by Chant, Zoe
“Goddammit!” Ellie exclaimed.
She stepped on the gas again, but though she could feel the wheels spinning and see mud and snow flying, the car didn’t budge.
She checked her cell phone, then Hal’s. No service. They were too far out in the country. And they were stuck there unless she could flag down someone to call them a tow truck.
Ellie could barely see the country road through the snow, and she doubted any passing car would even see their car, let alone realize that they were stuck rather than simply parked. If she wanted to get help, she’d have to leave the car, stand by the side of the road, and cross her fingers that a car came by before she succumbed to hypothermia.
And also, that the car contained innocent passers-by rather than a bunch of Nagle’s hit men.
She frowned down at Hal, wondering which he would advise. He was the security expert, after all. And while he’d obviously recommend whatever he thought was safest for her, not what was best for himself, there were dangers for her either way. Once the gas ran out, the car would get very cold, very quickly. She’d seen enough hypothermia victims to know that.
“Hal. Wake up, Hal.” She squeezed his hand, harder and harder until he drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes. “I need to ask you something.”
He looked exhausted, but his eyes were more focused than they’d been a minute ago. “Okay.”
She briefly outlined the problem.
“Out of the frying pan, into the fire, huh?” Hal said. But to her relief, he didn’t seem too worried. “Don’t try to flag down a car. We’ve got plenty of gas. If we turn on the engine for fifteen minutes every hour, the car will stay warm enough. I can push it out of the mud once I feel better.”
“Hal,” Ellie said gently. “It’ll be a couple weeks before you’re up to pushing a car.”
“No. It’ll be tomorrow. Listen, Ellie.” He caught her hand. His fingers were warm and dry, and some strength had returned to his grip. “You were right. I should’ve told you I was hit. And there’s something else I should’ve told you. I was afraid to, I guess. But I’m going to trust that no matter how shocked you are, you won’t run away without giving me a chance to explain.”
That sounded ominous. Trying not to sound alarmed, Ellie said, “Why don’t you tell me now? I’m not the running away type. I guess unless you’re a serial killer.”
“I’m not a serial killer,” Hal said, and she heard a touch of amusement in his voice. Then he visibly geared up for what he had to say next. Finally, he said, “But I am a bear shifter.”
Ellie wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. “A what? What is that?”
“A bear shifter,” he repeated. “Uh... I turn into a bear. You know, like a werewolf? But a bear. A werebear.”
“A werebear,” Ellie repeated.
She wished she could believe he was joking, but he seemed completely serious. He’d said “I’m a bear shifter” like a teenager might say, “I’m gay,” or a woman might say, “I’m pregnant.”
It was much too early for infection to have set into his wounds and given him a fever, but it was possible to become delirious from shock and blood loss alone. It was a bad sign.
She stroked his hair, trying not to let the fear she felt for him show in her voice. “Okay. It’s fine, Hal. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m not delirious.” Hal caught her hand and pulled it down to his lips. He kissed it, then said, “Just remember, I would never hurt you.”
What he did next took her completely by surprise. He flung the car door open and half stepped, half fell outside.
“Hal!” Ellie shouted.
He held out a hand. “Stay there!”
Then something impossible happened.
Hal’s body swelled enormously. His pants and the bandages around his chest ripped off. Shaggy brown fur sprang up. Before Ellie could so much as gasp, Hal was gone and a huge grizzly bear stood in his place.
The bear stuck his head into the car and nuzzled Ellie’s hand. Dazed, she automatically petted it. His fur was thick and soft.
The grizzly raised his head, looking at Ellie with hazel eyes. Brown as earth, green as leaves. The bear had Hal’s eyes.
“Hal?” Ellie’s voice came out in a whisper.
The bear nodded his giant head. Then he shrank. Fur receded, replaced by tanned skin. In the blink of an eye, the grizzly was gone. Hal knelt naked in the snow, blood trickling down his side.
Ellie leaped to help him back into the car. He was shivering, his bare skin chilled. She’d never have been able to lift him by herself, but he managed to stagger back into the car and collapse into the passenger seat.
She slammed the door, but the damage had been done. The car was freezing inside. She turned on the engine. Hot air began to blow, warming the interior.
“Macho. Idiot!” Ellie glared down at Hal. “You’re bleeding again.”
“Didn’t... Didn’t think about that.” His teeth were chattering; he could hardly get the words out.
She snatched up the first aid kit, quickly cleaned the wounds again, and re-bandaged them. But it was too familiar a task to fully occupy her mind.
Bear shifter.
Werebear.
“Shane’s the panther, lying in wait. Hal’s the grizzly bear.”
As she wrapped blankets around him, she asked, “Is Lucas really a dragon... A dragon shifter... a weredragon?”
Hal nodded. To her relief, his shivering had subsided.
“And Nick’s a werewolf.”
“Yeah.” Hal gazed at her with his gorgeous hazel eyes. His bear’s eyes. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I wanted to wait for the perfect moment.”
“That sure as hell wasn’t it!”
“No,” Hal admitted. “But it’s why I didn’t want to go to the hospital. I really don’t need to. Shifters heal fast. I’m not in any danger, Ellie. In a day or so, I’ll have completely recovered.”
“Oh.” It took a moment to sink in. Hal wasn’t going to bleed to death or die of shock. She wasn’t going to lose him. He wouldn’t die.
To her surprise, a sob tore up from deep in her chest. Then another. Burning tears ran down her face. She couldn’t control them, or the ugly sounds she heard herself making. She tried to turn away, to hide herself, even though she knew it was too late. But a hand caught her wrist.
“Hey.” Hal’s deep voice tugged at her attention with more strength than his grip on her arm. “I wore myself out with that stunt. I can’t sit up and hold you. Come lie down next to me.”
The car was built on a larger-than-life scale, or she never could have managed it. Even with both of them lying on their sides, it was a tight fit. But she lay down next to Hal, pulled the blankets over them, and cried on his shoulder. He held her tight, his body heat and presence soothing her.
“It’s all right,” he murmured. “It’s all right.”
At first she was embarrassed, and then she stopped caring. Hal was alive. He’d saved her, but he hadn’t traded his life for hers, as she’d feared.
“I thought you’d die,” she whispered. “In the parking lot, when you threw yourself in front of me. In the car, when I saw that you were hit. When I realized the car was trapped. People die of cold and shock and blood loss. Especially all three together!”
Hal pulled her in even closer, wiping her tears away. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I was so wrapped up in protecting you, I didn’t stop to think what it was like for you.”
“I was going to drive you to the emergency room, like it or not,” she admitted.
The rumble of his chuckle vibrated through her body. “I figured. That’s why I had to let you know. And my bear can’t fit in the car.”
“Your bear,” she repeated, marveling. “Did a werebear bite you? Or were you born that way?”
“I was born a bear shifter. When I said my family was back to nature... Well, they’re really back to nature. I come from a clan of grizzly bears that don’t like the city or cars or television. It was a big deal when they boug
ht a refrigerator. I was the black sheep.”
Ellie’s face cracked in a fragile smile. “Black bear.”
“We’ve got some of those in the clan, too.”
She wiped her eyes on her hands. “What about Protection, Inc.? Are they all black sheep, too?”
“One way or another.” His muscles tensed against hers. “Damn, nearly forgot. My gun’s outside. Can you get it?”
Ellie reluctantly extracted herself, went outside, and retrieved the gun and holster. Hal snatched them up and set them on the floor, within hand’s reach. He was still thinking of protecting her, though she couldn’t imagine that even Nagle’s hit men would venture out in this storm.
“I know how to shoot,” she said. “I mean, not like you. But Ethan taught me. You don’t have to stay up and guard me. Let me take a turn guarding you.”
Hal’s expression was priceless. Then he gave a rueful shrug. “All right. I trust you. And I’ll heal faster if I rest. But wake me up the second you think anything might be wrong, okay?”
“I will.” Ellie bent down and kissed him. “Sleep like a... bear. Do werebears hibernate?”
“My grandpa might. Hard to tell.” He drifted off before she could ask him if he was joking.
She sat and watched over him, sometimes stroking his soft hair. The moon shone through the clouds and snow, casting a pale light.
Ellie had so much to think about, it was easy to stay awake. Werewolves and other were-creatures were real. Dragons were real. Hal could turn into a bear. It was all impossible and amazing, miracles come to shaggy-furred life.
But none of it was more marvelous than the rise and fall of Hal’s chest beneath her hand. He was alive, and he loved her. And she loved him. Nothing could be more of a miracle than that.
Chapter Seven
Hal
Ellie spoke in an urgent whisper. “Hal!”
Hal woke in a flash, instantly aware of where he was and what had happened. He prevented himself from jumping up by sheer force of will; the last thing Ellie needed was for him to pass out again. But he did snatch his gun out of the holster. “What’s happening?”
“I’m not sure.” But her voice was low; something had alarmed her. “I heard a car coming, from the direction of Santa Martina. It pulled off the road and parked somewhere pretty far behind us. I’d only just started to hear it when I heard it stop.”
Hal was calculating the odds of staying in the car, which was armored and bulletproof, versus leaving it, when Ellie went on, “But it’s probably not Nagle’s guys. I’ve heard other cars pass. If anyone saw us, they probably would have pulled over to see if we need help. I don’t think we’re visible from the road.”
At her words, Hal suddenly understood exactly what was going on. He knew who was in the car, how he and Ellie had been tracked, and how the hit men had learned where he’d lived. And he knew, too, why they’d waited till the middle of the night to go after him and Ellie.
“Open the driver’s door, just as far as you need to so you can get out,” Hal whispered urgently. “Leave your purse. Crawl out, then crawl on your belly toward the woods, as fast as you can. I’ll be right behind you. Go!”
To his relief, she didn’t hesitate. She was out the door in a flash, wriggling through the snow like a boot camp recruit in an obstacle course. Hal got a good grip on his gun, then followed her.
The snow was painful against the half-healed wounds in his side, the air in his lungs shockingly cold. The moon had set, and even his sharper-than-human vision could barely make out a thing. He caught up with Ellie and tugged her along, dragging her through the snow faster than she could go by herself. His heart pounded. He had no idea if they’d been seen leaving the car, or how long they had to get away if they hadn’t.
The forest rose up before them like a black wall. Hal hauled Ellie into its shelter, then stopped and turned back. The car they’d left was visible as a black silhouette in a field of white.
BOOM!
The explosion shattered the still of the night. A blast of hot air buffeted him as the car blew up in a fireball. Ellie gasped, but there was no way anyone farther than him could hear anything over the roar of flames.
He reached out until he found her lips, and put his finger across them, feeling its softness and her nod; she understood. Then, to his immense relief, he heard the sound of an engine turning over, and a car speeding away. No figures attempted to creep across the field of snow.
“They’re gone,” Hal said. His voice sounded shockingly loud in his own ears. “They think we’re dead.”
“What was that?” Ellie gasped.
“An RPG— a rocket-propelled grenade.”
“Did you know that would happen?”
“Sort of,” he replied. “I figured out a lot of things in a flash, when you told me about the car. They waited till the middle of the night and parked way back because they were going to do something really spectacular— something they could only get away with if no one was around. If we can’t be seen from the road, then they had to have tracked us here. When you were at the police station, did they take anything that belonged to you and then give it back?”
“My purse.” Ellie stared at him. “Was it bugged? Are the cops in on it?”
“Maybe just one cop. But yeah, I think someone stuck a tracker in your purse. Now I feel like an asshole, suspecting my own team.”
“I’m glad it’s not them.”
Heartfelt, Hal said, “Me too. I owe them.”
“I owe you,” Ellie said. “You saved my life. Again.”
“Don’t forget that you kept watch and noticed when something suspicious happened. You saved my life, too. But don’t make a habit of it. That’s supposed to be my job. I’m too young to retire.”
As he’d hoped, his joking eased the strain of yet another near-death experience. She laughed, a little giddily.
As the adrenaline rush faded, he became very conscious of how cold he was, stark naked in the snow and icy air. He shivered.
Ellie must have felt it, because she said, “We’ve got to find shelter. You’ll freeze.”
“Grizzlies like this sort of weather. You’re the one I’m worried about.” His lips were starting to get numb. He spoke hastily, while he still could. “I’ll shift and lead you to the cabin. It’s not that far.”
“Okay.” She sounded calm again.
His heart swelled with love of his brave, steady, caring girl. How had he ever imagined that his mate would tie him down? She didn’t burden him or hinder him, she lifted him and carried him farther than he could go alone. Being mated wasn’t being trapped, it was being set free.
“I love you,” Hal said.
She fumbled for his face, then caught it in both hands and kissed him. “I love you too. You always take me on such exciting dates.”
He chuckled, then handed her the gun. “Carry this for me.”
Hal focused on being a bear. A bear’s simple thoughts and compelling instincts and sharp senses...
He transformed. The world jumped into clearer view. Scents rose up strong and vivid, of damp earth, moss, and dead leaves. Ellie’s tempting natural scent was stronger, too. He could see the tall trees and thick snow, and Ellie, huddled and shivering beside him. The air was still frigid, but he was warm beneath his thick fur. He wished he could loan it to her.
He nudged her with his head and set off for his cabin. She walked beside him, her hands buried in his fur.
At first she talked to him, but soon her teeth chattered too much for that, and she fell silent. She was dressed for a cool day, not for a long trek in freezing weather, trudging along in ankle-deep snow. If she was out too long, she’d get hypothermic, exactly as she’d worried he would.
Hal walked faster, trying to hurry her up, but soon had to abandon the attempt. She couldn’t see as well as he could, and had to walk slowly, feeling her way with her feet, or she’d trip. The last thing she needed was a broken ankle.
He tried to keep close to her, to s
hare the warmth of his fur, but it was a losing battle against the freezing night. Ellie became slower and slower, frequently stumbling. Her feet must be numb with cold, her face aching with it, but she didn’t complain. Her shivering slowed, then stopped.
Fear chilled Hal’s heart. He wasn’t a paramedic, but Navy SEALs were taught how to survive in extreme conditions... and how to know if the environment was about to kill you. She hadn’t stopped shivering because she was getting warmer, she’d stopped because her body had given up on trying to warm her and was trying to conserve energy instead.
She stumbled again, then collapsed in the snow.
Hal became a man and knelt beside her. “Ellie!”
She didn’t stir. He laid his hand on her chest, and felt it rise with her breathing. She was alive, but hypothermic. He had to get her to the cabin, where he could warm her up.
As a bear, he couldn’t carry her. As a man, he was naked and barefoot and in danger of freezing himself, not to mention that he could barely see. But he had no choice. Hal hoisted her over his shoulder, and set off through the woods.
A minute later, he realized that he’d left without his gun, but he didn’t dare waste time going back to search for it. His bare feet burned with cold, then went numb, followed by the rest of his body. Tree branches he didn’t see smacked him across the face, and though he was too numb to feel pain, he did feel the blood run down hot, then freeze. But he could feel his mate breathing, and that was all he needed to keep him going.
The light slowly brightened as he set a quick pace through the forest, going from black to gray to pearly white. When he finally emerged from the woods, the sun was rising. He could see his cabin, nestled into a hillside.
Hal set out at a run. He located the key, hidden within a hollow tree, and fumbled to open the door. His hands were clumsy, and he dropped the key twice. But he finally got the door open.
He kicked it shut behind him and jammed in the deadbolt, then laid Ellie down on the sofa and went to light the fire and the wood-burning stove that heated the little cabin.
When he returned to her, she was stirring. “Where are we?”
“The cabin.”
