Chance Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire 6) (17 page)

“Don’t talk, Em,” he said, eyes brimming with moisture. “Dalton, what do I do?”

Dalton was there, his shoulders bare, wolf eyes bright, black hair fallen forward. So many stars behind him. Beautiful Alaskan sky.

“Link went to get help,” Dalton said low. “We left our packs in the woods.”

“You saved me,” she repeated.

“No, I didn’t! You saved
me
, Em. Can’t you see? I’m breathing because of you. I’m here!”

“So angry. Beautiful, angry mate. I was dirty before, but you made me clean.” Her voice broke on the last word, and she sucked in a trembling breath. She was so scared. So cold. “Listen to me. I love you. I’ll love you always.”

Chance hugged her neck and rested his forehead on hers. “I know, baby. I love you so much. You’re good, Em. So good, such a good heart. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Em let off an accidental sob at how good it felt to go this way with those words on his lips. “Chance, look for me in the northern lights. When you see them, that’s me. That’s my love for you.”

“I will.” Chance’s tears warmed her skin as he buried his face against her neck and bit her, hard and deep.

It didn’t hurt. Nothing did anymore.

He eased back and searched her face. “Mine,” he whispered.

“Em!” Chance said, holding her wrist tighter.

Her smile faded as she let off a long breath and rolled her eyes closed.

“Fuck, Link! Hurry up!”

Link dropped to his knees beside her body, clutching a trio of syringes. He asked Chance, “Are you sure?”

“Do it,” he growled out. “Do it now.”

Link plunged a needle into her neck and emptied the syringe Vera had given him. Emily hadn’t been the only one with secret plans.
God, let this work.

“It’s too much,” Dalton murmured as Link emptied a second syringe into her uninjured arm. “The fox won’t take if she bleeds out first. Roll her over.”

Chance pulled at her and winced at the long cut across her shoulder blades. Dalton cursed and applied pressure immediately as Link emptied the final syringe into Emily’s thigh.

“Come on, baby,” Chance gritted out. He angled her face up, held her nose and breathed into her mouth.

“Adrenaline,” he said between breaths. “See if that asshole used all the adrenaline he brought.”

Link disappeared in a blur and returned with a backpack that he upended near them. “Two left,” he said. “Should I call Vera and ask her?”

“No time. Give her one.”

“Chance—”

“Link, I’m not losing her! Give her the damned adrenaline!”

Link slammed the needle into Emily’s leg, and her body tensed.

“Em, you aren’t done here. You aren’t,” Chance ground out. “Come on! Breathe, baby.” He pushed another breath into her lungs.

“Chance,” Dalton murmured.

“Don’t.” Another breath.

“No, Chance, look.” Dalton angled Em’s shoulders toward him and wiped the blood from the cut across her shoulder blades. It wasn’t bleeding anymore, but it wasn’t because she was empty. The split skin had melded together.

Chest heaving, Chance dared to take his hand from the slit on her wrist. He wiped it, and it looked the same as her back—closed up.

“Em,” he murmured. “Em, fight. You’ll be okay if you just fight for a few more minutes. Fight for me! Come back to me.” He hugged her limp body close and rocked her. “I want what you promised. I want a pup with you. I want a life. I want you. Please, Em, just come back.”

Her body seized in his arms, every muscle tensing as she inhaled a ragged breath. “Fire,” she whispered. “I’m on fire.” Her voice was so small, so scared.

He hated that she was in more pain, but fire was a good sign. Vera said she had burned when she’d been Turned. She was given the fox without her consent too, just like Em. He felt sick.

Chance smoothed her hair out of her beautiful face, his relief clashing with the guilt of what he’d done without her permission.

She went rigid in his arms, head tilted back, face bathed in moonlight. With a gasp, she opened her eyes.

They weren’t cornflower blue anymore.

Now, her eyes were gold.

Emily rolled over and winced as bright light hit her closed eyelids. Someone was squeezing her hand. Cracking an eye open, she frowned at Vera, who was rubbing her cheek on Emily’s knuckles like an affectionate cat.

Chance sat in the corner of her bedroom, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him as he stared at the floor. There were shadows under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in days.

“Vera,” she muttered in a hoarse voice. “Why are you snuggling my hand?”

Vera smiled, her strange-colored blue and gold eyes dancing. “Because,” she whispered, “you’re my Frankenstein.”

“Vera, don’t be weird about this,” Chance said.

“My creation,” Vera said, undeterred.

“Oh, God,” Chance said, standing.

“I’m your maker.” Vera was petting her hand now. “Can you feel her?”

“I feel exhausted, like I just ran a marathon.” She looked up at the skylight of her bedroom. “How did I get home?”

“What do you remember?” Chance asked, kneeling by the bed with such a look of relief, it pulled at her heart.

Emily closed her eyes to sift through the blurry images. It was like trying to see something through fog. “I remember dying. I remember fire.”

“That was
her
,” Vera said. “I’m going to teach you to Change, and to control your animal. You won’t have to struggle like I did. I’ll help you.”

“I need some time alone with my mate,” Chance said.

“But I have to teach her—”

“Her eyes are mostly blue and she smells like flowers, not fur. She’s not Changing right now.”

“Fine, but I need to say one thing before I go.” Vera snapped her teeth at Chance and gave him a slit-eyed glare. Slowly, she returned her attention back to Emily. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Now Emily was completely confused.

“I was Turned against my will, and I swore I would never do that to anyone else. And it turns out I lied.” Vera’s teasing smile was nowhere to be found now, and her eyes filled with emotion. “I gave the fox to Link to put inside you only if you weren’t going to make it. Do you understand? He only used it to save your life.”

“The fox?” Emily murmured, sitting up in bed as a memory scratched right at the edge of her mind. She gripped her stomach. There was something different. A hollowness that had been filled.

“You’re like me now, Emily. Like us.”

“I’m a shifter?”

Vera nodded sadly, and Chance couldn’t meet her eyes anymore.

She should feel a well of emotions. Anger maybe, or grief over the loss of her humanity, but none of that was there. She was alive because of the fox. She had a future with the man she loved because of the animal inside of her. “Good,” she whispered.

Chance’s bright eyes jerked to hers.

“I picked a side the day I met you,” she murmured. “If I’m like you, that’s okay.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach and swallowed hard. “I can feel her, but I don’t hate her. Vera can teach me.”

Vera nodded, and a slow smile spread across her face. She patted her leg and then made her way to the door, but turned in the doorway. “Your fox is a beautiful little badass.” Her grin turned megawatt. “You bit everyone.”

Horrified, Emily asked, “I did?”

“It’ll take you some getting used to,” Chance said as Vera disappeared. “Your animal was scared, and it’ll take some work to get you in sync, but I’ll be here for you every step of the way. We all will.”

“You saw my animal?”

“Yeah, and Vera’s right,” Chance said, pulling her hand away from her stomach. He kissed her knuckles and ducked his gaze. “You’re so beautiful.”

When her lip trembled, Emily bit down on it so she wouldn’t go to pieces. She cupped his cheek and lifted his eyes so he could see how much she meant her words. “So are you.”

He nuzzled the blond scruff of his cheek against her palm. “I know what you did for me, Em. You chose to save me at the cost of your own life.”

“And I’d do it again.”

Chance kissed the inside of her palm and then sat on the edge of the bed, hugged her to his chest. “Truth,” he murmured.

She squeezed her eyes tightly closed as his warmth seeped through her. Chance’s existence was vital to hers now. Her last moments as a human drifted back to her in whispers. Chance’s words brushed her heart. He’d bitten her neck. He’d claimed her.
I want what you promised. I want a pup with you. I want a life. I want you.

No longer were they a doomed love story. They weren’t on separate paths anymore. Now, their road was the same and just wide enough for a red fox and a snow-white wolf to maneuver through life together.

No more darkness, no more Hell Hunters. The last one had been banished from this world by a Dawson werewolf protecting his mate, and the Hell Hunter inside of her had been dismissed the day she had given her heart to Chance.

His adoration had started this incredible change inside of her.

Her devotion had altered the path of shifter history.

And together, their love had saved them both.

Chance pulled his new truck to a stop in front of Vera and Tobias’s sprawling log cabin. Evening had cloaked Alaska, streaking the sky behind the cabin with pinks and oranges. The muted lighting was what Lena called “the witching hour.”

“First family photo all together,” Chance murmured, squeezing her thigh where his hand rested. “Are you ready?”

Emily hadn’t been able to stop smiling all day. “Is it weird that I’ve been ridiculously excited for this?”

Lena had already gifted her a big black-and-white photo of the day she’d met them all at Smiley’s Bar. In it, she and Chance were dancing, grins beaming. Emily had been looking right at the camera, her hair swaying as she danced, but her favorite part of the photograph that now hung over their bed was the look on Chance’s face. His eyes were soft and locked on Emily, as if he was already hers.

And now she would be a part of this year’s family picture with the Galena pack and the Silvers. It wasn’t lost on her what an honor it was that she’d been accepted by these people who had each brought such light into her heart over the past seven months.

This would be the picture that would hang over their fireplace for years to come.

“Come here,” Chance murmured, hand gentle on the back of her neck. He pulled her in slowly and kissed her. And when he eased back, he wore that same smile he had in the picture over their bed, the one that said his heart belonged to her.

God, she loved him more than anything.

Out the front window, everyone was gathering in front of Tobias’s front porch, while Lena fiddled with a camera on a tripod.

Chance inhaled deeply and twitched his head. “Let’s do this.”

He got out, but as Emily watched her friends laughing while they settled into position, she was awed into stillness that a moment like this belonged to her.

Vera looked like a pink disco ball in her sequined dress, and Tobias had his arms wrapped around her from behind, whispering secrets into her ear. Naughty secrets if Vera’s wicked smile was anything to go by. Elyse and Ian were both holding their son’s hands and swinging him high in the air, and Jenner stood next to Lena at the tripod, gesturing for everyone to move in closer to fit into the frame. Link was holding Fina and tickling her little belly as Nicole made silly faces at the dark-haired, giggling toddler, and Kate was staring lovingly at the dark-eyed newborn baby boy that Dalton cradled against his chest. And in front, Miki and Sasha Two played tug of war with a length of rope.

It was organized chaos, just like every holiday, birthday, and barbecue. Emily loved it.

In front of the truck, Chance waited for her, his hands in the pockets of his dark wash jeans, his wide shoulders flexed against the fabric of his sweater, green to match his eyes.

“Are you going to cry again?” he asked as she slipped from his truck and smoothed her sweater dress over her leggings.

“No.” Chance laughed like he didn’t believe her, so she amended, “Probably not.”

She’d become sappier over the months here as she’d gotten to know herself, and the fox that dwelled within her, but she didn’t regret the changes. Dad and Uncle Victor had made her too hard, but Chance had softened her again.

Vera let off a whistle. “Oh, foxy lady!” she called.

Emily waved as the others greeted her, and Chance kissed the side of her head, as if he knew how much this moment meant to her. He wrapped his strong hand around her much smaller one as they sidled around the camera.

“Okay,” Lena said. “The camera is set to automatically take one picture a second so I can try to get at least one where everyone has their eyes open. But just…try not to blink! Chance and Emily, I want you front and center.”

“Me?” Emily asked, shocked. She’d thought she would stand with the Galena pack on the outer edge.

Lena didn’t answer her, but instead started the countdown. “Five…four…”

Forcing her legs to move, Emily jogged beside Chance and jostled into position between him and Link, while Lena settled next to Jenner on the end.

“Three…two…smile!”

Chance hugged her tight and Emily rested her hand on his chest, right over his heartbeat, which was drumming too fast. She shot him a worried glance, but he was cheesing for the camera and seemed fine. A few more soft clicks of the camera and Link said, “I have something I want to say.”

Usually, this would be the part where everyone would groan and tell him, “No.” But not one of them uttered a word.

Confused at what Link could possibly have to say right in the middle of a group photo, Emily ghosted him a glance, and to her surprise, he was looking right at her.

“A while back, I made a tough decision that hurt one of my wolves,” Link said.

Click, click, click.

Vera sniffled, and when Emily looked around, she noticed Kate and Nicole’s eyes were rimmed with tears, too. What the hell? She was obviously missing something big.

Link cleared his throat and continued. “I told one of my wolves that he couldn’t be with someone because I didn’t trust them. And then I told the woman he’d chosen that she would never be a part of the Galena pack.”

He was talking about her and Chance. Emily lifted her hands to her cheeks to cool the heat there as Link squared his shoulders to her to the sound of the clicking of the camera.

“I hope today you’ll accept my heartfelt apology, Emily. I was wrong. You and your fox are good for our pack. You’re good for Chance.” Link lifted his chin and stared at her with those lightened gray eyes, honesty pooling in them as he declared, “You. Are. Good.”

Warm tears streaked down her cheeks, and Emily drew a ragged breath as her throat tightened.

“Emily Vega, I would be honored if you would become a full member of the Galena pack.”

Emily turned to Chance to see if he was as shocked as she was, but he wasn’t where he’d been a minute ago. Instead, he was down on one knee, gaze on her, and a glittering diamond ring offered in his hand.

Her shoulders shook with a sob, and she clasped her hands over her mouth to quiet her crying.

Chance let off a shaky breath, then said, “Before you say ‘yes’ to being a part of this pack, I want to ask you a question that has been on my mind since the day I met you. Before you, I thought I would be the one in our pack who never found a match, and I was okay with it. I’d accepted it. But from the moment I saw you at that gas station, I knew you were important. I knew you were it for me. You terrified me, not because you were hunting me, but because I could feel your potential to completely change me. And you have. I’m a better man for being around you.” Chance pulled her hand down and kissed the faint scar on her wrist, and when he spoke again, his voice was thick with emotion. “You told me once to look for you in the northern lights, and I do. Every time I see them, I’m reminded of your love and your sacrifice to build a life with me. And now I want to give you something so you can look at it and see my love for you. Em, will you marry me?”

All that came out of her mouth was a helpless squeak, so she nodded her answer and straightened her fingers for him to slip on the ring.

The yard erupted in cheering and whistling as Chance stood and lifted her off the ground, hugging her hips tightly. His smile took her breath away.

And as she looked around at her friends, who had become her family somewhere along the way, she realized today had never been about a group picture. Chance had planned this special moment for her and involved the people who meant the most. And now she would have frame by frame photographs to cherish for the rest of her life.

Her pack gathered in close, hugging her and Chance.
Her pack
. The Silvers followed suit, and everything was perfect—every happy tear that slipped from her friends’ faces, every embrace, every soft murmured congratulations.

Chance had given her more than he could ever know.

In a life that now felt so far away, she’d been Emily Vega, the Hell Hunter. That was all. But here, with the people she loved, she was much more. She was Em, fox shifter, friend, pack member, sister, mate, and now she would be Chance’s wife.

No longer would she bear the Hell Hunter name, Vega.

Now and forevermore, she would be a Dawson bride.