Her Wild Hero

by Paige Tyler

  She felt a shiver run down her back as much from his words as the blatant look of hunger on his face. God, she needed him again already.

  “What kinds of things?” she asked softly.

  He brushed her ear with his lips, his warm breath making her quiver. “For starters, a slow, sensual massage.” As if to demonstrate, he glided his hand up her midriff to cup her breast through her T-shirt. “And after that, I’m going to kiss and nibble everywhere.”

  She caught her breath as his thumb grazed her nipple. “Everywhere?”

  He lifted his head to look at her, his eyes glowing a soft rose color. “Everywhere.”

  Kendra bit her lip to stifle a moan. She was about ten seconds from ripping off his clothes and throwing him on the floor of the cave. “Let’s get out of here. The sooner we get home, the sooner you can give me that massage.”

  Declan chuckled, then kissed her hard on the mouth before picking up their weapons. He handed one to her, then led the way to the cave’s opening. She waited patiently as he parted the vines carefully, then listened and sniffed. She frowned at the water rushing by outside the cave, remembering how cold it had been.

  “We should have waited to put our clothes on after we crossed the river,” she grumbled. “They’re going to be soaked again.”

  He grinned over his shoulder. “As tempting as skinny-dipping with you sounds, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Don’t worry. I’m planning on carrying you until we get out of the water.”

  Even though she knew Declan could carry her without any problem, it still didn’t seem right. “But you’ll get all wet.”

  “It doesn’t bother me as much, you know that.”

  She opened her mouth to argue more, but he must have decided the coast was clear because he parted the thick wall of vines and hopped out of the cave with a splash of cold water. He looked around for a moment, then turned back to her.

  “Come on.” He slung his M4 across his back and motioned her forward. “I’m going to carry you, so get used to it. Now quit stalling.”

  Deciding that continued complaining on her part would be more embarrassing than simply letting him carry her, she gave in and scooted to the edge of the cave opening, letting him scoop her up in his arms like she was a kitten.

  Sometimes she forgot just how strong Declan was, but he carried her high above the water like he barely noticed her weight. She didn’t talk to him as he moved downstream. He had that slightly distant look in his eyes that told her that he was focusing his senses—well, his ears mostly—outward, making sure there weren’t any hybrids around.

  She scanned the banks of the stream as much as she could, not that she expected to catch anything he’d miss. She was so caught up in the task, she barely noticed how far they’d gone until Declan stepped up onto the rock-covered bank. He scanned the area as he lowered her to the ground.

  “Anything?” she asked softly.

  He shook his head. “I don’t hear a thing. I don’t smell anything besides those damn orchids, either. They must grow pretty thick here around the water.”

  “Let’s get back over that last ridge we crossed and on a northwest track,” she said, moving ahead of him. “If we pick up the pace, we could be at base camp in a few days.”

  “Slow down.” He chuckled as he caught up to her, trying to drag his carbine off his back and over his head at the same time. “I know you’re eager, but let me get in front.”

  Kendra was so happy to finally have a clear path ahead of them that she wasn’t as focused as she should have been on the jungle around them. If she had, maybe she would have realized everything was too perfect in those few seconds before the jungle floor erupted around them in a shower of dead leaves and sticks.

  She brought her M4 up the moment she saw the hybrids coming out of the ground. The damn creatures had dug pits and laid in wait for them, somehow knowing she and Declan were hiding somewhere along the stream and that they’d come back this way.

  Kendra didn’t have time to understand why Declan hadn’t known they were there—she barely had time to shoot. The hybrids were still springing out of the ground around them, so it was hard to tell how many there were, but there had to be at least half a dozen.

  She got off a lucky shot, hitting the first charging hybrid in the head and putting him down as he rushed her. But before she could even get off another round, two more hybrids launched themselves at her. She heard a tree-shaking roar behind her and knew that Declan was fighting to reach her, but there was no way he would be able to get to her before the hybrids did. And she sure as hell didn’t have enough ammo in her magazine to take down two of the raging creatures at the same time—not without being killed.

  But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try.

  She threw herself backward, firing a three-round burst before she hit the ground. She didn’t target the hybrids—they were moving too fast for that—but instead aimed for the space directly above her, knowing that’s where both the monsters would ultimately end up.

  The move caught the first one by surprise, and he ended up sailing over her, but the other came down right on top of her. The impact drove the sliding stock of her M4 into her ribs, crushing the air out of her lungs. But that didn’t scare her nearly as much as the claws gripping her shoulders. She fought a tide of panic. The hybrid could literally rip her head off without much trouble.

  Declan roared behind her, but the sound was drowned out by the snarls of hybrids. It sounded like he was being torn apart. Some part of her mind screamed that she had to get to him, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure she was going to last long enough to help herself.

  The creature on top of her bared its teeth, scrambling for a grip on her neck. She struggled for breath, trying to twist her M4 around and get it between her and the thing on top of her, but she couldn’t. She squeezed the trigger anyway, praying it was pointed at something important.

  Nothing happened. Crap, the magazine must be empty.

  Knowing she was screwed but refusing to give up, she squirmed under the hybrid’s heavy weight, shoving the hands away from her neck and shoulders at the same time she kicked with her knees. She didn’t expect it to help—the hybrid on top of her outweighed her by a ton and was ten times stronger than she was—so she was shocked when the hybrid loosened his hold and rolled off her, taking her weapon with him.

  Kendra scrambled back, wanting to put as much distance between the beast and herself. That’s when she realized the hybrid was dead. For a second, she thought she’d gotten a lucky shot in, but then she saw that the barrel of her M4 was buried in the thing’s chest. It had impaled itself on her weapon as it landed on her.

  She didn’t waste time considering her good fortune. Declan needed her help. She grabbed her weapon, kicking at the hybrid as she jerked hard. She refused to think about where the barrel of the M4 had just been, instead reloading it as quickly as she could. Snarls mixed with growls to become one terrifying sound somewhere behind her, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up as she shoved a fresh magazine into the gun.

  Releasing the bolt to chamber another round, she turned around, expecting to see Declan with one of those large-bore needles shoved in him—or worse. But there was no needle. Just a lot of savage ripping and tearing as Declan and the remaining hybrids went at it, rolling around on the ground like a ball of living fury.

  One of Declan’s big fists shot out, connecting with one hybrid’s jaw. The sound of breaking bone echoed around her, blood spraying from the creature’s mouth. And yet, the hybrid barely seemed to notice the damage, leaping back in the fray to slash at Declan with long, ragged claws. Declan was bleeding all over, too, but he simply roared and kept smashing at the two creatures facing him.

  Kendra tried to line up a shot to help, but they were moving around too fast for her to take it. She was just as likely to hit Declan as one of the hybrids. But there was no way she was just going to stand there and do nothing while he was slowly cut to shreds.
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  She aimed above them and squeezed off a three-round burst.

  Both hybrids snapped their heads around at the sound of the bullets zipping over their heads. That was even more of a reaction than she could have hoped for, and it gave Declan the opening he needed.

  He lashed out with his foot, his heavy boot catching the biggest hybrid square in the chest and sending him hurtling, to land on the ground ten feet away. Kendra was on the hybrid before it could get up, firing burst after burst into the thing’s chest before shifting her aim and putting two rounds in the back of its head.

  She loaded her last magazine as she turned back to Declan and the remaining hybrid. But the lone hybrid was no match for Declan, and he quickly gained the upper hand, smashing his fist repeatedly into the creature’s chest until it stopped moving.

  Then Declan was at her side, his eyes wide and terrified. “Oh God, you’re bleeding!”

  Kendra opened her mouth to point out that he was bleeding, too, but the words died in her throat as she looked down at herself. The front of her uniform was soaked in blood. Her hands tightened reflexively on her weapon. The hybrid she’d fought with must have gotten his claws into her after all. But then why don’t I feel weak from losing so much blood?

  It wasn’t until Declan ripped open her outer shirt and sent buttons flying everywhere that she realized what had happened.

  “Declan, I’m okay,” she said. “It’s not my blood.”

  He looked at her in confusion. “What?”

  “It’s not my blood,” she repeated, then pointed at the hybrid who’d impaled himself on her weapon. “It’s his. He bled out all over me.”

  Declan turned back to her, relief on his face. That was when she got a good look at him. His uniform had even more blood on it than hers, and most of it belonged to him. She swayed a little at the sight, suddenly light-headed, and she reached for the tatters of his uniform top as much to keep herself from falling as to check on his wounds. She pulled the outer shirt aside and gently lifted the T-shirt underneath to expose dozens of wicked slashes. Blood flowed freely, running down his chest.

  “Oh God. What do I do?” she moaned.

  She’d put teams through hundreds of injury scenarios for training back at the DCO complex, but right now she couldn’t remember a freaking thing she’d seen.

  Declan grabbed her hands and gently uncurled her fingers from his tattered shirt. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Right now we have to get out of here. Your gunfire is going to draw more hybrids.”

  Everything he said after, “It’s not as bad as it looks,” went right over her head. Because it looked really bad to her. She was pretty sure she’d caught a flash of rib in the wounds under his pecs. How the hell was he still standing?

  “Declan, we can’t go anywhere until I get the bleeding stopped.”

  But he dragged her away from the stream. “We need to go. Now. You can patch me up once we’re somewhere safe.”

  She almost laughed. Safe? They wouldn’t be safe until they were back home. But he was right. They needed to get out of here. She only hoped Declan was right about those wounds not being as bad as they looked.

  Kendra was just about to break into a run to keep up with Declan, but he stopped beside the hybrid who’d impaled himself on her weapon. She frowned as he pressed one big boot into the thing’s bloody chest, then the other.

  “Get blood on your boots,” he instructed. “Hurry.”

  She had no idea why he wanted her to do it, but she did it, even if it did make her feel ill. When she was done, he grabbed her hand and started moving. Instead of heading back up the ridge like they’d originally planned, he led her along the stream. Probably so they could make better time.

  She glanced over her shoulder at the six dead hybrids and spent shell casings. She couldn’t believe she and Declan were both walking away from that fight. But the victory hadn’t come without a price. Declan was hurt much worse than he’d let on. Within minutes, he could barely walk without her help. They needed to stop so she could tend to his wounds, but she had no idea if they’d gotten far enough away from the ambush site yet.

  “How did they find us?” she whispered as she took more of his weight on her shoulders.

  “Those were the same hybrids who chased us into the cave yesterday.” His voice was weak, his words barely audible. “The last one I killed was carrying a piece of your torn clothing. I could smell it on him. He was using it to track you. When we disappeared, they must have decided to lay in wait for us to come out of hiding.”

  She stumbled under his weight as he wobbled, but she got her feet under her and kept him moving. “How were they able to hide by the stream without you knowing it?”

  She didn’t mean the words to come out as accusing as they did, but Declan didn’t even seem to notice. That scared her as badly as his stumbling steps did.

  “They’re smarter than we gave them credit for,” he said softly. “They must have dug those holes by hand so I wouldn’t hear them, then lined them with the same orchids we’ve been using to hide our scent. I couldn’t smell them even when I was right on top of them.”

  “Hybrids aren’t supposed to be that smart,” she insisted. “The ones we fought out in Washington weren’t much more than guns with feet and claws.”

  “Well, they’ve clearly gotten smarter.”

  She tightened her hold around his waist. “What was the deal with putting hybrid blood on our boots?”

  “It was the best idea I could come up with on short notice,” he rasped. “The orchids sure as hell won’t work anymore. I’m hoping they’ll overlook the smell of an injured hybrid.”

  There were about a dozen holes in that idea—especially if the hybrids were smarter than they thought—but she and Declan didn’t have a lot of choices.

  Kendra looked quickly at his chest. His torn clothing was dripping with blood now. She had to do some serious first aid—quick.

  “I think we’ve gone far enough, haven’t we?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “We’ve barely gone a mile and a half. We need to keep going.”

  She didn’t mention that at the slow pace they were moving, they weren’t likely to get much farther before he passed out. Instead, she wrapped her arm around him even tighter and tried to take up more of his weight.

  Twenty long minutes later, Declan motioned her up the slope to the left of the stream. “Up there,” he mumbled. “There’s a place to hide up there.”

  As she led him up the steep hill, she’d never been so glad for his innate bear-shifter ability to find a hidey-hole. Unfortunately, this particular hidey-hole turned out to be a pile of dead trees that had fallen over some boulders instead of a secluded cave. While Declan leaned against a tree, she pushed the branches out of the way. Underneath them, close to the rocks, was a nice lean-to shelter. She took that part back about the cave. This would do just fine.

  “Rub your bloody shirt around the outside,” he said. “That will help hide our scent. Make them think one of their own dragged itself in here to die.”

  Kendra helped him inside the shelter, then did as he told her, praying that dying wasn’t exactly what Declan was doing at the moment. When she was done, she left the uniform top shoved under a rock near the entrance of the lean-to. It was just too nasty and bloody to put back on.

  She crawled in through the tangle of dead branches and found Declan lying flat on his back, his eyes closed. Her heart jumped into her throat. She scrambled across the rocks and dead leaves covering the floor of the shelter, almost whacking her head on a low-hanging branch in her race to get to his side. “Declan! Oh God, wake up!”

  His eyes immediately popped open. “How can I rest with you shouting like that?”

  Her breath exploded out in rush. “Dammit, don’t scare me like that.”

  “Sorry.”

  She grabbed his pack from the corner where he’d pushed it and dug out the first-aid kit. Then she turned and started the horrifying task of getting his unifor
m top and T-shirt off. But the blood was drying, making everything one big, crusty mess.

  “You don’t have to do that,” he said softly.

  Tears stung her eyes as she cut open his T-shirt with the small scissors from the kit, then gently pulled the black material away from the gashes on his chest and abdomen. Taking off his shirt made the wounds bleed again, but at least she had them all exposed. They were deep, no doubt about that. But they didn’t look as bad as she’d thought. She didn’t see any white ribs, which she thought she’d seen before. She must have imagined them. Thank God.

  Nevertheless, she got out some of the bigger bandages in the kit and tore them open. She could use them to put pressure on the worst of the wounds and stop the bleeding. She didn’t have a clue what to do after that, but it was a start.

  “This is probably going to hurt,” she told him.

  But when she pressed the four-inch square of white gauze down on the worst-looking gash, Declan only smiled at her. “You don’t have to do that. I just need to get some rest and I’ll be fine.”

  She ignored his male macho crap and applied a second bandage across the wound beneath his left pec, where she’d thought she’d seen his ribs peeking through earlier. Declan laughed at her this time. It sounded strained, but it was still a laugh.

  “Kendra, honey, I appreciate what you’re doing. But if you want to help me, then let me sleep. If I do that, my body will heal these wounds enough to let us keep moving.”

  She stopped what she was doing and frowned at him. “Seriously? You can just sleep this off?”

  “Pretty much. Some of these went down to the bone, though, so it might take a while.” He pointed at his chest. “I need to calorie load, then zonk out for a half a day or so.”

  She chewed on her lower lip. “You mean…hibernate? Like a bear?”

  “Basically. I am a bear shifter, remember?” He gave her a small smile. “I’ll be completely out of it for a while, though, so I’ll need you to keep watch over me.”

  “You know I will.” She chewed on her lower lip some more. What if he was making up the hibernation thing so she’d feel better? “Your file doesn’t mention anything about being able to heal yourself through hibernation. How do you know it will work? Have you done it before?”