“Please leave,” she ground out.
The grizzly turned his massive block head toward her, gave her a hard, calculating look, and then strode toward the truck. His Change was fluid, like magic. He was bear, and then he was a man. A muscular man with wide shoulders, who stood over six-foot-tall and had tattoos down his neck and back. The claw marks on his body streamed red, but he didn’t limp or favor his injuries. His bare ass was perfection over long, strong legs moving in a smooth, effortless gait. He had black hair that was longer up top, but shaved short on the sides, and his giant fists were balled with anger. God, she wished he would turn and show his face so she could see if it was as beautiful as the rest of him.
He slid into the driver’s side and slammed the door so hard the truck rocked with the force. The engine roared to life, and as he pulled slowly onto the road, Annalise covered her boobs with her hands in a last-minute fit of modesty.
There are some moments in life that draw you up, and etch themselves so eternally and so fully on your brain, that flashbacks will happen for years to come. Maybe forever. Annalise had one of those moments now as watched the stoic profile of the bear shifter she’d just protected.
He had a trimmed, black beard and a striking, masculine profile. His tattoos were stark against the pale skin of his neck, and right as the truck passed, he turned and locked eyes with her.
Annalise gasped in shock. It was the man who had kept her steady for the last four months. Jax had sent her a picture once. It had been blurry, just of his face, and his dark hair had been longer and shaggy, falling in front of eyes. It was a picture he’d taken before he got the ink on his neck, but she would recognize those light brown eyes and their shape anywhere. She had obsessed with that picture in her hardest moments, had memorized every facet of his face.
“Jaxon?” she murmured softly.
He looked different from the picture in subtle ways. Hardened and harsh, like a warrior instead of the sweet man she’d been talking to.
He ripped his gaze away from her and hit the gas, filling the woods with the sound of his roaring engine. Mud sprayed out from the sides of his tires as he disappeared down the road.
She’d just had a moment with the man of her dreams…but Jaxon was nothing like what he’d portrayed himself to be.
And clearly, he’d just learned, that neither was she.
Chapter Four
She couldn’t get Jaxon off her mind. Which was bad, because right now, she was supposed to be paying attention.
“And furthermore, way to be the worst crew member in the goddamn world, Princess!” Barret yelled. “You know you’re supposed to fight with us, right?” He pointed to the long, half-healed claw marks down his face with a shaking pointer finger. “Not against us!”
Jenny swatted his hand out of the way and slathered on another layer of scar cream. Barret snarled at her, but Jenny growled right back and didn’t back down an inch.
“How do you know Jaxon?” Ben asked from where he sat at his four-seater table with his boot propped up on an empty chair and his arms across his chest. His eyes still weren’t his normal human blue. They blazed gold like the sun.
“What had happened was…I met him on this dating site, and we were just talking as friends—”
“How many dirty pictures did you send your friend,” Anson asked.
“Rude, and none of your business.”
Anson barked out, “I’m asking with a purpose, and you just told me more than one, so don’t give us that bullshit about you’re just friends. You turned on your crew!”
“You aren’t my crew yet!” she fired back, good and pissed. “I haven’t pledged to anyone.”
“And you never will if you bring a bear around here,” Ben snarled, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “Panthers. Don’t. Mix. We never have. It’s the rules.”
“But bears and ravens and boars and gorillas and snowy owls and dragons all mix,” she pointed out for the sake of arguing. All these boys were dumb as fence posts and had been mean to her for days, and she was good and done with their stupid arguments and shenanigans.
It was Jenny who spoke up, though. “How long have you been a shifter, Annalise?”
That drew her up straight on the loveseat she was currently sitting on by herself. “Not long. Six months.”
“What?” asked the quietest member of the crew, Greyson. He was a big blond behemoth who she usually forgot was there until he on occasion uttered a few words. “Only six months? You were bitten?” Anger flashed through his blue eyes. “By who?”
“I’m not ready to talk about it.”
“Mother fuckin’ fucker,” Barret drawled. “Ben seriously? We’re bringing a brand new bitten she-panther into the crew? This is the worst idea. Sniff her! She’s near her heat cycle, and she’s already bringing in the damn bears from Damon’s Mountains. Kick her out before she gets us all killed.”
“It’s not that simple,” Ben murmured, staring at his hands as he rubbed them together. She hadn’t ever seen him duck his gaze in the three days she’d been here.
“It is that simple,” Barret snarled. “Kick her out and choose your crew! She clawed me protecting an enemy. Fuckin’ traitor already. Look at my face, Ben. This wasn’t just some brawl for fun like the boys and I get into. This was an act of treason against her own crew.”
“She doesn’t have loyalty to us yet,” Ben argued.
Barret winced away from Jenny’s touch on his cheek and strode for the door, yanked it open, but then hesitated. “Get your head off this stupid idea, Alpha. She’s a danger, and you have a son to protect. You have all of us to protect, and you’re bringing a damn grenade into our territory and playing with the fucking pin. Three days in, and we have a grizzly fight with a Barns. With a Barns! You know who his momma is? Who his daddy is? Who his fucking brother is? He’s a Gray Back, Ben. He’s a Gray Back, and she’s not important enough to die over,” he said, jamming a finger at Annalise. “It’s her or me, and I’m giving you time to decide. You know where I’ll be until you kick her out.” Barret arched his eyebrow at Ben. “Do it fast.” And then he walked out the door and slammed it behind him hard enough to rattle the small cabin.
“I’m really sorry,” Annalise said in desperation. “I didn’t know he was a shifter! And I cut off from him and everyone else in my old life when I came here. I don’t even know how he found me!”
“He has some of the best trackers in the world in his crew,” Greyson said softly. “You got yourself hunted, and you put us in the middle.” He sighed and pushed off the wall he’d been leaning against, then leveled Ben with a look. “I’m with Barret. She has to go. These mountains are a panther safe haven, and she’s too big a risk to what we’ve built here.” Greyson followed Barret’s lead and left. At least he didn’t slam the door, so there was that.