Chapter 7
SEVEN
Declan
Thunder’s legs ate up the ground. My bear was faster than my horse over short distances, but Thunder’s endurance would beat me every time. It was the only thing that had me holding my bear back from shifting. But I was ready to shift if the situation called for it.
I listened for the radio, but there was no word from my brothers. I was approaching the edge of our ranch, nearing the Miller’s spread. We weren’t on the best of terms with the Millers anymore, but I only hesitated briefly before crossing to their property. I could ask forgiveness later.
Mason and the Miller’s eldest, Vincent, were best friends once and served in the military together.
When they returned, there was a tension between them, but Mason wouldn’t talk about it.
He never spoke of his years away from the ranch or how he got injured.
Vincent now ran his family’s ranch, as his father was ill, and his sister, Emily, was away at veterinary school.
Emily was another point of distance between our families. She used to follow Austin around. I don’t know if he led her on, or if she knew about fated mates and risked it anyway, but the relationship ended badly when Austin took off for the rodeo after finishing school.
My eyes narrowed on an old cabin that stood not far inside the property line.
The Millers hadn’t used it regularly in years, and it would make a good hiding place for someone wanting to cause trouble on our ranch.
I slid off Thunder’s back and approached on foot.
Just as I cleared the hill, I saw an ATV outside the cabin.
I ducked down, growling as I fought to hold my bear back. He wanted to charge in and rescue Chloe. But I didn’t even know if she was in there.
I edged closer, keeping low. When I made it to the ATV, I caught Chloe’s scent.
I raised my radio to my mouth. “Found them. At the old cabin on the Miller’s ranch.”
“We’re on our way. Wait for us.” Mason’s response was immediate, but I’d already put the radio down and was halfway to the cabin. With my back against the wall, I slid over to the window.
My shifter hearing picked up two voices, arguing about how to handle the woman. Chloe. A pit opened up in my stomach, and my muscles tensed as I listened to them.
“We should just leave her here. We can be gone before anyone finds her.”
“She’s seen too much.” The second man’s voice was hard and gravelly. “What we did. Our faces. We need to take care of her. For good.”
I swallowed my bear’s roar, but his rage had my shift tearing through me. Bones and muscles twisted and lengthened, fur sprouting from my skin. I was a tall man, but my bear stood even taller and was close to one thousand pounds. And he was beyond angry. These men dared to threaten our mate.
“Did you hear something?” Footsteps came closer to the door.
“I’ll check on the woman,” the second man said as a door inside creaked open. “She’s gone—where’d she go? Go outside and find her. Now.”
The door burst open, and a tall, thin man came out holding a rifle.
His eyes widened when he saw me, but he recovered quickly and pointed the gun at me.
It took me only seconds to cover the distance between us, and his shaking arm caused the shot to go wide.
I knocked him to the ground and closed my jaws around his forearm, squeezing until he dropped the gun, his screams filling my ears.
I spun around and barreled through the door to the cabin, looking for the second man, but he wasn’t there. The sound of a scuffle drew me back outside, and I followed the sound of the low, gravelly voice of the man who wanted Chloe dead. “You’ve caused me enough trouble. Time to shut you up.”
My bear tore around the corner of the cabin to find a short, stocky man pointing a handgun at Chloe, who was on the ground, scrambling backward.
The man’s head jerked toward me, and I could see the indecision on his face.
He switched his aim back and forth between Chloe and me.
My bear wanted to charge, but until the man settled on me, I wouldn’t make a move.
As long as Chloe was a target, I couldn’t take the risk.
When he squeezed the trigger while aiming at me, I rushed forward. The disadvantage of my size was difficulty dodging. He shot twice before I reached him, but only one landed, hitting me on the front of my shoulder. It wasn’t enough to slow me down as adrenaline coursed through my body.
I threw all my weight on the man, pinning him to the ground. My bear roared, lowering his head and preparing to finish his enemy off. Then I heard Chloe calling to me.
“I’ve got the other gun, Declan.” The sweet sound of her voice had my bear wavering in his action. He wanted blood for the threat to his mate, but he also wanted to see her and know she was safe. She moved closer, pointing the rifle at the man beneath me. “Don’t move.”
Chloe picked up the second gun and moved back, keeping her aim on the stocky man lying on the ground. “I suggest you stay where you are. My mate is likely to kill you if you move. Especially since you were the one arguing that I needed to be eliminated.”
My bear huffed, shaking his head and eyeing the man.
The sound of an ATV firing up distracted us, and I rushed back to the front of the cabin in time to see the taller man driving away.
Instinct told me to chase him, but I knew my top speed wasn’t fast enough to catch an ATV of that size, especially with a wounded shoulder.
I cursed as I forced myself to shift back to human form and strode over to grab the man on the ground by his collar, hauling him to his feet. Ignoring the pain that shot through my shoulder. “You’re going to tell me about your friend who just left you here.”
The man smirked. “I’m not telling you nothing.”
I pulled back a fist and let it fly. The man groaned at the impact.
“That was a light hit compared to what I can do. You better talk.”
Chloe put her hand on my arm. “It’s okay, Declan.”
“It’s not okay.” Anger burned through me. “He was going to kill you.”
“He was going to try. I got out through the bedroom window while they were arguing. And you arrived just in time.”
I tightened my grip on his collar and tilted my head to see Chloe where she stood behind me.
She still held the handgun but had leaned the rifle against the outside wall.
She was sweaty, with scrapes on her forearms, and was swaying on her feet.
I dragged the man into the cabin and threw open the bedroom door.
The window was high on the wall, and tiny.
A dresser was below it, all of its drawers stacked on the opposite side of the room.
I shook my head. My mate amazed me.
“They did a number on my camera.” She huffed out a breath. “And my cell phone.”
“I’ll replace them.” I shoved the man into a chair. “But first, we need information. I won’t let the other guy get away.”
“I got pictures of both of them. They tampered with one of your water tanks.”
“Your camera’s destroyed.”
“It backs up automatically to the cloud, as long as my cell has a signal.” She gave me a grim smile. “But someone hired them. I heard them talk about a boss.”
The man cursed, saying some unsavory things about my mate.
Another punch shut him up. My bear wanted to end him, but Chloe’s presence held me back.
I crouched in front of the man. “You should know something about shifters. We will do anything to protect our mates. They are everything to us. And you threatened mine.”
I watched the man’s throat move and let my bear’s eyes flash over mine. “You may think you’re tough enough to not talk, but trust me when I tell you that you aren’t. You will talk. The question is, what shape will you be in when you do?”
Even the sound of horses approaching the cabin didn’t break my focus from the man in front of me. He was panicking, but seemed hopeful that whoever had arrived might save him from me.
Chloe kneeled next to me, inspecting my wound. “Declan, you’re bleeding.”
“Got shot.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you got hit? We need to get you to a doctor.”
“It’s fine. I heal fast.” I continued to ignore the pain, which was only getting worse. Because of my bear’s thick shoulder bone, the bullet hadn’t gone through and was still in my flesh. I didn’t tell her that would slow my healing. I wanted to see this through.
“Don’t be an idiot.” Mason’s voice cut through the fuzziness that was invading my brain. “We need to get that bullet out.”
“I called for help. Better not rough the guy up too much before the sheriff arrives.” Ethan joined us inside the cabin, standing near the door, watching the man in the chair with hard eyes. “Or at least make it look like he got it during the fight.”
“I can do that.” I was sure my grin was unpleasant.
The man certainly didn’t appear reassured as the color drained from his face. “I…I know nothing. We used burner phones. Boss insisted.”
“How did he pay you?” I growled, fighting to stay upright. Mason crouched by my shoulder to give him a better view of my wound. I hissed when he pressed against the skin over the bullet.
“He left a bag with the money at a drop point. We never saw him. And his voice always sounded different. Like he used something to change it.”
Mason tore a strip off his shirt and applied pressure to the bullet wound. “If the shot had been any higher, it might have dropped you.”
“Hard to shoot a charging bear.” My words were slurring now.
“But not impossible. I told you to wait for us.”
“You’ll understand when you find your mate.”
He stiffened, his eyes unreadable, but remained silent as he continued to try to slow my bleeding. Voices outside came closer, and I grimaced when I recognized Sheriff Danvers’s drawl. I wouldn’t be getting any more information.
“We need to get Declan medical help.” Chloe took charge, crossing her arms as the rest of my brothers entered with the Sheriff.
“And Sheriff, you need to arrest this man. And find his accomplice, who drove off on an ATV. I can get you a picture of him as soon as I have access to a cell phone or computer.”
I staggered to the side. Mason caught my weight and guided me out of the cabin while the Sheriff insisted on taking statements before he arrested anyone.
Mason leaned me against the outside wall and grabbed his field kit from his saddlebag.
He pulled out a scalpel. “This is going to hurt, but we need to get the bullet out before you heal around it.”
He handed me his belt, and I bit down on the leather before nodding at him.
We weren’t near any shifter hospitals and avoided human ones if we could, as they didn’t understand shifter healing.
Our parents had made sure we all knew enough first aid to get by, and Mason had picked up more while he was in the army.
The belt muffled my scream as he cut my skin and dug out the bullet.
My vision blurred and darkened around the edges. Then he poured antiseptic on the wound. The shock had my mouth opening on a yell, and the belt fell to the ground. The last thing I saw was Chloe running toward me before everything went black.