“Maria. You went to the Bright Institute for Shifters, you must understand something about what it means to be fated mates.”
“I do, Buck. And that's why I’m telling you that this can never be. I know exactly what my sister Rosa and her mate Heath are like and I can’t offer you that. I'm not like Rosa. I'm never going to be a good wife and mom. If I ever could have been, that chance has passed me by. It's never coming back. You have no idea what I'm capable of.”
“I've seen your animal. We both already know I can handle it.”
“You think that somehow your bear can help me because you can scare me out of my shift? That's not going help me. It only made it worse. She's so angry that you interfered with her, she’s kept me in a shift for days. If you want to help me, Buck, you’ll leave me alone. If you try to force me out, all I'm going to do is fall further into this feral animal. Is that what you want?”
“Why are you being so stubborn?”
“Look Buck, I'm sure you're a great guy. But my problems are my problems. Just because we were matched up on Mate.com doesn't mean that we have to live happily ever after.”
“Maria, I know you want to leave this place.”
“I do, Buck,” she said, feeling the weight of her emotions finally catch up with her.
The look in his eyes and the waves of care rolling off him radiated through her and she couldn't help but be moved by it. The scent of his skin and the tone of his voice said he truly cared for her, no matter what.
“Would you join me for breakfast?” she asked, feeling her stomach grumble. “I can make some of the stuff you brought.”
“That’s a good compromise for now,” he said.
Maria went about fixing dehydrated chili and slicing up her venison steaks with the new knife he’d brought. She dished a helping of food onto one of the new plates and handed it to Buck. She fixed herself a plate and they ate in silence. She looked out of the cave into the green forest, the light twinkling through the branches.
She took a sip of water and let out a long, contented sigh. She felt good and she knew, deep down, that it was because Buck was here, trying the help her. She couldn’t let herself get used to it.
Buck finished eating his own food and inched closer to her. She could feel the heat radiating off him as he drew near. She wanted to sink into his embrace, feel his arms around her, and hear him tell her everything was going to be okay. She wanted to hear him say he would take care of her, forever. She wanted to believe it.
As if reading her mind, Buck slid his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. He caressed her cheek softly with the tips of his fingers and tilted her face up to look at him. He gazed down with the most loving look in his eyes she had ever seen.
“Please, come with me, Maria,” he cooed. “Let me take care of you, sweet girl.”
“Oh Buck,” she said, so ready to give in.
She wanted to go with him. She wanted to believe in the dream. She could be Maria Kincaid. She could live in his house and be his wife and have his children. She wanted to believe she could live happily ever after on Timber Bear Ranch. And be loved unconditionally by this good, honorable man.
She didn't deserve it. She knew in her heart she didn't deserve it. Everything that had ever happened in her life had reaffirmed that she was damaged and broken and could never be loved or happy. But the feeling of Buck's arms around her, the heat of his skin, the smell of his body, it all made her want to believe that she could have something good in her life.
Maybe she could be loved. Maybe she could finally be seen for who she was. If anyone could do it, she knew that it was Buck. He leaned closer, his lips so close to hers. They brushed over her mouth so lightly. She gasped and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer. She kissed him with ferocious need. Even her lioness woke up and affirmed that deep well of desire.
She kissed him hard and he held her gently, letting her take what she needed. She pulled back with a gasp, shattering under the intensity of her own pounding desire.
“I don't know what I'm doing,” she said.
And she didn't. She'd never kissed a boy before. The kidnappers had taken her on her way home from school in Los Angeles and had meant to sell her into sex slavery. They’d said so many horrible and demeaning things in those weeks, that the words still played over and over inside her mind. Those voices never left her head. Even as she kissed Buck, the man who promised her so much, she still heard their words deep inside. Her lioness hissed. She wanted to believe she was the sweet girl that Buck wanted to see.
“I talked to Corey Bright. Your sister and brother-in-law are very worried about you,” he said.
She snapped out of the heat of the moment.
“What?” she growled. “You talked to them about me? Did you tell them where I am?”
“I didn't tell anyone. I kept your secret. They won't come here.”
“Did they tell you what happened to me? Did they tell you it was my fault?”
“Maria? This isn’t your fault.”
“You don't know anything, Buck. Go away. Go away and never come back. Leave me alone.”
“Maria, what's wrong? I thought we were connecting.”
“That was before you told me you talked to my sister.”
“I talked to Corey Bright. I just wanted to find out what happened to you.”
“You know about Alex, don't you? You know what he wanted from me.”
“I don't know. I don't know anything. I only know that you were changed by a bad shifter named Alex Terry.”
“You need to go now. If you care for me at all, you’ll leave me alone.”
“I'll go, Maria. Because I can see how upset you are. Just know, I did not betray your trust. I own this cave that you're sleeping in, and I will protect your secrets. No one will come here looking for you, but I will always come back to take care of you. Do you understand?” His voice was demanding and firm.
He stood above her and she sat on the wool blanket, crying, desperate for him to leave. She looked up at him with shuddering breaths.
“I understand,” she said softly.
She looked away and she heard the crunch of his boots on the gravel. When she looked back, he was gone. He’d left her alone again, just as she’d asked.
Chapter 7
Buck walked away from Maria's cave, growling at himself and unable to believe that he was leaving her again. He’d brought her supplies from the camping store, but he knew she was in bad shape. She looked thin and pale. There were dark circles under her eyes, and he could tell she hadn't had a proper bath in weeks.
Not being able to help her was killing him and his bear was losing patience. The inner grizzly grumbled that they should just carry her back to Timber Bear Ranch. Everything would be settled later. If her lion got out of control, he’d just put her in a cage in a horse stall until she settled down.
Buck growled at himself for having such thoughts and admonished his inner grizzly for thinking them. He made it back to the truck and growled, gripping the wheel of his vehicle. His knuckles turned white.
He'd been neglecting his work and his promises to help Jessie with his house. Leland had been planning the spring calf branding for some time. He had a shipment of timber to one of his buyers and the deadline was quickly approaching. The obligations were weighing down on Buck's shoulders.
Despite all his crushing responsibilities, the thing that mattered most was Maria. He would find a way to help her that did not require him to force her off the mountain.
He would do everything in his power to bring her down of her own free will. That's the only way this could work, and they both knew it. No matter how frustrated he was with Maria and her insistence that she be left alone, he knew there was a wisdom to it.
Her animal was out of control. Having her around him like that could cause permanent damage to the relationship between their grizzly and lioness, let alone the relationship between man and woman. Shifters tended to have stable, h
appy marriages, but not every single one worked out that way. There were always exceptions to the rule.
Buck was not going to let his happily ever after slip between his fingers because he wanted to push Maria into doing something she wasn't ready to do.
Buck was beginning to get a picture of exactly how rough Maria's life had been until now. If he understood correctly, she'd been orphaned as a young girl, was left to be raised by her older sister in the inner city in Los Angeles. That alone would have been difficult enough, but then the poor girl was kidnapped and was narrowly rescued by the Bear Patrol.
Somehow, she'd been bitten by Alex Terry and somehow she thought it was her fault. She thought everything was her fault. He couldn't imagine how it must be to be for her, inside her mind, if she truly believed that such horrible things were her responsibility.
How could she possibly be responsible for a crazed shifter biting her against her will, or an evil band of villains kidnapping her and trying to sell her into slavery? The girl was confused.
The only thing that would help her was loving kindness and patience. He had to stay strong. He knew this was a test sent by fate. If he wanted the innocent girl in the pretty white dress to come back to him, he would have to prove to her feral beast that he wouldn't be yet another person in her life to damage her innocence.
He drove past Timber Bear Ranch and made his way into town. He parked in front of the Fate Mountain Police Department, slammed the door of his truck, and walked straight into the building.
“Is Commander Morris here?” Buck asked the police officer at the front desk.
He and Rollo had been friends since Rollo first moved to Fate Mountain and took over the Bear Patrol after the war. If anyone could help him get to the bottom of what had happened between Maria and Alex Terry, it was Rollo.
“Do you have an appointment to see him?”
“What is it with everyone and appointments?” Buck growled. “My name is Buck Kincaid. Rollo and I are friends. Just tell him I'm here about Maria Reyes.”
The officer did as he asked and Rollo came out from the back offices. A few moments later.
“Come on, Buck,” Rollo said. “I've been expecting you.”
Buck's inner grizzly growled as his patience grew thinner. He followed Rollo through the police station into his office and Rollo closed the door behind them. They sat across from each other with Rollo’s desk between them. Buck gritted his teeth, trying to force himself to stay calm and to speak with his friend, the chief of police, with the respect he deserved.
“I've come here about Maria Reyes and the situation at the Bright Institute,” Buck said.
“Right. I was informed of the situation by Corey. My understanding is that there are several search parties out looking for the girl.”
“What about the guy who bit her? Alex Terry. He has to be put down.”
“We have a warrant out for his arrest. But that’s about all we can do.”
“We shifters have to police ourselves,” Buck growled.
“The Bear Patrol operates under human law. There are no provisions for shifter offenses,” Rollo explained.
Buck was ready to bring Alex Terry some good old-fashioned shifter justice.
“Do you know where he is? Have you even been looking?”
“We've investigated the situation and we know that the man in question has connections to the Updike hyena pack. But we haven't been able to locate him on Fate Mountain.”
“Just storm the Updike’s mansion,” Buck growled.
“That won’t be possible. You have to understand, hyenas are everywhere, taking over positions of power in the human world. We can’t stop them. We certainly can’t storm a private residence without legal cause.”
“Then I’ll have to take care of it on my own,” Buck said.
“What do you mean, Buck?” Rollo asked, leaning forward.
“It means that if the law can't take care of Maria’s attacker, I will. Maria Reyes is my mate, and I will protect her.”
“Buck, you and I have been friends a long time, but I can't permit you to enact some shifter vigilante justice. Even when it comes your mate.”
As he stood, Buck’s next words came out much darker than he had intended. “Just try to stop me, Rollo.”
Buck had all the information he needed and was done with the conversation. Alex Terry was connected to the Updikes. The Updikes had been a thorn in the side of the Kincaids for years. Buck could feel in his gut that they were sheltering the sicko mountain lion that had attacked his mate.
“You better not get caught,” Rollo said. “That's all I've got to say about it.”
“Noted,” Buck said, storming out of Rollo's office and closing his door too hard behind him.
It slammed, making Buck wince. He had to get his anger under control or things were going to get bad for everyone. He hurried out of the police station, knowing that Rollo would forgive him eventually.
Buck got back in his car, gripping the wheel and grinding his teeth together. His inner grizzly wanted to burst out from inside him. But he couldn't give in to the rage and frustration. He had to hold it together, for Maria. She was out of control, and that meant he needed more control than ever to take care of her.
He let out a long, shuddering breath and turned the key in the ignition. His old truck rumbled to life and he pulled out of the parking lot, turning onto the highway toward the Updike mansion.
He knew that rolling up to the Updikes by himself was a bad idea. There was no going back now. As he turned off the road onto the driveway, he sent Jessie a text message, telling him here where he was. Jessie shot a text back a moment later asking him if he needed back up. He told Jessie to come if he didn't contact him within the hour.
Buck drove up to the disheveled mansion. At least fifteen cars were parked out front. The Updikes had been taking in more and more hyenas, infesting Fate Mountain with their kind. They were taking over businesses, schools, and positions of power. If men like Buck let it go too far, it would ruin everything about his home. Buck wasn't about to let that happen. These hyenas had messed with the wrong bear one too many times.
He grabbed his shotgun from the rack in his truck and made his way up the steps of the mansion to knock on the front door. A tiny female fox shifter in a French maid uniform opened the front door of the mansion, looking scared and despondent. Buck wanted to grab the girl and take her away, but she wasn't the female shifter he was here to save. Not today.
“Buck Kincaid,” one of the Updike brother said. Walking into the room in his cheesy sweat suit. A gaudy gold chain hung around his neck and he was wearing a gold grill across the top teeth in his mouth. Buck had to keep himself from rolling his eyes at the guy, but instead he narrowed them and growled.
“Where is Alex Terry?” Buck said.
“Who’s that?” the Updike brother said, but his tone made it obvious he that he knew full well.
The first Updike brother was joined by his other brother who wore a similarly ridiculous outfit. They looked like a comic hip hop group that performed at children's parties.
“You know who Alex Terry is. He's the psychopathic lion shifter who bit Maria Reyes.”
“Who is Maria Reyes?”
“Is she hot?” the other one laughed, like it was an inside joke.
“None of your business,” Buck growled, letting his grizzly shine through his eyes. “I know that guy is here, and I'm going to find him. I won't rest until he's brought to justice. Believe me, the Kincaids have eyes all over this town. He can't hide from us long. You Updikes have been messing with our family for far too long. It ends now. I promise you.”
Buck loaded a shell in the chamber of his shotgun and both Updikes flinched.
“Get the hell off our property, Buck Kincaid, and don't come back here.”
“Yeah.”
Buck backed out of the doorway and down the stairs, more determined than ever to find Alex Terry.
Chapter 8
Ma
ria shivered in her dim cave, the only light from the lantern Buck had brought her. It illuminated the walls, casting eerie shadows. She wasn't sure how long she'd been like this. It had started soon after Buck had left.
Her cat had taken her out of the cave and left her alone in the cold again, but this time more than six miles away from her supplies. She’d walked on her bare human feet the entire way home. When the temperature fell, halfway home, the fever hit her and slowed her pace even more.
She’d collapsed at the mouth of her cave, cold and starving. Maria had pulled herself inside on her hands and knees. Half delirious, she got dressed, started a fire, and climbed into her new sleeping bag. Even with the fire and all the new clothing, she still couldn't get warm. Her fever raged, but she managed to cook some of the dehydrated camping food. She’d passed out before she could eat it.
When she woke again, she was shivering, starving, and sweaty. She wanted to peel out of the jacket, but the temperature had fallen even further in the night. Her breath blew out in misty puffs.
She sat up on shaking limbs and tried to rekindle her cold fire. Some of the coals were still hot and she poked at them, throwing dried leaves on top of them for kindling. The fire lit, thankfully, and she added some branches. There was very little fuel for fire in her cave. She hadn't been here in days and there had been no time to gather any. She knew she would be left without a fire again soon.
Maria ate the meal she’d cooked before passing out again. The calories were not nearly enough to replace what she'd expended over the last few days. The shivering took hold when she finished eating the cold camping food. She had to lie down on her side next to the fire and brace herself as the fever took over. Even with the warmth of the new sleeping bag and jacket around her now, she didn't know if she could make it through the night.
In some ways, she hoped that it would all be over soon. That she could finally be released from the torture that was her life. As that thought formed in her mind, a man appeared in the doorway of her cave. His familiar face was lit by the flames of her campfire. He walked toward her and fell on his knees by her side, touching her forehead.