Bear Territory (Bear Lodge Shifters Book 5) Read online

  The bed shook with the strength of his movements, but she was so relaxed and hungry for him that she felt no discomfort at all. His breath caught in his throat and shuddered out again and again as they drew apart and pushed back together. She felt sweat bead on his shoulders as he pounded into her, his skin flushing and his eyes glazing over. “Oh--” he managed, a short sharp burst of sound. “Oh. Oh God, Baby, Oh--”

  Guttural pants replaced coherent words as he moved faster and faster, his eyes squeezing shut and his face going tight and strained. His lips parted, and she watched as he started to shake violently. When his spasms took him, she felt them inside her, while above her he writhed and strained and gripped the bedclothes to either side of her. His breath rasped in his lungs; he finished with a long, guttural shout.

  He caught himself on his arms above her, and stayed there panting for a few moments, his body shaking slightly. Then he steered himself to her side and flopped limply onto the mattress.

  They both lay gasping for air for a while, and then he groaned and forced himself up.

  He crawled into bed with her, and curled around her from behind, cupping one of her breasts in his hand.

  “I love you,” he whispered in her ear. “It'll be all right. We'll find a way, Baby. We absolutely will.”

  Three times that night she woke gasping, feeling the chill of fear work through her afresh. And three times, Jake woke up to tend to her, and they made love again, desperate to reaffirm their connection again and again. Perhaps Gray had the right of it - sex for comfort worked. In the end, she slept hard, and woke incongruously relaxed to that fateful and terrifying dawn.

  *****

  “All right, people, here's the deal,” Darrin said in a firm, commanding voice as he looked around the table. Most of the other Bears were dressed in their camouflage already, and had their rifles slung over their backs. They looked like they were going after elk this early morning. But instead they were being conscripted as possibly the world's first shape-shifter sniper militia.

  Everyone was there. Mark and Esme as well, both calmly putting together their sniper rifles on one end of the table while Darrin briefed people. In the shock of the circumstances, no one had bothered arguing over their presence.

  Gray crouched beside Julia, who was also in camouflage and had her own hunting rifle strapped on. Jake was by Anna's side, wearing a pistol like herself. He held her hand under the table, and when he stood up to speak he reached for it again the moment he sat back down.

  “Malik has given us an ETA of roughly forty-five minutes. Civilians have been evacuated, and we have blinds set up all over that side of the mountain. You guys know the terrain, and you know the drill. In forty minutes I need you all gathered in the lobby with your gear. Jake will lead you out when the time comes. I will be with the long-range snipers at the top of the gorge. Once the bird is out of the air I will come out to the ridge top with our long range snipers, and we'll start picking off the survivors.”

  Jake sighed and stood up. “Okay guys, that's the whole drill right there. I will meet you in the lobby in forty. If you are short on ammunition, talk to this man down here.” He directed a hand toward Mark, who nodded curtly and waved. “If you need anything else, bring it up now.” He looked around. “Anyone?” Silence. Jake folded his arms and nodded. “Okay. We're going to be heading up to the fire road that leads to the old lookout station. If our search around the landing site misses some of them, we will fall back there. We can use the station as a sniper's nest while the rest of us use the blinds. Any survivors that make it up the mountain are in for a huge surprise.”

  He sounded confident. Anna gazed at his face, forcing a smile, forcing herself to look like she had absolute faith in him. Her faith in him was strong... but she knew too much about how bad things could get, and how quickly, no matter how powerful or competent the people around you were. But she wasn't going to let on about her fears and doubts. Right now he needed her to believe in him, and she was not going to fail him. But in the back of her mind, what she had begged of him returned, and she ducked her head and mouthed it to herself silently. You can't die. You have to come back to me when this is done. You have to.

  Chapter 9 - In Flames

  Jake stood beside Darrin as he stood on the helicopter platform at the very top of the Lodge. It was the highest point on the mountaintop, and he peered into the distance, his face very serious. Carly sat with him, holding onto his cellphone. Nearby, Esme and Mark stood ready, their sniper rifles propped on the ground in front of them with the barrels in their hands. Anna, still pale but looking a little more resolute, hugged herself near the back of the crowd. Her eyes kept going to the army-issue weapons case at Darrin's feet, and with good reason. It was nearly as big as she was.

  Darrin's cellphone beeped and Carly looked down at it.

  “He says they'll be in range in ten minutes.” She looked back at Esme. “Better get ready. He said he'd need you to get out safely.”

  “I don't know how this idea of Malik's is anything resembling a safe escape, but I'm ready.”

  Esme frowned and squinted into the distance where Darrin was looking.

  Jake went back to give Anna another hug and kiss as she sat there watching. He had insisted on her staying behind with the long-range people, and now lingered with her as long as he could. I really will come back to you, he swore silently, though he knew that will alone wouldn't win the day. But then again, they had will, cleverness, numbers... superpowers... and heavy weaponry. Something in that combination had to work out for them somehow.

  “I love you,” she whispered in his ear as he let her go.

  “I love you,” he murmured back, and returned to his friends' side to keep watch.

  Too soon, far too soon, they heard the faint thunder of the helicopter blades in the distance. A dark mote in the sky took on a gleam, and then grew and grew in their sight until it was bug-sized, then bird-sized.

  “That's it!” Darrin called. He crouched to the weapons case at his feet, unlatched it and threw the lid open, hauling out the rocket launcher's ugly brown-gray tube.

  They all cleared aside, except for Mark, who crouched beside Darrin to help operate the thing. The phone beeped again, and Carly looked up.

  “He sees us. Have you got a bead on it?”

  “Yes, ma'am.”

  Jake turned to Esme.

  “Can you spot something that small at this distance?”

  “I'm a Crow, darling, I could spot him from twice as far.”

  She cracked her knuckles and set aside the sniper rifle. She stole a kiss from Mark, and then leaped into the air and changed. She winged away at top speed, heading for an area below where the helicopter would soon pass over.

  “Okay— okay!” Darrin looked at Carly. “Has he disabled their long-range--”

  “Look!” Anna cried. Several small objects spilled suddenly out of the open door of the helicopter.

  “Oh shit. They must have had their automatic rifles in a crate or something!” Jake shielded his eyes. “He just shoved it out! Hope he can get out t--”

  Darrin watched carefully.

  “I see him!” he called. He squinted. “Come on Esme, come on, make the catch....”

  Anna came up next to Jake and squeezed his hand hard; he watched. A dark pinpoint dropped; another pinpoint dove to intercept.

  Darrin all but jumped with excitement.

  “She's got him!”

  “Okay, Little Bear.” Mark's voice was calm. “Now it's our show.”

  Together they loaded and aimed that monstrosity. Jake led Anna away, with Carly trailing after them.

  “Okay,” said Mark, helping the smaller man steady the weapon. “Here we go. Three, two--”

  Jake shielded his mate with his body and cupped his hands around her ears. A tremendous burst of light, heat and smoke rolled across the helipad as the rocket sprang from the end of the tube and sailed toward the helicopter. Jake couldn't make out what was happening, but the heli
copter was already wobbling back and forth, as if someone was struggling with the controls. For a moment, it seemed absolutely certain that the helicopter would jink aside and the rocket would miss entirely. But then it slammed into the fuselage.

  The helicopter jolted sideways and half-spun around before a fireball bloomed from its fuel tank and engulfed it entirely. The burning vehicle started spiraling downward, shedding bits of itself as it went. Jake heard yelling, and realized it was him— and Anna— no, all of them. A chorus: half hate, half exhilaration— shot through with an immediate thread of hope.

  “Track it, track it,” Darrin gasped, eyes watering, one finger in his ear as he yawned and shook his head.

  “Got it,” said Carly, sighting the crashing chopper through a pair of binoculars as it disappeared into the trees.

  “Okay, that's it.” He looked to Jake. “Time for mop-up. You got this?”

  “I got this.” As he started turning to kiss Anna goodbye and run down to the lobby, a tangled black shape winged heavily over the edge of the helipad and flopped onto it. Jake caught sight of a small, green reptile uncoiling its tail from around a crow. Then both blurred and shifted.

  “Holy shit,” Esme groaned and rolled over onto her back, looking just as rumpled and exhausted as a human.

  Malik meanwhile sat up, muttering and clutching his shoulder.

  “Ouch.” His shirt was bloodied. “Damn it. I was hoping to get out of there without taking any more bullets.”

  “Hey, you're lucky I was able to catch you when you jumped out of the damn helicopter.” Esme sucked air as Mark ran toward her. He crouched next to her to help her up and she gave him a one-armed hug. “Hi! Mission accomplished!”

  A bullet clattered onto the pad as Malik worked it free of his wound.

  “Ow.” Blood pattered next to it for a moment, and then slowed and stopped as he healed. “All right! Well, I've done my bit. Where's the booze?”

  Mark chuckled and offered the newcomer a hand up too.

  “Think Darrin has a flask.”

  “Good man.”

  He turned to Darrin, who obligingly handed it over.

  “Take the whole contents if you want, you've more than earned it.”

  I can't believe that actually worked. This guy Malik is a daredevil! And Darrin's turned into a closet badass on me. Jake turned back to Anna. “I've gotta go for mop-up. In case there are survivors.”

  “Please be careful,” she murmured in his ear. He nodded and kissed her goodbye— and then ran off down the helipad stairs before he couldn't make himself anymore.

  He could feel Anna's eyes on him the whole time, until he vanished back inside the building.

  “What the hell was that?” asked two different Bears in chorus when he came down into the lobby.

  “That was Darrin taking out the Hunters' chopper with a rocket launcher.”

  Jake couldn't help but grin at all the wide eyes.

  “Holy shit, that kid has some serious balls on him!” Charlie looked pretty impressed. He had a rifle and a shotgun, the latter in a rip sheath across his back. “So do we even have a job to do out there?”

  “We'll have to see. The snipers are headed for the top of the gorge after this, it'll give clear line of fire down the mountain on that side. Meanwhile, we'll need to comb the area on foot.” Jake raised his voice. “Okay people, let's move out! Let's go protect what Helga built!” Shouts rose from the crowd. It was something they could finally all get behind.

  The Bears fanned out once they got within a quarter mile of the crash site, where the chopper lay smoldering in a snowy bog halfway down the mountain. No movement near it; the smell of burning human flesh couldn't be mistaken. Jake half hiked, half ran alongside the others. Gray lumbered beside him in bear shape, Julia's small form clinging to his back with her rifle propped in front of her. As they drew near enough, they saw a few sets of limping footprints in the muddy snow, leading off into the trees.

  Jake raised his head and waved, using Mindspeech to reach the other Bears.

  Looks like four survivors. Let's take them out and go home.

  He felt rather than heard their agreement, and sighed relief.

  “Not sure what I would have done if the others hadn't finally thrown together,” he murmured as he ran.

  Gray rumbled bemusedly, and Julia sighed.

  “Maybe things started changing once enough of the troublemakers left. Maybe these guys were mostly just following the loudest voice instead of the most reasonable one. But they're with us now, man. That's what matters.”

  Gray nodded, and sneezed again, pawing at his face briefly before continuing along beside Jake. They were nearing another section of the falls that marched its way down the mountain from the gorge below the Lodge. The rumble of the falls seemed to blot out everything else, bothering Jake.

  “Gray, do you have a scent?”

  Crash is too stinky. Roast human, burnt metal, spilled fuel. Drowns my nose when the smoke shifts. Maybe when we get closer to the water.

  It would have to do. But being both ear and nose blind as they pushed through the thick pines made Jake very, very nervous. They had little visibility too, and what did that leave?

  Shouts from further down the mountain. Gunshots. A Bear's mindvoice that he didn't recognize called out.

  We got two of them over here!

  Good for you! That's two more left. Let's finish this up and be home in time for lunch.

  He felt a surge of confidence as they made their way along the deer track and finally reached the rim of the falls.

  The melting snow had fed the falls until it nearly spread past the banks of the stream that fed it. Chunks of ice and snow slid over the edge and fell hundreds of feet into the frothy basin below. In the snow and mud, he caught sight of footprints. Two sets, one limping and leaving drops of blood behind.

  He froze and looked around quickly for any sign of the remaining Hunters.

  “They're here,” he warned his brother and Julia. Julia nodded and slid off Gray's back, readying her rifle. “Gray, do you have anything y--”

  Something struck him across one temple, the shock so enormous it drowned out pain. He heard a rifle shot; Julia screamed his name, and Gray roared and reached for him. But the bullet had knocked him off balance, and his whole body felt suddenly like lead. Jake stumbled sideways, and then toppled into the falls.

  Cold. Roaring. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. His head hurt. Was it healing? Were his brains coming out? He grayed out before he hit the basin, and was shocked awake by the deep water engulfing him.

  He was sinking to the bottom in the foaming water, the pressure of the falls pushing him down, unable to move, unable to think. Except for one thing, even as he struggled on the edge of consciousness.

  Anna....

  A massive form crashed into the water right beside him.

  Something huge and powerful grabbed him, pulling him against a massive chest covered with sodden fur. His lungs burned as he struggled to keep from breathing water reflexively. His consciousness flickered. And then suddenly, they burst out into open air at the far end of the basin, and he heard himself wheeze in a breath of proper air and start coughing.

  Gray had blood dripping from his torn muzzle, pattering on Jake's face before it healed up and stopped. He snuffled at his brother, and licked his face gently.

  His head throbbed; his body felt frozen. Jake pushed through the pain and stared up at him.

  Is it done?

  Yes. They are dead. It is done. Rest, my brother.

  His consciousness finally started to fade away entirely.

  Anna, he thought desperately as everything went away. Bring me back to Anna.

  Chapter 10 - Finest Hour

  Anna waited, terrified and hopeful and wondering, sitting as close to the lobby fire as she comfortably could. Her body was cold with fear. Mop-up had only found four survivors of the crash, and they were dealt with. But Jake... Jake was hurt. Jake might even be dy
ing.

  Brain damage was one of the few things that could kill a Bear. And Jake had been shot in the head.

  “It grazed him,” Darren struggled to reassure her. He still stank of the rocket-launcher's smoke, giving teeth to her nausea. But he kept trying to help her keep it together, and she was grateful for that.

  The others stood around quietly: Mark and Esme holding hands tensely as they murmured together and tried to look stoic; Malik a bit away, watching over them with polite and slightly drunken concern; Carly, off her computer for once, sitting on Anna's other side and mutely holding her hand.

  “It grazed him,” Darrin started again, taking a deep breath. “It fractured his skull and gave him a bad concussion, but he's alive, he's breathing on his own and he's healing. Maybe slowly, maybe not conscious yet, but he is healing.”

  Anna couldn't speak, simply nodding and forcing a small, grateful smile. But her heart was banging away in her ears, and her hands kept drifting down to cover her belly.

  Please don't let my child have to grow up without a dad. Please. I can't take any more tragedy.

  The men from Jake's team started to file in, rifles slung, their manner one of exhaustion and subdued triumph. They talked to each other mostly, but several greeted them and especially Darrin as they went by. Malik watched this with a smile growing slowly on his lips, and said nothing. It was clear that Darrin had finally been acknowledged as leader, even if the technicalities had yet to be handled.

  Anna wished she could feel good for him. She wished she could feel good about their defending themselves from the Hunters instead of dying of politics, disorganization and cowardice. But all she could do was stand up and peer through the crowd, looking for her fiancé.

  Finally, she saw Gray in human form, lumbering into view, his face doleful and his hair still sticking damply to his cheeks. Jake lay in his arms, blood drying in his hair and his face and body slack. He had color in his face, and he was breathing, but she had never seen anyone so profoundly unconscious in her life.