Next, all three men came at her at the same time. They didn't employ any special strategy. They just poked and jabbed and attacked from every side at once. No matter which way she turned, they harassed her until she couldn't turn anywhere. She just stood in one place and bellowed at them in rage and terror. They stabbed her with their sharp points in the ribs, in the neck, in the legs and belly. She bled from dozens of punctures.
Riley and one man kept up the barrage of jabs while the other got out the first dog. The dog fought hard to get at Marla, but the man held him back. He let the dog inch forward until he came level with Riley.
Marla snarled back at the dog when Riley gave her a vicious jab. His stick slid past her face, and the sharp tip scratched her cheek. She shrieked, but he already moved way where she couldn't get to him. At the same moment, the man with the dog let the animal lunge at her. Its jaws clicked within a hair's breath of her face before he dragged it back out of the way.
Marla went wild. She ran for the door, but the chain caught her leg and sent her pitching over on her face. The men in the stands exploded in gusty cheers. Money passed from hand to hand. One voice touched Marla's ear, and its meaning wormed into her brain. “Shift! Shift!”
She scrambled back to her post and sandwiched her back against it. She glanced around at a thousand faces when that voice came back to her. “Shift! Shift! Come on! Let me see you shift!”
Her petrified mind gradually accepted the startling reality. That voice came from outside herself. She didn't want to shift. Someone was telling her to. She blinked. The voice came again from her right. When she looked in that direction, she came face to face with Riley. He jabbed his stick at her chest and shouted over the noise. “Shift! Shift!”
What was he talking about? Shift? She couldn't. How could he know about shifting, anyways? He was human. Humans didn't know about Bruins, but there he was, shouting, “Shift! Shift!” at her. What did he mean? He couldn't mean shift in that way. If he didn't mean it that way, what way did he mean?
He stabbed his stick at her, and his friend on the other side matched him stroke for stroke. The dog slathered and roared against its collar. The men in the crowd pointed and screamed and wiped tears away from their eyes.
Riley kept up his shouting. “Shift! Shift!”
Through the fog of fear and rage and pain, a distant thought fought its way to her consciousness. He wanted her to shift. That was the only explanation. Somehow, some way, he found out who and what she was. Maybe he knew who she was when she sat down in the bus station waiting room. That must have been where he saw his chance to capture her.
He knew she was a Bruin. He knew she could shift into a bear, and that's what he wanted her to do. All this jabbing and stabbing and provoking her with dogs—all of it was designed to get her to shift, to fight them off as a bear. They were bear-baiting.
Chapter 13
The knowledge of what these men were trying to do scared Marla more than anything else they did. They would do anything to make her shift, just to see what she would do. Maybe seeing her shift into a bear excited them in some way. That didn't matter. She couldn't shift. She had to keep a lid on her fear before it took over. She couldn't let what happened before happen again. She couldn't know what she would do once she shifted, and she didn't want to find out.
She clamped her eyes shut. Riley and his companion still stabbed her with their sticks, and the other man let the dog come close enough so its saliva spattered her face, but she wouldn't shift no matter what they did. The crowd leaned over the balcony. They signaled the men on the ground to do this or that. They shouted to escalate the fight to make her shift.
All of a sudden, the shouts of “Shift! Shift!” stopped. Marla peeked through her clenched eyelids to see Riley toss his stick on the ground with a muttered curse. The others dropped back, and the man hauled the dog back.
Riley kicked his stick out of the way and rushed Marla with his hands outstretched. She barely had time to bring up her hands before his fingers closed around her throat. He smashed her back against the post and knocked the daylights out of her.
The next thing she knew, she was flat on her back looking up into his snarling face. His lips quivered around his bared teeth, and his black hair hung sweat-drenched over his eyes and forehead. His hair waved with some hidden motion.
That's when she realized she couldn't breathe. He gripped her around the neck and banged her head against the ground hard enough to shake his hair out of place. Through it all, she caught a feeling of his muscled body on top of her.
She couldn't hear anything over her pulse pounding in her ears. His two friends stood back out of the way, and the crowd waved and gesticulated from the upper seats, but she hovered in eerie silence. She watched the scene from far away. She couldn't even feel the pressure of his hands crushing her windpipe.
His lips moved. He was still shouting, “Shift! Shift!” into her face. What was wrong with him? Didn't he know she wouldn't shift to save her own life? She couldn't. Whatever he did to her, she had to remain in control, inviolate. She had to maintain herself. She left her Bruin nature behind, and she wouldn't let these creeps force her back to it. The bear curled up and snorted before it went back to sleep.
She made a weak effort to fight back, but he overpowered her with his strength. That lanky body held more power than anyone could see from the outside. She tried to pry his fingers off her neck, but they wouldn't budge. She punched his ribs, but solid muscle stopped her even making a dent. Her efforts only encouraged him to beat and strangle her harder. Without the bear fighting for her, she was weak and powerless.
Blood red haze filled her eyes so she couldn't see. Throbbing agony building in her chest changed to hopeless despair. This was it. This was the end of her life. She would die here at the hands of these ruthless bear-baiters. No one on Bruins' Peak would ever find out what happened to her.
She sent a silent prayer to anyone listening to keep her family safe from people like this, and she blew a tender kiss to Walker. She blessed him for loving her in the short time they had together. He gave her such pleasure as she could ever hope for, and he promised to love and protect her. That was more than she deserved, after the way she treated him.
In that moment, she loved him more than life. He was her heart's mate. She would die, and she would never love another man. He was everything she could dream of in a man. He was Bruin through and through, and he worshiped her in all her bearness. She was enough for him. He didn't care what she'd done to any hunter. He wanted her to be a bear, and he loved her as a bear.
All of a sudden, the crimson cloud of blood blinding her evaporated in a torture of gasping for air. From a great distance, she heard the thunderous noise above. Riley still lay on top of her and pinned her to the ground with his weight, but he wasn't looking at her. He stared up into the stands.
No men leaned over the balcony to shout at her or wave their money around. People ran in every direction. The door in the ceiling flapped open and slammed shut before the next person yanked it open to rush through it.
Her lungs wouldn't work properly, but at least she could draw a little air into her body again. She coughed and rolled sideways when she saw an enormous shape moving through the stands. Something golden loomed high over the parapet. She could just make out the outline of a huge bear marauding and mauling its way through the crowd. It was Walker.
He slashed hither and thither with his claws. Anyone who tripped and stumbled in the mad rush to get out of the basement fell to his massive crunching jaws. He plowed his way through waves of fleeing men and left bodies strewn in his wake. Marla stared up at him. Was she dreaming? Was he some angel come to carry her away to heaven? Was she hallucinating in her fear and oxygen-starved state?
Riley shifting on top of her snapped her out of her trance. He was still here, so this wasn't over yet. He glanced down at her, and their eyes met, but she felt no more fear or hatred for him anymore. Walker was here. He was raging through the st
ands to kill and maim any of these people he could get his teeth around. He ripped out throats right and left. He tore flesh from bone.
Why was she lying here, flat on her back, with some puny human's fingers around her throat? Why was she lying here helpless while Walker delivered the heaven-sent revenge against these heathens? She was a Bruin. God gave her the strength and power to fight and kill and attack, and that's exactly what she would do. She didn't have to wait for someone else to pay these men back for what they did to her. If Walker could fight bear against human and use all his monstrous power to crush them under his paw, she could do the same thing.
She relived the scene when the Campbells attacked her in the forest. She might as well be back there, fighting for her life. The bear reared out of her darkest soul and roared to the skies in raging fury.
The hunter's body fizzed against her, and she sensed his excitement. His crotch swelled against her legs, and his sweat stung her nostrils. Her very fear excited him more than anything.
Her fear and helplessness shuddered and blew away in the wind. They left only cold, crystal-clear rage in their wake. She inhaled a deep breath, and Riley flew back from her to let her lungs expand the rest of the way.
In the blink of an eye, the bear exploded against him and she was on her feet in all her Bruin glory. Her four clawed feet hit the soft earth. Her fur flew back when she lunged straight for Riley with her jaws open to crush his bones to powder. With one snap, the chain holding her leg to the post broke. It didn't check her flight in the slightest.
Riley stumbled back, but Marla was on him like a shot. She bounded across the ring to rip his throat out when he flipped over. He scurried across the floor to the three dogs chained to the wall. With one flick of his fingers, he unhooked one dog from its chain. He grabbed the dog's collar and shoved it toward the bear raging toward him. “Sic 'em!”
The dog flew off the ground with a roar. It sailed toward Marla with its teeth bared, and she bellowed at it in holy fury. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Riley ducking through the door to freedom. She rose on her hind legs to close with the dog. She lowered her head to drive her nose under its jaw, and her teeth clamped around its throat. One powerful twist of her head, and the dog slumped to the ground in a bloody twitching mess. Marla headed for the door, but it was too late. Riley was gone.
She lumbered around to face the other two dogs, but they cowered back against the wall. They smelled their comrade's blood seeping into the ground, and the men weren't around to help them. They no longer smelled fear to give them so much courage. Marla growled at them once, and they flattened themselves against the floor.
The door swung open, and Walker came through it. Blood stained his hair and shirt, but he smiled when he saw the bear with gore dripping from her jaws. He stopped still to regard her. The bear grumbled under her breath and nudged the lifeless body at her feet.
He took a step forward and put out his hand to stroke her bloody muzzle. “Beautiful bear. My beautiful Bruin.”
She muttered to herself, but she didn't shift back. She sniffed his hand with warm puffs of air in and out of her wet nose.
“You did it,” he exclaimed in a whisper. “You shifted. I knew you could do it. How does it feel? Pretty good? You're beautiful like this. You're beautiful when you're raging and killing. I love you more than ever.”
She leaned back, and her back straightened. She pulled her head down between her shoulders and stood up to take her shape as a woman. She searched his face. “You came.”
He held out his hands to her. “I wouldn't leave you here. I've been looking for you. I wish I could have come sooner, but these people cover their tracks pretty well. I had to search every station between here and Iron Bark. I only found you because I smelled that guy around the pit trap where I found you before.”
“What guy?”
He pointed to the door. “That one that just ran away?”
“Riley? His name is Riley Faulkner.”
“His scent was all around that pit trap where I found you. I smelled it in the bus station, too, and I followed it here. That's how I found you.”
“How did he get up on Bruins' Peak?” she asked.
“I don't know how, but they must know all about Bruins. They must know we can shift into bears, and they want to capture us alive so they can bring us back here for their bear-baiting.”
“And I walked here of my own free will.” Marla kicked herself. “I'm an idiot.”
He shook his head. “You couldn't know they were coming after us. No one could know.”
She stared down at the floor. “I'm sorry I gave you so much trouble.”
He waved her apology away. “Forget it. If that's all the trouble I get from you, I'll be happy.”
“Listen, Walker, I…”
He cut her off, “Don't say it. You're safe. We're getting out of here, and those people won't stop us. We'll make certain of that.”
“I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say…I mean, I want to… I want to…” She couldn’t go on.
He took her hand while he waited for her to make sense.
She gathered her courage to look him in the face. “I'm trying to say I want to be your mate, Walker. I am your mate, and I'm proud of it.”
He inched closer. “Yeah?”
She smiled. “Yeah.”
He towed her to him by the arm, and his arms closed around her. She buried her face in his chest and took in a deep breath. That scent meant home. It meant love and safety. She could hide in that scent forever.
He kissed her hair. “I love you. I always have, and I always will.”
“I love you, Walker Cunningham. I'll love you for the rest of my life, and nothing will ever separate us again.”
Chapter 14
Walker offered Marla his hand to lead her off the bus. She set her foot down on the pavement outside the bus station and looked around the town of Iron Bark. “This old place again?”
Walker chuckled. “We won't stay here long. This isn't home. Home is up the mountain.”
She gazed down the street. “I wonder what will happen when we get home. Everyone will make a big deal about me coming back.”
“It doesn't have to be that way,” he suggested.
She shook her head. “I would have to at least see my parents and tell them I'm home. When they hear about us mating, my mother will probably cry. Dad will want to have a party and all that.”
“You can't blame them for that,” he argued. “This is their dream come true.”
“What about you? You getting married is your parents' dream come true, too.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but it's different for me. I don't think Dax will be happy to see me back. I'm sure he's been enjoying himself as Alpha in my absence.”
“What will you do about it?”
“I'll have to work that out when I get home.” He tugged her hand. “Come on. I don't want to hang around this town. I've had enough of humans for a long, long time.”
He led her through the alley, but when they got behind the supermarket, he startled her by pushing her back against the cinder block wall. He breathed into her mouth and his hands ranged over her body. “Hey, baby,” he murmured. “Let's get a hotel room before we go home.”
She tried to get her thoughts in order, but his touch set her soul on fire all over again. “What? You just said we should go home.”
He leaned closer. “This could be our only chance to catch some time alone before everybody finds out we're together. What do you say—just you and me? No one has to know.”
She gasped for breath. “You're crazy.”
“Crazy for you.” He bent his knees and pushed her up against the wall with his bulk. He crushed the air out of her lungs, but she had enough to think about with his manhood swelling against her wet crotch. He lifted one leg out of the way and set her thigh on his hip so he could drive between her legs. “Come on, baby,” he purred. “You know you want to.”
Sh
e looked around. “Here?”
“Not here. In a hotel.”
“Are you sure that's a good idea?” She fought to breathe. “What would our parents say?”
“We've already done it once,” he pointed out. “We're mated.”
“That was different,” she argued. “That was in the forest.”
He chuckled. “I know it was different. I couldn't get enough of you back then. I want to take my time over you this time. I want to have all the time in the world to inspect every inch of you without having to worry about my parents in the next room.”
“I don't know,” she hedged
He cooled down and let her leg ease to the ground. “If you're not sure, we shouldn't do it.”
“I want to do it,” she explained. “I just don't know about doing it in any hotel room. It seems so…so seedy.”
He folded her in his arms. “I just can’t keep my hands off you.”
“We’re alone now,” she pointed out. “What are you going to do when we get around other Bruins?”
He squared his shoulders. “I won’t lose control, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
She shot him a wicked grin. “Will you be able to keep your hands off me then?”
He closed his eyes and bowed. “Of course. I’ll be the perfect gentleman.”
“Gentleman? You?” She guffawed.
“I’ll even keep my elbows off the table if you tell me to.”
“I don’t care about that.”
He gave her a loud smack on the lips. “I knew you were the right woman for me.”
She shoved him back. “Elbows on the table is one thing. Aiken puts his elbows on the table all the time and drives Ma to distraction. Coming onto me in an alley behind the supermarket is another. What if someone saw us here? Bruins have a reputation in this town for clean behavior.”
Bruins' Peak Bears Box Set (Volume I) Page 52
