by Abigail Owen
“I don’t even know if I can trust you.”
“I think I can help you with that,” Mike said.
Jaxon arched his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Is Hannah at the compound by any chance?”
Holy hell… that was it! Jaxon remembered how two guys named A.J. and Mike had helped Hannah and Nick escape the Carstairs compound last year. Hannah had gone there to discuss a business deal between the two dares. But she’d suspected that Kyle and Walter Carstairs had different motives, and Nick had gone with her. Turned out that Kyle had his sights set on making Hannah his bride. Apparently he had a habit of trying that particular tactic. He was even willing to challenge Nick, who was posing as her husband at the time. But it hadn’t come to that. Hannah had known somebody on the inside. Someone named A.J. Only clearly, A.J. wasn’t a guy, but a girl who now went by the name of Andie.
Jaxon didn’t know if he wanted to strangle Andie or kiss her. Hannah too for that matter. Unfortunately, right now he couldn’t do either. He needed to find Andie first.
Jaxon turned around. “Charlie, get Hannah. Now.”
“On it, boss.”
Charlie hightailed it out of the dressing room, while everyone else sat there in uncomfortable silence. Jaxon ignored the others as his mind ticked through all his possible courses of action. He had to get to Andie before someone else did. He fought the urge to pace like a caged animal. As Alpha, he couldn’t afford the luxury of letting anyone else see him lose it. He must remain cool, calm, and in control at all times. Even if he wasn’t.
Several long minutes later, Charlie’s voice preceded him into the room. “Found her.”
Hannah walked in behind Charlie. When she saw the group of men gathered, her eyes grew wide. She focused on her brother. “Jaxon? What’s going on?”
He nodded at Mike. “Do you know this man?”
Her eyes got even bigger. “Hi, Mike.” She turned her confused gaze on her brother.
“Hannah, this is not the time to hold something back. Andie has disappeared, gone rogue or maybe to another dare. I need to know if I can trust this man.”
She nodded. “His name is Mike. He helped Nick and me to escape Carstairs last year.”
He leveled his most Alpha stare at his sister. “And who, exactly, is A.J.?”
Hannah’s lips thinned, and she shook her head. “I told both of you that I didn’t want to get in the middle of this.” She sighed deeply. “A.J. is Andie. She’s responsible for my being alive and still with the Keller Dare and married to Nick. Mike helped, but Andie was the driver.”
“We’ll talk more about this later. But for now, do you have any idea where she might’ve gone?”
Hannah’s brow wrinkled. “If she left, she had good reason. And likely she’s got a plan. She’s the most levelheaded strategic thinker I’ve ever met.”
Jaxon walked over and gently took Hannah’s shoulders in his hands. “I told her who I am, and then I had to leave before we had a chance to talk about it. I’ve got to find her.”
Hannah softened at the look of desperation in her brother’s eyes. “She went to our cabin in Montana,” she whispered
Jaxon’s grip tightened. “How does she know about that?”
“Because Andie and I had discussed the possibility of her having to go rogue. We worked through a couple of scenarios to help her buy time while she figured out a plan.”
“You couldn’t have shared this with me?”
“Would you have given her any options? Discussed it at all?”
Jaxon looked away. He wouldn’t have, though not for the reasons Hannah thought. Jaxon glanced over to Pete.
“Get the chopper ready.”
Chapter 16
Andie stayed low to the ground. In the summer this field was probably filled with luscious, tall grass. However, winter had hit Montana early this year and blanketed it with a thick layer of snow. She’d been battling a wicked storm for the past twelve hours or so.
Cougars actually thrived in the cold and were known to do much of their hunting when other animals holed up to ride it out. So she was built for the weather, but that didn’t make it easy to get through. Exhaustion weighed on her, and every single step was an act of sheer will.
It’d taken her four days to travel this far, hampered as she was by having to stay off the grid as much as possible. Luckily, she hadn’t come across any other shifters – cougars or otherwise. She couldn’t use her credit cards because they’d track her, but she did have a little cash. She always carried some in case of an emergency. She’d managed to take a bus for a good portion of the journey and had called her contact, Papa Bear, from a pay phone on the way. He was going to meet her at the cabin.
After that she’d hitched a ride with a few truckers. Hitching was not the smartest move for a normal human, but for a cougar shifter with fighting skills, less risky. The last guy to pick her up had been named Mac. She’d stuffed her slightly hysterical giggle back down inside when he’d introduced himself. Perfect name for a truck driver. Old and weathered, with a handlebar mustache, he was totally the gruff-cowboy-grandpa type. He hadn’t asked any questions, for which Andie had been grateful. She’d spent most of her time looking out the passenger window, not really seeing the countryside. Just lost in thought.
“Now, it’s none of my business where you’re going or what you think you’re doing,” Mac had said when he’d pulled off the highway to let her out. “But are ya in some kinda trouble?”
Something in his forthright gaze had made Andie want to tell him the truth. “Nothing I can’t handle,” she’d said.
He’d just nodded and then glanced at the empty land around them. “I can’t say that I feel so good ‘bout leavin’ ya out here like this.”
Andie had smiled at that. “I know where I’m going, Mac. It’s fine.”
He’d chewed on his ever-present toothpick for a moment. Then he’d reached into a pocket and pulled out a wad of money and a scrap of paper.
“I’m really touched, but I can’t accept this.”
“You’ll take it and make an old man feel like he helped ya rather’n abandoned ya.”
She’d had to gulp back the misty tears his gesture caused. “Okay. Thanks.”
“That scrap o’ paper has my phone number and address on it. If ya find yerself in a tough spot that ya don’t think ya can handle, don’t hesitate to call.”
Andie had been truly touched - in her experience, people just weren’t nice like that. She’d held onto the warmth that memory generated all through the last leg of her journey. It had been brutal backcountry, and she’d had to make her way on foot.
And then the damn storm had struck.
Normally she wouldn’t have minded, but she’d been in the middle of nowhere with very few alternatives available, and it’d slowed her down considerably. She’d taken shelter beneath an overhang cut into the side of rock and let the worst of it pass her by. But as soon as she’d had a small amount of visibility, she’d started out again. Finally, after what seemed like an interminable slog through the blinding snow, she’d reached the cabin.
She wasn’t done, though. Despite Hannah’s assurances that the cabin was the safest place she’d find, Andie still had to do all the necessary precautionary checks. She’d been patiently watching the home for about an hour. Hannah had told her no one used it and that it was a Keller family cabin. Only Jaxon, Hannah, and Nick even knew of its existence. But that didn’t make it a guaranteed safe zone.
So she waited and watched, all the while forcing her body to stay alert. Not for the first time, she was thankful for her shifter nature. Mountain lions naturally required a lot of room to roam. That ability to move over large territories had served her well this week.
The wind kicked up, blowing snow into her face. Just need to get in the house and sleep.
Usually her animal side would revel in this sudden bout of freedom. In fact, as soon as the storm waned, she’d take some time to explore the area a little bit. S
he needed to be familiar with the land around the house so that she wouldn’t be at a disadvantage if attacked. Still, the limitless feeling would be amazing after so long in her own dare, but most especially after all her weeks being cooped up with Keller.
Jaxon.
The second she thought his name, Andie had to hold back a small sigh at the combination of disappointment and yearning that’d haunted her on the journey all the way from his compound in Idaho to here. She was convinced she was doing the right thing, saving him and his people from Carstairs. And the longer she’d had to think about it and the longer she’d had to trek through the blizzard, the more determined she’d become.
After several more minutes, Andie decided it was time to go inside. I should be observing longer, she thought. But I’ve got to get some rest. It’ll have to be good enough.
She was so drained that she’d come close to nodding off several times while lying here. But her father had trained her well, and she’d kept up her vigilant watch. There’d been absolutely no movement or hint of activity in or around the house.
Andie rose slightly onto her paws, her belly still close to the ground, and slowly, stealthily prowled her way around the log cabin in smaller and smaller circles. Finally satisfied, she hopped up on the deck and shifted. She shivered as the freezing cold hit her bare skin but didn’t bother to dress. She’d do that when she got inside.
As quickly as she could, she located the hidden key in a knothole by the door. Teeth chattering, Andie stepped inside into the protective walls of her new home. She closed and locked the door behind her and then let out a deep sigh of relief.
“Thank God,” she groaned.
But she couldn’t relax yet. The cabin was still bitterly cold inside. She needed to turn on the electricity, likely generator-driven, and light a fire. First things first, time to get dressed. She picked her pack up off the floor and pulled out the warmest clothes. Her hands were stiff and frozen by the time she was done buttoning up.
“All right. Next, some heat,” she muttered through blue lips.
Moving from room to room in the house, she looked out the windows until she located a shed on the edge of the property. Luckily she found a nice thick coat and some gloves in the closet next to the front door.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself back out into the elements. Thankfully, the shed wasn’t locked. After locating the fuel tank a short distance away, Andie got the generator up and running, then headed back inside.
“Please, please, please, let there be some firewood in here,” she begged, her breath crystalizing on the air. It would take a while for the heater to make a dent in the chill filling the house.
Luck was with her again, and as fast as her frozen body would move, she had a nice warm blaze going. Andie huddled up by the flames for a good while, thawing out. But eventually, she forced herself back up. She set her exhaustion aside. She really should familiarize herself with the house and its contents.
Starting with the living room, she slowly explored every inch of her new temporary home. Hopefully, Papa Bear would be here soon. Andie was pleased to find a decent stash of canned food and dry goods that were still fresh, along with several gallons of bottled potable water. Next she went down to the basement, saving the bedrooms upstairs for last, knowing that once she found a bed, she’d be out cold in seconds. But the big score was what she found in the basement. Andie, hands on her hips, stared at monitors for defensive systems, a well-stocked first-aid station, and a wall of weaponry that made her little Commander’s heart leap for joy.
“My, my, my. What have we here?” She grinned.
“Where the hell have you been?” a familiar deep voice thundered from behind her.
Chapter 17
Andie whirled, instinctively crouching into a defensive stance. “Jaxon Keller! What the hell are you doing here?!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
He said nothing, and Andie took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. Slowly she stood upright. “Jeez, Keller. You know better than to sneak up on a cougar shifter like that. I could’ve attacked you!”
“Sorry,” he muttered, sounding anything but. “I’ve been waiting for you for a while. What took you so long?”
“Excuse me? But there is this little snowstorm that got in my way.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Besides, I can’t believe you’re asking me anything right now. I’m still pissed about being snuck up on, and don’t get me started on being followed.”
Jaxon held up his hands. “Why don’t we go upstairs where it’s warmer to talk about this?”
She gave him a stony look, her lips flattened and eyes narrowed, before marching toward the stairs. “You just want to get me away from that wall of guns,” she muttered as she passed him.
“The thought hadn’t really crossed my mind,” he said to her backside.
Andie had absolutely no idea what to think about this latest development or how to react to it. The one person she was trying to protect by leaving had followed her. She couldn’t decide if she was angry, or thrilled, or terrified, or just plain old confused.
Her mind was spinning. A man didn’t follow a woman to the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm just because he was honorable, did he? Mike had to have told him the message about options. If he knew she had somewhere to go, he wouldn’t have followed unless he wanted her. Right? Heaven knew she wanted him, but was her own wishful thinking clouding the situation?
As soon as they got to the living room, she whirled around. “I guess between Hannah and Mike you figured out where to find me. How’d you get it out of them? You had to have said something good.”
Jaxon crossed his arms, mimicking her earlier defensive posture. “It was good,” was all he said.
“Well, you can just turn around and head back to the compound. I don’t want or need you here.” She flapped her hand at the door. “Don’t let the door hit you in the—”
“Why’d you leave, Andie?” he asked, quietly interrupting her tirade.
She dropped her arm and tipped her chin up. “I decided to pursue other options.”
“Why? I know we still have to talk about it, but the offer to be my wife is still open. It would provide you full protection from Carstairs. Why walk away from that?”
Andie’s heart dropped a little bit. He’d made no mention of feelings, of love. But logically it made more sense to accept his offer than the other option she was considering. She’d never felt more conflicted in her life. So she decided to focus on his needs, rather than hers. She could keep him safe by staying away. That was the one thing in all of this she was sure of.
Andie knew her next move – acting as though she were angrier about his pretending to be someone else than she actually was. Convincing him that she wasn’t interested and didn’t trust him. Outright deception had never been one of her strong suits. She was too lippy for that. Still, she had to try. He didn’t know Kyle Carstairs like she did. The man was a psychopath. He’d kill Jaxon or force him to war, or both, and it would be all her fault. She couldn’t live with that. When Jaxon had just been a name and not the man standing in front of her, it hadn’t seemed that big a deal, risking his life. But now… she just couldn’t do it.
“I have no interest in mating someone I can’t trust,” she told him.
Jaxon shook his head. “Deceit went both ways. And you didn’t seem all that upset about it when I left you. I’m not buying it.”
Andie shrugged, feigning complete disinterest. “I don’t really care if you buy it or not.” She moved into the kitchen. “I do need to eat though.”
Jaxon followed, standing in the doorway in silence as she opened the cabinets. The kitchen was a decent size and included space for a large table to eat at, oak with benches instead of chairs. She got some coffee going and then started making spaghetti.
*****
Jaxon watched as Andie completely ignored him and made dinner. His own initial anger when he’d first seen her had disappeared, r
eplaced by a rush of relief the moment she’d answered him back with her typical bite.
He’d been more worried than anything – afraid something had happened to her on the way to the cabin. Thoughts of her in trouble of some kind, or worse — captured by Kyle Carstairs and mated against her will— had plagued him for four straight days. And he’d had to patiently keep himself hidden until she’d showed herself. Otherwise, she’d have caught on to his presence and bolted. So by the time she’d arrived, he’d worked himself into an ugly frame of mind.
Andie finished making the food and took her plate to the table. Jaxon moved away from propping up the door. She glanced up but said nothing and kept eating.
“Not much food on the road?” he asked. He wandered over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup.
Jaxon glanced over and caught her rolling her eyes at him. He held in a chuckle, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate his humor at that moment. But he was too happy to finally have her safely here to let her bad mood affect him. Or the drivel she’d spouted about not trusting him. Something else had made her run. He just didn’t know what yet.
“Good thing I brought provisions with me then,” Jaxon continued conversationally. “Can’t have you starving while we’re here.” He glanced out the window to see the snow still swirling outside. “We’re not getting out in this anytime soon.”
She glowered. “I won’t be here much longer. As soon as I’m done eating, I’ll clear out.”
That got his attention and aborted his good mood pretty damn fast. With a scowl, he stood up straight. “Like hell you will.”
“You don’t really have a say in the matter.” She popped another bite in her mouth and chewed, but her eyes remained warily on him, flashing defiance.
“This storm is likely to go on another day or two. You’d be a total idiot to go out in this again when you have food and shelter here.” He tried to keep his voice even, steady.
