Claimed by the Grizzly (2 page)

He was antsy, his bear on edge. He had been since he’d first glimpsed the female bear who’d sprinted onto Holloway land then thrown herself into Holt Reynolds’ arms. Koby had known immediately she was bear shifter, and that fact had jolted him. The females were thought to be all gone. Jaeda Blackstone had proven otherwise. He’d felt something tug between them and had nearly gone out of his mind when she’d chosen the human visitor as her mate. Koby didn’t have anything against Holt. He was a nice enough guy, but he wasn’t a shifter. Jaeda was.

The whole situation had been frustrating. Koby had never been overly aggressive with a woman. Yet with Jaeda, he’d questioned his own sanity. He’d felt she should be his mate, despite the bond he’d sensed building between her and Holt. Still, no matter how hard he’d tried, he couldn’t calm his animal nature. He’d raged and fought, with both himself and his brothers. He’d been certain Jaeda was meant to be his, certain enough to issue a right of mate challenge. Only, Jaeda wasn’t his. He’d smelled the melding of Holt’s and Jaeda’s scents, heard them loving and feared he was going feral.

He’d thought maybe it was his bear reacting at a primal level to a female being amongst them, one capable of carrying his offspring, ensuring the survival of his line. For the first time in his life, he’d felt ripped apart, two creatures trapped in one form. He’d hated himself yet felt helpless to rein himself in. Then Holt had shared a possible explanation, one Jaeda might have realized if the elder guarding her hadn’t taught her to fear the Holloways. Koby had managed to feed that fear with his actions and words from the moment she’d arrived.

Turned out she had a twin sister. It seemed plausible that Koby’s bear could actually be the true mate of Jaeda’s twin. Though not every bear pairing was between true partners, the phenomenon did exist. He wouldn’t know until he met Sidia and saw how their animal sides reacted to one another. Bear instincts played the defining role in who was acceptable. He wasn’t sure how he’d keep his sanity if they found Jaeda’s sister Sidia and she picked another.

He shook his head and swiped a hand over his face. There was nothing to do but wait and see. He couldn’t go back and change how he’d reacted to Jaeda, and he had no control over how Sidia reacted to him. He could only present himself as the man he was and hope she chose him.

“Maybe, I should slow down,” Jensen said, glancing briefly at Koby. “Give you time to calm the fuck down so you don’t scare this one off. This angry vibe you’ve got going isn’t a good first impression.”

Koby knew his brother wouldn’t slow down. They’d left before dawn, Koby too anxious to wait, and had been watching a particular cloud of smoke since they’d turned onto the highway that led to Nicholas’ mountain home. It was definitely in the direction they were headed, but how close or far couldn’t be determined yet. Brush fires weren’t uncommon in Wyoming, but the closer they drew, the more Koby’s uneasiness grew. Sidia needed him.

“She has to be the one,” Koby growled then clamped his lips shut.

She had to be his mate. It was the only thing that made sense. Jaeda and Sidia were identical twins. Their scents had to be similar. Koby hoped Holt was correct in thinking Sidia was the one actually meant to be with Koby. That would explain why Koby felt he should have a connection with Jaeda that wasn’t there.

“Deep breath there, bro,” Jensen ordered. “We’ll see when we see. Either way, she’ll be heading back with us. Then we have five more to find, possibly more.”

“Don’t forget dealing with the elders,” Koby added.

He was almost as pissed as his brother, Laramie, that the elders of their pack had taken it upon themselves to make decisions rightfully belonging only to the alpha. It was a slight Koby knew Laramie would never be able to let slide. There had been times in their lives when he had envied his brother his place as firstborn and future alpha. Reality was far different from the imagined fantasies of youth though. His envy had died long ago, before they’d laid their father in the ground and the mantle had shifted. They’d been leveled with grief when the unthinkable had happened. Attacks. Well-aimed attacks with the focus on one thing. Killing all the female bears.

It had been another hard hit to suspect it was one of their own who’d led the enemy to their doors. For what purpose? Koby wasn’t sure he wanted to hear any excuses when they found the traitor. All he wanted was blood. He’d tear apart the bastard himself, if given the chance. Laramie had declared that pleasure would belong to all the unmated males, though, as they would be the ones most devastated. If things went well, Koby wouldn’t be among their number.

He was ready to order Jensen to drive faster when they turned the corner and got their first clear view of the mountain. Fire still flickered from where Nicholas’ home had once stood. Koby remembered going there a time or two with his father before everything had happened. Now, there was nothing but smoldering rubble. It was a miracle the whole mountain wasn’t on fire. Nicholas must have done something that prevented it from spreading.

“Holy shit,” Jensen sputtered, and Koby felt the truck pick up speed.

“Pull off on the old logging road,” Koby ordered. “We’ll go in on foot.”

It was the safest thing to do since they didn’t know what had happened.

“Sidia.” Her name whispered from his lips like a prayer.

“We’ll find her,” Jensen swore.

Koby nodded. He’d find her, and God help anyone who tried to get in his way.

Chapter Two

It was two days before Sidia felt it was safe to venture from her hiding place. She took the underground tunnel that led to a hatch that opened into a small cavern. Beyond it lay the rocky area at the base of the mountain. The rocks should provide enough cover for her to get away.

She lifted herself through the opening and stayed in a crouch while she focused all her senses on the immediate area. She relied mainly on her nose, by far her strongest sense as a bear shifter, and attempted to sift through the layers of smells, searching for one that could spell danger. The ground was soft and spongy, the sky just beginning to lighten as dawn broke, and at the moment, the odor of smoke was overwhelming. She strained her ears, listening for any sound that shouldn’t be there.

Hoping the smoke would clear, she waited ten minutes then ten more and so on, until almost another hour had passed. She couldn’t stay where she was, though. She’d be a sitting duck if anyone came across her in the cavern. Slowly, she edged her way to the opening, peeking her nose out to take a better sniff of the air. Her eyelids dropped to half mast as the breeze carried something to her. It was masculine, a scent that called to her at the animal level and had her bear eager to track down the person behind it. One word echoed in her mind. Mate. The fragrance belonged to the man who should be hers.

She crept from the enclosure, doing her best to stay low as she made her way down into the tall grasses. The scent was coming from somewhere inside the forest to her left. She had at least a half mile to cover before she’d hit the tree line. On the other side of the forest lay the old logging road. Somewhere between the two was the man her animal instincts said was her mate. She had to get to him.

She was just preparing to run when a voice yelled from behind her, just above the rocky enclosure she’d exited. She came to a jerky stop, head turning and gaze searching until she latched onto the two men who blended almost seamlessly with the gray stones surrounding them. She saw them clearly now as both stood with high-powered rifles resting in their arms.

“Well, well, well,” a high-pitched male voice said. “Looks like we hit the jackpot. Where you planning to run off to, darling?”

She inhaled, doing her best to push the tantalizing scent of her mate out of her nose and focus on all the others around her. She couldn’t smell them. It was as if they carried no scent other than the heavy stench of the smoke in the air. That wasn’t right. She should still be able to pick up on the odor of sweat and man that permeated their skin.

She could play stupid, pretend she had no idea who they were and that they had no idea what she was, but she hadn’t been much for games since she’d been stripped of her family and forced to live in hiding. From the corner of her eyes, she scouted the grass. It wasn’t much in the way of protection if she made a run for it. Then again, she was already a sitting target. She’d at least make them work for it before they killed her.

Jerking her pack, she took off at a sprint, slinking as low as she could to make use of the height of the grass. They’d still be able to make out where she was, but she wouldn’t be as easy a mark. The first shot whizzed by her shoulder, so close she felt the ripple in the air near her skin. The second one slammed into the ground behind her right foot. She was halfway across now and gaining more speed as she went. The third hit her backpack with a pop sound, and it dawned on her they weren’t shooting bullets. She spared a brief glance back. Darts. The motherfuckers were shooting darts at her.

She hit the tree line and straightened as a roar rent the air. Her mate. He was close and, from the sound of it, mad as hell. Piercing fire hit her buttock, sending pain lancing down her leg and making it go immediately numb. She screamed and reached back to rip it from her skin. She managed to stay on her feet, dragging one leg behind her as she veered in a direct path for that roar. She heard scrambling behind her and knew the men were done playing. She had no idea if they meant to kill her or take her someplace else so they could play some more. She didn’t want to find out.

She slipped behind a tree and collapsed. The numbness was spreading into her other leg and up her right arm. She couldn’t seem to fight it anymore. It had to be some form of muscle relaxer. It wasn’t knocking her out yet, but it was making her incapable of moving. A man appeared in a gap between the trees. He was a giant, easily over six and a half feet tall with short hair somewhere between blond and brown. He was gorgeous, but one whiff said he wasn’t the man she was hoping for. He spotted her immediately and headed toward her at a fast run.

She tried to shake her head, to warn him of the danger, but nothing on her body was responding to her commands.

“Shh,” he crooned as he dropped to his knees beside her. “You’re safe now. Where are you hit?”

She couldn’t get her lips to move but managed to push out sound anyway.

“Bu…nu…mmm…”

“Fuck,” he muttered. “I have no idea what the hell you’re trying to say.”

A loud roar rent the air again, this time coming from behind her. A masculine scream filled the air then abruptly shut off.

“Normally, I’d check you over, but I’m not sure that would be a safe call at the moment. My brother seems to believe you might be his mate, and in the primal state he’s in right now, I’m not sure he’d understand I’m just trying to help you if he showed up and my hands were on you.”

“Ma…” she gurgled, trying to force the word out. His brother was her mate. She could feel it, even now her bear was reaching out.

“Let’s try this. Can you blink?”

She blinked her eyes several times.

“Good. So one blink for no, two blinks for yes. Okay?”

She blinked twice.

“Perfect. Were you shot?”

Stupid question. Of course, they’d shot her with something or she’d be able to fucking talk to him, wouldn’t she? But if she blinked yes he might think she’d been shot with a bullet and not a dart. Damn!

His hand suddenly reached out and plucked something off her backpack. She watched as he brought the dart around and carried it to his nose, sniffing at it.

“They darted you?”

She blinked twice.

“Fucking hunters and their tranquilizing darts,” he muttered.

He brought the dart to his tongue and tasted the tip of it. It had to be a minute amount, surely not enough to hurt him with his size, but still, she wanted to swat him upside the head. Didn’t he see what it was doing to her? He reached out and touched two fingers to the pulse point in her neck.

“Strong and steady. This tastes like…a muscle relaxer mixed with the drug they use to prevent us from shifting. Definitely potent in someone as small as you. I don’t sense anything else in it. We’ll need to get you back as soon as we can so I can take a closer look at it in the lab. Can you move anything at all?”

She rolled her eyes at him, which served to make him laugh.

“I bet you’re going to be a lot of fun when you can talk back.”

Another roar, this one sounding closer, had him leaning in to whisper.

“I’m Jensen, by the way. Jensen Holloway. That very angry bear you hear is my brother, Koby,” he said. “He can be a little intimidating, and right now, he’s not exactly at his best. So try not to let him scare you, okay?”

She blinked twice. Koby. Her mate was Koby Holloway. Nicholas would be happy to know her bear seemed set on a Holloway and one of the very ones he’d suggested to her, too. Just thinking of Nicholas had her eyes filling with tears. It appeared she had as much control over her emotions as she did over her muscles at present. She couldn’t stop them from spilling down her cheeks.

“Shit! Don’t cry. He won’t hurt you. Promise. But if he comes in here and sees you crying and me next to you… Well, hell. I’m not opposed to shedding some blood, but I’d prefer it wasn’t mine.”

She tried to laugh, but it surfaced as more of a wet gurgle instead. Jensen was muttering something when a grizzly came through the trees and reared up on his hind legs claiming her full attention. He was the largest bear she’d seen. There was blood on his muzzle and one of his paws, but she knew instinctively it wasn’t his. He’d killed to protect her. Her heart beat a fast staccato in her chest.

He dropped to all fours and stalked toward her. Jensen came to his feet and moved to stand slightly in front of her.

“She’s been darted. Found this on her backpack. She seems fine, but we’ll want to get her back to the house as soon as we can, so I can analyze this and see exactly what we’re dealing with. It seems like their normal cocktail, though. She should be able to sleep it off and be fine when she wakes up.”