Big Bear Mountain - The Complete Series (3 page)

J
arrad was confused, though, by Elle’s
comment after her fits of laughter had finally died down. But for a guy like
Jarrad, being confused was pretty much a normal state of affairs where women
were concerned. No wonder he hadn’t found a mate for himself and his bear, yet.

Clueless didn’t even begin to describe
Jarrad when it came to finding a mate.

Curvy girl? But she’s gorgeous. She’s
perfect.

His bear growled again and took a deep
breath, enjoying her scent, even though it was heavily laden with the scent of
her fear and anxiety, which Jarrad attributed to her fear of flying and her
near death experience on the mountain. His bear knew that he had found his
mate. Her scent was unmistakable. Now, he just needed to convince Jarrad that
she was
the one
.

Despite her ordeal, the girl still looked stunning
and quite classy. She wasn’t a local girl, that’s for sure. Fresh out of the
big city was Jarrad’s guess. Manicured nails, her golden hair near perfect with
only a few errant stands having broken free of her pony tail during the rescue,
just enough make up to highlight her high cheekbones and plump, kissable lips
and curves in all the right places. She was out of his league. That much he
knew for sure. He wasn’t going to let his bear make a fool out of him. No way.

“What were you doing up on the mountain,
anyways?” Jarrad asked.

“I was thinking of going hiking,” she
replied, regretting her stupid reply even before it had left her mouth.

Jarrad quirked an eyebrow. “In that?” he
asked, looking from her bare feet to the short skirt which poked out from
beneath the survival blanket.

“I said I was
thinking
about it,”
she snapped.

“Yeah, we rescue a lot of people up here
every year who were
thinking
about hiking or climbing or camping. A lot
of them are way better prepared than you, too.” Jarrad knew she was hiding
something and that she was afraid, so he didn’t press further.

“We need to take you down the mountain to
the local hospital to get you checked out. We can have the State Troopers meet
us there so they can take a statement. Unless you’d rather go to the station?”

“No!” she snapped more sharply than she
intended. “I mean … I’m fine. Really. I don’t need to go to the hospital. And
the car was insured, so I’ll just make a report to the insurance company.
There’s no need for the police. Nobody got hurt.”

“Sorry, but we have to follow protocol. You
need to be checked out medically in case something happens later and you try to
sue High Mountain Rescue. And the police are gonna want a report to explain why
the State has to send a repair crew to replace a big chunk of railing on its
mountain.”

Having served many years in the army,
including a couple of tours in Iraq, Jarrad had seen a lot, including a lot of
things he’d sooner forget. The look on the girls face looked just like some of
the expressions of sheer terror he’d seen in the field under the most
horrendous battle conditions. His bear sensed the pungent stench of pure
terror, too and wanted to do nothing but protect her and tell her everything
would be fine. The sense of alarm and dread his bear was picking up from her
was beginning to put him into protective state and made him restless. Jarrad
was fast coming to the same conclusion, aided by his shifter enhanced senses
and years of experience in the field.

The problem was, neither Jarrad nor his
bear knew what in the hell was really going on.

Contrary to everything his training had
taught him and against every protocol he should follow as a Rescue Ranger,
Jarrad reluctantly listened to his bear and his own instincts as he rested a
firm, commanding hand on Spider’s shoulder.

“A
re you crazy?” Spider protested. “You know
we can’t do that.”

“I need you to do this for me. Don’t ask me
why. I don’t even know why myself. I just know something is
off
here and
really I need you to buy me some time to find out what’s going on before we do
something we might regret,” Jarrad explained. “You know I’ve got a sense for
trouble and right now, my gut is telling me that
she
,” he gestured
toward Elle, “is in trouble. Of the serious kind.”

Spider didn’t respond. He was still
processing what Jarrad was suggesting.

“Remember Al Qaim? You didn’t listen to me
then …”

Neither of them had spoken about Al Qaim in
a long time. A look of guilt washed over Spider’s face. He realized how serious
Jarrad was and how dangerous the situation could potentially be. He’d seen that
look on Jarrad’s face before.

The powerful Sikorsky helicopter banked
sharply and changed course.

“What’s going on?” Elle asked alarmed at
the sudden change in the helicopters attitude as she struggled to remain seated
against the G-force of the turn. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe so you can tell me what’s
really going on and why I shouldn’t just take you straight to the nearest
Marshall’s office.”

For the first time, Elle looked directly
into Jarrad’s probing blue eyes.

“If you do that, I’m as good as dead. You
may as well have left me up on that Mountain to die. It would have been a lot
quicker and way more pleasant than anything they have planned for me, that’s
for sure.”

“Who’s
they
?” Jarrad asked.

“The Cartel.”

“Oh shit!”

Now Jarrad was the one looking terrified.

T
he worried look on Jarrad’s face didn’t do
much to instill confidence in Elle’s already frail state of mind. She’d blown
her one shot at freedom and safety. She had no money, her belongings, including
her overnight bag, purse and credit cards were lost for good. All she had was a
stranger, albeit a handsome and well-built one, with a look on his face that
made her fear for the worst.

“Like I said, I would have been better off
taking my chances in the car.” She slumped in her seat, resigned to her fate.

Jarrad’s bear stirred, hating to see the
mate he had chosen for Jarrad giving up. That’s not what his mate did. His mate
was a fighter and needed to be reminded of that. This time, Jarrad agreed with
his bear. They hadn’t been seeing eye-to-eye of late.

Almost reluctantly, Jarrad stood and began
to lift his shirt and the clingy tee he wore underneath. “I want to show you
something,” he said to Elle.

Wow!

Elle had a hard time keeping her eyes in
their sockets and her jaw from falling to the floor as Jarrad’s shirt peeled
up, revealing the most perfect six-pack she’d ever seen. And that included a
few firefighter calendars, too. Six perfectly sculptured squares had been
carved into the slab of granite where his abs should have been. Elle wanted to
touch them to see if they were real.

With my tongue!

Below them, a fine dusting of hair forming
a line from his navel down to his …

“I hope this doesn’t freak you out,” he
cautioned, interrupting her drooling.

As he lifted the shirt higher, he revealed
a thick, ropey scar about six inches long, just below his rib cage. Elle tried
not to react, but she wasn’t expecting it and her expression gave her away.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” he said. “I don’t
go to the beach much, these days.”

Elle didn’t laugh.

Jarrad smiled. “That was kind of a joke ...
do you know how far away we are from anything resembling a beach?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything. I just
wasn’t expecting —”

“A huge ugly scar where a three foot long
piece of rebar speared me like a spit roast?” he offered.

He started to pull his shirt back down.
Elle hoped he’d stop. The scar didn’t bother her. She didn’t even know why she
flinched. She felt awful.

“Why did you show me?”

“Spider and I were on a mission —”

“You got
that
on a rescue mission?”
Elle interrupted.

Spider turned in his seat and threw a look
of caution at Jarrad.

“We served together. In the army. That’s as
much as I’m allowed to say. Anyway, as I was saying, we ran into some …
trouble. As you saw, it didn’t go well for me, but it went a lot worse for the
other guys. I was the only one who survived. They left me for dead, pinned
under a pile of post detonation ruble with a steel rod through me. Who wouldn’t?
Right?”

Elle screwed up her face at the horrific
image he’d just implanted in her mind. She could have gone her whole life
without picturing something so grotesque.

“I was trapped. Three miles inside enemy
territory. No radio. No weapon. Nothing.”

“I don’t see what that —”

“My point,” Jarrad cut her off, “is that
even when others give you up for dead and everything looks hopeless, there’s
always a chance. Even one that’s slim to none. But only if you don’t give up,
and that’s what you’re close to doing. Trust me. Let us help you.”

“No, it’s too dangerous. This is my problem
and I won’t have someone else’s blood on my hands. I need to do this alone,”
she pleaded.

“That’s not an option. We’re on our way to
a safe place. My place. Nobody will find you there, that’s a promise.”

“How did you manage to make it back,
anyway?” she asked, changing the subject.

“I’m a fast healer, I guess.” He smiled.
The kind of smile she was fast getting used to.

T
he look on her face as they approached the
helipad on Jarrad’s property was priceless. Jarrad got a bit of a kick from watching
her eyes widen as she realized that she was looking at his stunning, private
mountain hideaway complete with snow-capped mountain views and surrounded by pristine
forest, as far as the eye could see, filled with trees that looked positively
ancient. Near the edge of a large clearing stood an enormous two story log
cabin, although that description hardly did Jarrad’s home justice. It was twice
the size of the average suburban home even without the substantial, adjoining
double garage.

“Is … is that yours?” she asked, her mouth
agape.

“The house is, not the land, though. My
father used to say that this land never really belongs to anybody, so I guess
I’m just looking after it until another generation comes along and takes over,”
he replied cryptically as Spider landed with masterful precision on the grass
helipad before reducing the engines to an idle speed.

As soon as they’d exited the helicopter,
the engines roared again and blades of loose grass and forest debris flew
through the air causing Elle to shield her eyes from the mini tornado. “Where’s
he going?” she shouted into Jarrad’s ear.

“Back to base to refuel before he goes on
standby for the next call. Hopefully, there won’t be another one tonight.”

“Shouldn’t you be with him?”

Jarrad paused for the chopper to gain some
altitude so he could talk without shouting. “No, I’m technically not even on
duty. I was doing a training climb when the call came through. I was the
nearest one. Your lucky day, hey?” He laughed and put his arm across her
shoulder to guide her to the cabin.

The way he held her, so firm and protective,
not to mention the fact that his massive frame towered over her, made her feel safe,
but she knew it was only temporary. She had to get away as soon as she could, before
anyone else got caught up in her mess, no matter how well intentioned they
thought they were being. Her only chance of getting through this alive was to
move fast and travel alone.

“This big house is just for you?” she asked
as a way of sounding him out about a Mrs. Rescue Ranger being in the picture.

Perhaps he’s a hot-as-hell Mountain
Ranger with a drop dead gorgeous skinny wife and three perfect kids. Ha! Only
if my luck keeps going the way it has been.

“Sure is. When I built it, I thought I
might find a mate … I mean a wife and maybe start a family. If I’d know that
wasn’t going to work out, I’d have made it a lot smaller.”

“It’s stunning. When you say
you
built it ...”

Jarrad held up his large hands, “with
these. And a few power tools.”

“Soldier, Rescue Ranger and now builder?
Any more hidden talents?”

His bear was about to grumble in answer to
her question when Jarrad quickly scooped Elle up in his arms and began to walk
briskly toward the house. Not the lightest of girls, Elle was surprised at his
strength and the way he moved with grace and agility while holding her in his
arms, like she wasn’t even there.

“Why are you running all of a sudden?”

“It’s freezing out here. I don’t want you
to catch cold,” he replied.

“You know a cold is a virus, right? You
can’t catch one just by
being
cold.”

Shifters didn’t suffer from human
illnesses, so Jarrad neither knew or much cared about the frailties of humans
or their afflictions.

“Whatever …”

Great ... a know-it-all. I told you she
wasn’t perfect,
Jarrad thought in response to his
bear constantly feeling that she was perfect for him and their perfect mate. So
much for his bear’s ability to sense such things just from a females scent.

I think you know even less about women
than I do. And that’s saying something!