by Rayna Tyler
Something about this whole situation wasn’t right. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to calm my bear and regain control of my emotions. “Sorry.”
“Bryson, what’s going on? Why would you even ask me something like that?”
“Because I can smell another male, a human. The scent intermingles with hers.” I drew air through my mouth, lessening the other male’s odor in order to soothe my agitated animal.
Confused, Mitch scratched his jaw. “Are you sure?” he mumbled, then noticed my frown at the rhetorical question and said, “Of course you are.”
“Any idea who it might be? Could a patient have stopped by, someone with an emergency?” I hadn’t detected any recent animal odors and knew I was grasping for possibilities.
“No. They all know I work in town during the week. If someone had shown up, Leah would have called me.” Mitch shook his head. “It doesn’t make any sense. Unless those calls...” His cheeks paled.
“What calls?”
“Leah mentioned getting hang-up calls a couple of days in a row. I thought it was a little strange at the time but dismissed it. Now I’m wondering if it was Caleb, if he somehow found out she was staying here.”
“You’re not making any sense. Who is Caleb and what’s his connection to Leah?” And why didn’t she mention him to me?
“He’s a guy she was dating about a year ago.” Mitch’s troubled gaze held mine. “A real piece of work with a bad temper. He started stalking her after she broke it off. It’s the reason she was staying with me.”
Hearing that Caleb had tormented my mate, might still be tormenting her, made me want to tear him apart. Holding back my bear’s overwhelming need to shift was growing steadily harder. I clenched my fists to keep my claws from easing out of my fingertips.
“Since Leah’s car is still here, do you think he...” Mitch asked.
I blocked out the images of Leah being forced into a vehicle and carted off against her will. I refused to believe she was gone and clung to the hope that she was somewhere close by. I briefly closed my eyes, freeing my mind of troubling thoughts and allowing the extensive training Preston required every member of the security team to take. One of the first things I’d learned was not to dismiss anything out of the ordinary. No matter how small or inconsequential my observation might be, it was important.
Then I remembered seeing a car parked on the side of the road near the turnoff to Mitch’s property. At the time, I’d been so focused on getting here that I hadn’t given it much thought. The red car had California plates. It was too much of a coincidence to think the vehicle didn’t belong to the male I’d scented. “There’s a car parked on the main road not far from here. Any idea who it belongs to?”
“I saw it too and thought it was tourists,” Mitch said. “People stop on occasion to take pictures.”
“If you’re right about the male being Caleb, he might have parked there so Leah wouldn’t see him,” I said.
Mitch smacked himself in the head and dug his phone out of his back pocket. “I’m such an idiot. Because cell service is intermittent in this area, after she moved here, I upgraded her phone to include GPS tracking without getting a signal.”
After a couple of taps on the screen, Mitch held the device up so I could see it. “Unless she doesn’t have her phone with her, according to the map, she’s halfway between Gabe’s place and here.”
Seeing the red dot in the middle of the screen gave me a minimal amount of relief. It confirmed that she was nearby, but it didn’t tell me if Caleb was with her or if he’d done something to hurt her. If the male had touched Leah in any way, getting back to his vehicle safely would be the least of his problems.
“When the others get here, tell them everything you told me. Then have Nick scent the car to confirm whether or not it belongs to the same male.” I knew Mitch would want to help search for Leah, but I didn’t want him coming with me. There was no guarantee I’d be able to control my bear if anything had happened to her. My animal going feral wasn’t something Mitch needed to see.
The sun was setting and it would be dark soon, which meant the temperature would drop, and quickly. Leah was human, didn’t possess the additional body warmth an animal form supplied, and would freeze. The only way to save time and get to her faster was if I transformed into my bear. I toed off my boots, then ripped opened my shirt, sending buttons flying through the air. Clothes could be replaced. Leah couldn’t.
Chapter Six
LEAH
It was a good thing I’d paid attention to landmarks every time I’d ventured out into the woods close to Mitch’s house. I’d gotten familiar with some of the narrow paths, varied tree clusters, and the occasional rock formation. It was one of the advantages I had to get away from Caleb. He was a city boy who hated the wilderness, always had an excuse whenever I’d invited him for walks in the park near my old apartment.
With any luck, I’d be able to use the natural surroundings to elude him. Maybe he’d get frustrated and give up chasing me. I tried not to let the fact that he’d tracked me all the way to Colorado discourage me from clinging to the glimmer of hope.
Running was never something I’d enjoyed, had actually learned to hate it from the first day my high school instructor made our class do laps in gym class. At the moment, it was the only thing I could do to put some distance between us.
When I reached a point where my ribs ached, my lungs burned, and I didn’t think I’d be able to make it another step, I glanced around, searching for somewhere to hide. Off to my right was a downed tree trunk balancing diagonally across a mound of rocks. It wasn’t ideal, and I wasn’t exactly skinny.
My hair caught on the bark, painfully pulling out several strands as I wedged into the compact space. The ground, covered with decaying leaves, was cold, damp, and seeped through my jeans. My knees were jammed tightly against my chest, and the jagged edge of the boulder pressed uncomfortably against my back.
Caleb was close. I couldn’t see him but I could hear him stomping through the underbrush. He repeatedly yelled my name, which turned into ranting, then finally cursing. The rapid pulse beating in my chest and thrumming in my ears was so loud, I was afraid he’d hear it.
I clamped my hand over my mouth and forced myself to take small, shallow breaths. Long after Caleb’s voice began to fade, I remained hidden with my backside going numb and my calf muscles cramping.
I’d seen too many scary movies where one of the characters had been fooled into believing they were safe and made the mistake of leaving their hiding place too soon. I remained hidden, an uncomfortable pretzel with my knees pressed tightly to my chest. I was going to be the heroine, the one who survived and got the handsome hero at the end of the show.
Thinking about heroes reminded me of Bryson and the possibility of losing him. I swiped at the moisture building in my eyes, then pushed the thought from my mind. Dwelling on what-ifs wasn’t going to help with my current situation.
It took some maneuvering, but I was able to find and remove my cell phone from my pack. I swiped the screen to call my brother and let him know I was in trouble, then resisted the urge to scream when I saw the “no service available” icon.
Other than the occasional squawk or flutter of bird wings, the surrounding area had been quiet for some time. My resolve to remain in the cramped hole beneath the decaying tree trunk lasted for as long as it took my bladder to rebel. I dusted the dirt and dead leaves off my pants while I waited for the tingling in my legs and backside to subside. I found a place near a tree where I could relieve myself without anyone sneaking up on me.
With the dwindling sunlight came cooler temperatures, and I was glad I’d had the foresight to tuck a jacket into my backpack. I still wasn’t certain Caleb had stopped searching for me. I didn’t want to risk running into him if I headed back to Mitch’s house, so I opted for making my way to Gabe’s place instead. The people who lived on the mountain looked after each other. At Gabe’s, I wouldn’t be alone, and h
e’d have a phone I could use to call my brother.
It didn’t take long for my fantasies of warmth and security to diminish. I’d walked a short distance and realized that nothing looked familiar. Somehow I’d gotten turned around and wasn’t sure I was headed in the right direction. On top of being lost, I thought I heard twigs snapping. Glancing behind me without stopping cost me. I didn’t see the partial tree root running above the ground.
I caught the tip of my boot on the exposed edge, tripped, and stumbled forward. All the flailing and attempting to right myself didn’t stop me from losing my balance and hitting the ground.
The jolt to my knees was nothing compared to the sharp pain that shot through my ankle when I tried to stand. I winced, my hiss expelled through gritted teeth. To make things worse, I’d scraped my hands when I’d braced against the fall. Though most of the cuts were superficial, I’d managed to slice the flesh on my left hand bad enough for blood to run between my fingers and stain the edge on the sleeve of my jacket.
Not good, not good, not good. I trembled. Didn’t blood attract wild animals? Like wolves...and bears. A rabbit was the largest creature I’d seen during my hikes, but I’d never been this far from the house either. I tried to remember the things I’d learned on the camping trips my family had taken when I was a child. Though I loved nature and enjoyed being outdoors, Mitch was the expert when it came to trekking through the wilderness.
I gulped in air and pushed past the panic keeping me immobile. I scanned the area searching for a suitable place where I could get the weight off my foot and address my wounds. After finding a nearby tree where the ground was free from shrubbery and smoothed out enough for me to sit semi-comfortably, I hobbled toward it, then used the trunk as an anchor to lower myself to the ground.
The fear I had of Caleb was nothing compared to the fear I had of attracting a four-legged predator. Using my injured hand, I pulled the backpack into my lap. I retrieved the bottle of water, balanced it against my thigh on the ground next to me, then checked the additional zippered pockets for anything I could use to wrap my hand.
I could have kissed my brother when I found a pocketknife. It wouldn’t provide much protection if I got attacked, but it worked great at cutting a strip of fabric from the bottom of my T-shirt.
I took a small sip of the water, then leaned to the side and poured what was left over the bloody cut. Once I wrapped and secured the material around my hand, I rolled up my pant leg and braved a glimpse at my ankle. The area above my boot had swelled with a hint of bruising. I didn’t think it was broken, although with a sprain, there was no way I could walk to Gabe’s or anywhere else, not without a lot of help.
Hopefully, Mitch hadn’t been called out on an emergency, would arrive home at his usual time, and find my note. If not, I was in for a long cold night without anyone besides Caleb knowing what had happened to me.
My thoughts turned to Bryson. What would he think when he showed up for our date and I wasn’t home? Would he try to call me and assume I didn’t want anything more to do with him when I didn’t answer?
I’d finally met a great guy. One I cared about, one who’d stolen my heart, and one I hoped I might have a future with. Now, thanks to Caleb, I might never get the chance. The idea of losing Bryson weighed heavily on my thoughts, more painful than any of my physical injuries, more upsetting than the prospect of becoming an animal’s dinner.
The emotions I’d worked so hard to control since Caleb’s arrival burst from their restraints. The overwhelming gush of despair was more than I could stand, and when the tears rolled down my cheeks, I let them.
BRYSON
I didn’t give Mitch a chance to argue. I let the shift wash over me—bones snapping, limbs changing, fur sprouting. I entered the forest with anxiety pulsing along every nerve of my transformed body.
Caleb’s scent was closely interwoven with Leah’s, making it hard to keep my animal from destroying everything in his path. Even if Leah had somehow managed to escape the male, she was out there alone. She could be lost, hurt or...worse. I refused to consider the latter.
I pushed myself harder, digging my paws into the hardened ground, bounding between trees, ignoring paths and barreling through underbrush. Though I headed in the general direction I’d seen on Mitch’s GPS, I continued to follow Leah’s scent. Technology was useful, but what if something happened and she’d lost her phone? I wasn’t willing to take the chance and risk wasting time getting to her.
There were areas where dead leaves, dampened by recent rainfall, made it hard to retain her scent. I growled my frustration every time I had to stop, retrace my steps and sniff the ground until I caught another trace of Leah.
Eventually, Caleb’s irritating odor ventured off in a different direction from hers. The urge to chase after the male and tear him to shreds was strong, but the need to find my mate was stronger. Not long afterward, her trail led me to a downed tree braced at an angle against some boulders. It was obvious by the strength of her scent coating the area underneath that she’d spent some time hiding in the narrow space. How long or how recent was harder to determine.
At first I’d assumed she was headed to Gabe’s place, but the longer I searched for her, the more concerned I became that none of her tracks were headed in any specific direction. It didn’t take long for her scent to grow stronger or for me to increase my pace. A few minutes later, I entered a clearing and saw her on the ground, huddled against the trunk of a wide tree.
She’s alive. Relief swept through me. The unyielding tightness in my chest eased until I detected a faint scent of blood. Other than the hand she’d wrapped with fabric from her T-shirt, I didn’t see any obvious injuries. If she’d gotten lost, as I suspected, why hadn’t she tried to find some shelter rather than enduring the cold by being exposed?
“Crap.” Leah pursed her lips, her narrowed gaze focused on tearing open the cellophane wrapper of an energy bar with shivering fingers. In the short time I’d known her, I’d never heard her cuss. It wasn’t an appropriate time to be amused, but I couldn’t help it. The cute way she wrinkled her nose was adorable, and if my bear could have formed a grin, he would have.
It didn’t take long for her to realize I was there. I cringed when she slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. I’d been too concerned about finding her when I’d shifted that I hadn’t even considered how she’d react the first time she saw my bear without knowing it was me. I wanted to rush over to her, to wrap my paws around her, share the warmth from my fur and reassure her that she was safe. Instead, I remained stationary, not wanting to scare her or make the situation worse.
“Nice bear. Please don’t eat me.” With shaking hands, she tossed the bar so it landed on the ground in front of me. “I know it’s not much, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make a meal out of me.”
This was the moment I’d been dreading. I needed to transform and hope it didn’t send her screaming and running through the forest. It would kill me to see fear or disgust in her expressive eyes, but it was a risk I had to take. Whether or not she allowed me to remain in her life after I revealed my true nature was moot. Her welfare and safety were my primary concerns.
And once I saw to her needs, I’d hunt down the male who’d put her life in jeopardy and ensure he never came near her again. On the topic of ridding Caleb from Leah’s life forever, my bear and I agreed.
Chapter Seven
LEAH
A bear.
Could my day get any worse? First Caleb, then a sprained ankle, and now a grizzly bear the size of a flipping horse was standing on all fours not more than fifteen feet away from me. The cold had seeped through my clothes to my skin, shivers racked me, my teeth chattered. My backside was numb again from sitting in one place too long, and my hands shook so badly, I struggled to tear the cellophane wrapper off my last energy bar.
I hadn’t heard the animal approach, only sensed its presence. I was going to be torn to shreds, going to die in the middle of nowh
ere without getting the chance to see Bryson one last time, to tell him how I felt.
I’d hoped by tossing the energy bar in his direction that the animal would take pity on me, snatch the snack, and walk away. No such luck. He ignored my offered treat and continued staring at me with an unnerving intensity. He didn’t rise up on his haunches, bare his teeth, or growl. All the behaviors I’d have expected from a bear who’d found a tasty morsel in his territory. I knew it was weird and bordered on impossible, but it appeared as if he was contemplating the situation and the best way to handle it.
Then he grunted, the tone so similar to Bryson’s I was certain I’d imagined it. Maybe I’d been sitting here freezing so long my brain cells had gone numb. I was even more convinced I’d taken the road to delusional when I heard the sound of bones snapping and, minutes later, saw Bryson standing naked in the exact same spot where I’d seen the bear.
No matter how many times I blinked or rubbed my eyes, it didn’t change the fact that he was there and the bear wasn’t. He presented a fine specimen, all hard, sculpted muscle. Under different circumstances, when I wasn’t worried about my sanity, I’d be scrutinizing, drooling, and appreciating the view.
“Bryson.” My voice rasped from a dry throat. “Where did the bear...” My delayed reaction to what I’d just witnessed slammed into me with enough force to knock me off my feet if I’d been standing. The animal hadn’t gone anywhere. Bryson was the bear. Once my mind caught up with reality, everything I knew about him made sense. His large size, the growling, the overly protective behavior...
“I’m the bear, but please don’t be afraid.” He held out his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I’m not afraid.” Confused, surprised, and maybe a little pissed that he hadn’t told me before now, but I wasn’t scared, not really. That I was safe in his presence was the one thing I could honestly say I knew for certain.