He could only hope.
The last of the men made it across the river and Skye led them into the trees. Knox gingerly stepped out onto the ice and carefully shuffled through the dense layer of snow, sending up a prayer a second to any god who was listening. He had screwed up with Skye, and this might be the second chance with her that he didn’t deserve, so he had to make it across the ice in one piece and catch up with her. He had to be there to protect her.
As he should have been.
Knox breathed a sigh of relief as he made it across the river and was quick to pick up the pace. He ran into the forest, reaching out with his senses, trying to pinpoint Skye. The moment he sensed her, that relief grew stronger and his bear side grew calmer, allowing him to focus again. He raced through the trees, closing the distance between them, each step that brought him closer to her easing his tension. When he was within one hundred feet of her, he slowed to match her pace and listened hard. If they talked, he wanted to know what was being said.
The men remained quiet as they walked though. He tracked them for another half a mile, slipping from tree to tree, trying to come up with a plan. He couldn’t do anything while it was light, not unless an opportunity that was too good to pass up presented itself. The risk was too great.
He needed to get Skye away from these men as soon as possible though.
Every second she was with them gnawed at him, had him growing increasingly restless with the urge to save her. By the time they began to slow, he was ready to forget the part about holding his nerve and waiting for nightfall and storm in there to grab her.
“We should rest.” Skye’s sweet voice teased his ears and the tremble of nerves he could hear in it pushed him closer to the edge.
He fought the part of him that needed to rescue her right that moment, told himself that it wouldn’t end well for either of them, and eased down behind the trunk of a fallen pine a good eighty feet from her. He peered over the log, his heart beating harder at the sight of her as she bravely turned to face the males and pushed her hood back, revealing a dark green woollen hat and chestnut hair tied in two braids. Those braids grazed her neck and the collar of her black jacket on both sides, and he wanted to groan as he remembered how soft her hair had felt in his fingers when he had sifted them through it.
When he had stood over her and watched her sleeping as he made the hardest decision of his life.
At the time, it hadn’t felt difficult. In fact, it had felt easy. It was only afterwards, once he was back at the Ridge, that what he had done had struck him—and it had struck him hard. Gods, he still hated himself for what he had done that night, and what he had done every day that had followed it.
Staying away from her had been hell.
But facing her again had felt as if it would be a hell far worse than the one he suffered daily.
He scrubbed a hand down his face and silently cursed himself. If Lowe knew what he had done, his brother would laugh in his face and then he would sober and say some sage shit like how could he know without trying? His twin would be right too. Knox couldn’t know whether Skye would reject him and turn her back on him, not without trying.
Not without taking a risk.
But, gods, it felt as if he would be risking his heart and that heart felt sure she was going to break it.
Damn, maybe he and Lowe weren’t so different after all. The only real difference between them was the fact Lowe didn’t try to hide his emotions. His brother was braver than he was and had proved that with Cameo. He had risked getting his heart broken and this time Knox knew it had paid off, and it had paid off big time.
Lowe had his fated mate.
Saint had taken a risk and now had his too.
Knox watched Skye as she turned towards the one he suspected was Karl.
“Five minutes.” Karl’s grey eyes slid from her to the men. “Five minutes and then I want to get moving again.”
“Yes, boss,” the youngest of the males drawled and shrugged out of his red pack, letting it fall to the ground as he sank against a tree and exhaled hard. He turned to the one with the New York accent. “You need some water?”
Knox scowled at the young male. He sounded mid-west somewhere. Texas maybe? Hell, he could be from Louisiana for all Knox knew. There was a definite twang to his voice though. He had only heard an accent like that in the TV shows and movies that Lowe liked to load his tablet up with whenever he was in town with a good internet connection.
New York shook his head. “Stop fatso from guzzling it all too. We need that water.”
The one who looked like a bouncer shot him a glare and took a hard step towards him. “You got a problem with me?”
He sounded Canadian like Karl.
“Yeah, I got a problem with your fat ass. Being squeezed into the back of that truck near you was hell, and you’re slowing us down.” New York squared up to him and lowered his assault rifle to his side, letting it hang from the strap over his shoulder.
“Patrick. Wade. Shut the fuck up,” Karl barked.
Both men locked up tight. Which was which? Knox studied the two men and noticed Skye was too. Was she trying to figure out which name went with which guy too?
“Wade, can you give me a hand with my pack?” She smiled in the direction of the males and Knox wanted to vault over the log and launch at all of the bastards, even when he knew she was only doing it to disarm the males.
The one with the assault rifle and the blue camo jacket huffed and went to her.
Knox grinned.
He always had thought her clever.
She had found out a way to determine which was Wade and which was Patrick without rousing suspicion.
Knox still wanted to growl when the far-too-handsome Wade stopped close to her and she turned her back to him, and the damned human pawed her shoulders as he helped her remove her backpack. He really wanted to growl when the male lingered after taking the pack from her, his dark gaze roaming over the back of her head, heat in it that said he didn’t mind her asking him to help her because he wanted to be close to her.
Because he wanted her.
Son of a bitch.
Knox was going to kill him first.
Skye turned and took the pack from him, daring to smile at the male again. She was quick to move away from him though, walked to a spot a few feet away from all of them and set her pack down against a log. She sank onto it and watched the males, her gaze wary. As soon as they were all occupied with discussing something in low voices, she eased to her feet and slipped towards the bushes.
Making a break for it?
Knox moved to intercept her and froze at the same time as she did as Karl spoke.
“Where are you going?”
Skye looked over her shoulder at him. Knox glanced at him too. He had pushed the hood of his black coat back, revealing mousy hair a shade closer to brown than Knox’s own blond hair, and his grey eyes were narrowed on her in a look that Knox could only call suspicious.
“Come back. We need to keep moving.” Karl held his hand out to her.
Skye looked at it and then lifted her gaze to his face. “I just need to pee. The cold always does this to me.”
Karl didn’t look as if he believed her, but he nodded and waved her away. She was quick to hurry into the bushes, glancing back over her shoulder from time to time. Knox kept low and moved towards her, coming up with a plan.
It was basic as plans went.
Grab Skye. Run for it.
He eyed her. She hadn’t changed a bit in the last two years, was still lean but not skinny, and he bet the thick layers of protective clothing were concealing a body that had been honed by years of hard work and growing up with an adventurous spirit. The toned muscles added to her weight, but not by enough that she wouldn’t be as light as a feather in his arms. He could easily run with her tucked against him.
She ducked behind one of the taller pines, using the thick trunk as cover.
Only she didn’t relieve herself.
She glared at the screen, the hope that had been in her eyes fading. “Shit. No signal.”
She glanced around, looking as if she was going to risk trying a different spot, and he inched forwards, a need to go to her surging through him. Now was his chance. He went to stand. Ducked back down again as Wade rounded the tree behind Skye.
The male’s dark eyes flashed with something akin to anger as she quickly pocketed her phone, his gaze dropping to her hand as she pulled it out of her jacket.
“What are you up to?” His dark eyebrows knitted hard as he lifted his eyes back to her face.
“Nothing.” She flinched at her own lie and the male grabbed her wrist and hauled her to him.
Knox growled as the male manhandled her, as she tried to break free of his grip, shoving at his chest and twisting her wrist. His bear side roared at him to protect her, that this was still the chance he had been waiting for, and that if he didn’t do something now, Skye was going to end up hurt. He had to protect her.
She needed him.
He broke cover, keeping low as he closed the distance between him and Wade, and growled as Karl walked into view, heading at speed for Wade and Skye.
“What’s going on?” Karl’s fingers flexed around the grip of a black handgun.
The sight of the weapon had Knox freezing on the spot and rethinking his plan, because if he launched at the males right now, there was a chance Skye could be shot, and that was a risk he wasn’t willing to take. He fought the instincts surging inside him, demanding he obey them, and eased back, keeping a watchful eye on Skye.
“She was up to something out here.” Wade yanked her wrist higher, pulling her arm away from her jacket, and reached into her pocket. His eyes darkened further as he pulled out the phone.
He tossed it to Karl.
Karl turned a black look on her. “Who were you calling?”
Skye struck Wade in the chest, finally managing to break free of him, and breathed hard as she rubbed her wrist through her jacket. She turned on Karl, a scowl pinching her features.
“I was calling the bar. I forgot to arrange cover for my hours tonight and someone needs to open it up. It’s my business. I can’t just let it sit there closed.”
Karl stepped up to her as he pocketed her phone. “I need you to focus on the job I’m paying you for right now.”
She swallowed and nodded, the fire that had been in her eyes fading swiftly as Karl loomed over her, his grey eyes as dark as thunderclouds. “There’s no signal anyway.”
Karl looked pleased to hear that as he took hold of her arm and turned with her, tugging her back towards the others. Wade lingered, firmly gripping his assault rifle as his dark eyes scanned the forest. Knox remained still as the male’s gaze passed over him, resisting the urge to break cover and launch at him. He couldn’t risk it.
He was no good to Skye dead.
Karl grabbed her pack and shoved it at her, and she meekly took it and slipped her arms into the straps.
“We’re moving out,” Karl snapped at Patrick and the youngest male, and both jolted to their feet, instantly obeying him.
Wade finally pivoted towards Karl and the others and walked back to them.
Knox moved back to a safe distance, his gaze fixed on Skye, silently vowing that when the timing was right, he was going to get her away from these males. He was going to save her. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. His chest constricted as she rubbed at her wrist, her eyes on it, and he could scent her fear.
He kept pace with her, aching with a need to go to her, to take away her fear and her hurt and make everything better. He couldn’t. Not yet. She had to endure a little longer. He would get her away from the males. He would.
She sighed and let go of her wrist. She pulled her hood up as she lifted her head and focused on the path ahead of her. His brave Skye. He knew how scared she had to be because he was scared too. He was terrified something would happen to her.
She had a power over him, was the only one in this world who could make him afraid in the way she could. He worried about a thousand things, mostly involving Lowe and his pride, but no one made him feel all-out fear like she did.
He gazed at her from time to time as he moved silently through the trees, his thoughts drifting back to her little bar and the first time he had seen her. He had only stopped for a drink to warm himself up before he headed back to the Ridge from a supply run, but the moment he had walked into The Spirit Moose and set eyes on Skye, he had been done for.
She had bewitched him over a glass of whiskey and he had ended up spending the whole evening propping up her bar, staring at her and talking to her whenever the chance arose.
And he had gone back the next night.
And then a week later.
Every time he had gone to town for supplies, he had ended up at her bar.
And then a few too many whiskeys had led to one of the best nights of his life, and, gods, he still felt like a dick about how he had handled things.
But he had panicked.
He had left in the dead of night without a word.
Scared by what he had discovered and sure he was wrong, sure time apart from her would prove that.
He gazed down the slope at her, catching glimpses of her through the trees that tormented him, were never long enough to satisfy his need to see her beautiful face.
The only thing he had proved was that he was a dick.
Because he felt the same thing now as he had that night when he had held her in his arms after making love with her.
Skye was his fated mate.
Chapter 4
Skye tried to breathe evenly as she focused on the path, attempting to shake the adrenaline that had her limbs trembling and heart thundering so hard that it panicked her too. She listened to the men behind her, deeply aware of their guns now and how easily this thing could go south. She was going to wind up dead.
No. She was not going to wind up dead.
It was heartless of her, but whatever had brought these men to her neck of the woods, she was going to help them deal with it and then she was going to get her money and get the hell away from them. It was every woman for herself.
Her plan hit a hiccup as a thousand movies came back to her and in every one of them, the person who had been hired to lead some bad guy somewhere or help them in some way ended up dead, killed in order to tie up all the loose ends.
Christ, she was going to die.
She clenched her fists as she steeled herself and regretted it when her wrist hurt. The bastard Wade had almost broken it when he had been holding her and the look in his dark eyes had said he had liked it. He had liked seeing her in pain.
She risked a glance back at him.
Her gaze snagged on Karl.
He had her phone now.
What was she going to do? She couldn’t run. The men would shoot her if she did. She also knew she couldn’t really let them do whatever they had come here to do. She doubted that this was a visit to friends like Karl had made out. They were after someone.
The adrenaline and fear, and that dash of hopelessness she was finding impossible to deny, combined to make her reckless.
She turned to face Karl and planted her hands to her hips, gunning for confident. “Let’s get a few things straight. I’m not buying your line about coming up here to spend the holidays with your buddies. Those coordinates you gave me are in the middle of nowhere. There isn’t a cabin near there.”
Karl’s grey eyes took on a shrewd edge as he narrowed them on her. “And you know where there are cabins up here?”
Bingo. She had known he was lying to her.
“I might.” She regretted that too as his features hardened in a scowl and held her hand up, hoping to stop him before he ordered Wade to deal with h
er. “Listen. I want to know what I’m involved in here. I think I have a right to know.”
Karl chuckled. “Do you now?”
She swallowed and held her nerve.
He loosed a long sigh and looked beyond her, into the trees. “I’m looking for someone. The two friends I mentioned saw her come up this way and they messaged me, but before I could come and help them search for her, they went after her. I haven’t heard from them since. I’m worried about my friends.”
Skye was worried about his friends too. “So this is a rescue operation? Why not just call in the appropriate authorities? The search and rescue guys know their stuff. They could have tracked down this woman you’re looking for and your friends by now.”
“We tried.” Karl’s sigh was a little too dramatic, giving her the impression he was lying. “They wouldn’t fly in this weather. Apparently, there’s another storm rolling in.”
She wanted to mention that the guys she knew wouldn’t have even mentioned searching by air, not for a valley this close to civilisation and with a track that led right into it, and definitely not when the person coming to them for help had a set of coordinates they could use to narrow down the search area.
“Please. We’re just worried about our friends. The ones who went after her are from the city.” He smiled at her and it reeked of him trying to disarm her or possibly charm her and make her feel nice and safe.
She didn’t feel either of those things as she looked at him. He had a predator’s smile. It was cold and emotionless.
“You always pack military-grade weapons when you go out looking for your buddies?” She nodded towards Wade. “Personally, I’m having a hard time believing that’s for protection from the local wildlife.”
“Wade has… peculiar tastes. He often hunts using this gun. It’s his favourite. Besides, if a bear came at us, we would need the stopping power.” Karl gestured to the two other men. Patrick and the guy with the Texas twang. “Patrick and Cooper here are carrying weapons suited to hunting. Tell me, if a predator was charging you, which would you prefer?”
She wasn’t going to answer that question. “Bears are asleep at this time of year. It’s the cougars and wolves you should be worried about, and believe me, if you spot a cougar… well… that kitty saw you a good ten minutes before you noticed it.”
Saved by her Bear (Black Ridge Bears Shifter Romance Series Book 3) Page 3
