Dare to Bear (Book 1 Trail Guardians Series) (16 page)

Two hours later, he guided her off the trail to a natural spring. “I figured we could use a refill.”

She smiled. “It’s like you read my thoughts.”

“I think I know you well enough to anticipate your needs.”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she glanced away. What man had ever even come close to anticipating her needs? “Mason, I’m so glad I met you.”

He tossed her a grin. “You and me, both.”

While she watched him collect spring water at its pure source, for a split second she wondered if she could give up everything she’d ever known for the one man who knew her better than anyone.

After they’d each taken a thorough drink, he attached the cap of his bottled water and sent her a wink. “All good?”

“Great.”

He was so attentive, so nurturing. She’d never met a truly nurturing man aside from Mr. Hendricks.

“Mason.”

He tucked her canteen into her pack, then hooked his two canteens to his. “Yeah, baby?”

“I was wrong last night.”

A startled look stamped his features. “What? Why? Do you regret being with me?”

She approached him, took his face in her hands, and drew his mouth down to hers. Their slow, sensual kiss lasted minutes. “No, not at all,” she said.

He expressed intense relief. “Okay, good.”

“You’re just amazing to me. Do you really want to try being together? Long distance?”

“Yes, or I wouldn’t have brought it up.”

This all seemed so natural to him. So easy. Like he knew they were meant for each other, but she still had reservations.

I mean, how can I believe three days can equal a lifetime of happiness?

“I don’t know the answer to that, baby. All I know is, I want you. I want to be with you. Always.”

Her mouth went dry. She swallowed. “Mason, I didn’t say that out loud.”

“You didn’t?” he asked, genuinely surprised.

He can read my mind?
“Um, why can you read my mind?”

Beyond his serene expression, she witnessed a deliberate gleam in his eyes. “Baby, I can’t read minds.”

She didn’t buy it. Something strange had happened just now. “You heard my thoughts. And you answered them.”

Although he shrugged, he sent her a soul-piercing stare. “So what if I did?”

Eyes wide, she stared at him. “There’s something about you that’s…not of this world.”

Instead of answering her, he made himself busy reorganizing the contents of his pack.

“What is it? You have something special, don’t you?” she demanded, enthralled with the idea that he held some kind of mystical skills—maybe Native American magic powers?—the kind that could create wine out of water, like the stuff she drank yesterday he’d called “joy juice.” He’d known something she hadn’t.

That absolutely fascinated her. Compelled her. What was he hiding?

He tossed her an aw-shucks grin. “I’m flattered you think I have magical abilities. And that you think I’m special. But, baby, the only thing magical about my life is you.”

Without warning, he swept her into his arms and kissed her with such thoroughness, she lost all train of thought. When she recovered, and he left every inch of her body tingling, she said, “That’s not fair.”

“Are you complaining?” he asked with a crooked grin.

“No, damn it.”

“You rarely swear.”

“I do when the situation calls for it.”

He chuckled. “I’m nothing special,” he repeated.

In response to that, she grabbed his shirt and dragged him against her. “You’re special, and important, to me.”

Pride settled on his features. He kissed the tip of her nose. “Good.”

He continued moving at his rapid pace. She could do little except follow him on his determined course, leaving her too out of breath to talk, with too many thoughts of an unknown future swirling around her head.

“How would it work?” she blurted, after they’d covered miles in silence.

“What, honey?”

“Right. You can’t read minds.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, the whole long-distance relationship scenario?”

Reaching out he clasped her hand in his, raising it to kiss her knuckles. “It would start with a text message I’d send you when the sun comes up saying, ‘Good morning, beautiful.’ Followed by a few emails during the day telling you I’m thinking about you constantly, and how much I miss you. Then we’d Skype at night, so I can see your gorgeous face, while I try to ignore the hole in my life you left when you went back to the west coast. I’d tell you how crazy I am about you. Then I’d whisper, ‘Good night, angel,’ and I’d dream about the next time I get to fall asleep with you in my arms.” Yearning, even a faint sadness, touched his smile. “Rinse and repeat.”

“That sounds great,” she admitted, wistful. She’d never had an in-person relationship as beautiful as the long-distance one he’d proposed. “Are you willing to wait all that time between visits?”

Without hesitation, he said, “I’d wait for you forever. I already have. I’ll prove that, until you come back to me, for keeps.”

Overwhelmed, she gulped. “That will probably require a lot of compromises for both of us.”

“I can compromise,” he assured. “A lot, if I get to keep you in my life.”

Bowled over, she said, “You seem awfully sure about that.” Did her doubt seep into her tone?

“If I was a gambling man, I’d bet my life on you.”

“A little dramatic,” she said with a teasing grin. “We won’t have to make some kind of blood oath, right?”

“That’s me.” He snorted. “I’m all about the drama.”

“Hey.” She lifted her palms. “Just making sure.”

No, he wasn’t into drama, but he did manage to be masculine
and
expressive. A combination she loved about him.

Whoa. Wait. Loved? She’d actually used that word? She couldn’t fathom upending her life for a man she barely knew. Yet she
did
know Mason. Her heart spoke the truth better than any external reassurances. He was steadfast, loyal, and honest.

What more could she ask for?

Proof
, her stubborn brain interjected.

“So, what do you think?”

“About?” she replied, sounding distracted.

He tucked a red curl behind her ear. “Want to give it a try? Us a try?”

Beneath the casualness in his words, he hid the torrent of thoughts and feelings he knew she wasn’t ready to handle or believe in. Not yet.

Fortunately, his capacity for patience equaled his ability to compromise. At least, he’d do it for her. Sure, she needed to see his devotion in his actions. He got that. He’d follow through on every promise. A vow only a true mate fully understood.

And she would, he hoped, in time trust how much he needed her, what she meant to him. Then again, the mingling of the enzymes from his bite with her blood might draw her back to him sooner than she expected. Damn, he hoped so. But with a human mate, there was no telling how she might react to the enzymes he’d deposited into her blood during their mating. The response to his infusion could take days, weeks…years?

His heart sank, aching with the weight of the unknown.

Ancestors, help me to let go and trust she’ll come back to me
.

In his experience, every major event held a specific meaning, a special purpose. If forced separation from his mate lay in his future, he’d uncover the reason and take solace in his belief she was meant for him and him alone.

For the rest of the day, through the high-sun hour and into the afternoon, they walked side by side, hand in hand. The companionable silence was occasionally punctuated by moments of appreciation of nature.

For the first time, she pointed them out more often than he did. Like the way sunlight filtered through trees and angled its illumination on a patch of soft, glossy ferns. Or the way a special type of moss grew like a patchwork quilt up the trunk of a great Oak. Or the way chipmunks chased each other under the cover of ivy.

In the gentle, ancient beauty of this wilderness, he found his soul renewed by love.

God, he loved her. She appreciated this natural beauty as much as he did. He’d never thought that could be possible of a human. With each point of appreciation, she delivered him to a place of quiet perfection. He would do anything for her. Absolutely anything.

Then, he heard them.

The hackles rose on his neck. His sensory perceptions heightened. His bear caught the scent of danger. The stench of death lingered in the air.

The wolves
.

Hell no.

Not now.

Breath filtered heavily into his lungs. His gut told him what needed to happen. He had to shift.

Instinct launched into overdrive. His heart raced at triple speed. He took in their surroundings at a glance.

And his bear surfaced.

There was no way to stop it.

“Steph,” he choked through his tight throat. “This is bad. You have to get to safety.
Now
.”

Forehead wrinkled with confusion, she asked, “What is it?”

Already, he felt their paws trampling the earth at breakneck speeds, even through his hiking boots. As a Trail Guardian, he’d tuned his senses to an ultra-fine level to perceive threats via ground vibration.

The short length and fast tapping of the vibrations told him time was short. To safeguard Steph, he had two minutes to prepare, maybe less, before the wolves encountered them. He dropped his pack to the ground and stripped hers off her shoulders.

In his mind, Ollun’s warning rang with the finality of a death knell.

If he sacrificed his life to keep Steph safe, his existence wouldn’t be in vain. It was the highest honor among his kind to give one’s life for his mate. Whether or not she was pregnant with his child, he’d do anything to protect her. If she was, that gave him all the motivation in the world.

“Mason.” She reached for his hand. “What’s happening?”

While he couldn’t imagine her confusion, he had one job to do.
Keep her safe
.

His base nature bombarded him. He barely kept his head straight and his thoughts coherent. Words were almost impossible to form.

During his fleeting scan of the area, he spied a tree to send her up, and he shoved her toward it. “Climb.”

“What?”

“Get to higher ground.”

She looked at him as though he spoke a foreign language. “I don’t understand.”

“Climb the goddamn tree.” He barked the order with enough ferocity to make her flinch and reach for the lowest branch. Probably to get away from him. Fine, whatever it took.

“You won’t understand what you’re about to see,” he gritted out. “I’m sorry. I wish there was more time.”

“For what?”

“Do you want to live?” he bellowed.

Trembling, she nodded.

“Climb to the highest branch.”

“Mason—”

“Do it.” Then one speck of reason ignited in his half-shifted brain. “Wait.” He grabbed the satellite phone from his pack. He tossed it to her. “The number programmed first is Tyce. The second is my brother. No matter happens to me, call them.”

Her lip quivered. “Mason?”

“I love you, Steph.”

From there he allowed his bear to take over. He lost control of his higher faculties, one by one, until the animal reigned.

Cartilage expanded. Bones popped, dislocated, reformed. Fur lengthened. His senses heightened times a thousand.

He smelled the pack’s diseased stench. It almost made him retch. He dug his paws and claws into the earth, prepared to defend his life and his future with Steph.

Ancients and Ancestors, give me strength
.

He was ready to fight the greatest battle of his life.

He prepared to give his last breath for the mate who completed his soul, in this life and the world beyond.

10

Stuffing the satellite phone into her back pocket, she climbed the fur tree like her life depended on it. Considering Mason’s frightening words and expressions, it might.

She trusted his survivalist instincts. If he said climb, she’d climb. But then, where did that leave him? She didn’t hear him ascending the branches behind her, but he had a way of moving his large body without a sound. Another remarkable attribute of his.

The sap made her hands sticky. Bark splintered off the branches, gouging her legs, hands and arms. Coarse flecks dropped into her eyes, scratching until her vision blurred. She forcefully blinked them away until she could see the next place to grab hold.

Oh, God. Okay. I can do this.

When she made it to the highest branch she believed would support her, she glanced down the length of the trunk. No Mason.

She panicked.
Where is he?

Ear-piercing howls shattered her eardrums. She clapped her hands against her ears to keep the sounds from doing permanent damage.