They would come back. Any minute now, those monsters would come back to finish her off. How could they not? Even she, with her dull human senses, could smell the thick scent of blood flowing from her leg.
Minutes stretched on and felt like an eternity as she sat there, afraid to move, afraid to breathe. The woods were quiet now. Not a bird chirped, and from here, she couldn’t even hear the water from the river. With violently shaking hands, she reached over and grabbed a thick branch that had fallen from the tree. She stood on one wobbly leg and stripped the extra twigs until it was just one baseball bat-sized club. She’d played two years of softball in high school, and dammit, if she was going out like this, she was going out swinging for her life.
“Elyse,” Ian said from behind her, scaring a scream and a swing from her.
With a loud crack, he caught the club before it hit him in the face. Then he yanked it out of her hand and hugged her so tightly to his chest, she couldn’t breathe.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he chanted. “She’s gone, and she’s not coming back. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
Frightened sobs filled her throat, and tears blurred her vision. “What happened to you? I saw—” Elyse shook her head hard to try and sort out what she’d witnessed. “You were breaking, and I was alone!”
“You weren’t alone. I had you. I just needed you to buy us some time.”
“You had me?” Fury blasted through her veins. “You told me to run from a fucking furious grizzly bear and then you passed out on the river bank!” She shoved away from him. “And why the hell are you naked?”
“Shhh,” he warned, eyebrows arched high as he scanned the woods.
“Don’t you dare shhh me. Answer me, Ian. What happened back there?”
“I’m the bear.” He straightened his spine and glared down at her, daring her to look away. “I’m the bear that protected you.”
“Fuck off, Ian.”
“Scars across the ribcage. Torn ear.” He pulled his own ear in front of her and jammed his finger at a healed gash that had taken a small notch out of it. “Dark brown bear who pulled that grizzly off you. Why would a wild bear do that, Elyse? Why would he protect you if you weren’t…”
Horrified, she asked, “If I weren’t what?”
“Why would a male grizzly protect anything that wasn’t his? You want to know why I haven’t kept a woman? Why my eyes turned brown when I kissed you yesterday? You want to know why that growl rattles my chest when you affect me? Because I’m a fucking bear shifter, Elyse.” He turned and gave her his back, which would’ve pissed her off right now if it weren’t for the long, seeping claw mark down it. He gave her a sad stare over his shoulder. “I told you. Brown bear country doesn’t scare me. I belong with the monsters. Always have.”
Panic clogged her throat as everything clicked into place. Of course he was a monster. That’s why a man who looked like him wasn’t already married and running a home of his own. A tear trekked a warm stream down her cheek. “You’re a bear?”
Ian looked sick and swallowed hard. “A bear and a man.”
“I think I’m going to…” Elyse blinked hard as the forest began a slow spin around them. “Ian. I think…I’m going…to…”
Legs giving out from under her, the ground came at her face fast, but she didn’t hit. Ian caught her, of course, but when she moved her lips to thank the bear-man, nothing came out.
And the spinning world went dark.
Chapter Thirteen
The sound of the steady beeping of a machine woke Elyse from a deep sleep. She cracked her eyes open, squinting against the light as her vision blurred and focused, blurred and focused on the man pacing outside the large window of her room. Ian.
She knew this place. She was in the medical center in Galena.
“She’s my wife,” Ian said. “Look at that ring on her finger. I gave it to her. I’m the one who brought her in here, and I don’t want her waking up alone.”
“Sir, calm down. No one here knows you, but we all know Elyse,” Dr. Vega said, pointing into her room.
“Ian?” Elyse whispered, throat dry as a desert.
“See?” Ian said. “She just asked for me.”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“Ian,” she said, louder.
Ian gave Dr. Vega a go-to-hell glare and threw open the door, then rushed to her bedside as the doctor and one of his nurses followed.
“Hey,” Ian whispered. “I’m here.”
“You were hurt, too,” she said, worry unfurling in her chest. “He’s hurt. Growly claws and babies, she was stealing our fish like a thrief. Thrief. Thief. Like a McCall.” Why was she slurring? “She hurt my…Ian.”
“No, baby, I’m okay,” Ian said. Something sparked in his eyes. A warning?
She poked his cheek. “Your eyes are brown.”
Ian leaned down and pressed his lips against her hand. “I’m okay, Elyse. Please.” His voice was barely audible in his plea.
Elyse blinked hard to clear her thoughts and murmured, “Sorry, I think I’m confused.”