by K. L. Donn
“I’ve waited too long already. Tonight, you’re mine.”
When he forced his hand up her shirt, grabbing a breast roughly, she cried out from the pain. He pulled back, and that’s when she pushed him off, rushing to the bathroom to escape his groping.
“I never should have come,” she whimpered to her tear-stained face in the mirror.
A pain-filled howl drew her back from the memory she’d been lost in. The man she had been dating for a month had changed so drastically. Had become someone she’d never met before. She was so stupid in trusting him just because her friend had.
Another howl had her on her feet. Roxie was nowhere in sight as Pepper ran into the copse of trees she’d last seen the animal. “Roxie!” she called, hoping the dog would come to her.
Yipping was her only answer from somewhere ahead. Knowing it was a bad idea to leave the porch without Nick or Ace, she still went in search of the dog. How could she not? Small dots of blood were in stark contrast with the crisp white snow as she came upon the source of the moaning.
“Oh, Roxie!” she cried out in dismay, seeing the animal with what she assumed was a bear trap wrapped around one paw. The men never mentioned anything about them being out here. It seemed irresponsible that they wouldn’t, so she had to wonder if they even knew it was there. How many others were out there?
“I got you, sweet girl,” she cooed to the frightened dog as she rubbed her soft coat.
The thought of leaving the animal alone was not an option, so she tried screaming for her men in the hopes they weren’t too far away from the house.
“Nick!” Her voice was so loud birds took flight from the trees.
“It’ll be fine.” She kept talking to Roxie, trying to inspect the wound without touching her. “Shit!” Blood was flowing from it.
“Ace!” she tried screaming again. Roxie started howling with her.
“How do they not hear us?” Pepper tried to keep her voice comforting as she took off her coat to wrap around the now shivering dog.
Roxie tried to contort her body to lick the open wound, and it killed Pepper not to let her try to soothe her own pain as she pushed her body back down. “I’ll take care of you, sweet girl.”
“Nick!” she screamed louder, hoping against hope he would hear her.
No such luck.
She had to do something. Refusing to leave the injured animal, she told her, “I’m gonna try and get this off you.” Roxie gave her a blank, painful stare. “Just don’t bite me. Please.”
Getting a grip on both sides of the claw without moving it around was a lot more difficult than she thought it would be. Roxie’s whining brought tears to her eyes.
“Alright, baby, here we go.” Their eyes met briefly before she started pulling the claws apart. Her grip nearly faltered. Steeling her resolve, she yanked with all the strength she could muster. When it opened just enough for the dog’s paw to slip through, she drew it down and off as she lost her grip, one of the sharp blades clipping her finger as it closed.
“Thank God,” she muttered to her injured companion, not even realizing that she was bleeding as well.
Ripping the sleeve off her shirt, she fashioned a make-shift bandage to wrap around the wounded leg of Roxie before picking her up in her arms.
With no idea how long of a walk it was going to be, she called upon every ounce of strength she had in her body and mind to get them home so they could get her friend to the vet for treatment.
Every noise, every movement within the trees, was all magnified. Her senses were on high alert. She wasn’t prepared for what would happen next. What she would see.
Gold eyes. Enormous bodies. The scent of blood.
For a moment, Pepper swore it was the end.
Nick was prepared for whatever Pepper’s brother had to say, no matter how much the other man had already pissed him off with his obviously careless words tossed at his sister.
“I told her she was a fucking burden. That stupid cunt I was seeing played me for a fool, and I told Pepper she needed to grow up.” The pain and grief were clear in the other man’s voice.
Ace followed Nick as he went into the office, wanting to get shit sorted with James without Pepper being hurt. “Look, we all make mistakes. Not all of us get second chances, though, so you better fucking make sure you set this right with her. This is the time to step up and be the fucking hero she remembers you as.”
Ignoring everything Nick had said, the other man asked him, “Are you involved with my sister? She has amnesia for crying out loud.”
No sense in lying to the man. “Yes, we are.” He knew James would catch the we.
“We? You and that deputy? You’re both screwing my sister!” The outrage and insult were pissing Nick off.
“Watch your fucking tone, Detective.” It was the only warning Nick would give him. “I understand you’re shocked at the news, but I won’t allow you to disrespect her. Especially to her face when you get here. Understand?”
“Fuck!” Nick could practically see the other man running a hand down his face in frustration because he’d be doing it himself if the roles were reversed.
“You hear that?” Ace asked him, his head poking out of the office door. “Where’s Pepper?” James was talking to him, but he was only paying a little attention to the other man as Ace walked to the front door.
When it opened, they heard “Nick!” screamed louder than he’d ever heard before.
“That’s Pepper,” Ace commented, putting his gear on.
“James, I gotta go. Be here when you can. Call this number anytime.” He didn’t let the other man get a word in as he hung up. He followed Ace out the door.
The chill in the air sucked the breath from his lungs as he didn’t have a coat on.
“Pepper!” Ace yelled from just ahead. They didn’t even know where they were running to until they heard Roxie yipping and growling in the distance. Her voice was off. Full of pain.
“Fucking hell.” Nick cursed up a streak blue enough to make a sailor blush as they finally spotted Pepper, frozen in place with a visibly injured Roxie in her arms.
Movement from the left caught his eyes, and he swore his entire life flashed before his eyes as he met the golden eyes of a Cougar. The same one he’d seen earlier that morning.
“Pepper,” Ace called gently, getting her attention.
“Hi,” she whispered with a wobbly smile.
“Don’t move, baby,” he told her.
“Couldn’t if I tried,” she joked.
God, he loved that woman. Always trying to soothe them and their fears.
“What happened?” Ace asked her, wanting to keep her distracted.
“Huh? Oh, there was a bear trap. Back that ways a bit. Why didn’t you tell me you had one? Is there more? That’s so dangerous.” Her nerves were showing if she was giving them shit.
“Baby?” Nick grabbed her attention again.
“Nicky,” she drawled out.
Smiling, he told her, “We don’t have bear traps.” Which begged the question of who put one out there?
“Oh. Well, you do. Have one that is. Can I move now? My arms are shaking, and if these cats keep advancing, I might collapse or cry or scream or doing something to startle them, and I have a feeling we really don’t want me to do that. Right?” He was so proud of her bravery.
“Right, baby.” As soon as the words left his mouth, one of the cats walked towards her, circling her prone body as her shaking visibly picked up speed. “Don’t move, Pepper,” he warned as the cougar began rubbing her body.
Pepper’s death grip on the coat she’d wrapped around Roxie’s injured body turned whiter than the snow under their feet.
“This isn’t normal, is it?” she whispered, almost too softly to be heard.
He’d never felt so helpless in his life. This was so out of the norm for a wild animal, he couldn’t even begin to guess what it was doing.
Suddenly it hit him. “She’s marking you.” He was st
unned. Cougars only did that to their cubs, which made his assumption about these particular ones right. They were there because something was going to happen.
Now Nick knew what it was.
He was coming for Pepper.
Beautiful creatures. They really were.
She felt like they were prettier from a distance, though.
“Why is she marking me? Is she going to eat me? Oh God.” Her mouth wouldn’t stop. The animal in her arms was oddly relaxed, so that meant maybe she should be, too?
The wet nose on her hand followed by a chuff had weakened her knees to the point that she collapsed to the ground. Eyes squeezed as tight as she could, Pepper cradled Roxie’s injured form to her chest in anticipation of the cougar finally attacking. When nothing happened, one eye slid open to peek at it.
“Crap.” She breathed out as she was met face to face with the incredible being. When it had stood in front of her, she was positive that it was the end; she was going to die. Surprise overtook her when the animal rubbed against her some more, circling her entire body. Its face bumped her own and had bile climbing up her throat with the fear she was sure everything within a ten-kilometre radius could smell.
With one last face rub, the wild animal finally walked away from her. Nonetheless, she couldn’t move. She watched as Nick and Ace rushed towards her, taking Roxie from her arms as they helped her to her feet. She was in shock, the fear keeping her immobile. She was like a stone statue.
“Pepper.” She heard Ace say her name and felt both of their hands running along her body. It was as though she had completely disconnected from her body. The distinct certainty of death had left her a trembling, immovable mess.
“Pick her up,” she heard Nick tell Ace. Her limbs were numb as he did so, cradling her to his muscular chest. Normally, she loved feeling his body against her own, but now, she felt like she could fall apart at any second.
It hadn’t been more than a few minutes before they were walking through the cabin doors only to go back out to the SUV and ride into town.
“Roxie,” she finally muttered. Her sweet canine friend was injured, and she’d nearly forgotten in her own turmoil.
“Baby?” Ace called from the seat beside her as Nick drove.
Cognizant of what was happening around her, she found it extremely hard to process her body’s response to anything. Confused. Scared. Weak. She watched as everything flew by the windows in a blur, not seeing anything more than bright sunlight.
Roxie’s whining from the back drew her attention once again. Leaving Ace’s hold, she climbed over the seat to lay beside the injured animal.
“It’ll be alright, sweet girl,” she whispered, hoping to soothe her fear.
Pepper was still mystified as to what had happened, how things had turned around so quickly. Living in Vancouver her whole life, she’d never come across any cougars, so she had no experience as to what their behaviour was like other than what she’d seen on the Discovery Channel. Surely, what they’d done, or rather, hadn’t done, wasn’t normal. Maybe the shock was finally wearing off as she had about a million questions running through her mind, only she couldn’t get one to sit still long enough to ask.
A shadow fell over them as they lay on the floor. Her gaze met Ace’s warm green eyes as he watched them. She gave him a wobbly smile, so he knew she was still there just trying to work through her thoughts. He reached a hand over the seat to run through her hair, sharing his own comforting touch with her, the way she was with Roxie.
“We’ll be in town soon,” he told them as Pepper’s eyes closed, needing all the comfort she could get.
“What the fuck?” Alex uttered, horrified at what he’d just witnessed. He hadn’t expected the bear trap to actually work and figured someone would see it for sure. But there was no way to link it back to him, so he wasn’t too worried.
Honestly, he had hoped it would catch one of these men in its iron-tight grip. The dog was a surprise. Too bad he hadn’t gotten there sooner. Having to go into town to handle his affairs back home, he’d missed his one easy chance to nab Pepper.
When he’d come across the scene just as the Cougars had found her, he’d been shocked they hadn’t attacked. Then he became angry they hadn’t because he knew, for sure, those men would try to jump in to protect her. Once they were dead, he could have been the knight in shining armour. Come to her rescue. But no, that just wasn’t his fucking luck. The stupid cats had to do whatever they’d done, and the men had whisked Pepper and the injured dog away before he could act.
His rational mind said it was time to cut his losses. His obsessed mind said hurry the fuck up and claim his girl.
He was on the side of claiming Pepper as his once and for all.
So now, he was setting up surveillance around the cabin, as well as little traps here and there. Like the bait he was sure would attract those cougars back to them. Hopefully, the dumb animals would follow their instincts this time.
Setting up small fire bombs on the corners of the cabin was easy for him. A strategic play on his part really. He was a firefighter; no one knew the flame better than he.
A dash of gasoline on the fire logs on the porch, and he was set for the time being.
“Soon, Pepper. I’ll bring you home real soon.”
Chapter Ten
They all sat in the waiting room of the small veterinarian clinic in town waiting on word about Roxie. Ace couldn’t stop thinking about the fear that had consumed his entire being when they’d found the girls surrounded by Cougars.
Pepper’s face spoke volumes when she realized what was happening. Her eyes had filled with wonder and fear which was quickly replaced with bone-chilling dread as she thought her time was up.
He could admit there was never a moment in his own life where he’d been so terrified. The thought of not having her in his world was inconceivable. He refused to let it happen, and so help anyone that tried to tell him otherwise. The death grips he and Nick had on her hands were indication enough of how vulnerable they had all felt.
The wait on Roxie was a long one. Or maybe it just seemed like it was because of the events leading up to where they were now. Ace was still confused as to how a bear trap had gotten anywhere on the property, let alone so close to the cabin.
“Do bears come around often?” Pepper’s soft question echoed his thoughts.
Nick looked to her. “No. There hasn’t been any type of bear incident in years.”
“Then why was there a trap there?” Her voice sounded so sad.
Nick’s body was deceptively relaxed as he reclined in his chair. “I wish to hell I knew.”
Before anyone could say anything else, the vet came out. “Sheriff?” They all sprang to their feet to greet the woman. “Roxie will be just fine. Stiches and a limp for a while, but she’s good to go when you are. The nurse can help you with discharge care.”
“Thank you.” Nick shook her hand before she left, then Pepper’s sobbing drew their attention back to her.
“Baby?” Nick asked, placing a hand under her chin.
Waving her hand between them, she said, “It’s fine. Happy tears. I promise.” Her smile was brilliant as she wrapped an arm around each of them.
“No more running off like that, Pepper, you hear me,” Ace said to her.
Even though they hadn’t known she’d run, the not seeing her near when they heard her cries was rough on his heart. So much was happening, and he felt like everything was spinning out of control. With everything to lose, they surely couldn’t handle much more drama.
“I promise,” she whispered as a very drugged Roxie was brought out.
The animal, of course, went straight for her new mistress. Even in her clearly pain-filled state, Roxie checked Pepper over. Sniffing and licking anywhere she could reach from her prone position on the floor.
As the two of them reunited, he and Nick went to speak to the receptionist about after-care for the dog. She gave them a whole slew of information that had his h
ead spinning. The side effects were what worried him most. The woman mentioned keeping Roxie off her leg, keeping her calm. She definitely didn’t know the dog. An impossible task that would be.
“Alright, girls, you ready?” Nick asked as they walked up to the cuddling pair still seated on the floor.
Pepper and Roxie looked at the guys as though they just realized they weren’t alone. For some reason, Ace became insanely jealous of the dog.
“Damn dog,” Nick muttered his same thoughts.
“Injuries in our future,” he only partially joked. If he could get her undivided attention in the same way, he wasn’t above it. Pepper’s blush was fast as she caught his meaning.
In the vehicle, he drove home as Nick helped Pepper keep Roxie settled in the back. While Pepper was more worried about the dog, he and Nick were concerned over her and everything that had happened. The unspoken concerns from Nick and his original thoughts about those cougars made Ace rethink keeping their girl at the cabin.
If her brother came before the two of them made any decisions about how to proceed with her attacker, they might be forced to let her go home with James if he pushed for it. They were two small-town officers to the outside world. No one knew the things he’d done while away other than Nick. No one was privy to the amount of training his cousin had gone through either, so he was prepared for the unexpected.
So many what ifs ran through Ace’s mind as he weaved through the mountain roads. The snowfall was thankfully non-existent which made the dark curves easier to navigate as the sun set. The ride was silent as they were all lost in their own thoughts and unsurety.
Ace could feel a buzzing in the air, same as the day they found Pepper. Only this time, he recognized it as the culmination of their secluded time together. She remembered more as the days came and went. Her confidence in her new self was growing exponentially as the nights passed. And he had to wonder: would she stay, or would she go?
Pepper could recall only two times in her life when she’d been so scared yet relieved at the same time—when her parents had died in front of her, and the day Nick and Ace found her. Or rather, she woke up. They were both vastly different emotional settings; but nonetheless, they’d evoked the same reaction from her. Now, she was feeling it again, with her memories returning at warp speed, she felt like her time in the mountains was commencing.
