Bearly Alive: A Crimson Hollow Novella Read online

  “I’d have known where she was if I had mated with her,” Jase snapped, angrier with himself than with Liam. “I know all this.”

  “Let’s do this before you lose your opportunity with her altogether.”

  “Not going to happen.” He crouched down beside Becky, ready to pull her out of the last of the rubble and lift her into his arms. The moment his hand slid along her skin, he knew the injuries were minor compared to what they could have been. She had a concussion, broken arm, bruised ribs, but between the cut above her eye and the gash on her thigh, the worst of her injuries was the blood loss. There was nothing the tribe’s doctor couldn’t handle. He just had to get her out of there.

  “I’m glad Sin sent the others along.” The doctor, Ari, and Kaden were waiting at a hotel a few towns over. After Jase and the guards had taken off, Sin called to tell him that she had sent others after him. She knew it was too long of a drive for them to make it back if Becky or Billy had been hurt. Having the doctor close by would give them additional options besides going to a hospital. At a human hospital, there’d be no way to keep The Saviors from finding out the Lanes had survived.

  “You ready?” Liam stepped to the side of the beam, preparing himself to hold it up while Jase grabbed Becky. It was dangerous but with the shifter strength, it took some of the risks away.

  “Let’s do this.” As Liam braced the weight, Jase kicked the last chuck of drywall out of the way and tugged her away from the rubble before quickly lifting her into his arms.

  “Go!” Liam roared as a piece of the ceiling came tumbling down upon them.

  Holding her closer to his body and doing the best he could to shield her from the falling debris, Jase dashed back toward the door they’d come through. The door was in sight when the ceiling gave way, bringing the front of the house down with it. The noise of the walls collapsing was almost deafening and when he glanced over his shoulder he was unable to see his guard through the smoke and dust. “Liam?”

  “I’m here. Go!”

  Liam’s footsteps sounded behind Jase as he jogged toward the truck. The fire department could be seen off in the distance and in moments, the fire engine turned onto her road, several blocks up, leaving their escape window to mere seconds. “We’ve got to go.”

  Brett started the engine and unlike before, when Liam was driving, he stayed behind the wheel.

  “Get in the back with Billy,” Jase ordered Liam as they climbed into the truck. He silently wished for the boy to remain calm.

  “Mommy!” Billy hoisted himself up on the back of the seat, trying to swing his leg over so he could get up front.

  “She’s fine, just sleeping.” Liam climbed into the truck, hooked his arm around Billy, and pulled him back into the seat. “Buckle up.”

  Jase shifted in the seat, using his body as a shield so Billy couldn’t see the full extent of Becky’s injuries. He hadn’t had time to check her thoroughly before he’d moved her but thanks to the connection between them, he already knew there were no spinal cord or neck injuries he had to worry about. With a broken arm, dislocated knee, a couple of bruised ribs, and numerous other cuts, though, she was in bad shape. The loss of blood from her head wound and the deep gash on her thigh had him the most concerned.

  The strong pulse that had beat against his fingers when he’d found her was lighter now. They didn’t have much time.

  “Brett—” Jase hadn’t meant to snarl at him but his bear was too close to the surface.

  “I’m hurrying.” Without braking, he turned the wheel sharply to the left, allowing them to make their turn onto the highway without missing a beat. “Put pressure on it.”

  Applying pressure, he stared down at her pale face, cursing himself. If he had only claimed her as his mate when his bear wanted him to, none of this would be happening. “Stay with me, baby.”

  Chapter Two

  Two hours had passed and Jase was about to lose his control over his beast. Waiting for Becky to wake up was torture. At first, he was there by her bedside, refusing to leave even when the doctor told him she was okay. There were things he needed to take care of if he was going to take down The Saviors, but he couldn’t leave his mate’s side.

  Liam leaned in the doorframe between the two adjoining hotel rooms, his thumbs hooked in the corners of his jeans pockets. “Billy’s asleep.”

  He glanced behind the guard toward the bed in the other room, but in the dim light he couldn’t make out more than a lump on the mattress. The young boy was terrified his mom was going to go away and he’d be all alone. No matter how much Jase, Liam, or even the doctor tried to explain to him she would be okay, he wouldn’t believe it. The only thing that would convince him was Becky waking up.

  “We need to get back to the tribe. If this was meant as a direct attack on me, they’re in danger.”

  “Soon.” Liam glanced at Becky before turning back to Jase. “Once she’s awake, the doctor said she can be moved. Until then, it’s best if we just wait. Home can wait a little bit longer. Sin and Garret have it under control and there are extra guards on duty. Oswalt’s tribe called to offer their help and support. If we need anything, we’re supposed to contact them. After Sin and Garret had gone over to help them find the missing child, they feel they owe us.”

  “They owe us nothing.” Even as he said this, he knew if he were in Oswalt’s position, he’d feel the same way. Maybe banding together, assisting each other, was what they needed. It would make them stronger and hopefully, he’d be able to take down The Saviors before more people could end up dead at their hands. There had already been too much death, pain, and suffering because of them.

  “I told them that, but they insist that they’re there to help.”

  “We might need it.” Brett leaned back from the desk where he had been working on Jase’s laptop that he just happened to have in his hands when they took off to save Becky.

  “What did you find?” Jase was eager to learn anything that could bring The Saviors down and end this war on shifters.

  “I hacked into The Saviors’ online discussion group and it would seem that they’ve picked a handful of tribe leaders to go after. From what I can tell, they’ve selected the easiest ones to target first.”

  “How the hell are the leaders easy targets? If anything, with the constant guards, we should be harder to get to. Otherwise, Liam is taking his job too seriously. I can’t take a piss without reporting it to him.” More anger infused Jase’s words than he intended. While at first he might have despised having personal guards, they had now become part of his life.

  “Sir—”

  “Don’t give me that sir shit, Brett. You’ve been with us long enough to know I hate that crap.” Jase dragged his hand through his hair and leaned back against the wall. “I don’t need it sugar coated; just spit it out.”

  “They knew about Becky.” When Jase snarled again, Brett seemed to stumble over his thoughts for a moment before getting back on track. “I don’t just mean that she was connected to the tribe. They know she’s your mate. Even though you haven’t claimed her, you’ve marked her, letting any shifters who came near her know that she was under your protection. That is all another shifter should have known. They shouldn’t have known she was your mate.”

  “I’ll ask what none of us wants to.” Liam stepped out of the entryway and shut the door behind him. “Could it have been a leak?”

  “I considered that and would have said it was likely, except it’s not just Jase and Becky. Not even just our tribe, though they have Sin and Garret on the list as well. They even have Zoe on there as a target and she’s just a child. There are other tribes on there and the information they have on each of them means they either have a lot of spies working for them or…”

  “Spies are unlikely. The only ones who know about Becky are people I trust—Sin, Garret, the guards, and Ginger. None of them would have turned on me. I’d know it.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Liam turned to Jase, watching him
for a long moment.

  “Am I sure that they wouldn’t betray me? You’re damn right I am. Otherwise they wouldn’t be with the tribe.” Jase’s bear roared within him. He was already barely hanging onto his control by a sliver of a thread and now that his best friend and lead guard was questioning him, the thread began to fray.

  “I meant are you sure you’d know? Delaying the mating has made you preoccupied, not to mention all the issues we’ve dealt with lately, including The Saviors. Before we consider the alternative to leaks within the tribes, we need to rule out every possibility. Maybe someone said something to someone—”

  “Bullshit.” Jase stepped away from the wall and went to stand in front of Liam. “Even if I did miss something, you know damn well Sin would have caught it. She’d have known if there was a traitor in our tribe. You standing there saying this bullshit is not only pissing me off, it’s making me question if you’re in the right position. Your job details do not include questioning your Chief.” His fists clenched, he fought to keep his rage at bay.

  “Wait a moment.” Brett rose from the desk and came to stand by them. “Liam didn’t see the rest of the information yet. He’s going with the spy possibility because he doesn’t want to think of the only other option.”

  “What option?” Jase didn’t take his gaze from Liam as he waited for Brett to answer.

  “That they are forcing shifters to work for them.”

  “Shifters working with The Saviors.” Jase voiced the statement to make the words sink in. They had discussed this as a possibility before but to actually believe this was happening was a different matter. The anger disappeared and he stepped back to drop down onto the empty second bed. “Fuck.”

  “Are you sure we’ve ruled out the possibility of a traitor?” Liam asked.

  Brett gave him a quick nod. “Eight different tribes have their leaders on the hitlist. The likelihood of a spy in each of those tribes is doubtful. You might question if Jase is preoccupied by the delayed mating but I know Sin; she wouldn’t have missed it. If we had a turncoat on our land, she’d know it.”

  “Even if Sin and I weren’t as connected with the members as we are, there’s no way seven other tribes missed a traitor within their tribe. That’s fourteen other leaders. No matter how much we might hate the other option, this one is impossible.” Jase glanced back at Brett. “What I don’t understand is how we’re going to be easy targets.”

  “Not easy targets compared to shifters in general, but in the case of the leaders, the ones selected are easier to get to than some other tribe Chiefs.” Brett tipped his head toward Becky. “She was alone, no protection and no guards.”

  “Because I didn’t claim her.” Jase turned to look back at Becky. “I wanted to give her time to accept everything, then her mother became ill and passed away. Everything continued to pile up against us and the timing never seemed to be right. After her mother died, I wanted her to move to Crimson Hollow but she wouldn’t. Getting away from the tribe to make the trip up here to see her proved difficult and my bear was growing tired of it. He wanted her but I forced him to wait and now…look at her.”

  “She’s going to be fine,” Liam reminded him.

  “She was barely alive when we found her.” Jase blamed himself. Not only for leaving her where she was in danger, but for what The Saviors had done. They were after shifters and she had been dragged into the mess because of him. Billy had been through enough with his father going to prison and now, he’d lost everything in the explosion. They could never go back there and until The Saviors stopped being a threat, they couldn’t go out into the human world without them being in danger. “If it wasn’t for your insane driving, Liam, Becky would be dead.”

  “But she isn’t. Sin would tell you to be thankful that your bear alerted you to the danger she was in. If you hadn’t called her when you did, she’d be dead. One of the bombs had to be in the kitchen because it was nothing but rubble and fire when I went in.”

  “They’re going after us because we’ve taken down some of the controlling forces behind them. Their organization is crumbling and this is their last-ditch effort to bring us down with them.” Brett stepped over to the computer. “I don’t like to admit it but every target on there is someone with opportunity to be eliminated. Becky was alone without guards. Dave Eckhart—”

  “The Alpha of the wolf pack outside of Lincoln, Nebraska?” Jase shook his head. “Other packs have tried to take over his pack and failed. He’s not an easy target.”

  “Except he is for The Saviors. They’re not looking to take over the wolf pack so they don’t have to challenge him legally.” He tapped a few keys on the keyboard, bringing up a picture of Dave strolling up a flight of steps outside with a briefcase in his hand, appearing completely unaware that his photograph was being shot. “Businessman by day and Alpha by night. Every time he leaves the wolves’ den for work, he leaves behind his guards. He can’t appear to be the average businessman if he has pack members following his every move. He’ll be eliminated quickly, a victim of opportunity. They know when and where to hit him, just as they did with Becky.”

  “The discussion group has all of that online?” Liam stepped closer to the desk. “Maybe we can get the police to use it to take down more of The Saviors, or at the very least to protect those that are on the list.”

  “A former coworker of mine took a position with the FBI. He’s a shifter so he understands what’s happening here better than some. Unfortunately, due to his position, he’s unable to come out as a shifter. So, he’ll do what he can. Until then, we’re on our own.” There was a touch of disgust in Brett’s voice that he was unable to keep hidden.

  “Do what he can…what does that mean? Is the FBI going to help or aren’t they?” Jase was tired of the government trying to play both sides of that matter. Either they were going to give shifters equal rights or they weren’t. They couldn’t say shifters had the same rights as humans but still allow hunters to murder them and do nothing

  “They’re having a meeting to discuss the situation because if they send agents to protect those on the list they’ll lose their opportunity to take down more of The Saviors. Some of the higher ups are concerned protecting shifters will be seen as the government agencies taking a stance on shifter rights. That could incite further issues because there are some in power that are determined to keep it legal to hunt shifters.” Brett let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “They have a fine line to walk and while I’ve been in their position, I’m not sure which way they’ll lean. Damn, I’m glad I’m out of that shit now because it’s only going to get worse.”

  “Then it’s our responsibility to alert them to this threat.” A soft moan came from behind Jase and he shot off the bed to face Becky. “Brett, I want you to get in touch with everyone on that list; alert them to what is happening so they can take precautions. Tell them they need to continue their day to day lives but to make sure they’re safe. If they can take down The Saviors that are sent after them, they should do it. The more threats we eliminate, the more people we can keep safe. Liam, help him get the job done quickly. Then I want the two of you to dig through that discussion board and find out who did this to my mate. I want them dead.”

  A second moan slipped from her lips and he crossed the room quickly, coming to stand next to her. “Becky…”

  “We’ll take this into the other room.” Liam tipped his head toward Brett who was grabbing the laptop. “We’ll leave the door ajar, let us know if you need anything.”

  Jase nodded at them as he took her hand into his. “Come on baby, open your eyes.”

  Gently gliding his thumb over the curves of her knuckles, he sat down on the bed next to her. This was the moment they had been waiting for. Doctor Graham assured him that she’d wake up; she only needed time. To wait patiently had taken everything he had in him and nearly drove his bear to the edge. If he had claimed her as his mate back when he needed to, she’d be healed. Instead, he’d let everything get in th
e way.

  Her eyelids fluttered, not quite opening yet, but she was coming to. “Becky?”

  “Ah…”

  “Stay still baby, I’ll get the doctor.” He turned to holler toward the door but remembered Billy was still asleep. “Just a minute, Becky. I’ll get him.”

  “Billy…you have to…” Opening her eyes, she stared at him, her eyes full of unshed tears.

  “He’s fine.” As she started to lean up as if to get out of bed, he placed his hand on her chest, gently holding her in place. “Listen to me, Becky. I promise Billy is fine. He’s in the other room with Liam. Both of you are safe. You were hurt so you need to stay still.”

  “Jase.” Her fingers tightened around his, holding his hand tight. “Oh, Jase!”

  “It’s okay, baby, you’re safe.” He wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight.

  “You knew…but how?”

  “Later.” Now that she wasn’t fighting to get up, he removed his hand from her chest and brushed her long blonde hair away from her face. “What matters now is that you and Billy are safe. I want you to rest for a bit longer and then I’m going to take you back to Crimson Hollow.”

  “My house…”

  “I’m sorry.” He brushed his thumb along the curve of her cheekbone.

  “Excuse me.” Doctor Graham stood in the doorway. “I heard Ms. Lane was awake. If you’d like I could examine her now and we could be on our way home soon.”

  Jase wanted to tell him to come back later, that he wanted to be alone with her for a bit longer, but he had to put her safety above his needs. The longer they stayed at the hotel, the higher the chance of someone finding out she and Billy were alive. He needed to get them back to Crimson Hollow where they’d be safe. “Becky, this is Doctor Graham; he’s the tribe’s doctor. He’s going to check out your injuries and if he okays you for travel, we’ll get you and Billy somewhere safe.”