Kodiak's Claim (17 page)

Hold on, why was she thinking on such permanent terms? Safety concerns were why Reid didn’t want her departing quite yet. Not because of anything else. Which meant no making of plans or looking for jobs. Her time here was temporary. Technically, it was over. So why was she hesitating over Jan’s offer? Staying meant more of Reid, more of her heart getting lost, more pain when he did eventually tire of her and told her it was safe to go.

Sucking in a breath, Tammy made her choice. “Are we waiting for morning?”

Blonde hair swirled as Jan shook her head. “Why? It won’t be any brighter outside. Let’s get this done while Reid is busy. Actually, with the boys laying a trap with the truck, chances are we’ll get a clean run into town and have you on a plane back home in no time.”

A home without a bear.

Probably a good thing. Her nosy neighbor would surely call animal control.

Wouldn’t it figure he set a trap and no one stepped into it? Reid gunned his machine back toward his town—and Tammy.

He’d not received any texts or calls about attacks on the clan, yet that didn’t lessen his haste. For once, he was eager to get home. There was someone he wanted to see.

See? Ha. He wanted to toss his city girl over a shoulder, swat her round ass if she protested—please let her protest—and cart her off to bed.

Except when he got home, pit stopping first at Jan’s place, it was to find it dark and empty. He called around and ignored the grumbles of his bear. The first chill of something wrong didn’t start until he realized no one had seen the women since they’d left the company offices the day before. Nor heard from them.

What started as a casual search expanded into a more organized one as he set off a firestorm of calls—courtesy of his Aunt Jean.

“Aunt Jean, I need to find Jan and Tammy. Can you locate them for me?”

A woman with a mission, Aunt Jean fired up the grapevine. Yet, for once, his gossipy aunt with her finger on the pulse of the town couldn’t tell him anything other than Jan came home but left less than an hour later, with Tammy. And no one had seen them since. Over sixteen hours at this point.

Reid kind of lost it then and once his rampage was done, made a mental note to order a new chair for his grandmother. But his dilemma remained.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened. Jan, that vexing vixen, had taken Tammy away.

Away from me.

He’d kill her. No, he couldn’t do that—people might get upset—but he could yell. And after he was done, he’d—

What? Go chasing after the human who evidently didn’t want him? Drag his city girl back and, what, claim her?

“What are you doing standing here?” His grandmother’s words arrived a second after the slap to the back of his head.

It didn’t really sting, but he uttered a vehement, “ouch,” anyway. “What was that for?”

“Are you truly that dense? Go after her.”

“Who, Jan? I’ve already got the boys working on seeing if they can find her. Brody is going house to house in town just in case they went visiting, while Boris and Travis are combing the road heading into the city.” Because he wouldn’t put it past Jan to disobey him and take Tammy away. However, given their troubles, the fact Jan wasn’t answering her phone could mean trouble.

“Go after Tammy, you idiot. I can see you want to.”

“I’m alpha. I can’t just go bearing off after a woman. She left. Which is for the best. Couldn’t have the purists upset,” he grumbled, unable to hide his discontent.

“Oh please, that handful of old geezers and biddies. Who cares what they think?”

“Says someone who is one of them. Since when do you want me to take up with her? Weren’t you the one trying to remind me of duty?”

“Well, I couldn’t just give you carte blanche to seduce the sweet girl. I was raised with morals you know.”

He snorted. “Morals you call upon only when they suit you.”

“Prerogative of age.”

“Let me get this straight. Now you’re telling me I should mate with a human? What happened to that pureblood crap?”

Ursa shrugged. “About that… Truth is the mixing of lines is a sometimes necessary thing. Too much inbreeding causes more harm than good. While not bandied about often, the shifter gene is pretty dominant when it comes to mixed pairings. Chances are any children you and Tammy would have would end up being a bear like its daddy. And if you want to be really sure, there’s also the change. She’s a tough girl. She’d probably survive it.”

Tough, yes, but could he risk her life like that? It boiled down to whether he cared if all his progeny ended up cubs. Not really. Cub or not, he couldn’t see himself not loving them. His grandmother’s approval, though, didn’t mean he let her off the hook that easily. Not after the blue-ball hell she’d put him through.

“Morals aside, if you think that I should keep Tammy, then why did you stop me the other night?”

His grandmother grinned. “Reverse psychology. Sometimes it takes being denied to recognize what you need and be willing to fight for it. Although, I am beginning to wonder. I truly never expected you’d actually let her go.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” he admitted. “I’d hoped to have time to work on her under the guise of keeping her safe.” While also apologizing for his actions. He’d acted pretty heavy handed.

Perhaps had I behaved a little less draconian, or should I say stubborn bear, she wouldn’t have felt a need to flee.
Given who raised him, and the strong women who populated his life, he should have known an ultimatum with someone like Tammy wouldn’t go over well. Especially when coupled with his phone ban. He did feel kind of bad about blocking her from calling her mom, but in his defense, he’d not wanted her to cultivate an escape plan before he could get his chance at convincing her to stay.

“That girl was smitten with you, Reid Carver. It wouldn’t have taken more than a few words to convince her to stay.”

Words he still wasn’t sure of. Could he offer his city girl a lifestyle she could handle? There was more than one reason why humans, and even outsiders, weren’t considered perfect mates. Not everyone could handle the remoteness and lack of amenities of his town. Some started out fine but—

The theme song from an old cartoon titled
Rocky and Bullwinkle
interrupted from his front jean pocket.

Boris was calling. Reid answered. “Hey, moosehead. Got anything to report?”

Tone just as flat as ever, Boris said, “You need to get out here. The women never made it to town.”

A cold chill froze his limbs as Reid asked, “What do you mean?”

“I’m about two hours from the ice gorge, by the ravine. I’ve found Jan’s truck.”

Reid’s heart stopped as inside his mind his bear let out a mournful wail. “They’re—”

“Not dead. But they are missing.”

“How hard can they be to find?” Reid asked. “You should be able to track them by scent.”

“I never said they’d be hard to find. However, given the number of snowmobile tracks, I might need a hand. Unless you’d like me to get all the glory.”

Someone took his city girl?
My city girl? MINE!

More bear than man, Reid growled, “I’m on my way.”

And the fates help whoever took his Tammy because, once he got his paws on them, he would show no mercy. Especially if they’d hurt her.

Then they’ll die.

It didn’t take long for Tammy to regret her choice. Only two hours of driving in the endless black and she fidgeted in her seat and kept glancing in the side view mirror, looking—hoping—for what?

Reid, of course. In her fantasy, he either chased them down, the winterized version of a biker wearing his black parka, shaded helmet, a growling sled between his powerful thighs. Or he tore after them as a bear. She all too easily dreamed up a big furry hairball, racing on all fours, roaring as he charged after their taillights.

I am such a contrary idiot.
She argued with him about wanting to leave when he wouldn’t let her go. And now that she’d escaped, she wanted him to fetch her back.

Being herself was sometimes way too complicated. She sighed.

Jan glanced over at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Ever get the impression you made a huge mistake?”

“All the time. Then I pull out a gun and tell him to get dressed before I shoot his balls off.”

It took Tammy a dropped-jaw moment before she realized Jan was teasing. The blonde laughed. “Oh, if you could only see your face right now. I’m just kidding. Mostly.”

“I take it you’re not dating right now.”

“Nope. I know which man I want. I’m just waiting for him to get his head out of the sand and stop pretending he’s not good enough for anyone.”

“He’s got issues?”

“Major ones.” Jan blew out a breath. “Has since he came back from overseas. I know I should be patient, but it’s costing me a fortune in batteries.”

“Is he worth the wait?” Tammy asked.

A lilt of Jan’s lips said yes. “Even if he is a stubborn idiot, yeah, he’s worth it. But how did we get on the topic of me? I thought we were talking about you. About making a mistake. Let me guess. You want to go back.”

Tammy scrunched up her nose. “I do. Does that make me the stupidest woman alive?”

Jan smiled and shook her head. “Nope, it means that, like I suspected, you do feel the bond with Reid.”

“Bond? What bond?”

“There are times in a shifter’s life when you run into a person and there’s like a bolt of lightning. A sensation of rightness. Desire. Need.”

“Extreme lust,” Tammy joked, even as a part of her totally understood what Jan said. She couldn’t deny something had happened to her the moment she met Reid.

“Lust is a part of it, yes, but the bond I’m talking about is on a wholly deeper level. We call this primal and overwhelming urge the mating instinct. It is quite the powerful force, and if those affected don’t fight it, like someone I know,” Jan muttered under her breath, “then it can lead to a fulfilling, lifelong commitment.”

“And you think I have this mating thing going on for Reid?” They certainly had the horizontal tango down pat, along with a few other intimate dances.

“Not just you. Him too. I believe you’re fated mates.”

Tammy snorted. “I highly doubt it.”

“Why? Humans fall in love at first sight all the time. Shifters kind of do the same, but it’s more an instinct born of sight, scent, and some kind of metaphysical rightness, something I suspect we get from our animal side.”

“Great, so his bear possibly thinks I’m a tasty treat.”

A smile curved Jan’s lips. “In a sense. But, again, it’s more than that. Fated couples just mesh with each other. It’s as if a higher power recognizes a compatible pair and moves events to ensure they cross paths.”

“Or bonks him on the head,” Tammy muttered.

“Or shoots him in the butt.” Jan laughed. “The methods change with each couple.”

How nice and romantic to think the universe was vested in her enough to show an interest in her love life. The cynical part of Tammy wanted to scoff—mock and, yeah, deride the whole concept. Another part, though, couldn’t help a wistful, “So you think Reid and I are meant to be together?”

“Yes.”

No hesitation. “And yet, if you’re so sure, then why are you helping me to escape?”

“To make sure I was right. Given your humanity, I had to make certain it was more than just a case of you having the hots for the leader of our clan. Reid tends to have an effect on women.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Tammy replied, not without a tinge of jealousy as she wondered who else lusted after him.

“I’ll admit I was beginning to second-guess myself until I saw you squirming the farther out we went.”

“Could have been an urge to pee. I did drink a travel mug’s worth of coffee.”

“Do you have to pee?”

“No.”

“Are you going to deny I’m right?”

Tammy sighed. “No. I can’t help it. I know it’s crazy to want to go back. I’ve got a mortgage, a job, friends back home, but a part of me, a big part is screaming at me to go back to Kodiak Point. Calling me an idiot, in fact, for running away from Reid.” And what she suspected was a pivotal moment in her life, the moment that would decide the fate of her happiness.

“Minor details. The house can be rented or sold. I could use someone who knows her way around an office and a computer to help out, and as for friends, I’d like to count myself as one of the first of many in Kodiak Point.”

“You make it sound easy.” Tammy’s heart thumped. Fear or exhilaration? “What if—”

A scream tore free from Tammy as Jan wrenched the wheel and sent them spinning on the icy surface, the tires and bumper slicing through a soft drift of snow, sending it scattering and whirling.

Holding on to the oh-shit bar, Tammy took a moment to recover before yelling, “What the hell?”

Jan laughed. “That’s what I like to call a powder donut.”

“You’re crazy,” Tammy muttered, but a smile curved her lips. “I like it.”

“Crazy like a fox. Let’s go home,” Jan announced, shoving down hard on the gas pedal and sending her SUV rocketing, the tail end swerving a bit with the momentum.

With laughter and a much less stilted atmosphere, they headed back to Kodiak Point—to Reid. Tammy tried not to dwell on what would happen. Could Jan be right? Did she and Reid share a bond? It would explain so much.

Tammy would have never thought of herself as a love-at-first-sight girl, and yet from the moment she’d met the man, she could think of little else. Hell, even the fact that he turned into a ginormous bear didn’t curtail the attraction or interest. If that didn’t scream true lov—

A sharp
pop
sent the SUV careening wildly. On the edge of a steep embankment, the front tire got caught by the edge, and next thing Tammy knew, they were whipping down it.

Tammy hollered, “Ohmyfuckinggod.”

Jan cursed just as vividly as she fought the wheel and pumped the brakes. Neither tactic slowed their frightening descent, nor did it move the trees fast approaching.

With a warning of “brace yourself!” they hit. Air bags, impact, and a bonked head, though, meant Tammy missed what happened next.