He’d done the wrong thing but for all the right reasons. Just like when he’d disobeyed orders to go after his squad behind enemy lines.
She started moving again, nosing along the ground, desperately searching for any hint of lion-cub scent. Nothing.
And try as she might, she couldn’t stop thinking about Blake. She remembered holler talk about newly mated couples, how it fogged their brains, how hard it was for them to be apart from each other when the coupling was new. It was really messing her up when she needed to think clearly.
The wind picked up, rustling the trees again, and she heard crunching leaves, but she didn’t scent anything.
Wait. Something was definitely coming her way, through the thick brush… she should scent something. Unless something was masking its scent.
Panicked, she turned and ran blindly, and the footsteps grow louder, crashing behind her.
Krista squealed as an enormous pair of jaws seized her. She writhed, anticipating the crushing pressure that would tear her in half—a fully grown bear could swallow a vixen in a single gulp—but instead, the brute shook her, hard, until she flopped unresistingly in his jaws, playing dead.
Her last thought as the bear carried her away into the forest—to eat or to Hunt—was that she should have trusted Blake after all. The person she should never have trusted was her mother.
Blake was very likely racing towards his own death—and he’d never run faster in his life.
His backup?
Hattie and her bridge playing biddies.
He was dead. They were all dead.
Because as soon as he realized that Krista had tricked him, he noticed that all the bears had vanished from the party, along with Bo Durien.
And Hattie noticed, too.
“Are they going after Krista?” Hattie said, suddenly going pale. “Did they follow her?”
As soon as Hattie told Blake what was really happening, Blake had put in a call to Stef, and then Mal, and then Dexter—but nobody had answered. Stef and her team were in a communications dead zone—which was probably one of the reasons that Maybelline had sent them up there.
He was so angry at his own stupidity that he was ready to tear his own fur off. He’d said it himself—Maybelline lied. Why had he fallen for it? Why had he sent his entire team in the opposite direction of where he needed to go? Because what she said sounded believable, because they were desperate to find Ethan…
Hattie quickly told him where Krista was headed and why. Apparently, Krista believed that Gummi had Ethan, and was keeping him in one of Gummi’s old hideouts.
While Blake was frantically trying to reach anyone on his team, Hattie marched over and slapped Floyd so hard she knocked him off his feet.
“Traitor!” she yelled at him. She kept haranguing him, but Blake was too busy to listen—he was frantically calling the main Shifters, Inc. headquarters to tell them where he was going.
Then he stripped and shifted.
He wanted to argue when he saw that Hattie and crew were following him, but he didn’t have time to stop and try to talk sense, and realistically, they wouldn’t have listened anyway.
His heart thudded against his rib cage as his legs slashed through the air. Krista thought he’d betrayed her, spied on her. He had no idea who’d put the bug in Krista’s purse, but it wasn’t him. And she might die never knowing that.
The thought lent him wings, and he raced faster and faster, a furious gray missile slicing through the forest. The ground blurred under his feet, Krista’s scent filled his nostrils and he prayed harder than he’d ever prayed in his life that he wouldn’t be too late.
Chapter Nineteen
Krista woke up lying on the floor of the mine. The ground beneath her was cold, damp stone, and there was water trickling down the walls—she could hear it. She could also hear soft breathing, and now she could scent lion cub.
Ethan.
She sat up slowly, blinking. The room was dark, but there was a small, flickering kerosene lantern sitting on a wooden crate and throwing dim light over their corner of the cave-like room.
She looked around and spotted the source of the breathing. Ethan was alive, curled up against the wall on the damp floor, fast asleep.
He was wearing a dirty t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. He looked small and pale and fragile, and her heart soared. He hadn’t been chased down in some sick, child-murdering hunt.
Someone had dressed her in a big plaid shirt, she realized. It was long enough to be a dress, and it had no scent at all, which meant it had been sprayed with noscentium. She hadn’t been molested at all.
She reached out to Ethan. He made a grumbling sound, swatted vaguely and rolled away from her. “I don’t wanna go to school. Five more minutes, Dad,” he muttered.
Then she heard a sound that made her hair stand on end: heavy footsteps thudding towards her.
She could just barely smell Gummi through noscentium that was wearing off.
He rounded a tunnel and headed towards them. He began to shift into human form. Bones cracked and reset, and his fur seemed to crawl over his skin before receding altogether. He shrank down on himself and his broad muzzle drew in, turning into a human face. He straightened until he was standing upright and lifted his head, looking directly at her. Instinctively, she flinched and moved in front of Ethan.
“You made noise out there. You can’t make noise. Mama might find us.” His voice was rusty, like he didn’t talk very often.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, sliding back a few inches.
“Don’t be scared,” Gummi said. “You’re safe here. You want food? I got food.”
“No, thank you. Gummi, we can’t stay here.” She kept her voice low and soothing. “We’ve got to get Ethan back to his father.”
“No!” Gummi let out a growl and his eyes glowed with a scary light. “Mama would be mad with me! We stay right here!”
Now Ethan was awake; Krista could hear him rustling around behind her.
“Gummi, it’s me, Krista. I have friends who can protect you.”
Gummi glowered at her sullenly. “I know who you are. I ain’t simple.”
He turned and lumbered off, his heavy footsteps pounding on the dirt floor. She started to protest, but Ethan tugged on her arm urgently. She glanced at him, and he did a quick head-shake.
She fell silent and waited until Gummi vanished around a corner and the footsteps faded. Then she whispered to Ethan, “Do you know the way out of here? I could distract him while you run.”
He shook his head. “There’s only one way out, and he’s blocking it,” he whispered back, pointing in the direction that Gummi had just gone. “I tried to get out a couple of times, but he went crazy and chased me back in. I thought he’d kill me. You can’t argue with him, it’ll just make him mad.”
Her heart sank. She recalled from her time living with the Reeds that Gummi was a very light sleeper. Poor guy was terrified. Percy used to taunt him by bursting into his room and screaming at him in the middle of the night, sending Gummi into a shrieking panic. Dawnie would fly into a rage, she’d beat Percy until he bled, but she never could beat the meanness out of him.
“Are you hurt?” She kept very voice very low.
He shook his head. “No. He’s nice to me as long as I don’t try to leave. We play checkers with rocks.”
Krista nodded slowly. “So Percy snatched you, and Gummi here… rescued you. Is that right?”
“Yep.”
“Your father’s been worried to death about you,” Krista told him. “He hired people to find you. He’s been hunting all over the holler.”
“Is he mad at me?” Ethan’s worried little face broke her heart.
“No, not at all. He’s desperate to get you back.”
Ethan heaved a sigh. “I didn’t mean to upset him.” And then Ethan rested his head on her shoulder. “I’m sorry he kidnapped you, too, but I’m glad you’re here with me.”
And her heart melted. I will get you ou
t of here, she swore to herself. She just prayed that it would happen before Michael Coffman led an army of lion shifters to bathe the valley in blood.
And they sat there in the cool darkness until Krista heard a distant, faraway sound that froze her heart.
The sound of bears bellowing in rage, answered by the howl of a wolf.
Blake
The wood reeked of bear and wolf and fox. The rushing wind mixed up the scents, distorted their direction.
An enormous male bear towered overhead, the afternoon sun blazing behind him. The bear had a very faint scent. It wasn’t Percy—Blake would have recognized that reek. So it must be Gummi.
Hattie and two of her friends stood next to Blake, all in a row, their bodies impossibly tiny next to the colossal bear who faced them. They didn’t seem to notice. They showed no fear, muzzles wrinkling back and baring their small, sharp white teeth.
This would no doubt be their last stand, but that was shifters for you. They would die for their kin. All Blake could hope for was that Krista and Ethan would escape—and that he could tell her he loved her before he died.
Hattie had sent Ethel to the winter cabin to get Blake’s team, but he doubted they’d get here in time. Pearl and Marigold had come with her to fight, and they stood there with her, side-by-side.
Then, from behind Blake came a terrible sound.
Many more bears, a wolf, and the smell of Bo Durien and that bitch Dawnie.
The bears and wolf burst into the clearing. They paused, and Dawnie shifted to human form. She stood there, big and pale and sweaty, her eyes blazing with fury. Percy and Eva-Jo followed suit, their fur melting into their bodies until they stood there naked, fists clenched, teeth bared.
“Gummi!” Dawnie shouted at him. “Change back!”
Gummi lowered his head and roared at them.
“I’mma whip your hide, boy!” Percy screamed in fury. “I’mma shove a red-hot poker up your ass! ‘Member what I used to do to you when Mamma was away? That warn’t nothing! I’mma—”
“Shut your hole!” Dawnie bellowed at him, but it was too late.
Gummi was bigger than any of the other bears, and the fear and rage boiling off of him reeked through the air. He ran right towards Percy, and Percy barely had time to shift back before Gummi reached him.
In a flash, Eva-Jo and her mother were bears again.
Gummi slammed into his brother, and the two of them went down with a thud that shook the Earth. Blake whirled to see the foxes running past him, past where Gummi had come from, towards the hillside—and bursting through a wall of vines that hid an entrance to the old collapsed mine. They were following Krista’s scent. With luck, maybe they’d be able to lead Krista and the boy out of there—if Ethan was even still alive.
But he had no more time to think. Bo Durien came flying at him, and the two of them smashed into each other, all snapping jaws and rage. Bo sank his teeth into Blake’s flank, and Blake shook himself, dislodging Bo. He barely felt the burn of ripped flesh.
Dawnie’s bears just stood and watched. Blake knew that if he managed to kill Bo, they’d kill him. He’d have to pray that Krista could run really, really fast.
The two of them circled each other, crouching low, ears flattened back. Then Bo made his move, launching himself at Blake again, and they rolled on the forest floor, tearing at each other. The air was filled with the sound of howls and inhuman screams of pain and rage.
Bo went for Blake’s throat, jaws clamping down, and Blake just barely managed to move in time. Bo’s jaws clamped on Blake’s shoulder instead. Blake tried to shake him off, but Bo’s jaws sank in, tearing muscle, rending flesh.
He heard a shrill, furious yipping sound. His mate. He felt it, felt her… she was close. Her fear flowed through him, calling out to him, lending him strength.
Krista. Must save Krista.
Blake twisted around, and his jaws snapped shut on Bo’s throat. With one quick shake of his head, he ripped his throat out. Bo’s mouth fell open, releasing Blake’s shoulder, and he fell limply to the ground. Blood gushed from Blake’s wound, matting his fur, splashing into the dirt, but he barely registered the many wounds Bo had opened.
Blake leaped to his feet and looked around. There was a giant pile of bears trying to pull Gummi off his brother.
Gummi’s dark fur was wet with blood, but he was insane with terror and rage, and he kept slashing Percy with his claws and tearing at him with his enormous snout.
For the moment, the bears were distracted by the fight; they were trying to break it up and save Percy. That was good.
It flashed through Blake’s mind that there weren’t as many bears here as he’d have expected. With an organization the size of hers, he thought there would be dozens of bears here, and wolves, and whoever else she had on her payroll. He counted ten.
Krista. He felt Krista. Instinctively, he knew which way to look. She stood there in a space under the spreading branches of an oak tree, and she had a lion cub crouched next to her. The lion cub was as big as she was, and his fur was standing on end. He was ready for battle—but he wasn’t big enough for this fight. Not yet.
He inclined his head for her to run.
She looked at him frantically and pawed at the ground. She wanted to stay and help. He shook his head and growled.
Go.
Tears filled her eyes and trickled down her furry cheeks, but she nodded and hurried towards the edge of the woods with the cub following—only to be stopped by one of Dawnie’s bears.
Krista and Ethan froze where they stood and slowly backed up. The bear reared back, raising a mighty paw in the air. One swipe would likely snap Krista in two. Shifters healed fast, but they weren’t immortal.
Blake let out a challenging howl and launched himself at the bear. This was it. He leaped onto its back, sinking his teeth in.
The bear spun and flung him off, although he took a mouthful of flesh with it. He spit the rank chunk of flesh out on the ground and backed up, drawing it away from Krista.
It ran at him and grabbed him in a bear hug and raked down his flank with one paw, ripping long strips of flesh from him. He howled in pain and clamped down on its neck, and blood flooded into his mouth, rich and warm, but he couldn’t reach the windpipe or jugular.
Krista shrieked aloud. He knew his mate could feel his pain as if it were her own.
And then something astonishing happened. Foxes swarmed over the bear. Easily thirty of them. Climbing up its neck, slashing at its eyes, tearing chunks of flesh off.
Floyd? Was that Floyd, the cowardly fox from Floyd’s Diner? It was, by God.
The bear let go of Blake and he fell to the ground and rolled onto his feet. His whole body radiated with agony. He lunged and bit through the bear’s ankle, severing its tendon in one clean snap.
The woods were full of foxes and wolves. Easily a hundred of them. More.
They were finally turning on the Reeds.
Blood and fur flowed everywhere. He hurried over to Dawnie and saw that Gummi, maddened, was raking at her throat with massive curling claws. His heart broke for the big, dumb bear.
Eva-Jo and Percy lay gasping their last in the dirt, blood leaking from too many wounds to count. They spit curses through scarlet bubbles as the life faded from them, and still the wolves and foxes tore flesh from them, right down to the bone.
Blake shifted back to human form.
“Gummi!” He spit out a mouthful of blood. “Don’t do it. Let the others take care of it. She’s your mama. You’ll never forgive yourself. You’ll never get past it. Don’t!”
Gummi swung around, his eyes crazed. He raised his paws and grabbed Blake and lifted him, and Blake stared into those agonized eyes for what felt like forever.
And then Gummi dropped Blake with a painful thud, and he lumbered away, running into the woods, making a horrible sobbing sound.
Blake staggered to his feet, stumbling through the underbrush, trying to find Krista and Ethan. His wounds bled freely,
and his body was on fire with pain.
And he must be hallucinating because he could swear he heard the sound of choppers—really close.
Two bears were heading towards him. They knew that they’d lost everything, their livelihood, their leader… with the whole community turned against Dawnie and her operation, they’d lose their homes, too. This was their last stand, and they’d kill as many as they could before they went down.
He planted himself firmly. He’d die with honor.
And he’d leave behind his mate, alone and unprotected. That hurt his heart. He threw back his head and howled with sorrow and fury—and the bears froze. Then they turned and ran.
He barked loudly, watching them dash for the treeline. Yeah, you better run.
And then it happened. Lions were running past him, after the bears. And Mal, and Dexter, and Stef. They’d come in by chopper, backed up by the Golden Eyes pride. Bleary with blood loss, Blake watched as Stef kicked a bear with her hind legs, staving its skull in.
Within minutes, every bear who’d been with Dawnie was cut down like wheat slashed by a scythe.
A river of foxes and wolves flowed over Dawnie, who swatted and snapped and roared with rage. Foxes and wolves went flying, and more took their place until she disappeared under a boiling hill of fur. The lions didn’t intervene. They left her to the residents of Flowering Dogwood who had lived and suffered under her paw for so long. Her screams curled up into the night until they grew weak, and finally stopped.
Blake left them to it. He stumbled off, prowling through the woods, searching for Krista and Ethan.
Blake’s blurred gaze landed on Hattie, now in human form, naked and bleeding. She knelt over a limp fox body.
Blake limped over to her, frantic.
It wasn’t Krista. It was a male, an older fox with a grizzled muzzle. Where the hell was his mate? Where was the cub?
Hattie was keening in sorrow. “Floyd! You finally grow a pair, and now you have to go and die on me? You sorry son of a bitch, I’d kick your patootie if you were alive!”
Blackmailed By The Wolf (Shifters, Inc. Book 6) Page 14
