She sensed his triumph, and her anger flared brighter.
"No way," she ground out. "And what's more, if I have to sell my place, it won't be to you. And as for Carl—"
The light breeze changed directions, blowing at her back.
Michelle saw Dennis inhale through his nose in the same way that she'd gotten used to seeing Carl do.
"We're engaged," she finished, just as Dennis's eyes turned gold.
Wait, he's a shapeshifter, too?
She barely had time to form the thought when Dennis roared in a deep, harsh voice, "You mated him? You were supposed to be MINE!"
He bent double, as if seized by a sudden belly cramp…and began to change.
The dogs lunged forward and began circling him, growling and barking, but also maintaining a wary distance.
"Oh, hell," breathed Michelle.
"Mica, what's hap—" Beto began to ask.
She seized his hand and pulled him in the direction of her front porch. "Run!"
Beto cast a look over his shoulder at Dennis, who had fallen to his knees and was beginning to change into something very hairy, and didn't argue.
They ran for her house, slamming and locking the front door behind them.
Michelle stood panting in the living room, her mind racing through the possibilities.
She wished Carl hadn't decided to leave today…and then realized that Dennis had seen him drive away and decided that it was the perfect time to pay her a visit.
"Crap," she said aloud.
Beto peered out the living room window. "Mica, what the fuck is going on?" he demanded, sounding panicked. "Dennis—he's turning into a monster!"
"What kind of monster?" Michelle pushed her brother aside and looked.
Not a wolf, she thought. Maybe a bear?
But not like any bear she'd ever seen, either here at her ranch, or at the zoo.
For one thing, it was enormous, at least twice as big as a grizzly bear and covered in pale gray fur. Its legs were too long, the huge paws tipped with huge, curving gray claws that looked like scimitars. And its head looked funny, the muzzle shorter and blunter than any bear she'd ever seen, more like a dog's head than a bear's.
Shreds of clothing still clung to its back and around its legs.
"Holy Mother of God," Michelle breathed. She suddenly regretted that she hadn't been to Mass since Easter.
My dogs are still out there, she realized with a stab of guilt.
Cookie and Biscuit had gone into full-bore defensive mode, snarling and growling and barking at the bear-thing.
"What the hell is that thing?" Beto demanded. Before Michelle could answer, he continued, "We have to shoot it!"
"Shoot it with what?" Michelle retorted bitterly. "I kept my guns in the barn, remember?"
As if it had heard her over the commotion of barking and growling, the bear-thing swung its enormous head around. Ignoring the circling dogs, it rose on its hind legs and looked straight at them, jaws parted, revealing an impressive set of fangs.
Too late, Michelle realized that if Carl had super-hearing, then Dennis probably did, too.
Then the bear-thing dropped back to all fours and began walking towards the house with long, swinging strides.
Cookie and Biscuit tried their best to herd Dennis away, both taking turns nipping at the beast’s hind legs, then darting agilely away when it aimed irritated swipes at them. But the bear-thing's approach was relentless.
"Shit, it saw us!" Beto clutched at Michelle's arms hard enough to leave bruises. "What are we going to do?"
Chapter 20
The Best Defense
Michelle, her heart pounding wildly, looked around. Too many windows, she thought. Shit! Where can we hide where that thing can't get to us?
"Basement!" she whispered, and turned from the windows.
My dogs. I left my poor dogs out there with that monster! Michelle fought the urge to open her front door and see if they could beat the bear-thing inside the house.
From experience, she knew that it was hopeless. When her dogs switched to defensive mode, they would only stand down when the threat had been routed or removed.
If she tried to go back out there and haul them in by force, she'd only be putting herself and her brother in danger. But it was still a bitter pill to swallow.
With Beto close on her heels, she dashed through her living room, into the kitchen/dining room area, and skidded around the corner to the walk-in pantry.
She tore open the door set into the pantry's far wall. A set of concrete steps led down into the gloom of her basement, where her laundry room was located.
"Go!" she ordered Beto.
He didn't hesitate, but took the steps two at a time. Michelle followed him down, locking the basement door behind her.
The basement had bare concrete walls and narrow windows set high on the walls. Michelle eyed them and decided that the giant monster outside would have a difficult time even fitting one of its huge, wickedly clawed paws through it.
"Now what?" Beto whispered, staring nervously at the top of the stairs.
Michelle reached into her jeans pocket for her phone, and realized that it was still charging on the kitchen counter upstairs. "Oh, hell," she breathed in horror. "Beto, your phone!"
Beto reached into the pocket of his hoodie. His brows drew down, and he began to pat himself down with frantic haste. "It was in my hand! I must have dropped it."
They both jumped at a loud thud somewhere above them. Michelle cast an assessing glance up at the ceiling.
She asked herself, If that bear-thing gets inside the house, will it be able to tear up the floorboards and get to us?
She remembered the sight of those enormous deadly looking claws and shuddered. And decided not to share her concern with Beto.
"Laundry room," she whispered.
It was a slim hope at best, but the metal plumbing embedded in the basement ceiling and walls might serve as a protective cage.
She closed the laundry room door behind them, knowing if the bear-thing got this far, a flimsy interior door probably wouldn't help them much.
Beto caught her in a hard hug. "Mica, I'm so sorry! I didn't know he was a monster!"
Michelle hugged him back. "There's no way any of us could have known." She would have to tell him about shapeshifters later…if there even was a later. She continued, “But Beto, how could you go behind my back like that?"
"I'm sorry," he said again. He released her.
She stepped back, looked up, and saw tears in his eyes.
Beto continued, "He paid me to keep him up to speed on what was going on. And then, once you started having to fix your fences all the time, he told me that he'd pay me a big commission if I convinced you to marry him or to sell your place to him. I thought—I thought he would make you a better husband than Austin."
"What?" Michelle couldn’t believe her ears. "Why on earth would you want me to marry him?"
Beto hung his head. "Uh, you know, Mr. Dooley was old. I mean, older than you. He seemed responsible. And you would have been able to live on a bigger ranch." He paused and added in a low, embarrassed voice, "And I would have gotten enough money to move back home to Littleton."
"My fences," Michelle said slowly, the pieces falling into place. "Shit, Beto, if he can shapeshift into a monster bear-thing, then he's probably the one who knocked them over in the first place!" Her shoulders slumped. "All this time, and my own brother was conspiring against me!"
It was a worse betrayal than Austin and Courtney had been.
"I—I know it was wrong." Tears rolled down Beto's face. "I was just so mad about having to wait years for my share of Abuela Consuelo's inheritance! And I was stupid. I should have seen how Dennis was trying to screw you over."
Michelle sighed and leaned her forehead against his chest. "Yeah, you were stupid, manito. But Dennis was a grown man who took advantage of your trust."
"You're my family, Mica! I should have been more loyal! Can you
ever forgive me?"
She hugged him again. "I won't lie to you, Beto. I'm so mad at you right now that I could spit." She sighed. "But I'm also glad that you were here to help me out when I really needed it. So yeah, I forgive you…but don't ever do something like this again."
"Like I'm ever going to get the chance," he muttered into her hair, holding so tightly that she felt his heart thudding in his chest. "That thing out there is going find a way in here and eat us."
Michelle knew he was right. They might be safe for the moment against the monstrous bear crashing and thudding above them, but there wasn't anyone else for miles around to hear the commotion of barking dogs, roaring bear, and what sounded like breaking glass.
It was only a matter of time before Dennis managed to force his way inside her house and find their hiding place.
◆◆◆
As Carl bumped his way up the rutted gravel road back to Michelle's mountaintop ranch, he had his phone connected to the big Ford pickup's stereo system and was singing along to his playlist at the top of his lungs.
He was on the top of the fucking world right now. And things were only going to get better, because he'd be seeing Michelle again in just a few minutes.
A small, wrapped package rested on the passenger seat next to a dozen red roses. Not only had Michelle's chosen ring been in stock, but the jeweler had been able to resize it on the spot. Carl couldn’t wait to present it to his mate.
Then he rounded the final curve of the road, and his blood ran cold as he saw what was happening at the top of the long driveway.
A giant bear was half-on and half-off Michelle's porch, obviously trying to break into her house. Michelle's two dogs were going nuts, harassing the huge beast mercilessly. And tellingly, Dennis Dooley's pickup was parked in the driveway.
I knew it! he thought numbly. Dooley is a shifter, after all!
That thought was followed an instant later by, Holy shit, what the hell kind of shifter is he?
Only its pale-furred hindquarters were visible. It looked bear-like, but easily two or three times the size of any bear that Carl had ever seen, with abnormally long legs. It was so big that its back was pressed up against the porch's ceiling light.
Carl looked around frantically for his mate or her brother but didn't see them anywhere. He gunned the pickup's engine and raced up the driveway.
Since last night, he'd been gifted with an awareness of Michelle's presence, like a soft golden ray of sunlight. He felt it now, and sensed her fear.
But their mate bond remained intact, which meant she was still alive.
Relief flooded through Carl. I'm not too late to save her!
His relief was followed immediately by anger. How dare Dooley threaten my mate?
Now he had approximately fifteen seconds to come up with a plan.
Smokejumpers were selected for their resourcefulness and "can-do" attitude as much as for their physical fitness and courage. They were trained to make use of any tool at hand to address a crisis.
And damned if he wasn't going to use every tool that he had right now.
Carl kept the accelerator floored as he closed the remaining distance to the house.
At the sound of the approaching truck, the thing abruptly backed up and swung around to meet the new threat. Good. If Michelle's in there, at least I've managed to distract it away from her.
It was definitely a bear, but not any kind that Carl had ever encountered before. It looked like some kind of monster from the Ice Age.
Probably a lineage derived from something that's gone extinct, said a calm voice in Carl's head. It sounded like one of his college professors, and he occasionally heard it in times of crisis, when the rest of him was caught up in an adrenaline rush.
There were a few ancient shifter lineages here and there whose animal counterparts no longer roamed the earth, including the notorious sabertooth shifter prides in the Southwest.
Michelle's two big shepherd mixes, which had been harassing Dooley's shifted form mercilessly, were smart enough to dodge out of the way of the oncoming truck.
Dooley, perhaps frozen with surprise, was slower to react.
The big pickup rammed into the bear's hindquarters, striking it in its right rear leg.
The bear staggered and swung round, forepaws outstretched.
But Carl had already shifted into reverse and was gunning the truck backwards down the driveway as fast as he dared.
When he'd opened up a gap of a few yards, he threw it back into Drive, and floored it.
Michelle's driveway was fairly steep, and even with the truck's powerful engine, he wasn't able to pick up much speed on his second pass.
Dooley's bear tried to dodge out of the way this time, so Carl only managed to clip one foreleg instead of the delivering the full-body blow he'd intended.
The bear wheeled on him and rose on its hind legs. It screamed in agony as its full weight came down on the leg that the truck had hit, making Carl's ears ring even in the insulated confines of the truck's cab.
Then the bear fell heavily against the truck's side as it went by.
Time slowed for Carl as the big pickup tipped onto two wheels, then flipped completely over on its side with an awful sound of crunching metal and breaking glass.
It skidded a few feet past the bear's recumbent bulk, then came to a shuddering halt.
I am so fucked, thought Carl, scrambling to unfasten his seatbelt. At least the airbags didn't go off.
Luckily, the windshield and passenger side windows remained intact.
Carl peered through the window and saw the bear lying on its side, torso heaving. As he watched, it rolled over and tried to get to its feet, only to collapse with another deafening shriek.
Okay, it's down but not out. Not yet. I gotta do something before it manages to get up.
If the bear regained its feet, Carl predicted that it would either smash the windshield or tear the passenger door off this truck. If he was still trapped in this confined space when that happened, there would be no escaping the deadly claws and teeth of his opponent.
He stripped off his clothes with frantic haste and began to shift, urging his wolf spirit to hurry.
The shape change completed faster than it ever had, and it hurt like a son of a bitch.
When it was done, Carl tried to shake off the post-shift dizziness and stretched up on his hind legs, bracing himself against the driver's side door. One questing paw found the switch that controlled the passenger side window.
He lowered it, then scrambled out and over the side of toppled truck.
And not a minute too soon. While he'd been shifting, the bear had finally made it to its feet.
It staggered toward him with an enraged roar, huge teeth bared.
Even though Carl's wolf shape was a lot bigger than a normal gray wolf, on his own, he was still no match for this titanic bear.
If only my pack was here, he thought. Working together, they could have taken down Dooley.
Instead, he had only Michelle's two very ordinary dogs. Who had only reluctantly warmed to his man-shape over the past few days and had previously wanted nothing whatsoever to do with his wolf shape.
The one spark of hope came when Carl noticed that Dooley wasn't putting any weight at all on its right rear leg and was limping badly on his left foreleg. Michelle's truck had exacted a toll on the giant bear before it had been taken out of commission.
Barking furiously, Cookie charged the big bear, forcing it to swing painfully around to swat at her. She nimbly managed to stay just out of range. Meanwhile, Biscuit darted in on the bear's other side and caught its broken hind leg between his jaws.
My turn, Carl thought grimly.
The bear howled and twisted to try and claw at the dog. Carl leaped up on the bear's back and bit down on the back of its long neck.
He realized immediately that he'd misjudged the anatomy under that thick layer of pale fur. His teeth sank into muscle rather than the more vulnerable tendons and
big veins and arteries he'd been aiming for.
Dooley roared again and sat up on his haunches, trying to dislodge Carl. One long, deadly arm swept up and back, bone-colored claws gleaming dully in the sunlight.
Before they could connect, Carl released his hold on Dooley's neck and sprang to the ground.
At the same moment, Cookie lunged low and snapped at the bear's injured hind leg.
Hard Landing Page 19
