Bear Trapped (Bear Creek Grizzlies #5)

13. Finn

FINN

H e’d done something wrong. He knew he’d done something wrong but he had no idea what it was.

Lauren kissed him back. She responded and moved against him and had seemed really into it. Maybe not ready to get naked but at least not repulsed by making out, even with his wild beard. And then something happened after he palmed her breast, and she panicked. Bolted out the door. Paced back and forth and whispered to herself outside before circling around to the back of the cabin.

His superior hearing told him she spoke, but he didn’t catch the words themselves. And he didn’t want to be caught spying on her from the door if she came back faster than he could hobble away.

Finn growled at himself. Too fast. He’d moved too fast and scared her away.

He pulled the bandages off his leg to check it, then wrapped it back up. It wasn’t healing as fast as it should have, but he’d been traveling light and eating lean enough that the lack of calories accounted for the delay. He doubled the protein shake, pounded it, and made another. Lauren moved around outside the cabin, dragging things around after she relieved herself, and Finn started to go out and help her at least half a dozen times. But he’d done enough to make her uncomfortable.

He worked on bending his knees and putting a little weight on his leg. Finn moved through the cabin to stay close to her, and lingered near some of the cracks in the walls when he heard her humming to herself or catch a hint of her smell. He also surveyed the cabin’s structure throughout, making sure it would stay up if snow weighed down the roof, and noted places to patch if they ended up staying longer than just a day or so.

His bear side wanted to renovate the cabin, buy it from Simon, and live there with Lauren forever. He wouldn’t have to share her with anyone, and he could protect her from everything out in the forest.

But first he had to get her back inside.

Finn glanced at his watch, though, and smothered a groan. He needed to check in with Shotgun, at least, and let him know that he’d located the smugglers. If Finn was feeling generous, maybe he’d call Simon to check if he actually knew Lauren or if she’d made that up, and then tell the alpha bear that Finn claimed the cabin and intended to stay there with his mate the rest of winter.

He snorted as he retrieved the satellite phone. If Finn said anything about a mate, Simon and Zoe and the rest of the bear clan would descend on the cabin like a plague of locusts to investigate, and they’d definitely scare Lauren off. Better to deal with Shotgun, then figure out how to get Lauren some place safer than a falling-down cabin before the weather turned for good. He didn’t mind being snowed in, but he also knew Lauren would need space. Just because Finn knew she was his soul mate didn’t mean Lauren was ready to sign up for anything.

Finn rubbed the back of his neck as he limped into the corner to lean back against the wall, letting the chill air wake him up more. He’d kill for some hot coffee. Maybe he could convince Lauren to hike into town with him for a caffeine run.

Shotgun answered after a few rings, without any preamble or niceties. “The fuck you been, you asshole? My dick is flapping in the wind over here, waiting for you to pull your head out of your ass and get the job done.”

“Nice to hear from you, too,” Finn said. “I told you I’d call when I had something.”

“So you have something?”

“Yeah. Found ’em yesterday. I’ll send you the location, and then I consider my part of this job done.”

“Not so fast, asshole,” Shotgun said. “I want proof. They’ll be gone by the time we get to the right coords, and I need enough evidence for a warrant. You got photos?”

Finn pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course I do.” Even though he wasn’t sure where his camera and cell phone ended up after the disaster with the bear trap. Hopefully the camera at least ended up near the cabin, if not inside. “I’ll send them as soon as I can. But you can have the teams move in now. I’ll do another survey before I punch out and confirm the location.”

“No, your ass will sit there and surveil them until my guys are close in enough. You’re on the spot until we confirm we have eyes-on.”

“No way,” Finn said. He wasn’t going to linger in the forest with a dozen armed cartel members, particularly with Lauren nearby, and wait for Shotgun’s dodgy foot-soldiers to show up and start shooting. Shotgun didn’t give a shit about collateral damage, whether it was Finn or an innocent civilian, and there was no way in hell that Finn would risk Lauren’s safety by having her in the same park as those cowboys. “I’m not going to sit here for four days while you get your shit together. You had weeks to get everything in place. I’ve done my part, now it’s on you to seal the deal. I want my money.”

A soft sound outside the cabin made him tense; it sounded like a gasp or a whimper. Finn squinted to look through the cracks between the logs. A flash of color looked like Lauren’s jacket, and the underbrush crackled as if something large ran through it. Shit.

He straightened and limped toward the door, ignoring that Shotgun still argued with him. Finn snapped, “I don’t have time for this. You’ve got two hours to confirm your guys have it handled, then I’m leaving anyway and you’ll get the bill in the mail.”

He ended the call and tossed the sat phone on the mattress as he struggled to reach the door and get his wounded leg over the threshold. Where was Lauren? Had she overheard his conversation and assumed something? He wracked his brain to remember what he said to Shotgun. Was she afraid of the drug smugglers? Had she seen something?

Shit. Finn cursed under his breath and retrieved the rifle, just in case. If she’d seen something and was hiding from the smugglers, it was equally possible the smugglers had seen her and would hunt her down. And she hid her tracks about as well as a bulldozer, so it was just a matter of time until they found her.

And killed her.

He gritted his teeth against the stabs of pain in his leg, and paused to catch his breath. He had to find Lauren and bring her back to the cabin. Then he would explain what was going on, and promise to protect her from whoever came after them.