprising reply. The growly tone in which he spoke, as well as the words, simple as they were, sent little shivers of delight down her spine.
The newcomer nodded and looped the mirrored sunglasses he’d been holding in one hand into the neck of his T-shirt. His gaze went from Trevor to her and back again.
“Understood,” was his one-word reply.
Beth had to fight a smile. That had been three whole syllables!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It turned out that Ezra Tate could speak in full sentences, using words of more than one syllable, as Beth found out when Trevor introduced his friend to Big John. They’d moved off the street, leaving the doctor, deputy and a good portion of the town council outside to continue mopping up. The sheriff had already escorted the two men left standing to the jail, which was adjacent to the town hall.
After locking them up in the heretofore unused jail cell and arranging for guards, Sheriff Brody joined Beth, Trevor, Big John and newcomer, Ezra, over in the mayor’s office for a quick discussion. Beth remained a silent observer while the men talked tactics, strategy and intel. The focus of the matter was the bounty on her head, which gave her every right to hear what they were talking about, but she readily admitted that their sense of strategy and military operations was way above her pay grade. She was content to let them plan the defense of their town, but since she was the reason for the danger, she was pleased they included her in the meeting.
If it all got too complicated and she believed she was putting too many people in too much danger, she’d just leave. It was her life. They couldn’t stop her. She didn’t want to, but if it was the only way to protect her friends, she would take her chances on her own.
She had the hope that Trevor might come with her, if she should have to employ that option, but she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Still, he’d claimed her in front of his friend. He’d come to her defense and made her attackers bleed. The primal part of her nature couldn
’t help but admire him for that. He was a man strong of character with the deadly skills to back it up. He’d make a good mate to her animal side, as well as her human half…if he was interested.
Although he’d done a lot to prove his desire to keep her safe today, she still wasn’t certain if he was on the same page as far as the emotional component went. Did he love her? She just wasn’t sure. Hopefully, she’d find the courage to bring up the topic later, when they were alone, but a part of her wanted to be more chicken than predator and simply not ask questions she might not like the answers to.
“So, who do we have in our jail cell?” Brody asked at one point in the men’s conversation. Beth stopped woolgathering and refocused on the information being imparted.
“You’ve got Johnny Balkan. He’s the one who pulled the gun. A lynx shifter out of Canada. The one who was a bit smarter and backed off is Wayne Cudkin from Ohio. He’s a lone wolf. Usually a good guy, but I hear he’s fallen on hard times, which is probably why he took up with the other four. The bounty is big enough to share, even split five ways,” Ezra told them, ending with a questioning glance at Beth, as if he was trying to figure out what she’d done to warrant such a price on her head.
“How much are we talking about?” John asked quietly.
“Half a mil. No permanent damage. Delivery by the end of the month.” Ezra ticked off the requirements of the bounty as if discussing a shopping list. It made Beth feel a bit queasy to hear herself discussed in such a way, but she knew it wasn’t Ezra’s fault. This had Jonathan written all over it. “Bounty’s been active for a good long while, but nobody knew where she was until about a week ago. That’s when the alerts that had been set up started pinging Grizzly Cove, and the insane or desperate began to make plans to invade your territory.”