Chapter Eight
Jaeger sat in his office, in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames. His mind wasn’t on them, however, he was thinking about Gabrielle. He had wanted to make sure the fur was his, and thus had pulled it out of her bag to check. Now he had a dilemma, lie to cover up why he was interested in that piece of fur, or tell Gabrielle the truth. A woman who was a cryptozoologist … her career was certainly an interesting aspect of his mate.
He heard footsteps run down the stairs and a second later, the front door opened and closed. Jaeger rose and looked out the window to see Gabrielle hurry away from the lodge toward the woods. Concern sluiced through him. It was dark and she didn’t know the layout of the land, as well as wearing only a coat in the freezing temperatures. He turned to leave, intent on following after her, and Agathe stood in the doorway.
“Are you going after her?” Agathe asked.
“Yes. Get a warm bath ready and some blankets. She’ll be frozen in moments.”
“All right.”
Agathe hurried off, moving fast for someone her age. Jaeger headed outside and stared at the way Gabrielle took, the tracks a direct path. He had no clue why she’d go out at night, but he was going to give her a stern lecture as soon as possible. Right now, it was more important to bring her back.
He didn’t bother with a coat. His wolf would keep him warm enough, but as he followed after her, it soon became apparent why she had run off into the night. A second pair of footprints emerged, and across the breeze a harsh and bitter scent wafted. Dendy. Jaeger paused and listened. He heard faint voices, although he couldn’t pinpoint where they were coming from. Frustration gripped him, so he began to strip, removing his shirt, pants, and shoes before he allowed the change to take over. Heat and pain engulfed him as his bones shifted, elongated, popping and cracking as he turned from man into a hybrid type of wolf. Like many of his kind, he was able to walk upright or on all fours, and now he chose to protect his mate. He let out a roar and zeroed in on where the voices were coming from.
“J-Jaeger!”
His ears shifted forward as he heard his name, uttered desperately. Off he ran, hurrying, knowing it was only a matter of time before Gabrielle’s body began to shut down from the freezing temperature. He found her lying down, curled in a fetal position, and he gently picked her up to share his body heat with her. Then he ran back to the lodge, back to Agathe who waited to help his mate.
As he sat her on her feet at the lodge, however, he saw the fear overtake her. Fear of him, and it broke his heart. He couldn’t talk to her and ease her concern, that he trusted her enough to reveal who and what he really was. Then she touched him, stroked his fur, and he loved how her courage took over. Her fear seemed to melt away, so he decided to go for broke and reveal his species’ truest secret. He finished the transformation into the wolf.
Here was the elusive secret she’d been searching years for. Concrete proof that the creature she’d been hunting was able to hide in plain sight. And although he’d never encountered one, her hybrid bear had probably been the Yeti, killed in its half-transformed state. Would she understand? Most cryptids were, in fact, shifters.
With his attention focused entirely on her, he failed to identify the threat until it was too late. Dendy had shown up, rifle raised, and then Gabrielle was shielding him with her body. A shot fired, and the acrid smell of blood and gunpowder filled his nostrils.
He growled and attacked, jumping on Dendy who stared wide-eyed first at Gabrielle’s supine body and then into his eyes. Jaeger’s instinct was to go for the jugular, to rip it out and end the miserable man’s life, but Kenny was there, stopping him.
“We got him, Jaeger!” Kenny yelled at him. In one hand was a phone. “Mark and I filmed him shooting her. We got you transforming, too, but we’ll edit that part out. Please … we’ll keep your secret but, please, help Gabrielle.”
He backed off, stepping off the man he wanted to kill. Kenny and Mark took hold of Dendy as Agathe picked up the rifle and pointed it at the stunned, scared man. He turned to his mate. He could hear her heart beating, although it was faint. A dark-red stain spread out from her body onto the snow, and he knew she was bleeding out. If he didn’t do something, she would die.
Please forgive me!
There was no time to debate whether or not she’d want the mating connection. If he didn’t initiate it, she’d die. And if she died, he might as well curl up and die as well. He bent his head and sniffed at the area between her head and shoulder. His fangs rested on the soft skin, and then he bit.
****
Gabrielle was cold. She wandered the dark, lost, and then a ray of sunlight appeared. She put her hand up to shield her eyes from the powerful rays. The warmth drew her and she walked toward it, moving from the lonely darkness into a warm paradise. A green valley stretched out before her with tall trees and blossoming flowers, and she smiled, more than content. A wolf emerged, walking toward her. It was big, its fur white as snow. His dark eyes stared at her, but she wasn’t afraid. She held out a hand to it, and as it walked toward her, it transformed into a creature, her rescuer, before completing the change into man.
Jaeger.
He had shared his deepest secret with her and saved her life. Happiness and love filled her.
I saved your life by biting you.
His voice echoed around her. His lips didn’t move, but she could hear him, and it was the most natural thing in the world.
You aren’t like me, he continued. You won’t change. But you will have a long life, like me. Heal faster. We are mates. We are one.
Gabrielle smiled.
And woke up.
Jaeger held her hand, eyes closed, head bowed. She lay in her bed at the lodge, nice and warm. She touched the top of his head and he opened his eyes. They looked at one another.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Mates.”