Andromeda's Fall (Shadowcat Nation) (14 page)

Jaxon
let himself back into the cave. As he dropped inside, he suddenly faced a very
wary cougar and polar bear, both ready to fight. Both relaxed when they saw it
was he. Andie nodded. Saying nothing, she let herself out of the cave the way
Jaxon had come in. Jaxon shifted as he watched her leave, his lips set in a
grim line.

Zac
shifted to his human form. “She’ll be out there a while.”

Jaxon
looked over at the large man. He’d wondered when he’d get the private
man-to-man chat. Apparently now, while they were buck naked, appeared to be
Zac’s chosen moment. Jaxon moved over to his pack and started pulling out his
clothes. “I assume this is the part where you warn me not to hurt Andie. Mind
if I get dressed first?”

“Go
ahead. I live in this weather all the time, so it doesn’t really faze me unless
I’m out in it too long. And no, this isn’t where I warn you about anything.”

Jaxon
raised his eyebrows. “No?”

“No.
This is the part where I tell you that to get to Andie, you’ll need to go
through me first.”

Jaxon
eyed the other man closely for several moments. Zac was tall, closer to seven
feet than six. Cropped, dark brown hair just turning silver at the temples, and
an iron jaw created quite an imposing aura. He wondered, not for the first
time, exactly who Zac was to Andie. The Alpha in Jaxon wanted to rip the guy
apart for even attempting to come between him and his woman. Because in Jaxon’s
mind that’s exactly what Andromeda Jaci Reynolds was… his future mate and
bride.

At
the same time, the protector in him appreciated the fact that someone this
powerful had her back. And it gave him a small amount of pride that Andie had
earned this level of respect and friendship from a polar bear shifter. The
notoriously shy and reclusive bears were the hardest shifters to approach, let
alone befriend. And that got him to wondering. What exactly had she done to
earn this man’s loyalty?

Zac
folded his arms over his chest. “If you’re wondering how A.J. and I became
friends, or why I’m so protective of her, you’ll have to ask her yourself,” he
said.

Jaxon
blinked. People rarely got a read on him like that. Despite his unanswered
questions, he liked this guy. Grudgingly. “Now that we’ve established that
you’re Andie’s self-appointed chaperone, let’s get a few other things
straight.”

Zac
waved for him to go ahead.

“I’m
Alpha in the Keller Dare. My word is final, or your welcome will be short-lived.”

“Understood.”

“I
will
win her as my bride. And I won’t tolerate you getting in the way of
that.”

“It’s
a good thing you said win. I’ll stay out of your way as long as force, either
physical or mental, never enters the picture.”

Jaxon
growled deep in his throat. “That would never happen.”

Zac
shrugged, looking unimpressed. “I know what cougars can be like. Kyle Carstairs
wasn’t exactly a shining example. I’ll judge for myself.”

Jaxon
suddenly relaxed. He shrugged as though he didn’t care. “Suit yourself.”

“I
will. Out of curiosity, why do you call her Andie anyway?”

Jaxon
stuffed his sweatshirt in his bag. “That’s the name she chose to go by when she
arrived at our compound.”

Zac
grinned. “She snuck into your compound, didn’t she?”

“How’d
you know?”

“That’s
how
I
met her.” Zac didn’t elaborate. He just winked, shifted again, and
lay down to get some sleep.

*****

Andie
dropped into the cave silently. Without so much as a grunt or a nod, Zac
immediately was up on his feet and headed outside to take his turn.

Andie
glanced over to the mountain lion lying a few feet away, his dark golden eyes
intent on her face. She nodded at him and then at her bag. Taking the hint, he
turned away. Andie shifted and started getting dressed. They hadn’t bothered
bringing sleeping bags or tents as their animal forms were made to deal with
weather like this. Especially Zac, who lived in a perpetual winter up in the
Arctic Circle. But she didn’t want to sleep right away— she needed to do a few
things first.

Andie
turned around and stepped closer to Jaxon. The darkness of the cave made it
difficult to tell, but he didn’t look to be in great shape. His injury was
clearly taking its toll.

 “Let
me get a look at your wound.”

“I’m
fine,” he grunted.

She
just stared at him, unimpressed.

He
heaved a beleaguered sigh. “Suit yourself.”

She
inched closer and pulled up the layers of shirts and jackets to expose the skin
underneath. He hadn’t bothered with placing a bandage over the injury since he
had to shift and it wouldn’t have stayed in place. The stitches looked as if
they were holding, and the wound itself seemed to be healing well, with no ugly
swelling or unusual coloring.

Andie
reached out to gently prod around the area, feeling for hardness or any hot
spots. The second she touched him, a groan rumbled low in his chest. She pulled
back.

“Sorry.
Did I hurt you?” she asked. Eyebrows scrunching with concern, she looked
closer. That touch shouldn’t have bothered him. Maybe there was internal
bleeding.

He
cleared his throat. “No.”

Andie
narrowed her eyes as she looked at his face. His voice had sounded strained.
Reaching back out, she prodded the same spot, only more gently this time. “Does
it hurt if I do this?”

“Hurt
right there? No,” he murmured.

“Well,
where does it hurt?”

When
he didn’t answer, she took her focus off his stitches, only to encounter eyes
blazing with desire trained on her upturned face.

Andie’s
eyes widened. “Oh.”

He
grinned. It dawned on her that she was still touching him. She tried to jerk
her hand back, but he grabbed her wrist. “I like it when you touch me, Andie.”
He brought her hand up to his lips and placed a kiss on the palm. “I dream
about it.”

“Dream
about what?” she breathed.

“Your
touch. Touching you.”

“Oh.”

He
smiled. “Not very talkative tonight, Ms. Reynolds?”

Before
she could respond, he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I dreamed of you
last night.”

Andie
bit her lip.

“I
dreamt that you were fire in my arms. And that with barely a touch, we both
reached heaven.”

Apparently
he thought their encounter had just been a dream. She couldn’t decide if she
was disappointed… or relieved.

“Wow.
That’s some imagination you’ve got there, Keller.” Andie was proud of how she
pulled off sarcastic and nonchalant while her body was screaming at her to move
in closer.

He
chuckled and his breath tickled her ear, making her shiver. “Only when I woke
up this morning, I realized I hadn’t been dreaming.”

Andie’s
heart skipped a beat and then took off at a gallop. She swallowed. “That a
fact?”

“That’s
a fact. Your body wants me, Andie, even if your mind is still deciding. All
that tantalizing little taste did was whet my appetite for more. When we mate,
I might just keep you in bed for a month.”

Andie
bit her lip. She couldn’t move away from his mesmerizing words.

“Don’t
you mean
if
we mate?”

“No.
I mean
when
.”

Andie
shook her head. “I thought you weren’t going to use sex to pressure me.”

He
placed a tender kiss on her neck just below her ear. “I’m stating facts about
how we react to each other. And you’re wrong. I want every part of you. Your
body, yes. But also your mind, and your spirit. You were made for me, darlin’.”

Panic
swirled inside her. She could feel how right his words were, but she hated that
she felt so cornered. Not by him, but by the circumstances. “Okay. So prove
it.”

Jaxon
paused and then pulled back to see her face. “What?”

She
shrugged, but her eyes challenged him. “Prove it.”

He
raised a single eyebrow. “And how exactly am I supposed to prove it?”

She
gave him a sassy grin. “That’s your problem to solve.” Turning her back to him,
she stripped and effortlessly shifted. Then she moved away and curled up where
she had been before.

Jaxon
didn’t completely give up. He shifted and then padded over to lie down as close
to her as he could get without actually touching. After a moment he rested his
head on his paws.

He’s
protecting me,
Andie realized as she noticed he’d positioned himself between her and the
entrance to the cave. And for once she didn’t look on such an action as his
thinking she couldn’t take care of herself. Instead she felt… cared for.

Andie
closed her eyes and let sleep take hold of her. Morning would come soon enough.

They
woke before the sun came up. Time to get moving.

“I
caught a faint whiff of the pack when I was out earlier,” Zac said. “They’re
not too close yet, but they will be soon. We’d better hurry up and get out of
here.”

Andie
started packing up the gear and caught Jaxon’s amused gaze. She raised her
eyebrows. “What?”

He
gave her a lopsided smile. “Nothing… you ready to go?”

 “Ready,”
she said. Zac nodded. He appeared to be a man of few words. Which was a good
thing. Jaxon hadn’t anticipated having to deal with an Alpha polar bear shifter
to win Andie.

 Without
further discussion, they all stripped and shifted. Jaxon turned and took a
brief moment to appreciate Andie in her cougar form. She was so petite as a
woman that it was misleading, because she sure packed a punch when she wanted
to. But as a cat, her toned muscles rippled under her skin, and she moved with
an entrancing, powerful grace. He didn’t think he’d ever get over the fact that
her coloring mirrored his own.

Jaxon
gave himself a shake. Hopefully, he’d have plenty of time to stare at Andie
later. For now he maneuvered into his pack, and Zac did the same. Then they
pushed the snow away from the entrance to the cave and moved back out into the
blustery winds. Fortunately, the storm seemed to be abating somewhat. At least
today there was some visibility.

They
trudged along in silence for what felt like unending hours with no sign of the
shifters on their tail. Jaxon tried to ignore the pain in his side. He’d
refused heavy duty pain killers, which would’ve made him groggy and slowed him
down more. As he led the way once again, Jaxon felt Andie’s presence behind
him, as well as her nerves. Instinct told him the wolves were closing in, and
he guessed Andie felt it as well.

While
Jaxon’s first instinct was to protect his future mate, he also trusted her
skills like no one else’s. Besides, she had a massive polar bear at her back
who seemed determined to protect her from everything. Including Jaxon himself.

Gradually,
the winds howling around them subsided, and then the snow stopped falling.
Good,
he thought. He’d never minded the cold, but he wasn’t a huge fan of having the
snow blown into his eyes for hours on end, especially when he was on the
lookout for a pack of shifters. Andie was starting to slow down, struggling to
pick up her feet, exhaustion impacting her movements. And the pain in his side
wasn’t helping him any either.

Just
a little farther, wildcat,
he thought, willing strength into her.

A
landmark caught his eye. Jaxon’s ears suddenly perked up as he heard the sounds
of a distant helicopter, and he picked up the pace. He felt a small surge of
energy with the thought of this journey coming to an end soon. They were very
close now, and his people were waiting. No sign of the shifters yet. Maybe
they’d just gotten damn lucky twice.

Behind
him, Andie suddenly let out a whimper… and then she dropped to the ground.
Jaxon spun around to see a dart sticking out of her left flank. He quickly
moved to her side, shifted and checked her pulse, letting out a sigh of relief.
Andie was unconscious, but still breathing. He whipped his head to look in the
direction of the shot, but he couldn’t find the source. He had to assume it
came from the wolf shifters, although he couldn’t be sure. At least they
weren’t shooting to kill. But he didn’t have time to think through things. They
just needed to run.

Zac
shifted as well. “Take her and go!” he shouted. “I can fend off more wolves
than you can. Get her to the helicopter. I’ll be right behind you!”

Jaxon
didn’t waste time with words. First he snagged the flare gun in his pack and
fired it straight up in the air. Then he scooped Andie up into his arms,
tossing her over his shoulder fireman style. He grunted at the strain it put on
the wound in his side. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Jaxon took off as
fast as he could manage. He ignored the bite of the cold air against his skin
and the ache of his bare feet in the snow. He could hear Zac, who’d shifted
back to his polar bear form, pounding along behind him. Zac stayed close on
Jaxon’s heels for a few minutes, until the low whistle of another dart flying
past Jaxon’s head stopped him. He glanced back at Zac who took off in the
direction from which the dart had come.

Slowing
under the strain, Jaxon finally made it out of the woods. As he hit the
airstrip and saw the helicopter, he also heard the roar of a polar bear, followed
by the yelp of a wolf. Several cougars were already running toward him, drawn
by his flare gun. Jaxon went down to one knee, unable to stay upright any
longer under the burden he carried. As soon as his men reached him, they
shifted and waited for orders.

He
handed Andie’s heavy lioness body over to William. “Get her in the chopper.”

“Is
she injured?”

“Tranquilized,
I think.”

William
nodded and took off. Jaxon turned to Dylan and Charlie. “We need to help that
polar bear.”

Both
of their eyebrows shot up, but they nodded, shifted, and followed his orders.
Before they could get across the field, Zac broke through the line of trees at
a full run. It looked lumbering, but he was hauling like a freight train. Jaxon
expected to see the pack of shifters hot on Zac’s tail, but no one followed. He
did, however, see about six or seven darts sticking out of the bear’s backside.
The drugs would hit Zac soon, and there was no way they could lift, let alone
fit an eighteen-hundred pound polar bear onto the helicopter.

Jaxon
turned and signaled to the pilot. He could see William had already made it
there with Andie. The helicopter took off and Jaxon turned back to Zac. He ran
straight at the bear, holding his breath when he saw Zac start to stumble.
Finally reaching him, Jaxon shifted back to human form, pulled out the darts,
and then Zac shifted as well.
Smart.
He’d be much easier to lift as a
man. At close to seven feet tall, he was huge, but nothing compared to the
bear. On the downside, all the meds in his system would work much faster.
Possibly dangerously so.

Jaxon
and Dylan managed to get on either side of Zac just as his body went limp. The
helicopter landed nearby, and the rotor blades sent snow flying in all
directions. As they dragged Zac’s unconscious form to the chopper, Jaxon
gritted his teeth against the pressure it put on his stitches.

Once
everyone was loaded, they took off. Jaxon watched the woods with sharp eyes,
looking for their attackers, but saw nothing. Once they were a good distance
away, he left Zac’s side and moved over to where Andie was strapped into a
chair, still unconscious. He checked her pulse and breathing. Satisfied she was
okay, he took the seat beside her and dropped his head against the seat back.
He hadn’t slept the night before as he’d watched over his future mate and her
friend.

“Boss?”
Charlie interrupted his moment of rest.

Jaxon
sighed and opened his eyes. “I’m fine.” He sat forward, resting his elbows on
his knees and shook his head.

“None
of the last two days have made any damn sense,” Jaxon muttered. He looked
around at his men. “Those wolf shifters knew. According to Zac,” he nodded at
the large man passed out on the floor, “they knew we were at that cabin, and
they were hunting us deliberately. And they used tranquilizers instead of
bullets. Why?”

“Maybe
they’re working with Carstairs?” William suggested.

“I
thought of that. But I know of no wolf treaties with any of the dares, not that
Carstairs would share that with the other Alphas. It just doesn’t make any
sense. Wolves tried to wipe us off the face of the planet. Why would they make
a treaty with cougars?”

William
leaned back. “There’ve been no attacks on the compound. No signs of Carstairs.”

Charlie
glanced at over at Zac, clearly curious.

“I’ll
fill you all in on the details when we get back,” Jaxon said.

Charlie
nodded. “Do we need the Healer ready?”

“Yes.
Call ahead. I assume they were hit with tranqs, but they need to be checked for
poison and other toxins. And Zac’ll need healing no matter what. They hit him
with enough darts for a polar bear-sized creature, so the amount of meds in his
system would be too much for a human.”

Charlie
grimaced. “Uh, Andie told us about the gash in your side. What about that?”

Jaxon
ground his teeth. “It’s fine. I’ll visit JoLynn later tonight.”

Charlie
nodded, then moved up to sit beside Pete in the copilot seat. Jaxon closed his
eyes and let himself sleep. Finally.