by Amy Ruttan
Not my mate.
Sheridan raised the knife high. “Levi!”
Levi spun around and his eyes opened wide in surprise as he caught sight of the metal glinting in the midnight. As she lunged at Levi to plunge the knife into his chest the wind was knocked out of her. She landed in the snow, the cold burning her skin. The knife had skittered far out of her reach and was being guarded over by one of the males.
“You should be ashamed of yourself! He killed your chief!” she screamed at the grizzly.
The bear didn’t respond but turned his face from her and she wondered if she had gotten to him.
Levi stalked toward her and she looked away. She didn’t want to look at his nakedness.
“Sheridan, my mate, you’re going to regret doing that.”
Before she could respond he was on top of her pinning her to the ground—his breath hot on her neck, his erection grinding against her thigh.
“I’m not your mate.”
Levi grinned as he leaned over her. “You are and I won’t let you forget it.”
Tears stung her eyes as she tried to fight him. A loud roar, louder than she had ever heard before in her life, echoed across the night sky. Levi froze and glanced over his shoulder, his face frozen in fear.
Sheridan couldn’t believe what she saw. The largest black bear she had ever seen was standing on his hind legs. He was all muscle, graceful, and she knew without a doubt it was Gordon.
He had been so scared, so nervous about shifting into a bear, but he was magnificent. Breathtaking.
Levi stood and she scooted away. Levi shifted back and ran straight for Gordon. Sheridan closed her eyes, but she couldn’t drown out the sound of snarling and teeth gnashing and tearing at flesh.
She looked to see where Levi’s goons had gone, but they were no longer there. She caught sight of them loping away, abandoning Levi to his fate.
Sheridan crawled over to her brother. He was shivering and the blood was seeping through Gordon’s gray shirt.
“Sheridan?” Jared whispered.
“I’m right here.” She grabbed the coat she had discarded and covered his body. She looked back to watch Levi and Gordon fight to the death.
Even though Levi was a Kodiak, he was small compared to Gordon’s Mukswa form. Gordon’s black fur shimmered in the moonlight. He moved fast, as if he wasn’t encumbered by the sheer muscle of his shifted form—as if he was born as a bear. She didn’t know why he was hiding his true form. Levi swiped his claws at Gordon, but Gordon sank his teeth into Levi’s flank. Levi let out a cry of pain as Gordon tore flesh from his body.
Sheridan gasped as Levi rolled away on his back, whimpering and showing his belly to show his submissiveness.
Gordon snorted and walked past him. Ignoring the injured, defeated Levi, he loped toward her. Sheridan rose and moved to him.
The same warm eyes peered out from under shaggy fur. She reached out and stroked his muzzle. He moved closer to her.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Just then Levi leapt from where he had been lying and latched onto Gordon’s back, sinking his teeth into Gordon. Gordon let out a howl of pain and Sheridan felt the warm spurt of blood.
Before her eyes Gordon involuntarily shifted back to human form, screaming in pain, but Levi was still in his bear form and his massive claws were digging into Gordon’s flesh.
Sheridan saw the knife and she ran for it. Picking it up, she ran to where Levi was. He had let go of Gordon and tossed him away, ready to make the kill, but Levi was weak. He was limping from where Gordon had wounded him earlier.
Sheridan leapt onto his back and drove the knife between his skull and his spine. With a half-hearted cry Levi fell to the ground.
Dead.
She took a deep breath as she tried to calm her nerves. She couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“Christ,” Gordon moaned. Sheridan ran over to him. The wounds were not deep as she’d thought they were. The spurt of blood must have been from Levi’s wound. She let out a sigh of relief.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine.” He grimaced and looked at her. “Are you… He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No.” She shook her head. “You shifted for me. I thought you…I thought you said that nothing would ever make you shift again.”
“You are the reason, Sheridan. I had to protect you. You’re my mate, you’re the woman I love.”
Tears stung her eyes. “I love you too, Gordon.” She nuzzled his neck and helped him to his feet. “Let’s get you and Jared inside and clean those wounds.”
“What happened to the other two Mukswa?” Jared asked.
“They ran away, I think they sensed a turn in the tide. Besides, they were only loyal to Levi because he paid them to be. Real loyalty is earned, not bought,” Sheridan said, gazing up at Gordon with admiration.
Gordon smiled. “Very true.”
They helped Jared up and the wound she had been worried about bleeding out was healing on its own. Jared moaned, but they got him back into the cabin where it was warm.
Sheridan looked back at the bloodied carcass of Levi, still in bear form. “What do we do with him?”
Gordon glanced at Levi. “Leave him. I will tell my detachment we were attacked by a bear. They’ll dispose of the carcass.”
It was a dishonorable way to die and be buried, but Levi deserved it. He was a coward, a monster, and he would never bother them again.
She was free.
Gordon shut the door. “I am curious about one thing, why the other two males did not get distracted by your heat. I was hoping they would be. I was hoping Levi would be, but he didn’t seem affected by it.”
“I don’t think I’m in heat any longer.” She hadn’t felt the same urges before. The same drive to mate as when she had first met Gordon. Her body temperature had dropped and she was back to normal. She hadn’t noticed until now when Gordon mentioned it. They had been so preoccupied.
Gordon spun around. “You’re not, but…it doesn’t end for a female unless they…”
The realization hit Sheridan and she felt dizzy. Gordon was absolutely right. A female’s first real heat didn’t end until she had conceived her first child.
Meaning she was pregnant.
Chapter Eight
Gordon didn’t respond to her and honestly she didn’t know how to respond to it. Three days ago she had been running for her life from the man who murdered her family. Now he was dead, she was mated and expecting.
She fell asleep after she made sure Gordon and Jared were healing correctly from their wounds. Sheridan had the best sleep she had since her parents were murdered. It was deep and dreamless. The security afforded her rest, finally.
When she woke the RCMP had arrived to escort them back to Dawson City. Jared and Gordon had obviously collaborated in their stories, for their society was secret. If others knew about their abilities then their race would certainly become extinct.
The head constable informed her that her car had been found five kilometers up the road. It had been dug out and was currently in Dawson City being repaired. Gordon concocted a story about finding Jared and her in a car wreck and how they had spent the last two days huddled up in the cabin.
Though she understood the reason he could not show her affection it still cut her to the quick.
They made it back to Dawson where Jared and she were given rooms in Downtown Hotel.
Gordon lingered and Jared moved toward him. “You have to be formerly blessed by Sheridan’s chief in order to remain as her mate.”
Gordon cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. “I understand, but there is some business I need to attend to.”
With just a quick glance he left with the Mounties and her heart sank just a bit. Jared slipped an arm around her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“He’ll be back.”
“You sound so certain, when yesterday you were ready to kill him.”
Jared
smiled weakly and shrugged. “I was just protecting you. You’re all I have left as family.” He cleared his throat. “We’ll return to Winnipeg as soon as your car is fixed. I’m sure there is quite a mess to clean up there.”
“Should you contact the elders?”
Jared nodded. “I will and I will make sure that any member of our clan who cooperated with Levi will be punished.”
A chill ran down Sheridan’s spine at Jared’s words. They were so harsh, and when she looked up at him, she saw a totally different man. It pained her that her carefree rascal brother was gone. The new chief of their clan had many demons to fight and she hoped Jared could learn forgiveness, but it would be a hard road.
“Get some rest, Sheridan.” He kissed the top of her head and left her room. Sheridan took a deep breath and headed over to the queen-size bed, sinking against it. She stared at the rose-colored wall and then at the floral couch in the corner of the room and she felt totally alone.
She longed for Gordon to return and tell her that everything would be all right, but she wasn’t sure if it would.
Gordon had overcome so much. He had shifted when he had been so terrified to, but he was a Lone and had been for quite some time.
Even though he took her as his mate, marking her and impregnating her, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was prepared to give up his life here and return to a clan.
Who says you have to return to the clan?
She had never once thought about leaving the safety of her clan in Winnipeg, but when Levi took over she had faced her fear and done just that. She had been so sheltered all of her life to the point she thought she could never exist without the clan.
Being with Gordon, she realized she could as long as she was with him. If he didn’t want to return to a clan—hers or his—then it didn’t matter as long as they were together.
Sheridan showered, ate and rested. The hours ticked by as she waited for Gordon to return, but he didn’t and she was worried he wouldn’t. She had talked about nothing except for returning to her clan and now she was worried she had scared him off.
But he said he loved me.
When Gordon didn’t return by the next morning Sheridan found a phonebook and called the detachment’s information line. She had the urge to call the emergency line, she’d get a quicker answer that way, but she’d get in loads of trouble. Being the good citizen she was she dialed the 1-800 number for the central information line.
“Hello, bonjour, thank you for calling the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. For English press one…”
Sheridan let out a frustrated groan and slammed the phone down. She had no patience to listen to a prerecorded voice and weed her way through automated systems to find Gordon.
Now she wasn’t so sure.
She stood and took off her shirt to gaze at the scars on her back. Gordon’s claws marking her back as his mate. He claimed her, but now he wasn’t here. He had left her alone in this hotel room and she never felt so alone before. She slipped on her shirt again and sat on the edge of the bed trying to think of her next move.
There was a knock at the door. Sheridan padded over and opened it slowly. She gasped as she saw the red serge Mountie uniform filling up the door frame.
“Gordon?”
He tipped his Stetson. He was in his dress uniform, red serge coat, gold braid, black riding pants and polished leather boots. He was absolutely knee-knocking handsome. “Can I come in?” he asked.
Sheridan stepped to the side and Gordon entered the room. She shut the door behind him and leaned against it, her heart racing as she drank in the sight of him in uniform. His everyday, ordinary uniform had been sexy, but this was the stuff of dreams. This was the way most women pictured Mounties.
“Are you all right, Sheridan? Your pulse is racing.”
“I didn’t think… You were so indifferent when we were rescued. I didn’t think you’d come back.”
Gordon’s brow furrowed. “You’re my mate. I love you, Sheridan. I will never leave you.”
“But, you were so against returning to the clan, I thought my previous talk about returning to Winnipeg scared you off.”
Gordon crossed the room and gathered her close to him, his strong arms reassuring her, making her feel whole. “Sheridan, I was afraid for so long to be myself. After I nearly killed my brother I felt I didn’t belong to any clan and I was happy to be a Lone. Then you came and when I saw Levi… You made me whole again. I’ve formally asked for a transfer to Kingston, Ontario.”
“Why Kingston?”
“It’s the nearest detachment to my clan.”
Sheridan smiled. “You’re returning to your clan?”
Gordon nodded. “With my mate and my child.” He placed a hand on her belly. “That is after we are formally joined by your brother in front of your clan, if that is okay with you?”
Tears stung her eyes. “Yes.”
He stroked her cheek. “I’m sorry it took me so long to come back, but I had to put in my transfer, do my reports and contact my father.”
“I don’t care. I’m just glad we can be together.”
He captured her lips, his kiss lighting her blood on fire. His fingers slipped in her hair.
“You know I always dreamed of ripping a red serge off a Mountie.”
Gordon cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”
Sheridan bit her lip, heat flooding her cheeks. “Oh yes.”
“Well, I think we can accommodate your request.”
“Good.” Sheridan grabbed Gordon’s Stetson and sat it on her head. It was a little big. Gordon chuckled and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her over to the bed.
“The question that remains now is whether I should keep my boots on?”
A little shudder of delight zinged through her. “That might be quite intriguing indeed.”
Gordon set her down on the bed and leaned over her.
Sheridan stroked his face. “I love you, Constable Gordon Thomas.”
Gordon grinned and kissed her slowly. “You helped me embrace my heritage and destiny. I love you, Sheridan Stevens. I mean Thomas. Sheridan Thomas.”
Sheridan snuggled down next to him. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“No, thank you for saving mine.” Gordon rolled over, leaning over her, his arms on either side of her head. “And I plan to show you my appreciation for the rest of my life.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist. “I certainly look forward to it, Constable. I look forward to it indeed.”
About the Author
Amy discovered her love of the written word when she realized that she could no longer act out the fantastical romances in her head with her dolls. Writing about delicious heroes was much more fun than playing with plastic men dolls with the inevitable flesh-colored “tighty whities”.
She loves history, the paranormal, and will spew out historical facts like a volcano, much to her dear hubby’s chagrin.
When she’s not thinking about the next sensual romp, she’s chasing after two rug rats and reading anything spicy that she can get her hands on.
Amy welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Amy Ruttan
Bentley Gal
Gladiator’s Atonement
Gladiator’s Revenge
Gladiator’s Seduction
Hard Candy
Love Thy Neighbor
Male Order
Masque of Desire
Rain God
Print books by Amy Ruttan
Finely Aged anthology
Fox’s Bride
Sweet anthology
Tantalizing Treats anthology
Tempting Turquoise anthology
Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ello
ra’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.
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