Jill dragged the bag down the mountain and into a flat valley, halting at the edge of Shoshone Creek. The tinkling of the water over the rocks a sweet melody she didn't have time to enjoy the music. Jill needed to get out of sight before the shooter caught up with her.
She stepped into the middle of the shallow rush, the sack of ice melt resting across her back. Once she'd gone about a quarter mile down and her paws ached from the frigid water, she climbed out and rushed back into the trees. The weight slung over her back created a cramp along her spine that she pushed away. She couldn't risk dragging the bag of chemicals and creating a trail too similar to the other, so she’d just have to suck it up.
Blood no longer trailed down her shoulder. It still amazed her how quickly wounds knitted back together. Perks of being a supernatural being.
A rush of dread shot through her as her mind went back to Dereck. Out for a jog, she'd heard the crack of the rifle, followed by the cry of an injured animal. The sound traveled from the south, and Jill hadn't hesitated to shed her clothes and investigate.
Padding through the forest as a cougar, she'd tried to keep out of sight. Until she'd smelled him. Dereck. The combination of pine and cinnamon that made her think of Christmas, laced with the terrible, metallic scent of blood.
Prepared to run to him, Jill watched from her hiding place. Dereck, limping so slowly, ruby droplets falling from his fur to the snowy ground below. When the bark exploded above her head, she'd crouched low, waiting for the hunter to take another shot.
She couldn’t see him, but knew he hadn’t left. The horrendous mix of body odor and animal permeated the air around her, overpowering Dereck’s sweet aroma, and drifting from the area where the bullet originated. It was the same stench she'd smelled earlier while leaving the beauty shop.
Her attention jerked back to Dereck and Jill knew she had two choices. Run for help or drag Dereck out of there. The first she'd discarded almost immediately because the hunter would shoot Dereck the minute she left.
But rushing in to save him meant most likely dying with him.
Surprisingly, Jill hadn't given the danger a second thought as she'd hurried toward him, waiting for the bullet that would fly through the air any minute and take her life.
The fact that the hunter never fired another shot hadn't occurred to her until they were on Dereck’s back porch. Had the man been too shocked by the amazing sight of watching a cougar take off with an injured wolf? Or perhaps he thought that she was stealing his trophy due to hunger and kindly let her go?
The other possibility, which was all too terrifying, was that he'd known they were shifters. She hadn't considered it, not until Dereck had mentioned the trail and she realized that the hunter could have killed them...but what if he'd kept them alive to follow them home?
Terror spurred her into action, despite the weak protest from Dereck. She thought he'd expected her to let his dad go, but he needed to learn that she wasn't going to roll over and expose her belly. She wasn't a wolf and she didn't need an Alpha male bossing her around.
Didn't mean she didn't want him though.
Please, let him be okay.
Jill crested the hill and paused within the safety of the trees, listening for movement. She could see the back door of the Larsen's place from her vantage point and when she was sure no one was watching, she shifted. The sack of ice melt dropped to the ground as she stood on her two long legs. Quickly, she picked it up and ran across the yard to the porch. She left it on the bottom step and raced up the planks until she reached the sliding glass door.
Once inside, Jill saw Dereck lying on the couch with his eyes closed, his skin sheet white. The ridges of his abs stained burnished red. The gaping wound seemed smaller, at least. His mother sat quietly by his side in one of the kitchen chairs, holding his hand between both of hers. Norma glanced at Jill and gave her a warm smile that punched her in the solar plexus. What did it mean?
"He's going to be fine, honey."
Relief choked Jill as she took a step toward them. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Clyde is on the phone with our doctor back in Colorado. Once Dereck wakes up, we'll have him shift and he'll heal."
Jill resisted the urge to come around the back of the couch and take his other hand. Almost losing him today, even though he really wasn't hers, filled her with a gut-wrenching dread. Life was dangerous enough as a human, but what they did, straddling the tightrope between normal and paranormal? It meant being extra diligent.
Which begged the question...why was Dereck out in the woods alone before dark? He knew better. Hell, he'd been the one to tell her to be careful when she shifted. And as far as Jill knew, Dereck didn't take chances.
"What happened?" Norma asked.
"I was out running and heard the shot. I shifted, planning on checking things out from a distance. Then I saw Dereck and I just...I reacted. I ran in and dragged him out of there."
"You're lucky you weren't killed," Norma said.
"I couldn't leave him." It was the closest Jill had come to admitting out loud, even to Greer, about her feelings for Dereck.
Norma's gaze met hers, but she said nothing. Jill got the feeling Barbara knew how Jill wanted Dereck but kept her opinions to herself.
Clyde came back into the room, his mouth set in a grim line. Medium height and stocky, Derrick's father was blessed with a shock of red hair, which he usually hid under a baseball cap. Today, the coarse strands stuck up in disarray, as though he'd been tugging at them violently.
Norma shot her husband a concerned look. "What's the matter?"
"Doc said there's been some rumors going around."
"About what?" Jill asked.
"Someone's been hunting shifters."
Norma sucked in a harsh breath. "Is he sure? Couldn't it just be hunters accidentally mistaking them for regular animals?"
Clyde ran his fingers through his hair, causing the strands to stick up straight. "Says there are too many to be a coincidence. Five shifters from the Halvorsen Pack south of Yellowstone went missing last month. Their families found the bodies in the woods. They'd been skinned while still alive." He lowered his voice. "Also, the other victims were gut shot, most likely to immobilize them or slow them down."
Jill gasped, her eyes flicking down to Dereck's stomach.
"You mean...he shoots them, and then skins them alive so that they can't...can't shift?" Norma stammered.
"That's what Doc suspects."
"What about Barbara and Tristan? Any incidences in Blue Creek?"
"I called Tristan as soon as I hung up with Doc, but he hasn't heard anything. Says he'll call around."
Jill's mind raced as the two of them talked. It could have been an accident, but what are the chances?
She closed her eyes, slowing down her memories, thinking back. The hunter could have hit her, but he'd fired at the tree.
It had been a warning.
He wasn't ready for her yet. Or he hadn't thought he could take on two shifters at once, even if they were injured.
Dereck groaned and twitched below her. As his eyes fluttered open, she smiled down at him.
"Welcome back," Jill said.
He frowned at her, his gaze droopy.
"Idiot woman," he mumbled.
Jill's mouth dropped open. Had he just called her an idiot? After she'd saved his life?
His head flopped to the side and his breathing evened out.
An awkward silence stretched a few moments. Then Clyde said, dryly, "Well, we never said he was the charming one."