Chapter 7

Austin shouldered his rifle and barreled down the mountain as fast as he could run. He could run as fast as any Bruin in the pitch dark woods. He could close his eyes and sense the trees and rocks all around him. He could find his way by smell alone.

He slowed down when he came to the Farrell-Dunlap boundary. He didn’t know the terrain beyond the boundary as well as his own, and the whole place smelled of Dunlap. On his own side of the ridge, the comforting smell of Farrell gave him a safe, familiar confidence. Dunlap meant foreign: stranger; danger.

The Farrells had never had any problem with the Dunlaps. The Dunlaps stayed out of the Farrell-Cunningham war. Still, any Bruin took his life in his hands crossing the boundary uninvited in the middle of the night.

Brody’s order gave him no assurance, either. Austin would follow his Alpha’s order no matter what, but a greater loyalty pushed him over that boundary: Aurora. She trusted him with her secret. He couldn’t let her down. She couldn’t carry the message about the hunters to the other tribes, so he had to carry her message for her.

He stopped on the ridge and took a deep sniff. Dawn lurked just beyond the Peak. Who knows how much damage Bain and his friends had already done while Austin lounged on the couch kissing Aurora? He wouldn’t trade that kiss for a thousand hunters, though. He wouldn’t trade one kiss from her for all the tea in China.

He hopped the ridge line fence and plunged into the deep woods. What would he find when he got to Dunlap Homestead? He had never set foot inside the Dunlaps’ house. He didn’t dare. Every Bruin knew the Dunlaps lived a cut above everyone else on the Peak. Austin barely recognized them in town. They wore the best clothes and fancy watches, and they drove flashy cars without a speck of dirt or rust anywhere. How could he relate to people like that?

None of that mattered now. He would shout his message from the garden gate if they didn’t want him tracking mud on their carpets. He gave no thought to traveling in silence. He crashed through underbrush and snapped branches underfoot. He could have traveled faster as a bear if he didn’t have to carry his rifle, but he had a job to do. He would do if for Aurora.

How did she infect him with her magic in such a short time? Did her fingers really squeeze the back of his neck while her lips explored his mouth? Did her tongue really slide between his teeth like that? Did the fragrant rose water of her saliva really sift into his brain while he held her in his arms? Did her breasts really collapse like that when he leaned his weight over her?

Dear God! How far could he really go with a princess like Aurora Cunningham? She was too high and mighty for him. Wasn’t she? How could she look sideways at him, in his jeans and boots and tank top, when he obviously came to the Beater looking for trouble?

Well, he had found it, all right, but not the kind of trouble he bargained for. Aurora Cunningham! He would tear the whole mountain apart if he thought he stood a snowball’s chance in Hell of taking her for his own.

He caught sight of a light in the distance. Of every Bruin tribe on this mountain, only the Dunlaps would leave a light burning on their front porch for the whole world to see. They didn’t care who came a-knocking. You better have an all-powerful good reason to bother them in the middle of the night.

Austin stopped running and walked the rest of the way until he came to the trim cut lawns surrounding Dunlap Homestead. He could smell the money boiling up out of the ground all over the place. The fountain tinkled in the front garden. The scent of roses drifted on the breeze. Aurora! How did he ever find the nerve to do anything before he could call up her memory to bolster him?

He propped his rifle on his shoulder and pushed open the front gate. In addition to the porch light, a single lamp shone in the upstairs window. These people got up early. No wonder they turned everything they touched into gold. His ear detected faint sounds of voices rising and falling, but he couldn’t make them out. Was that a woman’s voice he heard?

He made his boots clomp as loud as he could on the steps, and the voices died. He pounded on the door with his fist. A door banged open upstairs, and feet ran down the stairs. The front door flew open, and a burly male shape darkened the threshold. “What in God’s name are you doing here?” A deep voice asked with a faint edge of violence.

The voice set Austin’s hair on end even before the interior light showed him who he was talking to. He wasn’t expecting this. He knew the Alpha Dunlap, Jasper, and his oldest son Boyd on sight. He didn’t recognize this man at all.

If he didn’t know Jasper and Boyd, he would have pegged this bruiser for Alpha. His massive shoulders and bulging forearms stuck out under a floppy, loose T-shirt. His sweat pants didn’t do enough to hide his thick legs, either, and his eyes flashed once over Austin. He appraised Austin in a heartbeat, and his hands balled into fists.

Austin fought the urge to take a step back. He came here on legitimate business. He had to stand his ground. This man reacted the way any warm-blooded Bruin would react at finding a man with a rifle over his shoulder on his front porch in the middle of the night. “I’m Austin Farrell,” he stated firmly.

“I know who you are. I asked you what you’re doing here. Do you know what time it is?” The voice gave no quarter.

Austin braced himself. “This is important. The hunters are coming up the mountain. Where’s your Alpha?” He held himself steady to complete his mission.

“The Alpha’s not here. I’m in charge until he comes back,” the voice responded without the violent edge.

The man took another step onto the porch. The light caught his cheekbones and the bristle of whiskers cutting down his jaws. Then Austin recognized him, but he would never have picked Aiken Dunlap out of a crowd. Aiken ran wild when the other kids hung out at family gatherings. He went off on his own and got lost in the woods so no one knew where he was. He never looked anyone in the eye and barely answered anybody who spoke to him. He mumbled under his breath and turned away into his own world.

This man wouldn’t run from anyone or anything. Here he was, demanding Austin’s business. This man could handle anything the hunters threw at him until his Alpha came back – maybe forever.

Austin took courage. “We have to warn all the tribes. Bain Campbell and a bunch of other hunters are coming up the mountain to lay jaw traps in Horner’s Gully where no one will see them until it’s too late.” He conveyed his message with urgency and almost in one breath.

Aiken frowned. “How do you know that?” He asked with some reserve.

“Aurora Cunningham overheard them talking at the Beater. I was giving her a ride home and we spotted Bain’s pick-up on his way up the mountain. We crashed into him to stop him, but he could still be on the loose somewhere up here.” Again, Austin was quick but direct.

Aiken clenched his jaw. “If Bain Campbell is on the mountain anywhere, I claim the kill,” he growled out ominously.

Austin’s heart leapt. This was the reaction he dreamed of finding. No one knew Bain Campbell as well as Aiken Dunlap. “I have to run down to the Mackenzies. You go down to the MacAllisters and the Dodds,” Austin stated, laying out the plan already in motion.

Aiken laid a hand on Austin’s arm. “Not so fast. If Bain’s on the mountain, we have to find him. He could have laid his traps already. First, show me where you crashed his truck,” was the thoughtful reply Austin received.

“There’s no time. We have to warn everyone,” Austin spoke rapidly and urgently.

“What are you going to warn them of when you don’t even know if Bain is on the mountain? He could have high-tailed it back to town for all you know. Show me where his truck is, and I’ll track him one way or the other.”

“Alright; and then I gotta go,” Austin capitulated, knowing when a man’s mind was set.

“Just wait a minute. There’s something I gotta do first before we head out,” Aiken quickly responded as he turned towards the door.

“Aw, come on. This is urgent,” Austin came close to shouting.

“So is this,” Aiken stated seriously.

Aiken shut the door in Austin’s face. His footsteps ran back upstairs, where the voices danced together in the darkness. What was Aiken doing up there; saying good-bye to his mate? Visions of himself nagged Austin’s consciousness. He kissed Aurora, all soft and warm in half-sleep, before he went out to work in the pre-dawn light. If he only knew what he was missing all these years, he would never have survived.

Aiken reappeared with a shotgun in one hand. He closed the door with his other hand and jerked his head down the steps.

Austin strode at his side. “What was that all about?” He questioned stonily.

“Harmony gets really bad morning sickness.” Aiken explained.

Austin raised his eyebrows but said nothing. So Laird Kerr’s mystery niece, Aiken’s new mate, was pregnant after all. Austin must be the first person outside the Dunlap tribe to hear the news. He wouldn’t get a chance to pass it on, though, not for a while, anyway.

The two men fell in together, shoulder to shoulder. Aiken set off at a fast run down the mountain, and Austin matched him, stride for stride. They slotted into the easy rhythm of Bruins traveling at high speed through the darkest night.

Aiken ran at Austin’s side until they found the road. Then he dropped back and followed single file. Austin swelled with power he never knew he possessed. He was leading the charge to stop these hunters from murdering his people. He showed Aiken the way. Aiken might claim the kill, but he couldn’t do anything without Austin.

Austin approached the shattered trucks in a circular fashion. He slowed his pace with every turn of the spiral until he stopped by the open door through which he removed Aurora from his own passenger seat.

Aiken circled the trucks one more time and inspected Bain’s battered driver’s compartment. He sniffed all around the cab and followed the scent a few paces away. “He went this way.” Aiken said with assurance.

“And he was alone,” Austin added. “I thought he would have brought his cronies with him,” he wondered out loud.

“Who but Bain would be stupid enough to lay traps on Bruin land in the middle of the night?” Aiken snorted sarcastically.

“He’s out of his mind since you….” Austin began.

A low chuckle interrupted Austin. “I won’t do him the favor next time. At least we know he didn’t go up the mountain. We can warn the others now.” Aiken said calmly.

“What do you mean – ‘he didn’t go up the mountain’? He’s headed straight for Horner’s Gully.” Austin responded querulously.

“He went this way.” Aiken paced along the track. “He turned down the old coach road. He must have retreated back to town, thanks to you destroying his truck.”

“The coach road could go either way, up or down. You don’t know he went down. He could have veered off toward the Gully. Maybe he thought he killed us in the crash.” Austin argued his point.

“No, he went back to town. Come on. You go to the MacAllisters and I’ll go to the Dodds and the Mackenzies – unless you want to go to the Mackenzies and see your brother.”

“I’m going to Horner’s Gully if I’m going anywhere. If you want to run off to the MacAllisters, go right ahead,” Austin replied stubbornly.

“You’ll waste good hours bashing around the woods for nothing. You said yourself we had to warn everyone as soon as possible.” Aiken used Austin’s words as his argument.

“Now that we know Bain is on the mountain, we have to track him. That’s what you said.” Austin replied, doing the same to Aiken.

“Bain’s not on the mountain. We have time,” Aiken explained patiently.

“You’re a troglodyte.” Austin responded.

Aiken burst out laughing. “I love you, too, but you’re a terrible kisser,” was Aiken’s comeback.

“That’s not what your mother told me last night. Now bend over and pick up the soap,” Austin quickly responded.

Aiken’s smile evaporated. “Listen, Austin. Much as I’d love to stand out here for the next twenty-four hours throwing insults back and forth, we’re facing a serious threat from these hunters. We should be working together instead of arguing,” he said calmly.

“What do you suggest?” asked Austin, just as calmly.

“If you think Bain went down into the Gully, then you follow the trail and find him. I’ll go to the Mackenzies and get the cavalry out. We’ll scour this mountain until we find out for certain where he is and what he’s up to.” Aiken laid out his plan.

Austin had a different plan. “You said you claim the kill. You should follow the trail and I should get out the cavalry. Besides, I’m supposed to meet Brody at the mining road junction in half an hour.”

Aiken clapped him on the shoulder. “This is all yours. You’re the one who got the word from Aurora. If you find Bain out there, you can kill him for me. I’ll let Brody know what you’re doing.”

“Are you sure? I thought you had a vendetta to settle with Bain,” Austin responded with some surprise.

“As long as he winds up dead, I’ll be satisfied. I don’t have to taste his blood myself. I’m glad just to help out in some small way,” Aiken stated, with a relaxed look on his face.

“You should kill him,” was Austin’s staunch reply.

“This isn’t getting us any closer to finding him. Get out there and find out where he is. When the time comes, whoever kills him; kills him,” Aiken spoke firmly with finality.

“Alright. Have it your own way. I just thought you wanted the right,” Austin said, looking down.

“Thanks for thinking of me. Now get. I don’t want to see you again until you know where he is and what he’s up to,” Aiken spoke in command voice.

Austin nodded and set his rifle on his shoulder. “I live to serve.”

Aiken snorted; “As if.”

Both men walked away chuckling in opposite directions. The woods swallowed Austin, and his nose guided him on the indelible trail of Bain Campbell. Aiken Dunlap! He turned out to be alright after all.