Chapter Seventeen

The room was bright when Nuria woke the next morning. It was late. She slowly opened her eyes, knowing several things at once. She was warm and had never slept so well in her life. Coffee was brewing and ready somewhere in the house. And Austin wasn’t in the room or the house.

“Austin?” She reached out to him before moving a single muscle.

“I’m outside. Talking to my dad. There’s coffee. Help yourself.”

“Okay.” She smiled into the pillow, inhaling his scent and thinking she never wanted him to wash the sheets if this was how she might wake up every morning in his home.

“Oh, and I forgot to tell you one more thing,” he added.

“What’s that?”

“I love you so much it hurts. And last night was amazing.”

“That’s two things.” She knew she giggled into his head.

“True. You’ve scrambled my brain so badly I can’t count to two.”

“Excellent. My work here is done.” She finally pulled the cover down far enough to blink into the brightness of the room. Why hadn’t they shut the blinds last night?

She took her time coming fully awake and then trying to conjure the desire to actually get out of bed and walk. The scent of coffee was the final straw. She needed the elixir before anything else.

When she finally sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, she found a neat pile of clean clothes on a chair next to her. There was no way she was going to get in the shower yet, but she also wasn’t going to roam around in Austin’s house naked, so she tugged on the yoga pants, sports bra, and oversized sweatshirt, courtesy of Adriana’s shopping.

The floor was cold enough that Nuria even put on the sports socks before she left the room.

Two minutes later, she had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and was sipping her first cup of coffee while she stared out the sliding glass door at the expanse of land behind Austin’s house.

“I sense you found the coffee,” Austin communicated.

“Yes. Bless you.”

“I’ll head that way in a few minutes. My dad’s leaving and I’m going to circle the edge of the property again before I come inside.”

She giggled. “Kind of overkill don’t you think?”

“Nope.”

She rolled her eyes even though he wasn’t there to see her. After a few more moments of enjoying the view, she padded across the kitchen and back into the living room to curl up in the corner of the couch.

There wasn’t much better in life than a man who would fuck her unconscious, giving her multiple orgasms, and then prepare her coffee in the morning before she awoke.

She could get used to this life.

By the time she finished the first mug and set it aside on the end table, she began to wonder what was taking Austin so long. She waited several more minutes, not wanting to be “that girl,” before reaching out to him. “Babe?”

Nothing. No response. What the hell? She sat up straighter, glancing around the room as if the walls had answers. “Austin?”

Nothing.

So unlike him. Under the circumstances, she knew he would never block her connection to him.

“Allister?” He didn’t respond either, but she knew he wouldn’t. She could no longer sense his proximity. Freaking out a bit, she stood and wandered to the glass door in the kitchen. No one was out there. She couldn’t sense a shifter or a human in any direction.

Goose bumps rose on her limbs, and she crossed her arms under her chest as if she were cold. In reality she was. Chilled to the bone suddenly.

She strained to make a connection with Austin again. They weren’t bound, so she was restricted to the general vicinity. Grizzly bears could communicate with any member of their species if they were close enough. But they only had long-distance communication with immediate family members and then later mates.

Nuria had no family left living, and she wasn’t bound to Austin, which meant he was no longer close enough for her to reach out to. It made no sense after he’d just told her he would be inside in a minute.

“Austin?” She tried again in vain.

Suddenly, she was pissed that they hadn’t finished the binding. With that one last step she would have been able to reach him anywhere.

She turned away from the window and walked like a zombie through the house, picking up speed as she went until she reached the bedroom and located her tennis shoes on the floor. She needed something on her feet no matter what, thinking it would be good to be prepared. For who knew what.

“Austin?” she tried again, thinking surely she would be able to reach him any second. What would keep him from communicating with her? Something was terribly wrong.

An idea came to her. Maybe Allister and Austin saw something outside and needed to follow it. Maybe Austin didn’t have time to reach out to her and let her know, and now he was too far away to keep the lines of communication open.

She took a deep breath, praying that new possibility was a real one. And then the pacing began. She headed for the front of the house, checked the locks on the front door, and then made sure the back sliding glass was secured also.

The last thing she needed was for someone to simply walk into the house, intending her harm. Rubbing her arms, she had another horrifying thought. What if someone lured Austin and Allister away from the house in order to get Nuria alone so they could attack her?

Fuck. Locks were not going to keep a determined menace from getting to her. A rock would break any window and put her in harm’s way.

She paced again, frantic. Her nerves had a hold of her, making her heart race and sweat build up on her brow. Every few seconds she glanced out the back windows and then made her way toward the front of the house to look out the picture window next to the front door.

No one was in her line of sight, and she opened her mind to ensure no shifter could step into the vicinity and sneak up on her without her knowledge. She’d already been trapped in the attic with her house on fire for blocking everyone around her. She didn’t need to succumb to anything similar again.

Snow started to flutter to the ground at some point, and it was picking up, decreasing her visibility. Great. Just what she needed. The temperature outside was low. She hadn’t paid any attention to the weatherman in days, so she had no idea what the report called for. Could have been flurries. Could have been two feet.

She reached out again, shouting into the ether this time, “Austin.”

Nothing.

With every passing moment, the chances she was in serious trouble increased.

Beth. She needed to call her. She raced across the room, found her cell on the kitchen counter, and located the number. Her fingers were shaking as she connected. The phone rang four times and then went to voicemail. Dammit. “Beth, it’s Nuria. I’m kinda freaking out here. Austin was outside with Allister and then they both disappeared. I can’t see them. I can’t connect with them. Maybe I’m overreacting, but every hair on my body is standing on end. Call me when you get this.”

She hung up, set the phone down, and resumed pacing. It was all she could do to keep from totally freaking out.

∙•∙

The moment Austin realized someone was approaching him and his father, he spun around as fast as he could. It was difficult to see very far with the snow fall picking up, but he caught a glimpse of someone large barreling toward them a second before the giant of a man lifted his arm and fired a shot.

Austin’s father fell on his ass. Panic tore through Austin as he glanced down at his father and then back at the man now holding the gun on Austin.

No. It wasn’t a gun. What the hell was it?

Allister shouted. “Dart gun. Run.”

Austin flattened himself to the ground just in time. The man’s next shot missed its target. Austin crawled the two feet in the snow to get to his father’s side just as Allister yanked the dart out of his leg. “Shift. You have to shift,” he told his dad.

If either of them passed out in the woods in human form, they would freeze to death. In bear form, they could survive. Assuming the dart was a tranquilizer and not something worse.

What the hell was a giant grizzly shifter doing incapacitating his own people in the woods in the middle of a snow storm? Did this have something to do with Nuria?

The man kept coming. His next shot missed also. Austin scrambled to his hands and knees to get away, though he hated to leave his father, who was currently shifting to his bear form.

As Austin darted behind a thick tree, the man kept coming. He didn’t even hurry. Totally in control, he continued to step forward as if he were a robot instead of a living being.

“What do you want?” Austin shouted.

The man didn’t reply.

When Austin peeked around the tree, hoping for an opening so he could jump forward and knock the dart gun from the man’s hand, the man took another shot. Unfortunately, he chose the very moment he was stepping around Allister’s transitioning form.

Somehow his father managed to swipe a paw at the man, taking him down. Austin rushed forward, aiming for the dart gun. He wasn’t fast enough. The larger man scrambled back to his feet just as Austin reached for the gun still in his hand.

The man lifted the gun and hit Austin hard on the head. Pain radiated down his neck and spine, sharp pain that made Austin fear he might pass out.

Anger fueled him, however, and he shook the jarring pain from his head and took a swing at his assailant, hitting him square in the gut. The guy was at least six-eight, several inches taller than Austin, and broad. Huge. He outweighed Austin by at least fifty pounds.

With dark hair and a full beard, the man looked like the picturesque mountain man. Austin had never seen him before. What the hell did he want with Austin or his dad? Or worse yet, was he after Nuria?

While the man was buckled forward, Austin ran deeper into the trees, climbing higher up the mountain, scrambling as fast as he could, even using his hands to grab at anything he could to keep his balance.

What Austin knew for sure was that if the man managed to incapacitate him, Nuria would never even know about it. He was too far away now to reach her telepathically.

The guy had recovered quickly from the jab to the belly and remained close on Austin’s heels. Taller and obviously stronger, he jumped into Austin’s personal space yet again. He swung at Austin, hitting him in the side of the face with the butt of the gun. This second strike didn’t register as much pain as the first. Fury covered the discomfort.

Fuck.

He needed to get to Nuria.

When the burly assailant lifted the dart gun again, aiming at Austin at close range, Austin rammed forward, ducking his head to slam his entire body weight into the mother fucker.

The guy fell to the ground, landing on his ass.

Austin turned around and took off running back down the mountain toward the house. If he could just get to Nuria… Warn her.

A sharp piercing pain suddenly hit his lower calf. Dammit, he’d been hit. He paused only long enough to grab the dart and pull it out of his leg, but it wasn’t there. It must have grazed him and fallen to the ground. Would the tranquilizer be less effective? God, he hoped so.

He made it into the clearing and ran as hard as he could toward the back of the house. The snow was blinding now. So dense he could hardly see the house. And his vision was clouding. It felt like he was running through quick sand, his legs growing heavier by the step.

He had to make it. Nuria’s life depended on it. He couldn’t seem to take in enough oxygen. His chest hurt. His head hurt worse, but his biggest concern was the effect of the tranquilizer.

Suddenly his shins hit something, and he glanced down to see that he was at the deck. He’d hit the steps. He fell to his knees briefly, reaching out with both hands to stop the fall.

It seemed as though it took him several minutes to get back to his feet and make the last few steps to the sliding glass door. Visibility was on his side. The only reason he hadn’t been hit by another dart was that his assailant also couldn’t see.

Austin slammed into the glass door, knowing he didn’t have the strength to open it. Besides, it should be locked. He had to hope Nuria would hear him. He was too far gone to reach out to her mentally.

∙•∙

Nuria stared out the front window of the house, trying desperately to see anything. The snow grew thicker, conditions worsening by the minute.

Still no sign of anyone outside. If someone lured Austin away from her, why hadn’t someone else shown up to kill her, or worse, kidnap her?

None of this insanity would be happening if she’d bound herself to Austin. If he hadn’t been so pigheaded and rational about it last night, she would be able to communicate with him fine.

Unless he was incapacitated or dead…

And what about Allister? Did someone chase them both off and manage to kill both of them? She shuddered. She could kick herself for not being more forceful about their mating. She needed that connection.

It wasn’t even noon yet, but darkness descended anyway as the snow storm raged. The conditions were near white-out now. Nuria stared out the front window, visibility limited to yards.

Suddenly, something slammed into the back sliding door. She spun around, her heart seizing.

Austin!

Oh, God.

She raced toward the locked door to let him in, realizing something was terribly wrong. He was plastered to the glass, both hands and his cheek flat against the surface. Blood ran from a cut on his head to trickle down his brow.

She fumbled with the lock before she finally got it open and eased the door to the right slowly, not wanting to knock Austin onto the deck.

With both hands, she reached out and grabbed him under the arms to drag him into the house. “Austin,” she screamed. “What happened?” His eyes were glassy. Dazed. She couldn’t hold him up. He slid down her body toward the floor, hitting the ground hard on his ass and then rocking backward.

She grasped at his shoulders. There was no way she could keep him upright, but she wanted to minimize the fall so he didn’t slam his head onto the hardwood floor.

His eyes rolled back, his mouth open and dry.

She cupped his face with both hands, angling his head toward her. “Austin,” she screamed again.

“Snuck. Up. On. Us.” His words were barely intelligible. “Dad. Is. Out. There.” He licked his dry lips, working hard to focus on her. “Run.” Seeming to conjure up renewed strength, he grabbed her biceps and met her gaze. “Run, Nuria. Get to town. Don’t let him catch you.”

And then his eyes rolled back into his head and closed.

She panicked. Was he dead?

She felt for a pulse. Thank God it was there. Faint, but there. He needed to shift to heal. In his grizzly form, he could heal more efficiently and faster. Or even at all. Sometimes when a shifter was trapped in their human form and injured too badly to shift, they succumbed to their injuries, unable to make the transition and save themselves.

He was totally passed out. There was no way he could shift. How much blood had he lost? Did he have a concussion or a skull fracture?

She held his head in her lap and tipped it to one side. He’d been hit on the back of his skull with something. Blood still seeped out of the wound. There was another gash on the side of his face, but it was less severe.

His body was limp and heavy. There was no way she could rouse him or move him. A cold draft made her shudder, and she set his head gently on the floor, spinning around to slide the door closed.

Next, she raced to the living room and grabbed the throw blanket from the back of the couch and a pillow from the end. In seconds she was back at his side. She slid the pillow under his head and covered him. Hopefully he wouldn’t wake up freezing.

Jumping to her feet, she realized she had no choice but to do as he’d said and run as fast as she could to get help. For herself and for him.

She grabbed her coat off the back of the kitchen chair and shrugged into it. There was no sense in taking off without proper protection against the cold. Who knew when and where she might be forced to shift back.

Where was Allister? Dammit. She needed help. She didn’t have any other phone numbers besides Beth, so she grabbed her phone off the counter and tried her again.

No answer.

Another message. “It’s Nuria again. Something terrible has happened. Austin made it back to the house, but he’s injured, and he passed out. I don’t know where Allister is. I’m leaving the house now to find help. It’s snowing hard. There’s no way I would be able to get anywhere by car. I’m going to shift and go by foot. If you get this message, send help to the house and to find Allister. I’m afraid he might be in the mountains behind the house.”

Nuria tucked the phone in her coat pocket and kneeled down to check on Austin again. If he knew she had wasted as much time still in the house as she had, he would probably read her the riot act. But he couldn’t, and she needed to be sure he was okay.

Every instinct told her to stay with him. But he’d been so insistent about her leaving, she had to do this—for him. Besides, her gut told her whoever was out there wanted her, not him. His best chance at survival involved her separating from him.

She was a sitting duck inside the house. She had no weapon and no way to keep someone from busting in and killing both of them. If she fled, hopefully whoever was after her would follow her and leave Austin alone.

Now she just had to hope she could outrun the bad guys and get help. The falling snow could be to her advantage. It could also be to her disadvantage.

She kissed Austin’s lips gently. He was still breathing. She cupped his face and tried to reach into his mind, but he was too out of it to receive any communication from her.

Why? Was his head injury so bad he slid from consciousness?

She glanced at the sliding glass door, wondering who did this to him and where they were. Were they waiting outside to grab her? She had to take the chance because Austin had told her to run. He wouldn’t have suggested that if there had been another option.

A tear ran down her face. “I love you,” she muttered, praying she would have many future opportunities to say that again. A million of them.

Just as she was about to rise to standing, she had an idea and acted on it without giving it another thought. She closed the distance between them, leaning down toward his neck. After gently kissing the spot above his shoulder, she licked his neck and then let her teeth break the skin.

Under normal circumstances, this was not how anyone would claim their mate. For one thing, it was strictly forbidden to bind someone without their permission. For another thing, most couples engaged in the act of binding during or immediately following sex.

Typically, arousal would flood her senses the second her teeth broke the skin of her mate, and she should also lose the ability to concentrate on anything as she allowed her personal serum to mix with his bloodstream.

But not this time. Not this binding. Circumstances kept her head in the game. She allowed herself no more than a moment to luxuriate in the act of claiming him, moaning softly against his neck as she licked the wound closed and then kissed his lips again briefly. “I’m sorry, my love. I don’t have another choice.” She needed them to be connected so that no matter where she went from here, she could reach out to him, and if he regained consciousness, he too could reach her.

It wasn’t as though they hadn’t discussed binding together eventually. Would he be angry when he found out she’d sped up the process? The situation was dire. Circumstances were out of her control. There was no one else she would be able to communicate with as soon as she walked out the door. Except now Austin would always be there.

And then she was on her feet, shooting him one last glance before she jerked the sliding door open and stepped outside. She pulled it shut and prayed again that nothing bad would happen to Austin while she ran for her life.

Several inches of snow had accumulated on the deck, and she raced across the wooden slats, down the steps, and across the back lawn in human form.

It was hard to see more than a few feet in front of her, and she had no idea how long her footprints would remain in the fast-falling snow, but she hoped if anyone came for her, they would realize she had left the house and not bother to go inside and finish what they started with Austin.

She scented no one in the area, though she also knew her range was severely hampered by the storm. Someone could easily be lurking nearby or even watching her aim for the tree line. If they tracked her, there was a good chance she would not survive.

As soon as she ducked into the trees, she turned around and surveyed the area. Not a soul in sight. No evidence of anyone. Granted, she couldn’t see far, but the world was totally still. Except for the falling snow, there was no sign of anything. Not a noise. Not a single breeze. The rich scent of pine was the only thing she inhaled.

And then she was on all fours, shifting to her more appropriate grizzly form before turning around and rushing away from the house. She ran fast, leaping over logs and drifts of snow. She needed to put as much distance between herself and danger as possible.

She needed to get help for her mate.

The snow didn’t bother her grizzly form at all. In fact, if circumstances had been different, she would have found it to be amazingly beautiful. But not today. She didn’t have time to stop moving. She pushed herself to run as fast as she could toward town. Toward help. Toward any living being who wasn’t out to kill her.

Paranoia crawled up her spine. The sensation that someone was right on her heels forced her to push harder. She inhaled deeply every few breaths in an attempt to scent anyone near her, but the storm prevented her from being sure, and fear prevented her from slowing down long enough to look behind her.

Suddenly, a sharp pain consumed her. It began in her left flank and raced through her body. What the hell was it? She twisted around to see and found a wooden stick bobbing behind her, attached to her. It was stuck. She couldn’t shake it free.

She kept running, but her vision swam and her paws felt too heavy. Her head also drooped, suddenly too hard to keep upright. When she slid in the snow and her paws went out from under her, she growled loudly into the storm.

It must be a tranq. She was losing consciousness. Trapped. Nothing she could do…