Her Reluctant Bear: A Hot Paranormal Fantasy Saga with Witches, Werewolves, and Werebears (Weres and Witches of Silver Lake Book 5) (26 page)

All of a sudden, gravel spewed and some of the rocks pinged against the car. Brian blinked and then Jillian was gone. What the hell? One of the doors to the building banged open. Holy shit. Was that Jillian? She’d said she was fast, but he had never imagined she could be that speedy.

Whitlaw smacked his hand against the car hood and took off toward the building. Brian expected the team to appear en masse and charge after him, but other than Whitlaw shouting at Jillian and his feet smacking against the cement, the area was bathed in silence.

What was everyone waiting for? The woman Brian loved was being chased by a man who’d killed at least two other people and had beaten a third. These men were doing nothing! If any harm came to her, he’d make them all pay.

Go after her
, his inner voice counseled.

Fucking A, I will.

Brian jumped up, and just as he was about to charge, a shot rang out from inside the building. His bear went crazy.

Not waiting for Dalton or any of the other men to do something, Brian darted into the open, heading toward Jillian. Footsteps echoed from behind and to the right of him. Now they acted? They better not be trying to stop him.

Jillian screamed, but he couldn’t be certain if it was from outrage or pain. All Brian could think of was saving her. As he tore open the door to rush into the dark, his bones cracked, and his vision blurred.

What the hell? Pain seared his gut and mouth, and he swore his face had been set on fire. As he crashed into the large room, his hands met the cement floor—or rather his furry paws met the floor. Holy hell. He’d shifted. As much as he wanted to celebrate this miracle, he didn’t have time.

A lone flashlight pointed upward, barely illuminating the exposed beamed ceiling, but it was enough to see blood pouring from Jillian’s side. He froze. Next to her, Anna was hunched over in a chair. Whitlaw was fifteen feet from the women with a gun raised, aimed at Jillian.

As if a power from above sent a charge through him, Brian rushed Whitlaw. A deep throaty roar emitted from Brian’s mouth, startling him as well as his enemy. Whitlaw whipped toward him, the gun clasped in both hands.

The sound of the shot echoed off the cement floor as a white-hot ember burned his front left leg, slicing his skin. Brian’s heart hitched at the attack, but a bullet wasn’t going to slow him down. Nothing could stop him now that Jillian was hurt.

Brian’s new mission was to end this man’s life. Suddenly, fur flew and a wolf appeared before him with bared teeth.

The animal howled. He was close enough that when Brian reached out, his front paw swatted the wolf across his snout, sending him backward. The animal shook his head and then immediately righted himself. Body low to the ground, he charged.

Brian dropped onto all fours, ready to do battle. Out of the corner of his eye, white fur flew. A moment later, Jillian was in her gorgeous tiger form. Except for the blood covering her belly, she looked fierce. He expected her to charge, but all she was able to do was stagger toward them, and his protective instincts shot into a higher gear. His moment of distraction cost him. Whitlaw’s wolf managed to land on Brian’s shoulder, and he clamped down hard with sharp teeth. Damn it. As much as he wanted to make sure Jillian was okay, he had to fend off this ferocious mangy wolf first.

Brian twisted his head and bit down on the animal’s flank, causing the feral animal to squeal. Blood squirted out of Whitlaw’s side, and though the coppery taste was unpleasant, Brian would eat the damn wolf if that was what it took to make him die.

Jillian had finally crawled close enough and reached out with her paw, digging her nails into Whitlaw’s head. The wolf let go of Brian and fell to the ground, but then quickly jumped back up, acting as if he was fit for another round.

News flash, buddy. Not with that hole in your side, you aren’t
. All of a sudden, Whitlaw’s wolf staggered, and Jillian growled. As much as Brian wanted to finish him off, he knew Jillian needed to do this for closure.

Voices sounded off to the side as two men—one being Dalton—rushed to Anna’s side and untied her. Dalton glanced over at them before returning his attention to the injured, captive woman. He must have believed Jillian would be okay or he would have entered into the fray.

Jillian suddenly yelped, and Brian moved forward, ready to help her. She had slammed the wolf into the ground, and had sunk her teeth into his neck. With him firmly in her grasp, she tossed the animal right and left. Wanting another chance to end this miserable man’s life, Brian took a bite out of the animal too, until the small wolf body went limp. Jillian moved back and so did Brian. What was once an animal transformed back into a man—and a very dead one at that. Holy crap.

Brian turned to Jillian ready to comfort her, but because he was still in his bear form, he was afraid to hug her. Just as he attempted to shift, she looked up at him with eyes that were glazed over. Her rear dropped to the ground and then the rest of her body followed.

Oh, shit. Brian roared, hoping to attract the attention of the others. When no one rushed in, he had to do something. Needing to return to his human form, Brian closed his eyes and concentrated. Pain ricocheted through him more intense than the first time, but that could have been because he’d been shot. His body twisted and spun and for a few seconds, he couldn’t see anything.

The next thing he knew, he was on his knees next to Jillian in his human form. He glanced down at his naked body. His chest was covered in blood. Some was probably his, but he suspected most belonged to Frank Whitlaw. Brian reached out and touched her shoulder. “Jillian. Are you okay?”

When she didn’t respond, his heart dropped to his stomach.

‡

B
rian was devastated
that Jillian had been injured. If he’d run in faster, he might have been able to prevent her from being shot.

Don’t be so hard on yourself
, the voice in his head said.

Only now did Brian realize that inner voice had been his bear talking to him all along. If only he’d introduced himself years ago, his life would have gone a little smoother.

Connor and Kip checked out Jillian, who was still in her tiger form. She was lucky. The bullet had been a through-and-through.

“We’ll carry her,” Connor said. “You shouldn’t be using that arm.”

As much as Brian wanted to argue, he and Kip could handle her. He bet Dalton would have been there had he known his sister had been injured, but he’d already left with Anna when Jillian had been in the middle of fighting Whitlaw.

“We can take her to the office or back to Dalton’s place,” Connor said. “We have a room where she can recover. Which do you prefer?” he asked, deferring to Brian.

“She’d be more comfortable at Dalton’s, but why not take her to a vet or the hospital?”

Connor sighed. “Because a human is inside her body. We can’t let anyone find out about our kind. Don’t worry, as a shifter she will heal on her own.”

“If you say so.”

“Dalton’s it is,” Connor said. “Stay here for a minute. Once we put Jillian in the car, I’ll bring you a spare set of clothes.”

“Appreciate it.” He could handle the cold, but someone might call the cops on him if they saw him naked.

Once he changed and slid into the back with Jillian, Connor took off. When they arrived at her brother’s house, Dalton wasn’t there, which meant Connor had to use his lock picking tools to get inside. Kip and Connor carried her to the bed.

“Do you want us to stay?” Kip asked.

Brian looked down at Jillian who was out cold but breathing evenly. From what he could tell, Kip didn’t have any medical skills. “You go on ahead. I’ll call if she takes a turn for the worse.”

Once the men left, Brian stroked Jillian’s fur. His own wound hurt like hell, but he wanted to make sure Jillian would be okay before shifting back into his bear form to heal.

A woman by the name of Missy showed up about a half hour later, saying Rye had called her. She explained that she was a Wendayan with healing powers and that she wanted to perform her magic on Jillian. Brian was all for it.

Between the lit candles, the crystals, and some herbs she placed under Jillian’s head, Missy said she would wake up soon and shift back. She also explained that when Rye had been stabbed, he’d slept a long time too, but after he had woken, he was mostly healed.

Jillian should be so lucky. Once Brian was alone with her, he shifted into his bear form and rested on the floor for the next few hours. He’d just woken up, shifted back into his human form, and tossed on clean clothes when Dalton stepped into the room. “Why don’t you shower and get some sleep. I can watch her.”

Brian appreciated his concern, but he wanted to believe that Jillian would heal faster with him by her side. “Give me a little bit more time with her.”

“Sure. I’ll be in the living room.”

“How’s Anna?” Brian asked.

“She’s resting in the hospital. Her face is swollen, but she’ll heal. The doctors expect she’ll be good enough to go home tomorrow.

“I’m glad she’ll be okay.”

Dalton nodded and left. Now that Whitlaw was dead, Brian should return to his apartment, but he didn’t want to leave Jillian just yet. She moaned, and he leaned closer. “That’s it, Jillian. Wake up so we can run in the woods together and splash in the rivers. Hell, the next time it snows we can roll around in it and maybe even slide down a hill on our butts.”

Keeping his hand on her side, he sat back and let his mind wander. “Can you imagine what our kids will look like? If one’s a bear, I bet he’ll be more tan than brown, and if one is a tiger, she’ll have creamy fur with dark brown stripes.” As if Jillian was imagining the same thing, her body shook. He hoped that meant she was trying to come out of her healing stupor. “I don’t think I ever told you that I love you, but I do. Please, Jillian, come back to me,” he whispered in her ear as a tear trickled down his cheek.

She probably had no idea how much she meant to him. Besides Elana, Jillian was the first person to see the real him and accept him for who he was. She never laughed when he was weak or when he needed to take his pills. He had no doubt that Jillian Garner was one of a kind, and he loved her.

Her paws twitched, giving him hope she’d be okay. When her eyes opened, he nearly jumped up and shouted. As if she was aware she was in her tiger form, she shook, swirled, and transformed before his eyes. His gaze shot to where she’d been wounded. All that remained was a small scar, surrounded by some redness.

Jillian’s eyes widened. “Brian?” She glanced down at her body then touched her tender wound. “That bastard Whitlaw shot me. He’s dead, right?”

She must have blacked out right before he died. “Yes.”

She hissed in a breath and clasped his hand. “Are you okay? He shot you too.”

“It was a scratch. My bear took care of it already.” Resting in his bear form had done wonders.

She ran a finger along the back of his hand. “Is that your blood?”

“I imagine it’s a combination of all of ours, but I suspect what’ on my hand is mostly yours.” He really needed to wash.

She lifted up on her elbow. “What happened to Anna? How is she?”

“She’s in the hospital. Dalton and Rye took her. Your brother seemed quite concerned, but he said she should be released tomorrow. Speaking of Anna’s rescue, Dalton and I arrived at the same time you and Whitlaw did. I saw that trick you pulled. I was quite impressed.”

“Trick?”

“Your talent to move fast.”

Jillian looked off to the side, her lips pressed together as if she was reliving the event. “Yeah, I needed to beat him inside. I figured I only had a few seconds to find Anna. Since it was so dark inside, I nearly tripped getting past all the framing.”

“Me too.”

Jillian glanced at the ceiling. “When I saw Anna tied up in that chair, I lost it.” She faced Brian. “He told me in the car that he planned to torture her in front of me before taking me out. I had to set her free, but all I managed to do before Whitlaw came in was to rip off the gag and undo about half of the rope that held her hands together.”

“How was he able to shoot you? I would have thought you would have been on him and taken the gun away before he had the chance to pull the trigger.”

She ran a hand down his arm, sending his thoughts in the wrong direction. “I guess I didn’t believe he’d shoot me. I thought we’d fight wolf to tiger. My trick, as you called it, must have unhinged him. When he ran in and saw me with Anna, he must have decided I needed to die right then. I saw him raise his arm, and I waited a split second too long before rushing him. He shot me just before I reached him.”

Brian’s gut twisted. “He shot you at close range?”

She pressed her hand to her side, as if she was reliving the pain. “Yes.”

Brian could barely keep from throwing something against the wall. Frank Whitlaw didn’t deserve such a quick death. “I guess that’s when I burst in.”

“Yes.” She smiled. “When I saw you, you were still in your human form, and I wanted to shout at you to leave, that he would kill you, but then you shifted into your bear. The look on Whitlaw’s face was priceless. He was fucking scared.”