Claimed: Gem Creek Bears, Book Three

by Snyder, Jennifer

  “Holy shit, Liam,” Rafe said. “You did it. You brought her back.”

  Large, fat drops of rain fell from the sky as thunder rumbled in the distance. The storm was letting up. I continued to cough up the disgusting pond water. My lungs burned, and my throat felt raw. I was sopping wet and chilled through to the bone.

  But I remembered everything.

  Jessica’s hands around my throat. The water rushing to fill my lungs. The fear. The knowing that my life was over. The memories that had flashed through my mind. And the peacefulness that had settled over me. I remembered the struggle that came once I was pulled from the pond—the way I debated between leaving the Earth and staying. I remembered Liam and the things he’d said. The way he’d seemed to care.

  “Breathe,” Liam insisted. His warm hand moved in slow circles along my upper back while I continued to cough and gasp for air. “You’re okay. Everything is okay now.”

  But it wasn’t. I’d died. Jessica had freaking killed me!

  “Jessica,” I choked out. My eyes swept the clearing, searching for her. It was dark, too dark for me to make out much of anything.

  “She won’t hurt you again. It’s okay,” Liam insisted, misinterpreting why I was searching for her.

  I wasn’t scared of her; I was pissed. She’d killed me!

  “Yeah, Liam took care of her,” Rafe said. I glanced at him. He nodded for me to look over my shoulder. “She definitely won’t be coming after you again.”

  I forced myself to sit up. A sensation of lightheadedness rushed through me, but I ignored it. My gaze drifted to where Rafe had nodded. While I couldn’t make her out fully, I could tell that it was Jessica lying a few feet away, motionless. She was dead. The undeniable stillness of death was present in her form. If that wasn’t indication enough, then the way her body lay slumped on the ground in such an unnatural way surely was.

  I swallowed hard and shifted my attention back to Liam. Questions spun through my mind, but they all came to a standstill when I remembered one person.

  “Mom!” I jumped to my feet, ready to head back to the cabin for her, but Liam grabbed my wrist.

  “Whoa,” he said. “She’s safe. Whatever they gave her is still in her system. She hasn’t come to yet. Penny and Cato are with her. You should take it easy. Rest.”

  “I feel fine,” I snapped, jerking my arm free from his grasp. I did. My ankle didn’t hurt. I was no longer exhausted. I must have somehow healed myself while I’d been out. “What about the others from the pack?” I needed to know where they all were.

  “Don’t worry about them either. We won this time,” Rafe insisted. “Even with the nasty ass wounds they left us with last time.”

  Lightning struck in the distance. It illuminated the clearing enough for me to see Liam and Rafe were still injured from their last fight against Ezra’s pack. Blood dripped from the area where Ezra had shoved a metal rod through Liam’s side. The desire to heal him rose within me, but I didn’t give into it. Instead, I allowed another desire to consume me.

  “Is Ezra dead?” I steeled my back as I started walking toward the hill I’d tumbled down before.

  “No.” Liam caught up to me. His eyes were on me—I could feel them—but I didn’t look at him. Mainly because I didn’t want to see his expression. “Chase was the only coyote we killed. He came at us and Cato had to take him out.”

  “Ezra will be the next, then,” I insisted as I started up the hill. “I’m taking him out.”

  “Are you sure you’re up for it?” Liam asked. He climbed the hill, matching my pace with ease. Rafe wasn’t far behind. I could hear him.

  I glanced at Liam then. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Especially after everything he’d done.

  “Because you died a few minutes ago,” Liam insisted, his tone soft. The way he looked at me had me wondering if his bear could still smell death on me.

  I shrugged. “I’m ready to end this.”

  Then, I’d put all this crap behind me.

  Rafe caught up to us once we crested the top of the hill. He rubbed his hands together and released a chuckle. “I’ve been waiting for this. I knew you’d want to take Ezra out on your own, and I’m glad I get to watch. He deserves whatever you’ve got planned.”

  “Damn right he does,” I muttered. I pushed a few low-hanging tree branches out of my way as we continued through the woods. “Jessica did too. I can’t believe she—”

  My words fell away. It was too soon to say out loud that she’d killed me. That I’d died.

  I swallowed hard and pushed my legs faster, eager to place more distance between myself, Jessica’s body, and the hellish pond behind me.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Liam asked, the concern in his voice palpable.

  Thunder rolled above us, but it sounded farther away than before. The storm was fading.

  “Yeah. It’s just been a really crappy night.” I tried to keep my voice from shaking but knew there was still a tremble present Liam would pick up on thanks to his bear. He didn’t say anything about it though, which I was thankful for. Neither did Rafe.

  As the three of us continued toward the cabin, the rain tapered off to a faint drizzle. The wind still whipped around us and the darkness remained, but I didn’t mind. I slipped on a wet root but caught myself before I fell. My hand pressed against the crumbling bark of a nearby tree. For whatever reason, it reminded me of the tree back at Gem Creek. The one on the hike to Yona Waterfall. From one angle it looked okay, but from another it was crumbling and broken.

  I’d never related more to that tree in my life.

  Liam grabbed my hand and wove his fingers through mine as we started walking again. The rush of electricity I’d felt so many times whenever we touched tingled across my palm and up my arm. I pulled in a deep breath and realized what the sensation represented—life.

  Liam had brought me back to life. In more ways than I could ever thank him for.

  He’d given me hope when I thought I had none. He’d shown me compassion when I thought no one could. He’d revealed a side of me I’d never noticed before, one that was stronger than I’d ever imagined. Something else rushed to the surface as I focused on the sensation of electricity but I didn’t have time to focus on it for long because the cabin came into view.

  Light spilled from inside the open door onto the porch, illuminating Penny sitting on a bench. Her foot bounced as she chewed her nails, her eyes glued to the woods. Her face lit up when she saw me. She was off the porch, jogging my way in seconds.

  “I was so freaking worried about you, girl!” She pulled me into a hug. “You have no idea how glad I am to see that you’re okay.”

  “I’m sure I can imagine,” I said with a chuckle, remembering what it had felt like when she’d been captured by Ezra and I was worried she might be dead. “How did you guys find me? Was it my clue?”

  Penny untangled herself from me, but kept her hands on my shoulders. She gave them a gentle squeeze as a smile spread across her face. “Yes. That was genius, by the way. Well, that and my detective skills.” She released her grip on me and placed a hand on her hip, cocking it to the side. “I feel like a real Nancy Drew.”

  I laughed. “I knew you’d figure it out.”

  “At first, I wasn’t sure what it meant, but it didn’t take long to figure out GF stood for grandfather and not girlfriend. I mean, we all know Marshall hasn’t ever had a girlfriend.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. He stood with Demi between Cato and Billie. “Then I remembered Marshall didn’t really have anything, his grandfather did. All it took was a trip to the register of deeds website and his grandfather’s name to figure out that he owned property here as well as the house in Opal Pine and the old sawmill. I gave Liam the address and here we are.”

  “I tried to get her to stay behind for safety reasons, but she wasn’t having it,” Liam insisted, giving her a look.

  “Yeah, when Penny has made up her mind about something, there’s no talking her out o
f it,” I said.

  Wicked laughter killed the moment. I snapped my attention to the source—Ezra. He sat on the ground, propped against the tire of his car beside Marshall and the others. His blisters looked awful, and his eyes were sunken in.

  “You left a clue?” His voice was weak and croaky. “Aren’t you a clever little witch?”

  I stepped forward until only inches separated us.

  “Especially to those who underestimate me.” I looked at him, really looked. Death had sunk its teeth deeply into him. He had maybe seconds left. “It won’t be much longer now before the sickness takes you. I hope you’re in pain. You deserve it.”

  Ezra’s dry lips quirked into a smug smile. “I know I’m dying. Same as I know you won’t save me. Neither of those things matter though,” he said, his eyes never wavering from mine. “Do you know what does matter? That something happened in those woods that’s never happened before. History was made.” His eyes turned silver as his coyote flickered to the surface. “Couldn’t you feel when it happened? Can’t you feel it now?”

  “Feel what?” I asked in a whisper.

  “You died.” Ezra licked his lips—it did little to moisten them—and his grin grew. “And a new Mystic was chosen.”

  I blinked. No, that couldn’t be right. I could still feel the Mystic magic inside me. However, I could also feel the flicker of something else.

  What was that?

  “You feel it now, don’t you?” Ezra asked. “While it’s true that I might not see tomorrow, I know my pack will. Jessica will lead them to find the other Mystic before anyone else gets to her. She’ll figure out how to tap into her abilities and save them from this sickness.”

  My stomach somersaulted. Until I realized that couldn’t happen.

  “No, she won’t,” I insisted. My back straightened as I held his stare. “Jessica’s dead.”

  Ezra’s lips formed a snarl before he lurched from the ground and wrapped his large hands around my neck. I fell back, landing with him on top of me. Chaos broke out around us. Someone tugged at Ezra, trying to pull him off me, but his grip was too tight and he took me with him. I thrashed, bucking my hips and clawing at his hands and arms.

  His grip only tightened.

  I twisted to the side and spotted the knife I’d used to stab Jessica. It was lying in the dirt to my right. Jessica must have pulled it out and tossed it to the ground when she came after me. I was surprised no one had picked it up.

  My fingers slipped from Ezra’s hands and reached for it. I touched its cool metal handle, but couldn’t grab it. I wiggled against the gravel to get closer. Once I had it, I gripped it tight and then sank it deep into the side of Ezra’s neck. Black blood tainted with the sickness sprayed over me. Ezra released his grip on my throat to touch the handle of the knife. His eyes didn’t widen with fear or shock. Instead, he almost looked relieved. Maybe it was because by stabbing him, I’d sped up his demise and now he was no longer waiting for the sickness to take him. Liam pulled him off me and I rolled onto my side, wiping my face to get the blood off and gasping for air.

  “Are you okay?” Penny asked. She helped ease me into a sitting position.

  “Yeah.” Although, I was already sick of people asking me that question.

  I glanced around, taking in the scene. Marshall and Demi were gone. Cato was on his knees, cupping where the sun didn’t shine, and Billie was walking back from the woods out of breath. Liam and Rafe were on either side of Ezra, scowling down at him while his life slowly faded, one drop of blood at a time.

  “They were too fast,” Billie said, sounding out of breath. “I lost them when they shifted.”

  “I could have had her, if she hadn’t kneed me where it counts,” Cato moaned. He slowly made his way to his feet again, his face still red from the pain.

  A knee to the groin works every time.

  “My suffering might be almost over,” Ezra choked out. My gaze drifted to him. A pool of black blood had formed in the dirt in front of him. It looked alien. “But there are others like me who’ll do whatever it takes to have a Mystic heal them. They’ll come for you, Tris. They’ll come for the new Mystic, too. You’re not safe just because I’m gone.” His final words were barely a whisper as black blood oozed from his mouth. I watched as his body went limp and his expression slack as the life left him.

  “You are safe,” Liam insisted. He spun to face the woods and cupped his hands around his mouth. “If you ever come after Tris, or anyone from my clan again, I will kill you! My bear knows your scent and he won’t hold back if we cross paths again!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Authority and anger vibrated through his words, causing every hair along my body to stand on end. His chest heaved, and when he turned my way again, I caught a glimpse of his eyes—they were the brightest I’d ever seen them. His bear was so close to the surface.

  Liam walked to where I sat and gently gripped my shoulders, helping me to my feet. “I mean that. You’re safe. I will kill them if they come near you again.” I nodded, not knowing what to say. His eyes still blazed bright with his bear, and his voice held an inhuman tone. “Now let’s get you home.”

  Home. I blinked. Where was that for me now?

  Ezra was gone. Dead. Jessica and Chase, too. There was no way Marshall or Demi would come after me, thanks to Liam. The threat of their pack was gone.

  Could I go back to Opal Pine and live my life with a sense of normalcy?

  A tingle in my chest reminded me that even though Ezra’s pack wouldn’t bother me again, others might because I was still the Mystic. Well, a Mystic according to Ezra. I focused on the tingling sensation. Was there something there, or had Ezra been full of crap? I thought I’d felt something, but now I wasn’t sure.

  “Want me to carry her mom to the truck?” Rafe asked.

  Mom! I’d forgotten about her. I rushed up the stairs of the cabin and found her curled up on her side, lying in the bed I’d been strapped to before.

  Guilt ate at me. I hated that she’d been pulled into this mess.

  Footsteps sounded on the porch. Liam stood in the threshold of the cabin, his tall frame taking up the entire space.

  “Do you know how they found her?” I asked. “Did she see them or fight?”

  “They broke into your trailer while she was sleeping and drugged her with the same stuff they used on me,” Penny said from behind Liam. He stepped to the side, allowing her through the door. “I may have interrogated Demi a bit to find out.” She shrugged and flashed me a half-hearted smile. “She’ll be okay. When she wakes up, she’ll be a little groggy but it will wear off soon.”

  As though Mom had taken Penny’s words as the cue to wake, she began to stir.

  “Oh, crap. She can’t wake up right now.” Panic flooded my system. “Not to all of this. She’d have too many questions.”

  I didn’t want to pull her into this world.

  “I’m sure the same stuff they used to drug her with the first time is in their vehicle. We can give her another dose,” Penny insisted. She made her way past Liam before I could answer her. “Then she won’t wake for a while and we’ll have time to get her back to Opal Pine.”

  I nodded, because that sounded like the best option. While I hated drugging her again, I knew I’d hate it more if she woke up and I was forced to explain why there were two dead guys in the driveway and how she’d gotten to a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

  Penny came back seconds later with an amber bottle and a rag. She dumped some liquid from the bottle onto the rag and covered my mom’s nose and mouth. After a few seconds, Mom seemed to still with heavy sleep again. Her chest rose and fell in a rhythm of ease.

  “There, she should be good for a while,” Penny said as she capped the bottle and sat it and the rag on a nearby table.

  “I’ll load her in the vehicle now,” Rafe insisted. He stood just outside the cabin door.

  After he hoisted my mom into his arms, Penny and he headed outside leaving me and Liam in the cabin alone.r />
  I exhaled a slow breath and smoothed a few wet strands of hair away from my face.

  “Ready?” Liam asked as he stepped closer.

  “Definitely.” I forced a smile and then followed him out of the cabin, closing the door behind me to the nightmare that had taken place there.

  Chapter Seven

  As Penny came to a stop in front of the trailer I’d grown up in, I found myself surprised to find that it still looked the same. For whatever reason, I’d expected it to look different. Maybe this was because I was a different person in comparison to who I’d been the last time I was here. So much about me had changed since the night Corbin and Chase bound my wrists and shoved me into the trunk of Ezra’s car.

  Penny shifted into park and glanced at me. I kept my eyes on the trailer, even when she spoke.

  “After this, I should probably head home,” Penny said while she unbuckled. “I’m sure my mom is wondering if I’m all right.”

  I glanced at her, finally pulling my gaze away from the trailer I’d called home for so long. “Have you not talked to her since you went to Ezra’s for the party?”

  She shook her head. “I told her I was spending the night with you.” It was the same excuse we’d given our mothers a million times over the years when we wanted to be somewhere we shouldn’t. “She probably thinks I’m still here. She hasn’t called or messaged me yet, but I’m sure she will soon. Thank goodness it’s summer, and she’s been lost in a project at work. If it wasn’t for that, she would’ve most likely filed a missing person’s report by now.”

  “Probably.” I grinned as I opened the passenger door and stepped out. I moved to the back of her car and opened the door, ready to get my mom inside before she woke. Liam pulled up behind Penny’s car and killed the engine on his SUV. He was at my side in seconds. I stepped out of the way when he leaned in to get my mom. There was no way I’d be able to get her inside by myself. Even with Penny’s help, it would’ve been difficult carrying her.

  When Liam stood to his full height with my mom in his arms, a shock rippled through me. It was crazy seeing the two of them together.