Rescued By Her Bear by Felicity Heaton
Chapter 17
Lowe stared in the direction his brother had gone, his chest feeling hollower by the second as he tracked Knox with his senses and the distance between them grew. The urge to follow him was strong and had him taking a step forwards, but he clenched his fists and stopped himself. Knox was right. He wasn’t in any condition to fight and he needed to warn the others.
And take care of Cameo.
Her gaze drilled into his bare back, heating his skin, drawing his focus to her.
He waited, sure that she would say something, aware that she had seen him shift back from a bear and that she knew what he was now.
But she said nothing, just stood there staring at him, and worry for Knox began to transform into worry for her. He looked over his shoulder at her, and that worry only intensified as he saw how distant her gaze was and how pale she was.
She shook her head, causing the tangled threads of her brown-to-gold hair to brush her shoulders, and her eyes sharpened. They dropped to her body. She reached for the waist of her black sweatpants, pulling her cream sweater out of the way.
“You should take these. They’re yours.” She went to untie the laces of the sweatpants.
“No.” He limped a step towards her, grimaced as his wounds hurt, and shook his head. “I can handle the cold.”
Her brow furrowed and her eyes drifted down to his chest. They widened as she stared at it, horror crossing her delicate features, and she absently lifted her hand, flexed her fingers and then dropped it to her side and looked away from him.
“We need to get you somewhere warm,” she murmured, sounding distant again, and refused to look at him.
Lowe swallowed the lump that formed in his throat as he looked at her, as he couldn’t deny the part of him that whispered that it was over. He had ruined everything by shifting. Now Cameo would leave him. Could he really blame her?
Her gaze strayed to the dead man, the edge her eyes gained making him feel she was in shock.
As soon as it wore off, she was going to panic and run.
Could he use the time he had before that happened to convince her to stay with him and make her see that he would never hurt her, and that his being a bear shifter didn’t mean they couldn’t be together? It was worth a shot. He couldn’t just let her go without a fight.
Her eyes gradually widened, the horror in them increasing as she continued to stare at the dead man.
“Cameo.” He limped another step towards her, needing to be close to her and aching to take away the pain he could feel in her, hurt and guilt that trickled into him through their fragile bond.
“There’s no getting around it this time,” she whispered, her gaze losing focus, the panic he could sense in her mounting. “I killed a man. I need to turn myself in.”
Lowe shook his head as fear blasted through him, the thought of Cameo leaving him swift to rouse a fierce need to keep her with him, to make her stay. He couldn’t lose her.
“I can’t let you do that.” He risked another step towards her.
This time, her eyes darted to him. “I broke the law.”
Lowe eased his left hand up, the need to touch her and take hold of her too strong to deny, even when he feared he might spook her into running. “The law… Cameo, if you go to the authorities… There are people who hunt my kind. They have eyes and ears everywhere. They’ll come here. I can’t let that happen. I can’t let you turn yourself in. I can’t let you go to prison… I just can’t.”
Disbelief filled her sky-blue eyes. “But I killed a man.”
He risked it, seized hold of her arm and gripped it gently, hoping not to scare her. “In self-defence. But they won’t care about that. They’ll label you a murderer and rather than Karl and his fucking lackeys going to prison, you will. Cameo… I can’t let that happen. Please?”
He brushed his thumb over her arm, shifting the soft cream material against her skin, and searched her eyes, staring deep into them, needing her to see how much the thought of her going to prison was killing him.
When he had told her to shoot the man, some part of him had known she wouldn’t be able to do it. She was too kind. Too gentle. Too damn law-abiding. He had hoped that her threatening the man would have been enough to make him react, giving Lowe an opening. Instead, Knox had done that, and Cameo had reacted on instinct.
She had wanted to protect both him and his brother, and she had taken the shot.
He lifted his hand to her face and cupped her cheek, keeping her eyes on his. “I’m sorry I made you shoot that man.”
Tears lined her dark lashes and her eyes strayed to her left, to the dead man, and then back to his. “I’m sorry too. I’m sorry I ever came here.”
Pain lanced his heart and he dropped his hand from her face, the hurt quick to roll through him to fill every inch of him, to make every fibre of his being cry out.
The regret in her eyes cut him deeper than any blade could have, carved a hole in his heart and had him turning away from her. He busied himself with gathering the guns, not wanting her to see his pain, how the thought of her leaving and that she regretted meeting him was tearing him apart.
Lowe sucked down a breath, turned back to face her but couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye. “We should go.”
She nodded and waited for him to reach her before she pivoted on her heel and hobbled along beside him. His hip ached with each step, but the cold air numbed his skin enough that he didn’t feel the pain of his injuries. Or maybe it was the thought of Cameo leaving that numbed him to it.
He looked in the direction Knox had gone. Gods, he hoped his brother played it safe and didn’t do anything reckless. While he appreciated what Knox had done for him and for the sake of his fated mate, he hated the thought of him alone out in the valley, tracking dangerous men who would be armed to the teeth.
Lowe looked down at the guns he gripped and clenched his jaw, fear chilling his blood as he thought about his brother facing armed men. He needed to find him and help him, and he would. As soon as he was on the mend, he was heading out to hunt for Knox. He couldn’t let his brother handle this alone.
Besides, he had the feeling that he wasn’t going to have a reason to stay at the Ridge soon.
He glanced at Cameo.
She was going to leave him.
The walk back to the clearing seemed to take forever, the air between him and Cameo growing heavier as she remained silent and he couldn’t find his voice. There were a thousand things he wanted to tell her and he was sure they would go a long way towards convincing her to stay with him, but he couldn’t get his thoughts straight as her words constantly echoed around his mind.
She was sorry she had come here.
“I understand.” Those words slipped from him and it felt good to have them out there, to break the silence.
Cameo glanced at him. Stopped dead when her eyes landed on his face.
Her eyebrows rose. “Understand what?”
He looked across at her, gathered his courage and pushed the words out, forcing himself to face whatever fate awaited him, even when it was one he didn’t want—a life without Cameo.
“You’re sorry you came here and I understand… I get that—”
She stiffened and cut him off. “I don’t think you do. I didn’t mean it like that. Oh God, Lowe. I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that I’m sorry I dragged you and everyone at Black Ridge into this mess and… got you hurt. And now Knox—”
“Knox will be fine.” He put force behind those words, trying to make himself believe it, and stepped up to her. “As for me… Cameo, I’d go through trials a thousand times worse if it meant I got to meet you.”
Her blue eyes softened, warmed in a way that warmed him too, but guilt lingered in their depths. He wasn’t sure how to take that away for her. Or maybe he was. If she saw he was healing and if Knox returned unharmed, having dealt with her problem and put an end to things, he was sure that she would feel better.
Lowe lifted his hand and brushed his knuckles across her cheek, lost himself in the affection her eyes held and dared to hope that things might work out after all. He might not lose her. He might have his fated mate.
Forever with Cameo sounded like heaven to him.
He knew that was a long way off though, that convincing her to be his mate wasn’t going to be easy. She was human and it would take time for her to accept what he was—if she could accept it—and a bond with him.
His senses warned that someone was approaching them.
Lowe turned and resisted the temptation to guide Cameo behind him, mostly because the male who came rushing to him wasn’t alone. Holly hurried beside Saint, her cheeks rosy from the cold and her grey-green eyes bright as they landed on Cameo and then him. The relief that filled them was quick to give way as she looked at him.
Saint growled, the vicious snarl pealing from his lips as he bared emerging fangs at Lowe, as if he was responsible for the fact his mate had just come running up to a naked male.
Holly was quick to toss a blanket in Lowe’s face and turn to Saint. “I didn’t see a thing.”
Saint scowled down at her, his eyes dark and filled with a look that said he didn’t believe that for a second. He huffed and slid Lowe a black look.
Lowe wrapped the blanket around his chest and tucked the end in, wearing it like a dress. Damn, it felt good to be covered, and not only because it stopped Saint from looking as if he wanted to rip him apart. The warmth of the blanket felt luxurious and he wanted to stand there and savour it for a moment, but a glance at Cameo had worry rushing through him again.
Cameo eased a step forwards, staring at Saint as if she was in a trance. Her voice was distant as she murmured, “I thought maybe the stress or the pain medication… you…”
She looked over her shoulder at Lowe.
“I’m not going crazy. You were a bear… right?”
He swallowed hard and reached for her, the panic flooding him quick to flow away as she didn’t try to evade him or run. She let him take hold of her arm, let him step up to her, closing the gap between them.
“I have a little explaining to do.” He stroked her arm, lifted his hand to her face and palmed her cheek. “We’ll get you warmed up and settled down again, and then I’ll tell you everything.”
And he meant everything.
Part of him had thought he would never have the mate talk, but it loomed on the horizon, and gods, he was dreading it. Saint was lucky that his fated female had turned out to be another shifter, someone already familiar with their world.
“Where’s Knox?” Saint looked beyond Lowe and then back at him.
Lowe’s stomach dropped and his heart ached as he reached out with his senses and couldn’t feel his brother with them. He rubbed at his sternum as that ache worsened when he thought about what his brother was doing.
“We managed to take the man down.” He neglected to mention it was Cameo who had shot him because he felt sure she wouldn’t like to be reminded of what she had done. He didn’t want her talking about going to the authorities again. “The man revealed more were coming. Knox went to head them off.”
Saint nodded in the direction of the Ridge. “Come on. We’ll talk more about it when we have you both warmed up.”
Lowe wrapped his good arm around Cameo and helped her, limping with her back to the clearing. He had never been so happy or so scared to see his cabin as it came into view. His heart thundered, the thought of having to sit Cameo down and tell her everything making him shake a little.
She glanced up at him. “Are you cold?”
He shook his head and met her gaze. He wasn’t sure what to say to her. If he admitted he was nervous, would it make her soften towards him? Maybe make it easier for him to convince her that his being a bear shifter wasn’t a bad thing? Admitting he was nervous felt a little like he was confessing he was guilty about something though. At least, he was sure that was what she would make of it.
The two big males striding towards them provided a good distraction, had Cameo tensing and tucking closer to him when she noticed them.
“It’s okay,” he murmured and rubbed her arm. “It’s just Rune and Maverick.”
And damn, it felt good to see the two of them.
Maverick cut an imposing figure dressed in a black wool coat that reached his knees, hugging his athletic frame, and equally dark jeans. His onyx hair was wild on top, as if he had been running his hand through it, and his clear grey eyes held a sharp edge as he stormed towards them.
But Lowe figured it was Rune who had made Cameo lock up tight.
The big six-seven male looked every bit the fighter he was with his dark hair cut close to his scalp, the scar that darted up from his left temple into his hair clearly visible, and a black woollen sweater moulded to his broad chest and huge biceps like a second skin. He clenched his fists, causing his forearms to flex, and his expression darkened, his ice-blue eyes growing as frigid as a glacier when they narrowed on Cameo.
Lowe bared fangs at the male, warning him to take his eyes off her. While he was no match for Rune in a fight, it wouldn’t stop him from attacking the male. Cameo was his. He tugged her a little closer, that action enough to have Rune shifting his cold gaze to Saint.
“What’s up?” Saint looked from Rune to Maverick, asking what was on Lowe’s mind too.
The two bears often looked as if they were on edge, but this felt different to him, and he had the feeling it wasn’t because there was a human female—Cameo—at the Ridge.
“We’re not the only arrivals.” Maverick’s deep voice was a low growl as he shoved his fingers through his hair. “Scented four males and a female at the trailhead.”
Cameo whispered, “Karl.”
Maverick slid her a dark look. “Who’s Karl? Someone to do with you? Figure you’re the one who got my pride into this mess.”
Rather than shrinking back against Lowe, she stood her ground, but Lowe could feel the fear in her, together with the guilt.
“Back down, Maverick,” Saint growled before Lowe could say anything and the big black-haired bear immediately backed off, his gaze shifting to him.
“Knox has gone to head them off and lead them away from the Ridge and the Creek.” Lowe’s chest constricted as he thought about his brother out there, unaware of what he was up against.
Four males and a female. All of them were probably armed too.
Knox was going to have to be damned careful about dealing with them if he was going to survive this, and Lowe had the terrible fear that his twin wouldn’t take the necessary precautions, would try to deal with them quickly and all at once.
“Knox will be fine.” Saint came to him and clutched his left shoulder, lightly squeezing it.
Lowe looked at him, catching the belief he heard in those words in his eyes, and then at the others. Rune and Maverick looked as if they believed the same thing. He glanced at Cameo.
Guilt shone in her blue eyes and she lowered them to her feet, avoiding his gaze.
Lowe turned to her as Saint stepped back. He gently touched her chin, pressing two fingers to it and lifting it up. She still wouldn’t look at him.
“This isn’t your fault, Cameo.” He wanted to make the others leave, but knew in his heart that they wouldn’t. His pride stuck together and none of them would want to leave him out here alone with only a human female for company when he was injured, exposed and vulnerable to attack.
She swallowed hard and glanced at him, her eyes leaping to lock with his before they darted away again. “It is. I got you all involved in my problem and now Knox is out there—”
“Knox can handle these people.” And this time he believed that. His brother was strong, brave, and a fighter. He was clever too. As much as he feared that Knox would go in there with metaphorical guns blazing, he knew deep in his soul that he wouldn’t.
Knox would scout the group and come up with a plan, would find a way to divide and conquer the enemy.
“He’ll be back before any of us knows it and he’ll probably have some wild tales to tell us, all of which will sound a little too tall to believe… but they’ll probably be one hundred percent true.” He feathered his fingers along her jaw as she finally looked at him, her eyes colliding with his, and hope shone in hers. Hope he felt deep in his heart. “Come on. Let’s get warmed up.”
She lifted her hand and brushed her fingers over his chest, close to the bullet wound. “We should take care of this.”
Maverick opened his mouth to say something and Lowe shot him down with a glare, fearing that the male was about to offer his services in that department. He wanted to be alone with Cameo, could feel she needed a moment to breathe, without his friends surrounding her. She needed to be alone with him. He needed that too.
Because Knox wasn’t the only one facing a tough battle, one that might end badly for him.
Lowe gathered his courage, aware he was going to need it.
Stared into Cameo’s eyes.
“We need to talk.”
