Alphas of Red Moon Ranch Complete Series (26 page)

Holly got out of the Buggy—driver’s door left open in her rush—and was already halfway to the estate when she heard the yowl. Her head snapped to where it originated, but she saw nothing, only the edge of the cliff upon which the estate overlooked the ocean. She tightened her fingers around the talisman, keeping it close. Holly stepped closer to the edge of the cliff and caught the sound of voices on the wind.

“Jacob said to
wait
.” That voice was familiar, and Holly followed it until she found Trish and Cayden. Cayden was halfway over the edge of the cliff, climbing down, and the sight sent a shock through Holly, terrified that he would fall. He lowered another inch and, when she realized he was descending a staircase, her nerves calmed, but only slightly. Trish was grabbing his shoulders as though she meant to pull him back up.

“That was
Mother
,” he snapped at her. “I have to make sure she’s okay.”

In the middle of the bickering, Holly cleared her throat and decided to make her presence known. “Trish,” she said simply.

The two stared at Holly, shocked, as though she were some sort of ghost. She discreetly put her hand behind her back, trying to hide the talisman from Cayden.

“Holly,” Trish said, stumped. “What’re you doing here?”

“Who’s down there?” Holly asked, ignoring the question.

“Jacob,” Cayden said. “Brent. And my mother.”

A recipe for disaster if there ever was one
. Holly would have to play her cards right if she wanted to keep this situation under control. She moved over to where Trish stood and held out her hand for Cayden. “Let me take care of it,” she told him.

“Why should I trust you?” he hissed. His eyes were flashing now, his animal barely caged.

“Because you’re smarter than this,” Holly told him. “
Think
. Whatever is going on down there, you don’t want to walk into the middle of it. I’ll handle this.”

Cayden looked at her and, reluctantly, his expression softened. Finally, he climbed back up the cliff and launched himself up, hitting the dirt with ease.

“Watch your step,” he grumbled and Trish squeezed him arm encouragingly.

“The key,” Trish whispered.

Cayden reluctantly reached into his pocket and held out a key for Holly. “Take this. It’s for Brent.” He must have noticed Holly’s deeply confused expression because he added, “You’ll see when you get there.”

“Thank you,” Holly said. Then, she unraveled the necklace and looped it over her neck so it wouldn’t fall midclimb.

Trish and Cayden stared wide-eyed at the talisman. Neither of them said a thing, not even as Holly kicked off her shoes and slung her leg over, making the trek down the cliff face. She felt the sharp ocean wind blow up underneath her dress, chilling her straight through her bones. Holly tried to shake it off and clung closer to the stone.
Keep going…Jacob needs you
.

Slowly, carefully, she climbed down until the stairs came to a stop. Holly glanced down to find the landing was just barely out of reach. Her eyes made the mistake of falling down, far down, to the crash of the ocean below. She pressed flat against the wall, her cheek on cold stone, and gasped heavily until she felt the wave of vertigo pass. Finally, she chanced one more glance at the ledge, drew courage from deep in her bones, and flung herself at it.

Holly’s knees hit hard stone and she splayed her palms out to catch her fall, protecting her belly. She winced, palms and knees sore, and brushed herself off, rising to her feet.

The cave was dim and it took a second for her eyes to adjust. She heard animal noises—
bear
—and then saw the glint of…what was that? Metal chain? Holly moves closer and found Brent perched up against the wall, collared and chained to the wall like a dog. When his eyes caught hers, both hope and fear shimmered there.

“Holly,” he said, voice hollowed with surprise.

“Brent.” Then it clicked—the key. She reached into her pocket and tugged it out and then rushed over to him. “Come here…Cayden gave me this.”

Brent twisted his head back to give her access to the lock there. The contraption was half-rusted, but she twisted the key in and it snapped off his neck with a click. Brent rubbed the sides of his throat, red imprints left there.

“Are you okay?” Holly asked.

“It ain’t over yet,” Brent replied gruffly. When Holly turned, she saw Jacob. Or the bear-that-once-was-Jacob. The Beast paced angrily back and forth in the cave that suddenly seemed too small to contain him. He huffed and he shook his thick neck, as though he were trying to physically
shake
the Beast off of him. But to no avail. It was stuck, and he was stuck, like this.
Animal
. He dug his claws into the lip of the cave and even Holly cowered back when he let out an agonized, bellowing roar.

Brent caught her before she stumbled back.

“Where’s Miranda?” Holly whispered even though she got the feeling she didn’t want to know the answer.

“Ocean took her,” Brent said and then he murmured, “We’ve gotta get outta here.”

“No,” Holly said firmly. “I’m not leaving him.”

She reached for the necklace around her neck and drew the six-pointed star forward, out from under her dress. The opaque gem in the middle caught on a sliver of light and seemed to glow in the darkness of the cave.

“I’ll be damned,” Brent said. “You found it.”

“We protect each other,” Holly said, clutching the star.

“But if you’ve got it,” Brent said, “how come he ain’t human right now?”

Holly shook her head, her heart sinking. “I don’t know.” She’d come this far, she’d found the medallion, but now, she had no idea how to harness its power and reverse the effect. Or if she could reverse it at all. Maybe it only worked
before
he turned into a bear…maybe it was too little, too late, and now he was lost to her. The thought was almost more than she could take and Holly held on to the talisman as she took a step towards Jacob.

She stopped when Brent snagged her arm. “That ain’t Jacob,” he told her. “That’s his Beast. The same one that’s been caged up inside of him all this time. He might not be so nice.”

“I can handle him,” Holly said firmly, even when she saw the reluctance in Brent’s eyes. “Trust me.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Brent took a step back and then said, “I’m right behind you.” She saw the golden flash in his eyes, ready to protect his Alpha’s mate, even if that meant protecting her from his Alpha.

Jacob’s bear was huffing, head hanging, and pacing with heavy steps. Holly could see a limp on one of his legs and it made her stomach twist up, knowing that he was hurt and there was nothing she could do about that, not unless he let her get close.

“Jacob…” Holly whispered as she stepped closer.

The animal turned on her and growled.

Holly lifted her palms up towards him, a small peace treaty. “It’s just me,” she murmured, keeping her movements slow and deliberate so not to spook him. “Holly.” He panted wetly, dark eyes flashing gold. Carefully, Holly drew her long red hair back to reveal the scar on the side of her throat, his bite mark forever on her skin. “I’m your mate,” she said, firmly now. “You know me, baby.”

The bear grunted and hung its head suddenly, as though it were ashamed. It stepped backwards, into the shadowy recesses of the cave as though it meant to disappear completely, away from Holly.

She knew those eyes. The weight of guilt and fear in them. Now, it was as though there was no one else here but Holly and Jacob, trapped in the burly form of a bear. Gently, Holly lowered herself to her knees and sat down. He would have to come to her now.

“You don’t have to hide,” she said and then added, “You can’t hide from me. I know you. And I love you. I love all of you, even the parts you aren’t proud of. Unconditionally. Maybe we’ve never been normal or like everyone else, but I don’t want normal. I want you. I want this baby. I want our family.”

His grunts and growls stopped, replaced by the soft beat of his breath. He was
listening.

Maybe, before she came to Red Moon Ranch, Holly would have trembled with fear to be this close to a hulking, full-grown black bear that could take her head off with one clean swipe of his paw. Instead, she felt nothing but calm in her heart, and
strength
, as though all of her fear and anxiety had belonged to another woman, or in another life, perhaps. “I’m not scared of you,” she said and then, as though to prove it, extended her hand, reaching out to him. “Come out where I can see you.”

A moment passed. Holly heard the waves crashing below, and a gull cried out in the distance. Finally, the bear let out a huff, and a grunt, and then, slowly, ambled out from the shadows of the cave. In the pool of sunlight, she could see his shaggy black fur, his soft brown muzzle, and his round ears flattened back. Where before he had seemed capable of tearing the cave down stone by stone, now he seemed gentle, tamed. He sniffed her hand once and then took a step closer. Holly gasped when she felt the large animal nuzzle the side of her face and breathe in her hair…just like Jacob. Holly felt her eyes burn and she closed them, a few stray tears escaping as she clung to his neck and buried her face in his fur.

“I love you,” she whispered. The bear let out a small noise deep in his throat, as though he were trying to form the words to return to her.

Please, God,
she prayed to herself.
Bring my husband back to me.

Then Holly felt it, like a weight off her chest.

No. A
literal
weight off her chest.

She glanced down and her breath caught when she saw the talisman on the ground. The string was frayed as though it had simply snapped and fallen off her neck. She turned the star around and saw that the gem in the middle had somehow cracked, a hairline split running straight through it. When Holly brushed her thumb against the gem, it fell apart under her finger, small iridescent shards sprinkling the stone floor.

The bear jerked away from her suddenly. He shook his large head and paced, growling, barking, as though he was in pain. “Jacob!” Holly called out. Worry suddenly cinched around her heart, and she started to run to him, but Brent caught her by the arms and held her back.

“Wait, darling,” he said. “Just wait.”

Holly watched as the bear tossed himself back and forth, blindly, and her heart hammered in her chest, terrified that he’d pace straight off the ledge. Then, finally, he collapsed, heaving.

Bones snapped. His form shrunk. His black fur receded to a wild mane on his head, trickling down his chest. He was bruised, bleeding, but he was
Jacob
, human, and Holly felt tears sting again as hot relief thudded in her chest.

“Jacob!” she cried out and ran to him as soon as Brent released her. He was already trying to pry himself off the ground when she dropped and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. Too tight—he groaned, and she loosened her hold and let out a short laugh. He curled up around her and held her to him, their foreheads touching.

“I love you too,” he murmured when he could finally catch his breath.

She stroked his hair back from his face. “You came back to me.”

“All thanks to you,” he said. “Thank God I married a teacher.”

Holly let out a small laugh at that, nuzzling against him. She felt the rough scruff on his chin as she nuzzled in, loving his warmth,
all Jacob.
“Let’s go home,” she murmured.

He nodded, though they were far both too spent to move from their spot and they lingered in each other’s arms a moment longer as the waves settled to a low gurgle below.

Getting back up the side of the cliff proved even more harrowing than going down, especially since Jacob could barely put his weight on his bad leg and kept slipping. Brent remained under him to keep him moving forward and Holly scrambled up ahead of them to help pull the two up once they’d made it to the top.

Trish and Cayden were right where Holly had left them, sitting over the edge of the cliff. When Miranda failed to come out of the cave, Cayden kept his head down, staring at the ocean below. Holly noticed and gave Jacob a nudge, who nodded and limped over to the young man.

“Is she gone?” Cayden asked without looking up.

Jacob crouched down to be level with the boy, though it clearly hurt to do so—Holly saw him wince. “Yes,” he said somberly. “We fought. She slipped off the edge.”

Cayden said nothing, but his jaw tightened. Holly kept her distance, but to her, it looked like he was trying to keep his composure.

“This fight ends here,” Jacob continued, keeping his voice firm. “My clan doesn’t want a war. We don’t want to struggle over territory. We just want to live our lives quietly as a family.”

“Easy for you to say,” Cayden finally spat, his words barbed.

Holly crouched down beside Jacob then and reached out to put her hand on Cayden’s shoulder. “You’re not a bad person, Cayden,” she said. “No one is happy about how this ended. You have a place at the ranch if you want it.”

She glanced at Jacob—
right?
—and he turning back to Cayden and nodded. “So long as you’re willing to start fresh.”

Cayden kept his eyes locked on the waves below. “You need to go,” he hissed. “
Now
.”

Jacob pushed himself up and Holly, reluctantly, followed beside him. Jacob leaned against her as he limped to the truck.

“It’s done,” Jacob said heavily. “It’s over.”

Holly squeezed his arm reassuringly, but she wasn’t sure it was over. There was Cayden. Brent. Trish. All the dust still had to settle. But for now, she had Jacob, alive and human, and she had their baby. And with her Alpha man beside her and new life stirring inside of her, they could conquer any challenge that came their way.

“Boss!” Trish hopped beside them and began to plead with Jacob. “I would like to stay here for tonight. Please. Maybe longer. Just to make sure he’s okay.”

“Is that okay with Cayden?” Jacob grunted.

Trish’s head bobbed rapidly as she nodded.

“Alright,” he said. “Keys’re in the truck. Your mom isn’t gonna like it.”

“Thank you.” Trish pressed a small kiss to the side of her face before bouncing off to be with Cayden.

“They’re a strange match,” Holly said absently as she unlocked the Buggy and helped Jacob into the passenger seat.

“I’ve seen stranger,” he said and the corners of his eyes crinkled, amused, as he gave her a pointed look.

She smiled. Couldn’t argue with that.

Brent tumbled into the backseat and collapsed. “I need a beer,” he groaned. “Or twenty. And a new hat.”

Holly started up the car. Jacob was also winding down, his body completely exhausted by his Beast, and he slumped against the door.

“I met your father,” Holly said as they drove.

“Tell me all about it,” Jacob mumbled against the window before promptly falling asleep.