by Vonna Harper
Songan slowly nodded. “You also watched Rane and me fuck.”
“I’m more than a bear, not that I have to tell you that. Just as there’s more to you than man.”
“Elk.”
Rane might be part of the conversation, but at the moment she felt as if she’d faded into the background. Songan probably had never suspected any creature except an elk could shift. Maybe the same held true for Ber. It certainly had been like that for her until Ber walked into her world.
This was magical, mystical and unbelievable all rolled up into a single moment. The truly incredible thing was, she was privy to it.
Ber jerked his head at her. “You were going to Wolverine with her?”
“Were? I still am.” Dropping his pack, Songan draped a possessive arm over her shoulder. “A bear shifter isn’t the only creature who senses death.”
“What are you saying?” she demanded.
Before Songan could answer, if he was going to, a growl so low that for an instant Rane thought it was thunder rolled out of Ber. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her away from Songan and shoved so her back was against the truck. He kept her there via a hand against her shoulder. Even with the wind beating at her, she felt herself drifting back to her dreams. She wouldn’t be surprised to see rope appear.
“Don’t go.” Ber’s breath warmed the top of her head. “There’s no reason for you to risk—”
“It’s my decision!” She surged forward then sunk against the truck again when he continued to hold on to her. To her shock, hot need slammed at her. She fought it the only way she could think of, with words.
“No one’s holding a gun to either of your heads. I’ve been there any number of times. Obviously neither of you has enough human in you to understand. I’m not going to waste my breath trying to explain why I have to do this.”
Ber wasn’t the only one who growled when he was agitated. So did Songan, as witnessed by the low, sharp note erupting from deep in his chest. Grabbing Ber’s arm, Songan spun the bear shifter away from her. Thank goodness Ber had the presence of mind to let go of her. The instant she was free, she shoved herself between the two would-be fighters.
“Stop it! You’re acting like animals!”
“We are,” the men replied almost as one.
“Whatever. Look, arguing like this isn’t going to get us anywhere. If you two draw blood, I’m not going to bandage you.”
“Won’t you?” Ber challenged. The way he was looking at her, she wondered if he knew about her dreams. Was responsible for them.
“Look.” She stumbled over the word. “The last thing I want to do is deal with a couple of oversize egos and even more oversize muscles. If I don’t get to Wolverine today, it might not make any difference until spring. What I said about going alone isn’t—Songan, I need your hearing and sight.”
“And mine,” Ber said.
“Why?” Songan asked when she thought he’d tell the bear shifter to leave them the hell alone.
“I have my reasons.”
“Which are?” she blurted, still trying to absorb everything that was happening.
“You don’t need to ask.”
No, she didn’t, did she? He was hung up on his belief that she was vital to the Enyeto’s future. She wasn’t about to try to explain that to Songan. Let Ber do it.
“You learned about the bear deaths,” she said, hoping to change the subject. “I’m sorry. That must have hurt.”
“The blacks here are a kind of kin, part of me.”
Ber’s eloquent words made her heart ache. “Do you know why they were killed?”
As he shook his head, she acknowledged that, despite his human form today, Ber didn’t fully understand what it meant to be one. Like Songan, he existed on the fringes of modern society and maybe didn’t fully comprehend what humans were capable of. The evil in some of them.
Trying to keep the telling as basic as possible, she relayed the conversation she’d had with Gannon. Even before she finished, Ber’s confusion turned into barely contained rage. He paced from the truck to her porch step and back again. Watching him, she concluded that, as Songan had done, he’d come to her place as a beast. Not only didn’t he have any transportation, he didn’t have a decent winter coat.
He frightened her. No way could or should she deny that. At the same time, watching his effortless movements thrilled her. He was perfect, raw and proud, savage beneath the surface.
Damn him, he didn’t need to throw ropes on her. She’d come to him of her own free and hungry will. If he didn’t make the first move, she’d rip off his minimal clothes, launch herself at him and beg him to bury his cock in her sex. They’d fuck standing up, him holding her in place while her nails clawed at his shoulders and he bit at the side of her neck.
They’d climax in the same heartbeat. Scream their shared pleasure.
“I’ll find whoever has been doing this. Tear them apart.”
Ber’s hate-filled voice yanked her back to reality, but even as she threw her pack into her truck bed, she knew she’d eventually have to ask Ber whether he’d deliberately planted the edgy dreams in her.
Dreams?
“I don’t have a coat that’ll fit you,” she told Ber. “And even if he had an extra”—she jerked her head at Songan—“I doubt if he’d lend it to you. You can throw my sleeping bag over your shoulders if—”
“I’m fine. Not cold.”
“And if you get chilled, you’ll turn into a grizzly, is that what you’re saying?”
He nodded.
“Fine. Whatever. My truck. My keys. And my gas after I’ve gone to the station. My plans haven’t changed. I’m still going to drive as far as the road will let us before taking off on foot. Look at the weather. It has to be done today.”
As if reinforcing her words, the wind slammed into her. She should have gone on this have-to trip earlier. Before the weather became her enemy. Alone, if necessary.
“There’s barely enough room for the three of us in the cab,” she pointed out unnecessarily. “I wouldn’t want to be the one sitting in back, so I won’t suggest it for either of you. As I see it, the only other option is for one of you to shift now and join us at the start of the trail.”
Despite the sudden tension, she nearly laughed at how Ber and Songan stared at each other. Obviously neither man was willing to let the other be alone with her. Two suitors? Yeah, right. More like two wild stallions.
Chapter Twelve
The mile long drive from her mother’s place outside the town limits to the gas station Alice ran with her husband Dave seemed to take forever. Despite their attempts to maintain their own space, Songan and Ber’s wide shoulders were jammed together, while she had a little more room behind the wheel. Like it or not, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it, it made more sense for her to sit in the middle when they got underway.
Between two men whose presence redefined the word male.
With her libido ratcheted up so high she was hard-pressed to think of anything else.
Chances were they would spend the night in a small cabin designed for hikers. The night. With the woodstove for warmth and mood, a single bed, hours of darkness with nothing to do and thoughts—damn it, the thoughts!
She’d never slept with more than one man at a time. Multiple sex partners weren’t her style. Well, not in the real world. There was nothing wrong with a little fantasy, right? And threesomes, or more, had been a sometimes fantasy, an exciting way of passing a solitary night.
Except she wouldn’t be alone tonight. Both men wanted her, and she wanted—damn it, she was losing her mind!
The problem was too much male in an enclosed space and entirely too much testosterone coating the air. As soon as they started hiking, she’d stop imagining two naked bodies and her smaller, equally naked one between theirs. Touching and being touched.
No other customers were at the station when they pulled up. The moment she turned off the engine, silence enveloped her. As far as she knew,
neither man had looked at each other during the short drive, and she didn’t trust herself to meet their gazes. What if her expression gave away what she’d been thinking?
Because self-serve gas was illegal in Oregon, she got out, made her way to the weathered building adjacent to the pumps and opened the door to where Dave did occasional mechanical work. Fortunately it was warmer in the small shop than outside. She spotted Alice doing something with the brakes of an old Chevy up on portable jacks. What was it Gannon had pointed out, that her mother’s killer likely was someone who lived in the area?
But not Alice! No more crazy thinking.
“Sorry to disturb you,” Rane said, “but I’m nearly on fumes.”
Alice, who’d been kneeling, slowly got to her feet. Watching her, Rane recalled the other night in the Sawmill when the older woman kept studying her.
“Going somewhere, are you?” Alice asked.
“Yep.” Because Alice and her mother had been friends, she was tempted to explain, but she couldn’t fully shake off Gannon’s warning. Right now, the less she said, the better.
Alice wiped her hands on a dirty towel she’d had in her back pocket. “Shitty day for it. Your mom was one of the good people; I hope you know that.”
“I do. I’m having a hard time dealing with how she died. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.” There. She’d said what she needed to.
“Neither will I.” Alice made no move toward the door. “Your mom was one of my best friends. I used to think she was slumming when we hung out, her being college educated and all, while I—” She held up grease-stained fingers. “But we were both into the area’s history. Digging through records at the county historical society was what first brought us together. After awhile, it was like there was nothing we couldn’t share. That’s why…”
Rane placed her hand on Alice’s shoulder. The older woman didn’t have any extra weight on her. Everything was pure muscle forged from hard work. “Don’t hold back, please. Whatever you’re thinking, I need to hear it.”
“Maybe you do, maybe not. She changed near the end. Kind of closed herself off. I knew she had something on her mind, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
So much for thinking she’d cried herself out. Just like that, tears started to flow. Rane clutched Alice to her, and Alice did the same. The older woman’s arms felt like vises around her waist.
Ber and Songan were waiting for her. They expected her to be in a hurry, not to stand inside a small repair shop holding on to a woman old enough to be her mother and crying.
But she had to be strong around the two shifters. She didn’t have to with Alice. Couldn’t be.
Several seconds passed before Rane felt composed enough to speak. She stepped back, taking hold of Alice’s rough, grease-stained hands as she did.
“I didn’t mean to upset you.” Alice sniffed. Turning her head, she wiped her nose on her coveralls.
“You didn’t. I loved hearing what you said about Mom being a good person.”
“I meant every word of it.”
“I know you did. About her having a lot on her mind—was it because of me?”
“You?”
It was too late to try to cover her tracks. Besides, dangerous or safe, she needed to ask her mother’s friend certain things.
“I asked for a transfer to Alaska. After a couple of years in Utah, I wanted a change of scene. Again. Mom didn’t want me going that far away. We didn’t exactly argue. It was more like a standoff.” Her asking why I kept running away from here. “After that I, ah, I didn’t stay in touch the way I should have.” The way I always had.
“Why’d you want to move clear up there?”
“Lots of reasons,” she said, even though right now she wasn’t sure what they were. “Growing up here, I needed to see what the rest of the world was like. At least more of the United States. I couldn’t understand why she was content staying in one place. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed visiting.” Seeing Songan. “But Alaska’s incredible. Beautiful. Wide open. The first time I went there, I fell in love with the scenery.”
“I have two kids. Boys. You know them.”
She nodded. James and Mike hadn’t been the sharpest students and had joined the military right after graduating. They’d both done a stint in Afghanistan but were stateside now, one in Virginia, the other living in the next county. Her mom had told her that one was married, but she couldn’t remember which it was. She’d also mentioned that the one who’d come back to Oregon was having trouble making ends meet.
“When they were little, Dave and I thought they’d be taking over the business, but they never showed much interest. I miss having them around all the time, but Dave—he still blames them.”
“For what?”
“Leaving us with this.” Alice jerked her head at the cramped space. “We’re barely keeping our heads above water. It’d be different if they were here to work on the big stuff. People wouldn’t care about bringing their rigs up to Forestville if they got good service. James learned how to be a diesel mechanic in the military, but does he ever think of using his skill to help his old man? No. And Mike, well, all he thinks of is himself, not that he’s doing that good a job of it. That’s what has Dave bitter.”
Not sure how the conversation had taken this turn, she released Alice’s hand and turned toward the door, hoping to get Alice going in that direction.
“Children disappoint their parents, just like parents disappoint their kids,” Alice said. “Your mom was hurt about the Alaska thing.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“But that wasn’t the only thing that was eating at her. I just wish she’d confided in me. It might have made a difference. Kept her alive.”
Cold, Rane stared at Alice. “What are you talking about?”
“Maybe nothing, but I can’t help thinking she wasn’t paying attention the way she should have been when she got herself shot.”
Got herself shot? Like it was something she should feel guilty for? “She was investigating something serious. Right now I can’t tell you more than that.”
Alice shrugged her bony shoulders. “Same as your mom.”
As she watched Alice pump gas a few minutes later, Rane pondered something. Maybe her mother had had no idea who the bear poacher was. But what if she’d suspected a specific someone? If that was the case, she might have decided not to say anything to anyone, not even one of her closest friends. Her mother hadn’t dared let anything slip, because the suspect was someone both women knew.
Was that the only reason her mother had retreated into herself? Or was her daughter’s latest career decision responsible for the loss of concentration that had gotten her killed?
Mom, we used to be able to talk about everything. I need that now, more than ever. I’m coming for—I’m coming to where…
Ber and Songan had exited the cab and were standing at a telling distance from each other. Songan watched Alice while Ber’s attention was on the sky. She might be fooling herself, but the clouds didn’t appear to be as dark as they’d been a little while ago. According to the weather report, the storm out in the Pacific wasn’t due to hit for some twenty-four hours. Considerable rain was forecast for the valley and snow in the mountains.
Well, it wasn’t as if she’d never spent a night in the mountains in winter.
And it wasn’t as if she’d be alone.
“That’s it,” Alice said as she hung up the nozzle. “If you can leave your friends, come inside and we’ll handle the finances.”
Shaking her head, Rane reminded herself that she shouldn’t be surprised by Alice’s comment. Songan or Ber weren’t the kind of men who’d fade into the woodwork.
“Who’s the stranger?” Alice asked when she and Rane were in the closet-size office. “I recognize Songan, all right. Long as the shifters have been around, you’d think I’d be used to them, but they’re damn big. Too big for me, if you know what I’m getting at.”
>
Rane worked at keeping her features neutral. “I’ve known him for years. I guess I’m used to his size.”
“Whatever. Some folks here will always resent the jobs shifters have taken from them. Others point out they’re bringing much-needed money into the area, which is what I tried to tell my son Mike. Me, I’m just glad they pay their bills. Who’s the other guy, another shifter?”
Ber was, just not an elk like Alice surely believed. Instead of going into an explanation that really wasn’t hers to give, she said she hoped Alice and she could catch up before long.
“I’d like that. It gets lonesome here for me.” Alice gave the space a dismissive shrug. “When a couple’s been married a long time like Dave and I have, they pursue their own interests. They no longer want to spend all their time together.”
A sudden smile highlighted Alice’s countless wrinkles. “You wouldn’t happen to want some female company today, would you? Those men might be industrial-size and more than I can handle, but I’m not opposed to spending a little time around some of their energy.”
“I, ah—”
“I’m joking.” Just like that, the grin was gone. “An old woman full of wishful thinking. You sure you’re going to be okay with them? I get the feeling they aren’t exactly best friends.”
Rane couldn’t disagree.
The elk shifter was a good driver, not that Ber could imagine himself telling Songan that. Rane sitting between Songan and him made for more shoulder room, all right, and he loved the feel of her body against his, but he hadn’t yet resigned himself to having to be around the other shifter. He didn’t see that happening any time soon, if ever.
Songan made no secret that he felt the same way.
Rane had turned on the radio, and although the reception was getting worse the farther they went into the mountains, he figured she preferred that to silence.
Shifting position a little so his right side wasn’t jammed so tight against the armrest, he looked over at Rane. The wind had made a mess of her braid, not that he was opposed to the way the loose chocolate hairs tangled around her prominent cheekbones. He felt the same way about her lack of makeup, hip-following jeans, slim waist over childbearing hips, and firm breasts her flannel shirt couldn’t hide. Long, rich brown lashes framed her gray-green eyes. From the looks of them, she didn’t pluck her thick brows. He approved.
