Twenty-One
Nina woke up before it was light out. Again, Jameson was gone.
He hadn’t woken her up. She looked for a light on in the bathroom, listened for sounds. Nothing. He shouldn’t be gone.
She stood and dressed. Something wasn’t right. There was dark magic in the air—a bleak, sucking feeling that made her feel empty inside. Where was everyone?
She texted Gemma. What’s happening?
No response.
She finished putting her shoes on and checked again, but Gemma still hadn’t written back.
Finally, a message popped up. Stay inside. Everything’s going to be okay, but you need to stay back, stay out of this.
Stay. Sometimes it was a beautiful thing to hear—Jameson asking her to stay. And sometimes it was an order meant to keep her away from something.
Whatever was going on, Nina couldn’t stay out of it. Her life was here now, and she wanted—no, she needed—to be involved.
She pounded out of Jameson’s cabin, following that sucking empty feeling in the air. Whatever was happening, it involved that feeling.
She remembered this feeling—the same thing had happened the night when she was a little girl, and Fraze and Dristan’s parents had tried to take over the Corona Pride. It was as if the power hadn’t known where it would end up, and so it hovered above the territory, waiting for the true alpha to claim it.
Was that happening now? Was someone—Jake?—trying to take over the Rock Creek Clan? Nina broke into a run. It didn’t take long to reach the scene—two grizzlies were facing off in the Circle. Nina held in her gasp. She didn’t want to distract Jameson. And if she made herself a target in any way, he could be in trouble.
She thought about what she could do. She needed to watch, needed to witness. Instead of rushing forward like she wanted, she crept on silent feet. He’d know she was here—she wasn’t trying to sneak around. She just wanted to be closer.
Turning into her lion was an option, but again, that might break the rules of the challenge.
So she stayed in her human form and did what mountain lions do well—she climbed a tree. She had to see and be a part of this, but without freaking Jameson out. This was the best solution.
The two grizzlies roared and bolted toward each other, rushing with their mouths open in rage and their razor-sharp claws raised, each ready to rake down the other bear. They gave the cairn a wide berth. Rex stood in front of Gemma on the other side, and the other members of the clan had formed a loose circle inside the ring of Ponderosa pines. The towering trees looked as if they were bearing witness along with the Rock Creek Clan.
Come on, Jameson, she thought. He was the bear closest to her, with the larger hump on his back, the darker coloring. Jake had glowing blue eyes, paler than Jameson’s, and he was smaller. Not faster, though, which was what the smaller animals usually had in favor.
But what Jake lacked in size, strength, and speed, he seemed to make up for in desperation.
Jake rushed forward, as if not caring about the damage he might take in the challenge. Gutsy bastard, Nina thought. He slashed his claws down Jameson’s side, and Nina gasped. But Jameson already had Jake in a tight hold and was biting his shoulder.
She wanted to look away as the two bears beat on each other. Would this be a fight to the death? She didn’t want either of the men to die; she just wanted Jake to go away.
The fight continued, the two bears turning in circles, tackling each other, coming up to advance again. Jameson finally pinned Jake down. His jaws were locked at the back of Jake’s neck, and he shook him once, twice. Jake remained still.
Rex stepped forward. “The challenge goes to our alpha, Jameson Cooper. Let all witness.”
There were murmurings among the clan members assembled, and Nina wanted to shout with joy. She dropped out of her tree, landing easily on her feet in the springy earth. The dark, sucking magic she’d sensed earlier had dissipated. The night air felt like a caress on her skin.
Jameson stepped back and roared. Jake shifted to his human form, brought back by the alpha’s power, and Jameson quickly shifted into his human form, as well.
Jameson said, “Jake Boyd, I banish you from the Rock Creek Clan. Effective immediately. Get your things and go.”
Jake swore. He looked, for a second, as if he’d swing out to knock over the cairn, but Jameson growled. Jake swore again and limped out of the Circle.
He was aimed right in Nina’s direction.
Nina tried to melt into the shadows, not wanting him to see her, but he sniffed once.
“Here, kitty-kitty,” he taunted.
“You’re under orders to leave,” Nina said. A few yards away, Jameson’s stance changed with alarm. He was bleeding, though, and in no shape to rush over. Nina waved him away. Whatever Jake had in mind, she could handle it.
Jake eyed her. “How about a parting gift?”
Before Nina could move, Jake’s fist shot out and slammed into her mouth. Her lip split, and she tasted blood.
Every fiber of her being yearned to hit him back, but she clenched her fists at her side. Laughing, Jake ambled back toward the cabins.
Jameson was at her side in an instant. “I’ll kill him,” he said.
“No,” Nina said, wiping the blood from her chin. “I’ll heal fast. Let him go, just to get rid of him, okay?”
Jameson looked like he’d argue, but Rex touched his shoulder. “You’re in no shape to chase after him, admit it.”
Jameson closed his eyes and nodded. “Come on, Nina.”
They each wrapped an arm around each others’ waists and walked back to Jameson’s cabin. Once inside, Nina went into nurse mode. She’d taken care of plenty of wounded shifters in the Corona Pride—often she was the one they came to because she was the least squeamish about stitching people up.
No stitches were necessary now, thankfully. Jameson was already healing, the skin mending on its own, almost in front of her eyes.
“You have wicked fast healing,” Nina said. She caught a glance of her face in the mirror. Her lip had stopped bleeding, of course, and had already scabbed. But if she had Jameson’s healing, she suspected there wouldn’t even be a sign of Jake’s punch.
“I think it’s a bear thing,” Jameson said. “Not sure, but nobody else heals as fast as I do, except Jake and Nolan.”
She dabbed against the larger cuts. He wouldn’t contract any infections, but nobody wanted dirt stuck in their wounds. Soon he was all clean.
Still naked, though.
“Here’s a blanket,” she said, tossing one at him.
“What happened to my attentive, gentle nurse?” he asked, catching the blanket.
“She’s pissed at you,” Nina said.
“What?”
“You just…left…again. Not waking me up.”
“Nina, I couldn’t have you there. I couldn’t have borne it if you watched. It was too close to what happened last time, and I just couldn’t have handled it. You understand, don’t you?”
He looked up at her beseechingly. “Nina, please. I just couldn’t handle it if you got hurt.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, feeling her heart soften. “Sit back. I want to give you some TLC.”