Alpha's Rescue Read online

  “Are you going to stay up there all day?”

  “I’m saying goodbye,” I shoot back over my shoulder. “They were our parents.”

  “No. That was your mom and my dad. We’re not a family. We never were. And now it’s over.” His voice gains a sinister edge.

  I press my lips together. I could ask him why he has to be so rude, but he's always been like this to me. Would it have killed him to be nice to me, his younger step sister? I’d always wanted a sibling. The smallest bit of kindness, and I would have adored him.

  When I turn, Bentley is waiting at the bottom of the ledge. There's a look of ugly glee on his face, and something flashes in his hand, reflecting the bright sunlight.

  A knife.

  “Bentley?” I stare at the weapon. “What are you doing?”

  “You’re so stupid,” he spits. “You think I'm going to tromp up all the way here and miss this opportunity? They'll think you died in an accident. And I'll mourn you. Hell, I can put you in that urn.” He jerks his chin towards the now empty urn, and I clutch it to my chest as if it can protect me.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Do I have to spell it out?”

  “Seriously, Bentley, what the heck? Put that down. Someone could get hurt.”

  “That’s the plan.” Bentley’s forehead is red and shiny. He's sweating so furiously, his grip on the knife must be slippery.

  I take a step back.

  “Yes, that's it,” he motions with the knife. “Move back.”

  A few pebbles tumble out from under my shoe and bounce down the ledge, disappearing from view. “But…I'll go over the edge.”

  “Exactly.” His grin is evil.

  “This is ridiculous.” I put my hands on my hips. “Why would you want to kill me? Is this about the money? The inheritance? We’re both getting equal shares of the estate. The will splits the assets down the middle. The houses, the investments–”

  “It should’ve been all mine!” Spit flies from Bentley’s mouth. “It was my dad’s fortune!” Sweat sluices over his threadbare eyebrows and pours into his eyes. He goes to mop his brow with the hand that is holding the knife.

  “Ooh, careful.” My hand flies out to warn him from slicing up his own head. “Don’t hold the knife like that. You'll cut yourself.”

  Bentley lowers the knife and wipes his head with his free hand.

  Am I really talking him through how to properly hold a knife while he’s trying murder me? I should be trying to get away.

  I scuttle to the side of the big, jutting rock, but my options are limited. The side of the ledge is steep, and if I put a foot wrong, I’ll fall. Best case, I’ll fall a few feet to the boulders below. Worse case…

  “Just a little further.” Bentley creeps up the ledge towards me.

  I glance behind me at the five hundred foot–or more–drop. “No.” I plant my feet. “You're not going to make me toss myself over the edge. You’ll have to knife me.”

  “So be it.” He takes another step forward, and despite myself, I scoot an inch back.

  “So that’s your plan? You’re just going to knife me? How is that going to look like an accident?”

  “I’ll push you over the edge. Maybe I'll just leave your body, and no one will find you.'' He sounds uncertain.

  “What if I'm not dead?” I cross my arms over my chest, then rethink the position and put my arms out for balance, taking frequent, dizzying glances down at the five hundred foot fall. “What if I just break all my arms and legs?”

  “Oh, you'll die,” he says. “I'll make sure of it.”

  “You're going to climb down and bash my head in?” I don’t know what’s more offensive. That he’s trying to murder me, or that he’s doing it badly.

  Bentley’s face is getting redder by the second. “This is just like you,” he grits out. “Why do you have to be so difficult?”

  “That's not fair,” I shoot back. “I've been nothing but accommodating.”

  “I’m not giving up half of my inheritance. It was my Dad’s money to start with. You and your mom were just riding his coattails. Besides, both our parents knew you were the stupid one–”

  “If I'm so stupid, why are you the one who's doing such a bad job of trying to kill me? Why am I a CEO?” I shout over the wind. The gust tugs on my braids, and more pebbles roll over the edge. A strong enough gust, and I’ll topple over with them.

  It's now or never.

  I'm going to have to throw myself toward Bentley and see if I can rush past him. Then I'm going to have to outrun him all the way to the rental car.

  God, I hate running. I do not have a body that is built to run. I have a body that was built to lounge beautifully on a divan. And to swim. I love to swim.

  I fake left, then dash right, but Bentley blocks me. The knife is between us, pointy side up. Not good.

  Other than the unnatural flush staining his cheeks, Bentley’s face is horribly pale. His eyes are wide and staring, the whites flashing as if he’s more frightened than I am. Is that why he was anxious and sweaty this whole hike? He was plotting to kill me?

  I make a break for it, and when Bentley thrusts, I smash his knife hand with the urn. He yelps and drops the weapon but grabs me with his free hand. We both grapple with each other–him trying to haul me off balance, me trying to push him away.

  He really is going to push me over the edge. I let my body grow heavy and fall to the ground, dragging him with me. Except now I’m lying in shards of the urn. And Bentley’s closer to the knife.

  Moving more quickly than I thought possible, he snatches up the wicked-looking weapon and brandishes it. I put up a hand as if my empty palm can stop him, and try to scramble to my feet, but it’s too late. He’s almost on me–

  A roar blasts over us, and a dark shape crashes out of the trees. The ground shakes, and I lose my balance. For a few awful seconds, I teeter on the edge.

  I throw myself forward, careening down the ledge towards safety. Toward Bentley and the knife. I nearly became a pink smear at the base of a scenic overlook, but that’s the least of my problems.

  A freaking monster just ran out of the woods. Brown fur, black snout, long teeth. All my wildlife expertise comes from watching animal videos on Tiktok, but I know a bear when I see one. A bad bear.

  He's freaking huge, big as a car. Not a little car, either. An SUV. The ground thunders under his paws as he races toward us. His open mouth is bigger than my head, ready to eat me and Bentley in one bite.

  Now would be a good time to remember what to do when faced with an attacking bear. Run? Play dead? Scream my head off and hope someone comes to help?

  Bentley is already doing that–his scream high and shrill and loud as a chorus of teenage girls at a K-pop concert, tinged with terror instead of adoration. He drops the knife. It bounces off the boulder and wedges between two rocks. In his haste to escape, he shoves me, and I fall. Not all the way down–just a few feet. The world tilts, the trees and sky spin around me. My forehead smashes into something and light bursts behind my eyes.

  When the light fades, I’m on my back, staring up at the sky. A cluster of rocks broke my fall.

  At least Bentley’s stopped screaming. Either he’s gone, or the bear ate him.

  I blink in the silence. There's something wet dripping to my face. Maybe Bentley will get my half of the inheritance after all.

  I grit my teeth, willing myself to live, if only to spite Bentley, when a huge shadow falls over me. It’s the bear, looming over me, his shaggy face close to mine. I had a teddy bear as a child. The real life version is nothing like it. Except the ears–those are round, fuzzy and super cute.

  The bear grunts. His hot breath hits my face.

  This is the end. I can’t talk my way out of this one.

  I could try to get up and run, but these rocks under my back are weirdly comfortable. I let my head fall back with a clunk. Pain knifes through my head, and a black blanket drops over my face, blotting out the world.

  Teddy

  Thank fuck my bear drew me back to the pink-clad female. I arrived at the summit just in time to see the pasty male threaten her with a knife.

  I didn’t think. I didn’t wait. I just shifted. And attacked.

  Now her attacker’s gone, and she’s lying in a pink pile on the rocks with blood dripping down her face.

  I would chase him, but I don’t want to leave her.

  Still in bear form, I sniff her hair. Blood. She hit her head when her stepbrother pushed her. Now she blinks up at me, her gaze unfocused.

  I’m probably freaking her out right now.

  Before I can stop it, the shift comes over me. I tense and try to fight it, but it’s like trying to stop sneezing mid-sneeze. My spine arches and cracks, and my form flows from the giant bear shape back to human. I stagger on two feet, chest heaving.

  What the fuck was that? My bear just forced me to turn. In front of a human. I’ve never been out of control like that.

  I stretch out a hand, flicking my fingers to get rid of the cramps. I’m still standing over the little human, and even though my shape is smaller, I still tower over her.

  Shit. Did she see me turn?

  Her eyelids flutter. I hold my breath, but her eyes stay closed. But they were open before, right? Which means she knows my secret.

  This is a mess, and I just made it worse.

  She seems unconscious now. If she wasn’t lying on a pile of rocks with a trail of red running from her temple to chin, she’d look like she just lay down for a nap.

  I touch her hand, and it’s limp. She’s out, probably with a head injury. Humans are so fucking fragile. She needs medical help. It might not be a great idea to move her now, but I can’t leave her, in case her psycho stepbrother come
s back and finishes what he tried to start.

  I need to get her out of here.

  After checking her open wound, which bled a lot but seems to be clotting now, I carefully scoop her into my arms. Lifting her takes no strength. She’s a pleasant, warm armful, and as I try to steady her head, she mumbles something and snuggles closer. Her honeyed scent tickles my nose.

  I move as quietly as I can. I’m naked, the remains of my clothes shredded by the treeline. If she wakes now, I’ll have a lot of explaining to do.

  I’ll get her somewhere safe, get her checked out, and deal with her questions then. I’ll have a few questions of my own. Starting and ending with whether or not she saw me turn from a big bear into a human.

  The knife is still in the rocks, glinting up at us. I’ll send one of my brothers to get it and her bright pink pack. Now that she’s in my arms, I don’t want to risk jostling her.

  I’m striding towards tree cover when her head tilts back and her beautiful brown eyes fix onto my face. Damn, she woke up fast. She still looks a little dazed. Her eyebrows tighten to a V, then smooth out. I turn into a statue as her small hand comes up and touches my cheek.

  “Bear,” she mouths. She molds her fingers over my face, and repeats intently, “bear,” before her hand falls. Her eyes close, and her head sags onto my shoulder once more.

  Shit.

  2

  Teddy

  The lovely human remains mostly unconscious all the way to my cabin. When I set her on my bed, she immediately curls up into a ball. I cover her with a blanket and draw the curtains to keep the room dark and cool. The sight of her in my bed is more than satisfying. I try not to think too hard about that.

  I step out and make one phone call and spend a good fifteen minutes pacing my perimeter, checking for weak spots and sniffing the wind. I still can’t believe I shifted right in front of her. Hiding the secret of our animals is the first thing we learn as shifters. Out of control shifting isn’t just a rookie move, it’s a deadly one. My younger brothers had some trouble with control when they were teens. Ma had to homeschool them until they could hide their animal properly. But at their worst, they wouldn’t make such a fatal mistake.

  What were you thinking? I chastise my bear, but he doesn’t answer. I sense his satisfaction. He likes the little human, and now she’s right where he wants her.

  In my bed.

  Shit, what a mess.

  My brother finds me pacing in front of my cabin. I whirl as soon as I sense his silent approach. “Matthias.”

  My brother is dressed in his usual button down shirt and nice slacks. Unlike the rest of us, he actually holds a job around humans. I was lucky I caught him between appointments.

  “Teddy.” Matthias greets me with a nod that makes his glasses glint. He doesn’t need glasses because he has perfect shifter vision, but he wears them anyway. “You okay?”

  No, I stalked a female through the woods and rescued her from her murderous brother. Then I transformed right in front of her, like a fool. My bear might be completely out of control.

  “Yep, just fine. Come in.” I hold the door for him. We both have to duck our heads to enter the cabin, and when Matthias stands up straight in my living room, his tight black curls brush the exposed pine beams. He has a slimmer build, but he’s a hair taller than me.

  “Thanks for coming so fast,” I say. “Did you go to the summit?”

  “I found this.” Matthias lifts the bright pink pack. “Along with broken pieces of pottery. But no knife.”

  “Shit.” I scrub a hand over my face. I should’ve taken care of the knife right away, so her stepbrother couldn’t come back for it. The female has me making all sorts of mistakes. “Did you see anyone?”

  “No. Caught the scent of a couple of humans. One of them was her. The other is male.”

  “Her stepbrother. He tried to stab her, and when I surprised him, he ran.” I’m itching to go out and find him, but until I know the female will be all right, I’m tethered to her side.

  Matthias gives a calm nod as if I described something normal. He’s used to me giving him the barest details of my missions. Nothing fazes him. Plus, he’s a doctor with human training, which made him the perfect brother to call to solve this dilemma. “Where’s the patient?”

  “In there.” I point to my bedroom.

  Matthias’ eyebrows bounce. My cabin is small and cozy, with a one room kitchen and living room in front of the fireplace, and a small bedroom barely big enough to fit one wardrobe and my bed. “I could’ve put her on the couch, but people with head injuries need quiet and privacy, right?”

  “Sure,” Matthias says.

  I don’t add that the couch is too exposed. Too near the door. I need to keep her safe. I especially don’t add the fact that the need to have her in my bed overrode all else.

  I won’t examine that urge too closely.

  I take the human’s pink bag, and Matthias unslings his black leather doctor’s bag from his shoulder.

  “I’ll just go check on her now.” He ducks in the bedroom, and I fight the urge to growl and follow him. I don’t want anyone near the human female but me.

  Mathias washes up in my bathroom before heading to the patient. When the bathroom door creaks, I can’t fight my instincts any longer. I give up and hover in the door to my bedroom, watching Matthias lean over the bed to examine the female. He wears gloves, and his hands are gentle, but her brow creases as he touches her head.

  “That wound looks nasty, but it’s the least of our worries,” Matthias says. “She probably has a severe concussion.”

  “Is that bad?” Human injuries make me nervous. Some of them die from bee stings or eating a peanut. How in the hell do I keep this one alive?

  “Did you see how she hit her head?”

  I lean against the doorframe, fighting the urge to rush past Matthias and gather the little human in my arms. “I was out for a run. She was hiking when her stepbrother tried to kill her. I stepped in, but in the commotion, she fell on some rocks.”

  Matthias accepts this with a nod. He’s holding a small flashlight and shining the light into Lana’s eyes. “How long has she been out?”

  As I explain the details of the rescue, I squeeze into my bedroom and hover over Matthias. The female’s scent fills the space, and my instincts are telling me to scoop up the little human and throw my brother out. Which is nuts. There’s no reason for me to be so possessive over a human I haven’t met.

  “And you brought her here instead of to the hospital?” Matthias asks.

  “She can't leave,” I blurt without thinking. “Her stepbrother tried to kill her, remember?”

  “You think he’s still out there, searching for her?”

  “He looked pretty determined.”

  “You going to go look for him?”

  “She’s the priority. Any idea why she’s still unconscious?”

  “The concussion. She did come to for a few minutes, correct?”

  “Just under a minute.”

  Matthias grunts. He fiddles around in his bag and holds up a vial of dark green liquid. “Hold her head.”

  I shift around him to steady the patient. Her head looks so small between my huge hands. She really is a knockout–smooth, dark skin, sculpted cheekbones, cute little nose, plush lips.

  Matthias sets the vial to her mouth and pours the contents in. It smells weird, a metallic and herbal combination.

  I stiffen. “What's that?”

  “Just a little something I cooked up,” Matthias murmurs, tilting the vial so it empties completely. “Come on, swallow. That’s it.”

  “What’s in it?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  My growl surprises us both.

  “It's a healing serum,” Matthias says. “One of my concoctions. It'll help her head.”

  All my trepidation vanishes. Matthias is trying to help. “It's not a good sign that she's asleep this long, is it?”

  “Not at all. But that should heal the worst.” He tucks the empty vial back in his bag and pulls out a pack of gauze. “It’ll take a moment to work. In the meantime, I can clean this cut. It doesn’t look like there are any other contusions.” He sprays a solution on the gauze and starts dabbing her head. “You need to keep her under observation for at least twenty-four hours. No more moving her or loud noises, if you can help it. She needs rest.” He peers over the tops of his fake eyeglasses at me. “Can you take time out of your busy schedule to do that?” His voice is mild, not a hint of sarcasm as he says busy schedule, but I bristle as if it's a reproof.