by Abigail Owen
“I gathered you were ready to rip into me, leave me for dead, and whisk Andie off to safety.”
“Got it in one.”
They exchanged one of those manly smiles of understanding. Andie gave them a flat stare. Alphas. “Once again, I am sitting right here fellas. And perfectly able to take care of my own damn self, if you don’t mind.”
“Course you are,” Zac said. “But even the best fighters need help when they’re outnumbered. And you’re outnumbered right now.”
“In more ways than one,” Jaxon muttered.
Awesome. Now they were going to gang up on her together. And, unfortunately, they did have a point.
Zac glanced at Jaxon. “I’d like to stay with your dare for a while once we get there safely. I’d be staying for A.J.’s sake.” He turned back to Andie. “My offer of asylum, marrying me, or both still stands. You decide the Keller Dare isn’t for you, then we leave that very second.”
Andie blinked. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Zac shook his head.
After a long silence, Jaxon finally said, “Okay.”
“Glad we’ve got that established,” Zac said. “Because my second reason for staying hinges on the first. I’m coming to discern for myself whether or not the Keller Dare is worth making a treaty with.”
Andie choked on her sip of water and then tossed Zac a sheepish grin. It was more than Zac had been willing to do when she’d been with Carstairs. He must already like Jaxon as an Alpha, or he wouldn’t even consider the thought.
Zac suddenly stood and offered his hand to Jaxon. Andie’s eyebrows shot up, but Jaxon rose to his feet and shook it solemnly. “You’re welcome to stay with the dare as long as you feel is necessary,” Jaxon offered.
The men released their hold, understanding and acceptance established.
“We should take turns on patrol outside. While this cave is defensible, I’d rather not be snuck up on,” Jaxon said.
Andie and Zac nodded their agreement.
“I’ll take first watch.” With that, Jaxon abruptly started stripping. Andie watched for a second until he smirked at her. A few minutes later, he was gone.
“You going to marry him?” Zac asked her once Jaxon was out of earshot.
Andie smiled. “You never did beat around the bush.” Then she sighed. “And to answer your question, I have no idea. My… emotions… are getting in the way of my judgment.”
“You like him?”
“I do.”
“Respect him? Trust him?”
“Yes and yes. Despite his lying to me about who he was.”
“Sexually attracted to him?”
She smacked him on the arm, but he just kept looking at her, waiting for an answer.
“Yes. All right? Like a frickin’ house on fire.” She thought of their coming together in the middle of the night and was so turned on just thinking about it she felt her pulse quicken.
He held up his hand. “Didn’t ask for details.”
She wrinkled her nose at him.
“Far be it for me to tell you what to do, especially with such a big decision. But he sounds like a good husband for you. Do you love him?”
Andie shrugged. “Sort of,” she mumbled.
“Then your answer should be clear.”
Doubt shadowed her eyes. “What if he never loves me back? He’s talked about having a place for my skills and us getting along. But he’s never mentioned love. I’ll bring the Carstairs down on top of him, and he’ll deal with it because he’s honorable. But all for what? A woman he’s trying to protect? That superman complex might land him with a woman he doesn’t really want in the end.”
Zac thought about that a moment. “Seems to me Jaxon Keller is a man who takes his responsibilities very seriously. Maybe the question you ought to be asking yourself is why he’s asked you to mate and marry him when the stakes are so high for him and for his dare?”
Andie blinked as she absorbed that suggestion.
Seeing he’d made his point, Zac patted her hand and started cleaning up from dinner.
Chapter 25
Jaxon let himself back into the cave. As he dropped inside, he suddenly faced a very wary cougar and polar bear, both ready to fight. Both relaxed when they saw it was he. Andie nodded. Saying nothing, she let herself out of the cave the way Jaxon had come in. Jaxon shifted as he watched her leave, his lips set in a grim line.
Zac shifted to his human form. “She’ll be out there a while.”
Jaxon looked over at the large man. He’d wondered when he’d get the private man-to-man chat. Apparently now, while they were buck naked, appeared to be Zac’s chosen moment. Jaxon moved over to his pack and started pulling out his clothes. “I assume this is the part where you warn me not to hurt Andie. Mind if I get dressed first?”
“Go ahead. I live in this weather all the time, so it doesn’t really faze me unless I’m out in it too long. And no, this isn’t where I warn you about anything.”
Jaxon raised his eyebrows. “No?”
“No. This is the part where I tell you that to get to Andie, you’ll need to go through me first.”
Jaxon eyed the other man closely for several moments. Zac was tall, closer to seven feet than six. Cropped, dark brown hair just turning silver at the temples, and an iron jaw created quite an imposing aura. He wondered, not for the first time, exactly who Zac was to Andie. The Alpha in Jaxon wanted to rip the guy apart for even attempting to come between him and his woman. Because in Jaxon’s mind that’s exactly what Andromeda Jaci Reynolds was… his future mate and bride.
At the same time, the protector in him appreciated the fact that someone this powerful had her back. And it gave him a small amount of pride that Andie had earned this level of respect and friendship from a polar bear shifter. The notoriously shy and reclusive bears were the hardest shifters to approach, let alone befriend. And that got him to wondering. What exactly had she done to earn this man’s loyalty?
Zac folded his arms over his chest. “If you’re wondering how A.J. and I became friends, or why I’m so protective of her, you’ll have to ask her yourself,” he said.
Jaxon blinked. People rarely got a read on him like that. Despite his unanswered questions, he liked this guy. Grudgingly. “Now that we’ve established that you’re Andie’s self-appointed chaperone, let’s get a few other things straight.”
Zac waved for him to go ahead.
“I’m Alpha in the Keller Dare. My word is final, or your welcome will be short-lived.”
“Understood.”
“I will win her as my bride. And I won’t tolerate you getting in the way of that.”
“It’s a good thing you said win. I’ll stay out of your way as long as force, either physical or mental, never enters the picture.”
Jaxon growled deep in his throat. “That would never happen.”
Zac shrugged, looking unimpressed. “I know what cougars can be like. Kyle Carstairs wasn’t exactly a shining example. I’ll judge for myself.”
Jaxon suddenly relaxed. He shrugged as though he didn’t care. “Suit yourself.”
“I will. Out of curiosity, why do you call her Andie anyway?”
Jaxon stuffed his sweatshirt in his bag. “That’s the name she chose to go by when she arrived at our compound.”
Zac grinned. “She snuck into your compound, didn’t she?”
“How’d you know?”
“That’s how I met her.” Zac didn’t elaborate. He just winked, shifted again, and lay down to get some sleep.
*****
Andie dropped into the cave silently. Without so much as a grunt or a nod, Zac immediately was up on his feet and headed outside to take his turn.
Andie glanced over to the mountain lion lying a few feet away, his dark golden eyes intent on her face. She nodded at him and then at her bag. Taking the hint, he turned away. Andie shifted and started getting dressed. They hadn’t bothered bringing sleeping bags or tents as their animal forms were made to deal with weat
her like this. Especially Zac, who lived in a perpetual winter up in the Arctic Circle. But she didn’t want to sleep right away— she needed to do a few things first.
Andie turned around and stepped closer to Jaxon. The darkness of the cave made it difficult to tell, but he didn’t look to be in great shape. His injury was clearly taking its toll.
“Let me get a look at your wound.”
“I’m fine,” he grunted.
She just stared at him, unimpressed.
He heaved a beleaguered sigh. “Suit yourself.”
She inched closer and pulled up the layers of shirts and jackets to expose the skin underneath. He hadn’t bothered with placing a bandage over the injury since he had to shift and it wouldn’t have stayed in place. The stitches looked as if they were holding, and the wound itself seemed to be healing well, with no ugly swelling or unusual coloring.
Andie reached out to gently prod around the area, feeling for hardness or any hot spots. The second she touched him, a groan rumbled low in his chest. She pulled back.
“Sorry. Did I hurt you?” she asked. Eyebrows scrunching with concern, she looked closer. That touch shouldn’t have bothered him. Maybe there was internal bleeding.
He cleared his throat. “No.”
Andie narrowed her eyes as she looked at his face. His voice had sounded strained. Reaching back out, she prodded the same spot, only more gently this time. “Does it hurt if I do this?”
“Hurt right there? No,” he murmured.
“Well, where does it hurt?”
When he didn’t answer, she took her focus off his stitches, only to encounter eyes blazing with desire trained on her upturned face.
Andie’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
He grinned. It dawned on her that she was still touching him. She tried to jerk her hand back, but he grabbed her wrist. “I like it when you touch me, Andie.” He brought her hand up to his lips and placed a kiss on the palm. “I dream about it.”
“Dream about what?” she breathed.
“Your touch. Touching you.”
“Oh.”
He smiled. “Not very talkative tonight, Ms. Reynolds?”
Before she could respond, he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I dreamed of you last night.”
Andie bit her lip.
“I dreamt that you were fire in my arms. And that with barely a touch, we both reached heaven.”
Apparently he thought their encounter had just been a dream. She couldn’t decide if she was disappointed… or relieved.
“Wow. That’s some imagination you’ve got there, Keller.” Andie was proud of how she pulled off sarcastic and nonchalant while her body was screaming at her to move in closer.
He chuckled and his breath tickled her ear, making her shiver. “Only when I woke up this morning, I realized I hadn’t been dreaming.”
Andie’s heart skipped a beat and then took off at a gallop. She swallowed. “That a fact?”
“That’s a fact. Your body wants me, Andie, even if your mind is still deciding. All that tantalizing little taste did was whet my appetite for more. When we mate, I might just keep you in bed for a month.”
Andie bit her lip. She couldn’t move away from his mesmerizing words.
“Don’t you mean if we mate?”
“No. I mean when.”
Andie shook her head. “I thought you weren’t going to use sex to pressure me.”
He placed a tender kiss on her neck just below her ear. “I’m stating facts about how we react to each other. And you’re wrong. I want every part of you. Your body, yes. But also your mind, and your spirit. You were made for me, darlin’.”
Panic swirled inside her. She could feel how right his words were, but she hated that she felt so cornered. Not by him, but by the circumstances. “Okay. So prove it.”
Jaxon paused and then pulled back to see her face. “What?”
She shrugged, but her eyes challenged him. “Prove it.”
He raised a single eyebrow. “And how exactly am I supposed to prove it?”
She gave him a sassy grin. “That’s your problem to solve.” Turning her back to him, she stripped and effortlessly shifted. Then she moved away and curled up where she had been before.
Jaxon didn’t completely give up. He shifted and then padded over to lie down as close to her as he could get without actually touching. After a moment he rested his head on his paws.
He’s protecting me, Andie realized as she noticed he’d positioned himself between her and the entrance to the cave. And for once she didn’t look on such an action as his thinking she couldn’t take care of herself. Instead she felt… cared for.
Andie closed her eyes and let sleep take hold of her. Morning would come soon enough.
Chapter 26
They woke before the sun came up. Time to get moving.
“I caught a faint whiff of the pack when I was out earlier,” Zac said. “They’re not too close yet, but they will be soon. We’d better hurry up and get out of here.”
Andie started packing up the gear and caught Jaxon’s amused gaze. She raised her eyebrows. “What?”
He gave her a lopsided smile. “Nothing… you ready to go?”
“Ready,” she said. Zac nodded. He appeared to be a man of few words. Which was a good thing. Jaxon hadn’t anticipated having to deal with an Alpha polar bear shifter to win Andie.
Without further discussion, they all stripped and shifted. Jaxon turned and took a brief moment to appreciate Andie in her cougar form. She was so petite as a woman that it was misleading, because she sure packed a punch when she wanted to. But as a cat, her toned muscles rippled under her skin, and she moved with an entrancing, powerful grace. He didn’t think he’d ever get over the fact that her coloring mirrored his own.
Jaxon gave himself a shake. Hopefully, he’d have plenty of time to stare at Andie later. For now he maneuvered into his pack, and Zac did the same. Then they pushed the snow away from the entrance to the cave and moved back out into the blustery winds. Fortunately, the storm seemed to be abating somewhat. At least today there was some visibility.
They trudged along in silence for what felt like unending hours with no sign of the shifters on their tail. Jaxon tried to ignore the pain in his side. He’d refused heavy duty pain killers, which would’ve made him groggy and slowed him down more. As he led the way once again, Jaxon felt Andie’s presence behind him, as well as her nerves. Instinct told him the wolves were closing in, and he guessed Andie felt it as well.
While Jaxon’s first instinct was to protect his future mate, he also trusted her skills like no one else’s. Besides, she had a massive polar bear at her back who seemed determined to protect her from everything. Including Jaxon himself.
Gradually, the winds howling around them subsided, and then the snow stopped falling. Good, he thought. He’d never minded the cold, but he wasn’t a huge fan of having the snow blown into his eyes for hours on end, especially when he was on the lookout for a pack of shifters. Andie was starting to slow down, struggling to pick up her feet, exhaustion impacting her movements. And the pain in his side wasn’t helping him any either.
Just a little farther, wildcat, he thought, willing strength into her.
A landmark caught his eye. Jaxon’s ears suddenly perked up as he heard the sounds of a distant helicopter, and he picked up the pace. He felt a small surge of energy with the thought of this journey coming to an end soon. They were very close now, and his people were waiting. No sign of the shifters yet. Maybe they’d just gotten damn lucky twice.
Behind him, Andie suddenly let out a whimper… and then she dropped to the ground. Jaxon spun around to see a dart sticking out of her left flank. He quickly moved to her side, shifted and checked her pulse, letting out a sigh of relief. Andie was unconscious, but still breathing. He whipped his head to look in the direction of the shot, but he couldn’t find the source. He had to assume it came from the wolf shifters, although he couldn’t be sure. At least they weren’
t shooting to kill. But he didn’t have time to think through things. They just needed to run.
Zac shifted as well. “Take her and go!” he shouted. “I can fend off more wolves than you can. Get her to the helicopter. I’ll be right behind you!”
Jaxon didn’t waste time with words. First he snagged the flare gun in his pack and fired it straight up in the air. Then he scooped Andie up into his arms, tossing her over his shoulder fireman style. He grunted at the strain it put on the wound in his side. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Jaxon took off as fast as he could manage. He ignored the bite of the cold air against his skin and the ache of his bare feet in the snow. He could hear Zac, who’d shifted back to his polar bear form, pounding along behind him. Zac stayed close on Jaxon’s heels for a few minutes, until the low whistle of another dart flying past Jaxon’s head stopped him. He glanced back at Zac who took off in the direction from which the dart had come.
Slowing under the strain, Jaxon finally made it out of the woods. As he hit the airstrip and saw the helicopter, he also heard the roar of a polar bear, followed by the yelp of a wolf. Several cougars were already running toward him, drawn by his flare gun. Jaxon went down to one knee, unable to stay upright any longer under the burden he carried. As soon as his men reached him, they shifted and waited for orders.
He handed Andie’s heavy lioness body over to William. “Get her in the chopper.”
“Is she injured?”
“Tranquilized, I think.”
William nodded and took off. Jaxon turned to Dylan and Charlie. “We need to help that polar bear.”
Both of their eyebrows shot up, but they nodded, shifted, and followed his orders. Before they could get across the field, Zac broke through the line of trees at a full run. It looked lumbering, but he was hauling like a freight train. Jaxon expected to see the pack of shifters hot on Zac’s tail, but no one followed. He did, however, see about six or seven darts sticking out of the bear’s backside. The drugs would hit Zac soon, and there was no way they could lift, let alone fit an eighteen-hundred pound polar bear onto the helicopter.
