“Bullets. Must. Come out,” he gurgled.
“How?” she asked, terrified that she could lose him.
“Dig with fingers,” he managed.
She couldn’t do it.
“Can’t heal with bullets,” he said.
“I understand, Cyrus. I’ll do it. I’ll dig them out.”
She gathered his head in her lap and positioned her hand over his chest where the bullet holes had punctured his flesh. The two on through his shoulders had broken out the other side but there were three other holes that didn’t have exit wounds.
She sucked a deep breath through her teeth and squeezed her eyes closed. When she opened them again, she lowered her fingers closer to the bullet wound. Blood was seeping from the holes. Her heart fluttered and sank into her stomach. She pressed her finger into the bullet hole and Cyrus groaned in pain.
“I’m sorry, does it hurt?”
“Keep. Going.”
She pushed her finger further into the bullet wound, feeling around for hard metal. She finally felt something metallic under fingernail and tried to scoop it up. Cyrus grunted in pain and she felt terrible hurting him.
“I think I got it,” she said.
She pushed further, trying to get a grip on the bullet, but it slipped away.
“I can’t get it,” she admitted.
“Try. Claw,” Cyrus said, patting her hand weakly.
“Claw? You mean my grizzly claw? You want me to shift?”
“Just claw,” he said, coughing up more blood.
She still had her finger deep in his chest, and she didn’t know what organs she was touching. This couldn’t be healthy. But he was a shifter, and healed quickly. He seemed confident that this was okay, so she would believe him. She concentrated on her grizzly, inviting the animal’s claw to extend from her human fingertip. She had no idea how she made it work, but she could feel her fingernail growing longer and stronger as her finger pressed inside Cyrus’s body. The whole thing was disgusting. She could barely keep down her breakfast, but she had to save Cyrus. She couldn’t afford to be squeamish.
Her long grizzly nail hooked the bullet and she pulled it out. She withdrew her finger with the bullet in the curved crook of her claw. She dropped it on the ground and let out a long sigh. Cyrus’s eyes dropped and his head lolled to the side.
“Cyrus. Stay awake. Stay with me.”
“I’m here.”
She couldn’t stand that she was hurting him, but there was no way around it. She had to do this to save his life. She pushed her finger into the other bullet hole and felt around for the metal. This one seemed to be deeper than the last. Cyrus screamed in pain as she touched the bullet. She gritted her teeth and knit her brow, extending her claw to scoop the bullet into her grasp and pull it out of his body. She let the second bullet drop where the first one lay on the wet ground.
Cyrus passed out, and Daisy began to panic.
“Wake up, Cyrus. Wake up.” She put her finger to his jugular to feel his pulse. It was weak but he was still alive. She had to get the other bullet out of his body to allow his shifter healing abilities to repair him.
She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to steady herself. She couldn’t let the terror of the moment interfere with what she had to do. She pressed her finger into the third bullet hole, just above his heart. He was already passed out so she couldn’t tell if it hurt him as much as the last two had.
She pushed her finger deeper into his body until it disappeared at the knuckle. She whimpered at the sight of it, her mind not wanting to comprehend what she was doing. She felt the metallic object and extended her claw down and around it. Blood began to seep out of the wound more quickly and she let out a frustrated groan. Daisy pulled the bullet from Cyrus’s body and let it drop on the ground. Blood poured from his chest and she pushed her hands over the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding. She held her hands over the wound and pressed as hard as she could. There weren’t any bullets left in his body so now he could begin healing. She had no idea how long it would take a shifter to heal from wounds like this.
She held Cyrus there for a long time, even as the night turned in day. She would care for Cyrus until he came back to her.
Chapter 12
Cyrus woke the next morning, feeling hung over and fuzzy. Slowly, the day before came back to him, and he looked up to find Daisy above him, her back to a tree and her eyes closed. She held his head in her lap, and her hand gently stroked his brow. His fuzzy memories began to reemerge. He’d been shot five times and Daisy had removed the bullets. He passed out from the pain before she’d finished. He looked down at his chest, the bullet holes were only faint marks. It still hurt, and he wasn’t fully recovered, but at least he could get on his feet and get his lady back to safety. He reached up and cupped her cheek, wanting to wake her softly and gently.
“Daisy?”
Her eyes popped open and she gasped at him.
“Cyrus! You’re awake. I was so worried.”
She flung herself over him and wrapped him in her arms. He felt her love pouring out of her in that moment and there was no greater feeling in the world.
“Let’s get you back to Timber Bear Ranch,” he said.
“What about the others? I tied my stepdad up to a tree with his own suit.”
“Left all mine unconscious. I’ll report them to the Bear Patrol as soon as we get back to town.”
They both quickly shifted, with Fifi at their feet, and began to barrel through the forest toward home. Cyrus wanted to get Daisy to safety as quickly as possible. They made it back to Timber Bear Ranch as the afternoon sun was fading into evening. The two grizzlies and the little Yorkshire Terrier walked down the gravel road and stopped in the wide gravel yard in front of the farmhouses. Leland was the first to emerge from the main house with his mate Sylvia behind him with their cub in her arms.
“Cyrus?” Leland asked, stepping quickly down the porch steps to join him in the yard.
Buck came out of the front door of his house, squinting in the evening sunlight at the grizzlies before them.
“Did you find your mate?” Buck asked Cyrus.
“Maybe we should get her something to wear,” Sylvia said.
She hurried back into the house and came back a moment later with several large blankets. She draped one over Daisy’s back and the other over Cyrus. With a grunt, he shifted, gathering the blanket up around him before he stood to his full human height. Daisy did the same thing by his side. Fifi ran to Sylvia and started bouncing and barking at her. Sylvia knelt down and pet the little dog with a giggle.
“Who’s this?” she asked with a smile.
“That’s Fifi,” Daisy said,
“And I’m going to need to make a phone call,” Cyrus said.
Everyone moved into Leland’s house, and Daisy and Cyrus sat down on the couch to rest.
“Cyrus,” Buck said as he stood near the fireplace. “You were shot.”
“I was shot five times. Three bullets lodged in my chest. But Daisy was able to remove them.”
Everyone looked at Daisy and Cyrus saw the blood rise in her cheeks.
“I did. I even used my grizzly claw.”
“I’ll get the phone,” Leland said moving to the kitchen.
Leland came back a moment later with a cordless phone that he handed it to Cyrus.
“I’m guessing there’s quite a story here.” Buck said.
Sylvia passed through the room with her little one in her arms: a cub of about two years old. It made Cyrus long for child of his own. After what he and Daisy had been through today, the idea of keeping his family secluded in the woods was no longer as attractive to him. He wanted to give his mate a comfortable life where she could be happy, and be close to the people who made life worth living.
“What’s the number for the Fate Mountain Police?” he asked, the phone in his hands.
Leland gave him the number and Cyrus quickly dialed it.
“Can I speak with t
he chief of police? This is Cyrus Kincaid. I have a crime to report.”
“One moment please,” said the operator.
A moment later a gruff male voice answered the phone. “This is Cmdr. Rollo Morris. What can I do for you, Cyrus?”
“My mate and I were attacked on the mountain by her stepfather and his hired goons. We took them down but were unable to restrain them. My guess is that they are still roaming the mountain. We need some of your men to go out and take them down.”
“We’re on our way.”
Cyrus hung up the phone and looked up at his brothers.
“Now you want to tell us what’s going on?” Buck asked.
The sound of a baby crying echoed through the baby monitor in Buck’s back pocket.
“I need to get Joy. Maria is still giving a lecture at the Institute. I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t start your story until I get back.”
Buck hurried out of the farmhouse and Sylvia handed their cub to Leland.
“I’m sure to you two are starving,” she said. “I’ll get you something to eat.”
Sylvia disappeared in the kitchen and Leland sat on the armchair across from the ancient red velvet sofa where Daisy and Cyrus sat.
Buck walked through the front door of the farmhouse with a baby strapped to his chest, and paced back and forth in front of the fireplace that was crackling with a warm fire, bouncing his baby up and down his arms. A moment later there was a knock at the door. Leland went to answer it. A man in a police uniform walked through the front door.
“I’m Commander Rollo Morris. I’m here to take your statement.”
“Why don’t you start, Daisy?” Cyrus prompted, holding her hand.
“It all started about a week ago when my stepfather informed me that he had arranged my marriage to the leader of a hyena clan. Now, I knew this shifter was not my fated mate. I didn’t understand why a shifter would want to marry a woman who wasn’t his fated mate. But none of that stopped the hyena or my stepfather. He told me to pack a bag and get ready to go. So, I packed up my things and my little dog Fifi. We got in a helicopter and flew to Fate Mountain. There was supposed to be a handoff between my stepfather and the hyena pack. He was giving me up in exchange for a shipment of crystal. But when my stepfather inspected the shipment, he found that there was less in the container than he had expected. There was a shootout and I ran away.
“I walked all day, carrying my dog, and finally found a cabin in the woods. I was greeted by Cyrus, and it didn’t take long for us to realize we were fated mates. But then we were attacked by my stepfather’s men.”
“And a wolf shifter named Pierce Evert.”
“They chased us out of the cabin, and we took to the forest. I convinced Cyrus to change me so I could help him fight them. I took down my stepdad and Cyrus took down the rest. But then he was wounded.”
“Daisy pulled the bullets out and we hurried back to the ranch as soon as I was healed enough to walk.”
“We’ll bring them in,” Rollo said, closing up his note pad.
Chapter 13
After they told Rollo everything, the Bear Patrol took to the woods to find the bad guys. Daisy and Cyrus were left at the Timber Bear Ranch to wait for news. Leland had offered to give the couple a suite at the Fate Mountain Lounge.
In the upstairs spare bedroom, Daisy slipped into the dress that Sylvia had lent her. She walked into the hallway and found Cyrus standing there, dressed in Leland’s clothes. He was wearing blue jeans and a flannel shirt. He’d trimmed his beard and had cut his hair to shoulder length. Daisy’s eyes widened in surprise at his cleaned-up look.
“You look good enough to eat,” she said with a feral grin.
He closed the space between them and gathered her in his arms, growling into the crook of her neck.
“Promise,” he said.
“Why don’t I get you two to the lodge?” Leland said with a grin as he climbed to the top of the stairs.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Cyrus said, taking Daisy’s hand.
Daisy grabbed Fifi’s carrier. She and Cyrus followed Leland down the stairs and outside to his cherry red crew cab. Cyrus sat in the front with Leland and Daisy sat in the big backseat with Fifi. She listened to the brothers chat as they drove into town. Seeing Cyrus with his brother allowed her to witness a whole other side of him. Cyrus was a good man and a good brother.
She didn’t know what the future held for them. All she knew was that she loved her mate and was delighted that they were together.
Leland had arranged a full package that included food and lodging. The female attendant whose name tag said ‘Kelly Green’ gave them the keycard and directions to their room. Leland had reserved them the bridal suite for their stay and Daisy couldn’t be happier. She felt like a bride in so many ways, even though they had never said their vows. Not in so many words, anyway.
Having been claimed and changed by her mate, Daisy was more connected and bonded to him than a thousand weddings could provide. She walked hand-in-hand with Cyrus through the hallways of Fate Mountain Lodge, up the elevator and into their penthouse suite.
The room they entered was a well-appointed living room/dining room area with a big screen TV, fluffy comfortable couches and a rectangular dining table that was just beyond the compact kitchen. After letting Fifi out of her carrier, Daisy passed the dining table and noted the menu for room service. She then walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.
Inside, she found drinks and snacks. She grabbed two ginger ale bottles and handed one to Cyrus. She glanced into the bedroom to see it was furnished with a king-sized bed covered in a fluffy comforter. The entire hotel room was done in a classic rustic style that went perfectly with the surroundings. She walked out onto the balcony beyond the French doors in the living room and looked out at the view of Lake Fate. The silver water twinkled in the full moonlight. She turned to Cyrus who had walked outside beside her, the tingle of ginger ale still in her mouth from her last sip. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, kissing her lips fiercely in the cool evening air.
“Have I told you how much I love you today?” he said with a growl.
She felt his body rise against her, awakening all her newfound desire in one quick jolt.
“Have I told you how much I want you?” she said, pushing back against him.
“I’m going to run my lady a bath with hot running water and fancy soaps.”
“That sounds so good,” she said with a giggle, nipping at his bottom lip.
He growled into her ear and escorted her into the bathroom where he started the bath as they kicked out of their shoes.
“Tomorrow I’m going to take you shopping. Jessie has my credit cards and is bringing them in the morning.”
“I still haven’t met your brother Jessie,” she said.
“He’s been helping me sell my wares online. And he keeps updates on my investment accounts that I’ve made over the years. I have a substantial bank account.”
“You do?”
“It pays not to have any expenses. And I’m also one quarter owner of Timber Bear Ranch.”
That made Daisy think about their future. But she stopped herself; she didn’t want to think about it now. She’d much rather think about the warm water that had filled the huge jetted bathtub.
She began to pull off her clothes as Cyrus gazed up at her. She gathered her long wavy blonde hair over her shoulder and tested the water with her big toe. It was a little hot but just perfect. She dipped her foot in further, followed by her whole leg, and then the other. She slowly sat and rested her back against the sloping side of the tub and let out a long, satisfied sigh.
“This feels so good.”
“It looks good too, from where I’m sitting,” Cyrus said, watching her body under the waterline.
Daisy ducked in the water, wetting her hair. She giggled and wiggled her finger at Cyrus, motioning for him to join her. He tore out of his shirt and pants and plunged into the wate
r. She giggled again as the water splashed in her face. Cyrus prowled across the tub to gather her in his arms. He sat with her partially on his lap, kissing the back of her neck and ear.
“Let me wash your hair,” he said.
He squirted sweet smelling shampoo in his hand and massaged the shampoo over her scalp and down the length of her tresses. It felt so good to have his hands on her like this. She felt his manhood, hard between the crease of her ass. She groaned and bit her lip as Cyrus began to rinse the shampoo from her hair. When the soap had rinsed clean, she leaned back and rested her head against his chest, reaching up to claim his mouth with her own. He kissed her deeply and grasped her breast, still slippery with soap. He ran her nipple through his fingers, pinching lightly as his other hand ran over her hip in between her thighs. Daisy groaned, wanting more, wanting everything.
He rubbed against her, pulling her back over his length. He rested his cock between her legs and arched his hips to rub up and down over her most sensitive parts. He grasped at her other breast, exciting her budded nipple. She groaned into his mouth and ran her fingers through his hair. She pushed against his hardness, wanting him inside.
“I’m going to wash your body,” he growled.
He squirted a few drops of body wash in his hands and began to rub it all over her body. The slick, slippery sensation of his flesh on her skin made her dizzy with desire. He passed his soapy hand over his cock and stroked several times. She felt it throb between her thighs as Cyrus slid his soapy hand over her pussy. He pulled back, pressing his head of his cock against her opening.
She groaned into his kiss, biting at his lip. Cyrus grasped her hips and pushed her down over his manhood. He split her open with a burst of flaming pleasure. Daisy moaned and broke their kiss as the fire of orgasm burned through her. Cyrus grasped both of her breasts at the same time and Daisy rested her head against his shoulder as he slowly moved in and out of her in exquisitely long thrusts.