Intent to rescue me. But before I can stop them, they leap toward the bear, coming at her from the side.
Taking her down.
Chapter 19
River
Remedy’s scream shakes me from my objective.
“She’s not hurting me!”
I roll from the bear’s back, shifting to human form to speak to Remedy.
The bear is soaked in blood, wounded, and whimpering. Rem moves toward her, but I pull her back.
“You can’t get hurt Rem,” I warn.
“Let her go,” Rem says with tears on her face.
Cal and East shift to human form as they realize that Rem is upset—not at the bear, but at us.
The bear, free from their attack, runs from us, toward the woods, away from the fire growing around us.
“She’s hurt,” Rem screams, falling to the forest floor. “You hurt her,” she shrieks, turning her focus on us.
“We were trying to protect you,” I say, kneeling next to her.
“But she was my protector… my guide.”
“She attacked you three times, Rem. She’s not guiding you anywhere but harm’s way,” Cal insists.
“No.” Rem shakes her head, her long red hair a tangled mess, mascara streaking her cheeks, her clothes dirty and ragged. “I think I had it all wrong. Had her wrong. I think she came for me, to help me. But I.…” Rem presses her hands to her face, crying.
I pull her into my arms, wanting to be the safe place for her to let down her guard.
“I think I was the one who lashed out at her, pushed her away like I do with everyone. With everything. Fight or flight, right? But what if I’d just listened to her that first night? Tried to understand?”
“Then you wouldn’t have needed us,” I say, softly.
She looks up into my eyes. “I do need you,” she says. “I need you because you are my mates.”
“You truly believe that?”
She bites her bottom lip, and then exhales as Cal and East step closer. “I know it with all that I am. I don’t know why it took me twenty-one years to find out who I am, or where I belong— but now I know.”
“And you belong here, with us?” I ask, pushing her wild hair from her eyes my forehead pressed against hers. Callum and East kneel beside us, the moment somehow holy and broken and perfect, all at once.
“I am here,” Remedy whispers. “Because this is my home. You three, are my home.”
I kiss her then, my mouth on hers, my need for her deeper than desire. Our eyes close, and my hands hold her neck, wanting to take care of this fragile beast. Her wounded heart is finally beginning to mend. “We love you, Remedy.”
“And I you,” she whispers reaching for Callum’s hand and East’s hand, holding this moment for what it is. Ours.
The flames are thick around us and we need to move, now.
We stand, understanding the urgency. “I don’t know how to stop it,” she says.
“It’s okay,” East tells her. “The water is only a few miles west, let’s run there. The pack has emergency fire trucks and the fire itself is contained. And look,” I add, looking above. Thick gray clouds are overhead, and rain is already beginning to fall. “The storm will help with the fire.”
“Should we stay and help?” she asks.
I clench my jaw, knowing what the pack would think of our help now. “No, Rem, we need to get as far away as possible.”
As wolves, we run to the water, stopping for nothing, our singular goal getting as far from the fire as possible. I love Remedy, but I don’t think she understands how cruel Malik can be. We get to the water’s edge, the wind and rain is whipping at us. Nearing the shore, a small boat appears. It has three passengers and we run back to the tree line to shift so they don’t see us.
“How far are we from the cabin?” Rem asks, wrapping her arms around herself, shivering. We stand under the shelter of a large cedar tree, looking out toward the water. Farther out we see a large sailboat, and it must be the boat of the people nearing the shore now in the dinghy.
“Not far. Under a mile. But I don’t know how I feel about taking you back there, ” I say.
“Why?” she asks.
Cal, East and I share a look. We’re all on the same page. “Because Malik isn’t going to drop things now that we started a fire.”
Remedy purses her lips. “And by we, you mean me?”
“It’s irrelevant. We’re one, aren’t we?” East asks.
A small smile plays on Rem’s lip, a miracle considering the day we’ve had.
“Did you see that?” Rem asks, pointing to the water.
“What?” Cal asks.
“The fish … or ... what was that?”
“I didn’t see anything,” East says.
But I narrow my focus, wanting to see things from Rem’s viewpoint. “Right there,” she says, pointing. “I swear it’s a––”
By now we’re all looking, and Rem stops speaking—we all do because what we witness is unreal. A large fishtail emerges from the surface, splashing water at the men in the boat, and they laugh in response. Then a woman rises from the water, bare breasts, and pink hair, and she lifts her arms gracefully over the water’s surface, her voice singing a wordless melody that transfixes all of us. She calms the sea with her voice, the lapping waves momentarily stilled. The sky above—the one that only moments ago was filled with storm clouds––is now blue.
“What the hell?” Rem whispers, stepping closer to witness the miracle. We follow her lead, unable to stop ourselves.
The woman lifts her body from the water, resting her arms on the edge of the boat. Her narrow waist leads to a green shimmering tail, that flips above the water. And when she moves we see her belly is swollen with child.
She kisses the men, one at a time, and then they help her from the water, her tail is now gone. The boat continues to move to the shore, and the woman with the pink hair appears to be dressing.
“What’s happening?” Rem asks, walking closer to shore. Part of me wants to pull her back, to stop her, but then the men drop anchor and jump from the boat, shoes in hand, jeans cuffed, and one of them lifts the woman from the boat, setting her on the rocky shore.
The man who had the woman in his hands is— “Holy fuck,” I mutter.
“What?” Rem asks, reaching for my hand.
“That’s West,” I tell her. “I haven’t seen him in years”
“West?”
“My stepbrother,” I tell them. “We grew up together. This is his hometown as well as mine.”
Rem lifts an eyebrow. “Is he a shifter?”
“No. My dad married his mom after she had him.”
“Well, what’s he doing with a mermaid?”
I step forward, raising a hand to signal him. I have no fucking idea, but I’m going to find out.
Chapter 20
Remedy
My shirt is soaked from the rainstorm, my hair is a mess, and my heart’s weary from all that has transpired today. To sum it up, I’m exhausted.
But River tugs on my hand, pulling me toward the group of strangers. Well, the strangers and his stepbrother
We walk closer and the brothers nod in greeting—not even hugging it out or shaking hands. It’s like they know what brought them together isn’t about the two of them.
It’s about something else.