Shifting Gears

by Maia Dylan

  “Anything else?”

  Ash had to appreciate a man who only had to be told once. “Make it soon. I’m running out of time and patience.” He disconnected and sat for a moment with the phone in his hand.

  He probably shouldn’t have mentioned his little time limit to the traitor who was working for him, but it didn’t make it any less true. He’d had to call upon powers with darker magic than he had ever known existed to get to this stage of his plan, and he’d had to promise a pretty penny to get it here. There were only two weeks left in that deadline, or he would forfeit all lands belonging to him and his pack.

  His wolf growled within him, still no doubt furious that Ash had made the decision to risk everything. But they were both in agreement when it came to Blackwater Falls. That land was rightfully theirs and they wanted it back, and if Ash’s actions got that for the pack in the end, then his wolf just had to fucking deal.

  Frustrated, his body humming with unspent energy, he reached for his phone and tapped in a message. He needed to release some of this energy, and he knew just the two girls to help him do it.

  ****

  Hannah woke with a start, sitting straight up in the bed. She couldn’t say what it was that had her waking up that way, but something had her heart racing and adrenaline flooding her system. She looked around the darkened room, lit only by the streetlight that stood ten feet from her bedroom window, but it gave her enough light to see around the entire apartment. She knew the apartment itself was empty, but that didn’t stop the tendril of fear from blooming within her.

  She pushed back the covers and was about to slide out of the bed when she heard the unmistakable sound of tools hitting the concrete floor of the workshop below. Someone had broken in downstairs. She had only been in the place for a couple of nights, and the garage was starting to come together. The thought of someone walking around downstairs, potentially damaging or stealing from her, flooded her with disbelief. Fast on the heels of that emotion came rage.

  Pushing herself from the bed, she padded as quietly as she could toward the internal door that led to the stairs. Once she got there, she listened carefully. When she heard someone opening the office door she gritted her teeth. Whoever the fucker was, it was obvious they knew the layout of the ground floor, and assumed she had something of value in the office. Little did they know, all the computer equipment she had ordered for the office had yet to arrive.

  As quietly as she could, she started down the stairs. When she got to the bottom, she leaned out past the doorframe to look through the frosted glass wall of the office. She could see the outline of a person rifling through the papers on the desk. From the size of the shadow they cast against the glass, Hannah was sure it was a man.

  Hannah looked around her, trying to find something she could use as a makeshift weapon. Cursing silently when she found nothing around her, she thought about heading back upstairs to grab one of the kitchen knives from the drawer, calling herself all kinds of fool for not having brought something down with her.

  Another quick glance at the glass partition, she saw the figure turn from the desk so that his back was to her. Her gaze swept the room in desperation. Her tools were only a few feet away. If she moved fast enough and as silently as she could, she figured she could make it across the room before the guy even knew she was there. Hell, if worse came to worst she could use her damn cast! Thinking fast and light thoughts she took off toward the tools.

  "Dodge left, child, dodge left!" A female’s voice sounded in her head. Surprised, rather than heeding the strange warning, she simply kept on. "Dang it! Drop!" This time the voice seemed even more insistent, and Hannah went to heed the warning, but it was too late. She screamed as someone slammed into her from behind, drove her to the ground, and darkness enveloped her.

  ****

  The sound of her scream, muffled as it was through the walls of the garage, almost had Bastian’s heart stopping within his chest. He threw open his door and dived from his car faster than he had ever moved. As he sprinted for the garage, he had to hold his bear back as hard as he could, both bear and man desperate to get to their mate.

  Bastian reached the door that led into the workshop, but he didn’t slow down, slamming into it at a full sprint. The wood seemed to implode on impact, and he swept his gaze through the room. Almost simultaneously, he saw a man moving toward the back of the workshop, and his mate lying sprawled on the ground near the office. There was no hesitation. He ran in her direction, and ignoring the glass that surrounded her, slammed to his knees beside her.

  “Baby,” he whispered as he reached out to press a shaking hand to her neck, “please, please, please.” He repeated the word over and over until he felt the strong, steady thump of her pulse against his fingers. He exhaled with relief as he took his phone from his pocket.

  “Ryker,” he growled into the phone, when his brother answered on the second ring.

  “What’s happened? Is Hannah okay?” Ryker said in a voice that sounded somewhat garbled, and Bastian knew that his bear was close.

  “She’s breathing,” Bastian answered as he gently rolled her over, and into his lap. “But she’s unconscious.”

  Ryker’s growl rumbled over the phone line, and Bastian could hear movement that told him Ryker was already on his way. “I’ll call Lucas, and we’ll be there as soon as we can. Was it Ash?”

  Bastian lifted his head and inhaled as deep as he could. He caught the usual smells of the garage, and the alluring scent of his mate, but nothing more. “I can’t scent anything.”

  “You’d be able to. Fucking wolves stink.”

  Bastian frowned as he looked around the dark garage. “Be that as it may, I can’t smell anything in here. Nothing but what you would expect, and our mate. Nothing. But I know there was someone here, because I saw the bastard running out the back door.”

  Ryker was silent for a moment, and Bastian heard nothing but the sound of Ryker’s truck accelerating down the road. “We’ll find out who did this. And when we do, we’ll make them pay.” Hannah groaned. “Is she coming around? That’s a good sign. Tell her I’ll be there in less than three minutes.”

  Bastian heard the click that signaled Ryker had hung up. He dropped his phone to the floor and cupped Hannah’s soft cheek in his hand. “Baby? Come on back to me, now. You damn near gave me a heart attack. Open those beautiful green eyes for me.”

  Hannah frowned. “Ouch.” It was more a moan than anything, but her eyes fluttered and then opened completely, her gaze leveling on his. “Hey.”

  Relief flooded his system, and he exhaled sharply. “Hey back, beautiful. Lucas and Ryker will be here shortly.”

  Hannah nodded like she understood that, before that quiet frown graced her beautiful face. “Why are they coming here? Lucas gave me the all clear.”

  Bastian nodded. In the distance, he heard the sound of a car’s tires squealing as a vehicle rounded a corner too fast, and he knew that was Ryker. “That was before I came in here and found you unconscious on the floor.”

  “Oh,” Hannah said, her frown clearing. “That would make sense then, I suppose.”

  Bastian smiled at her logic, and unable to resist a minute more, leaned forward to gently take her mouth with his, and that was how they were when Ryker burst through the door. Sprawled on the ground, amid a sea of broken glass, making out like there was nothing amiss.

  Chapter Seven

  Ryker bit back a groan of pain as he tried to find a comfortable position on the couch in Hannah's apartment. Given the fact that the couch was only a two-seater, and he stood six-foot-three, he didn’t like his chances of being able to stand upright in the morning. Settling onto his side, he looked over at Hannah, who was curled up on the bed across the room. All of this and the risk of losing the ability to stand straight was worth it, if it meant he and Bastian could keep her safe.

  He had arrived at the garage at the same time as Lucas and a few other members of his clan. He'd leapt from his car, raced for t
he garage, and when he stormed into the workshop through the remains of the front door, he had been filled with fear. Seeing his mate and his brother wrapped around each other on the floor of the garage eased those fears enough that the rage he felt that someone had dared hurt his mate, slammed into place.

  "Drew!" He yelled as he turned to face the men running in his direction. "You and Tony head out back. Bastian saw the prick who did this run out that way. Find him and bring him to me." He stepped aside to let Lucas into the store. Once he was sure the garage was secure and his men were chasing the culprit down he ran over to his mate.

  "Although I find your company charming, young lady," Lucas said to their mate dryly as his hands manipulated the back of her head, "I would prefer to talk with you over coffee rather than you needing my professional services."

  Hannah winced when Lucas must have pressed against a sensitive area, and Ryker couldn't withhold a grumble of displeasure. "Oh, shut up with the grumpy ass bear sounds, you." Hannah glared up at him, and Ryker couldn't help but grin back. He really did enjoy riling his mate.

  "I can't help it, love. My bear is a grumpy ass."

  Ryker ignored the snickers from his clan and kept his gaze locked to his mate. Although her eyes remained narrowed, he caught the flash of amusement that flickered through them.

  "Ignore him, doc," Hannah said in a voice dripping with indignation, "I do. And yes, I would love to have coffee with you, rather than you needing to look at my bumps and bruises, but I seem to have become quite accident prone since moving to Blackwater Falls. Not to mention I might really need to speak to a professional. I'm hearing voices now, too."

  Lucas frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

  Hannah looked slightly sheepish. "Well, when I was sneaking across the floor looking for a weapon," Ryker's blood thickened at the thought of his woman fighting this asshole, "a voice sounded in my head telling me to dodge left. When I didn't follow the instructions, she told me to drop."

  Lucas's brows went up. "Okay, and it was a woman's voice? One that you recognized, at all?"

  Hannah shook her head. "Nope, never heard her before. But let’s not get to caught up on my potential psychotic episode, and concentrate on what happened in reality. I think I just interrupted a break-in."

  This time it was Bastian's turn to grumble. "This was no random act, baby. A guy deliberately leaped at you through a pane of glass and managed to not get hurt by the damn glass, but I couldn't scent the bastard, either."

  Lucas lifted his head in shock. "How in the hell can that happen?"

  Ryker understood his confusion. Black bears were known to have a very keen sense of smell. "He had no scent. I catch nothing in here either, and Bastian spotted him only minutes ago. His scent should be all over this place."

  "It should be all over me, too. The heavy prick landed on me pretty damn hard." Hannah groaned as she sat up. Ryker and Bastian both reached to help her, but she pushed their hands away. "I'm fine, just a little shook up is all." Ryker chuffed in anger again at the thought of his woman being slammed to the ground, and Hannah sighed, reaching out a hand to pet him, calming man and bear at the same time. "I'm okay, Ryker. A little bruised, but fine. This guy's scent should be strongest against my back. Can you catch anything there?"

  Ryker and Bastian both leaned in and inhaled. Ryker frowned. "No, nothing."

  "In fact," Bastian said as he sat up, "your scent is somehow … muted. I don’t know how to describe it any better than that."

  Ryker knew exactly what Bastian was saying. He caught the alluring scent of orange blossom and honey that was uniquely their mate, but it was by no means as strong as it should be when he was standing this close to her. "There has to be something on him, that has transferred to her that is masking or muting their scent."

  Lucas frowned. "I haven't heard of anything that could do that. Lauren, Tomas, and I will get to researching this tomorrow. In the meantime, young lady, did you lose consciousness at all?"

  "She was out when I got here," Bastian was quick to point out.

  Hannah sighed once more. "If I was I think it was more a faint out of shock than anything long term. I have a headache, but it’s mild."

  Ryker stepped in when Hannah began to try to stand up, and lifted her up and away from the glass, and straight into his arms. He was careful to make sure there were no pieces of the glass fragments on her or him that might hurt her.

  "Christ, Ryker," Hannah said a little breathlessly, "warn a girl before you go swinging her around like she weighs nothing."

  Ryker just grinned as he held her closer to him, and she snuggled into his arms.

  Lucas grinned knowingly. "All right, so it looks as though you are in good hands. I will be by in the morning to check on you."

  Ryker moved toward the stairs that would lead him upstairs. "Great, we'll see you then, Lucas. Bastian, could—"

  "We'll get down here cleaned up," Bastian interrupted, knowing exactly what Ryker was about to say. "I'll order the glass to replace the window and the security system in the morning. Once down here is squared away, I'll meet you upstairs."

  Hannah sat up at that. "Don’t you mean you'll meet him at home?"

  "Nope." Ryker started up the stairs. "He and I will be spending the remainder of tonight with you here. Tomorrow, we are going to have this place wired with a security system, but at night, you'll be sleeping at our place."

  "Now wait just a damn minute," Hannah said in a tone that said she was more than just a little pissed off, but he ignored her, closing the door on his laughing clan once he reached the top of the stairs and moved to place Hannah as gently as he could upon her bed.

  "No," Ryker said, holding her gaze with his own. "Twice now, you have been hurt. And me and my bear find that absolutely unacceptable. You need to understand something, Hannah. You are my mate. You are Bastian's mate. And we have been doing everything we can to protect you while giving you time to get to know us. One of us has been sleeping across the street in our damn car watching over you. How the fuck do you think Bastian got here so damn fast? Someone wants to hurt you, Hannah." Ryker wanted to take his words back when he saw fear fill her beautiful green eyes and she flinched. "Bastian and I are going to do anything and everything we can to keep that from happening again. So, please for the love of all things holy, please just let us do this and don’t give us any more shit."

  He was surprised when she acquiesced so quickly. Perhaps she was more scared than he had realized.

  "Do you think it's Ash?" Bastian asked quietly in the dark from the pallet he'd made on the floor with blankets, pulling Ryker from his own thoughts.

  Ryker sighed. "Yes, I do. But I have no idea how."

  The two were quiet for a moment. "You are going to kill the bastard, though, right?" Bastian asked.

  Ryker grinned in the darkness. "With a smile on my face while I do it, brother."

  ****

  “Move it just a little more to the left,” Hannah instructed, standing back to get the full effect. “Yes, there! That’s perfect!” She watched as Ryker and Bastian muscled the large hoist into place, the last of the large equipment that she’d ordered for the workshop. She refused to acknowledge that was the exact spot they had first placed the hoist ten minutes ago, but from the looks both men gave her, she figured they knew it, too.

  “Christ,” Ryker panted as he dropped forward to rest his hands on his knees, panting slightly. “Do you think she is deliberately trying to give us both hernias? Or do you think this is just some sick way she gets her kicks?"

  "Hell, bro, it could be a mixture of both as far as I'm concerned." Bastian laughed breathlessly as he stood tall, lifting his arms above his head and moving from side to side.

  Hannah swallowed to bring the moisture back to her mouth as she watched the impressive display of muscles moving beneath the thin cotton of his shirt. This was one drawback to having the two men helping her out in the garage. And by drawback, she really meant turn-on.

  "You li
ke what you see, Hannah?" Her stare lifted to meet Bastian's heated look, and she bristled at the smug expression on his handsome face.

  "Stop fishing for compliments," Hannah said as she moved back toward the office, the lack of glass in the wall a visual reminder of the eventful evening the night before. "It’s an unattractive trait in any man. Now, it's late and the two of you should head on out so that I can get some rest. I have to finish Mrs. Greer's Buick tomorrow morning, and that’s going to take some work."

  Hannah had just stepped into the office, using the door despite the opening beside it, and walked three steps into the office, then found herself gently swept into two masculine arms and spun until her back was pressed to the wall. Ryker leaned into her until they were pressed together from shoulder to knee. Hannah inhaled sharply and felt her body heat a little further at the scent of the man. He was a lethal mix of woods, man, and cologne that drew her in and had her head spinning.

  "I think you should answer Bastian's question," Ryker said in a voice that was at least an octave lower than usual, and the timbre of it made her shiver. "We've seen the way you look at us, and we sure as hell aren't hiding the way we feel when we look at you. Come on, Hannah. Throw a bear a bone."

  Hannah snorted at his joke, and when he grinned back at her, she felt another little piece of her heart slide away in their direction. "Who would have thought you were both so desperately in need of having your fragile male egos stroked?" Ryker barked a quick laugh then bit his lip. "What? Why are you biting your lip like that?"

  "I am trying to behave," Ryker said with a sigh, "and I promised Bastian I wouldn't pressure you with innuendos or outright pleading, but when you throw down a line that includes the words desperately and stroked as you just did, I find it hard not to point out a more sensitive part of my anatomy that desperately needs stroking." Hannah burst out laughing even as color swept into her cheeks. "At least it needs to be stroked by someone other than myself, because if I'm to be perfectly honest with you, love, I have stroked it a lot since I met you."