Shifters of Grrr 1 (26 page)

Each time he approached she walked away to do something else. Her point was very clear, but like he had told her earlier, after her shift, they needed to talk. Calan would tell her exactly how he felt, and that they were going to take a break until she was ready to proceed.
 

He slammed the door to his locker closed as his shift ended, looking around for Harley. It was dark out and she didn't have a ride home. He waited, and waited, but she never appeared.
 

"She left before her shift ended," Sam said as he walked by on his way home.

"Shit. How did she leave?"

"Boss gave her his truck since she didn't have any wheels."

"Thanks, Sam, that's twice I owe you." With a nod, Sam headed out, meeting up with Jack to give him a ride home as well.

Calan still didn't like the situation, but he felt somewhat less worried knowing that Harley wasn't walking home. It left far too much unresolved between them, but he had a suspicion that going to her house and forcing a conversation would make things even worse. So, he resolved to wait it through the night and talk to her in the morning, no matter what it took.
 

The idea of sleep was completely unappealing, so he decided to head out to the Pass and put his new chainsaw to work. At least that way he would be able to work off some of his anger. There were numerous trees that needed to come down, including that pesky oak that was leaning precariously across the driveway. He could bring that one down tonight, and if he didn't get everything moved by the morning, it wouldn't matter.

The loud roaring of the chainsaw and the flying woodchips were like a symphony to his senses, making him feel like he truly was in his element. It was so relaxing that he even contemplated taking up a career as a lumberjack. The tree fell with ease, and he began the pleasant part of the job. Hauling all the pieces that were laying about over to his woodpile, where he would stack it and let it dry before he chopped it up. His muscles were beginning to burn by that point, so he decided to call it a night after the road was clear.
 

The shower was beckoning as he tossed the last piece, but before he could get to it, his phone began to go off. Curious as to whom it was, as he did not receive many calls, especially this late at night, he picked it up quickly.

"Calan, it's Jeb. Get down here, something's wrong."
 

His heart stopped. There was no humor to his voice, in fact, he sounded as if someone had just died. Dreading the answer he was going to get, he responded.

"What do mean Jeb?"

"Her jeep's here, but she isn't. Smells bad."
 

"I'm on my way."
 

There was nothing more to say, so he hung up and sprinted for his truck. The tires spun, shooting gravel across his property as he wheeled through a ninety-degree turn and shot off down the into the valley.
 

Harley was in trouble and she needed his help. That was the only thought going through his mind until he reached the Quencher. As he jogged over to Jeb, who was pacing back and forth near her jeep, he could smell it in the air.

Fear.

It was distinct, and definitely Harley. Something had happened to her in the parking lot. He tasted the air again, letting his bear through to the surface. It immediately picked up a familiar scent, one he would recognize anywhere even though he had only smelled it once.

Stale sweat, tobacco, and beer.
 

Dusty.

He growled, the low sound reverberating between the cars and the buildings, drawing the attention of Jeb, Sandra and the few patrons who were milling around outside. They backed away from him, all except Jeb.

"I smelled him too."

"I'm going to kill him." The blunt statement drew a sideways look from Jeb, but no more reaction than that. Messing with a shifters mate was a bad, bad idea, and the two men thought humans would have learned that by now. Apparently they were both wrong.

"How long ago did she leave?"

"She turned up about two hours ago, looking like she'd had a rough day. Told me to feed her a drink an hour until she'd had four, then send her packing. She ended up leaving about five minutes before I called you."

It had taken Calan twenty minutes to get to the Quencher, which meant she'd been gone for twenty to twenty-five minutes, depending on how long it took to subdue her. Looking at the tracks surrounding her jeep, it seemed that she hadn't gone down without a fight. His bear was awake now, fully aware of what had happened to his mate, and demanding vengeance.
 

"I can't track them in their truck. Any idea where they might go?"

"Actually, yes. He owns a cabin in the woods towards King where they often go hunting."

"Show me."

Jeb didn't argue, simply heading towards Calan's truck. There would be little time before they did something to his love, and he intended to show them all how bad an idea that was. If she hadn't been touched by the time he got there, he might even let them all live.

Part of his anger was directed at the men who had kidnapped his mate. But as he slewed through another turn, following Jeb's directions, he realized that part of his anger was directed at her, for being there alone. She knew that Dusty was just looking for an opportunity to corner her alone, so why had she given him one?

He just didn't understand why she was acting so irrational today. Being mad at him was one thing, but making stupid decisions was another. It wasn't going to stop him from helping her, or raising all sorts of hell with Dusty and his gang, but it angered him as well.

They turned onto a road that clearly had seen recent use. There was only one single track of tires down it, and the center channels were slightly off-color, indicating that whoever had made them, had done so recently. His bear pushed closer to the surface as they closed on their prey.

***

Harley

Harley cried out in pain as her head hit the bed of the truck as they bounced over another bump in the road.
 

At least, she tried to cry out, but the gag muffled the noise enough that it barely qualified as a whimper. Struggling against her bonds yet again, she commiserated about the events that led to her being here.

From the fight with Calan, to her desire to have a few drinks to numb the pain. The only thing that had been numbed was her caution and, after Dusty had hit her, pretty much everything.
 

After work, she had gone home and waited until Jack arrived to take his truck. She felt bad for practically ignoring him, but Harley just wasn't ready to talk yet, not even to her dad. Sleep had refused to come, so she had decided to head to the bar, have a few drinks and try to calm down. The effort of ignoring Calan all day had taken its toll on her.

They had gotten the jump on her as she left the Quencher to head for home. She was about to open the door when he had spun her around and pinned her to the jeep door.
 

"Well my-my, look at what we have here boys. This poor little lambs lost her way. What do you say we help her out?" The evil laugh that had come from his mouth after that had sent shivers down her spine, chilling her to the core. She knew exactly what they intended to do with her.

"Knock it off Dusty, even you can't be that stupid. You know people will find out it's you."

"There won't be any proof of that little lamb, none at all. Why, they would have to find your body first."

That stopped her cold. He had thought about this, he knew what he was doing, had even planned it out before. If he had gone to that much effort, she was in a world of trouble. Nobody was nearby either, but perhaps she could make enough noise that someone would hear her.
 

"Oh no you don't." Before she had even finished inhaling he clamped an iron hand over her mouth. Her knee-jerk reaction was to bite down on his hand as hard as she could.

"You bitch!" he yelled, balling his free hand into a fist. That was the last thing she remembered seeing until she woke up in the back of the truck.

Although shifters were stronger than normal humans their own size, Dusty and his two friends were enough to overpower her. If she had been Calan though, they would have ended up in a heap. Unfortunately, Calan was not around to rescue her from this situation.
 

She asked herself yet again what he and Sam had been talking about. Why had he left the apartment so early? Had he truly been bragging about fucking her?
 

The more she thought about it, the less likely that seemed to be the case. Not once during the time he had attempted to court her had Calan come across as the type to air that sort of information out for everyone to know. If anything he had been fiercely protective of her, making sure he was by her side as often as he could manage. The one time she had pushed him away, she ended up trussed up like a pig in the back of Dusty's pickup.

She had been an idiot, she realized. Her own insecurities had blinded her to whatever the truth was. Harley had practically
wanted
him to betray her, because that would validate all the terrible things she was thinking in her head. But he hadn't, she forced herself to say.
 

Just because he hadn't made her breakfast in bed didn't mean he was going to up and leave her. Still, he had made no effort to hide the fact that he wanted to mate her, yet when he had had the chance to claim her as his own, he hadn't taken it. All it required was breaking the skin of her neck with his teeth while they made love. It was practically effortless if you were truly with your mate, or so she had been told.

Yet her neck was smooth and unblemished, despite their rabid lovemaking the day before. Why
 
was he holding back?

Because you weren't ready.

The little voice in her head cut to the chase far too easily for her liking. She snorted, because it was her own subconscious, so of course it knew just what to say to get through to her. She hadn't been ready to commit to him, and he had been able to see that, even when she couldn't.
 

Perhaps he really is my mate.

If her bear could roll its eyes at her it would be doing so right then, she could tell. The animal half of her soul thoroughly agreed with the assessment that Calan was her other half. It had seen clear the entire time, but she had ignored it, thinking her human mind was smarter. A sarcastic snort came from her bear, but it didn't attempt to convey any further emotions.

The truck slammed on its brakes and she slid roughly into the wall separating her and the cab. She struggled to break free before they could get to her, but the ropes held firm. She was hauled bodily out into the middle of a clearing. Her feet were bound as well, so they had to drag her, until they reached a picnic table.

One limb at a time, they bound her spread-eagled to it, leaving her hips at the edge as they tied her calves to her thighs and then anchored those to the wood. She dreaded what was about to happen, tears finally falling from her eyes as Dusty began to undo his pants.

"If you make it worthwhile, I promise we'll be swift once it's all over.
 
You won't feel a thing. But if you struggle, we're going to burn you alive." He glanced over to where his buddies were busy uncovering a big rock pit, filled with pre-cut wood.

His clammy hand ran up her leg until it reached her shorts. He muttered something unhappily, taking out his knife to start cutting them off. In seconds, he had exposed all of her private parts completely. The fire was roaring now, the light casting shadows across her now naked body.

Rough, sweaty hands began to touch her, pulling on her nipples and squeezing her breasts non-too gently. Dusty was laughing evilly, positioning himself between her legs, preparing to take advantage of her. Harley screamed as best she could behind the gag, shaking her head, trying to do whatever she could to stop him. He was pressed up against her now, one more push and he would be inside of her. Sobs wracked her body as she began to accept the inevitable.

In the woods, a branch cracked.

All three men spun around, eyes searching the darkness.
 

"It was probably just a deer or something," Dusty muttered, turning his attention back to her.

A very deep, very angry sounding growl echoed through the clearing. This time the men looked at Dusty, waiting for him to decide what to do. He was looking around wildly, trying to find the location of the sound.

Behind them, another branch snapped, following by an equally menacing growl. Her heart raced with hope for the first time all evening. The scent from upwind had finally hit her.
 

The noise from behind them had been made by Jeb's bear! She would recognize that smell anywhere. Which could only mean that the deeper initial growl was Calan! He must have noticed signs of a scuffle by her jeep and called him down to help. Then, somehow, the two of them had tracked her down!

Her attackers were slowly retreating towards their truck now, moving as if they were dealing with a wild animal, not men out to rescue a comrade. A shape moved in the woods and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see what happened.