Looking around the cabin, she realized how much she had loved her time there alone, healing from past hurts and unwanted demands. The cottage itself was tiny, but as far as she was concerned, it was home. The only place she had ever felt truly comfortable in a very long time. Her Uncle had tried to give her a happy home as a child, but Jenna had always felt like an intruder in his life or worse, an obligation. His house was beautiful and massive but lacking warmth. This place, on the other hand, exuded it from the knotty pine wall to the stone fireplace and comfortable overstuffed furniture.
But it was more than that, she had made this cabin, in the middle of nowhere, hers. Everywhere she looked, she could see a little part of herself. The floor to ceiling bookshelves held some of her favorite books. The blue and green pillows she had stacked in the corner provided her with hours of comfort as she sat in front of her fireplace and read. Even the pictures of her friends and family on the wall and mantle, placed haphazardly, just the way she liked them. No order or pattern, the items, set randomly, so she could get the best view of them from wherever she was sitting. Then there were the little knick-knacks she had placed in every nook and cranny. Things that didn’t make sense to anyone but her—a rock she found that sparkled in the light she found fascinating, a sticker one of her patients had given her when she was still able to work in the hospital, a flower she had pressed when she was fourteen years old. This was what she had always wanted, and now, she was going to have to leave it all behind.
Peace, that was all she ever asked for, but wherever she went and whatever she did, she could never find that, and it pissed her off. Hell, she had thought she found it here, had kept that illusion for almost five years now, but like with all good things, it was coming to an end. She knew she would have to make a call soon, and that would be it. Another tingle ran up her spine. Whoever was out there was coming closer to her home, but she was still resisting, still had some power over what was about to happen even if it was all just an illusion.
Jenna had moved out to the middle of nowhere Canada to avoid shit like this, the calling or whatever the fuck it was. Her closest neighbor was over twenty-five miles away, and a small town even further. Hell, all she had to communicate with the outside world was an old CB that reached a couple of the locals, and she hadn’t even used it in over a year. She had a standing order for food and supplies that were dropped onto her land by biplane. An arrangement she had made before even coming out here.
Once a year, she would make her way to town and get whatever else she needed and contact her family. That was the deal she had struck with them, and it worked for her. Most of her family and friends honored her wishes, her Uncle not so much. He came and went as he pleased, and Jenna accepted it. She had money and means, but Jenna wanted to be off the grid as much as possible, and she liked her life this way, chose it. Well, even Jenna had to admit to herself if not anyone else, she wasn’t that far off the grid. She had electricity and a generator and the ability and capability of contacting someone if she was in need. She just didn’t have people around her all the time. But that damn fickle bitch fate was always messing with her. It was almost like a taunt, saying you think you got away, but you didn’t.
Fate had slapped Jenna more than once, and she was sick of it. Sighing, she realized she might be sick of it, but Fate wasn’t anywhere close to being done with her. Resigned, she stopped pacing and sat on the floor, grabbed her boots and coat, and started to get ready to brave the frigid temperatures outside.
All dressed, Jenna stepped out into the frigid winter. The first thing she always did was take a deep breath, holding it and counting to five. Jenna didn’t know why, but she always did it, maybe it centered her or something. She liked to think it cleared all the worries out of her mind, giving her a fresh start for a new day. But she had a ritual, just like a lot of people did; the next step was taken without thought. Jenna closed her eyes and let her senses wander. The pull was coming from the west, toward the river. Opening her eyes, she looked in that direction but didn’t immediately see anyone although she did notice the thick dark clouds off in the distance. A storm was coming, and from the looks of it, there was no doubt it would be a bad one.
The snow was already deep but not deep enough to pull out her snowshoes, she could still walk without sinking to her knees. Looking up at the sky again, she realized that by morning this little trek wouldn’t be possible without them. Instead of going straight for the river, she walked around her cabin, checking to make sure it was ready for the storm. Her wood supply was good, but she needed to bring more up to the porch, and she needed to go out to the barn and bring up more fuel for the generator. Chances of the electricity going out during the storm were inevitable.
Jenna closed the thick shutters on the back of the house over the window, just like she did for every storm and proceeded around the sides to do the same thing. She didn’t want the chance of a branch coming through in the middle of the storm, she had already lived through that once, and it wasn’t fun. Gritting her teeth, she knew she had waited long enough to head to whoever was calling to her.
The river wasn’t very far from her cabin, but it would still take some time to get there, so she started walking, keeping a lookout for anything unusual. Snow covered the land and looked undisturbed except for a few tracks some animals, probably deer or rabbit, had made. As she got closer, she could hear the water before she saw it. The river was running hard which also meant it was deeper than usual too.
When the river came into view, she immediately saw what she was looking for and without even thinking, she ran right into the water, praying that her selfishness hadn’t just cost the person floating in the water their life. Jenna kept going, fighting the current, trying to get to the person, praying they were still alive, the mantra, please, please, please echoing through her mind. Jenna realized she wasn’t going to get to them this way. Trudging back to shore, she started running as soon as her feet hit the rocky bank. The heavy wet clothes hampered her efforts, but she had finally gotten ahead of the person at a bend in the river. Wading in, she tried to position her body, so they would run right into her, not prepared for the person to be as big as they were, the momentum knocking her back down into the waist-deep water, pulling her under.
Determined, she held tight to the man’s leg, trying to get some kind of traction on the rocky bottom. Her foot finally landed on a bigger rock, stopping her body from moving against her will. Using every bit of strength, she had, she pushed the unmoving body out of the faster current into the shallows. Gritting her teeth, Jenna pulled harder, ignoring the pain in her arms and legs and the bruises she knew were forming from the hit she had taken. There was no way she was going to give up on whoever this person was, they deserved better than this. From how rigid his body was, she doubted the man was alive. If that were the case, she would contact the authorities, so he could have a proper burial, instead of floating endlessly in the water.
It took forever until Jenna finally had the large man out of the water and barely onto the shore. Not thinking twice, Jenna immediately pulled her gloves off, leaving on the thin protective layer she always wore. It was a specially made, rubber-type glove, just for her, light enough to allow for touch but also clear enough for people not to immediately notice them. Placing her fingers on his wrist, she searched for his pulse. Not finding the thump of his heartbeat, she crawled forward placing her fingertips against his neck. She almost cried when she felt the faint, slow beat.
“You’re going to make it,” she whispered in a strangled voice. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to make sure you get through this.” Pulse found, she looked for respirations and found none, immediately starting CPR, thankful for the first time in a long time she had become a nurse.
She knew she had other things to worry about, but the main one right now was getting this man breathing. She felt his body lurch under hers and used her own body to push him over onto his side. The sound of him coughing up the river water was music to h
er ears. She patted his big back, trying to help, needing to keep in contact with him. As he coughed, she looked at him, really looked and was astonished. She wasn’t a small woman, rather average, but he was a huge freaking man. Looking back at the water, she had to wonder how in the hell she managed to get him to shore by herself without any help.
He had to be well over six and a half feet tall and bulkier than any man she had ever seen before, and she knew a few who were huge. When his coughing stopped, Jenna panicked. She had expected him to move or moan or something, but his body was still. Pulling him back, she checked to make sure he was still breathing. He was, but it was shallow. Checking for his pulse again, it was slow, even slower than what it was before. She was going to lose him if she didn’t do something and quick. Jenna didn’t have the first clue who this man was, but for some reason, she knew he deserved better than this.
Peeling off the last layer of protection on her hands, Jenna ripped open his shirt, noticing for the first time the three bullet holes littering his abdomen and chest. Grateful for only a second none of them were still bleeding, Jenna held her hands over his body. She had one moment of hesitation when she thought, please don’t let me be wrong this time before placing her hands on his chest and pushing her so-called gift through him. She could feel the warmth coursing through her body into his. She looked down at her hands and noticed the skin she was touching was starting to change from the blue of hypothermia to a healthy pink.
Her gift or curse like she thought of it was to heal. She could heal anyone, but it always took a piece of herself with it if she wasn’t careful. She could only give so much before the drain on her body and soul pulled her under. Feeling the burn on her stomach and chest, she knew she was making progress. But there was something else pulling even more power from herself. She delved further, and what she found scared the crap out of her. This wasn’t just a man. She knew immediately she was in trouble; her family would be coming sooner rather than later.
He wasn’t just a man, he was special, beyond special. The gorgeous, blue-tinged man was a shifter. What Jenna couldn’t figure out was why his animal, from what she could tell a bear, wasn’t helping him heal and get through this. Letting more of her gift out, Jenna searched for the spirit within the man. She found it so deep, she was surprised the two were still joined and the beast was very pissed off at his host. The bear was lashing out at anything he could, including her and her energy and stealing what the man had left.
Jenna pleaded with the animal spirit in her mind, but the beast wasn’t responding to anything she was doing. If he could only shift, she wouldn’t have to worry about him, he would heal almost immediately. She pushed her healing energy at the animal and prayed it would work, but it only took more and more from her, and Jenna knew she needed to stop. Cutting the beast off entirely from her energy, Jenna concentrated on the man, pushing her now weaker power through him to get him through the next few minutes. Jenna would deal with the beast later, much later. Pulling her hands away, Jenna did a quick visual assessment and deemed her patient healthy enough to travel, not that either of them had much choice in that.
Taking a couple of seconds, she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened and who this man was but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. No, right now, she needed to get him inside, and there was absolutely no way she could do it on her own or in her current condition. Getting up, every bone, muscle, and joint hurt, but she didn’t let that stop her. She started to walk away but couldn’t just leave him without saying something. Running back, Jenna crouched down, placed her hand on the man’s cheek, leaned down, and kissed his other one.
“Don’t worry, I will be back for you,” she whispered. Before she could right herself, the man whispered one word, well not a word, a name, Jessie.
Falling back onto her butt Jenna was shocked at the name she had just heard, Jessie; it echoed through her mind like a shot. She could only shake her head in denial, thinking there was no way in hell that this man, this bear Shifter she pulled out of the water was who she thought. It couldn’t be.
Chapter Three
Tensing, Cash tried to get his body to move—first his legs, then his arms and hands—but nothing was working. Panicking, he pushed harder but only managed a small jerk to his neck, causing his head to once again dip under the water, relieved when it came right back up. He could feel the icy cold water sitting in his lungs, attempting to suffocate him, his body so unwilling to cooperate, he couldn’t even manage the smallest of coughs to bring the shit up. Cash knew he was in a desperate situation, and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out how to get the hell out of it.
This was his worst fucking nightmare, helpless to do anything while the people he loved suffered. At least that was what he thought because his mind wasn’t cooperating with him. As his useless body floated, he pushed harder, trying to remember anything that could explain what was happening. He remembered the crash, panicked, then reminded himself that Rye, Bas, and Sky had made it out. He remembered the snake and the shots. It felt like déjà vu, he remembered doing the same things before. Emerald eyes kept flashing in his mind. Every time he did, he remembered a small detail. But he had to question himself, had that shit really happened or was his mind finally broken?
Emerald eyes, warmth, and thoughts flooded his head and body—sun shining, a field of flowers, and a small woman looking at him, sad eyes and the need to help. Who the hell was that woman? Why could he see those eyes when everything else was so jumbled? Did he even know her? Her words echoed in his mind, I will not let you die. Cash felt like he was going insane. He wanted to scream. Well, damn it, if you’re going to do something, now would be a good time, but just as before, no words came through his mouth.
He was existing in a virtual hell, but his mind had decided to conjure up a woman, no bigger than a child to what, save his ass? It was fucking ridiculous.
Cash felt the impact a second before he was, once again, forced under the water. This time though he wasn’t lucky enough to be righted. He could feel the water filling his lungs and the black dots forming in his vision. Snapshots of the people he loved flashed in his mind. Jacks and the guys laughing as they sat at the table at Alpha base having a beer. Dalton holding baby McKenna as Emma looked at both of them with love. Wyatt and Skylar teasing each other, smiling and laughing at their own private jokes. The way both Skylar and Bas had looked at each other with longing and love before they turned away and pretended those feelings didn’t exist. Jacks and Rye snuggling together on the couch as they talked to their unborn child. If he could have laughed, he would have because your life really did flash before your eyes right before you died. Fuck it, this was not the end, he wouldn’t allow it! he screamed in his head.
Cash could feel himself being pulled or pushed, he wasn’t exactly sure, it was just pressure on his leg and body, not exactly a feeling. Panicked, he tried to open his eyes, but unlike before, he couldn’t. He tried harder, thinking that if his mind worked, he should be able to do something, anything, but nothing happened. No matter how hard he tried, his body wouldn’t listen to his commands.
It was like he was trapped within his own body, helpless to do anything. No sight, sound, or smell, just there. Conscious but unconscious, alive but dead. What the fuck no one, Cash thought, not even he deserved this type of hell. He felt the pressure again, but this time, it was different, harder like his body colliding with something. Had he hit a tree or a rock? Was he still even floating in the damn river? Every question he could think of he couldn’t answer because he was nothing and nowhere at the same time.
Cash tried again pushing himself further, reaching for his beast and the power that always surrounded him, but the bastard wasn’t there. It was like his mind hit a brick wall every time. For the first time in his life, he was entirely alone, and he didn’t like it very much. His beast was a moody, demanding fucker, but he was Cash’s, and now that he was gone, it was fucking with his head. It made him feel helpless, and tha
t didn’t sit well with him ever; it also made him feel alone. He hated being alone, had since he was a child. He needed people around him. The Elders said that was because he was an Alpha. Alpha’s needed a clan, but Cash never once believed that because he had proven them wrong.
Cash pushed those thoughts away. If he was going to be eaten, he didn’t want to think about the past. He had always been grateful, and he knew that he was a good man. People would remember him fondly at least he hoped they would. So, what if he ignored his destiny? Who was to say it wasn’t meant for another time or place? Hell, maybe another lifetime.
No, he wanted to concentrate on more morbid things like what the fuck was dragging him now. If he could have chuckled, he would have, but no voice meant no laugh. Had the predator finally become the prey? Had he fought his Alpha nature all these years just be become lunch for some lesser animal? The bigger question why didn’t he care?
Now that the initial panic was gone, and he knew there wasn’t anything he could do or fight, he just accepted what was going to happen. There was almost a peacefulness in the emptiness, or maybe it wasn’t the emptiness at all, maybe it was him finally accepting his fate. He did wish whatever had him was a little stronger because it was taking forever to get to where it was taking him. Just his luck he couldn’t go out in a blaze of glory, no, a pack of wolves was just going to tear his useless body apart. But even that scenario didn’t fit because there was only one thing pulling him, not a pack. It would start and stop again like he was too much for whatever had him.
Cash: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 6) Page 2
