He didn’t want to send Francine through the woods on her own, not after what those fucking animals did to Jada’s studio. Her paintings were unbelievably beautiful, which was why he grabbed all of them. Even covered in mud and other junk, they nearly stopped his heart. They felt like her, like part of Jada’s soul was in each one, and he didn’t want to leave a speck of her behind with the clans. She deserved better, and she’d damn well get it with him.

And then they found themselves careening down a mountain, testing the truck’s brakes and shocks, as leopards raced through the trees above. One dropped into the bed of the truck and snarled, swiping at the window to try and get at Francine, and Cooper cursed. He jerked the steering wheel, trying to knock the animal out of the back, but the damn thing held on, its claws shredding some of their bags.

Cooper gritted his teeth. “There’s a shotgun in the back. Francine, hand it to—”

The younger girl held up the sawed-off shotgun, expression almost comical in its reverence. “Cool.”

And instead of handing it to Jada, like he’d wanted, Francine aimed it out the back window She charged it and grinned wildly at the leopard, shouting over the rattles and bumps of the truck. “I’ve wanted to shoot you in the face since the moment you beat me, Oren. Looks like now’s my chance, huh?”

When she aimed the gun, though, she was deadly serious. Cooper hunched his shoulder, bracing himself for the deafening blast of the shotgun in the cab, but nothing happened. He glanced back and discovered the leopard had leapt off, apparently uninterested in testing Francine’s resolve.

Jada leaned back to retrieve the shotgun, checking to make sure it was safe, and faced her cousin. “He beat you?”

“Yeah.” Francine rummaged under the back seat, her voice muffled as she searched for other weapons. “He wanted to touch me in places where cousins shouldn’t touch cousins, and when I tried to fight him off, he beat me and left me in the woods for the wolves to find me. After he…did what he wanted.”

Cooper’s foot stomped on the brake and the truck slid to a stop just as they reached the crossroads. The bear roared to break free. “I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him.”

He even kicked open his door, ready to shift, but Jada lunged and caught his arm. “We have to keep going. More of them will be here any minute. Please, Cooper.”

“He hurt her,” Cooper growled, almost unable to look at Francine. That poor child. “I’m going to tear his arms and legs off and beat him death with them.”

“Cool,” Francine chirped. “Can I help?”

Jada’s eyes widened as she looked at the road behind him. “I think that’s a great idea, but if we’re overrun with the rest of the leopards, they’ll do a lot worse to all of us. Please. The best revenge is getting her out of there, okay? Come on.”

She was right. He knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to let the bastard live. “I’ll come back and finish him off.”

“Okay,” she said. Although she might have rolled her eyes.

Cooper got back in the truck and slammed the door, revving the engine again. Golden eyes watched them from the trees as they hit the crossroads and headed for the main road, not pausing to check for any wolves around. The thinning trees and flatter road worked in their favor, though the switchbacks slowed them down some. It wasn’t until they were an hour down the mountain that Cooper started to relax. Hopefully the leopards wouldn’t chase them too long, especially if they didn’t particularly value Francine. It hurt his heart to think that way, to be a little grateful they wouldn’t fight that hard to keep her, but Cooper vowed to make it up to her as well. Tutors and school, a counselor to make sure she was okay, new clothes and a room of her own... He needed to make another checklist.

He didn’t stop looking in the rearview mirror for another two hours, and he kept thinking he saw wolves chasing them. That was impossible, but the hair on the back of his neck kept standing up and the bear thought they smelled wolves on the wind. Once he slowed the truck and the roads smoothed out, both Jada and Francine fell asleep—Jada leaning into his side across the front seat, and Francine pillowing her head on the back of the seat right near his shoulder. He didn’t mind a bit.

He needed to call Simon and Zoe and give them the first part of the checklist, so at least rooms would be ready when they got to Oregon. Although... Cooper frowned. What the hell would they do about hotel rooms on the drive back? He didn’t want to leave Jada and Francine in their own room, in case the leopards managed to track them down, but it felt weird enough to just share a room with Jada, without adding in the wide-eyed teenager. He grumbled, turning onto the two-lane highway that would take them west.

The lonely stretch of road was ideal for driving, with no one else anywhere in sight. Jada snored softly, nuzzling against his shoulder, and he moved his arm so he could pull her closer to his side. Not a bad way to spend a day, all things considered.

They’d gone maybe a few miles when something crashed in the back of the truck, Francine said, “Uh-oh,” and a wolf darted across the road in front of them.

Cooper slammed on the brakes as four more wolves leapt onto the hood of the car, and Jada woke up with a snort. She saw the wolves, screamed, and lifted the shotgun to threaten them. The wolves jumped away and dispersed, growling, and Cooper’s bear answered. He was itching for a good fight.

He saw a brown ghost lumbering along the tree line far away, and blinked to clear his vision. Surely bears wouldn’t be hunting with the wolves, not after all the bullshit over the alliance with the leopards. Half a dozen wolves circled the truck, snarling and snapping, and Cooper shoved it into a low gear so he could strip off his shirt.

“Close your eyes, Francine,” he said, reaching for his belt buckle. He didn’t have enough clothes to shred them in the shift, but he didn’t want to flash the kid, particularly since it would probably be a felony.

Francine’s head popped up from the back seat as she scoffed at him. “I’ve seen plenty of—”

“Close your eyes,” Cooper and Jada said at the same time. 

Francine grumbled and slapped a hand over her eyes, muttering about practically being an adult and taking care of every male baby born for the last five years, so it wasn’t like she didn’t know what would be there. Cooper shook his head, pulled off his pants, and launched into a shift just as the first wolf dodged around the front of the truck to launch at him.

Jada squeaked, locking the doors behind him, and slid into the driver’s seat to prevent the wolves from surrounding them as she let the truck creep behind Cooper. He slapped a wolf away and rose up on his hind legs, roaring until the air shook and the ground trembled beneath him. He dropped down and slammed his paws into the ground, shaking it enough that some of the wolves staggered, off-balance. He kept his head low, waving back and forth as he stalked toward the wolf pack.

They moved nervously, darting back and forth to try and outflank him, but Jada did a fantastic job of keeping the truck right behind him for a little extra security. Even when one of the wolves jumped into the bed of the truck and tried to get through the window, Francine held up a shotgun and hollered that she’d blow his fucking head off. Cooper glanced back, impressed in spite of himself, and almost missed the giant gray monstrosity that leapt at his shoulder.

Cooper bellowed and tossed the wolf aside, but more followed. He fought their teeth and claws, growing bloodier with each attack, but he wasn’t worried about a couple of wolves. They darted at him to harry and distract him, but he knocked one after the other out of the fight with the crunch of breaking ribs. He didn’t think he killed any of them, though he was tempted, but Francine’s wide-eyed face in the windshield held him back. He didn’t want to be the same kind of cruel beast she’d grown up around. He wanted to stay in control, even as the bear wanted to crush the wolves in his paws and coat his fur with their blood.

The brown shadow he’d seen near the trees never materialized, so Cooper chalked it up to a trick of the light. He bellowed and knocked the last wolf back, rearing up on his hind legs to make his point as he snarled his fury at them. Once he knew they weren’t getting up, Cooper shifted back to human and spat blood on the ground at his feet.

“Don’t you ever fucking come after me again, do you hear me? I want nothing to do with the stupid bear/leopard alliance. I’m over it. I’m taking my wife and her cousin the fuck out of there, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. I will kill you the next time you try.”

He debated peeing around the truck, just to make his point, but could feel both Jada and Francine staring at him. So he backed toward the truck and held his hand out to Jada. “My pants.”

She shoved the jeans through the cracked window, waiting until he had them on to unlock the door. The wolves didn’t move, though they growled and beat the ground with their tails in anger. Cooper slid into the driver’s seat, put the truck in gear, and got the hell out of there at top speed.

He’d just about dealt with the adrenaline dump from the fight and the lightheadedness from blood loss when Francine popped up from the back seat and whispered, “Why do you have a tattoo of Cookie Monster on your butt?”

Jada choked back a laugh, slapping her hand over her mouth, and Cooper felt a little heat gather in his cheeks. He’d forgotten about that one. He gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead as even his ears burned. “That’s a long story.”

“We have a really long drive,” Francine said, cheerful as she draped herself over the back of the front seat, grinning at him. “Is Cookie Monster a nickname? Do you really like Muppets? Your hair kinda looks like a Muppet. But your butt is kind of a weird place to get that tattoo. Did it hurt? Do you have any other tattoos? Did those hurt? What’s your favorite tattoo?”

Cooper took a deep breath as Francine rattled on. It would definitely be a really long drive.