by Kristie Cook
River and Gabriel spoke at the same time.“Eli.”
“Excuse me? What does Eli have to do with anything?”
Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut, as if he were in pain. “Where’s the body?”
“When I said I took care of it … that might have been a bit of an exaggeration.” A crimson flush raced up Jonathan’s neck. “I only wounded it. Once I get River back to the hut, and I’m sure she’s okay, I’ll hunt it down and put it out of its misery.”
River and Gabriel again spoke in unison, only this time, it was a shout instead of a whisper. “No!”
Jonathan jerked back like a startled deer. “It could take days for it to die. That’s cruel.”
River grabbed the strap of Jonathan’s quiver and pulled it around so she could examine its contents. Relief flooded her veins. “You only have practice arrows. Unless you hit a vital organ, and the wolf bleeds out before it can heal, he should be able to dislodge the arrow and survive.”
Jonathan squinted his eyes and frowned. But he didn’t argue with her. Now, all she had to do was persuade Eli not to tell anyone that Jonathan had shot him.
“I didn’t use a practice arrow. I had one of Gabriel’s hunting arrows in my quiver.”
Gabriel dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands.
A twig snapped. River froze. Neither Jonathan nor Gabriel reacted. Another twig snapped, followed by a groan and the swoosh of something crashing through the underbrush. She recognized Eli’s voice as he muttered under his breath. “I don’t care what Mother wants, I’m going to kill that son of a bitch.”
Now that she’d merged with her wolf, River’s hearing was much more acute, even in her human form. “Gabriel, I think I heard something.”
She nodded towards the noise and prayed he’d understand what she was getting at.
“I’ll go check it out.”
“Take my bow.” Jonathan reached around River and unhooked it from his golden claw. “An injured animal is extremely dangerous. But if you see a solid black wolf, don’t shoot it. He’s tame.”
Gabriel left without taking Jonathan’s bow. He was gone for less than ten minutes. He stopped on the other side of the fire and motioned for River to join him.
She squeezed Jonathan’s arm and stood up. “I need to speak with Gabriel for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Yes. Soon. Just … be patient a little longer.”
River wrapped the buffalo robe more securely around her body, even though merge fever scorched her veins. She knew how much it upset Jonathan for anyone to see her naked.
Gabriel gripped River’s shoulders and gazed into her eyes. He reminded her of Reuben as he spoke with quiet authority. “It’s not as bad as we thought. Eli will be sore for awhile, but he’ll live.”
“At least we’re under quarantine. Eli will have time to heal before he has to report for patrol duty.”
Gabriel dropped his gaze to his boots.
“What’s wrong?”
“Aunt Shula lifted the quarantine when she found out you’d left with Jonathan. Pa told me to find you and help protect the son of Ephraim.”
“Shula won’t care if Jonathan is a son of Ephraim. She’s not going to let this go unpunished.”
Gabriel quirked the side of his mouth up into a crooked grin. “It’s my arrow in Eli’s ugly ass. I’ll tell everyone that it was an accident. I got so excited when I saw a buck in the forest, I didn’t take the time to be sure I had a clear shot. I didn’t see the wolf lurking in the underbrush. It’s a simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“You know there’s no excuse good enough to escape punishment for shooting Eli, even if they believe that ridiculous story.” The penalty for injuring another through carelessness was twenty lashes. “I can’t let you take the blame for this!”
“Jonathan’s life is already in danger. Shula will see to it that his beating will be so severe he can’t survive it. And then, if you survive your own whipping, she’ll force you to mate with Eli.” Gabriel pressed River against his chest. “If you won’t let me cure your fever, let Jonathan do it.”
“He needs to merge with his wolf first.” River disentangled herself from Gabriel’s embrace. “Have you seen him? A solid black male?”
“He’s waiting for something.” Gabriel nodded towards the forest behind Jonathan. “Probably for Eli and I to get out of the way.”
Merge fever was scrambling River’s brain. She couldn’t think. “Doesn’t Eli know who shot him?”
Gabriel nodded. “But he agreed to go along with my plan.”
“Why? He hates Jonathan!”
“He hates him even more now.” A smile flickered across Gabriel’s face. “You’re Jonathan’s sponsor. Eli doesn’t want you to be punished any more than I do.” Gabriel wiped a tear off River’s cheek with his thumb. “If the whipping doesn’t kill you, Jonathan’s execution will.”
River’s hand shook as she wiped the sweat off her brow. “Jonathan is my responsibility. I’ll claim that I shot Eli. Reuben knows that I borrowed some of your arrows for this hunt. The evidence will support my claim.”
“No.”
“But … twenty lashes!”
“I’m stronger than you. I can handle it.”
“Oh, Gabriel.” A sob escaped River’s throat. She threw her arms around his waist and kissed his neck, the only spot she could reach. When had he gotten so tall? She stepped back and wiped her eyes with a corner of the buffalo robe. “How will you get home?”
“Saucy knows Sugar and Red are at the hut. I’m sure that’s where he’s headed. But just in case he decides to go all the way back to the ranch; Eli and I will double up on Old Red. That’ll leave Lightning and Sugar for you and Jonathan.”
Gabriel smiled. This time it was genuine. “Even if I manage to dig the arrow out of Eli’s ass, he’s going to have to ride draped over Red’s back like a dead man. That alone is worth a couple of lashes.”
River’s eyes filled with tears. She appreciated his attempt to make light of a very serious situation. “Thank you.”
Gabriel leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Your fever’s spiking. You’re running out of time.”
“Where’s he off to?” Jonathan nodded at the spot where Gabriel had disappeared into the forest.
“He’s going to take care of the wolf you shot.”
“Without a bow?” Jonathan released his hold on River.
The forest tilted sideways. Her fever was progressing faster than she expected.
Jonathan grabbed her elbow and steadied her. “Whoa. Are you okay?”
“I need you to merge with your wolf and mate with me.”
Jonathan slipped his arm around her back, squeezing her waist with his fingers. But instead of going to the spot of ground that Gabriel had prepared in front of the fire; he led her to Lightning. “We need to get you back to the hut.”
“We don’t have time.” River turned around to face him and put her arms around his neck. Her fever burned away any remnant of trepidation. She wanted him even more than she did the night before. “You need to mate with me, now.”
“I can wait until you feel better.”
“I won’t feel better until after you mate with me.” Tears blurred River’s vision.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll still make love to you. But not out here with nothing but a buffalo hide between us and the cold, hard ground. And definitely not while you’re sick.” He brushed a tear off her cheek then kissed her forehead. “I want your first time to be special.”
“You don’t understand!” River didn’t know how to explain it to him. She couldn’t shift into her wolf form again until after her fever broke. “If you don’t mate with me soon, I’ll die. Where is your wolf?”
“I have no idea. He licked my face and took off.”
“Go find him.” River sniffed the air. She caught a faint trace of Jonathan’s wolf, downwind,
and pushed him in that direction as her vision greyed.
Jonathan
Jonathan caught River as she fainted. He laid her across the buffalo robe on the ground. Something told him to take off his clothes and hold her against his naked body. That’s crazy. He would never take advantage of an incapacitated woman whether she was drunk, high or delirious with fever. But he needed to do something. He should take her back to the hut.
He leaned over to pick her up, but he smelled something unusual on her skin. He kissed her forehead and tasted fear.
Okay, that’s even crazier. Animals could smell fear, not people. Was he getting sick, too? He felt hot. His eyes burned. Jonathan reached up to rub them and noticed a green glow on his palm. Holy shit. Were his eyes glowing?
He slipped the gold chain off his neck and used the reflective back of the medallion to check. It wasn’t as good as a mirror, but there was no denying the fact that his eyes were glowing like a lightning bug’s ass.
His skin felt like he was on fire. He shrugged out of his coat but that only gave him a moment’s relief. His vest and shirt hit the ground. He didn’t even realize he’d taken them off.
Jonathan’s wolf crept out from behind a tree. It laid down and rested its chin on its front paws then looked at River and whined.
River. Jonathan couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about her for even a second. What the hell was wrong with him?
He laid down next to her on the buffalo pelt and wrapped his arms around her limp, naked body. She didn’t feel quite as hot as she had before but that was probably because of his own fever. “River? Can you open your eyes for me? Are you okay?”
She didn’t respond. She’d said that she would die if Jonathan didn’t ‘mate’ with her. But that was crazy. People didn’t die from a lack of sex. It only felt that way.
River had also told Jonathan to follow his instincts. But which ones? He wasn’t aroused. Although he could be if he focused on the feel of River’s soft curves pressed against the hard planes of his body—and ignored the fact that she was unconscious.
Right now, all he wanted to do was hold her and protect her. But from what? His wolf wasn’t showing any signs of aggression. When did he start thinking of it as “his” wolf?
It whined again and inched forward.
“River, please wake up. Tell me what to do.”
She whimpered.
Jonathan rose to his knees and moved his fingers to the pulse point on her neck. It was weak and rapid. He turned his head and placed his ear above her softly parted lips. She was hardly breathing. Nothing but quick, shallow gasps that barely stirred the air. She was in trouble.
“River, don’t you dare leave me. I can’t lose you, too.”
Jonathan hardly ever cried. He’d shed a few tears when the mine had caved in on him and Franklin and he’d thought they were going to die. But he didn’t cry when he woke up in agonizing pain and learned that they’d amputated his left hand. He didn’t even cry when they told him that Franklin had died in Afghanistan. He’d bawled like a baby the night before Franklin’s funeral, then vowed he’d never cry again. And he hadn’t. Until now.
He lifted River in his arms. Her body was completely limp. Dead weight. All the tears Jonathan had been unable to shed burst through the dam of his scarred heart. They ran down his cheeks and fell onto River’s throat like rain.
Jonathan buried his face against her shoulder and sobbed. He begged her to come back to him, but she didn’t respond. He lifted his head and screamed at God. “You can’t take her, too! I won’t let you!”
River’s head lolled to the side, exposing the bite mark on her neck.
An overwhelming urge to bite her again slammed into Jonathan. A primal growl rumbled out of his chest. “I love you and I will not live without you. I forbid you to die.”
River’s blood filled Jonathan’s mouth before he even realized what he’d done.
River
River floated in swirling pool of heat, consumed by fever. She heard Jonathan’s pleas for her to open her eyes. She wanted to, but her body refused to obey. She knew she was dying. She was disappointed, but she wasn’t afraid. For whatever reason, Jonathan had not merged with his wolf. He was not going to mate with her. She wasn’t destined to be his mate after all.
Her heart broke when his body rocked with sobs. His tears fell on her face. She wanted to reach up and wipe them from his eyes, but she had no strength. She should have told him everything last night. He wouldn’t have believed her, but the information might have helped him follow his instincts instead of his conscience. She wished she’d at least confessed her love to him. Now, he’d never know. That regret pained her more than her imminent death.
Jonathan growled. It was deeper and fiercer than anything River had ever heard before. The vibrations from his chest shook her entire body. “I love you and I will not live without you. I forbid you to die.”
River thought she’d been past feeling, but she felt it when Jonathan bit her. She felt the heat of his mouth on her skin. She felt his teeth sink into her flesh. She felt his power resonate in the marrow of her bones.
Her body exploded in a flash of pain. Fear grabbed her by the throat and squeezed. She felt as if she were merging again, but instead of finding herself in a new body, there was nothing. No sight, sound, or smell. No sense of touch or taste, or even pain to ground her. Nothing but fear. Was this what it felt like to die?
A pinprick of light appeared. Her wolf’s spirit recognized it first and flew towards Jonathan’s life-spark. River cried out with relief and joy as her soul merged with his. Love filled her entire being, stretching and growing and binding her heart to his. If this was death, she welcomed it.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Jonathan?”
His face was mere inches from hers. Worry furrowed his brow and creased the corners of his eyes. Tears streaked his cheeks. Blood coated his lips. But she’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
“What happened? Did you mate with me?” She’d been so close to death. Maybe she’d been unconscious during the act.
He blinked then brushed her fever dampened hair off her forehead. “No.”
“Then, why am I alive?”
“Because I refused to let you die.” He grinned at her, flashing his dimples, but his smirk lacked its usual cockiness.
“It doesn’t usually work like that.”
“Believe me, I know.”
“Your wolf was here. Wasn’t he?”
He looked over his shoulder then returned his gaze to River. “He’s gone now. You don’t need to be afraid of him. He’s tame.”
River reached up and smoothed the lines across his brow. “No. He’s not.”
“I don’t want anyone to shoot him.”
“They won’t.” She trailed her fingers down his cheeks, over the salty path of his dried tears. “Promise me you’ll never shoot another wolf ever again.”
“Did Gabriel go after the one I shot?”
River closed her eyes and shuddered. Gabriel wouldn’t be able to avoid the whip, but hopefully he’d be given the minimum number of lashes. “He’s taking care of it.”
“You’re freezing.” Jonathan crawled off the buffalo robe then wrapped it around River. “We need to get you back home so Eli’s mother can check you out.”
“No!” River’s heart faltered. They needed to stay as far away from Shula as possible. Even though Gabriel had taken the blame for shooting Eli, Jonathan wasn’t out of danger. River didn’t know how she’d survived merge fever without mating, but she was certain Shula would find a way to twist it to her advantage. “We need to find your wolf so you can merge. I want to mate with you before Shula finds us.”
“Not until a doctor, or a healer of some sort, checks you out. You nearly died.”
“I should have died. But there are forces at work here that I don’t understand. We need to talk to Reuben.”
“Let’s start by getting you dressed so you don’t freeze to death.”
&nb
sp; Steam rose off Jonathan’s bare chest and shoulders. A faint green glow still rimmed his sky-blue irises. He had pre-merge fever which proved he was a shifter.
Which also proved he was the promised son of Ephraim.
Jonathan
Jonathan found River’s clothes and boots scattered around the spot where Saucy had dumped him. They were stiff and cold, but a few minutes by the fire would fix that.
When he got back, River was huddled up in the buffalo robe, the only thing showing were her eyes. He held her pants as close to the fire as he could without burning them, or his hand.
She wiggled around inside the buffalo hide, making it look like a live animal as she dressed. “Thank you. That feels so good.”
Now that River was out of danger, Jonathan’s mind focused on other, more pleasurable things. “Did you suddenly develop a severe case of modesty?”
She poked her head out of the buffalo pelt and grinned at him. “No. I’m just trying to keep warm.”
“Good.” Jonathan grinned back at her. “Need any help with that? I’m pretty hot.”
River laughed and shook her head. “Not until after you merge.”
Jonathan frowned. “How do I do that?”
River lifted her chin and sniffed the air, like a dog. “Your wolf is long gone. I guess he isn’t ready to merge yet.”
“You can tell that by sniffing the air?”
River blushed, giving her cheeks a healthy glow. “My wolf didn’t let me merge with her the first time we met. She made me wait until today.”
“And what did that entail, exactly?”
River closed her eyes and grimaced then opened them and shook her head. “I really wish I could tell you, but my instincts are warning me not to.”
Jonathan couldn’t deny that he’d been led by his own instincts or that those instincts had, somehow, saved River’s life. “Alright. I’ll respect that. For now.”
River shucked off the buffalo skin then slipped into her coat. “We should head back to the hut. Without horses, it’s going to take a while.”
It took more than a while. It took five miserable hours. How had River gone so far last night, in the dark and burning up with fever?
