Bear's Heart: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (Bear Heat Book 5) (4 page)

BOOK: Bear's Heart: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (Bear Heat Book 5)
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“Help...” she
wheezed, then coughed as dust fell onto her face. “P-please...help
me...”

She closed her eyes. It made
no difference. It was still the same inky, oppressive blackness all
around. But she felt hot tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

The feel of her tears on her
face reminded her that she was still alive. If she wasn't dead, she
would fight to live. She couldn't give up. Luke would go berserk if
she didn't make it out alive.

She sniffed and blinked away
her tears. “Help...” she croaked as loudly as she could.
“Can anyone hear me? I'm here. Please h-help me…”

She coughed again, and
swallowed a mouthful of sand and dirt. Her throat felt raw and
parched. The realization that she would have no water, no food made
her slow her breathing. She had to conserve her energy. She had
faith that she would be found. She just didn't know when. Until
then, she had to try her best to stay alive.

Her fingers scrabbled around
on the ground. She finally found a hard, jagged rock and she gripped
it gratefully. Using her voice would take up precious oxygen and
energy. She would use the rock instead.

Holding the rock tightly, she
began to tap against the concrete at regular intervals. The rescuers
would pick up the sound and know that someone was alive. They would
be able to find her and pinpoint her location. She just had to keep
tapping, and hoping.

Jade played an upbeat,
cheerful song in her head and tapped the rock to the optimistic
rhythm. She forced herself to visualize a happy scene and she saw
her family crowded around the small dining table, singing and
clapping as Luke blew out the ten candles on his birthday cake. She
had baked the cake herself, and it was in the shape of...a bear. She
had bought a teddy bear for Luke with her own pocket money when he
was a tiny tot. Boo was Luke's oldest toy. The ragged, rugged teddy
bear sported stitches across his tummy and rump, and he was missing
an eye but Luke still kept him around. Jade had baked the cake to
celebrate Boo in his heyday.

It was Luke's birthday, but
he had made her a small present. A hair clip. They had always been
close, and Luke was a sweet boy.

She still had the hair clip.
She kept it in a box with her earrings and other accessories. Luke
had been crazy about spiders at that age, so of course he had
skilfully and proudly fashioned the hair clip into the shape of a
spider. Jade smiled at the memory. She had worn it once just to
show her appreciation, but she hadn't felt too comfortable wearing a
spider in her hair. She thought it looked rather silly. But now
that she thought about it, the hair clip was kinda cool. Maybe she
should take it out of the box and wear it again. Not to work, but on
a date maybe?

Jade let out a small laugh.

Now she was really letting
her imagination run wild. She hadn't been on a date in God knows how
long. Her last relationship had ended three years ago, about the
same time her parents passed away. Luke had been building a solid
career for himself in the city police force, but he had rushed home
when she told him that their mother had suffered a relapse. Their
mother had won her battle with cancer years ago, but the disease had
reared its ugly head again and this time, with her advanced age,
cancer had emerged the victor in this final battle. Barely a month
after their mother passed away, their dad had a heart attack. Luke
had extended his leave and stayed with her for more than a month.
She cried almost every day, and he was worried for her. But she had
finally pulled herself together and told him to go back to the city.
He had a good, meaningful job, and she had to get her life back on
track. She still had her job in the restaurant, and she would take
care of their family home.

She threw herself into her
work in the restaurant and her household chores. All her
relationships had gone nowhere, ending in tears and heartbreak.
Frankly, she was sick and tired of all the drama and lies. She just
wanted some peace and quiet, and if that meant she would remain
single for the rest of her life, so be it.

Jade continued tapping the
rock intermittently as she let her thoughts wander. She would think
about her past, her future, everything except her present
predicament.

She thought of her brother.
Luke had always been a bright boy. She knew that he would make
something of himself when he left their small town and moved to the
city.

He had been doing so well in
the police force. He had struggled to come to terms with his Change,
but now, he was doing fine in the Black Bears Group as well.

Jade had met some of Luke's
clan members. They were all warm, friendly and welcoming. She had
even spoken to his mentor, Dylan, over the phone.

Jade remembered that deep,
baritone voice well. Dylan had assured her that Luke was making
excellent progress and doing really well.

“Dylan,” she
murmured absently. She hadn't had the chance to meet him face to
face. She had been so busy with the sale of the house, packing,
moving to the city, finding a job. Everything had been done in such
a rush she hardly had time to catch her breath.

Jade cocked her head at the
faint scratching sound above her. Was someone there?

CHAPTER
TEN

“Hello...” Jade
called out weakly and coughed.

The scratching sound
intensified.

“Hello...h-help...please
help me...” she wheezed. She could hear a grating sound, like
something heavy being dragged across the ground. She waited, her
heart pounding furiously.

Had someone heard her? She
spat out the sand in her mouth and tried to call out again. But her
throat felt too dry.

“Hello! Hello, can you
hear me?” someone shouted back at last.

Jade gasped. “Y-yes.
Yes! I...”

“Jade? Jade!”

“I'm here...” she
rasped.

She recognized that deep,
strong voice. It was Dylan's voice. She blinked rapidly and
swallowed. But—how could it be? How could it be Dylan Hart?

“Hello? Are
you...Dylan?” she choked out.

“Yes! Yes, Jade. I'm
Dylan Hart. We spoke on the phone, remember?” He kept his
tone cheerful and conversational, trying to get her to focus on his
voice and remain conscious and optimistic.

“Y-yes, I remember...”

“I promised Luke I'll
find you. Hold on. We're getting you out.” Dylan's voice was
clear and strong, and she clung to it like a lifeline.

Jade almost wept with relief.
Dylan had found her. She was saved. She was truly saved!

She muttered his name like a
mantra as drilling and chipping sounds began above her. They were
coming for her. Dylan was coming for her…

A sudden shaft of light
pierced the darkness, and Jade squinted up in shock.

A silhouette appeared, and as
her vision cleared, she made out a pair of amber eyes set in the face
of a fallen angel. At least that was how she imagined an angel who
had fallen to earth would look like. Impossibly handsome with the
chiseled, strong features of a warrior.

“Jade!” The
angel spoke.

She smiled at his voice.

“Dylan.”

He was speaking again but she
couldn't hear him through the sudden, loud buzzing in her ears.

The halo around his head grow
wider and brighter. More circles of blinding light appeared.
Torchlights? Searchlights?

The circles merged to form a
single, blazing sphere of light. The light grew brighter, harsher
until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

“Dylan...” she
whispered.

“You're getting out,
Jade. Just stay with me. Hold on,” Dylan said urgently.

She thought she smiled. She
couldn't be sure.

Stretching her hand towards
Dylan, she felt the soft brush of his fingertips just before she
collapsed.

She just felt so tired. She
had been hanging on for so long, clinging precariously to
consciousness and hope.

It was all right to let go
now, she supposed. Dylan was here.

Everything that was holding
her together snapped suddenly and she slumped forward like a puppet
with its strings cut.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

Dylan forced himself to step
back as medical and civil defense personnel swarmed in. He was aware
of Caleb, Baxter and the other Black Bears coming to stand behind him
but he didn't turn around. He didn't tear his eyes away from the
spot where he knew Jade was.

He had found Jade. Or more
accurately, his bear had found her.

The Black Bears had spread
out and positioned themselves at various points around the massive
pile of collapsed concrete and bricks. Dylan had allowed his bear to
rise to the surface so that his animal senses were heightened. His
sense of sight, hearing and smell would be more acute and he hoped he
would detect a feeble voice, a scratching sound or a soft desperate
cry.

Instead, his bear had blocked
out all the surrounding sounds and scents and just zoomed in on one
distinct scent. A scent that made his entire body throb and tense,
and made his bear roar and claw like a maddened beast to be let out.

His bear wanted to get to
her. This female,
his
female

Dylan had always been calm,
in control, disciplined. He could always reign his bear in and work
steadily, methodically. His head ruled at all times.

But right now, he found
himself having a hard time forcing his bear to back down. He knew
that his amber eyes were glowing with the rage of his beast, and his
claws were stabbing into his palms.

It was all he could do not to
shove all these humans aside and let his bear bulldoze through all
the rubble to get to Jade. Jade was all that mattered.

But his sensible, human mind
asserted itself and told him that there were other lives at stake.
There were other people trapped under the rubble, other survivors.
If the slabs were moved around carelessly, someone might be crushed.
Someone who might be alive right now.

The rescuers had a heavy
responsibility. They were racing against the clock. They had to
decide how to get Jade out safely, and how to minimize the impact on
the other survivors still trapped within. They had to act quickly,
and any mistake could mean the loss of a life.

Dylan understood the weight
on their shoulders. He knew what they were up against. These men
and women were brave, efficient and competent. They knew what they
were doing. But Dylan wanted them to do it faster. Now! He wanted
to get Jade out now!

Dylan lunged forward when he
caught a glimpse of Jade's pale hand. The civil defense officers
eased her out slowly, and paramedics transferred her to a stretcher.

There was a layer of gray
dust covering her and she looked like a statute. She moaned softly,
and her eyelids fluttered but remained closed.

Dylan rushed to her side and
grabbed her hand. “Jade!”

She turned her head at his
voice and whispered, “Dylan?” Her hand trembled in his.

“Yes! Yes, I'm Dylan.
I'm here, with you...”

Her eyes opened a crack.
“Don't...l-leave me...”

“I won't.”

She was rushed into a waiting
ambulance. One of the paramedics turned to Dylan and said, “You
can ride with her. You're her husband, right?”

Dylan didn't answer. He
clambered to Jade's side and took her hand again. He didn't bother
looking back at his clan members as the ambulance doors closed but he
heard Caleb's command, “Bax, go get Luke. Tell him his sister
is on the way to the hospital. Drive him there and stay with him.”

Dylan didn't let go of Jade's
hand even as the medics inserted a needle in her arm and connected
her to a drip. An oxygen mask was clamped over her face.

He stroked his thumb over the
back of her hand and murmured her name over and over. His voice
seemed to calm her, and he felt her hand relax in his.

This woman mattered a whole
lot to him. He had found her, but he wanted to have her, hold her
and protect her. He had never, ever felt this way before. Was
she...his
mate
?

His bear seemed to think so.
And the beast was snarling and clawing at him, wanting to be nearer
to the woman.

Dylan gave his bear a low,
warning growl and nudged his beast aside. What his bear wanted or
thought or felt didn't matter.

The only thing that mattered
was Jade.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Jade heard herself cry out
and she snapped her eyes open with a gasp. She had been sleeping and
waking in fits and starts, and everything was a fuzzy, blurry haze.
Her eyes just kept drifting shut again.

But this time, her eyes
remained open and focused.

She stared at the ceiling for
an instant, before an anxious face lunged into her line of sight and
hovered just inches above hers.

BOOK: Bear's Heart: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (Bear Heat Book 5)
13.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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