Fuck.
He didn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of those blows.
When the bear grunted and attacked again, Storm kicked off, sailing right and pouncing off a tree to come around on the bear and land on his back. He sank his claws into the male as best he could and bit down on his shoulder, getting a mouthful of fur and then the tinny taste of blood flooded his mouth as his fangs barely pierced his hide.
The bear snarled and swung left and right, trying to shake him.
He clung to the male, sinking his claws in deeper, struggling to stay on him as he lifted his head and bit down again. He had to weaken the male. It was his only chance.
It was Gabi’s only chance.
He made the mistake of looking at her to see if she was alright.
The bear twisted hard and fast, and Storm grunted as his side slammed into a tree, shaking his grip. He slid down the male and the bastard slammed him again, trapped him between his body and the tree this time, crushing him.
Storm hissed and scratched with his front paws. When the bear moved enough that he could free his hind legs, he kicked at the brute, clawing his side and hip.
The male roared and went to slam him again.
Storm grinned inside as he sprang away.
Cried out as the bear smashed a paw into his flank and followed up with a blow to his head. His ears rang, vision wobbling as he hit the dirt, landing across the tangled roots of the towering pines.
“Storm!” Gabi pushed to her feet and looked at him with blue-grey eyes that held all the fear he could sense in her.
He willed her to run.
Thanked the gods when she pivoted on her heel and kicked off, sprinting in the direction she had come, back towards the creek.
“Rath!” she screamed as she dodged between the trees. “Ivy!”
The bear grunted and turned his head towards her.
Gave chase.
No fucking way.
Storm gathered his strength and shook off the blows, lumbered onto his paws and growled as he pounced on the male’s back. He sank his claws and fangs into the bastard as he tried to dislodge him, held on and bought Gabi time to get away as he tracked her with his senses.
Time she was going to need if those senses were right.
He felt the other bear a split-second before it crashed through the brush and slammed into his side, knocking him off the male and sending him tumbling across the ground. He hissed as he hit a tree, the air exploding from his lungs and pain ringing through his bones. He pushed through it and was on his feet in a heartbeat, hunkered down and ready to move.
The new bear turned on him as the first one started towards him.
One bear had been a tough enough fight.
Taking on two bears was impossible.
He stared them down, running over his limited options.
Try to run.
Or fight.
Either way he had the sinking feeling he was going to die here today.
Which pretty much sucked given how his life had been looking up less than an hour ago, on course to become something more than good—something amazing if Gabi had agreed to get the hell out of the creek with him for a stay in a suite with a view and a nice big bed, and maybe agreed to becoming his mate down the line.
The two bears advanced, the original brute moving to Storm’s right to block his route back to the creek, leaving him no choice but to stand his ground and fight. He switched his focus between the two, not willing to give either the chance to get the jump on him. His head ached, his flank was sore, but he was damned if he was going to just lay down and die.
Fuck, maybe if he fought hard enough, he might just survive to see Gabi again.
He would have laughed at that if he had been in his human form, because what hope did he really have of that happening?
Zero.
Two cougars chose that moment to burst from the woods beyond the original bear, and a third came up from the direction of the river, behind the second bear.
Rath and Flint were on the first bear before it had even noticed them, both seizing a shoulder each and causing the bear to snarl as it rose onto its hind legs and twisted with them, trying to reach them with his paws.
The third cougar, one that was a paler shade of gold and one he recognised as his older brother, Cobalt, launched at the second bear, vicious as he savaged it with claw and fang, riding the damned thing like it was a bull as it bucked and growled and tried to throw him. He wasn’t sure when Cobalt had arrived, but it was just like him to come rushing in to play white fucking knight to Storm.
Cobalt still teased him about how he’d had to protect him the night of the Archangel attack three decades ago and constantly claimed he had saved Storm’s life.
Which might be true.
But he wasn’t going to let Cobalt save it again today.
He wouldn’t hear the end of it.
The moment the bear was facing him, he sprang at it, aiming claws for the tender parts of its face. The bear chose the wrong moment to twist with Cobalt, and Storm grunted as the brute’s meaty paw slammed into his side just as he landed on his head, knocking him back off again. Pain blazed across his side as the bear dropped on top of him, crushing his hips with the same paw that had struck him. Bastard was heavy.
He hissed and growled, lashed out with his claws and attacked the bear’s arm, ripping through its flesh and painting its brown fur crimson.
The bear responded in kind, raking five-inch solid claws down Storm’s flank, tearing three grooves into his left hip that had him crying out and barely holding on to his cougar form as pain burned through him. The wounds blazed like streaks of fire as the bear lifted away from him, turned and staggered a few steps as Cobalt continued to ride him, shredding the bastard’s back with his claws, a wild beast as he fought to weaken the bear.
Or possibly kill it.
Cobalt was crazy enough to manage such a feat.
Storm pushed onto his paws as the bear staggered away from him, ricocheting off a few of the trees as it tried to get its paws on Cobalt.
Flint went rolling past him, landing on his paws in a crouch, and growled as he launched back at the bear Rath was still fighting.
Storm gritted his teeth as the urge to shift back into his human form swept through him again, the pain pushing him out of his cougar form. He held on to it, refused to return to his human form. He would be at a disadvantage if he did.
The original bear managed to finally throw Rath, sending his oldest brother crashing into a tree and sprawling out on the ground, and smacked a paw into Flint as he leaped at him, knocking him away. The brute growled as he turned on Rath while he was down, struggling to shake off the blow.
Storm growled, the thought of the male injuring his brother combining with his fury over the fact he had tried to take Gabi from him by force, had terrified her, propelling him into action. He leaped on the bear before he could reach Rath and clambered up him as he growled and turned, trying to shake him. The bear staggered on his back paws, and Storm glanced at the tree he was lumbering towards. Not a chance. He wasn’t falling for that trick again.
He scrambled onto the male’s shoulders and hissed and growled as he scraped his claws over the male’s left eye. The brute howled and dropped hard, and Storm sprang free before he was crushed beneath the bastard’s weight. The second Storm was off him, the bear was on his feet, baring fangs at his brothers as he ran.
Storm breathed hard as the other bear joined him in retreating, and Cobalt gave chase, clearly not satisfied with the outcome and still intent on claiming a bear head as his prize.
Storm wavered on his paws, the realisation that the battle was done and they had won, and that Gabi was safe, flowing through him to wash away the urge to fight. As it flowed out of him, the pain flowed back in, so intense it stole his breath and he couldn’t hold on to his cougar form.
Rath made a low coughing sound in Cobalt’s direction as Storm hit the earth, the transformation back into his human f
orm so swift that he saw stars, his head spinning as the pain built to a level where he felt numb.
Cobalt stopped his pursuit and looked back at them.
The moment he looked at Storm, his brother came jogging over to him, concern flashing in his golden eyes.
“I’m fine,” Storm muttered, not needing the damned coddling. He looked to Rath. “Gabi?”
Rath shifted back and walked over to him, pulled a grim expression as he looked at Storm’s left hip and the deep grooves that formed a mirror of the scar on his right side. “She’s fine. Ivy is with her in my cabin.”
Gods, it was a relief to hear that.
He knew she was shaken though, could feel it even at this distance from her.
She needed him, and he needed to comfort her, to tell her that she was wrong about him and he would never hurt her.
“I need to see her.” He tried to stand and collapsed back to his knees as his left leg gave out and pain screamed up it, stealing his breath.
“Easy, Hero,” Cobalt muttered as he completed his shift, his deep voice a warm rumble that held a teasing note. “You’re in no state to go chasing after that female.”
Storm bared his fangs at the male, a reaction he couldn’t contain, drawn from him by Cobalt’s easy smile and warm golden eyes set into a too-damned-handsome face topped with short silvery-blond hair that always seemed to be tousled in a way that made him look like a fucking movie star.
Cobalt had just gone ten rounds with a bear and it was still perfect.
The thought of Cobalt near Gabi had him growling, restless with a need to fight his brother even when he was in no condition for it.
Cobalt arched a blond eyebrow at him and then looked at Rath.
“He likes her,” Rath said before Storm could give him a look that demanded silence.
It was better than the truth, that he loved the hell out of her and she was his fated one, but he still groaned when Flint shifted back and exchanged a look with Cobalt that screamed of surprise mixed with something else.
“Poor female.” Cobalt grinned, and if Storm had been in ten percent less pain, and his left leg had been working, he would have taken a shot at rearranging his brother’s pretty face.
“She got the bum deal.” Flint’s gold-grey eyes twinkled as Storm glared at him.
“Let’s not kick a cougar when he’s down.” Rath took hold of Storm’s left arm and draped it over his neck as he hunkered down beside him, and then wrapped his arm around Storm’s ribs. “You ready?”
Storm dragged down a breath and nodded.
But it still hurt like a motherfucker as Rath hauled him onto his feet and he put the tiniest amount of pressure on his left leg.
He gritted his teeth, determined to make it back to Gabi, because he needed to see her and she needed him.
It was slow progress as Rath helped him, each step agony that had pain shooting over his torso and down his leg.
“I could carry you,” Cobalt said.
Storm bared his fangs at him. “Try that and you’ll be the one walking with a limp for the rest of your years.”
Cobalt grinned again.
Rath sighed. “I could live without you aggravating him.”
That had his second eldest brother giving Rath a look that Storm suspected was meant to be hurt, but for all his movie star looks, Cobalt was a terrible actor.
“I was just trying to help.” Cobalt pressed a hand to his bare chest and sighed. “Fine. If you won’t let me carry him, maybe I can help in another way. I’ll just jog on ahead and let the ladies know you’re hurt and limping home.”
Storm shoved out of Rath’s hold and snarled as he launched at Cobalt. Before he could reach him, Cobalt was gone, and thankfully the bastard had chosen to swiftly move behind him rather than go through with his threat to visit Ivy and Gabi.
Rath huffed. “Seriously, I can live without this. I’m going on ahead… if only to get some peace.”
Storm wasn’t going to argue with that, because he didn’t view Rath as a potential suitor for Gabi, and Ivy was probably worried about him.
But he still muttered, “At least put some clothes on before they see you.”
Rath nodded, and then looked to Flint. “Help him, and try to keep Cobalt from antagonising him.”
Flint saluted. “Yes, Sir!”
Rath just sighed, shifted, and disappeared into the woods ahead of them.
Storm didn’t argue as Flint took hold of him, supporting his weight, and they started walking again, inching towards the creek.
And Gabi.
He focused on her as he limped, using her to keep the pain at bay and to give him the strength to keep moving forwards. He felt it when Rath reached them, sensed the shift in her emotions, but still fear remained.
Little Bird.
He wanted to see her again, had thought he never would and that the bears would kill him.
Gods, they would have if his brothers hadn’t shown up.
He had never been big on saying thank you, none of them were, but as Flint helped him, and Cobalt strode ahead of him, he felt gratitude right down to his soul.
He looked at Cobalt as he led the way, his back covered in drying blood that obscured the line of tattooed markings that tracked down his spine, tribal animals that represented their bloodline.
“I’ve never been so glad to see your ugly ass,” Storm said.
Cobalt flashed a smile over his shoulder. “Ha-ha. I could have lived without you getting into a fight the moment I arrived… but I guess it wouldn’t be a family gathering without one.”
His brother fell back into line with him, wrapped his arm around Storm’s ribs and placed Storm’s arm over his broad shoulders, and helped him with Flint.
When Cobalt looked at him, his sober expression rang warning bells in Storm’s mind.
“I just hadn’t expected it to be bears you were fighting, and over a human female of all things.” Cobalt’s fair eyebrows dipped over his grey eyes. “Who is she?”
Flint said, “Her brother is the one who attacked Rath, in league with Archangel.”
Storm simply said, “My fated one.”
CHAPTER 14
Gabi was losing her mind. She paced as Ivy watched her, taking clipped strides across Rath’s cabin, her eyes leaping to the door each time she neared it. Her heart thundered, the fear she had felt when the bear had attacked her replaced by fear for Storm as she waited.
When she reached the door, she paused, stared at it as she warred with herself, torn between doing as Rath had ordered and heading back out into the woods to find Storm.
“Rath and the boys can handle a bear,” Ivy said from her position on the beige couch behind her.
“You weren’t there. You didn’t see the man.” Gabi turned her back on the door and clenched her fists at her sides. “Storm’s in trouble… I know it.”
She could feel it.
Ivy studied her, her hazel eyes warm but serious as she rose from the couch and came to face her. “Gabi… describe how you know it.”
“I’m not sure how… but I can.” She resumed pacing, trying to work off the energy building inside her so it didn’t push her into doing something she knew was reckless and would place her in danger, something Storm would be angry with her about. He was already going to be angry enough with her. She didn’t need to add to it. She sighed and approached the couch, stopped close to Ivy and whispered, “It’s like I have a sixth sense where he’s concerned. Whenever I focus on him, I feel fear… pain that isn’t mine.”
Something crossed Ivy’s face that left Gabi feeling she knew that sensation she was describing and knew the cause of it but didn’t want to tell her.
“Tell me.” She reached the couch and gripped the back of it with both hands. “Please, Ivy, because I feel I’m going mad, imagining all of this. Maybe I am.”
“You’re not,” Ivy quickly said and sighed as she rounded the couch, heading for the small kitchen area near the door.
“So
I can feel Storm?” She tracked Ivy with her gaze, turning with her, and tried to remember if she had read anything about such a thing in the documents on Alexander’s computer. “How is that possible?”
Ivy poured a glass of water and drank it as she stared out of the window, her back to Gabi.
When she set the glass down on the wooden counter, she said, “The same way it’s possible for me to feel Rath is hurt, is afraid for his brothers and himself, and it’s tearing me apart knowing my mate is fighting. I want to go to him…”
Just as Gabi wanted to go to Storm because she could feel the same thing.
She paused as she ran back over what Ivy had said and got stuck on two words. “My mate?”
Ivy nodded, fiddled with the glass and then looked over her shoulder at Gabi. “They have a thing like a soul mate, and I found it hard to believe when Rath told me that I was his, but this feeling I have is what made me believe it was real. I feel tied to him, linked in a way. It probably isn’t for me to tell you.”
Oh hell no, Ivy wasn’t getting away with telling her that much and then zipping her lips.
“I need to know, Ivy.” She closed the gap between them, took hold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as she held Ivy’s gaze, hoping she could see in it how much she needed to know what Ivy had been about to say.
“When they find this person, they’re drawn to them. It awakens a need in them, a sort of instinct that can control them at times. It’s how they know that person is their fated one.”
“So, if Storm is feeling anything, it’s just because of an instinct?” That hurt, felt as if it was crushing her ribs in on her heart as she averted her gaze, locking it on the world outside as she replayed all the times Storm had been aggressive towards other cougar shifters. Because of her. Because she was this fated mate thing for him. Not because he loved her.
“No, Gabi.” Ivy covered her hand with her own and clutched it, her words soft and offering comfort that Gabi badly needed. “Not at all. I’m not explaining this well at all. Rath did it better. I’m sure Storm would have felt the same way about you if you hadn’t been his soul mate.”
Wait.
Hang on.
She stared at Ivy. “Storm feels something for me?”
Captured by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates Shifter Romance Series Book 2) Page 11
