Markko charged him.
No!
Beth tucked her fear behind the wall of instinctual rage that blanketed her mind.
Teeth bared, she leaped for Markko’s back, wrenching his head enough to throw off his aim. His jaws sank into Braden’s shoulder, narrowly missing his vulnerable throat. Locking her jaws around Markko’s ear, she jerked her head, shredding the soft tissue in her teeth. Markko howled and reared in pain, throwing her off. She regained her feet immediately and spat the lump of bloody flesh on the ground.
Markko turned the brunt of his rage on her and barreled into her, snapping at her face and ducking his head, trying to get his jaws beneath her head and around her neck. He caught her along the top of her shoulder; his teeth pulled through flesh, her coat providing little protection. Her shoulder throbbed and blood matted her fur as she backed away, keeping her body between Markko and Braden, trying to buy him enough time to free himself.
Markko charged again, breaking to the right and throwing the force of his bulk into her shoulder, driving her to the ground. The momentum forced her to her back, exposing her neck and belly to Markko’s jaws. He sank his teeth into her fur, cutting into the muscles around her neck.
Beth thrashed and kicked, trying to dislodge him or wiggle away. He growled into her shoulder and shook his head violently, grinding the flesh between his teeth. He spread his back legs, bracing his weight over her and tried to reposition his jaws.
Beth struggled under him, if he got a wider grip, he’d crush her windpipe. Panicked, she pulled up her hind legs and kicked into the exposed flesh of his belly, raking the length of him with her claws. He grunted, but tightened his grip on her neck.
Desperate, she tried again and this time caught him lower. Digging in, Beth kicked out as hard as she could, her claws digging into his stomach and slipping down. He jerked against the pain and her left paw slipped, claws catching his balls. He howled in agony, opening his jaws wide enough for her to slip his grasp.
She rolled and pushed herself to her feet, but collapsed again under the pain that seared her shoulder. Shifting her weight to her left side, she tried again, barely managing to stay upright. She knew she couldn’t take another charge.
Markko dug his back legs into the earth and sprung forward, his jaws closing around her throat like a vise. Beth kicked and writhed, fighting to break free. His growl vibrated against her throat as she tried to pull air into her lungs. Her vision blurred and her lungs burned.
Something slammed into them, wrenching Markko away.
Beth blinked and rolled to her stomach, panting for air. Braden pinned Markko beneath his bulk, his jaws firmly fastened around his throat.
Beth watched with a strange detachment as Markko’s body went limp, his final grunts of pain muffled by the earth. After an eternity, Braden shook his head, tearing out Markko’s throat as his body jerked back and forth lifelessly.
It’s over.
Braden released him and raised his head, his eyes seeking her, his snout smeared with blood.
Worn-out, Beth looked around, dully acknowledging the sudden silence. Chase stood ten yards away, blood matting his fur and dirt streaking his snout. Alek was nowhere to be seen.
Braden brushed against her and whined inquisitively.
Beth tried to push herself up, but even Braden’s helpful nudge couldn’t keep her on her feet. She collapsed, the adrenaline abandoning her, leaving her aching and exhausted on the forest floor. Braden’s huge head dropped into her line of sight, his warm brown eyes concerned. She pushed her nose across his jaw and licked at his face, then dropped her head to the ground and closed her eyes, doing her best to convey that she just needed to rest.
He must have understood because he settled down beside her and rested his head across her shoulders. The warmth of him leeched away the last of her energy and Beth let herself drift to sleep.
***
Beth woke snuggled in Braden’s bed, his warm limbs entangled with hers. She sighed and stretched, mindful of the stiffness left in her body and the stitches in her shoulder.
They’d waited until dawn, then trekked back to Chase’s car and driven home. By the time they got there, Mike had been waiting for them, medical bag in tow. He’d patched them up, pumped them full of painkillers and sedatives, and sent them to bed. The moment her head had touched the pillow, Beth had dropped off.
“What time is it?” Braden asked, his voice thick with sleep.
“It doesn’t matter.” Beth relaxed into his embrace. “Just rest.”
“I’m resting.” His breath tickled the back of her neck and a possessive hand splayed across her stomach. “Be glad Mike drugged me. I’m pissed as hell at you and Chase. He shouldn’t have let you anywhere near those woods.”
“Be grateful he did. You’d be dead otherwise.”
“My brothers and father could have handled it.” He sighed and the hand stroking her skin stilled. “The last thing I wanted was to see you walk into that clearing.” His arms tightened around her. “But you did anyway—walked right in naked, like some fierce Amazonian warrior. You were beautiful.”
“I was terrified.” Beth smiled as Braden’s hand slid up to cup a breast.
“It was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen. I don’t ever want to be that terrified again.”
“No more naked confrontations, I promise.” She’d never felt so vulnerable or frightened in her life.
“Well, some naked confrontations might be alright.” His fingers tweaked a nipple, and then trailed south, edging around the lace of her underwear.
Beth gripped his wrist and pulled his arm around her waist. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”
“I can finish it.”
“Not today, you can’t. Mike said you needed to rest. Give your body chance to heal.”
He sighed against her and pushed a leg between hers, pulling her closer to him. “Fine. There will be time later.” His voice dropped, heavy and thick, as sleep pulled him back under.
***
The smell of a loaded baked potato and a grilled steak enticed him awake. He rolled to his side, arm instinctively searching for Beth. Cold sheets beneath his palm coaxed him to actually open his eyes.
“Hi,” Beth said as she set a dinner tray down on the side of the dresser. “How are you feeling?”
“What are you doing out of bed?” He pushed himself up against the headboard, suppressing a wince and running a critical eye over her. Bandages peeked out of the collar of her shirt and there was a paleness to her cheeks that he didn’t like. But the drawn, haunted look she’d worn since arriving at his parents’ house was receding.
“I’m not the one who’s slept away the last thirty-six hours,” she said, leaning over to prop him up with a pillow. “Are you hungry?”
“Always.” He gripped her wrist and pulled her off balance until she sprawled across his lap.
“One-track mind.” She shook her head but brushed her lips against his, eyes dancing with laughter. “Your mom sent up dinner, you should eat. Then you can take the pills Mike left you.”
“I’ll take the food.” He released her arm so she could rise. “But you can keep the pills.”
“I don’t think so.” She placed the tray on his lap and sat next to him on the edge of the bed. “You’ve got one more dose of painkillers and muscle relaxants to take. It’s that or an additional couple of days of bed rest.”
“I’ll take door number two,” he said, threading his fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck and pulling her closer. “Definitely door number two,” he breathed against her cheek, wondering if he’d ever get tired of the scent of her.
She wrapped her fingers around his elbow and pressed her cheek against the skin of his forearm. The way her eyes fluttered shut as she took a deep breath was one of the most erotic things he’d ever seen her do. “Bed rest is a solitary activity,” she murmured, opening her eyes and pinning him in place. “But if you’re sure…” she said, pulling away wit
h a grin.
“We’ll negotiate over dinner.” He picked up his fork and dug into his potato. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m alright. A little sore, nothing a few stitches and a bottle of ibuprofen didn’t fix.”
“As I recall, what you refer to as a few stitches was actually more like three dozen.” He fingered the collar of her shirt, gently tracing his fingers over the heavy bandaging that remained.
She caught his fingers and pulled them away. “I’m alright. Mike said the stitches were really just there to speed along the healing process and to keep the scarring to a minimum.” She glanced away and pulled her hair over her shoulder until it hid most of the bandaging.
“In time there probably won’t be a mark, at all. We heal fast, remember?”
“Yeah.” She stole a sip of his iced tea. “Chase is okay, by the way.”
“A few bumps and bruises, as I recall. Did he and Dad find Alek?”
“No,” she said on a hard sigh. “I know they looked for him when they went back to take care of Markko’s body, but they didn’t find anything.”
“Don’t worry about him, Beth. He’s probably long gone by now and he’s got no reason to come back. Everything else okay?”
“Mostly.” She shrugged. “Lucy’s barely speaking to me. Or Chase, for that matter. She’s angry we went alone.”
“That makes two of us, then.” He let a smile touch his lips at her expression. “Don’t worry about Lucy, she’s quick to temper but she can’t hold a grudge to save her life.”
“And you?”
“Well, I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to negotiate…”
An hour later, freshly showered and stuffed from dinner, Braden lay stretched out on the bed with Beth curled against his side. “I still can’t believe you got me take those damn pills.”
He felt the curve of her lips against his shoulder. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, you’re here.” He rolled to his side and settled her against him, his fingers trailing down her side.
“Things will be easier now that Markko is out of the picture,” he said around a jaw-popping yawn. “We can stay out here for a couple of weeks, or go back to Portland if you’d rather. We can always drive out here for the full moons and spend a few days with everyone. We’ve got time to make a decision, decide where we go from here. There’s so much I can show you, so much to enjoy…” His body relaxed behind her. “I love you,” he whispered, sleep overtaking him in the next instant.
Beth squeezed the hand laced around hers. So easy. So simple. Why did it feel anything but?
She supposed she could put everything behind her now—Markko was out of the picture for good and she could glide into a future with Braden. His entire family would make it easy, accommodating her as though she’d always been there. A frown creased her forehead. That was the easy way out. She couldn’t do it. Not again. She’d be running away from everything all over again. Worse, she’d be using Braden to do it.
Beth lay next to him for a long time, listening to the sounds of his breathing. When she was certain he was deeply asleep, she pulled away, dressed and grabbed her shoes, quietly shutting the bedroom door behind her. The house was silent, the rest of the family asleep in their rooms. She hated feeling like she was sneaking away in the middle of the night.
I’m not strong enough to do this if he tries to talk me out of it.
She grabbed her purse off the entry table and removed Braden’s keys from the hook by the door. She’d send him an email, telling him where she’d left the car.
“Going somewhere?” Chase stood silently by the door, watching her every move.
Beth tightened her fist around the keys and reached for the door. Chase didn’t move to stop her. “I need to go. There are things…” She swallowed around her nervousness at the thought. “So many things I need to take care of. That I need to face. I can’t do that if I stay here.”
Palming his wallet off the entry table, Chase pulled the door open for her. “I’ll drive you to Portland.”
Beth stopped, startled by his easy acceptance. “What?”
“Shh.” Chase gently pulled her across the threshold. “Come on, if you want to do this without being noticed, we need to get going.”
“I don’t understand,” Beth said, following Chase to his car.
“But I do.” Chase ushered her into the car. He didn’t speak again until he pulled onto the highway. “I understand what it feels like to run from your past. And what it feels like when that family makes it easy for you to pretend the ugliness never happened.”
Beth considered him silently for a long time. Strange that he of all people knew her feelings as well, if not better, than she did. “I need to sort some things out. I need to see some people I’ve left behind. I wasn’t fair to them,” she said.
“Rachel’s parents.” It was a statement.
“I was hurting and I abandoned them. It wasn’t fair.”
“You couldn’t stay and they couldn’t help you,” he agreed.
“No. But I don’t have that excuse anymore. I need to see them and I need to see Rachel.” She dreaded that part. She’d missed Rachel’s funeral while she’d been in the hospital and she’d never been able to make herself drive out to the cemetery later.
“I need to know that I can handle things on my own. That I’m not just relying on Braden or your family to make things easy. I need to adjust to this life on my own, spend some time dealing with everything,” Beth explained, more for her own benefit than for Chase’s. “It would be too easy to let the warmth and support of your family do it for me.”
“And you need to know that you’ll come back to my brother because you love him, not because you’ve come to rely on him.”
“Yes.” Her fear of that discovery bled through her voice. She reached over and turned on the radio, turning the volume up and staring out the window, trying not to think about what she was leaving behind.
Chase stayed with her throughout the day. He helped her pack up some of her apartment, get her car from Braden’s and load up the things she was taking with her. Now she stood beside her Jeep, keys in the ignition, unsure what to say or how to thank him.
“Are you sure I can’t just take you to the airport?”
Beth shook her head. “I think the drive will do me good. It’ll give me time to think about what I’m going to say when I get there.”
“If you’re sure?”
Beth nodded.
Chase pulled an envelope out of his back pocket. “This is for you,” he said, pressing the package into her hand. “There’s a guy in Boston named Lucas Stern. Call him when you get in—he’s going to keep an eye out for you.” Chase spoke over her when she opened her mouth to argue. “Call him. Or I tell Braden where you are. With Markko out of the picture, we expect Alek to go home, so we don’t expect him to bother you. But eventually word is going to get back to Markko’s father that he’s dead.”
The blood drained from her face. She hadn’t thought much beyond the fact that Markko was gone.
Chase squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry too much. They weren’t close, and in any case, his father will likely blame us. Still, I want someone checking on you. Lucas is very good. You won’t even know he’s there.”
Beth sighed and clenched her hand around the envelope. “Fine.” It was the least she could do.
“If anything bothers you, makes you nervous, call him. Or me. I’ll come straight out.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
He looked at her a strangely and shrugged. “I’d do the same for Lucy.” He said it so casually, but it touched her deeply.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him on the cheek and pulled him into a hug. She couldn’t help the watery laugh that bubbled out at the way he stiffened and awkwardly patted her on the back.
“Thank you,” she said as she stepped back and climbed into her Jeep. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, there’s another se
t of contact information in there. Veronica Lewis. She’s a psychologist. She knows about us. I thought you might want to talk to her.”
Moved by his thoughtfulness, Beth tucked the envelope into her purse.
“There’s also some cash and a prepaid cell phone in there.” Chase stepped back and shut the door for her. “When you’re ready, let me know. I can come and pick you up at the airport or something. But, Beth? Don’t take too long. Braden won’t be patient more than a few months.” He grimaced. “Hell, he’ll be downright unbearable in the meantime.”
Beth pulled her seat belt on and smiled. “I promise.”
Epilogue
Labor Day — Four Months Later
Beth took a deep breath as Chase angled the car off the highway and into the Edwardses’ gravel driveway. She’d called Chase a week before to ask him if he thought his family would mind if she came out to see them over the holiday weekend. He’d booked her a plane ticket and promised to pick her up himself. She’d spoken with Braden a few times over email and had sent Lucy a few text messages, but aside from that, she’d been almost completely out of touch for the entire summer. She was hoping she would still be welcome.
“Do they know I’m coming?” she asked, nervous fingers drumming against her leg.
“Nah.” Chase parked the car in the driveway and killed the engine. “Well, Anna probably does,” he amended. “But she always seems to know these things.”
Beth grabbed his arm before he could get out of the car. “You’re sure it’s okay that I’m here? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Trust me. It’s fine.” He came around the car and pulled the door open for her.
“Oh. My. God!” Lucy squealed and hurled herself out the front door, letting the screen door slam behind her. Chase met her halfway, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.
“Later, squirt.” He set her down on the porch and stepped aside as Braden walked out.
He looked at Beth for a long time, arms crossed, expression set. She swallowed hard and shut the car door, trekking up the driveway to the porch. He met her at the bottom of the stairs.