Chapter 13 #2
“There’s a lot to tell you but I don’t have time.
The chopper will land in seven minutes to take us to the hospital.
I assume Sly filled you in?” Wiley starts the conversation, his gaze locked on his mate sitting in their Jeep with Bo cradled against her chest. The poor boy cried himself to sleep, the fight triggering some recent trauma that I don’t know about.
I’ll never be able to apologize enough to him and Geneva, my shame at causing the fight makes it hard to look into the little boy’s eyes.
“He’s on his way to Babb airfield now. Your twin is a crafty fucker when he wants to be, Cricket,” Kade says.
“Yeah. It’s good to have him back on my side,” Cricket agrees.
“We searched the woods and caught a few unknown scents—two cat and two bear shifters. They came in and out of the Trading Post parking lot. Nobody saw strangers walking around town, so I’m thinking they came in late last night and did most of their prowling after we went to bed,” Koran says.
That James was creeping around my house while I slept causes a chill to crawl up my spine. I shiver and snuggle closer to Erick who tightens his arms around me.
“I’m pretty sure his crew is here with him.
The kid going to the hospital isn’t a shifter but the other guy was.
That accounts for one of the two cats. James is one of the two bears but these are college kids with no tactical training.
Outside of brute force and shifter strength, what are we fighting? ” Erick says.
“What was the guy’s name, Kylian?” Cricket asks.
“Marcus,” I answer.
“Yeah, he couldn’t fight for shit. I mean, I’m sure he does great on the ice but he wasn’t prepared to go up against my bad ass or this wild wolf.” Cricket waggles his brows.
Wiley rolls his eyes. “Cocky little shit.”
“Yes, I am.” Cricket brings Doralee’s hand to his lips and kisses each fingertip.
She shakes her head and mouths, “Behave.”
“We have to lure them out of Broken Falls,” Erick says. “There are too many people here to hurt, too many businesses to damage, too many wit—”
“Too many humans,” Wiley cuts Erick off.
“Exactly.”
“Come back here,” Kade says. “This is a community of shifters. The cats will support us for sure and maybe the wolves, but worst case they’ll stay out of it.”
“No.” Erick shakes his head vehemently. I pull back, his eyes coming down to meet mine.
They are dark brown right now, his bear nowhere to be found.
I’m thinking beating down Thor freaked both him and his bear out, the latter of which is now hiding.
Wiley says Thor will live but he’ll need plastic surgery because he’s pretty sure Erick broke half of the bones in his face, not to mention his body when throwing him over a table and slamming him to the ground.
In his blind rage, Erick used his shifter strength against a human, but according to Cricket it couldn’t have happened any other way. Shifters will always overreact when someone or something endangers their mates, bringing 1000% to any perceived threat.
Erick stares into my eyes while answering Kade. “I’m not risking your family or your mates. I’ll take Kylian somewhere secluded, somewhere I can see them coming before they reach us.”
“We’re coming with you,” Cricket says, Doralee nodding her agreement.
“That is out of the question,” Erick refuses.
Cricket snorts, looking to his mate and tilting his head in our direction. “Go ahead, babe. Give him your spiel.”
She flashes Erick a placating smile. “I’m a trained agent, an excellent shot, and proficient in hand-to-hand combat. I understand I’m not a shifter with super healing but that’s why I have Kevlar.”
Erick says nothing but a low murmuring floats through my head.
I glance around to look for the source, wondering if I’m overhearing a conversation in the woods or something else but when I look up at my mate, I realize he’s having a telepathic conversation with Cricket.
I can’t make out the words but I’m positive that’s what’s happening right now.
Every time I’ve called out my brothers for doing it around me, it’s been because I see the signs.
Direct eye contact, tension in their jaws, or the near immobile way they stand.
I’m sure they don’t do it like that every time but that’s when I call them out.
But this time is different. This time it’s as if I can almost hear their conversation.
Not quite but almost—as if I’m underwater and the muted vibrations are floating over my head.
Cricket responds verbally, his jovial tone replaced with a darkness that doesn’t fit his normally friendly face. “I’m not willing to risk my mate. I’m trusting her skills and encouraging her to stand by my side.”
There’s testosterone-fueled tension floating between them, broken only when Wiley smacks his hands together.
“Now that we have that cleared up. I’m taking Geneva and Bo with me to the hospital.
You can take my Jeep home considering her truck isn’t going anywhere, and I’m betting they trashed your bike too.
” Wiley stands and tosses his keys at Erick, who catches them before they hit me.
That’s when I hear the helicopter blades in the near distance, which I assume Wiley heard thirty seconds ago and is why he suddenly stood up.
“Help me get this big ass guy onto a stretcher.”
“I’m surprised he hasn’t come to yet. The tranquilizer Quinn gave us must have been rated for a horse.” Cricket also stands and pulls his mate to her feet.
I climb off Erick’s lap, smiling sweetly when he presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be right back.”
Doralee places her hand on my shoulder while our men jog out to the helicopter. “How are you holding up?”
Shrugging, I look into the parking lot and watch as a helicopter lands.
It’s the second one I’ve seen this weekend, which is amazing considering I’ve never seen one before outside of TV.
Life with Erick and his pack will be a world away from the one I lived in Fortune Falls.
I’ve been dreaming about shifting and meeting my bear for so long, but what does having a mate look like?
Dinah’s life changed overnight with Kade.
It was the same for Valery and Karter. Is it always like this for shifters?
There hasn’t been a fated mating in Fortune Falls in my lifetime.
The only shifters to mate found them after they left town, which is one of the many reasons we’ve been pushing to open up the community.
Otherwise, we’re set to die out.
Now I’ve found my mate, someone who will undoubtedly move me away from home. Is that a good thing? I always thought it was what I wanted but now I’m not sure.
“Is this what it feels like to be part of a pack?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” Doralee leads me off the patio to the passenger side of Wiley’s Jeep.
“I mean, I’ve never been invited to the conversation before. My brothers always leave me out.”
“Well, I don’t know about packs but this is what it’s like to be part of a team.
” Doralee leans against the back door with her arms crossed over her chest as Geneva rolls down her window.
“But I’ll tell you, as a woman in a male-dominated environment, you can’t wait for them to invite you into the conversation.
You have to take your seat. Don’t ask. Don’t whine.
Don’t complain. Walk in and point to a seat at the head of the table and declare, this is mine.
From what I’ve seen from these guys, it’s pretty much the same in a pack.
It’s not that they’re toxic macho assholes, per se, but their need to protect their mates and their families has them coming off chauvinistic occasionally.
Cricket and I fight about it all the time, and I suspect we’ll be fighting about it when we take our last breaths. ”
“You fight?” I can’t think of one fight my parents had before my mother abandoned us.
Sometimes I wonder if it would’ve been easier on us if they had hated each other or fought in front of us—something.
But it was never like that between them.
My father adored my mother, and she loved her family—until she didn’t.
“All the time but the makeup sex is worth it.” Doralee grins.
“Wiley and I don’t fight,” Geneva says thoughtfully. “But now I’m wondering about makeup sex.”
I bite my lip and look at little Bo sound asleep in her arms. “Is he okay? I’m so sorry about this.”
Geneva gives me a sympathetic smile. “He’ll be fine. We’re already in therapy. This will be something new to talk about next week.”
My mouth drops open and I feel even worse now than I did three seconds ago.
“Oh honey, I’m sorry. That was supposed to be a joke.”
“You're not in therapy?”
“We are, but that was written in stone long before you came around. You don't need to worry about me or my little boy. With Wiley, we are the safest we've ever been.”
“And ever will be,” Doralee points out.
“True. Because in this pack, we take care of our own.” Geneva adjusts Bo, jostling him awake at the same time Wiley approaches the Jeep.
“Wake up, Son. I’ve got a surprise for you.” He opens the door and pulls Bo out of Geneva’s arms, settling him on his hip.
“What’s going on, Daddy?” He rubs his face on Wiley’s shoulder.
“Look over there. What’s that?”
Bo looks up, his eyes growing wide. “Helicopter!”
“Yep, and we’re going to take a ride in it. Are you ready?”
“Yay!” he screams and pumps his little fists in the air as Geneva also exits the Jeep.
“See? Kids are super resilient. He’s going to be fine.” She drapes her purse across her body and then places her hands on Doralee and my shoulders. “Be careful—and Kylian?”
“Yes.”
“Let your pack be there for you.”
Doralee gives me a knowing arch of her brow and I nod. “I will.”