Chapter Two – Jay

“Thanks, Wyatt,” Jay said to the man who had tended his wounds and kept him alive. “How many days have I been here?”

“Five. Or thereabouts.” The older guy sat down on a wooden stool and looked at Jay with a critical eye. “You’re stronger now, we need to move you.”

Jay scooped up the warm, nourishing broth on the carved wooden spoon. It was good, and when it hit his taste buds, it was like honey to his bear. But after days of not eating, anything tasted good. “Maybe a couple more days?” Jay wasn’t strong enough. Not if they were hunting him.

“You need stitches. I’ve cleaned your shoulder wound as best I can, and applied some ointment which should prevent infection.” The gray-haired man pressed his lips together with concern. “But you need a doctor. Not a mountain man.”

Jay closed his eyes and let his stomach settle. Extracting the bullet had been hard on both of them, and bile rose in his throat at the memory of the excruciating pain. Luckily he’d passed out, and woken with a clean bandage on his shoulder, and his arm resting against him in a sling. Whoever Wyatt was, he knew what he was doing when it came to triage.

“A couple more days,” Jay said, when he trusted himself enough to speak. “I’ll be strong enough to get myself down off this mountain in a couple of days.”

“I can go with you,” Wyatt offered. “I can take you down to Bear Bluff. There’s a hospital there.”

Jay shook his head. “I appreciate it. But the less you know about me, and I know about you, the safer you’ll be.”

Was he being overdramatic? Maybe. Perhaps.

Damn it, if he was certain he might be tracked, why was he trying to get to Bear Creek? If Kim was there, he could be putting her in danger. A violent shudder shook his body, and he gritted his teeth, warding off the intense need to drag himself out of bed and find his mate, no matter what the cost.

“I can look after myself.” The older guy stood up, and Jay cast an appraising look over him. Middle-aged, but fit, with muscle tone a man half his age would be proud of, his rescuer stood tall, over six-foot, with long lean legs and sinewy arms. If Jay wasn’t mistaken, the guy was a shifter, but not a bear.

“I can’t be responsible for you.” Jay spooned the thick soup into his mouth, and his stomach gurgled in appreciation. He’d walked for days in his bear form with no food, and only cool mountain streams for water. Normally, his bear would have hunted small prey and torn it apart with his teeth and claws, but the injury to his shoulder made him slow and lumbering.

When the old guy came across Jay, resting by a stream a couple of days ago, he’d coaxed him to his feet and led him to a disused cabin high in the mountains. There he’d treated the wound, stemming the flow of blood with moss from the stream. He’d given Jay food and lit a fire to keep him warm. Exhaustion had overtaken Jay, and he’d slept, only to wake up hungry and alone.

Knowing he would die if he stayed there, he’d dragged himself out of the cabin. He needed to get to Bear Creek, hoping Kim was there, waiting for him. Jay hadn’t gotten too far when the guy returned, with more food and a homemade stretcher. No amount of insistence from Jay would persuade Wyatt to let him walk. Too tired to argue, he’d lain down on the stretcher. Wyatt took the strain and dragged him along the trail, saving Jay’s life.

Jay’s consciousness had slipped from him and the next time he opened his eyes, he was here, with a hot flash of pain in his shoulder as his wound was washed out with alcohol and the bullet removed.

“Thing is, your life is mine. I rescued you. You don’t get to say what I do with you now.” Wyatt grinned at him.

Jay gave a short laugh. “You gonna sell me to the circus?”

“No, I’m going to get your stubborn ass the help it needs.” Wyatt got up. “We leave in an hour.”

“No,” Jay insisted. “I’ll go alone.”

“You can’t stop me from walking down this mountain by your side,” Wyatt said and left the cabin.

“Dammit!” Jay rammed his fist into the mattress. “And he says I’m stubborn.”

Jay ate the rest of his soup, tearing at the hunk of not-so-fresh bread and dunking it in the thick liquid. What he wouldn’t give for a steak, or a nice juicy burger. Cheeseburger, with everything on it. His mouth watered at the thought. Wiping his bowl clean with the bread, he imagined eating golden fries, or maybe pizza. Oh, pizza, smothered in cheese and pepperoni.

After torturing himself, Jay pushed himself up with his good arm and took the bowl to the sink. Washing the dishes was the least he could do, although it took more than twice as long as it should. The sling stopped his arm from hurting, but nothing was easy when you only had the use of one arm.

The old guy was right. He was asking for trouble if he tackled the mountain alone.

Drying the dishes as best he could, Jay stacked the clean bowls on the countertop, and turned to survey the cabin. Cluttered was his first thought. Jay took a step forward, looking around, noting the fishing tackle leaning against the door, the stack of firewood and kindling next to the hearth. There was a lot of stuff in the cabin, but everything his eyes rested on seemed to have a use. This guy was self-sufficient. An outcast, perhaps?

So why insist on coming into town? An outcast looking for a way back into society. Did his savior want some kind of recognition? Not an option. Jay wanted to slip into town unnoticed. He wasn’t about to walk into town with any kind of fanfare.

He didn’t want to die.

He couldn’t die.

Not until he’d seen Kim’s face one more time, and held her in his arms.

A wave of exhaustion hit Jay, his knees threatened to buckle under him, but he wouldn’t allow himself. He had to keep upright, he had to get down off this mountain and find her.

She’s close, his bear whispered inside his head. His bear who had dragged himself over rocks and through gushing mountain streams to get to Bear Creek, to get to Kim.

Yes, if she’s in Bear Creek, she is close, Jay replied.

No, she’s close to us now. His bear stirred and lifted his weary head. She’s here.

Jay’s head shot up. How could she be here? Why would she be here?

His stomach flipped over. Fear consumed him. Had they found him? Were they using Kim as leverage?

Clutching the back of the worn sofa, Jay propelled himself forward, reaching out for the door, pulling it open, ready to fight until he had no strength in his body, or breath in his lungs.

“A female face. I don’t see those often. Not unless Avery or Beverly come up and see me.” Wyatt was outside the cabin—speaking to Kim.

Kim. Jay wanted to rub his eyes with his fists, to see if she was real. But his grip on the doorframe was the only thing keeping him upright. He remembered the first time he’d seen her. The first time he’d known who she was, what she was.

Mate. The word swept through his brain, like a whisper on the wind.

“Kim.” His hoarse voice was barely audible. He tried again, he had to make her hear. “Kim.”

She looked up, past Wyatt, her eyes searching for him. “Jay.”

Jay took a step forward, and then another, reaching for the handrail, his fingers curling around it, needing the solid feel of it, the grain brushing against his palm. Was this real? Or was he in a fever-induced dream?

“Kim.”

The two men turned to face the cabin, they watched as Kim ran toward Jay. She mounted the porch two steps at a time, holding out her arms for him. Then she stopped. Staring at him, a thousand questions went through her head that all resolved to—“How? Why?”

“Wyatt found me on the mountain.” Found him, saved him…the specter of what might have been, if not for Wyatt, raised its head. Like a snake with fangs, it threatened to poison his thoughts with the reality of how close to death he’d been.

“I thought I’d never see you again. I thought you were…” She couldn’t say the word. And he didn’t want her to.

“Nothing could stop me from finding you again.” He swallowed down the swell of emotion in his throat. He couldn’t show weakness. Even if the presence of Kim made him weak.

“You’re hurt.” Kim took the last two steps toward him, tentatively reaching out to touch his shoulder. Her touch electrified him, giving him strength. She didn’t make him weak, she made him strong. Strong enough to go without her for over a year, no matter what the cost, so she could be safe. So that the men who destroyed his parents could never destroy them.

“Do you forgive me?” Jay’s voice broke as he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

“There’s nothing to forgive.” Tears glittered in her eyes as she wrapped her hand around his wrist. “We’re together now, that’s all that matters. Just promise me you’ll never go away again.”

“Never.” It wasn’t an easy promise. If her life depended on it, would he stay with her, or leave her somewhere safe?

“He needs a doctor.” Wyatt’s voice came from somewhere far away.

“Jay.” Kim tugged at his wrist.

“Hmm.” His eyes refused to focus on her beautiful face.

“Jay…Jacob.” Kim turned away from him in slow motion, and a man, a man Jay didn’t know, ran forward. Was he a threat? Jay’s limbs wouldn’t respond, and the world spun in a circle around his head.

“Easy.” Strong arms supported him as he crashed down onto the wooden porch.

“He’d lost a lot of blood by the time I found him.” Wyatt was by his side, putting pressure on his shoulder. “I stemmed the bleeding, but he needs stitches, and medicine or this is going to get infected.”

“I’ll call the mountain rescue team,” Jacob said, pulling out his cell phone.

Jay’s eyes rolled in his head as he fought to focus. “No.” He put his hand out, reaching for Jacob’s phone. “Not safe.”

“Jay might be right.” Jay hated the fear lacing Kim’s voice as she spoke.

“Safe or not, he needs a doctor.” The urgency in Wyatt’s voice propelled Jacob into action.

“We can stretcher him down off the mountain.” Jacob swung around to look at Kim. “Or fly him down.”

“You mean…” Kim stood up, her hand covering her mouth. “I can’t ask any more of them.”

“It’s the safest way down. No one will see Jay. And it’s the quickest. Even if we have to wait until nightfall.” He looked down at Jay. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Kim asked in hope.

“I have an idea.” Jacob got up and walked away, talking to someone on the phone.

Jay lay there, on the wooden porch, with the rustling of leaves all around him and an eagle calling somewhere off in the distance. Sleep tried to drag him under as the pain in his shoulder intensified.

He reached for Kim’s hand, the shock of recognition like a defibrillator, making his heart beat steady and strong. With her close, he could hold onto consciousness, because Jay was afraid if he slipped under, he would never come back to the world.

Or worse, if he did, Kim would be gone once more. And he couldn’t live without her. Not again.