A Lion Shame (Bear Creek Grizzlies Book 3)

by Layla Nash

  "We got you." Something crackled in the background and Finn whispered to someone else, then murmured into the phone, "Someone else is coming out. We'll update you in ten."

  The call cut off and Tate stared at the phone in his hand. He hated being so far from the action. He wanted to be at the cabin. But he knew — and so did Simon — that if Tate had been anywhere near the cabin, he wouldn't have been able to wait to get Dakota. He'd have gone in by himself, consequences be damned.

  So he remained on the cold landing until he almost couldn't feel his hands, then returned to the apartment and the living room where Sarah Jane sat like a statue. The mountain lion wanted to comfort her, but she looked like she would shatter at any moment. So he sat on his heels across the coffee table from her and started moving coasters around to make a map of the cabin and its surroundings.

  Simon handed him some utensils and other kitchen things so Tate could make his depiction of the cabin a little more accurate, and stood by to watch as Tate pointed out where Sarah Jane would approach the cabin. "The road comes up here, to the front of the cabin. There are guards on the road, so someone will probably come out of the trees from about here. Don't make any sudden moves, try to stay calm. They'll tell you to go the rest of the way up to the cabin once the guys inside are ready. Park the car and get out when they tell you. If everything goes right, they'll check the car to make sure all their stuff is still there, they'll hand you Dakota, and you start walking back down the trail. One of our guys will pick you up once you're out of sight of the cabin."

  "And then?" Sarah Jane watched him, still unmoving. She reminded Tate suddenly of Monique, when he explained that he was a shifter and Monique flipped out. Right before she screamed at him and started throwing things, she'd been very, very still. He wondered if Sarah Jane was at her breaking point, too.

  "And then you come back to Rosie's apartment and make sure Dakota is okay. Have a good rest and get ready for Rosie to come back from the hospital. That's all you've got to worry about." He meant it to be reassuring and easy.

  But her eyes glinted with a hint of anger. "I meant to them. What happens to them after I'm out of sight?"

  "Cooper already mauled one of them," Tate said, though he hesitated a little. Maybe she didn't really want to know the details. People thought they'd enjoy revenge, but usually it didn't work out that way. "So I expect when the cops show up tomorrow morning, there will have been several animal attacks outside the cabin."

  She studied him closely, then nodded. "Okay."

  "Okay." Tate frowned down at the mishmash of coasters and cutlery, and wished that Simon found somewhere else to hang out. Tate didn't know if he could love Sarah Jane the way she deserved to be loved, but there wasn't any way for him to figure it out with the alpha bear hanging around like a chaperone. So Tate picked up the kitchen stuff and started to put it away. "It'll be okay. They just want the car. Once they have it, everything will be fine."

  He almost believed it himself.

  Sarah Jane, though, clearly didn't. She didn't look at him, staring instead at the coffee table. "Except that's what they're thinking — that it'll be fine once they have the car. But there are bears and wolves and God only knows what else waiting to kill them in the woods. So why should I believe that they don't also have some other plan in mind?"

  Tate didn't know what to say to that. She was right, after all, and he'd worked around men like those drug dealers long enough to know they wouldn't want to let her leave alive. She wouldn't walk very far down that trail before something happened. If he told her that, though, there was no way Sarah Jane would have the strength to drive up to the cabin. She already looked near panic.

  He took a deep breath and attempted a smile. "Because I know how these guys work, and all they're interested in is that car."

  "Bullshit." Sarah Jane lurched to her feet and started to pace the small living room. "I'm a witness. I know what's in that car, I know where they're at. They have no way of knowing I didn't call the cops, or that I'm actually showing up alone. The second I park the car, they have no reason to let me walk away alive."

  Simon eased a little closer, as if he feared Sarah Jane might make a run for it or try for the window. Tate shook his head at the alpha bear and remained near the couch, wondering if she'd be able to stay calm enough to actually drive the car an hour to the cabin. Maybe he'd have to drive it, then hide in the trunk while she took the wheel for the last little bit. Tate cleared his throat. "While that may be true, we know where they are and what they're doing. We'll know where every single one of them is. They don't know about us, so we have surprise on our side. There's risk in going, of course there is, but that shouldn't stop us from —"

  "You're goddamn right it's not going to stop me." She faced him, her eyes narrowed and throwing sparks. "They have my child. I'll walk there if I have to, to get her back. I'll do anything I have to to save my baby. And there's no way in hell you're stopping me from going, so if you think for a second that you'll drive that car, you're out of your fucking mind. That car was my mistake and my child is suffering because of it, and I'm going to make it right. So sit down and stop looking at me like you're scared I'm going to cry."

  Tate blinked. Her hands trembled as she made fists and put them on her hips, scowling at him with such ferocity that even the mountain lion wanted to retreat. He caught a glimpse of the mama bear inside of her, ready to scorch the earth to save her child. Her expression darkened and he held up his hands, taking a step back. "I'm not going to stop you from driving the car."

  Simon, though, eyed her with more concern. "Are you sure —"

  "I'm damn sure." Sarah Jane turned the ferocious scowl on the alpha bear, and Tate wanted to smirk as even tougher-than-nails Simon retreated. And Sarah Jane didn't stop there. She advanced in his direction and jabbed her finger into Simon's chest. "And if you think for a second you're going to stop me, I'll call Zoe and tell on you."

  Simon's bushy eyebrows rose in alarm. "Hey now. No need for that. She's fine at the hospital with Rosie."

  "Exactly." Sarah Jane spun on her heel and paced back across the living room, pausing only to stare out the window at the quiet street below. "Fine. We've got an hour before we have to leave, right?"

  "Yeah, about an hour." Tate braced himself for another tirade, but she didn't react.

  "Good."

  Tate looked at Simon, waiting for the alpha bear to do something, but Simon just raised his hands and widened his eyes, as if he didn't know what the hell to do either. So Tate dropped on the couch and put his feet up, keeping an eye on Sarah Jane as she paced and occasionally muttered to herself, and he tried to figure out a better plan. One that kept her safe from the plans the drug dealers were making. Nothing came to mind, though, and he wondered if he was only sending Sarah Jane into an ambush that would leave both her and her child dead. He sank lower on the couch and thought harder. There had to be a better way.

  Chapter 26

  Sarah Jane

  SJ felt worse than she had at nine months pregnant in the middle of August without air conditioning. She wanted to jump out of her skin and scream and throw things and just do something to help Dakota. To get moving. To change anything. To get away from Tate so she could clear her thoughts and figure out how the hell to get Dakota and herself away from the cabin alive. SJ didn't believe it when Tate said everything would be fine. She couldn't rely on them. She'd never rely on a man again, even if they seemed to know what they were talking about. They didn't love Dakota like she did. SJ was all she had.

  So SJ got into the car on her own and double-checked the directions, which were simple enough when there was only one road to follow. Simon gave her a small handheld radio and made her test it before she started driving, and then it was just SJ and her thoughts in the car. At least it wasn't snowing.

  She concentrated on breathing, slow and steady, just like when she started having contractions and had been terrified out of her mind. She hadn't been ready to be someone's mot
her. And a year later, SJ couldn't imagine her life as anything else. Her vision blurred as she stared out the windshield and SJ had to dash tears from her eyes. She'd find a way. Dakota would be fine. Even if all SJ could do before the drug dealers killed her was buy some time for that jaguar to get off the roof and into the cabin to protect Dakota, it would be worth the sacrifice. Rosie would take good care of Dakota.

  SJ shoved away those thoughts and focused on everything being just fine. She needed a back-up plan, though. Driving the fully-loaded car up to the cabin was a stupid idea. It gave the drug dealers everything they wanted in one go.

  The burner phone Tate gave her to call the drug dealers sat in the cup holder next to her, and SJ jumped as it started ringing. Her hand shook as she reached for it, pulling the car onto the shoulder so she wouldn't accidentally run into the ditch if the drug dealers called to change the plan. She squeezed her eyes shut as she answered. "H-hello?"

  "It's Tate. Everything's fine."

  SJ exhaled in a gust and almost threw the phone through the window. "You scared the hell out of me."

  "I'm sorry. I wanted to talk to you before you left, but Simon didn't really give me a chance, so... I thought I'd call."

  "While I'm in the middle of the scariest damn drive of my entire life, you want to chat?"

  "I thought a distraction might be good," he said.

  SJ rubbed her forehead, praying for patience and for the man to get a clue. "Not for me."

  She expected him to say something asshole-y and hang up, but instead the silence stretched and he just breathed. Just as SJ was about to scream from the tension, Tate sighed. "There's a lot I need to tell you, Sarah Jane, but you're right. This isn't a good time. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. That's not enough, I know, and I should never have raised my voice or said those things to you. I was angry, but that doesn't make it okay. So I'm very sorry. If you'll let me make it up to you, I'd like to take you on a date. A proper date. When things settle down and everything."

  He trailed off by the time he got to the word 'date,' until everything after it sounded rambly and nervous. It was a good thing SJ had pulled over, because she sure as hell would have stomped on the brakes and caused an accident the moment he apologized. She couldn't formulate a thought, trying to process what he'd said and asked for, and finally shook her head. "I can't — I can't really think about this right now, Tate. Thank you for the apology. I appreciate that. I don't know what's going to happen, and I really don't think I can —" She cut herself off, furious that she'd already backtracked. She needed to be single for a while. She didn't want to date anyone. There was too much else going on. "Let me start over. I just got out of a bad relationship and had a rebound guy act like a total jackass."

  She paused long enough for him to get the message, and when Tate grumbled his agreement about the jackass part, SJ went on. "So I'm going to be by myself for a while, and focus on my daughter and Rosie. That's my plan. I don't know if there's room for you in it."

  Another long silence, and she braced for the angry tirade. None came.

  Instead, Tate took a deeper breath. "Okay. I look forward to finding that out. Drive safe, okay? We're not far behind and everyone is already in position. Finn called to say they heard Dakota crying. She might not be happy, but she's alive and there."

  "Thank you," SJ whispered. Tate said something else she didn't hear, then the connection dropped and SJ just sat there in the car and tried to calm her racing heart. They heard Dakota crying. For a wild second, she considered calling Tate back and asking them to somehow record the baby's cries, so SJ could hear for herself.

  But she set the phone aside and put the car in gear, pulling back onto the lonely highway. She only made one other stop, at a small stand of trees not far from the road, and fiddled with some of the compartments on the car. Watching Tate from the other side of the garage hadn't really given her an understanding of how all that stuff worked, but she managed to figure out enough to get what she wanted.

  SJ checked and double-checked the time as she drove, worried that the shitty clock in the sedan was slow or fast and would end up screwing everything up. Her stomach roiled with nerves until she almost pulled over again to throw up, but she clenched her jaw and forced the bile back. No time.

  She focused on breathing as the road sloped up and toward ground that looked more like how Tate had described the cabin's surroundings. By the odometer, she was getting close to the location. And just as she started to panic, thinking she'd made a wrong turn or gone too far, something moved in the trees. SJ sucked in a breath, ready to scream, but a dark gray wolf watched her with unblinking gold eyes. It waited at the edge of the trees, nearly invisible, and as the car slowed, the wolf deliberately lowered its head in a kind of nod, then nudged its nose in the direction she was going.

  The wolf retreated, but SJ didn't feel so alone. They were with her. She couldn't see them, but they were there. Her heart slowed and some of the shaking left her as she pressed the gas pedal once more. She kept driving. She was getting closer and it was almost over and then she could take Dakota home and relax.

  The trees thinned again and then the brush moved. But instead of a wolf, a man stepped out from behind a tree and raised a rifle to his shoulder, aimed at her. SJ rolled down the window, trying not to look at the cold dark metal of the rifle barrel. "I'm here to make a delivery. And a pick-up."

  He snorted, his dark eyes cold, and didn't move the rifle. "Anyone else in the car?"

  "No. I came alone, just like they said."

  The man, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, motioned at the back of the car with the rifle, making SJ flinch. "Pop the trunk."

  For a heart-stopping moment, she couldn't find the trunk release on the damn old car, but her shaking fingers found the switch and the trunk released. The man moved slowly to the back, flipping open the trunk, and leaned in to examine the contents. SJ almost puked again, and just as she glanced over her shoulder, debating whether to floor it and try to drive straight through the cabin, she saw something else move in the trees. Another man, also carrying a rifle, pointed the weapon at her. Guarding the other man as he closed the trunk and returned to her side of the car.

  The first man tilted his head at where the cabin waited up the hill. "Approach slowly. Try anything crazy and you know what happens. Got it?"

  She muttered under her breath and rolled up the window before she said what she really thought, and the sedan chugged up the hill. The car rolled to a stop in a wide clearing in front of a small cabin, and four more men waited outside with weapons drawn. SJ hesitated before putting the car in park. No sign of Dakota. And no sign of the bears or a jaguar on the roof.

  One of the men snapped his fingers at her. "Out of the car. Now."

  SJ did as she was told, even though the warrior woman part of herself she'd just discovered objected, and moved a few feet away from the car. "My baby. Give me my baby."

  "Not yet." The man gestured at the others and they went to the car, starting to tap on the panels and search for the compartments and the drugs. "Is everything there?"

  "Mostly."

  All four of them froze, and the leader's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

  "The drugs are there. The money is some place safe." SJ folded her arms over her chest, willing her expression to calm indifference. She needed to be a badass. Someone who didn't give a shit about anything. Even if she wanted to pee her pants. "So here's what's going to happen. You're going to give me my baby. We're walking away. When I feel safe, I'll call and tell you where the money is. Then everyone is happy, everyone has what they want, and no one ends up feeling cheated."

  His expression darkened, but he didn't immediately curse her or shoot her. So that was positive. Instead, the dealer debated. The corner of his mouth eventually twitched, almost in a smile, then his face returned to impassivity. "Chuck said you were a meek bitch and wouldn't cause any trouble."

  Pain ignited in her jaw as she clenched her teeth, and rage at Chu
ck and everything he'd put her through boiled up in her chest. It was all Chuck's fault. All his fault. She deserved better. Her lip curled and some crazy spirit possessed her, and she said, "He said the same thing about you."

  The drug dealer laughed, a blood-chilling sound, and aimed a pistol right at her chest as the mirth faded from his expression. "Tell me where the money is, bitch."

  "Give me my baby, asshole." She held her ground. The bears were there. The wolves were there. The jaguar would get Dakota. It would be okay.

  The silence stretched, then the dealer shrugged. "It wasn't that much money." His finger tightened on the trigger and SJ prepared to die.

  Chapter 27

  Tate

  Tate knew Sarah Jane had lost her mind, somewhere on the road between Bear Creek and the cabin. She had to have, to challenge the gun-toting killers like that. The mountain lion was immensely proud of their mate for standing her ground, but Tate feared they'd lose her in a hail of bullets before he ever got a chance to really make things up to her.

  When the tall guy's grip tightened on the pistol and his aim changed, Tate said, "I'm going," and launched forward despite Simon's effort to stop him.

  The mountain lion tore out of the trees and crashed into the man threatening SJ. The gun went off and SJ screamed and the man died a quick death as the lion tore out his throat. Tate felt nothing as he dispatched the bastard who'd called SJ a bitch, and instead launched himself at the next threat as bears and wolves poured out of the trees. Yells and screams echoed from down the road, where the lookouts met their matches, and more gunfire blasted through the quiet night.