Aubrey managed to fall asleep quickly, but hours later, she was startled awake by a hand covering her mouth. Unable to fully process what was happening, she struggled against the person holding her, fighting to escape.

“Shh. Aubrey, it’s me, Quinn. Someone is on the property. I need to get you to the safe room before I confront them.” His voice was more comforting than it should have been in their situation. Aubrey found herself relaxing into his arms and letting him pull her from the bed. They rushed down the hallway, past his bedroom door, and into an office.

“I don’t think you should confront them. If it’s Alex, he might hurt you to get to me,” she said, watching as Quinn found a latch behind a stack of books and pulled a bookshelf door open. Behind it was an honest-to -God safe room, stocked with a radio, a phone, a sofa, and a shelf full of supplies.

“I’ll be fine, but I can’t concentrate on him if I’m worried about you and Peanut. Once I shut this door, it will lock. Press this button here, and the only way it will open again is with a password in here. The password is Frost.” He gestured to a small control panel, and she tried to focus on what he was telling her. “There’s ventilation, and the security monitors are over there. No matter what happens outside this room, you are not to leave it unless the police are here. Understood?”

“But…”

“I can open it from the outside with the password, Aubrey. I’ll come back for you once I get rid of the intruders. Now hurry, close the door.”

He stepped back and pushed on the bookshelf. Aubrey reached for the handle, pulling it into place and pressing the button he’d instructed her to. The silence in the small room was absolutely deafening. She hated knowing he was outside and possibly in danger while she just sat around twiddling her thumbs.

The baby chose that moment to roll over, and her bladder responded. “Oh, shit.” She hurried across the room in search of the facilities. Surely a man with a safe room would consider the possibility of needing to use the bathroom while he was hiding out. Thankfully, she found a tiny closet-like bathroom behind a pocket door with a toilet and a sink.

A nervous laugh slipped from her throat. Quinn likely never imagined having a pregnant woman holed up in his safe room. If he had, he’d have made that bathroom more spacious. She was barely able to get back up once she’d sat down on the toilet.

Nothing these days was easy. Her back hurt all the time, her knees hurt, and her muscles didn’t seem capable of functioning properly most days.

“Only a couple more weeks, Peanut, according to Quinn. And then the real fun begins.”

Making her way to the bank of security monitors, Aubrey searched for Quinn’s form. There he was, standing on a deck staring out into the snowy night. His body language was protective and threatening. He looked as if he was ready to take on the world.

God help him, she was afraid he’d have to, and it was all her fault.

* * *

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you’re trespassing,” Quinn yelled, his voice instinctively taking on the rumble of his bear. He was protecting his turf and his mate. No one would get past him. A flash of yellow fur drew his attention left, just before he heard a voice speak on his right.

“I’m here for Aubrey. Hand her over, and this ends peacefully.”

Quinn turned to face his new enemy. Alex stood in human form, naked as a jaybird a few feet away from him. It irked Quinn that the man had gotten so close without him being aware.

“Who the fuck is Aubrey?” Quinn snarled.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Doctor.” Alex’s eyes narrowed and flashed with anger. “I know she’s here. I tracked her here after she ran from the hospital. She’s pregnant, and she needs medical care. Where is she?”

“You already know I’m a doctor, so you know I’m perfectly capable of providing her medical care.”

“If you touch her, I’ll kill you,” Alex hissed back, his feline features overtaking his human ones for a moment in his anger.

“Ditto.” Quinn was purposely being flippant. He wanted to piss Alex off, just so he had a reason to beat the man’s face in. “I’d suggest you call off the cat behind me; otherwise, I’ll release my dogs for a hunt.”

Alex’s head jerked back as if he’d been slapped, and his eyes bounced away from Quinn’s for just a moment. “There doesn’t have to be bloodshed here tonight. Give me my wife—”

“She’s not your wife.”

“How the fuck would you know?” Alex snapped, “I can only imagine what she’s told you. She’s done this before, you know? Run away from the den in search of someone rich she could scam. She’s a con artist, doctor. She’s looking for a meal ticket. Just like she was when she seduced me. If I’d have known what a crazy bitch she was, I would have never touched her. Hell, I’ve had to fight tooth and nail just to protect my child she’s carrying. Let me have her, so I can take her home.”

Quinn considered the other man’s words for a few minutes. What did he really know about Aubrey other than what she’d told him? A niggle of doubt began to form in his brain. Was it possible Alex was the one telling the truth?

“Then why are you here with your betas at your back instead of the police?” Quinn asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The bitter wind whipped swirling snow between them. Anyone not accustomed to the cold would have run for the warmth of the house already, but Quinn was a polar bear. He was built for this. He would wait it out if he had to. These lions would break before he did.

“Because I prefer not to air my dirty laundry in public,” Alex hissed. “Now, if you would please return my wife—fiancée—to me, we will leave you in peace.”

“I don’t believe I will. You see, she doesn’t seem to want to see you, and I’ve given her sanctuary here. If you’re to be believed, she’ll prove herself a liar and a thief soon enough, and I’ll kick her to the curb. Surely, she’ll come back to you in search of a warm meal?” The words were sour on his tongue, but he said them anyway. He could see that Alex had no intention of leaving Aubrey’s fate in her own hands.

“That’s not acceptable. I’m not leaving here without Aubrey.” Alex’s eyes moved just a fraction, and Quinn spun in the direction of the lion stalking him from behind. He’d been waiting for the shifter to make his move.

His bear sprang to the surface just as the lion leaped at him, and they collided in a mass of fur, fangs, and claws. Two predators, each determined to best the other. The female lion was no slouch in the strength department, and her three-inch-long claws left stinging cuts down Quinn’s arms as they fought. Quinn’s biggest advantage though, was his size. His paws alone were the size of the cat’s head, and with one well-placed swing, he knocked her across the deck and into a snow drift where she remained. He had no idea if the shifter was dead or just unconscious, but he didn’t have time to think about it as a second lion attacked him.

Three more times Quinn eliminated his competition, throwing lion fur and blood all over the snow-covered deck. When the last animal went sailing over the railing into the darkness, Quinn let out a roar of fury and spun to where he’d last seen Alex.

The man was gone, but that wasn’t a surprise. Quinn had expected the Alpha to turn tail and run when things got real dicey. Letting his animal instincts take over, he followed the scent of the lion through his home and into the family room. Just as he stepped through the doorway, a loud, angry snarl filled the air.

“You touched her!” Alex spun to face Quinn, his face shifting between human and animal as he raged inside. “I smell her. I’ll kill you.”

Before Quinn could brace himself for another fight, Alex was flying down the hallway in the opposite direction, following Aubrey’s scent. He paused at the guest bedroom door, then barreled into the office. Quinn stayed hot on his heels. As long as Aubrey did as she was told, she was completely safe behind the bookshelf.

“Where the fuck is she, Jameson?” Alex roared, dropping into a crouch.

Quinn shook his head and chuffed in answer. He wasn’t shifting to have another chat. If Alex wanted a fight, they were going to do it in animal form.

To Quinn’s surprise, the other man suddenly rose and let out a strangled howling sound. When the sound broke off, he glared across the room. “This isn’t over. I’ll get her back, if I have to kill you to do it.”

With that, Alex leaped through the glass window into the night. The scent of fresh blood filled Quinn’s nose, and he shifted into his human skin to rush to the window. Glass shards and blood drops dotted the ground below, and he could see paw prints leading away from the house. For some reason, Alex had decided against fighting him tonight, but Quinn had no doubt in his mind the tiger would come back.

He glanced at the bookshelf and then headed off to secure the property before opening the safe room. He needed to make sure the entire lion pack was off his land before he went to Aubrey, and then they needed to get the hell out of Colorado.