Laura dried off and got dressed in her room, her mind curiously free of thoughts. There was no point in overanalyzing these things she couldn’t control. Craig was in trouble, but she’d be heading back soon to help him. Rick cared about her and would help however he could. She accepted these things, smiling to herself.

She felt different. Better.

She pulled on a pair of black pants and a light blue shirt then went to the mirror and started combing her hair. She was going to look as good as she could for Rick tonight.

As she combed out the still drying hair, she heard a car door close outside, then another one. Odd.

Rick? He wouldn’t drive his truck over here to avoid walking 50 feet. So who?

She set the comb down on the bed and started out to the living room when she heard footsteps on the short set of stairs leading to the front door. Rather than stopping and knocking, however, the door opened and two men strode in like they owned the place.

Laura mentally kicked herself for leaving the door unlocked. She had been so lost in thought when she’d gotten back that she hadn’t even considered it.

“Hey, what the hell is this?” Laura demanded, tone strong and challenging. She was proud of how steady she sounded.

“You hear that Jim? She wants to know what this is,” said the first one. He was tall and thin, with a narrow face and cold gaze. His voice had that same Brooklyn accent as the scumbag who had come to her apartment in New York. Upon hearing it Laura’s stomach instantly tightened up.

“You Laura? We’re here about your brother, Craig. He said you might be able to help us settle this little debt of his,” the second one told her. He was tall as well, but fat. That cold gaze was the same as the first guy, however.

“What? I told that creep Vinny, Craig’s not my brother,” Laura said, still managing to sound unafraid. “He’s my roommate, and when you get what he owes I’d appreciate the back rent he owes me.”

Something wasn’t right. Craig would have never told them that she was his sister, he’d known that they would try to use that against him. He certainly never would have told them where she was staying. A sense of dread filled her from head to toe.

“Skip it honey, Craig told us everything,” said the skinny one. “All we need to do is figure out some kind of payment plan.”

“What did you assholes do to Craig?” she shouted, anger overriding her sense of caution. “He never would’ve told you about this place.”

“Oh, he told us lots hun,” said the chubby guy. “What did he say first, Tommy? Oh no, please no, please stop? Something like that.”

Laura launched herself at him, fist lashing out and connecting right under his left eye. The man named Tommy immediately smashed her across the face with a backhand, knocking her to the floor.

Laura’s head spun and it took her a second to focus again. When she looked up, Jim was rubbing his cheek where Laura had struck, smiling ruefully.

“Jesus, this one’s got more fight than her damn brother!” he said, looking down at her.

The thin one, Tommy, was also looking down at her, all trace of humanity gone from his face.

“We’re going to get this sorted right here and now, or you’re never walking out of this cabin alive,” he snarled, pulling aside his jacket to reveal a pistol strapped around his hip.

 

Rick watched Laura walk back toward Joyce’s place, both happy and disappointed with how things had gone. He supposed he couldn’t have really hoped for a better outcome. He’d laid his feelings bare to her, and could tell that she had mostly accepted it.

Still, he could see that a little part of her still didn’t believe what he had said. He supposed it was only natural, since regular humans didn’t love at first sight like shifters did.

Of course it had to happen like this. His mother had always told him that one day some girl would turn his life upside down, and he had always just scoffed at her. And here she was, his mother’s predictions come true, and damned if it didn’t look like things were about to get shaken up.

Still, he’d meant what he said when he’d told her that he was glad she had walked into his life, even if it had to happen under circumstances like this. Just spending the day with her had brought him a measure of contentment he had never known in his life. He was already looking forward to seeing her again.

He smiled, thinking of the feeling of her hands pressed against his chest. It had felt good. Really good.

When Laura had disappeared into the trees Rick grabbed his pack and headed back in to his cabin. He could use a shower as well, and he had to get the salmon prepared and in the oven.

He decided to do the salmon first. With quick, practiced motions he pulled the container out of his backpack and prepared the things he would need.

Working fast, he cleaned and gutted the fish, disposing of waste parts as he went. Then he seasoned each piece and added a touch of juice he squeezed out of a fresh lemon. Finally he wrapped each piece in tinfoil and set it in the oven at a low temperature.

Having finished this, Rick quickly stripped down and got in the shower. Shifters tended to run hotter than regular humans, so he hadn’t gotten chilled like Laura had, but the hot water still felt good.

He thought more about the dilemma that was his mate as he washed himself. Could he convince her to leave her life in the city behind? He knew for a fact that he couldn’t live in a place like New York. The animal inside him needed to be let out often enough, which meant that forests and open space were pretty much a requirement for him. Being around large groups of people for extended periods of time made him edgy and restless. There was no way he could deal with that on a permanent basis.

But more importantly, was it even fair to try to get her to leave her life behind? What could he offer her out here in bumblefuck America? Rick lived frugally, working odd jobs and doing construction here and there. He didn’t need much to survive, and even after buying his cabin he still had a reasonable amount of savings from his departure from his clan up in Canada. Was this any kind of life for Laura?

He had sensed how much she enjoyed their time in the forest today, and had seen the bounce in her step as she walked through the trees. He supposed that it was easy to miss a place like this when you were surrounded by concrete all the time, but that didn’t mean that she wanted this permanently.

He’d joked about turning Laura into a country girl, but was it even right for him to try? If this wasn’t who she was, wouldn’t it be wrong to try to change her? Maybe she was a square peg, and life out here was just a round hole.

Rick lost track of time as his thoughts circled around and around. He was feeling considerably more glum than when Laura had left when he felt the water on his back starting to cool.

He had lost track of time, and hurriedly turned off the water. As he was drying himself, he heard a pair of car doors close at Joyce’s place. A human could never have heard the sound from this distance, but Rick’s ears were much more sensitive than that.

He stopped moving completely and focused on listening. He heard footsteps on the stairs to Joyce’s front door, and then the door open and close, no knock.

Rick sprang into action, throwing on the still damp jeans and the black tee from before. He ran to the door, hurriedly slipping on his hiking boots and dashing outside. He knew in the back of his head that there was probably a reasonable explanation for the sounds he had heard, but his gut said something was wrong. Shifters usually learned to trust their instincts.

He sprinted full speed down the path that led to Joyce’s cabin, ears still tuned and trying to make out any sounds. He could hear speaking, a man’s voice with what he thought of as a New York accent. Could it be her brother, Craig? He hoped so.

Then he heard Laura’s voice raised in anger, followed by a slap and something hitting the floor. Anger surged through him, the animal inside roaring its fury. If someone had hurt Laura there would be hell to pay.

He reached Joyce’s cabin, skipping the stairs entirely with one burst from his long legs. He crashed in through the front door, taking in the scene in an instant. Two men, Laura on the ground. The air smelled of anger, fear, and… smugness. That final smell infuriated him as much as all the rest. To not only hit his mate, but to feel good about it afterwards? Not while he was around.

Rick didn’t slow his momentum at all as he came through the front door, lowering his shoulder and ramming the man closest to him. The force of his momentum and weight combined to send the man flying into the wall to his right, shoulder first, where he collapsed in a heap. Rick turned, noting the shocked look on the face of the skinny thug as he swung his fist into his stomach, doubling him over. He grabbed him by the front of his jacket and lifted him off the ground, staring him in the face with all the fury inside him, then threw him into the wall across from his friend, leaving a crack in the wood as the man bounced off and landed face down on the floor.

Rick went immediately to Laura, kneeling beside her.

“Are you alright?” he asked, seeing the beginnings of a bruise on her face where she had been hit.

“I’m fine,” she responded, wincing a little bit as he lightly touched her face. “Careful there.”

He heard movement from behind then, the thug he had thrown into the wall starting to get up. He stared into Laura’s eyes for one more moment, then turned to finish things.

A sudden bang made Rick’s ears ring as he felt an impact in his side. The thug was on one knee, a small caliber pistol held in one hand. Rick ignored the wound in his side and walked forward slowly. The look of astonishment on the man’s face as he continued towards him would have made Rick laugh if he wasn’t so furious. There was a second bang and Rick felt another impact in his shoulder.

He reached down, grabbing the man’s wrist with his left hand and twisting until he heard a pop in his elbow. The gun thudded to the floor as the man screamed in pain. Rick grabbed him by the neck with his right hand and lifted him off the ground, holding him easily in the air in front of him.

He held him like that for a moment, savoring the man’s gasps for air when he heard Laura behind him. “Rick, no,” she begged. “It’s not worth it.”

He gave one last squeeze and the dropped the man, leaving him in a wheezing pile on the floor. The more primal side of him demanded more, it demanded blood, but he tamped down on it. “What’s going on Laura?” he said as he turned his gaze back to her. “Who are these guys?”

He glanced down at his abdomen, then at his shoulder. Neither of the wounds were serious, and with the adrenaline flowing through him he hardly felt the pain at all.

The man he had shoulder checked began chuckling, then broke into a fit of coughing. He was on his hands and knees, one arm dangling uselessly. It must have come out of its socket when he hit the wall.

“We’re the reason you’re dead, asshole,” he said, trying for smugness but only achieving anger and pain. “Do you have any idea who we work for?”

Rick shook his head, fire in his eyes and fury in his voice. “I don’t care who you work for. The only reason I don’t kill you both right now is her,” he said, looking over to Laura. She was staring at him in shock, eyes on the blood running down his body from the bullet holes.

Damn it, he was going to have to come clean with her a lot sooner than he had expected to. He wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.

Rick walked over to the man who had spoken and grabbed him by the hair, hauling him to his feet. He stood straight in front of him and looked him right in the eye, ignoring his shouts and swearing. “Look at me,” he commanded, voice like iron. The man quieted somewhat in his grip, but still used his one good hand to try to pry Rick’s hand from his hair. He stopped moving completely when Rick started talking. “If I ever see you again, you won’t live to regret it. Understand me?”

“Yeah yeah, I got it, I got it,” the man let out.

Rick took his hand from the man’s hair and grabbed the collar of his jacket instead, marching him to the door. His other hand pressed into the man’s back, forcing him forward. When he got to the still open door, one powerful surge of his arms sent the man flying to land in the dirt in front of the steps. He shrieked as he landed, coming down hard on his damaged arm.

Rick repeated that process with the man who had shot him, warning him to stay away, then throwing him off the front step. This one didn’t go so quietly, swearing at him and threatening Laura. The hard landing shut him up.

Rick watched from the steps as the battered men climbed back into their car and slowly pulled out, driving off back towards the freeway.

Now for the hard part. Explaining things to Laura.

He turned and walked back inside the cabin, closing and locking the door behind him.