Bear My Baby (Shifter Squad Six 1) (17 page)

One of the wolves had a slight limp when he came for Connor, trying to grab him by the underjaw, so that between the wolf on his back and him they could distract him enough for the other two to rip out his stomach. It was the easiest way for wolves to overpower a werebear when working in tandem—a few of them to distract the bear while the others went for the most sensitive part of the grizzly.

But Connor had far too much strength left in him to let that happen. He couldn’t shake the wolf on his back off, but instead of waiting for the other to come to him, he went for the wolf. He charged forward, his teeth bared in a growl, and slammed into the elegant body. Connor’s jaws locked around the wolf’s neck and his nails scratched and scraped at his side, finding the wound he had already caused before and sending blood gushing all over.

When he finally let go, the wolf collapsed on the ground, whining pitifully with just the use of two of his legs still granted to him. Connor whipped around and charged back toward his initial position, blood dripping into his eyes from where the wolf on his back was doing its gruesome work. The pain was splitting, but Connor couldn’t let them get too close to Cassie. He charged right into the middle of the two other wolves, but they skipped out of his way with ease, using the thick wooden pillars to loop around with their superior speed and agility.

Connor grumbled and tried to paw at the wolf gripping onto his back, a low growl travelling through him as he managed to land one blow on the damn beast. But as he rose up on two legs, trying to get the one causing him such searing pain, the other two wolves saw their opportunity and dove in. Suddenly, Connor felt the chilling sensation of jaws on his belly, ripping at the skin there. He yowled in pain and landed back on his four feet, backing away.

But the wolves wouldn’t give up. When he got one between his jaws, pressing down hard on him, the other just went for his stomach again, long nails digging into Connor’s sides. He could feel his vision blurring and the air was thick with their growls, snarls, and yelps. The smoke from the grenade was beginning to settle, affording better views of the wolves, but Connor could barely see through the thick red streams of his blood.

He backed away a step, holding onto the wolf that had come to him as a distraction, and tripped on one of the boxes. Disoriented, he stumbled and the two wolves on him did their part to pitch him over. Just when he was sure that all three would rip his guts out, Cassie popped up from behind the boxes. Her eyes were wild with fear and adrenaline and she held the gun in shaky hands, but she aimed it just like he’d taught her.

With floundering aim, she trained the gun on the wolf who’d been chewing through Connor’s neck and pulled the trigger once, twice, three times until the wolf slumped with a hiss of pain, tumbling off of Connor. The big bear hauled himself to his feet, using the moment of confusion, and steadied his stance in front of Cassie’s hiding place. He heard the bloodcurdling sound of more footsteps coming up the stairs, and Connor readied himself for one last fight before he saw everything he loved slip away from him.

But the body that bounded up the stairs was not another white wolf. It was the familiar, sleek brown body of Grim, his teeth bared in a vicious snarl. Without one moment of hesitation, he dove for the wolf that was still without injury, sending both of them into a flurry of hair and teeth and snarls. The werecougar’s claws were a perfect match for the wolf when the element of surprise was taken away.

Connor concentrated on the bastard he’d trapped between his jaws before. He could see that the wolf was looking for an exit, trying to back away into the stairwell, but Connor wouldn’t let it. When the wolf turned to run, Connor was on him like a plague of locusts, his jaws ripping and tearing without remorse. Soon enough, he fell limp and lifeless and Connor let the wolf go, watching him tumble down the stairs with dull thuds. Connor had to admit it was one of the most satisfying things he’d seen in ages.

He turned around just in time to see Grim standing up, dusting himself off in his human form. He wore that knowing grin he often did and taking it as a sign of safety, Connor allowed the shift to take him. His body groaned and heaved under the stress of the shift, but he didn’t fight it. When he was back in human form, he almost stumbled and fell to his knees.

“Fuck,” he hissed as Grim came and propped him up a little, returning the rifle to Connor. “Those fuckers meant business,” he said, gingerly touching the gaping wounds in his shoulders and the rips in his neck and back.

They looked bad but as a werebear, he knew they would heal fast.

“Yeah. They got Dutch in one of his secondary nests. They knew exactly where we’d set them up, just like we guessed. He’s fine though, just a bullet to the knee, as things go,” Grim said with a chuckle. “Grant’s patching him up. And you look like you need some work too.”

“I’m fine. Cassie, honey, come out,” he called, his heart skipping a beat as he waited for her to appear.

Cassie stood up, her eyes red from inhaling so much of the smoke, and he could see from that distance that she was shuddering like a leaf. But she was safe. And she’d saved his life, too.

What a woman…

“Are you okay?” she asked, running to him.

“I’ll be fine. Let’s get out of here.”

The four wolves who had come for them had all changed back now, lifeless on the ground. Connor didn’t need to check their pulse to know that none of them had survived. He wouldn’t allow it and nor would Grim.

They wobbled down the stairs, Grim supporting Connor a bit. The scene downstairs wasn’t any better. In addition to the men Connor had dropped, he could count two more bodies that had the distinct signs of a cougar mauling about them.

“You had your fun, huh?” Connor asked, smirking at Grim.

“A little. You know how it goes,” the man said good-naturedly, grinning.

“Sadly enough, I do. Do we know where Monroe is?” Connor asked, letting go of Grim and grabbing Cassie’s hand.

He felt her squeeze his palm tightly as she waited anxiously for the answer. They walked down the corridor, or what was once the remnants of it.

“Not sure, lieutenant. Thatch would know,” Grim said, letting his jovial mood drop a little.

The mission wasn’t over before the boy was back safe and sound, after all. Not for any of them. Tex appeared from the living room, looking a bit ragged and worse for wear, his gun trained on them the moment he rounded the corner. He dropped it quickly and nodded sharply at Connor and the rest of them.

“Good to see you’re okay. We have to get out. The whole fucking Cali armed forces is on their way here,” Tex said, ushering them out through the window in the living room. “And we have a bear cub to go save.”

Tex grinned when he said that, and a stone fell from Connor’s heart. There was still a chance. Connor didn’t miss the fact that when Thatch said that, Cassie squeezed her gun in her hand so hard that her knuckles turned white. Never get between a mama bear and her cub.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Connor

News of their compatriots’ untimely demise must have reached the hideout of The Arctics. At least that was the only reason that Connor could give for the wealth of activity there. They were obviously packing up to leave, or at least the few men that were still there.

Connor wasn’t naïve enough to hope that they would get all of the wolves who came for them at Cassie’s house. There were always soldiers smart enough to read a losing situation and get the hell out. In fact, it was thanks to one of them relaying a message to their command that Thatch had managed to pinpoint the location of the makeshift headquarters.

It had been a hell of a job getting Cassie to stay behind. Reason hardly worked with a woman desperate to get her child back, and Connor had to assume his own state of injury was not helping much. Only Grim, Thatch, and Grant had gotten out of the battle unscathed—or mostly unscathed. Dutch had two broken ribs and had taken two bullets; Connor was pretty scratched up and he was sure that he had at least a small fracture, if not an all-out break in his foot; and Tex had been far too close to a set of wolf jaws, which left their marks all over him.

But that wouldn’t slow any of them down. Dutch was in position already and Tex had been left behind with Grant to keep an eye on Cassie. They’d spread out around the perimeter of the compound now, each taking their own corner of it.

“I can see two trucks heading out. I think that just leaves two Jeeps behind and they still have the kid in the compound. Saw him through one of the windows,” Dutch reported, his words a bit more strained than usual.

No wonder, lying down on top of broken ribs was no fucking picnic.

“Give the trucks a few minutes to head out farther and then we go for the Jeeps when they begin loading them up,” Connor said, keeping his voice emotionless.

A million thoughts pounded through his head, of course. Whether Monroe would be fine, whether they could ever come back from this with Cassie, whether he was the right man for her at all, considering the kind of danger that came with being around him. Though of course he had to admit that for once, it wasn’t him in particular that was causing the mess. It was the woman in his life who was more of a magnet for bullets than he was.

It certainly felt new to Connor. A feeling he didn’t much appreciate at the time being.

Minutes went by like hours as Connor slowly made his way closer to the compound, which was hidden about an hour out of San Francisco. It was getting close to dawn and the sky was starting to glow with reds and yellows, threatening to take away their cover. He counted his steps in his head, willing himself to slow down as he crept hunched over through the underbrush.

By the time he was close enough to the small, squat buildings The Arctics had hidden in, he could estimate that the trucks were far enough away not to be able to come in for help. It was just their luck that their timing worked out so well, as Connor doubted he could have taken another fight like the one in Cassie’s attic.

“Move in,” he called as he saw the front door open and two men march out, both starkly blonde and looking like they’d popped out of the same damn time machine.

Connor jumped over the fence that stood between him and the shadow of one of the Jeeps, and heard a faint rustling coming from the left of him. He knew that had to be Thatch, and by the time both of them were rushing toward the Jeeps, that assumption was confirmed. Thatch’s face held a complete and utterly calm mask of battle, the one he always wore—completely impassive and expressionless, like he was at his most Zen when he was surrounded by blood and guts and gore.

Two more men appeared in the doorway, one of them holding Monroe. Connor saw red as soon as the black-clad bastard appeared, and for a second he wasn’t sure if it was his roar or the sound of gunfire around him that was louder.

Dutch had taken aim on the guy next to the man carrying Monroe and dropped him easily from his hidden nest. Thatch and Grim went for the two who’d come out first and Connor made a beeline for the fucker holding Monroe. He just about tackled the guy, getting to him before he could draw a sidearm. Grabbing Monroe with one hand, he shoved the butt of his rifle right into the face of the man, making it crumple inward like some sick twisted nightmare.

The wolf let out an agonized scream as Connor lifted one combat-booted foot and slammed it into his face, or what was left of it, again. With a satisfying groan, the body fell over, slumped against the doorframe.

“Move in!” Connor called, letting Grim and Thatch past him as he took up a position behind one of the Jeeps, keeping Monroe right by his side. “Don’t worry, little man. You’ll be fine,” he said to Monroe, who was crying a little, stunned and shaken by everything that was going on around him.

A couple more dull shots rang in the complex, making Connor tense. But he trusted his men enough to keep his cool. A few minutes later, Grim appeared in the doorway, grinning victoriously, with Thatch trailing behind him.

“All clear,” Grim hollered, his eyes wild with excitement.

Nothing like the heat of battle to get the blood pumping.

“Get in the Jeep and let’s make tracks before anyone misses these guys,” Connor said, searching for keys on one of the bodies on the ground.

He felt no remorse. Under different circumstances, it could have been him bleeding on the ground, without ever having had the chance to fight back. But that was life and this time, he’d won. No time to mull over the fact that the men at his feet could have had very similar training to him and stories he wouldn’t have minded hearing over a couple of glasses of beer.

Connor tossed the keys to Thatch, and the three of them, plus Monroe, got into the Jeep.

“We’re picking you up, Dutch. Limp down, you fucker,” Grim said into the comm, receiving a grumbling growl in response that made the rest of the men chuckle.

His blood was burning with adrenaline and every part of him hurt like hell, but when Connor sat there in the back of the Jeep, driving toward an inevitable shitstorm of trouble with The Firm, he didn’t regret a single thing he’d done that day. It had all been worth it to look into those pale blue eyes of Monroe’s, which looked so much like his own.

Monroe raised his hands up, his brow furrowing a little to make him look especially serious. “Mama!” he said, and Connor grinned.

“Don’t worry, little man. We’ll go find your mama right now.”

He hugged the boy close and for the first time in days, felt his heart rate settle a bit. No matter what happened next, at least he’d gotten his son back. Being thoroughly reamed by The Firm seemed like a much smaller problem in comparison.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Cassie

When Connor walked through the front door of the bunker with Monroe in his arms, Cassie burst out crying. She practically leapt off the chair, running over to Connor, taking Monroe from him and cuddling the boy close. Monroe threw his chubby little arms around her neck, giggling happily.