Petrified of losing her.
It crippled him, had him so twisted in knots that he wasn’t sure what the hell he was doing anymore.
He only knew that Gabi was vital, that she was his heart and he needed to keep her close, needed to make the right move to win her over and have her agreeing to stay with him.
“Say something,” he muttered and clenched his fists. “Because I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing… but I know I can’t fuck this up. I won’t survive it.”
He lifted a hand, pressed his palm to his chest and curled his fingers, tugging the soft wool of his jumper into his fist as pain tore through him.
“I think I’d fucking die without her.”
Rath smiled now. “No need to be so dramatic… although that is just like you.”
His brother hunkered down in front of him, easing into a squat so Storm had to look down to hold his gaze.
“I take it things got… intense… between you and Gabriella?” Rath searched his eyes and must have found the answer in them because he didn’t wait for Storm to reply. “Do you have any indication of how she feels? I mean, you’re not exactly a catch. You’re difficult to love.”
He appreciated his brother trying to lighten the atmosphere, but he wasn’t in the mood for his usual jibes, not when they struck hard and had doubts swinging through his already frazzled mind.
Was he difficult to love?
“I didn’t mean that.” Rath sobered again, an apology crossing his eyes as he sighed and rested his hand back on Storm’s shoulder. “Things are bad if you’ve forgotten how to take a joke. I’ve been there. I think I tried to bite your head off a few times barely a couple of weeks ago.”
He had, and Storm’s joke had been funny. Rath’s had sucked.
Rath blew out his breath again, and Storm braced himself because he could feel it coming, knew what his brother was going to ask.
“So… is she more than something special to you?”
Storm nodded, rubbed his hands over his hair and gripped his head as he tipped it back and savoured the relief that washed through him on getting that out there.
“Do you think she feels something for you?” Rath pushed back onto his feet as Storm nodded again. “That’s good then. A positive start. She knows about our kind, and it’s possible she knows about mates, but I can have Ivy speak with her.”
Fuck, that had all the tension draining from him, because he hadn’t even thought about the possibility of Ivy slowly breaking things to Gabi for him. He was sure she would take the news better from Ivy.
He wanted to break it all to her slowly, to ease her into his world, and to make her fall in love with him as deeply as he was in love with her.
But the gathering was building.
The thought of her being around so many eligible males while she was unmated, that had him wanting to growl and shift, to attack every male in the vicinity until they all knew she was off limits.
“It’s a problem,” Rath said, as if he knew the course of his thoughts, or perhaps he had sensed that need to fight return.
Rath had wanted to send Ivy away during the gathering in order to give her time to think about their relationship and whether she wanted to be his mate, all because his brother had been feeling the need to fight for the right to her, to keep her as his female and himself as her only suitor.
At the time, Storm had been the only male present at Cougar Creek.
His brother had had it easy.
Storm already had at least eight males in the vicinity that were potential suitors for Gabi, and more were arriving every day. He wanted to give her time to come to love him, to want to be his mate, but it was difficult when his need to mate with her was roused by the presence of the males.
He needed her to belong to him, to be his and his alone.
“Take her away from the creek.” Rath’s words had Storm looking up at him.
“You need me here.” It was hard to say those words when he wanted to seize the ones Rath had offered and whisk Gabi away from the creek, to a place where they could be alone and he wouldn’t feel a need to fight to defend her and keep her as his female. “And if I take her away, Ivy won’t be able to talk to her about shit.”
Rath shook his head. “You take her away, to a nice hotel or resort somewhere for some rest and relaxation, an apology for the way she’s been held here. Continue things with her there, wine and dine her, show her things about you and let her get to know you, and she’ll fall in love with you, Storm… I’m sure of it. I’ll send word when the gathering is over and you can return, and Ivy can have the talk with her.”
Damn, that was tempting.
“I know that look.” Rath frowned at him. “Flint is here, and Cobalt is on his way. The three of us can handle things and no one at the creek is going to think any less of you if we say you’re taking the human back to her kind.”
That was true.
Gabi was the perfect excuse to get away from the creek. If he told everyone that he was giving her the all clear and escorting her home to check out some things there, no one would say a word about it. They wanted her gone.
He could make that happen.
“I’ll do it.” He was on his feet before he had even finished saying that and was halfway to the door in the next second, determined to get Gabi away from the creek.
Partly to keep her safe from the cougars and stop himself from wanting to fight them all.
Partly because he knew when he said he was taking her away from this place, she would be so happy.
He wanted to see her happy.
He hurried from Rath’s cabin and across the clearing, thoughts racing over everything he needed to do. Pack his things. Grab his keys. Get Gabi’s shoes to her. He glanced at the sky. It was still early. They could probably reach his car at the head of the trail before dark if they moved quickly.
Maybe he would take her to Vancouver Island, to a nice little place he knew there.
Or to the city.
He had the feeling she was a little like him and would prefer the city to the countryside.
He could get them a suite with a view, and a big bed.
He grinned at that idea, sure she would love it.
Lifted his head.
Stopped dead.
Gabi wasn’t on the deck.
He looked around, seeing no one in the vicinity, and only his mug on the table outside. Maybe she had gone inside.
He reached the door in a handful of steps. “Gabi, I had a great idea.”
Frowned when no answer came.
He shrugged it off. She was probably in the bathroom.
Only when he pushed the door open, it was empty.
“Gabi?” He turned and strode to the bedroom, pulse picking up now as his senses reached for her and he couldn’t find her. Had to be a mistake. He stopped in the doorway of the bedroom and his heart dropped to his feet.
She wasn’t there.
“Gabi!” He shoved away from the bedroom and rushed through the cabin to the deck. “Gabi!”
He went around all the sides of the cabin, panic pulsing through his veins as he saw no sign of her.
“Fuck.” He pressed his palms to both sides of his head and squeezed as he tensed his jaw, the panic turning to pain as a thought hit him with the velocity and impact of a freight train.
Gabi was gone.
He had given her some freedom and she had run from him.
His knees gave out beneath him and he staggered forwards a few steps, grabbed a tree trunk to stop himself from falling as he struggled to breathe, to get a grip on the agony ripping him to pieces and tamp it down.
His eyes stung and he growled, because there was no fucking way he was going to cry.
He couldn’t hold back the need to call for her as easily.
He tipped his head back and cried out for her, the sound filled with sorrow, rising up from his aching heart.
Someone stopped near to him and looked his way.
He droppe
d his chin and growled at Flint.
His black-haired brother just looked at him, wariness in his grey eyes.
Understandable, because as the pain of Gabi running from him collided with the fear of her getting herself hurt, the need to attack everything in the valley rose inside him.
He shoved away from the tree and stormed towards his brother, fury mingling with fear to have him desperate to find Gabi. Not to punish her for running, but to protect her. The valley was dangerous for a human.
The thought that she was out there alone, unused to the wilderness and unarmed, terrified him.
Had him grabbing Flint by the collar of his fleece and growling, “Have you seen Gabi?”
Flint’s eyes widened. “The human?”
Storm saw in them that his brother had seen her, and he couldn’t stop himself from gripping him tighter and rattling him for the information he had about her.
Flint growled at him, baring short canines. “I saw her on the deck. Two males were fighting and I broke them up. They talked about her, wanted to know what you were going to do with her. I told them you were speaking to Rath and were going to handle it.”
That left him cold.
“Tell me exactly what you said.” He rattled his brother again. “The exact fucking words.”
Because he had the sinking feeling she had misinterpreted them.
“One asked her if she was with Archangel. The other one said she needed to be dealt with.” Flint gripped his arms and yanked his hands away from him, freeing himself. “I told them you were handling it and were talking with Rath about it.”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “You don’t see how easily that sounds as if I’m going to stick her in a fucking grave like her half-brother?”
Flint just shrugged. “I guess, but—”
“No buts,” he snapped and stripped his jumper off, earning a raised eyebrow from his brother. “Go and tell Rath what happened—that Gabi is gone.”
“What are you going to do?”
Storm kicked off his boots, unbuttoned his jeans and shoved them down his legs.
Growled.
“Find her before she gets herself killed.”
Storm shifted, the transformation swift to come, his bones growing and shrinking, distorting into new shapes so rapidly, driven by his desperate need to find Gabi, that he felt sick by the time golden fur swept over his skin and he dropped to four paws.
He lifted his head and scented the air, moved along the path towards the clearing and lost her scent. He doubled back and his heart sank as he picked up her scent on the other side of his cabin, on the path that led deeper into the valley.
She had chosen the wrong direction.
She was heading into bear shifter territory.
Storm kicked off, using all of his speed and his agility to quickly cover the ground, tracking her scent through the thick trees and down towards the river. His heart called for her, reaching for her as his mind tormented him with images of her caught up in danger, hurting and in need of him. Desperation drove him, fear that he wouldn’t reach her in time pushing him to go faster. He didn’t know how long she had been gone, and the valley bear pride wasn’t far away on foot if she was running.
Gods, he hoped he could reach her in time.
Before it was too late and he lost her forever.
CHAPTER 12
Fear wasn’t a strong enough word for the emotion that swept through Gabi as she stood facing off against the huge grizzly bear in the middle of the woods. Her palms sweated, legs trembling as her mind went blank. The river to her right rippled over the rocks, filling the tense silence together with her racing heart as it pounded in her ears.
The animal lifted its head and curled its top lip, flashing enormous fangs as it sniffed and huffed.
Gabi slowly took a step backwards, instinct screaming at her to run. Was that the right response in this situation? It didn’t feel like it, so she ignored that instinct and took another steady, painfully slow step away from the bear.
It responded by walking towards her in a strange fashion, bowing its stiff legs as it took slow steps towards her to keep the distance between them steady. Was it trying to make itself look bigger? Its way of walking seemed purposeful, as if it was posturing.
She kept backing off, heart a jack-hammer against her ribs. “Easy, Bear.”
She held her hands up and racked her brain, trying to remember what she had read about dealing with bear encounters in the guide that had been in her hotel room in Calgary.
“I’m a human. Leave me alone.” She kept her voice loud, forceful, hoping it would hear it and realise that she wasn’t a prey animal. “I’m not food. You can’t eat me. You don’t want to eat me.”
The bear stopped, and she almost breathed a sigh of relief, convinced it would leave her alone.
But then it rose onto its back legs, towering over her, and had shock sweeping through her as it transformed before her eyes.
Into a very naked heavily built brunet man.
“Baby,” he purred, deep brown eyes flashing fire at her, heat that had her panic rising and that instinct to turn and run pounding through her again. “I want to eat you whole.”
Gabi twisted on her toes and bolted.
She made it all of a few metres before a strong hand clamped down on her left wrist. She shrieked as he pulled her backwards and her back slammed into his chest, and lashed out with her free hand when he twirled her to face him, his grin salacious as he looked down at her.
She raked her nails down his cheek and he reared back.
“Bitch,” he growled and she cried out as he squeezed her wrist, sending a hot wave of pain rolling up her arm.
He started pulling her through the woods as her eyes watered and she struggled to breathe through the agony. When it faded, she threw a glance around her and her heart beat faster, her legs turning to jelly as she realised he was taking her deeper along the path she had been following.
“Where are you taking me?” she snapped, not about to let him hear her fear.
Her eyes darted around the woods as she tried to prise his fingers open.
The bear shifter looked over his shoulder at her, a grin tugging at his lips. “To my cabin. You smell of cougar, but I’ll soon fix that.”
Her eyes widened.
Heart felt as if it had stopped.
Running from Storm might have been the biggest mistake of her life, because she was heading for a fate worse than death.
All the fight that had bled out of her on hearing his words rushed back in and she slammed a palm against his bare back and shoved him forwards with all of her might as she pulled her other arm back.
She was damned if he was going to violate her like that.
When he didn’t release her, she clawed his back, leaving red lines on his skin. It didn’t slow him or deter him, so she raked her nails deeper and harder over his skin. Red bloomed along the lines.
He turned on her, a growl curling from his lips.
“I’m not going with you. You’re not going to do anything like that to me. I won’t let you.” She shoved at his chest, pushed him backwards and he stopped wrestling with her.
Went very still.
She was making progress.
Only when she looked up at his face, he was staring over her head.
A low growl came from behind her, the sound unmistakably feline.
And then a cougar was sailing over her head to tackle the bear shifter to the ground.
As they rolled with each other, she spotted the scar that darted over the golden cat’s right hip.
All of her strength drained out of her and she sagged to her knees.
Storm.
He had come for her.
CHAPTER 13
Storm heard Gabi’s scream long before he spotted her. Time slowed as he raced through the forest, paws pounding the leaf-litter. He rounded a corner, and it seemed to slow even further as Gabi came into view. Her fear hit him hard as she wrestled with the b
rute of a male, desperately fighting to free herself.
A fucking bear.
His instincts fired, his need to protect her rising to the fore, and before he considered the insanity of what he was doing, he was soaring over her head and on the male, rolling with him as he took him down.
The bear was quick to shift, and fuck, Storm had a fight on his hands as he sprang away from the bastard and evaded a swing of his paw. Bears had five inch long claws and a reach that far surpassed his own, and a single well-placed blow would be enough to tear him open.
He used his agility to his advantage as he leaped out of the path of another blow, sprang off a tree trunk and landed behind the bear. As expected, the male turned towards him, meaning he turned his back on Gabi as she sank to the ground, as pale as a ghost.
Storm growled and hissed, snarled and swiped at the bear, his ears flattened against his head in a show of aggression as he bared his fangs.
Keeping the brute’s attention locked on him.
Not Gabi.
He wanted to look at her, but doing so would remind the bear of her presence. Instead, he used his senses to see if she was hurt, able to use their fragile bond to detect her feelings. It almost killed him when he felt her pain, had him snarling and hissing at the bear again, bristling with aggression as the thought the male had hurt his Little Bird pushed him to attack.
He willed her to find the strength to stand and run as he leaped and rolled, used trees to block the attacks the bear made. The male had at least two hundred pounds on him, most of that muscle, and a hide so thick that getting through it with claw or fang would be difficult. It would take more than strength to win this fight. It was going to take everything he had, every ounce of cunning and skill, and his agility and speed.
The brute growled and roared as he swiped a paw through the air and Storm ducked in time to see the bastard’s claws cutting through the air above his head. He leaped right, flashing a glance at the tree the bear struck when following through with the attack. Long deep grooves cut through the bark where his claws had caught it.
Captured by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates Shifter Romance Series Book 2) Page 10
