Linda placed her hand over his and gave him a reassuring smile. “No. We have now. And we have a future. Our future. I don’t intend to die on this mountain.” Her smile turned from sweet to menacing. “I certainly don’t intend to die before I deal with whatever asshole got us into this position.”
“Okay. I can live for revenge.” He winked as she scowled at him. “But I’d rather live for love.”
“Oh, you two get a room.” Gina picked up a lump of snow and threw it at them as they gazed adoringly into each other’s eyes.
“I’m sorry. Perhaps you should remind me as to why I’m not leaving you to freeze on the mountain.” Linda picked up a small handful of snow and threw it back at Gina, who ducked out of the way.
“Because you love me.” Gina’s bottom lip trembled as she remembered where she was and who she was sitting next to.
“I do.” Linda answered in a heartbeat.
“Now who needs to get a room?” Craig got a swift snowball in the face for that comment. “At least I know you have a good throwing arm.”
“Come on, let’s get the fire going and warm this place up.” Linda picked up a couple of pieces of wood and carefully moved toward the fire. Night had snuffed out the day, leaving the plane in darkness with only the glow of the dying fire to illuminate the torn metal and scattered remains of the plane and its contents.
“That is so much better,” Gina said, holding her hands out to the warm flames as they licked at the wood. “Do we have enough wood to keep the plane warm all night?”
“We do.” Linda glanced at Craig. “We have decided to take shifts to watch over you both and keep the fire burning.”
“And to make sure no one is out there waiting to finish us off?” Gina asked. “Or me off.”
Joaquin reached out for Gina and slipped his arm around her shoulders. The movement cost him a lot, and Gina didn’t brush him off. “No one is going to hurt you. Even if I have to fend off a flock of men who can turn into eagles.” He looked surprised at his own words. “Shifters. That is going to take some getting used to.” He took a deep breath, winced and then carried on. “When we get to civilization, we’ll make sure whoever did this is caught.”
“What if it’s someone you know?” Craig asked, not meeting Joaquin’s eyes as he fed another log to the insatiable fire.
“Are you insinuating my family is involved in this?” Joaquin asked, the color coming back to his cheeks as his temper flared.
“Not necessarily your family,” Linda’s soothing tone did little to calm Joaquin. “But someone who works for one of your competitors.”
Joaquin glanced sideways at Gina. “No one I know would do something like that.”
“If I had to guess I would put this on my brother.” Gina didn’t look at Joaquin, instead she focused on Linda. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
“I’m not sure. Murder is way past what I would expect even of Harvey.” Linda knew Gina well, she also had knowledge of Gina’s family. Craig would respect and accept her opinion on this. Just as he would respect and accept her opinion on most things.
“We can ponder that question on the way down. For now I suggest we eat something and get comfortable. It’s going to be a long night.”
Linda nodded. “I’ll go through the packs and get all the food together. Then we can share it.”
“I don’t need to eat tonight.” Craig had experienced long marches on an empty stomach during his intense Army training. It wasn’t easy. But experience had taught him how to cope when hunger gnawed at your belly.
“We should all eat,” Gina insisted.
“No, I can function perfectly with no food.” Craig shifted his weight and sat down next to the fire.
“If you don’t eat, I don’t eat,” Gina told him firmly.
Linda smothered a smile. “If Gina sets her mind to something, she’ll stick to it.”
“Then I guess I’ll eat.” Craig looked at the food Linda had pulled from the packs. She’d separated everything into organized piles. There wasn’t much, but there was enough to stop them from starving for a few days if they were careful and rationed the food. “I’ll melt some snow on the fire and we can crack open one of the trail rations from my pack.”
“I don’t suppose you have steak and potatoes, do you?” Joaquin asked. The color remained in his cheeks, but he looked frail and Craig was concerned he might have internal bleeding. Tomorrow they would begin their journey down off the mountain and a sled looked like a necessity rather than a luxury.
“I have something that’s supposed to taste like steak,” Craig wrinkled his nose. The emergency rations were nutritious, but the texture and flavor left a lot to be desired.
“Let’s try that,” Joaquin suggested. “My stomach is rumbling at the thought of it.”
“Okay, we’ll share packet rations and also eat these sandwiches.” She held up a packet of sandwiches Craig recognized from the packed lunch Joaquin had offered him all those hours ago when they were in the airport before this began.
“Good idea. Eat anything perishable first and add in something warm while we have the fire going.” Satisfied they were making the best use of the food they had available, Craig tried to relax.
Although, he soon discovered relaxing was next to impossible. As he let his senses roam he was certain there was something, or someone, out there watching, waiting.
Good. Let them try to attack, his bear said as he flexed his claws. I’m ready for them.
But Craig knew that might not be possible. There might be a small army amassing outside to finish the job the eagle shifter started.
Craig hated the unknown. But he wasn’t about to leave his mate’s side for a reconnaissance mission. For now they were warm and safe, and if anything came through that gash in the plane they would be dispatched with haste.
Chapter Nine – Linda
“Something’s out there.” Linda spoke the words to Craig, but he already knew. She could see it in his face as his gaze kept flicking to the tear in the plane which they had covered over with the parachute. It wasn’t thick enough to do much good, but it was better than staring out into the dark night.
Or perhaps it was more comforting to know nothing out there was staring in at them.
“You sense it, too.” He glanced at the opening once more before looking at her.
“Yes. Although it’s faint.”
“Perhaps whatever is out there doesn’t know exactly where we are.”
“It’s searching.” That made sense. “The glow from the fire will give us away.”
Craig looked down at the sleeping forms of Gina and Joaquin. “That’s a risk we have to take.”
“Agreed.” Linda stared at Gina. She couldn’t make out her features in the light of the fire, but she could see the rise and fall of the coat that covered her and was satisfied her friend was okay.
“Tomorrow we break camp early and cut a section out of the plane. We get ourselves down the mountain as fast as we can.” He pulled out his cell phone and looked at it. “We might get lucky and get a signal.”
“Even if we do, what are the chances of a rescue?” Linda hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them.
“Bear Creek Protectors, the company I work for, will get us out of here. One way or another,” he reassured her.
“You? Or all of us?” Linda asked. “We’re not under your protection.”
Craig raised his eyebrow and chuckled. “You know that’s not true.”
“To you. But to your buddies…”
“You are more important than any paying client,” his voice was fierce as he spoke, and his eyes flashed in the light of the fire.
“You say the sweetest things.” Linda nudged him playfully.
“It’s a gift.” He stared into the fire for a moment. “What about you?”
“What about me?” Linda asked.
“Do you have anyone who’ll miss you?”
“You mean anyone who will know I’m missing?”
/>
“Yes.”
She considered this for a moment. “Not really. Unless you count the guy whose villa I was supposed to be staying in for a couple of weeks.”
“Do I need to be jealous?” Craig’s voice rumbled in his chest.
“No, he was a client who was happy with my work.” She shook her head. “The only other person who would miss me is asleep over there.”
“You and Gina are close.” He leaned in toward her as if offering her comfort.
“We are.” Her brow creased. “I’m not some poor lonely soul you need to feel sorry for.”
“That’s not what I was thinking.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “But I know what it’s like to be alone.”
“I’m used to it. Growing up I only had my grandma. When she passed away, I only had Gina.” Linda considered her life. “It made work easier, I never had anyone to miss or who missed me. I’ve been lucky, I’ve traveled the world and met some really interesting people.”
“Are you willing to give that up?” Craig asked bluntly.
“Are you asking me to?” Linda asked in return.
“I’m not asking you to. I’m just wondering if you wanted kids and all that stuff.”
“All that stuff.” Heat crept across her cheeks. “I don’t really know what all that stuff is, but I want it. I want it all. I want to raise kids who have a mom and a dad, who know they are loved and someone will always be there for them.”
“It must have been tough growing up without that kind of support.” Craig’s gentle voice lulled her, and she leaned into him, wanting him to comfort her. She’d never thought too much about how much she’d missed out on. Probably because she didn’t know any different. It wasn’t as if she was unloved. Her grandma loved her deeply. And so did Gina.
“I got by.” She closed her eyes briefly. “That’s me brushing off my feelings.”
“It’s okay, I can see why you might want to put a barrier up to guard yourself against letting people in. Letting them see too much of the person you really are underneath.”
“That sounds like the voice of experience.” Her eyes drooped as she stared at the fire and absorbed the warmth emanating from Craig. He was like home. The home she had lost when her grandma died. That was the closest she could get to describing her feelings toward him.
“It is. Serving in the Army was hard. Emotionally draining. And I learned to put a barrier up. It helped me deal with the things I witnessed. It’s difficult to witness what people do to other people.” He glanced around the plane. “Being a bodyguard has taught me it’s not just something you see in the Army. So the barrier has stayed put.”
“On the flip side, I’ve seen how much people are willing to go out of their way to help other people.” She smiled sadly at the sleeping form of Gina. “She saved me from a desperately miserable college experience. She turned me around and made me see the sunshine instead of the dark storm clouds that gathered over my head.”
“Then I am eternally grateful to Gina.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and she had to fight her desire to tense. Linda wasn’t used to showing affection. During her time as a bodyguard she had always kept some distance between herself and those she was sworn to protect. With Craig she was going to have to learn to let her defenses down.
“What about you?” She’d bared her soul enough for one night.
“I had a happy childhood. My dad was in the Army and we moved around some, but I always made friends easily.”
“Did you join the Army because of your dad?” Linda always wondered if her life and career might have turned out different if she had parents as role models. Instead, she’d fallen into being a personal bodyguard after drifting from job to job, none of which suited her.
“Not just my dad. It is a family tradition going back generations.” He gave her a wry smile. “If I’d chosen not to sign up I would have blackened the family name.”
“But you left the Army.”
“I did. I wanted more from life. I wanted to find my mate and I figured I had a better chance of finding her as a civilian.” He chuckled to himself. “Even in this modern world the Army is predominantly male. The odds of finding my mate on the job were stacked against me.”
“Do you miss it?” Linda picked up another piece of wood and leaned forward to feed it to the fire.
“Yes and no. I miss the guys. The closeness of working in a tight group of people with the same aim.” He prodded the fire and soon the temperature in the fuselage heated up. Or maybe it was the closeness of his mate. “But things have changed. There’s no going back.”
Linda turned to look at him, her eyes scanning his face as she searched for the meaning behind his words. “You were thinking of going back.”
“It was an idea I was considering.” His hand moved to rest over his heart for a moment but then it dropped to his side. “But things have changed.”
“So you keep saying.” Linda sat back and half-turned to face him. “But if you want to go back, I won’t stop you. We’re supposed to help and support each other in whatever we want to achieve.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” His eyes danced with humor, but there was something else hidden there. A sadness. Or a weariness, she couldn’t tell.
“Not yet. I don’t know you well enough.” She nudged him gently. “What I mean is if you have a calling, then you should answer it.”
“Not so much a calling. But…” He stopped talking and turned his attention to look beyond the plane as if he could see right through the metal.
Linda narrowed her eyes and directed her senses outward. “Did you hear something?” she asked, her voice a hushed whisper.
He shook his head. “But I can sense someone.”
Frowning, she pushed her senses further out. “I can’t sense anything.”
Craig stood up and she shadowed his actions as he walked to the tear in the plane. All that stood between them and what Craig sensed was out there was a flimsy bit of fabric. She smiled despite herself. That flimsy piece of fabric was enough to save a person’s life when they were plummeting down to the earth from a great height.
“There.” Craig’s voice snapped her to attention.
Linda twisted her head to the side, her face screwed up as she pushed herself further than she had pushed herself before. “I sense it. Far away.”
“It’s circled around a couple of times.” Craig pulled the fabric open an inch and peered out. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”
“That’s not very comforting.” If Craig had never felt anything like it, then she was damn sure she hadn’t either.
“Sorry.” He looked down at her. She liked that. Not many people ever looked down at her, she was too tall. Her height had caused a dent in her confidence as broad as her…too broad…shoulders.
“Can you teach me?” Linda asked, brushing off the voice of self-doubt. She was perfect for Craig in every way.
“Teach you?” He turned his warm brown eyes on her and she melted inside just like the snow melted over the fire.
“To stretch my senses further. How do you do that?” She was impressed and wasn’t afraid to admit it.
Her bear chuckled, despite the seriousness of their situation. You’re impressed by his senses? What about the rest of him? He’s impressive from the tips of his fur to the tips of his claws.
“Practice. There’s something about your life, and those of the people around you, being on the line that makes you work hard to focus on the danger around you. Hidden or in plain sight.”
“Perhaps on the way down the mountain you can teach me.” She sighed, her breath a cloud of vapor on the air. “If we’re being watched, and followed, then we’re going to have to take turns keeping watch while the other sleeps. I don’t want to be the one who lets our enemy get too close.”
Craig slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She leaned into him and closed her eyes, absorbing the sensation of being in his arms.
What if she let them all down and she ended up truly alone in this world? A small sob escaped her and she pressed her hand to her mouth, not wanting to wake Gina and Joaquin.
“Hey, you won’t let anyone down. You’ve already done more than most people would have under the same circumstances.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I believe in you. I believe that you will do whatever it takes to get us home.”
She nodded and sniffed loudly. Tears were a luxury she couldn’t afford. “What do you sense now?”
He lifted his head and gazed into the distance, a look of concentration on his face. “Nothing.” Then he turned back to her and murmured, “Only you.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “I’m glad you’re here, even though it scares me that you’re in danger. I’m glad you are here.”
“I’m glad I’m here, too. I will protect you with until my dying breath leads my body,” he swore savagely.
“That’s what worries me.” She placed her hand over his heart. He was so full of life, so full of strength, she could not bear the thought of him ending up broken and dead because of her.
“I’d rather die than live without you.” His arms tightened around her.
“And I can’t imagine living without you. So please don’t.” She patted his chest lightly. “One of us needs to sleep.”
“You go ahead.” He didn’t relax his grip on her, as if he had no plans on letting her go.
“Will you wake me in a couple of hours?” The thought of sleep made her eyelids heavy, it had been a long day. One that had ended a million miles from where it started. The promise of a warm beach and clear ocean had been replaced by a cold mountain and thick snow.
“I will,” he agreed but she didn’t quite believe him.
“Promise?”
“I promise.” He gave a lopsided smile. “I am not going to get away with much around you, am I?”
“No, you’re not. So don’t even try.” She slid out of his arms and shuffled toward the fire. “A couple of hours.”
He nodded and watched her as she lay down on the cold floor and pulled a makeshift blanket over her shoulders. As she let sleep take her, she watched him watching her until she could no longer keep her eyes open.
Survivor Bear Page 7
