She tried to nod, but the world was fading slowly around her.
“I’ll pull up closer,” Jackson said as he turned to run back to the black SUV. His voice sounded far away.
Griffen grabbed her by the chin and met her hazy gaze. “You won’t make it. You have to shift.”
She used her last bit of energy to reach for his forearm and squeeze. “No. I won’t shift in front of him, Griffen. Please. Get me to Rebecca.”
He shook his head. “Not enough time.”
“Griffen. Just do it.”
“Why? I’ll just pretend we need him to go get Rebecca instead. By then you’ll—”
“Griffen,” she interrupted, fighting to stay awake. “No. He’s my mate…” Her voice faded as she lost consciousness.
Chapter Three
Jackson paced back and forth in the main area of the ski lodge, his entire body stiff with concern.
The only people in the lodge were the Masters and their employees. The slopes had closed several weeks ago, and they were in the middle of transitioning to hiking season. The place looked desolate after months of being packed with laughter, the clomping of boots, and the rustling of zippers.
He’d taken up skiing for the first time this year, thinking to give it a try. He had no idea if he even liked the sport or not yet, but he’d returned week after week on his off days just to get an occasional glimpse of the sweet, sexy, gorgeous, dark-haired beauty who twisted him in knots every time he saw her and forced him to masturbate to visions of her in his head late at night.
Had she ever noticed him?
He sighed. What was he still doing here? He had delivered her and her brother to the lodge safely. One of her brother’s wives, or whatever she was, was working on Sharon in the locker room.
Jackson’s job was done.
And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
He stared at the enormous space where skiers had congregated in the winter months. The huge fireplace in the center of the room was surrounded by couches and comfy chairs where skiers rested or their families waited. To one side was the cafeteria, filled with tables and chairs, all perfectly lined up and vacant. It was almost eerie. Like a ghost town.
Carlie Masters, Sharon’s mother, stepped back into the main area. With a warm smile, she introduced herself and pointed to a couch. “Please. Sit. Let me get you something to drink.”
“I’m fine, ma’am.” I should go. Why am I still here? he asked himself again as he followed her directions and perched on the edge of the couch.
Carlie wandered away and returned moments later with a bottle of water, which she handed to him. “You must be thirsty. It’s hot out there today.”
He took the cool bottle from her hand and nodded. “Have you heard any news? Where was the epicenter? How strong was it?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. We’ve been over our heads trying to right everything around here so far. And now Sharon…” She bit her lower lip in concern as if just remembering her daughter was injured.
Hell, he felt the same level of angst he read on her face, and his left leg started to bounce. What was wrong with him? He’d never even addressed her directly until he’d stopped to rescue her from the side of the road. And that could hardly be considered a conversation.
Someone else emerged from the locker room and motioned for them to come inside. Or maybe they meant the hand gesture for Carlie only.
Jackson remained seated. But Carlie stood and grabbed his hand briefly. “Come on. Let’s see how she’s doing.”
He followed Sharon’s mother through the door to the locker room. Rebecca was leaning over Sharon’s bare leg, her boot having been removed and her pants shoved up to her thigh.
“I don’t like this,” Griffen growled to one side, his voice barely audible.
He didn’t like what?
Sharon’s face was white. She shot a glare at her brother where he stood to one side. “Shut it.” And then she turned her face toward Jackson. At least she was awake this time. Sort of. She didn’t look like she’d be able to stay that way for long.
She reached her small hand toward him.
He took it, and his heart stopped. An electric current seemed to run between them.
She smiled wanly. “Thanks for rescuing me.”
“No problem.”
“Rebecca’s going to knock me out and stitch me up. You don’t have to stay.”
“Okay.” He couldn’t seem to look away from her face. Even covered in dirt and the streaks of tears she must have shed from the pain, she was gorgeous. Her hair was a tangled mess, her ponytail having slipped so the majority of it escaped to halo her face. She looked homeless, actually. And never more beautiful.
He smiled, unable to think of anything else to do.
“I’ll call you in a few days when I’m more human and thank you properly.” She released him. Her face was tight as if she were telling lies. Which made no sense.
He nodded but didn’t move. Like a magnet, he was drawn to her, unable to look away.
“Come on,” Griffen said as he wrapped a hand around Jackson’s bicep. “I’ll walk you out.”
Dismissed.
Jackson swallowed over the lump in his throat, unable to explain why he didn’t want to leave this woman here with her family. What he wanted to do was wipe her face with a cool cloth and kiss her forehead. He wanted to hold her hand while Rebecca stitched her up.
Why weren’t they taking her to a hospital? He jerked his gaze to the competent woman leaning over her shin and found her seemingly waiting for him to leave. There was nothing around to indicate she was about to stitch someone up. No needle. No iodine to clean the area. Just Rebecca, patiently smiling while Griffen tugged his arm.
Finally, Jackson nodded and allowed himself one more glance at Sharon’s face.
Her expression was tight. Her teeth were gritted as if she intended to scream out in pain as soon as he left the room. Why put on such a brave face?
Confused, but with no excuses left for why he remained in this room with this family he didn’t know, he turned and headed out the door with Griffen. He followed the man all the way to his truck.
“Thanks again,” Griffen said as he yanked the driver’s door open. “Appreciate the help. Knowing Sharon, I’m sure she’ll bake you cookies or something in a few days.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, obviously anxious for Jackson to leave.
Jackson nodded and climbed into his SUV. He let Griffen shut the door as he started the engine.
As he drove away, he watched Griffen jog back into the lodge through his rearview mirror.
He knew two things: the Masters were very strange people, and that was by far not the last time he would see Sharon.
∙•∙
Sharon exhaled slowly as she heard the truck pull away.
Rebecca released her leg and helped her tug her shirt over her head. “You’re crazy, you know.”
“What was I supposed to do?” she muttered. “Die? Shift in front of him?”
“You should have shifted a long time ago. If you had passed out, you wouldn’t have been able to shift. It doesn’t work if you’re unconscious,” Rebecca chastised.
Sharon almost laughed at this woman who had been one of her best friends long before Rebecca found out Sharon and her family were all wolf shifters. Long before Rebecca met and mated with Griffen and their third mate Miles Bartel. Long before Rebecca had become such an expert in the needs of injured wolves that she’d argued incessantly with Sharon to let Griffen send Jackson away without Sharon seeing him.
She needed to shift. She knew that. But she’d needed to face her mate again first. She couldn’t stand the idea of him leaving without knowing she was going to be okay.
So, she’d put on a fake smile and met him head on. It had cost her. She was almost too exhausted to shift. But it was worth it. The look on his face spoke volumes. He might not have understood what he was feeling, but he was indeed lured to her.
Her pants were a total loss anyway, and Sharon was out of strength. So, she brushed Rebecca’s assistance away, closed her eyes, and let the change wash over her.
It took longer than usual, but in about fifteen seconds she was fully shifted, her remaining clothes in tatters under her. Her leg throbbed, and she growled at the pain, but after several deep breaths, she rested her snout on her front paws and closed her eyes…
»»•««
Isaiah Arthur leaned against a thick tree trunk just inside the tree line and glanced at his brother. “What do you think?”
“I think this is a prescription for disaster,” Wyatt responded without turning his head away from the scene in front of him. He tucked his fingers into the pockets of his jeans and rocked forward and backward. His hair was in need of a trim, and thick brown locks hung across his forehead almost blocking his vision. “Did you call Dad?”
“Nope. Think we should?” Isaiah ran his hand over his short-cropped hair in exasperation. It was just as thick as his brother’s, and the same shade of brown, but he hated dealing with it, so he kept it cut closer to his scalp.
Wyatt blew out a breath, his gaze still frozen to the valley in front of him. “Not sure it will change anything, but perhaps he has some advice.”
Isaiah hadn’t spoken to their father in several weeks. It was high time he called home anyway. “How involved do you think we should get?”
“On a scale of walk-away-and-pretend-we-saw-nothing and mow-down-these-idiots-with-machine-guns?” Wyatt finally broke his serious look to chuckle.
“Something like that,” Isaiah responded.
Wyatt’s shoulders slumped. “Probably somewhere in the middle.” He turned to face Isaiah. “This is our land too. We live here. I hate to see it destroyed because of a group of money-hungry assholes. Besides, the damage could be far reaching. We can’t be sure what the repercussions will be.”
“The tremors are increasing by the day, in strength and duration. We have to assume the land along this fault line is going to rebel.” It didn’t take a seismometer to tell him that. Why were these people permitted to continue upsetting the Earth’s crust without interruption?
“Larger earthquake?” Isaiah asked.
Wyatt shook his head. “I don’t get that vibe.”
“What else is there?” Isaiah regretted asking the question as soon as it left his lips. There were indeed other phenomena that could accompany a shift in the tectonic plates under these mountains. He shuddered, offering a silent prayer to whatever deity was listening.
Chapter Four
Cooper Hamilton grabbed his cell as it rang for the fourth time in less than ten minutes.
He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.
Laurie.
Of course. Who else would be annoying the hell out of him while he scrambled to wrap thing up in his office and get out of town?
The earthquake centered just north of Cambridge, Montana, had been a five point two. Several smaller tremors had been felt since then. Within minutes of the first quake, Cooper’s boss leaned into his office and pointed at him. “You. Cambridge. Now. Don’t stop for anything but gas. I’ll send the rest of the team behind you.”
Cooper had been stuffing things into his laptop bag and shutting down his desktop ever since then. He surveyed his desk as he answered the call from Laurie, hoping he hadn’t forgotten anything. “Hey. On my way there.”
“Good. I was wondering.”
“Everyone okay?” he asked as he dashed from his office and jogged toward his car.
“Yes. Well, except Sharon. She was injured during the quake, but everyone else is fine.”
Cooper’s breath caught in his throat.
Sharon. The woman he’d known for two years was destined to be his mate. The woman he’d avoided all that time because he wasn’t ready and hated that Fate arranged things to Her liking with no input from him. “Is she okay?”
“Yes. Her leg got sliced by the hoe she was using. Large, deep cut. But she’s shifted now. She’ll heal.”
He blew out a breath as he unlocked his car, yanked open the back door, and stuffed his computer bag inside. He tucked the phone between his chin and shoulder as he slammed the back door and opened the driver’s. “Hang on a second, Laurie. Let me get the Bluetooth going.” He swung into his seat, dropped his phone on the console, and started the engine while shutting the door.
Seconds later, as he pulled out of his spot, the Bluetooth kicked in and he could hear Laurie’s baby gurgling in the background. “I’m back.”
“Okay. Listen. I need to tell you something.”
“Yeah?”
“Sharon met her mate.”
Silence filled the car, not because there were no noises, but because Cooper’s ears started ringing, blocking out everything. His grip stiffened on the steering wheel as he tried to focus. Left or right?
He knew the way to Cambridge easily. But a freight train had derailed and slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. “Mated?”
“No. Not yet. But she met him. He’s human. He’s a logging inspector in the area. And an accountant, I think. Something like that,” she rambled.
Cooper couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I know you’re shocked.”
To say the least.
Years of putting her off. Months of dodging the draw to head back to Montana and give in to Fate. He’d even moved to Spokane to get farther away from his destiny.
And all for nothing. She wasn’t even meant to be his after all.
“We’re all shocked,” Laurie continued. “We were certain it would be you.”
“You’re sure?” Why did he feel deflated instead of elated? He should be glad. Ecstatic. Doing a happy dance.
Sharon Masters. The last of the Masters siblings and only daughter. Mated. Not his after all.
He shook his head to clear his mind and pulled onto the highway. “Wow.” It was the only word he could think of. “How…”
“I was there when they met. Friday night. There’s no doubt.”
Still stunned, his shoulders slumped. He felt as though someone had just married his high school sweetheart, a woman he’d pined after for years without having the guts to face.
In reality, he’d never met Sharon. They’d never been sweethearts, or anything else for that matter. He’d never even spoken to her.
He’d simply known.
They’d all known.
Every one of his siblings was mated to one of the Masters brothers. They each also had another mate, rounding the groups out to sets of two men and one woman. But that wasn’t Sharon’s destiny. As a female, she would only mate with one person. And apparently it wasn’t Cooper.
“You okay?” Laurie asked, her voice gentle.
Cooper nodded before it occurred to him she couldn’t see him. “Yep.” The single word sounded terse, and he grimaced.
Adam Masters, the father of the brood, had a brother in Oregon who also had five kids. All four of the men mated in threes. The only daughter in that family mated one man.
When Cooper’s oldest half-siblings met and mated into the Masters clan, they’d started an interesting development, making it increasingly obvious that Fate intended to unite the families. There had been no doubt.
Until now.
Until this.
Until Cooper felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest and run over by a truck.
Shit.
“Gotta go, Laurie. Concentrating on driving. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Okay. Be careful.” She ended the call.
He slapped the steering wheel, hating the sensation battering him. It was going to be a long drive. And he had a lot of work to do. As a seismologist, he would need to set up a station and track the activity in the area. His office had been monitoring the situation in Montana for almost three years, since the quake that
shook the area when his oldest brother Miles had met his mates.
The shit was about to hit the fan. The research Cooper had been doing indicated a tremendous unrest in the mountains of Montana. He didn’t for a moment believe that little five point two was the end of it.
Nope. He needed to shake out of his self-inflicted pity party and drive. It was his own fault for not facing Sharon before now.
Was it possible Fate had intended for him to mate with her, and he’d simply been too pigheaded to face his destiny? They said it could happen, altering the paths of everyone irrevocably.
There was nothing he could do now except let it go and move forward.
And bury himself in his work.
Chapter Five
Jackson was staring at his computer screen, seeing nothing, when a knock sounded at his open office door. He lifted his gaze and nearly jumped out of his skin.
After days of distraction during which he found himself even more consumed with thoughts of Sharon than ever before, there she stood in his doorway, a sweet smile on her face. She leaned on crutches, the bottom half of her leg wrapped in a tight bandage.
Jackson jumped to his feet and rounded the desk. “Sharon.”
“Hope I’m not bothering you. I just wanted to come by and thank you again.”
“No. No. Of course not. Come in.” He set his hand on her bicep but realized he was in her way and stepped back to let her pass, pulling out the chair his clients used when they visited. “Sit.”
She transferred one crutch to the other hand and hobbled around in a half circle until she could lower herself into the chair.
Jackson took the crutches from her and leaned them against the wall. “How’s your leg?”
“It’s great. Clean cut. Shouldn’t even leave a scar.”
“Really?” That seemed outrageous considering the amount of blood he saw. Instead of rounding the desk to resume his seat, he perched on the edge of the mahogany surface, his knees only inches from hers.
She shrugged. “It wasn’t as deep as it seemed. Should be good as new in a few more days. I guess my queasiness had more to do with shock than actual blood loss.”
Sharon's Wolves (Wolf Masters Book 10) Page 2