Chapter Seven
Zach shouldn’t have let her go off on her own like that. He should have talked to her. Told her how he felt. No, that would have freaked her out even more, and she had run off with more than a little panic in her eyes. Okay, maybe he didn't have to press the mate issue. But he could have at least calmed her down a bit; told her he really cared for her and wanted an opportunity to get to know her better.
He’d take it slowly if he needed to. Anything to keep his mate from running from him again. But he’d seen that look before. No, she wasn’t running from him. She was running from herself. And he was smart enough to back off and give her some time. And he would—just as soon as he caught her and made sure she was okay.
His mate might not want him watching out for her, but he would. He’d make sure she was all right, and then head back to his hotel room and give her the space she needed. Besides, he still needed to do some more investigating into the lion scents he had caught yesterday.
He followed her scent of wildflowers and cinnamon. His hackles rose when a darker scent overshadowed with hers. The lions from yesterday, and they were hot on the trail of his mate. He shifted before he had the chance to strip off his jeans, bounding down the trail on all fours as the last piece of denim slid from his legs. Nobody would hurt his mate. His wolf agreed with a low growl as he raced down the trail.
He reached the clearing just in time to see one lion go sailing past Nissa’s shoulder and over the edge. A larger lion sprang from the woods knocking her into a boulder. Zach growled and surged forward. The big cat turned toward him, as Nissa shrieked his name and slumped, out cold against the rock.
My mate. Zach sprang at the larger predator. They met with a bone-jarring thud of physical aggression, fangs gnashing to catch the other’s throat, claws shredding skin. The lion was bigger, infinitely stronger, but the tight maneuvering required to fight in dense-packed trees of the forest gave Zach’s wolf the advantage. He jumped, vaulting off a massive trunk and onto the lion’s back. Ripping and clawing, he bit the cat, but it shook him off like a fucking rag doll.
Zach fell in front of Nissa. The lion was stalking them from the right. Nissa, rattled from the blow, was struggling to rise, shaking her head, a bloody mat of pine needles and dead leaf bits stuck in her hair. He had to get between them. His legs were shaking, all but the one shooting agony up from paw to shoulder. He couldn’t put the slightest weight upon it, but he’d be damned if he let that thing near his mate. He growled, still very much a threat and the way the lion’s gaze slinked from her to him said he took it that way. He couldn’t fight this thing here, not without risking Nissa. He had to lure the lion away.
He howled and leapt at the lion. Razor claws slashed his chest as it grabbed Zach by his already injured shoulder and flung him to the ground. Pain scorched his broken body as he bounced along the ground before smashing into a large tree. This thing was too big. Too strong.
His left hind leg canted at a weird angle, fresh blood running from a wound along his stomach. The pain of the broken limbs and the blood loss wearied him. Zach wanted to go to sleep right there on the forest floor. To just close his eyes for a little bit—make the pain stop.
Then his enemy turned from him and toward Nissa. No! Adrenalin coursed through his veins, and Zach surged to his feet, leaping onto the lion's back. The lion shook him off easily. Zach howled in pain when the beast sank its teeth into his left shoulder, grinding into bone before flinging him loose. It crept over him, blurred by a haze of dark red. Zach could taste the copper of the blood in his mouth, smell it with every panting breath he took as the lion lifted its paw to deliver the deathblow. Zach was going to die without ever revealing his true feelings for his mate. The large paw swept down toward his head, then stopped.
The black bear—Nissa’s bear—batted the lion’s larger paw away, then slapped its snout.
Blood streamed from the great cat’s nose, and it stumbled back in surprise. It recovered quickly, though, physically shaking off its shock and surging into a roar of renewed aggression. But his brave, little black bear roared right back and positioned herself in front of Zach. She was trying to protect him, just as he had done for her. Her fur rippled with aggression as she bellowed a warning and stood squarely between him and their attacker. His mate was strong, brave, and the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. Our mate. His wolf corrected.
Well, Zach sure as hell wasn't going to lie there while his mate took on a lion. He rolled onto his side, but Nissa’s paw stopped him. Her body changed, shimmering once before taking human form. Her much smaller, more vulnerable, human form. Fuck! She wasn’t fully shifted, though. Caught within her shift, still part bear, she shook a staying paw at him. Wait? Zach paused. What did his little bear have up her sleeve? He tensed, prepared to jump into action.
The lion surged straight toward her, and she twisted. Its sharp claws barely scratched her shoulder, as it went soaring into the tree behind her.
She rolled out of the way, and Zach jumped onto the dazed lion’s back. He sank his fangs into its neck and bit down savagely, ripping the tendons out, spitting them onto the ground. The lion fell to the ground, lifeless. Zach drew his head back with a triumphant howl. Nissa struggled to her feet, rippling as her shift completed, bringing her fully human once more. His wolf followed suit.
“Is it dead?” she asked, exhaustion pouring from her body.
Dirt and blood spattered across her shoulders and face. Zach hated seeing his mate wounded like this. But at least she was alive. She’d heal.
“Yeah. It’s dead.” He crawled over to her and took her in his arms. “You don’t have to be strong anymore, baby.”
She broke down and sobbed in his arms, her whole body shaking as she gripped him tightly. Yeah, it hurt. He was pretty sure his arm and his leg were broken, but his mate needed comforting. Hell, maybe she ought to comfort him. She had been pretty badass during that fight.
“My strong, brave, stupid, reckless woman.” He kissed her and held her in his aching arms. “You could have died.”
“My bear and I finally agreed on something.” She laughed and sniffled into his chest.
“What’s that?”
“You’re our mate, and we weren’t going to let you die for us.” She cried. “I’m sorry I ran away. I was scared. I didn’t want to get stuck in a place where I couldn’t be myself, or had to be weak and vulnerable and clean up after your mess.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, sweetness.”
“I’ll explain more later. But if you want to still be with me, I, we, want you.”
He hugged her tightly against him, intent on telling her they could take it slowly, that he would wait for her to be ready for him. He wouldn't scare her off this time. “You’re my mate. My wolf and I want you forever, and we’d die for you.” Shit. It wasn’t supposed to come out like that.
“Okay.”
“What?” he asked in confusion as the birds started their steady chirping.
“My bear and I want you too. We’d die for you.”
His body felt as if a thousand pound lion had been lifted from his chest.
“I have some requests, though.”
“All right. But first, let’s get out of here. We need to get cleaned up. I don’t know about you, but I’m a mess.”
She laughed. “Yeah, you look like hell. Thanks for saving me.”
“Thanks for saving us,” he countered. “Now we need to let your brother know about the attack. Do you have your phone?”
She shook her head. “I think I dropped it when I was running.”
They didn't have to worry about it. Just as they were getting to their feet, Bo lumbered through the woods, his bear very close to the surface.
“What happened?” Bo scowled and assessed the damage around them as he stripped off his t-shirt and handed it to Nissa.
“We’ll tell you all about it while you get us the hell back to civilization,” Zach said, accepting Bo’s flannel shirt and wrapping it around his waist.
“Need me to carry you?” Bo indicated Zach’s broken leg.
Zach growled. “Need to lose an arm?”
“Nah, I like my arms right where they are.” Bo chuckled. “How about we just help you walk back to my ATV?”
“That’ll work.”
Bo and Nissa helped Zach hobble to Bo’s four-wheeler.
“I think you’ve got a lion issue, Alpha.” Zach groaned as he climbed into his seat.
“Tell me everything,” Bo ordered as he backed out and into the meadow.
By the time they made it to their aunt’s cabin, Bo had already called his beta, and torn off the handle to his door. The Alpha bear was pissed. He sent in a team to dispose of the body and search for the missing lion. Then he left them on the porch with a rumbled order to stay put until Ida got them healed up.
As her aunt worked on stitching, cleaning and setting his wounds, Zach smiled. The pain was excruciating, but his heart was soaring.
He had saved his mate.