Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set (18 page)

“Alpha.” The man bowed, grabbing the boy by the scruff of the neck. “Imbecile.”

“My apologies, my old friend.” Otto reached out a hand, which Brutus clasped. “I am thankful you didn’t rough him up more. No one could have blamed you.”

He didn’t feel it necessary to admit roughing them up would be tame compared to what he had wanted to do. “I hope he learns a lesson, and I trust you will deal with the three as you see fit.”

“They will be doing some serous community service within the park.” Otto dismissed the others. “I hope your mate will recover from her injuries.”

“I believe she will. She has a concussion and likely will bear the scar of the attack, but I believe otherwise she is fine.”

A few more minutes of apologies and Brutus turned back toward his cave to find a team of sentinels standing before the opening. Smirking, they refused to allow him in. “So she’s your mate?”

“Move.”

No one moved. Grant would be their mouthpiece. “When do we get to meet the lucky park ranger?”

“Never. If you don’t move your sorry hides from my path so I can check on her.”

“Boys, he isn’t playing,” Asha said from behind them. “Shauna is requesting your presence, oh brother of mine. She is unsure how to answer questions being thrown at her by your beta.”

Shauna might be sassy enough to speak up against him and his father before him, but the old woman always respected the betas of the clan. “Did you get in touch with our ranger?”

“The trails are being closed as we speak; a few of her friends are asking if they can visit. We have waylaid them at the moment, but they won’t be kept at bay long.”

“Do we have any contacts at any of the clinics?”

“No, never needed them before.”

Damn, human complications. “Things are going to get complicated quickly.”

“Ya think?” Asha shrugged. “Ah, things were getting boring anyway.”

“You have a sick sense of how to add excitement to a day. Contact Otto, see if he has any contacts. He owes us a favor anyway, and this will help ease his guilt.” He led the way into his room where Quinn sat supported by pillows. Her large white bandage brought the anger boiling in his blood again. “How’s the patient?”

“She is curious, and I am going to let you answer her questions.” Shauna rubbed a hand over Quinn’s arm. “You just send for me if you start feeling bad again, okay?”

“Thank you.”

“I like her,” Shauna said as if everything rode on her approval, and perhaps it did.

Asha left with Shauna, closing the door behind them and leaving him alone with her for the first time. “I understand you have some questions.”

“Quite a few, actually.”

“I will answer every one of your questions as best I can. But I am not sure you will like the answers.” He pulled up a chair to avoid towering over her.

“Am I dead?”

“What?” Of all the questions he’d listed in his head for her to ask, that hadn’t been one of them.

“Is this purgatory or something?”

He could sense her nervousness and hoped to find the words to help ease her spirit. “No, you are very much alive and the danger wasn’t as severe as you might think.”

“Just because more people are hurt by bison in Yellowstone every year, doesn’t mean being between three black bears and a grizzly wasn’t a hell of a lot of danger to be in.”

“The black bears were playing around.” He might chip a molar if he continued to grit his teeth.

“And the grizzly?”

That question he had no problem answering. “Protecting you.”

“Protecting me?”

“You will find all grizzlies now protect you with their lives.” No matter where she traveled, his scent would remain on her and she would be cared for.

“Where did the grizzly go? Is he your pet? Stupid question. Who has a grizzly as a pet? Oh my god, he is your pet. That is how you knew, how you got to me through the chaos.” She rubbed the back of her skull. “My head hurts.”

“Perhaps the rest of the questions should wait until you are feeling better?”

“No, I need to know.”

He approached the bed but paused when she gripped the blanket lying over her lap tighter to her.

“I am not going to hurt you.”

“I know. I don’t know why I do, but I do. But your presence is—overwhelming.”

He supposed to her five foot eight, his nearly seven foot stature would seem intimidating, even with the high ceilings. “Perhaps if I sat again?”

She nodded. “That might help—some. Where am I?”

“We are near Lake Yellowstone, not far from where the attack happened.” He did his best to remain passive though the mere mention of what had happened to her made him want to pull a tree from the ground.

“Wait, we are still in the park? I have been at the Lake Yellowstone Resort. This is not it. For one thing, why are there no windows?”

“Yes, we are still within the park. We live in caves deep into the woods.”

“That’s not possible. No one just lives in the woods of Yellowstone.”

She had a lot to learn. “You would be surprised. My people have been here for centuries.”

“Your people?”

“I should say my kind.” He moved to the far side of the room and allowed the glimmer of his bear to take shape around him. The in-between state would allow her to see both his sides at once. Her lips formed an O before her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out. “At least you didn’t scream.”

Chapter Three

Quinn woke to the worst headache of her life. Her temples pounded and she was sure someone had taken an ice pick to her right eye. Tentatively, she opened her eyes to a blinding overhead medical light. With a groan, she reached up and flicked it away before assessing the sterile room. Relief rushed through her as she realized the events of earlier had been nothing more than a dream. A crazy, bizarre dream that made no sense whatsoever. Who ever heard of were-bears. As if Yellowstone was filled with shifting human animal hybrids.

Draping an arm over her eyes, she chuckled, feeling twelve kinds of foolish. She groaned as the laughter shot pain through her skull, but she feared she might start crying. With such vivid delusions, perhaps she should ask for something to help her sleep.

The door opened. “She wakes.” Marco waltzed in, carrying a stuffed bear. “Somehow, I thought anyone who survived a bear attack should be gifted a cute one to remind them of why we love them.”

She stared at the stuffed animal. “Why did you choose a grizzly over the black bear?”

“What do you mean? You were attacked by a grizzly.”

She shook her head then wished she hadn’t. “No, three black bears and then the grizzly.”

“Are you sure?”

Was she sure? “I thought so. At least a black bear clawed me.”

“Well that explains why your face is in such good shape, not that the smaller bear can’t do equal damage, but the grizzlies’ paws are bigger than your head.” Marco grabbed a chair and sat. “I can exchange this for a black bear if you want.”

“No, I prefer the grizzly.” She reached for the toy, needing to hold it.

He smiled. “They certainly seem to prefer you. Between number of sightings you have had of them and now this, everyone is wondering if you have something attracting the animals to you. When you are feeling better and back to work, I think they want you in one of the welcome centers for a bit.”

She groaned, hugging the stuffed animal close. She wanted to be outside.

“For the time being.” Marco laid a reassuring hand on her arm and his touch that usually didn’t bother her sent waves of revulsion through her. “It’s just light duty until you are back on your feet.”

She forced a smile, although every part of her screamed to shrug his hand off her. “I know, and I am in no shape to do much of anything at the moment. Do you know how long they are keeping me?”

“Overnight for the concussion. They said unless you had someone to stay with you all night and wake you every hour, you had to stay on. Besides, I think they feel better having you here for the night.”

“How did I get here?” She remembered everything else from her delusional day. “The last thing I clearly remember is hiding behind a tree when the grizzly arrived.”

“A group of hikers found you. One of the ladies was a nurse who stopped the bleeding. And they got you out of the area. The trail will be off-limits to hikers for a little while until we can figure out what brought four bears up there.”

“They aren’t going to hurt any of the bears, are they?”

“Was it a mama and her two cubs you came across?”

“No, more like adolescent bears, maybe three siblings. No sows I could see.”

“And the grizzly?”

“Definite male and mature. He was huge.”
And magnificent.

“Well as no one was seriously hurt and the attack didn’t seem predatory, I can’t imagine they will do any more than watch the area more closely and keep it closed to visitors.”

“Can you let the powers that be know I don’t want any animals hurt?”

“Oh, they know, and of course they don’t make those decisions lightly.” He rose and leaned over to kiss her forehead. A cold chill ran down her back; the touch of her friend brought on a wave of nausea. “You don’t look good. Do you want me to get a nurse on my way out?”

She shook her head but did have a sudden need to be alone. “No, maybe I just need to lie down. Perhaps staying tonight is the best plan all around.”

“Okay whatever time you get discharged, one of us will come get you tomorrow. Ring if you need anything. And we are so glad you are okay.”

“Me, too.”

As soon as the door to her room clicked, she let out a sigh of relief. Today would go down in her mind as the oddest in her life. And although it now appeared she had hallucinated the events with the strangers in the cave, they remained so sharp in her memory, she had a hard time conceding she had imagined it all.

The wound on her head itched, but the pain meds made her limbs heavy and her mind foggy. How she wished she could see the stars, but the curtains were closed tight and she wouldn’t bother the overworked nursing staff with a stupid request. But, after fifteen minutes, she decided to try and open them herself. Moving the IV bar around the bed, she managed to get to her feet with only a small amount of dizziness. Four short steps lay between the bed and the windows. She ignored the bare back of her hospital gown as she crossed the floor.

The cotton fabric did a great job of keeping the outside world from seeing in but it also kept the patients from seeing the beauty around them. The metal rings scraped against the curtain rod, echoing in the dim room. Even through the glow of the parking lot lights, the stars twinkled above the mountain range in the distance. She laid her cheek against the pane of glass, cool and solid. About to return to bed she caught sight of two people and her heart caught in her throat.

Brutus stood under the light, his broad back to her, and Asha faced the entrance of the clinic. They stood guard. And, she deduced, if she went into the hall, she would find another person, perhaps Shauna, guarding her door. It had all been real, not a dream.

Asha glanced up and lifted a hesitant hand in greeting as Brutus looked over his shoulder, the heat in his eyes so searing, she took three steps, back tripping over her IV and landing with a loud thump on her ass. Three nurses rushed in, followed by Shauna who paused in the doorway, her beautiful brown eyes full of understanding and compassion.

A nurse had just assisted her to her feet when Brutus arrived, his eyes scanning her. “What happened?”

“I tripped.”

“Is she okay?” he demanded.

“As far as we can tell,” one of the nurses said, her eyes darting between Quinn in the bed and the large bulky man who had invaded their space. “Are you family because it’s after visitation hours so no one else is allowed on the floor.”

He came the rest of the way into the room and answered, “Yes.” No other explanations, as if he assumed his word would be enough. And, to her surprise, not one person in the room questioned his claim he belonged at her side. Deep inside, she didn’t question it either.

“Give her some space, Brutus, and let the nurses do their job and check her out,” Shauna said.

“Perhaps you could wait outside?” another nurse asked in a soft voice as she hung a picture of a falling star on the door for the whole world to know Quinn was a klutz.

“No.” He came to the side of the bed and settled her on the mattress.

His touch made the room stop spinning and gave her a sense of peace she wouldn’t have expected. She didn’t fight him when he took her hand in his much larger one. “I am fine,” she murmured. “I promise. My pride is more bruised than my bottom.”

“You scared the hell out of me. One second you were in the window, the next you weren’t, and I could hear the sound of crashing metal.”

“You couldn’t have heard that out there.”

He raised an eyebrow in argument.

“Okay, maybe you could,” she mumbled, giving a weak smile to the nurses who were trying to untangle her tubes and work around the large, commanding man who refused to budge and allow them to do their jobs.

Asha ran into the room, trying to catch her breath. Brutus blinked at her. She glared back, demanding, “Did you take those stairs eight at a time?”

One of the nurses—Nurse Riddle according to her nametag—pulled the privacy curtain, blocking out Asha and Shauna. “Ms. Tatum, can you tell me what happened?”

“I got tied up in the cords trying to open the curtains. I promise I wasn’t dizzy, nor did I black out.” Although she directed the comment at the nurse, she focused on Brutus. She had never had a man look more concerned for her welfare, while at the same time giving her the impression he wanted to tear her clothes off and have his way with her. It sent cold chills down her spine and heated her blood.

The nurse placed the blood pressure cuff on her arm. “Relax.”

“Can we do that later?”

“Why?”

“Because it will be elevated.” Wasn’t that obvious?

“That is why I need to take it.”

She indicated with her pointer for the woman to come closer so she could whisper in her ear. “If this man was looking at you the way he is looking at me right now, I think your blood pressure would be through the roof.”

Brutus threw back his head and roared with laughter as the nurse blushed and made some excuse about coming back later. Brutus leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead. “You are truly my equal.”

“I don’t know about that, but I do know when a woman wants a man, and she wanted you,” Quinn said with a huff. Why that aggravated her, she had no idea. But nothing that had happened today fit into any sort of rational storyline anyway.

“The only woman I care about is in this hospital bed,” he said pulling a chair close to the side of the bed and sitting down.

“I think Shauna and I will go and find some coffee,” Asha said, grabbing the other woman’s arm.

Shauna shrugged her off. “Not a chance. It is so rare we get to see the soft side of our alpha.”

“They have those honey bun bear claws in the vending machine,” Brutus said but never took his eyes off her.

“Well, when you say it like that, there will be plenty of time now that he has found her to see a soft side,” Shauna announced as she accompanied Asha out of the room closing the door behind them.

Quinn couldn’t look at the man who sat so close she could feel the heat coming off his body. Images of him as the grizzly flooded her. “You are some sort of werewolf, creature, aren’t you?”

“We prefer bear shifter over were-bear. The wolves also prefer shifter as they are nothing like the werewolves of the movies.”

“Wolves?” She looked at him now.

“The bison like were-bison. And the elk don’t care.”

“Are all the animals in the park were—shifters?”

“No, a small percentage. Most are only animals, but they respect the shifters and keep a wide berth. We protect them as best we can and at the same time try and protect the humans unlucky enough to cross paths with the animals. We aren’t always successful, but you would be surprised the number of mama bears we have talked off the ledge.”

“So today I was one of those unlucky humans?” A sharp stabbing pain started behind her right eye.

He stood, placing a hand on her cheek as if sensing the pain. When it eased, he stepped to the window, his gaze focused on the distance where Yellowstone lay. “I wish it were that simple but then nothing ever is. You have rarely been out of my sight since we bumped into each other a few weeks back. The simple touch and I knew you were my destined mate. But I didn’t know how to approach you.”

“A simple hello, would you like to have dinner, might have worked.”

“Perhaps, but I have never had a ‘date’ with a human before.” The moonlight emphasized his profile and the beard now thick with growth.

“So you have been stalking me.”

“Perhaps. I had to see you.”

She bit her lip, unable to believe she was about to actually ask. “Were you the grizzly that kept showing up over the past few weeks.”

He nodded. “I had to make sure of your safety. So whenever you headed out to deal with the wildlife, I would do my best to be in the background, making sure you weren’t hurt.”

“What happened today?”

“One of my scouts alerted me to your presence on our lands.”

“Your land?”

“My clan protects the lake area. Imagine my surprise when I learned you were hiking in our direction. I thought this would be the perfect place to meet you. So I was in human form, walking up the path, when I saw Jasper Black attacking you.

“Another shifter.”

“Yes.”

“So there are grizzly and black bear shifters? I suppose there must be polar and panda bears as well.”

“There are.”

“And the black bears? Do they watch over Old Faithful?”

“No, Tower Roosevelt.”

“Of course. Why would they ever monitor Old Faithful?”

“The bison do.”

She lay back against the pillows, rubbing the bridge of her nose as the pain grew more intense. “Please don’t say any more.”

“Do you need me to get Shauna?”

She looked at him over the fingers pinching her nose. “I am in a hospital full of capable nurses and doctors and you think I need Shauna?”

“I would trust her over any of this modern medicine.” He placed a hand on her forehead and relief found her at his touch. “I think your brain is battling the information you are being told and what you have spent your life believing.”