Shifters' Storm Part 24

Ber sensed the effort behind Songan's command, and when he again studied the elk, he saw the strain in the large expressive eyes. For the first time, he noticed that a p.r.o.ng on Songan's right antler was missing and the stub looked jagged.

"The other man did that to you?" he asked.

Songan nodded.

"I know who you are," the man blubbered. "A s.h.i.+fter." He struggled weakly, trying to crawl out from under Ber's weight. "First those d.a.m.n elk. Now this."

Hearing the helpless fear behind his captive's words, Ber lost some of his rage. He still hated the man and everything he stood for, the horrible things he believed he had a right to do. However, Ber was no longer sure he wanted him to die at his hands.

Claws, he reminded himself. Today he was all claws and teeth.

A grizzly who would soon have to face Rane and tell her everything he'd done.

A m.u.f.fled thud and crunching sound tore his attention to where Songan was. Lifting a front leg, Songan struck the already ruined rifle.

"Do it," Ber encouraged.

Gathering himself, the elk reared and came down. What was left of the rifle sank into snow and soil.

"Do it!" The man clawed at Ber's fur. "Get it the h.e.l.l over with." Propelled by the defeated plea for a quick death, Ber opened his mouth. It would be so easy to close his jaws around the man's shoulder, sink his ma.s.sive teeth into helpless flesh and listen to bones breaking.

He'd taste blood, feel-what?

Sensing something new from Songan, he once more looked at the elk.

"Don't. "

You don't want me to kill him?

There it was again, Songan's struggle to reason. Paying little attention to the puny hands pulling on his hair, Ber waited for Songan to say more. The waiting stretched out. Then: "Let the forest have him."

Standing with her legs pressed against the bed for support, Rane watched Ber and Songan get dressed.

They might think she was simply gawking, but her response went much deeper. Only by studying their potent bodies and serious expressions could she wrap her mind around reality and relief. They were safe!

140.

The horrid time she'd spent alone in this too-small s.p.a.ce not knowing whether they were dead or alive was behind her.

Her lovers had returned.

Songan had a lump on his forehead, but as far as she'd been able to tell, that was their only injury.

They'd said little when they entered, only took turns letting her grasp their naked bodies against her with all her strength. They'd come inside almost immediately after switching back into human form and yet that had been long enough for their skin to turn cold. However, instead of warming themselves by the woodstove, once they'd put on their jeans and s.h.i.+rts, they walked as one over to where she stood.

Taking her hand, Ber indicated he wanted her to sit on the bed.

"What is it?" she asked, her mouth dry. "Something's wrong." The way Ber's jaw clenched and his eyes burned, she dreaded what might come next.

"You're safe," Songan said, while Ber only studied her as she scooted onto the mattress. "The shooters won't be back."

About to point out that the bullets had been intended for them as much as her, she decided to wait them out. Ber was still holding her hand, compelling her to squeeze his big, competent fingers. She wondered if she'd ever get used to his size and the magnificent beast he was capable of becoming.

The same held true for Songan.

"Are they dead?" she asked when the silence weighed on her.

"No," Songan said.

Too much. She couldn't absorb any more than that, and yet she sensed she'd soon have to.

Maybe understanding her turmoil, Songan lowered himself to his knees. Taking the hand Ber wasn't holding, he brought it to his mouth and breathed warm moisture onto her fingers. Her p.u.s.s.y tingled.

"We found both of them," Songan continued, looking over at Ber. "I went after the second shooter, the one who fired after Ber took off. He hit me." He touched the lump on his forehead. "I charged."

"Oh." What a stupid thing to say. "Of course you did. It was his life or yours. Thank G.o.d he wasn't a better shot."

"I didn't give him time."

Much as she needed to know the details, she first had to get the bigger picture. "Ber? Let me get this straight. As soon as you s.h.i.+fted, you headed after the man who shot out the window."

"Yes."

Was his short response as simple as Ber being the strong, silent type? Much as she needed to believe he'd acted on instinct, his expression said it went deeper than that. She thought about standing so she could wrap her arms around him and offer him comfort and her body, but not only might the gesture turn into more than comfort, Songan had hold of her other hand. She settled for leaning forward and running her lips over Ber's forearm.

141.

She started to straighten when he too knelt. Barely believing what had just happened, she acknowledged that the two most macho men she would ever know were on their knees inches from her legs.

Thank G.o.d they were alive and safe.

"Songan, you charged the one man. Did you injure him?"

"I don't know. He no longer mattered."

"Just like that?"

Releasing her fingers, Songan bracketed her left knee with both of his hands. "I was an elk then. I did what instinct demanded."

"What-about his weapon?"

"Destroyed."

Was this really happening? Unlike the vivid erotic dreams she'd been having recently, this was reality. Songan and Ber had come face to face with evil and conquered it. Left the vanquished in no condition to cause any more trouble. More than that, the s.h.i.+fters had touched her in ways she'd never been touched. Had s.e.x with her. Remembering those electric moments, her core swelled, loosened, let go.

As one, the men's gazes ran from her face to the join between her legs. She knew they'd smelled her response.

"I'm not going to apologize. It's beyond my control."

Ber's hold on her hand tightened. Much as she didn't want to call attention to the fact that he was hurting her, she tried to pull free. He briefly held on, then relaxed. Despite his growing bulge, his eyes still looked haunted.

"What is it?" She ran her tingling fingers over his cheek. "Please tell me." He gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You get turned on, it does the same to me."

"Me too."

Much as Songan's admission needed to be acknowledged, Rane kept her attention on Ber. She'd seen the same expression looking back at her in the mirror after learning her mother was dead. "What did you see?" she asked. "What happened?"

Ber started to pull back. Scared and determined, she clamped her hand over the back of his neck in an attempt to hold him in place.

"Don't keep it inside, please."

He told her then. Lost in his too-vivid words, she mentally pictured the three sad carca.s.ses his grizzly sense of smell had led him to. Even with emotion forcefully stripped from him, she sensed his horror and understood his desire for revenge.

"You said they'd been cut open," she managed when he fell silent. Even though she already knew the answer, she had to ask. "What was taken?"

142.

"Their galls."

Oh G.o.d, Mom, did you see- Horrified by the unwanted thought, she closed and then opened her eyes. Looked around the cabin without seeing it. "Nothing else?"

"As far as I know, no."

Ber and she stared at each other while the ramifications of what had been done to the bears slammed into her. "Galls are worth hundreds of dollars to the right market." With every second, she felt more sick to her stomach. Was there no way she could hide from the possibility forming in her mind? "A reason to kill.

At least that's what the poacher believed."

"Nothing justifies what I saw."

There was the emotion Ber had been trying to force down. With the bear s.h.i.+fter's fury growing, she wondered if he'd killed the man after all but hadn't wanted to tell her.

Awareness of her physical response to Ber and Songan continued to make its impact, but even if they initiated s.e.x, which she didn't believe they'd do now, she'd tell them to wait. Did they guess what she was thinking, that her mother's murder and the bears' deaths were connected? Maybe the same rifle or rifles had brought down the young elk.

"Where is the man you went after?" she asked Ber.

The men exchanged a glance. "After I knocked him down and Songan destroyed his weapon, I let him up," Ber said. "Let him run."

"Into the forest," Songan continued. "Unarmed with night coming and the storm continuing."

"He's going to die out there. They both are."

"Maybe."

Obviously Ber didn't care, not that she blamed him. Just the same, she was a compa.s.sionate and caring woman who'd never wished a slow and painful death on anyone, not even a ruthless bear poacher.

Or did she?

Confused and conflicted, she got to her feet and walked to the opposite side of the room. Then she forced herself to face the men. She'd shared her body with them, taken everything they had to give and hopefully given them what they needed. They'd both f.u.c.ked her and left themselves imprinted on her. It couldn't get any more intimate than that.

But, d.a.m.n it, she couldn't condone what they'd done out in the storm.

Or could she?

Mom, am I thinking crazy, letting everything get away from me?

"How would you feel if it was you?" she asked, falling back on the woman she'd been before her mother's murder. "Think about it. Put yourself in the men's place. It's getting dark." She thought about pulling the blanket aside to make sure but didn't. "Your clothes aren't enough to keep you warm. You're 143.

disoriented. Maybe injured. You're afraid you're going to die, but it's going to take a long time. Is that what you want for those two, is it?"

"You don't understand," Ber said.

144.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

Ber's eyes were thick with more than had already been revealed. So were Songan's. She wanted to run, to go back in time, to throw herself at them and beg them to make love to her, anything but this. And yet it had to be done. "Tell me."

"They also killed your mother."

The strength left her legs, and she started to collapse. She was only vaguely aware that Ber had caught her and was carrying her back to the bed. Depositing her on the side, he settled himself beside her. Songan sat on her other side.

"How do you know?"

The explanation took longer than the one about the bears had. Hearing that they'd come to their conclusion thanks to their animal senses had her wanting to insist they couldn't be sure, but they were as much animal as they were men-maybe more.

If they believed her mother had shed blood near the cave, who was she to tell them they were wrong?

After all, law enforcement and searchers had concluded that Jacki had been brought to where her body was found. Now, thanks to the two s.h.i.+fters, the pieces had fallen together.

"The tracking dog didn't find anything," she pointed out, not that it made any difference.

"It rained, remember," Songan said. "Rane, I wish I didn't have to tell you this but-"

"I wish you didn't either."

Songan sighed. "We found the kill spot."

Kill spot. Much as she hated hearing the words, she was used to Songan's direct ways. Besides, she'd guessed what the truth before the explanation came.

"The whole time we were returning to the cabin, we tried to find a way to make it easier for you," Ber said.

"You did. I wasn't doing much thinking."