by Amelia Jade
He almost made it.
Jenny shrieked and went down as a massive paw swiped at her.
Corey saw red. Not just the red bloom that erupted across Jenny’s back, but his vision filled with it. He went berserk. He came alongside Travis and his claws literally ripped the skin from his side, peeling it off as if it were wallpaper. He dug in furiously, blood rushing over his paws as he roared his anger. Travis tried to turn and fight back, but Corey ignored the other shifter’s flailing front legs, digging his claws even deeper into the mangled ruin that had been Travis’s left flank.
The other creature eventually gave up, collapsing to the ground. With an angry shriek most unbecoming of a bear, Corey rolled him over. Travis made a gurgling sound and blood began to pour out his mouth. Corey hesitated only once, just long enough to let the other shifter see the look of fury in his eyes.
Then he tore out his throat.
At that point the other shifters went thundering past him, and the battle was fully engaged. He briefly saw Garrett and Ajax angle in on Michael, the three Alphas colliding in titanic combat as the ground literally trembled beneath him.
All at once the numerous wounds he must have suffered in his frenzied attack hit him, and Corey wobbled on his feet. As he did, however, the two women on the ground were brought back into his view.
Jenny.
She needed his help. His bear wanted to fight, to do nothing more than maul another of the shifters who had dared threaten his mate. He didn’t care which one. He would have gone after Michael if the other Alpha wasn’t already lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Garrett and Ajax split up, tearing into the remaining Diamonds with the help of the rest of their crews.
Forcing his animal to cooperate, Corey exerted the iron will of his human mind, the one controlling feature his bear could never match. Cold steel ran through his soul, and in moments he was back in his human form, lying in a curled ball on the ground.
“Jenny,” he called, getting to his feet. He winced as the gashes across his stomach sent coils of pain through his system, threatening to paralyze him. Moving slower was the only option.
Eventually, in a half crawl/half shuffle he made it to her side. The white jacket she was wearing was torn, ripped to shreds and stained with blood. Moving carefully he used his shifter strength to rip the jacket up her side, and then peeled it off her back.
She moaned and cried out as he inspected her wounds, trying to judge how serious they were.
“It hurts,” she groaned, pain thick in her voice.
“Yes, I’ll bet it does. But they aren’t that bad,” he said in strained relief as he realized Travis hadn’t been able to dig his claws all that deep. If he had, he could easily have ripped out her spine. As it was, she had five large gashes across her back, but the bleeding had already slowed. She would need stitches, most likely, and moving would hurt, but she would survive.
“You’re going to have some nice battle scars,” he told her, trying to distract her as he ripped off his own shirt. Much of it was covered in blood as well, but the back was seemingly untouched, and after a few judicious rips, he spread the thin material across her back and applied pressure.
She hissed, trying to contain her reaction, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re one crazy woman,” he told her. “But you’re as tough as they come.”
Jenny snorted, then winced at the pain that caused. “Be stupid often enough, and you learn to be tougher. It makes it easier,” she told him.
Corey laughed. The pain in his abdomen was already diminishing as his wounds healed themselves. “Are you okay if we do away with the craziness for a little while?” he asked her.
“Very,” she confirmed. “For a long while, actually.”
He finally allowed himself to sit heavily on the ground.
“Good.”
Chapter Twelve
Jenny
Corey stood in the doorway, along with another shifter. Joel, she realized after a moment.
“Come in,” she said, biting her lip in pain.
She was lying on a hospital bed in the medical wing of the LMC headquarters. It was three days after the fight, and Doc Laurel had insisted that she stay for the full seventy-two hours. It wasn’t the severity of the wounds, but the risk that they might develop infection. Because of their proximity to her spinal cord, she didn’t want to risk anything.
Not being in an overwhelming position to flee, Jenny had been forced to accept it. For three days Doctor Laurel had changed her bandages. It was extremely humbling, but even as she winced again as the next bandage came off, she realized that it hurt far less than it had at first.
“I think you can probably go home tomorrow,” Courtenay Laurel said, as if reading her mind. “These are well on their way to healing, and there isn’t much more I can do for you here.” She paused thoughtfully. “You will need someone who can change the bandages for you for a few more days, however. Is there anyone?”
Corey stepped forward. “I’ll be able to handle that Doc,” he said politely.
“Very good.”
Jenny noticed that the normally unflappable doctor seemed a little amiss. She craned her neck, ignoring the pain as her skin twisted to see what was going on.
“Oh,” she said softly to herself as she realized that Joel and Courtenay were doing their very best to avoid looking directly at each other. “Is that what we looked like?” she whispered to Corey, who had crouched down next to her.
He chuckled. “I don’t know, but I should probably get him out of here so that the doctor can focus on you for a bit.”
Reaching out, she grabbed his arm. “No, it’s okay. Let them be, it’s kind of cute.” She flashed him a smile. “I’ve missed you,” she said softly.
“I missed you too,” Corey said, his voice thick with emotion.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” he began, but Jenny spoke first.
“I love you.”
Corey’s shoulders seemed to sag in relief, completely contrary to the explosive grin that appeared on his face.
“Once again, you’ve anticipated me,” he teased. “I love you too,” he finished, leaning in to kiss her.
They held their heads close.
“What happens now?” she asked.
Corey shook his head. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “The Diamonds are gone, and the Valley is in upheaval. Even many of those who haven’t noticed anything going on are beginning to pick up on the fact that something is about to go down. I just wish we knew what,” he said, frustration creeping into his voice.
“How long do we have?” she asked.
“Eleven days. A grand total of eleven days to figure out what’s going on and put a stop to it.”
“And you?” she asked softly.
“What about me?”
“What are you going to do?” she pressed.
His eyes blazed with righteous fire, a conviction she hadn’t seen in him before. Something had changed within Corey, and she watched as he came fully into his own now in front of her.
“I’m going to stand beside my brothers. My friends.”
He looked out the door, where Courtenay and Joel had disappeared.
“I’m going to fight.”
THE END
New Release Newsletter Signup
All of Amelia Jade’s new releases are priced at $0.99 for a limited time. Sign up for her newsletter to ensure that you don’t miss a deal, and for exclusive extras and teasers.
Amelia Jade’s
Newsletter Signup
Genesis Valley - Recommended Reading Order
Jade Crew: Alpha Bear
Jade Crew: Haunted Bear
Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear
Stone Bear: Sentinel
Jade Crew: Captive Bear
Stone Bear: Phoenix
Jade Crew: Outcast Bear
Want More of These Characters?
Ridgeback Bears
Jade Crew:
Alpha Bear (Book 1)
Jade Crew: Haunted Bear (Book 2)
Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear (Book 3)
Jade Crew: Captive Bear (Book 4)
Jade Crew: Outcast Bear (Book 5)
Stone Bears (Genesis Valley Shifters)
Stone Bear: Sentinel (Book 1) – Gabriel
Stone Bear: Phoenix (Book 2) - Uriel
Bluff Bears
Rogue Bear (Book 1)
Outlaw Bear (Book 2)
Broken Bear (Book 3)
Junkyard Bear (Book 4)
Other Series by Amelia Jade
The Wolf Wanderers (w/Terra Wolf)
Cinder Wolf (Book 1)
Feral Wolf (Book 2)
Rebel Wolf (Book 3)
Noble Wolf (Book 4)
About the Author
Amelia Jade
Amelia Jade loves to write the stories of tall, growly shifter men and the women who come to love them. Living out in the back-country near the mountains, she keeps her own alpha male close by, to keep the bears away and keep her warm. In her down time (which is rare), she loves to read science-fiction with a dash of fantasy. You can often find her curled up in front of the real wood-burning fireplace, her nose firmly buried in a book or her favorite ereader. The cold can't bother her there!
For more information about Amelia Jade and her work, find her on Facebook.
Profile: Amelia Jade
Author Page
Contents
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Want More of These Characters?
Stone Bears (Genesis Valley Shifters)
Other Series by Amelia Jade
About the Author
