by Abigail Owen
Jaxon turned and signaled to the pilot. He could see William had already made it there with Andie. The helicopter took off and Jaxon turned back to Zac. He ran straight at the bear, holding his breath when he saw Zac start to stumble. Finally reaching him, Jaxon shifted back to human form, pulled out the darts, and then Zac shifted as well. Smart. He’d be much easier to lift as a man. At close to seven feet tall, he was huge, but nothing compared to the bear. On the downside, all the meds in his system would work much faster. Possibly dangerously so.
Jaxon and Dylan managed to get on either side of Zac just as his body went limp. The helicopter landed nearby, and the rotor blades sent snow flying in all directions. As they dragged Zac’s unconscious form to the chopper, Jaxon gritted his teeth against the pressure it put on his stitches.
Once everyone was loaded, they took off. Jaxon watched the woods with sharp eyes, looking for their attackers, but saw nothing. Once they were a good distance away, he left Zac’s side and moved over to where Andie was strapped into a chair, still unconscious. He checked her pulse and breathing. Satisfied she was okay, he took the seat beside her and dropped his head against the seat back. He hadn’t slept the night before as he’d watched over his future mate and her friend.
“Boss?” Charlie interrupted his moment of rest.
Jaxon sighed and opened his eyes. “I’m fine.” He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees and shook his head.
“None of the last two days have made any damn sense,” Jaxon muttered. He looked around at his men. “Those wolf shifters knew. According to Zac,” he nodded at the large man passed out on the floor, “they knew we were at that cabin, and they were hunting us deliberately. And they used tranquilizers instead of bullets. Why?”
“Maybe they’re working with Carstairs?” William suggested.
“I thought of that. But I know of no wolf treaties with any of the dares, not that Carstairs would share that with the other Alphas. It just doesn’t make any sense. Wolves tried to wipe us off the face of the planet. Why would they make a treaty with cougars?”
William leaned back. “There’ve been no attacks on the compound. No signs of Carstairs.”
Charlie glanced at over at Zac, clearly curious.
“I’ll fill you all in on the details when we get back,” Jaxon said.
Charlie nodded. “Do we need the Healer ready?”
“Yes. Call ahead. I assume they were hit with tranqs, but they need to be checked for poison and other toxins. And Zac’ll need healing no matter what. They hit him with enough darts for a polar bear-sized creature, so the amount of meds in his system would be too much for a human.”
Charlie grimaced. “Uh, Andie told us about the gash in your side. What about that?”
Jaxon ground his teeth. “It’s fine. I’ll visit JoLynn later tonight.”
Charlie nodded, then moved up to sit beside Pete in the copilot seat. Jaxon closed his eyes and let himself sleep. Finally.
Chapter 27
Andie woke up slowly. She was warm and cozy, tucked into a bed. Her mind was also fuzzy, as if she’d been…
Drugged.
Her eyes flew open, and she tried to sit up, except the room decided to spin crazily around her. She groaned and lay back down.
“Take it easy, wildcat.”
Jaxon’s deep voice registered and relief flooded through her. Trying to look over at him, she winced as several versions of Jaxon’s face started floating around.
“Why does the room keep moving?” she asked. Her tongue felt swollen and fuzzy in her mouth.
She felt the bed dip as he sat beside her and then the cool touch of his fingers as they smoothed her hair back. “You were shot with a tranquilizer. It’s still wearing off,” Jaxon said.
Images flashed in Andie’s mind. The snowstorm. The wolves. “Zac?” she asked.
“He’s okay. We had our Healer work on him. The amount of drugs in his system was for a large polar bear and could’ve killed him when he shifted back to human. You shifted back on your own a few hours ago. We figured you were close to waking up then.”
Andie nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“He’s the boy, isn’t he?”
Andie’s eyes crossed as she tried to follow the change of topic.
“The boy you dragged out of that house where your mom died in Canada. Zac’s the boy, isn’t he? You saved his life?”
Oh. That boy. “Yes.”
“And you sent that rogue cougar – Shane – to him for asylum?”
Andie sighed. “Yes.”
“I thought so.”
Andie caught a note of tenderness in his voice. Cracking one eye, she peeked in his direction.
“You look terrible,” she slurred. His hair was disheveled, and there were dark circles under his eyes. “Didn’t you get the Healer to help you out too?”
“She did. Funny thing though… apparently I have a hard time sleeping when you’re lying here looking like death warmed over.”
Andie felt a little glow of warmth.
“What did I say about being in here alone with her, Keller?” Zac’s irritated growl interrupted them.
“Don’t leave her alone if you don’t want me alone with her, Montclair,” Jaxon answered without looking away from Andie. He gave her a little wink. If she didn’t think it would make the dizziness worse, Andie would have rolled her eyes. Alphas.
“Actually, now that you’re awake, I have a little work to get done.” Jaxon leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
Andie nodded, and her eyes followed him as he left the room.
Hannah’s head popped around the door, a grin splitting her face from ear to ear. “Hey, sweetie. I figured I’d wait until Zac had his say.”
She moved around the big polar bear shifter, who hadn’t left. “He refused to leave and hasn’t let Jaxon come near you,” Hannah continued and chuckled under her breath. “I thought Jaxon was going to blow a gasket. I have no idea how he got past Zac this time. How do you feel?”
“Like I’m on some freak circus ride.”
Hannah nodded. Reaching into a bowl on the nightstand, she placed a cool cloth on Andie’s head. “Better?”
“Mmmm… Thanks.” Andie gave her friend a wan smile. Then she looked over to where Zac waited patiently.
“Hey, kuluk,” he said, using an Inuktitut term of endearment as he took Jaxon’s place sitting beside her.
“Hey, Papa Bear.”
He grinned as he watched her try to focus. “The room should stop spinning pretty quick.”
“How would you know? You had a Healer fix it for you.”
“True.”
“So… you won’t let Jaxon near me without you in the room?”
He grinned again and gave his rusty imitation of a laugh. “He’s like a bull with a red flag.”
She giggled in return, though she cut it off when it made the world tilt more. “Good for you. People don’t say no to that man often enough.”
“Jaxon said you’re willing to join the dare?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah.”
Hannah raised her eyebrow. “Why’d you leave in the first place?”
Andie grimaced. “I left to protect him. And you.”
“Huh. And that turned out to be a damn fool idea, didn’t it?” Hannah said. Zac nodded his agreement.
Andie closed her eyes. “You won’t get an argument from me about that.”
She felt the bed jiggle as Zac stood. “I’m off to my room now that I see you’re all better, and Hannah is here to chaperone should Keller show up again.”
“Thanks, Zac,” Andie mumbled groggily and heard him leave the room.
“You’ve got to tell me all about how you met that hunky man someday,” Hannah murmured.
“Excuse me?” a male voice interrupted.
Andie cracked an eye to see a blond-haired man enter the room. She recognized Nick Jenner, Hannah’s husband.
Hannah gave him a blissfully sweet smil
e. “No one’s more hunky than my mate.”
“I should hope not.” He grinned and pulled his wife close to kiss her. “How’s our patient?”
“Awake.”
“I hear it’s you I have to thank for getting us out of Carstairs last year,” Nick said with a smile.
Andie scrunched her nose. “Nothing Hannah wouldn’t have done for me.”
“Nevertheless, we’re in your debt,” he insisted.
Why did men always feel the need to repay a debt? In Andie’s opinion, people should just help people. But she knew he wouldn’t drop it, and her head was too fuzzy to argue right now anyway, so she just nodded.
Nick leaned down and kissed the tip of Hannah’s nose. “I just came to grab my computer. Gotta run to a meeting.”
“Okay,” Hannah said.
Andie closed her eyes again, but Hannah wasn’t going to let her go back to sleep. “So what changed your mind?” Hannah asked. “About joining the dare, I mean.”
Chapter 28
“Jaxon. He’d have followed me wherever I tried to go. Kinda defeats the purpose if my leaving is supposed to protect him.” In her mind she kept going. It hadn’t been any one thing he’d done or said, but all of them together. Talking to her leader-to-leader and reminding her that she would’ve done the same as he had in keeping his identity from her. Offering her asylum without the added pressure of mating and marrying him, but still being clear that he wanted her. She didn’t know why that last part had helped. Well, actually she did. She did want to marry the Alpha of the Keller Dare.
Andie peeled one eyelid up and was happy to see that the room wasn’t spinning nearly as badly as it had been a few minutes ago.
“Have some water,” Hannah said. She held a cup with a straw up to Andie’s lips. She took a tentative sip and then another. It felt good, and the room seemed to be getting more and more stable. The drugs must be wearing off, she thought gratefully. Cautiously Andie inched up till she was propped against the headboard.
Hannah took a seat on the bed beside her. “Feeling better?”
Andie nodded slowly and was pleased that the room had finally stopped spinning and stayed still.
“So are you going to marry my brother?”
Andie nearly choked on her water. “Jeez, Hannah. Way to lead into that one.”
Hannah grinned. “Are you? You’d be an awesome sister-in-law.”
Andie sent her a warm smile in return. “Same goes. But I don’t know.”
“What’s tripping you up?”
Andie plucked at the blanket covering her legs. “I won’t trap him into a relationship for life just because he has an overblown sense of protectiveness.”
Hannah narrowed her eyes. “You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”
Andie blushed. “Is it obvious?”
“Only to me, because I know you.”
“Thank goodness,” Andie muttered. If Jaxon figured it out, she’d be mated and married to him before the day was out. No way would he let her go then. But she wanted more from him. She’d gotten greedy. She wanted everything.
Hannah sighed. “My brother can be dense when it comes to feelings. Just like all men. Except Nick, of course.”
Andie smiled.
“But I can tell you this,” Hannah continued. “He’s only ever been this crazy protective about you. Even I’ve never received this level of obsessiveness and attention, and I’m his sister.”
Andie hid her pleasure at hearing those words.
“And he would never let lust drive him to mate, let alone marry. He’s had plenty of girlfriends.” Hannah held up her hands at Andie’s glare. “Nothing serious, and you’ve had your share of boyfriends, so don’t scowl at me, Andromeda Jaci.”
Andie grimaced. She’d never been a jealous person before. Or an insecure one. She usually went after what she wanted.
Both Zac and Hannah had pointed out that Jaxon’s offer to marry her shouldn’t be taken lightly. And what she knew of Jaxon told her they were right. He was too responsible, too much the Alpha to offer such a permanent and important thing frivolously. Maybe the time had come to start trusting him.
Mind and heart made up, a weight seemed to lift from her shoulders. “Okay, Hannah. You’ve made your point.”
Hannah grinned. “I’m glad. And welcome to your new dare.”
I have a dare, Andie thought. She’d agreed days ago to join it, but it hadn’t had time to sink in before she was running for her life. Of course, she’d had a dare with Carstairs, but she’d never felt safe or valued or even all that proud to be part of them. This felt so different. Andie knew that Jaxon Keller – the man he was, the Alpha he was – was the entire reason why.
“They put Zac in the room next to you. Mike’s on the other side, and the others are directly across the hall.”
“Wait? Mike’s here? I thought he went back to Carstairs.”
Hannah shook her head. “Jaxon insisted they stay. Offered them asylum.”
Andie felt warmth fill her heart. Jaxon had kept her surrounded by her people and them safe. He couldn’t have been clearer in his message to her if he’d said it directly to her face. He trusted her. He trusted them all. And he wanted her to feel like this was home.
And that made Andie’s decision feel that much more perfect. “I need a shower,” she declared.
“Uh, honey, give yourself a little time to recover first.”
“Nope. Recovery is for wimps. I need a shower, and a dress.”
“A… dress?” Hannah looked a little stunned. Her friend was a tomboy in every way. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress.”
“Exactly. I’m going to send your brother a signal that even the densest man on the planet couldn’t miss.”
Andie pulled back the covers and swung her feet to the floor. She stood up on slightly shaky legs. “Shower. Food. Bling. In that order.”
Hannah grinned. “I’ll get you a dress while you’re bathing.”
Andie returned the smile. “That’s my girl.”
A solid twenty minutes later, just as Andie was getting out of her heavenly shower, warmed and clean, she heard a telephone ringing in her room. She hurriedly wrapped a fluffy towel around her and rushed to answer it.
“What’s up, Hannah?” she asked breathlessly.
“Sorry to disappoint you.” Jaxon’s deep tones made her shiver, even down a telephone line.
“Not at all,” she said. “Did you need something?”
“I was just checking up on you. How do you feel?”
Andie smiled. “Well, the room is staying still, so that’s an improvement. Thanks.”
“That’s good,” he said. Then he was quiet so long that she wondered if he’d hung up.
“Jaxon?”
“I’m still here. I was hoping we could talk tonight? Maybe have dinner together if you’re up to it?”
Andie blinked. “Are you asking me on a date?”
“Yes. You asked for proof, and I’m trying to give it to you. I’ve decided to court you the old-fashioned way.”
Andie’s heart skipped a beat. He’d listened. And cared enough to try. She mentally revised her plan a bit. If he wanted to try to win her, she’d let him. “I’d like that.”
“Good.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “Can you be ready in about an hour?”
“I think so.”
“I’ll come get you then. Bye, Andie.”
“Bye,” she murmured, and hung up.
She danced a little jig, the happiness bubbling through her too much to contain. No time to waste, girl. Better get ready.
Andie turned around and discovered that Hannah had left her some snacks along with the dress. She ignored the food and held up the dress, which was bright red with a sweetheart neckline. It would skim her curves in a sexy way without being too crazy. The skirt would end above her knees, showing off her toned legs. And, bless her, Hannah had left her a pair of sky high heels, black satin with a sexy strap around the ankle. Als
o on the bed was an assortment of makeup, hair products, and jewelry.
“Guess she approves,” Andie murmured with a smile.
She popped a piece of cheese in her mouth and then grabbed the hair stuff and makeup and started to prepare for her date.
Chapter 29
Andie opened her door at the sound of Jaxon’s knock. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so nervous in her life. Even when she’d broken every rule and helped Hannah and Nick escape her old dare. Hell, even when she’d fallen from grace and had to make her own escape from the Carstairs compound.
She calmed down a little when she registered Jaxon’s reaction to her appearance. She rarely saw him speechless, but he stood there for a good minute and let his eyes travel over her body. His gaze was so hot, she could feel the lick of the flames as they passed over her bared skin. She shivered and saw the small smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He cleared his throat. “If you want me to concentrate on your mind and personality, that dress is not going to help.”
Andie crossed her arms. “Be glad Zac didn’t hear that.”
“Yeah. Where is the big fur ball anyway? I’m surprised he isn’t here.”
“I let him know that you were expected and asked him to give us a little privacy.” Andie shrugged and then went a little speechless herself as he pulled a bouquet of red roses out from behind his back. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you,” she murmured, and buried her nose in the sweet-smelling blooms. “They’re beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like them. I wasn’t sure if you’d like flowers or…” He trailed off uncertainly.
“Or?” Andie prompted.
“… something else. Chocolates or whatever.” He waved a vague hand.
She smiled. “I may be a Commander, but I can be as girly as the next woman. The flowers are lovely. Thank you.”
He grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He waited while she hunted around for a vase. “Shall we?” he asked once the flowers were in water.
She took his arm and gasped when he stopped just a few doors down the hall. She’d never realized where in the compound he’d put her rooms.
