Accidentally Yours (Coyote Bluff Series Book 1) (15 page)

“You will fight until one side has submitted to the other. There will be no killing. Does anyone have any questions?” Skip waited and nodded when no one said anything. He turned to Ian. “You are fighting alone, which entitles you to a second. Do you have anyone you can call upon?”

Ian opened his mouth to answer but watched Zeke step forward out of the crowd. He nodded and then answered the Alpha. “I’ve offered to be Ian’s second and he’s accepted.”

The rumble of interest in the other shifters was interesting. Some seemed rather irritated but most were nodding and smiling. “So be it. You will all shift now and not attack until you hear the whistle. At the next whistle all fighting stops. If you continue after that point I will gladly discipline you.”

Ian grinned. He couldn’t help it. The looks of disgruntled, childish anger on the faces of the other men was too much. He liked this Alpha. The man seemed to be realistic and knew his pack well. On his next exhale he called forward his wolf. The animal side of him was eager to come out and take on the scavengers that had attacked him. His bones and muscle realigned themselves as his skin erupted with fur. Two heartbeats later he stood on all four feet, excited and pissed. He rolled his head on his long neck, loosening the muscles.

Smells swamped his nose, making him sneeze. The wolf was irritated that so many different animals stood around him, but Ian was amazed anew at the variety of shifters in the pack. It was a testament to the area and the Alpha to have the diversity. A growl brought him from his thoughts. He turned slightly to find four coyotes slowly circling him. He stood his ground, letting them move around him, knowing they would spring at him as one as soon as the whistle blew. He tensed his muscles and planned to take whatever male decided to try for his throat out first. Tense moments ticked by before the shrill sound of a whistle broke the quiet.

As he expected, the four animals leapt at him as one, attacking his flanks. Sharp teeth clamped down on his legs, claws dug into his sides. He growled but ignored those. He wanted the one preparing to attack his face. He waited and feigned a stumble. The coyote squaring off to attack took the bait, charging forward, mouth gaping.
Got you
. Ian turned his head at the last moment and dug his teeth into the other animal’s shoulder, shaking it like a dog would with a new toy.

The yelp that echoed around the barn was enough for Ian. He dropped the coyote and bared his teeth at it. The animal rolled, belly up, tail tucked and neck bared.
One down, three to go
. The few moments it took Ian to subdue the first attacker were enough that the two still attached to his legs had bitten down enough to draw blood. He could smell his own blood on the air. He growled but kept from spinning and snapping at them. There was still one more unaccounted for. He glanced over his shoulder and found it. Hiding. The fucker was hiding, laying on his belly in the dirt just behind the snarling two attached to his behind. His strength was slowly dripping down his fur along with his blood. Something needed to happen or he’d lose just because he couldn’t get the stupid coyotes off his legs.

With gritted teeth he rushed forward, ripping the teeth from his left side. The pain shot down his leg and weakened that side for a split
-second. He refused to fall; that would be the end if he did. Instead he lunged sideways, ripping the other animal from his flank and leaving him momentarily facing all three attackers. One breath, then another sawed into his lungs. When the fire in his legs subsided some he went on the offensive. A growl erupted from his chest when he raced toward the other animals. He snapped at the one on the left, forcing it back. With a quick jerk of his head he found his teeth sinking nicely into the neck of the middle coyote. He closed his jaw, tightening his hold and pinching the animal’s windpipe. Fastest way to a submissive posture was to cut off the animal’s airway. No breathing meant you’d be dead. Anything was better than that. The animal slowly collapsed and whimpered lightly under his jaw. Ian clamped down a little tighter just to prove he could before dropping the animal at his feet.
Two down
.

Turning
, he found both of the others lying on their sides, belly showing.
Well, this is a nice turn of events
. He strode to each one and wrapped his teeth around their necks, pressing enough to pull a whimper from each. When he released the neck of the last one a loud blast from the whistle shot though the quiet.

“Ian is
the winner.” Skip’s voice was loud, as he strode into the circle. Disgust turned his lips up as he stared at the coyotes. “You four will shift and sit in my office until we come in.”

Ian peeked around, trying to get an idea of how everyone had taken his victory. He hadn’t expected clapping or anything, but the silence was disconcerting. Shifters were lovers of the fight, even if they didn’t enjoy the outcome there should have been something being said. The looks that stared back at him held surprise and a touch of respect.

“Holy shit, man. No wonder you didn’t seem too concerned about having a second.” Zeke pushed forward and patted Ian’s head. “That was freaking amazing.”

Ian snorted. He brought his human form into his mind and breathed through the change. He groaned when his legs tensed from the injuries but
, all in all, he felt pretty good for taking on four shifters. When he could stand without hobbling he turned to the other man. “What? You’ve never seen a wolf fight before?”

“No. You move like smoke. Do you realize you’ve only been in the circle about three minutes? I’ve never seen anyone fight so fast.”

Ian was stumped by his reaction, but then again it didn’t really matter. He’d won. If some of the shifters around the area were in awe, so be it. He winced at the pull of skin and pain from his legs. Freaking coyotes and their attempts to ham-string him. He’d be limping for days—again.

“So, you’re Ian, huh?” A deep voice came from the open barn doors. Conner strode through a moment later, moving with the grace of a predator and the stare of a cop.

Ian threw on his shirt and nodded to the other man. He needed to bandage his thighs so the blood didn’t stain his jeans. Looking around, he found a small female standing not far away, a first aid kit tightly clasped in her hands. Fear shone bright in her eyes but she stepped forward anyway. She handed the kit to Ian and turned, silently, leaving him confused and just a little concerned. If the other pack members wouldn’t speak to him after this he was just as lonely as before.
Fuck
.

“I just left Margie’s house. Cammie is staying over there for a few days until we find Ron.”

Ian turned back to Conner. “How is she doing? I felt bad running off, but I needed to take care of a few things.”

“She’s hanging in there. Look, I’ve gotten the scoop from Skip. I’m going to meet with the boys with you so they understand that her protection is important. I also wanted you to know that Ron called her again tonight. That’s what sent her to Margie’s.”

“Fuck. What is wrong with that man? You’d think he’d be running after attacking her at home.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think he’s dealing with a full deck. We also suspect he’s the one that broke into her work and tore up her office.” Silence hung heavy between the men.

Zeke was the one to break it. “What do you mean? Someone broke into the insurance place? And messed with Cammie’s office?”

“Yep, that’s what I mean.”

“This guy has a death wish. Okay. I have to meet with Skip and the boys, as you call them, then I’m heading to Margie’s.”

“She’s already had one hell of a night. I would suggest, from one male to another, that you wait until the morning to approach her.”

Ian huffed. He didn’t want to wait to see her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and make sure she was safe and sound. But, he knew Conner was right. He’d rocked the foundation of her world. He could still run around the house, though, and keep her safe. “Let’s go talk to the morons and get a schedule going.”

Zeke patted him on the back and looked on with sympathy. “Good luck with her, man. She’s stronger than you think and she’s got a wicked temper.”

Conner laughed as he strode toward the house. Ian followed at a slower pace, trying to hide the limp and getting his thoughts in order. He needed the help of the pack, but this was a punishment for a few of the males. A growl rumbled in his chest. He’d skin them alive if they let something happen to Cammie.

Dread had a fine sheen of sweat coating Cammie’s upper lip,
and her hands shook as she pulled into the parking lot behind the insurance company. She’d slept like shit, woke to the world under a blanket of fog, and only had one cup of coffee in her stomach. She knew that her office was a mess, knew she’d spend the day cleaning up what someone else had done to it. The mental understanding that it wasn’t a physical blow didn’t help the emotions. Her heart was racing with fear and she just didn’t know what to do to stop it.

Removing the keys from the ignition and opening her door took monumental inner strength. She wanted to tuck her tail and run home. Her job was important though, if she wanted to keep eating. With a deep breath she climbed out of her car and slammed the door shut.
You can do this, it’s just a mess
. Yep. Inner monologue was in full swing, and it wasn’t helping at all.

Walking around to the front door felt like entering a haunted house. She knew that nothing was really going to jump out and kill her, but her heart was pounding and adrenaline was racing through her veins. A shadowed body sitting on the stoop of her office door made her squeak. When he looked up
, she sighed. “Zeke. Shit you scared me. What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Cam. I’m on guard duty for a while this morning.”

“Guard duty? What are you talking about?”

“A bunch of us are going to be hanging around for a few days until Ron’s found. And, no you can’t make me go away
, so just deal with it.”

“But you can’t just sit around here. You’re going to be bored silly.”

“I’m going to help you clean up first then I’m going to play some Angry Birds on my phone.”

“Fine. Come in. But you don’t have to help if you don’t want to.” Cammie opened the outer door and walked into the office. She expected to find a mess everywhere, but the reception area looked exactly like she
’d left it on Friday. She sighed, relief flooding her, but she knew it was short lived.

Slowly approaching her office door meant seeing the carnage in slow motion. Papers coated the carpet. Every file drawer had been pulled out and emptied. Her coffee cup, her favorite one that had been given to her by her father, lay in a pile of broken pieces. The dent in the wall gave her a pretty good idea of how it’d been broken. The plants she kept in her window had been dumped onto her desk. Black earth scattered across her calendar and keyboard.

“Oh, hon, don’t cry. We’ll get it cleaned up.” She jumped at Zeke’s words and the light touch of a tissue resting against her shoulder. She hadn’t even known she’d been crying. A sob burst from her lips.
Why would he do this to me?
She couldn’t understand, didn’t want to. “Where are the garbage bags and stuff?” She sucked in a breath and held it. When she let it flow out she felt better.

Turning to her friend helped as well. “Down the hall. Come on, let’s get the stuff and get this mess cleaned up.”

They spent an hour scrubbing her desk, making piles of the papers and vacuuming the dirt from her office. By the time they’d cleared most of the mess she felt better, more in control. It would take her quite a while to put the files back together, but only a few had been destroyed. Ron had done a number on her personal things, but the business stuff seemed to have made it through the storm of anger unscathed.

She turned to Zeke and watched for a moment as he tried to understand her filing system. Tears burned behind her eyes. When was the last time she had someone help
ed her of their own free will, just to be a friend? This horror-fest with Ron was making her see she’d had friends for a while, but had been hiding from them. “Thanks, Zeke. So much. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your help. I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle walking in here without you with me.”

“Come here, hon.” Strong arms enfolded her in security and warmth. She swallowed a few times to push the tears back. “This is what friends are for, right? Now it’s almost lunch time. Go clean yourself up and I’ll finish straightening this last stack.”

He’d been hinting throughout the morning that lunch was going to be special. She swung from hoping it was going to be Ian taking her to lunch to hoping it was a trip down the mountain to one of the nicer places. She could really go for a slice of ‘real’ cheesecake and a glass of Riesling. She nodded at Zeke before heading to the bathroom.

“Ugh, no wonder he kept telling me to come in here.” Cammie’s reflection told the horrible story of a woman and her lost battle with three pounds of potting soil. Streaks of dirt painted her in shades of brown. With some elbow-grease and super strength scrubbing she managed to get most of the grime off her face and hands. Her clothes were another matter, but there wasn’t much she could do about that. At least after a few dozen washes and rinses her face looked clean.

Walking back into her office made the memory of the morning flash through her mind. She’d slid from terror to anger throughout the marathon cleaning session. It flared again and she barely contained the string of profanity she wanted to release.

“It does look better.” She shrieked and spun, colliding with Conner’s wide chest. His calloused hands grasped her shoulders lightly as he pushed her away from him. Looking up into his grinning face brought her fear under control enough that she could whack him lightly on the arm
.

“Damn it, Conner. You scared me. Walk louder next time.”

He chuckled and walked in her office, peering around. “You guys did a great job. I didn’t envy you the mess.”

“Zeke made it all possible. I’d still be a blubbering idiot, curled in a ball of self
-pity if he hadn’t offered to help.”

“Hmm, well. I just stopped by to see how you’re holding up and give you an update. Ron didn’t show today to the job he had scheduled. He hasn’t been back to his house and there’s been no sighting of him at any of the bars around.”

“So, what does that mean? I still can’t go home?”

“Well, now, that’s up to you. If you want to go home you can, but know that it’s likely that he’s going to show up at some point.”

“So, I can’t go home.” She sighed. “I just want my life back. What the hell is wrong with him? I knew he was an asshole, but to take this so far is not what I expected.”

“Sometimes, hon, things just happen and it pushes people to do things they wouldn’t do, or more likely in his case show a side they normally wouldn’t show.”

She chewed on that with her mental teeth, rolling the thought around. It tasted right. Ron was an asshole, but sometimes when he was hitting her he’d had a gleam of something evil in his eyes. Maybe this was the real Ron.

She heard the front bell ding as someone else came in the building. She couldn’t see around Conner because he was in the doorway and too wide to see around. She assumed it was Zeke and called out to him. “Hey, Zeke, thanks for finishing up this last pile.”

“Zeke left already, but I’ll let him know.” The voice was so familiar, but not enough to trigger the memory of an owner. She stood on tiptoes to peer over Conner’s shoulder and froze. Ian stood in the reception area.
Ian
. Her heart rate picked up so fast her chest ached. He was real. Standing not five feet from her.

Her mind spun and black edged her vision. If he was real then everything else was real. She couldn’t get enough air in
to her lungs. Her lips were numbing and her fingers went icy. The analytical part of her brain took a step back and reminded her that she was hyperventilating and would probably pass out if she didn’t calm her ass down. The rest of her was in shock and couldn’t care less about that knowledge.

“Shit, Conner, catch her before she passes out.” That voice again, so strong and deep, echoed in her mind as everything went black.

Strong hands grabbed her just before she lost consciousness.