She heard scratching at the back of the house and felt it shaking. Was someone already trying to damage it?
Dawn mustered her courage, straightening slightly. “I’ll tell the authorities. I’ll tell them about you, and they’ll come after you,” she warned, trying to sound decisive and brave.
Several of the pack laughed in response. But the head wolf just stared ominously.
“As if anyone would believe you,” one wolf said.
“Yeah. A lone woman out here by herself. They’d just assume you got drunk and saw something crazy,” another added jovially.
“Or maybe tried some of the mushrooms, ha-ha-ha,” a third joked.
“That’s assuming we let you live to tell the tale.” The gray one’s body was tensed as he spoke, taking one step forward, then another. “Which doesn’t make your odds very good.”
Primal horror gripped at Dawn’s innards like a metal vise from within. She had no options, no way out.
“Not if I have a say in it.”
A familiar voice, but deeper, more booming, vibrated the air around her. A second later, a deafening roar resounded through the clearing like a cannon, and Dawn looked up at the sound to see a gigantic bear on top of the house, long white teeth glinting in the late-morning sun, black claws gripping at the corners of the roof. All around her, the wolves looked up at the sound in surprise.
Then, to her complete and utter shock, the bear leapt from the roof of the house and plummeted to the earth in front of her. The wolves, caught completely off guard, backed up. And when the bear landed, the ground shook with such incredible force that Dawn felt her body lift off for a fraction of a second, her stomach lurching and her joints all vibrating from the energy of it before coming back onto her feet.
But before Dawn could even begin to process what was going on, the bear, which looked so much larger than any bear she’d ever seen on TV before, looked over its shoulder at her. Instantly, she noticed soulful, amber eyes, orange with gold flecks in them, watching her carefully.
Garrett?
“You all right, Dawn?” It was Garrett’s voice. Just different. Lower. Gruffer. But still the same.
Through an almost impermeable haze of confusion and terror, Dawn’s heart leapt with joy and relief. Even if she couldn’t comprehend all the implications of what Garrett had told her only a short while ago, she knew it was him she was looking at. His thick, brown fur looked warm and soft in the sun, and his shoulders and paws were so large he resembled more of a giant monster than a typical bear.
Garrett had said he was a bear. She just hadn’t known that was possible or that he would be so freakin’ huge.
“I… I’m all right.” Talking had never been more difficult in her entire life.
“Who the hell is this guy?” one wolf exclaimed incredulously, breaking the heavy silence following Garrett’s landing.
“I think it’s the construction guy,” another wolf whispered, responding to the first one’s question.
“I told you she had shifters working for her,” another said secretively, trying to not attract attention to itself.
“I’ll take care of this. Just stay behind me,” Garrett said calmly, and he turned to face the wolves, squaring off with the nearest one. The wolf snarled, and Garrett growled back, making the earth rumble with deep vibrations.
“Just leave, bear. This doesn’t concern you,” the wolf said through gritted fangs.
“This is my mate. And this is her land. So nobody is allowed here without my permission. Unless, of course, you want to try going through me.” Garrett’s threat made several wolves back up, tails between their legs, but not ready to run.
The head wolf stood his ground.
“I’ll only warn you once.” He seemed so small compared to Garrett’s bear, despite the fact he was a couple times larger than any normal wolf.
“No, I’ll only warn you once.” Garrett stepped forward, and most of the pack went back a pace.
“Heh, I’ve never tasted bear before,” one of the wolves behind the leader said gleefully, licking his lips.
Suddenly, another familiar voice chimed in, and a long cougar that stood almost shoulder height to Dawn strode up beside her, its short, sandy fur looking almost golden blond in the light.
“Don’t try it. It’s gamey and tastes like dirt mixed with ground beef,” the cougar said.
“Hunter?” Dawn asked incredulously.
“Is Hunter talking about that one time he ate bear meat again?” It was Grayson’s voice from behind her this time, and a large black wolf with piercing silver eyes flanked her on the other side.
“Thanks for the late backup, guys,” Garrett said over his shoulder before facing the wolves once again.
“We wanted to make an entrance.” Hunter stretched like a giant cat, and for a second, Dawn saw long, razor-sharp claws extend before disappearing into the thick paws once again.
“I don’t care what kind of fucked-up, ragtag group you three may pretend to have, but it’s nothing compared to the strength of a wolf pack,” the gray wolf said gruffly. A few others nodded or growled in assent.
“That’s where you’d be wrong. We’re not just co-workers, not just friends. We’re family, and Dawn is our family, too,” Grayson said, stepping forward, looking much more intimidating than the rest of the other wolves just by himself, let alone the giant bear and cougar who also stood next to her. It made her feel surrounded by caring people she hardly felt she deserved.
The whole “human shifting into an animal” was still pretty hard to swallow, though.
The lead wolf looked left and right and saw that some of his pack mates were starting to step back, moving away from the tight semicircle they’d once held. His face showed rage, and he stepped forward, howling into the noonday sky.
At that, a handful of the wolves leapt forward, charging toward them like lightning. Garrett let out another incredible roar and held his ground as a half dozen wolves descended on him at once.
With awful grace and speed, Garrett swiped his paw in a wide arc, knocking two wolves back and throwing them onto their sides. Another wolf leapt onto Garrett’s back, and he did a full body shake, throwing it free and onto the ground with a thud.
“Aren’t you guys going to help?” Dawn asked, surprised Grayson and Hunter were just standing there, guarding both sides of her.
“He’s fine,” Hunter said casually, appraising his claws extended from one paw as if examining a manicure. Seemingly satisfied, he checked out the other side.
“We’re just here to make sure no one gets past him. He’s fighting for his mate, so I’m pretty sure he’s got this covered,” Grayson said more helpfully.
A wolf jumped out of the bushes to their left where Grayson stood watch, and he whirled on it, snarling so ferociously that the hairs on his back stood straight up. The other wolf, which only a second ago had been ready to pounce, crouched down, whimpering with its tail between its legs, and disappeared back into the bushes from where it came.
How Grayson makes most of us feel, Dawn thought to herself.
But her eyes were locked on the melee before her as wolves attacked Garrett in twos and threes, only to be knocked back by such incredible strength that it felt like the earth could shatter beneath their feet.
But each time they leapt at him, he was there, countering their actions. And as he threw them or slashed with his long, black claws, more and more wolves backed away from the fight, afraid of getting too close to the rampaging monster that also happened to be the only man Dawn had ever loved.
Crap, he really was the one for her, wasn’t he?
A wolf ducked behind Garrett and tried to nip at his back leg, but he just threw his meaty back claw in a quick swipe, catching it in the side and sending them rolling.
Suddenly, there was a lull in the fight as the wolves recovered for a moment. And even though Garrett was making this look easy, she couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him on her behalf. She’d
give up her home, her land, before she let anything happen.
“We’ll fight you to the death to protect what’s rightfully ours,” the gray wolf threatened, sounding winded. But even as he stepped forward, the rest of his pack didn’t join him this time, instead looking to and fro amongst themselves as if unsure about their position on the matter.
“Then get ready to meet an early grave,” Garrett said. Just a growl emanating from his throat made the wolves look wary.
Dawn appraised the wolves and saw for the first time that most of them looked dirty, their coats patchy and their faces wan. She couldn’t stand the idea of more violence.
“No! Stop!” Dawn called out, taking advantage of the relative silence as both sides looked poised for round two.
Chapter 19
All eyes turned to Dawn as Garrett looked over his shoulder at her, amber-colored bear eyes registering obvious confusion.
Not sure what had come over her, Dawn stepped forward, in front of Garrett and between the two groups. Garrett, not liking having her in front of him, came beside her, warm fur brushing her side as he squared off possessively with the increasingly surprised pack.
“You don’t have to fight like this. I don’t want to see anyone’s family in danger just because of a dispute over some land.” She tried to sound courageous. Losing anything was better than losing Garrett. And even though she was quite confident the gigantic bear was just fine taking care of this, she couldn’t watch it escalate if both sides refused to back down.
“This is much more than that. You have no idea what you’re getting into, human,” the leader said condescendingly.
“She’s not just a human. She’s my mate.” Garrett was starting to growl again, his body tensing next to her. Dawn reached a hand over, stroking the thick fur, and Garrett calmed slightly.
“Isn’t there something we can offer that would help instead? Make it so there can be peace?” There had to be some way to negotiate.
“I mean, yeah, weren’t you the guys stealing tools and materials from our work site? It must mean you need something.” Hunter was beside her again, sounding cool as a cucumber about the whole affair.
“No, the Silver Lake pack needs nothing from classless rogues like you three.”
“Better a rogue than an inbred ingrate like you,” Grayson shot back, sounding oddly offended at the remark that made little sense to Dawn. But surely there were politics here at play that she had no clue about.
“Can there be an exchange? Some sort of trade?” Hunter persisted, ignoring Garrett and Grayson as their tension did nothing to diffuse the situation.
The gray wolf shook his head, and there was silence for a moment. Then, from the back, a wolf popped its head up and spoke.
“Actually, yes, there is.”
All eyes turned to the earth-colored wolf with patches of silver on its back.
“Our homes, if they could even be called that, are a wreck. Many of us have tried to transition to living like humans, but so many of us have been wolves our entire lives.” The wolf looked particularly scraggly, in need of a bath and nourishment. “We have no clue how to use human implements, how to make human abodes livable. We can’t even cook human food for ourselves. So most of us still sleep out in the open or in caves like feral wolves. But we can’t keep living like this. Our pack won’t survive if we can’t look and act like humans.”
“Stand down.” The gray wolf looked livid. “You’re not alpha. This is not your place.” But the newcomer stood his ground, coming up to Garrett who, for the first time, seemed to have pity warring with rage in his expression.
“It’s true.” Grayson chimed in, sounding surprisingly earnest. “You won’t survive. I know from experience what happens. If you can’t make a place to raise your young in safety, then you will die out. To prevent that, you’ll need work, need a place to live where humans won’t become suspicious of what you really are.”
“We might be able to help with that,” Garrett said, looking to the side and sounding more than a little reticent to be offering anything.
“Especially Grayson here. He loves to help. It’s his favorite thing to do,” Hunter said with a fanged grin, and Grayson shot him an annoyed glare.
Hope showed on the brown wolf’s face, and the pack began to mutter optimistically amongst itself. The gray leader looked defeated, but even he seemed to be unable to deny what was being said.
“You’d do that?” Dawn asked, amazed at Garrett’s ability to show mercy in spite of his own anger. She felt completely safe next to him, knew that nothing could harm her as long as he was here. So with her safety no longer in question, it seemed hard to still hold a grudge against the wolves in front of them.
If the pack had really wanted to harm her, they could have done it in a dozen different ways before this whole confrontation. She had to believe they weren’t as evil as they were trying to look.
They were just trying to protect themselves the best way they knew how.
“Yes,” Garrett muttered as he looked at the gray wolf suspiciously. “But only if you promise to never trespass on my mate’s land ever again. Or next time I won’t go so easy on you.”
The gray wolf visibly gulped, his bravado now faded.
“Of course not. You have my pack’s promise that no harm will befall your mate at the hands of my pack. And since our land surrounds yours, it will be our duty to protect this home as we would our own.”
There were several yips and howls in assent, and Garrett nodded. “Then when we’re finished here, we’ll do whatever we can to help you get set up out here.”
The gray wolf bowed its head, and they all exchanged a few more remarks before the wolf howled and led it’s pack out into the forest, disappearing like blurs into the shadows of the forest beyond the clearing of her home. When the last wolf was gone, Garrett gave out a loud, exasperated huff and shook himself as if relieving stress.
“Thanks for doing that, guys. And thank you for coming back for me, Garrett,” Dawn said, leaning into his side and relishing in the feel of his soft brown fur.
Garrett took a breath as if to say something, but Hunter interrupted him.
“Yeah, well, he was crying so hard when we left we forced him to turn the truck around. Told him to come back and beg you to take him back.” The cougar strolled around, making lazy circles and leaving giant paw prints in the dust.
“I wasn’t crying,” Garrett muttered.
“Not crying.” Grayson confirmed. “But it was obvious he needed his mate. He was broken without you. A complete mess.” He shrugged, and Dawn couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or caring. Maybe both.
“That’s not how it happened.” Garrett groaned, turning to face her, his height even more intimidating as a bear than as a broad-shouldered human. “But yes, I had to come back to you, Dawn.”
She smiled. “So how do you change back to a human? Is it painful?” Watching his bear in action was incredible, but her heart longed to see the man that she needed badly to make up with.
“No, but…” Garrett trailed off, looking back at the trailer, then to her. He closed his eyes, and she watched as the giant bear shrank back down to the six-foot-something Garrett, looking a little dusty but no worse for wear.
And completely naked.
She felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she tried not to gawk at all his muscle fully on display, and Garrett held a hand up.
“Be right back,” he said, and ran back to the trailer, disappearing for a second.
Grayson and Hunter just watched with amusement.
“We’ll change back later. Garrett wouldn’t like us shifting right now. For obvious reasons. Unless, of course, you’d like to sneak a—” Hunter exclaimed.
“No, she wouldn’t, asshole,” Grayson interjected.
A second later, Garrett emerged, this time wearing pants and a red flannel shirt unbuttoned around his shoulders, and he came back to her.
“How about we go talk over by the pond?” he asked,
and Dawn responded with a nod.
There definitely was a lot to talk about.
Garrett felt oddly vulnerable as he followed Dawn out into the clearing by the water where they’d talked before.
She led the way to the log they’d sat on, and he had an eerie feeling of anxiety at just remembering the motions that had surrounded him when last they’d been here.
He’d bared his heart to her, and she hadn’t been able to take it.
She’d now seen everything. Would she still turn him away?
It was a lot to know he’d protected her, but it still wasn’t enough. That had been the problem all along. No matter how she tried to keep pace with him, offer him what she could, until she was his mate, it would just never be enough.
“So…” She pulled one leg over the other, resting her hands on it, a deep flush on her face from all the excitement. Or embarrassment. He didn’t know since he’d been naked after the shift.
He focused on doing up the rest of the buttons on his flannel shirt. “So… yeah.”
“You’re a bear.” Her gray eyes pinned on him frankly. Affectionately, if he was reading her right.
“Yes. Does it bother you?”
She put her hands in the air and let out a long sigh. “I mean, I feel like I’m going crazy, but no. I’m kind of glad it’s true because I didn’t want to write you off as insane, but it’s still a lot for me to handle. I feel like I was hallucinating back there.”
He nodded, feeling the urge to be closer to his mate but keeping himself distant from her on the log. He didn’t want to push anything until she was ready.
“Do you forgive me?” she asked quietly.
“Of course I do,” he said, scooting a little bit closer. “Do you forgive me for not telling you the truth sooner? I just didn’t want to scare you off.”
“Given how I reacted, I see why,” she said, scooting into him as well so their sides were touching. “So this mate thing, it’s pretty serious, I guess?”
“It’s forever,” he said. “It’s decided. Once you agree.”
She looked up at him. “Does that mean you don’t have a choice in it?”
Love at Furst Sight (Built Fur Love Book 1) Page 15