What a Bear Wants (20 page)

          Fallon kept her eyes on Ransom, who had shifted back, chest heaving as he clearly resisted the urge to rip Mason’s head off and crush it.

          Mason pressed his claws into her throat harder. “Eyes on me, bitch. I want to make sure I’m catching every second of your pain.”

          Her jaw clenched. “Fuck. You.”

          He laughed. “Oh sweetheart, I really want to. Believe me I do, but how will your bear feel about that?” Mason snatched her upwards and into his chest, keeping his hands strategically placed. “What do you say Mr. Bear? Are you into voyeurism?”

          “Put. Her. Down.” Makya growled, coming through the crowd.

          “Hello there pet!” Mason crowed cheerfully. “Come to join the party eh?”

          “You can’t win this, Mason.” Makya said. “You’ll die.”

          The wolf holding Fallon sighed. “You don’t get it. It’s not about the land anymore. It’s not about living to see another day. It’s simply about. Killing. This. Bitch.” He squeezed Fallon’s shoulder and she felt her eyes well. “How much embarrassment has she caused me? How much pain? How many fucking times did I have to walk away with my dick tucked like a spineless piece of shit?!” Mason roared. “How many?!”

          “If you think, this suddenly means you’re
not
a spineless piece of shit, you’re
wrong.”
Ransom snarled. “And I swear to God that when I get my hands on you, you
will
be spineless. Because I am ripping it from your back and using it to pick my teeth. Let. Her. Go.”

          Mason snorted. “You have no power here, bear. No control. Neither does she, and that’s the worst of it, isn’t it? Going from alpha to a lowly plaything. I can do whatever I want with her right now,” He pressed his nose to her neck and Fallon shuddered. “And I think I will. Just because she smells so fucking good when she’s terrified.”

          She
was
terrified. Terrified of the fact that she would possibly never get to tell Ransom how much she loved him; that she would never get to hear him complain about the howling; that she would never watch him slap around Maddox again; that she would never get to hear him hum Barry White at the oddest times again. She was terrified that the expressions on her pack mates faces right now, the stares of complete and total hopelessness, would be the last thing she ever saw. She was terrified that she was going to die.

          “If killing her means my life also then so be it.” Mason said. “Because at least I’ll get to take my last breath knowing that I took
her
last breath too.” Then he pulled his arm up and Fallon heard the chorus of “No!” that erupted from the people she loved, the people who loved her back. And she closed her eyes, waiting for that last blow, waiting for Mason to take her throat because at this moment, she was too weak to fight anymore, couldn’t even manage to pull away; couldn’t even manage to scream.

          And right when she felt the air shift as he swiped downwards, something fast and heavy came ploughing into both of them from the side. Fallon rolled away from Mason as they hit the ground and looked up to see another wolf pin Mason, wrap its jaws around his throat and rip it out.

          Silence followed as the wolf then proceeding to gut Mason and throw his organs around like confetti before it was finally done with its carnage and shifted back into a very bloody, very naked Brody Jericho.

          It could’ve been the trauma of her wound or the shock of the neighboring alpha coming to her rescue but Fallon found herself snorting and saying in a sing-song voice, “And I
still
don’t mind the naked...” right before she let the darkness take her under.

Chapter 18

         
“Here.”     

          Ransom took the coffee cup being waved under his nose along with several packets of honey from Maddox as his brother sat down hard beside him. “Thanks.” He mumbled.

          “You can stop looking so doe eyed and forlorn, Fallon’s going to be
fine.”

         
He knew that...sort of. It was a simple procedure for a shifter-run medical team to perform. Closing any major arteries that had been ripped open and sewing her back together again but still...all he kept seeing was Mason’s claws at her throat, the pain on her face. All he kept remembering was the way she’d resigned herself to death because any hope of saving her then had been pretty much lost.

          The only thing that took him out of that place, out of those thoughts, was the scalding sensation of hot coffee sliding down his clenched hand and wrist. He’d completely crushed the cup and was grateful for it because the tingling between his shoulder blades was enough to let him know exactly where his mind was leading him—bear-rage.

          “And I’ll just take this,” Cree softly said, occupying the seat on the other side of him as she gently grabbed the crushed cup from his hand and placed napkins in his palm. “Because obviously the violence has not ended yet tonight.”

          “We’re traumatized.” Maddox announced. Then he leaned past Ransom and leered at Cree. “I feel like a group hug would do wonders and by group I mean just me and you...possibly naked.”

          “I feel like
physical
trauma could be added to what you’ve experienced mentally if you don’t shut up and stop making jokes when your brother is clearly about to lose it.” She replied, glaring back at Maddox.

          “Touchy...” Ransom’s brother sat back in the little plastic chair, his attention now focused on the whitewashed wall of the hospital hallway where they currently sat.
 
Then he did something Ransom had never seen before, he apologized in his own runabout kind of way. “I’m not trying to be an insensitive prick, big brother. I just...” Maddox’s voice trailed off. “She’s good for you, yah know? I’ve never seen you so...content. It’s the first time in a long time and...I like her.”

          Ransom didn’t take his eyes off that wall but he felt his brother’s stare, felt the hand on his shoulder and that was enough. Enough to tell what Maddox was trying to say without saying much at all.

          “Thank you.” Was all he whispered—which he knew Maddox took as “
I love you too, dickhead.”

         
The younger bear nodded, let Ransom’s shoulder go and sat back. “Of course you do know that your she-wolf is going to be impossible to deal with while she’s healing don’t you?”

          He looked up to see the winces of every shifter standing or sitting in that space and chuckled just a little because he knew his brother was right. But he didn’t care because if Fallon was growling and snapping it meant she wasn’t constantly reliving her brush with death.

          A black bear in scrubs came strolling through the crowd of people, a smile in place. “The baited breath can stop now. Your girl’s good as gold and even while heavily drugged, pretty cranky.”

          Makya nodded from his place a few feet away. “Seems legit.”

          Laughter went up and Ransom stood. “When will I be able to see her?”

          The doctor shrugged. “In another day or so. We want to make sure no infection sets in at her wounds. Those bites were pretty deep.”

          He shook his head. “I’m not waiting another day.”

          “Mr. McKenna—”

          “You don’t want to finish that sentence.” Maddox stated, standing also. “I’m telling you now that you should just move and let the man see his mate.”

          “It’s in Miss Wilder’s best interest that she not have too much activity while she’s in recovery for the first few hours.” The doctor argued.

          Maddox sighed. “I tried to help you. I really did.”

***

          Someone was gently running fingers through her hair and...humming? They were
humming.

         
Fallon’s lids slowly opened. The last thing she remembered was snapping at some cheetah who was getting way too familiar under her hospital gown while checking for other possible wounds that needed to be stitched up.

          The sound of Barry White drew her attention to the right side of her bed and the smile that she received the moment her gaze landed on her grizzly’s face made her heart stutter in her chest.

          “Hi.” Ransom murmured, those gorgeous eyes crinkling at the corners as his grin widened with the simple words that had stolen her breath the first time she’d stood in front of him. “How are you feeling?”

          “Like baby poo.” Fallon answered. He started to laugh. “And not even
solid
baby poo but the mushy formula induced green stuff.”

          “Aww, my poor she-wolf.” Strong fingers ran across her jaw. “You don’t
look
like baby poo.”

          She made a face. “Don’t lie to me, man.”

          “I’m not.” His stare softened. “You look beautifully ruffled.”

          “And
this
conversation is over. Where’s Cree? She’ll be the only one brave enough to simply say,
‘You look like shit.’”

         
Ransom snorted and sat back in the chair beside her bed. “She’s making sure everyone else is taken care of since her fearless leader is out of commission at the moment.” He suddenly swallowed and put his eyes on a wall across the room. “They were uh...they were really worried about you.”

          Fallon tilted her head. “Ransom?”

          “Yeah?” His gaze stayed on that wall.

          “Look at me please?” She reached out to touch the hand lying beside her. “
Please
?”

          When he finally did she felt hot moisture prick the backs of her eyes. “Ransom...”

          “He had you.” Her mate bit out. “And I couldn’t...” He exhaled.

          “Hey,” Sitting up, she bit the inside of her cheek when her stitches pulled. “You’re
not
taking this on. You protected my pack, you protected
me. I’m
the one who failed here. I should’ve kept my eyes on Mason but I got distracted and it—” Fallon stopped when his brows lowered.

          “
Don’t.”
He shook his head, silver tipped hair swaying about his shoulders. “Don’t you fucking dare sit there and tell me this was your fault, that you’re responsible for that son of a bitch trying to hurt you.”

          “But I’m the alpha here. I should’ve—”

          Ransom leaned in until they were nose to nose. “Stop.”

          She closed her mouth.

          “What makes you a good alpha is realizing that you can’t do everything on your own. You know that, I know that, and your
pack
knows that. You’re always fighting,
constantly
fighting, for everyone but yourself.” His hands fisted in the sheets. “So this time we fought for you. Do you understand that?” One palm came up to cup her cheek. “This time we fought for
you.
I don’t
ever
want to hear you say that you failed again. Because you didn’t.” He pressed his forehead against hers.

          Fallon chewed her lip and closed her eyes. “He made me feel so weak.” She admitted softly. “For the first time in my life I didn’t have a solution, I couldn’t fix what was wrong.”

          “You’re not weak. I don’t even think you understand what that word means, baby.” Ransom brushed his lips over her brow. “Even with his hand wrapped around your throat all you gave him was a deep
fuck you.
”

          Swallowing the lump in her throat, she allowed her stare to meet his again. “Because all that kept filtering through my head was how much I love you. And I wasn’t about to let what I believed was my last thought be about anything
but
you.” Fallon smiled a little at the astonished expression on his face. “I’ve been so quiet lately because I was trying to figure out why you hadn’t said the words and in that moment I realized I really didn’t need you to because you had
shown
me. You haven’t tried to change me. You haven’t tried to stop me from being alpha. You haven’t batted an eyelash at the insanity of my pack mates. All you’ve done is
love
me and God knows how grateful for I am.” She pressed a kiss to his mouth. “God knows how grateful I am for
you.”

         
His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “I can’t touch you right now without the possibility of hurting you but if I could...”

          Fallon smiled against his lips. “I know.”

          “I love you too.” His jaw clenched. “So fucking much.”

          Her smile widened and she once again repeated, “I know.”