Taking a deep breath of fresh air, I stopped on the porch. I didn’t need her to lie about what happened. I remembered fucking into her hard and fast like an animal, and thinking about it made me want to turn around and do it all over again.
I was so screwed.
The scent of blood carried over to me on the breeze. I turned, seeing the cougar shifter’s body. The man had died a cougar and stayed a cougar.
Cougars were such assholes. I’d only known one good one, Walker Hayles. My hometown, Goldenlach Ridge, had been divided that way, the asshole cougars on one side, the grizzlies on the other. Walker was the only one to cross that divide, to make friends with Landon and me. And that was because he thought all cougars were assholes too.
My chest twinged with regret. I hadn’t seen or talked to Walker in a decade. Those last angry words we had with each other were a permanent brand in my mind. It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought of reaching out, to see how he was doing, to see if he was still in the army. Every time I thought of it, I dismissed the idea. I could only believe he would deny any attempt at reconciliation between us.
I blinked away the memories, focusing on the two bodies beyond the cougar, clad in all-black tactical gear. They’d fired their weapons and I’d ripped out their throats. I remembered being shot, the bullets going right through me. The wounds healed when I’d shifted back to human, any bullets remaining pushed out of skin and muscle.
The helicopter sank into the lake, only a couple feet of rotor sticking out. There’d be another body there too. I’d killed four people and felt no remorse. I’d been protecting my mate.
Dammit.I needed to stop thinking that way but couldn’t. I’d claimed her. Rubbing a hand over my face, I tried to get a hold of the possessiveness rolling through me. I hadn’t given her a choice. I didn’t walk up to her and say, “Hey, would you like to mate with me? I know it’s a long-term decision, but I’d really like a bite and fuck.”Bad, bad, bad.If I could talk, it probably would have come out worse.
Another memory hit me, making me freeze in place. We stood together in a copse of pines and Brooke pulled her hair over her shoulder, offering me her neck. I remember feeling triumphant. Then she’d bent her head, submissive, an invitation. I’d bit her, hard enough to leave a mating mark.
Why had she offered me her neck?
Her scent was all over me, wafting through my sinuses, making me growl with possessive instinct. No matter what my brain shouted, the bear inside claimed ownership and would not be quieted.
I stared at the dead on the ground, telling the bear to fuck the hell off. Right now, the need to get rid of the bodies outweighed everything else. The helicopter was my biggest problem. It was practically on my front doorstep. More assholes could come looking for it. It might be underwater, but the lake was clear. A person would be able to see it if they flew over. The only bright side was that my lake was one in a literal million in one of Canada’s boreal forests.
I couldn’t do anything about it now, but I could take care of the easy stuff. Striding toward the bodies, I slowed when I neared the cougar. A piece of metal glinted on the back of his neck. Crouching, I took a closer look. A green light shone dully in the bright sun. A tracking device? Something else? The metal and the smooth cleverness of the design were similar to Brooke’s collar. If it was a tracking device, I needed to destroy it.
With a firm hand, I grabbed hold and ripped it free. Some sort of shock wave traveled from the piece of metal to the cougar, making his dead body shake. My fingers tingled. I was pretty sure if I’d done that when the cougar was alive, it would have killed him.
I glanced at the cabin. There was no doubt in my mind that the same things would happen to Brooke if I tried to remove her collar. The thought made my stomach clench with rage, the red haze climbing up my peripheral vision. I wanted to get that thing off her so bad pressure built in my temples.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed my emotions aside, pocketed the bit of metal, and picked up the cougar’s limp and massive body beneath his armpits. I dragged him toward my boats, breathing heavy with exertion. The motherfucker was big. His paws were as wide as my face. This would all be easier if I shifted into my bear form, but I didn’t trust what would happen to Brooke if I did so. There was no way I could resist claiming her again if I let the bear take over.
Once I dropped the cougar beside my boat, the two tactical dickheads followed. They were shifters too, but not cougars, something avian instead, and they had the same bits of metal in the back of their necks. Once I tore the pieces out of their skin and pocketed them, I piled their bodies, one on top of the other like the pieces of shit they were. When I thought of how the one had yanked Brooke around, the other two with their guns out… I remembered her screaming in pain.
Red hazed my vision. If I could kill these guys again, I’d happily do it.
Tearing my gaze away, I focused on overturning the fishing boat and sliding it into the water. As soon as it was in far enough, I tied it to the dock.
I contemplated the tactical fuckers. After a moment’s hesitation, I began to remove their clothes. The bodies would decompose faster bare. If someone came looking for them, I wanted to make it impossible for them to be found. The one overriding instinct above all others right now was to protect Brooke. Wherever these guys came from, whatever they wanted with her, it wasn’t going to happen.
She was my mate. I’d shield her from harm or die trying.
Every time I moved, Brooke’s scent wafted up to me. It clung to my fingers and body. I swallowed, battling the urge to return to the cabin and get some more of her scent all over me.
Once the men were naked, I searched their pockets for identification. I didn’t find any, but there were knives, spare bullets, and a multi-tool I set aside on the dock along with the three neck chips from my pocket. One guy had a high-end walkie-talkie. I held it in my hand and stared. It wouldn’t work for calling John here early. Still too far. I set it with the rest of the gear.
I piled the clothes, helmets, boots, and goggles in a heap by the shoreline. I’d take care of those after I got rid of the bodies. Standing, I scanned the shoreline for the cougar’s clothes—torn jeans and shirt, a cowboy hat and boots, another walkie-talkie too. That was probably how the helicopter found us. If they’d known where Brooke had jumped from the plane, then all the cougar had to do was wait for his buddies to arrive before he made his move.
Growling, I tossed the cougar’s shit with all the other stuff. A shadow shifted in the window of the cabin. Brooke was watching me. Knowing that made me step toward her. I stopped myself, shook my head to clear it, and focused on the task at hand. There was one more body in the helicopter.
Grabbing one of the tactical knives, I strode to the end of the dock, stripped, and dove into the ice cold water. The first shock of it stole my breath. These northern lakes weren’t warm even in the middle of summer, but right now, a couple weeks after thaw, the water was only a little above freezing.
I surfaced, took gulping, gasping breaths, then swam the rest of the way to the helicopter. As soon as I was close enough, I dove down. The side of the helicopter was open, allowing me to swim inside.
The pilot’s body was trapped in the seatbelt. I cut it with the knife, then resurfaced for another breath. My fingers were almost entirely numb from the cold. I gave myself a shake, then dove back under, making sure I could pull the pilot free before abandoning the knife.
It took a while to get him to the shoreline. If I hadn’t been so cold, I might have been able to heave him onto the dock, but as it was, I could only get him partially up on the rocks. Once I was satisfied the body wouldn’t drop back into the water, I climbed out.
At first, I just lay back and spread my arms wide, allowing the sun to warm me a bit. The light breeze didn’t help my body temperature and I shivered. I either needed to get dry and warm or move to stave off hypothermia. I could grab a towel from the cabin. The thought made me look for her.
