21
Georgia
“Everyone takes a swig. Them’s the rules, friends!” I laughed as I took yet another swig from the bottle and handed it off to Martha.
I’d been at the campfire for close to two hours. I knew because I’d been checking the time on my phone religiously. I’d dragged it out of the shelter once Wyatt had stomped off. I thought about calling Allie and telling her to come rescue me. I thought about calling the airport and scheduling a flight. Hell, I even thought about calling the cowboy who’d driven me into town and promising him anything he wanted if he could find me. Only, that last thought made me wretch after being with Wyatt. Plus, my phone still had no service, so I was just using it as a clock counting off the minutes that Wyatt had been away.
I’d hurt him. I knew it and I hated myself for it. It was for the best, though. We weren’t going to work. He didn’t like me, not the real me. He wanted someone else. He was in denial about it but he’d realize it after I left.
“You going to pass that?” Sarah sneered at me. She wasn’t my biggest fan, but she loved tequila. She was covered in an oozing rash that made me want to rub myself with sandpaper.
I handed her the bottle and then turned back to the fire. “We need music. Music and dancing.”
“I have some music on my phone. I like to play it to go to sleep. It’s not very loud, though.” Bill spoke up.
I grinned. “Alrighty, this is my kind of surviving.”
I grabbed his phone and one of the metal cups connected to Martha’s pack. I started the music app and then slipped the phone into the cup, amping up the sound. Bill didn’t have any of the music I usually listened to, but he had some songs we could dance to. They were old, but they worked.
“Come on! Let’s survive my way!”
Bill threw up his hands. “What the hell! Wait until my wife hears about this!”
I laughed. Laughter was good. It meant I was having fun. Right? That’s what I’d always told myself back home. I was laughing and having a good time. So, I wasn’t missing anything. Nothing was missing from my life. I was perfectly fine. Just me. All by myself. I didn’t need anything or anyone.
Everyone eventually joined in, even Sarah. Although, she stuck to just drinking and nodding her head to the beat of the oldies. It was fun, so much fun that I almost forgot that I wasn’t in a beautiful hotel somewhere surrounded by movers, shakers, and trust-fund kids. The night sky was better mood lighting than anything I could’ve put together and the smell of the campfire created a buzz of excitement.
I managed to temporarily forget how miserable I was, and focus on the festive mood around me. It wasn’t easy. Every branch I heard snap, I jerked my head around to see if Wyatt was returning. I wanted to see him. I wanted to feel his body against mine one last time. Maybe I was feeling the liquor more than I was admitting.
Martha brought out more marshmallows and one of the other men, Allen, cooked up what I decided was chicken, but was probably squirrel. I still wasn’t eating any of it, though. Instead, I munched on berries that Bill had picked earlier. The party was going strong.
My bottle was gone but someone had pulled out another one and it was going fast, too. I laughed until my sides hurt. Then, I laughed more. Laughter was the only way I knew of to keep everything out.
After another hour had passed, I sat down on a log and let my head fall back. “God, it’s beautiful up here.”
“It is, isn’t it? Wish I was enjoying it more.”
I looked over at Sarah, surprised to see that I’d ended up so close to her. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to push you. I didn’t even know it was you until I looked over the ledge.”
She was blitzed. Her eyes were barely open as she smiled, actually smiled, at me. “It’s okay. Everyone’s letting me drink more of the liquor because they feel sorry for me.”
I gave her a delicate high five and nodded. “I like the way you’re turning it into a positive.”
“He doesn’t care about me. I know that. I’m not stupid. I just wanted to get back at my boyfriend.” Her eyes filled up with tears and she coughed out a sob. “He’s been cheating on me for months. He doesn’t know I know. So, I came up here and I slept with Wyatt.”
My throat closed on a growl and I nodded, suddenly unable to articulate.
“I got back home and confessed to my boyfriend. You wanna know what he said?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “He just shrugged his shoulders and asked me if I wanted a fucking trophy. He didn’t care!”
I winced. “He sounds like an dickface.”
“He is! He didn’t care that I’d slept around. He told me that he was glad because now he doesn’t have to feel so damn guilty about breaking up with me. He broke up with me!”
I patted the top of her head, the only part of her not covered in oozing rash. “You’re better off. He doesn’t deserve you.”
She sighed. “Am I? I came back here in a daze. I tried to hook up with Wyatt again. I made myself look like a psycho-stalker chick. I’m not a psycho-stalker. I just… I feel… I feel like I’m about to come unhinged. I was with him for seven years.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. I would hug you, but you’ve got the…” She cut her eyes to me and I abandoned that line of thought. “Anyway, you have every right to go a little crazy. No one would think any less of you for it after what you’ve been through. Plus, no one here really knows you, right? Maybe the forest isn’t the best place to heal from a broken heart. Maybe a salon and a giant box of chocolate would serve you much better.”
She dropped her head back and blew out a shaky breath. “I would love a salon. This stuff is great, but I can’t think straight right now, much less try to catch a damn rabbit for dinner.”
“They eat rabbits?!” My voice had gone up so high that the rest of the group turned to me, startled. I waved them away. “God, that is barbaric. Look, I’m leaving tomorrow. I’m going back down the mountain. I could use a guide to get there. You seem to know your way down. How about it? I’ll treat you to a salon experience to make up for my part in causing this rash…”
She stared at me, her eyes opening a little wider. “Sure. That would be nice.”
I patted her head again and then grabbed the bottle she’d been holding. “You’ve got a tour to lead down the mountain tomorrow. No more liquor for you.”
She pouted, but I ignored her. I was too busy noticing Wyatt from across the dancing flames of the campfire. He’d finally come back. And in no better spirits, from the downtrodden look on his face.
I wanted to go to him. I needed to make sure he was okay. I headed his way and managed to get my foot caught in the strap of Sarah’s pack. I went down hard, no one nearby to catch me, and landed with my face inches from the fire.
I scrambled back and sighed. “That was a close one.”
Time seemed to stand still as I glanced up and noticed everyone rushing towards me at the same time. I was about to freak out and scream at them to tell me what was going on when I smelled it. Burnt hair. I looked down. Correction. Burning hair.
22
Wyatt
I couldn’t get the sight out of my head. Georgia, standing there with her heart on her sleeve, looking like she wanted to run to me. Then, Georgia standing there with the ends of her hair going up in smoke. I’d rushed over to her, but she’d still lost a lot of hair. A lot of it. The ends were fried and blackened and smelled terrible. It oddly complemented the purple bruise and red scratches on her face. Not to mention the other scrapes and bruises covering her.
When she passed out, again, I’d carried her back to my shelter and tucked her in. I couldn’t help crawling under the blanket with her and wrapping my arms around her. She’d had a hell of a couple of days. I’d never seen a person more incompatible with the wilderness.
She’d entered my life with pretty, manicured nails and salon-perfect hair all shiny with expensive highlights and lowlights. I was giving her back to Allie broken and beaten with cuts, scrat
ches, bruises and badly singed hair. I felt like a fool. I’d marked a woman who couldn’t have been farther from what I needed. I had to let her go and I knew that there was a chance I’d lose my mind. Mates were supposed to stay together. They were supposed to mesh. Like Thorn and Allie. They made sense. Like Mom and Dad. They made sense, too.
Pain ate away at me until I couldn’t remain beside her anymore. I got up and sat outside the shelter, leaned against the mountain wall behind me. Sleep escaped me and I struggled with my thoughts until the morning sun started to peek out over the top of the mountain.
I carried myself to the stream and washed up before heading back to my shelter to check on Georgia.
I found her bent over her pack, her charred hair pulled back in a short ponytail. She was shoving stuff into the knapsack while simultaneously holding her head and then her back.
“You okay?”
She jumped and then groaned. “No. I’m not okay. I’m going home.”
My bear roared at me to stop her. He demanded that I make her want us. Even though I knew it was useless, I gave it one last, lame try. “You giving up?”
Her eyes were damn near death-ray lasers as she turned to me. “Look at me, Wyatt. Look at me! I’m a mess. I need to get out of here before I kill myself. I lit my head on fire last night! I don’t belong up here. I don’t belong with…”
“Me.” I finished for her. “You don’t belong with me.”
A flash of emotion pricked her eyes. Pain? “I don’t. I need to go. I need to go back to something I recognize.”
I wanted to fight. Even though I knew she was right, it was hard to just let go. It was obvious how out of place she was. It would never work. I was on the mountain nearly year-round. She’d be alone and miserable in town. She would never be happy with me.
Her hands fisted at her side and she nodded. “Okay. I’m going. Thanks for the fun, Wyatt.”
I caught her arm and nearly doubled over at the hope in her eyes. She wanted me to fight for her. I wouldn’t force her to stay, though. “How are you getting down the mountain?”
She jerked away from me and headed off. “Sarah is taking me. Have a good rest of your tour.”
I let her go.
I let her leave me standing there, with the gaping hole that had just been ripped out of my chest.
I sucked. The situation sucked. Fucking life sucked.
I yanked my shelter down and threw my pack against the rock wall. Anger and frustration threatened to take me to my knees as I felt her move farther and farther away from me. I wondered how it would feel when she was over a thousand miles away. Would I still hurt like this? Would I still hate myself?
The group was in fine form that morning. The ones who weren’t hungover were visibly disappointed to learn that Georgia was gone. Martha, especially. I could see her disappointment with me on her face. She was disappointed in me for allowing Georgia to leave. What the fuck was I supposed to do?
I was about to send everyone out to gather more food when I felt something in me shift oddly. I could suddenly feel fear, and it wasn’t my own. I knew instantly it was Georgia. Something was frightening her. I took off running. I didn’t know how far she’d gotten down the mountain, it couldn’t have been far, but I had to get to her fast.
I didn’t pause to undress before I shifted, leaving my clothes in tatters. I galloped headlong towards whatever had scared her badly enough for it to have reached me through the mate bond. I smelled her and heard her before I saw her.
“Dammit, Wyatt, what are you doing? You’re scaring me!”
My stomach dropped and I stumbled. Who was she talking to?
“I know I should’ve told you that I knew but it doesn’t matter now anyway! For god’s sakes, stop. You’re being an ass!”
I cleared the tree line and found her, one hand on her hip, wagging a finger right in the face of a massive black bear sow. The bear wasn’t a shifter, and from the scent, I could tell she was protecting her cubs. There weren’t a lot of wild bears in the area, but they did pass through occasionally. It was just Georgia’s luck that she’d run into one—a momma protecting her babies, no less.
I roared, deep and loud, and circled around the bear. I had her full attention, thank god. I was praying Georgia would run, but she didn’t. She hunched over and started dragging an unconscious Sarah farther away.
I was bigger and stronger than the sow, but I wasn’t a fool. Nothing was more dangerous than a momma guarding her babies. She’d be more than willing to fight to the death to protect them and I wanted Georgia farther away in case anything happened to me, but she wasn’t budging.
My time circling with the bear was done. She lunged at me and I found myself in a fight with one fierce, frightened momma bear. A fight I didn’t want to lose, but had no interest in winning, either.
23
Georgia
It was all the evidence one would need to prove that some people just could not survive in the wilderness. I’d managed to stumble on what was probably the only full grown bear for miles around who wasn’t a shifter. How the hell did I know that wasn’t Wyatt? I’d lectured it, scolded it, stomped my foot at it, and even pointed my finger in its face. Then, when Wyatt had actually shown up, I’d immediately known. It was weird but I could feel him in his bear. He was majestic to watch. As large as the first bear was, Wyatt was even larger. His coat was thick and shiny, silky. There were sun-kissed streaks in his fur, just like in Wyatt’s hair. His bear even had the same beautiful golden brown eyes.
I didn’t have time to admire him, though. I grabbed Sarah and dragged her away from the impending fight. She’d passed out cold at the sight of the bear and was dead weight as I dragged her by the armpits. I kept my eyes on the bears, wondering what was going to happen.
Wyatt circled and dodged swipes, careful to keep himself safe, but he never attacked. He just let it come at him again and again. He wasn’t trying to hurt it, at all. He was tiring it out, it seemed.
Martha suddenly appeared beside me, naked as the day she was born. I averted my eyes and focused them back on the fight, offering her the sweater I had on.
“Keep it, honey. We need to get you out of here. Wyatt’s going to be distracted if you’re standing here in the way of danger.”
I swung my face back to her. “You know?”
“Course I know. I’m like him. Only a little different. Come on, Georgia. Grab Sarah’s legs. Let’s get out of here.”
“I don’t want to leave him. What if he gets hurt?”
Wyatt roared in my direction and I jumped. “Okay, let’s go.”
We pulled Sarah as far away as we could before the terrain got too rough to carry her. Then, we settled her against a large rock and waited for her to come to.
“What was that? Who was that other bear? Why was it so angry?”
“Honey, you stumbled on a momma bear who was agitated and upset. She was just protecting her cubs. Wyatt will wear her down and then run her off. He won’t hurt her.”
I swallowed and patted Sarah’s cheeks. “Come on, Sarah. Wake-y, wake-y.”
“Why are you leaving?”
I met Martha’s eyes and fought the urge to cry. She’d taken better care of me in the few days I’d been on the mountain than my own mother had during my entire childhood. Her very presence made me want to breakdown and tell her everything. “I don’t belong here.”
“That boy is a damned fool.”
I shook my head. “It’s not even his fault, really. Whoever arranges these mate bonds just got it wrong this time. I’m sure it’s happened before.”
“He needs to fix this with you. Mate bonds don’t happen by mistake. They’re special and fated. If you two are mates, it’s for a reason.”
I sent a little prayer of gratitude up when Sarah started coming to. I patted her cheek again and then wiped it on my shorts. I felt bad, but she was still covered in rash.
“What happened?”
I sighed. Too much. Everything. Nothing.
“There was a bear attack. Wyatt and Martha came to save us.”
Sarah turned her head towards Martha and gasped when she was face to face with Martha’s naked chest. “Where are your clothes?”
Martha laughed. “Lost them in a bear fight.”
Sarah, still groggy and shaken, seemed to accept that. She took a few steadying breaths and then her eyes widened as she stared off at something over my shoulder. “He must’ve lost his, too.”
I turned to find a furious, and very naked Wyatt standing over me. I quickly stood up to avoid getting smacked in the face with his junk. “Are you okay?”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the two women. “You knew!”
“So, you’re okay, then?”
“You knew what I was and you knew that we’re mates.”
I stared up at him, a mixture of desire and sorrow warring inside. “I knew.”
His expression contorted in pain and he pushed me away from him like my touch disgusted him. “You knew and you still walked away from me?”
I steeled myself and drew together every ounce of aloof indifference that I possessed to muster a blank expression. I hoped my expression masked my anger that had temporarily replaced my pain. “You knew and you let me walk away.”
He gritted his teeth, jaw muscles twitching furiously. I noticed his hands were white-knuckled, balled in fists at his side and his eyes were hard. His mouth had snapped shut, forming a hard line signifying he was done talking. He’d gotten what he needed to say out and that was that, apparently.
I turned and walked back over to Sarah, who was staring at Wyatt’s body. I resisted the urge to smack her. “You still want to go into town with me?”
She looked up at me and must’ve seen something that she recognized. Heartbreak. She nodded and pulled herself up. “Come on. You owe me a spa day. A much needed spa day.”
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