Bear with Me (Bear Mountain Patrol Series Book 1) (18 page)

Tag glanced at his watch. BMP would be here any second and he had questions. Plus if he didn’t contact his mate soon, she would probably leave the bomb shelter to find him. He whipped out his tranq gun and fired. Wide-eyed, Justin dropped to the ground. Tag shot him again for good measure in case the conversation with Jackson took longer than he thought.

He called Camilla. She picked up on the first ring.

“How much longer?” She asked.

Exhaling, he thought of the amount of cleaning up he needed to do then the conversation with Jackson before he handed over Justin. “At least another hour, I’ll try to make it faster.”

“Did you get hurt?”

“No, why?”

“I felt something but wasn’t sure what it was. Be careful, okay?”

“Will do.” He clicked off wondering if her intuition was the by-product of their mating, it was too early to know for certain. Tag went in search of Rivera. The bear wasn’t in the same spot.

“Plata o plomo?”

Tag turned slowly to face the voice from his past. Rivera’s misshaped head and feral yellow eyes bore little resemblance to the man Tag thought he’d killed. With slow movements, Tag released Baby and lay her on the ground.

Grizzle roared for release.

“
Patience
,” Tag said to his beast fully prepared to unleash Grizzle on this fool.

“I remember you.” Rivera frowned then bared his pointy teeth. “There was another, he smelled like you. I take the human, make him mine.”

Tag smelled the sickness wafting off Rivera, the man was dying and it had nothing to do with the bullets from Tag’s gun. Maybe it was whatever they used to revive the bear or to keep him alive. Tag didn’t know but this time he’d be sure Rivera breathed his last.

Rivera exploded into his bear and ran at Tag. It was larger than most of the black bears Tag had seen but much smaller than his Grizzle. Grizzle picked up Tag’s thought and took over. Towering over Rivera, Grizzle roared and stood on two feet. Rivera tried to swipe him but his arms didn’t make contact. With an outraged growl, Grizzle swatted Rivera with the flat of his paw.

Rolling a few times, Rivera stopped and jumped up clapping like a maniacal clown. He ran toward Grizzle, leapt and kicked.

Anticipating the kick, Grizzle dodged the blow and watched Rivera hit the ground with a bounce. Grizzle grabbed the bear with his claws and shook him a few times before slicing his neck with one sharp claw.

Rivera twitched for a few seconds then reverted to human.

Grizzle dropped Rivera, bent forward sniffing and pushed him, rolling the inert man to his side. When Rivera didn’t respond, Grizzle stood on two legs, roaring, grunting and waving his arms in victory.

A few seconds later, Tag flowed into his human form and stooped to check Rivera. The man didn’t move and had no heartbeat. Tag waited to hear if his heart restarted and after five minutes, he accepted Rivera’s death.

Chapter 26

Tag waited until Jackson left to release his mate from the underground bunker. Jackson’s persistent questions regarding Camilla’s whereabouts pissed him off to the point he yelled at the man to mind his own business. That short emotional discharge made accepting BMP’s assistance of cleaning his yard harder to swallow. Jackson’s team made short work of removing the human bodies, taking the wounded bears to the infirmary and fixing the broken window.

Jackson took special interest in Rivera’s corpse. First, he removed tissue samples then after bagging the body, had it placed separately from the others. When Tag asked why, Jackson didn’t answer which made Tag wonder if Jackson had known about Rivera all along.

For the most part, Jackson confirmed most of Justin’s story, including Amber being the one who told Jackson that Justin would attack Tag. He admitted she hadn’t been truthful about a few things and he released a bulletin to have her apprehended if spotted.

Amber had disappeared again.

At Jackson’s request, Tag contacted Lorenzo to ask if he knew his sister’s location. He sounded shocked and tried to defend his sister until he realized how silly his lame excuses sounded. “I have no idea where she is, last time we talked, she was with BMP for safety reasons.”

Tag and a now-awake Justin both laughed, which pissed Lorenzo off. Amber knew how to take care of herself and needed no help from anyone. If anything, the black bear population needed protection from her. Tag didn’t bother stating the obvious.

Justin left with Jackson for further debriefing.

Tag entered the security code and stepped inside the concrete room. Camilla and Tyra lay asleep on the bed. Smiling, he watched Camilla breathe, still unable to reconcile the fact he was mated to the most incredible woman in the world. After relocking the door, he showered, dressed in clean clothes then woke them. Tyra had a flight to catch and they needed to get moving.

“Tag?” Camilla said looking up at him.

“Yeah baby. We need to –”

“Oh thank you, God, thank you!” She leapt up and wrapped her arms around his neck while taking deep breaths. “I didn’t want to admit it before but I was sooo scared. Scared we’d die. But we didn’t and that’s great.” She placed kisses all over his neck and across his face. Showering had been a good idea since he’d washed off the blood splatter from his arms, face and his clothes.

Grizzle grunted his pleasure and remained quiet.

“Hey Tag, glad you made it back,” Tyra said rolling out of bed and heading toward the bathroom. “She had me watching
Shooter
,
Transporter
and all the Bond movies, glad that’s over. And Camilla, you couldn’t have died, you were in here far from the real fight. Can we say drama-queen?” She closed the door behind her.

Camilla met Tag’s gaze and tears filled her eyes. Her fingertips trailed across his face. “I was scared I’d lose you.”

His heart skipped at the sincerity of her words. Humbled, he brushed his lips against hers. “Trust me, I’m here with you and never letting you go.”

Her arms tightened around him as she hid her face in the crook of his neck. Tag placed his arms beneath her hips and lifted. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he walked to the bed and sat with her on his lap.

“I love you,” she whispered then looked at him. “When you were gone, every time I thought you might not come back, my heart almost burst. I love you and you should know… you mated your stalker.” She bit her lip and glanced away.

He frowned. “What?”

She swallowed and looked over her shoulder toward the bathroom door. In a few sentences. She confessed to him about how she kept tabs on him the past few years and her obsession. When she finished, the color in her cheeks was heightened and she looked everywhere but at him.

Tag placed his fingers on her chin and turned her to face him. Smiling, with heart near bursting, he kissed her hard and deep. Plundering her mouth, he let her feel his pride that she wanted him, searched and cared about him long before he returned for her. When they broke apart, she smiled softly at him.

“You don’t mind?”

“Mind? I’m honored you waited for me.” He kissed her again, ignoring the bathroom door opening.

“If we can get my other bag, I’m ready to head to the airport,” Tyra said from behind them.

Camilla leaned against him, holding him tight. “Okay Tyra. And thanks for putting up with me last night. I took you through a lot of changes because I was scared, you were great.”

Tag looked over his shoulder and nodded his thanks.

“Hey, we caught up on our movies and you’re my girl, plus there was no way he wouldn’t come back for his BAE. His nose is wide open.” Tyra walked around them to the door, tried to open then looked at Tag. “Are we ready?”

Tag nodded and looked at Camilla. “BAE? Nose wide open?”

Camilla released him and slid off his lap. “Before Anyone Else. It’s slang meaning I’m first for you. Nose wide open, similar meaning.”

“She’s right,” he whispered. Standing he took her hand, unlocked the door and they left the bunker through the long underground tunnel heading to the house.

“Heard from Ryan?” Tyra asked as they walked up the stairs leading into one of the closets.

“Not yet. But I turned my phone off after I talked to Camilla.” He didn’t need to ask if she’d heard from his friend; Jackson told him Ryan had been in testing since he arrived yesterday.

“Oh, okay.”

He hated seeing her shoulders slump and the smile leave her face. The turning process could be brutal if you were unmated. Ryan had a long road ahead of him and Tag had no idea when Ryan would be able to contact anyone from his past life. He reasoned it best to remain quiet rather than feed her false hope.

“How long before we leave?” Tyra asked as they entered the living room.

“I’ll make my shower quick and get dressed,” Camilla said looking at Tag with a devilish glint.

“Good, thanks I thought you’d want to take him to bed first like yesterday then I’d miss my flight and have to spend another night,” Tyra teased.

Camilla stopped, turned and glared at her.

“What?” Tyra asked Camilla.

“You know what and that was all kinds of wrong. But I heard you,” Camilla said shaking her head. “Glad you’re my girl, otherwise…” Camilla walked out the room.

Tyra laughed and shook her head.

Tag looked at her feeling lost. Something just happened and he didn’t know what to make of any of it.

Tyra pointed at him. “Don’t ask; I can’t break the code of friendship. Are we eating on the way or should we cook now?”

“On the way. I’ll get the car.” He grabbed Tyra’s luggage, looked back toward the bedroom, shook his head and walked outside.

Ten minutes later Camilla and Tyra walked outside laughing, arm in arm. Given their current camaraderie, whatever happened before must’ve been minor. Tag didn’t bother trying to understand, instead he focused on everything they needed to do so he could return home and take his mate to bed.

“We’re hungry,” Camilla said. “Are we going to eat first?”

“Yes, we’ll hit the buffet on the way. In and out, won’t take long,” he said as she buckled her belt.

“Good, I want to finish what we started,” she said then winked at him.

Tag pressed the gas and shot out the driveway.

Chapter 27

Tag hadn’t wasted time heading home after dropping Tyra off at the airport. Visions of every position he would take his mate in filled his head. Cock stiff, he kept her hand on top of his hardness, occasionally growling and making sex-laden promises.

“What’s that?” Camilla asked pointing to the two cars blocking the road ahead. Tag bristled when he saw the two men from Loveland. Seeing them on the road leading to his home meant one thing - they wanted his mate.

Grizzle growled in displeasure, claws burst through Tag’s skin. Camilla patted his hand. “Calm down, Grizzle. Pull in your claws, we need to think.”

Grizzle whined but re-sheathed his claws and remained quiet.

Surprised and pleased, Tag released a sigh of relief at Grizzle’s meek response, definitely a first. He pressed the brakes. “Thank you,” he said looking at her and then back to the road. “Do either of those guys look familiar?” he asked, while engaged in a tug-a-war with Grizzle. His beast wanted to destroy the men who wanted their mate, as if Tag would ever allow it.

“No. Why?” Her hand gripped his tightly.

At this point, her curiosity hadn’t blown into fear and he aimed to keep things that way. “Just wondered.” There was another person in the first car and someone had left a trail as they either drove away or walked off up the mountain. Inhaling deeper, he realized Rex Green was in the car but that other scent… he stiffened and looked around as he stopped the car.

Amber.

What was she doing up here? Had she been involved with Camilla’s kidnapping? Did she work for Rex? That day at the restaurant, she’d warned him to back off but he didn’t scent any deceit until she mentioned her brother. Her concern had been genuine. So why now? What did she hope to accomplish by bringing these men here?

Tag pulled out his cell and called Lorenzo. “Amber brought Green to my ranch. Have you said goodbye to your sister?”

“What? No, she couldn’t have!” Lorenzo yelled. “Why would she do that? She doesn’t know you’re mated. Anyone knows not to come between mates.”

Tag ground out, “Contact Jackson, there’ll be a mess to clean up soon.” Then he disconnected.

“This is bad, right?” Camilla asked when Tag quickly backed the car up headed in the opposite direction. Bullets could rip through the car and possibly hit Camilla. He needed to find a secure location then deal with these men.

“Depends on what you consider bad.”

She slapped his arm. “Be serious. They have guns.” Her fear spiked. The odor curled around his head, like a halo.

Grizzle grunted, his anger palatable but he didn’t make loud noises or try to push through.

“So do I,” he gritted wanting to hold her close but settled for rubbing his thumb back and forth on her hand.

“You do? I don’t know how to shoot a gun… yet. But you’ll teach me when we have time. I don’t ever want to feel like this… like I’m weighing you down.”

He glanced at her and his heart dropped at the anxiety reflected in her eyes. “Camilla...”

“No.” She shook her head with sharp, short moves. “If they’re here for me, and I suspect they are, then they’ll try to use me against you. In the movies they always grab the girl to manipulate the guy.”

“Camilla…”

When his car swerved, he spun around and headed down an overgrown path to an abandoned shelter on his property. The previous owner never removed the dome-like building and Tag hadn’t bothered to either. Today, it’d come in handy. In the rearview mirror, he saw the men turn off the road, following slowly.

“So this is what we should do.” She swallowed hard. Her fingernails broke his skin and small tremors periodically ran through her. “I stay with you, behind you. Because if I’m anywhere else all they have to do is point a gun and threaten to kill me and you’ll let them take me.”

His gut clenched. “Camilla!”

A growl rumbled from his throat. Grizzle tried to remain calm but Camilla’s fear and agitation triggered both of their protective instincts.

She bit down on her bottom lip and stared out the window. “No. I’m right and you know it. If we’re separated, they’ll take me again. I… I can’t do that.” She turned and looked at him. “Please… I can’t do that again.”

Tag’s breath stalled in his chest at the sheer terror in her eyes. He’d kill Rex Green; the bastard would pay for this. Grizzle grunted, trusting Tag to reassure their mate of her safety.

“Do you trust me?”

She hesitated. “Yes.”

“With your life?”

A longer hesitation then, “Yes, we’re connected.”

“Right. So believe me when I say I will protect you with
my
life. Trust me. Let me do what I’m trained to do. Protect people.”

The structure came into view. Surrounded by vines and trees, it was just the place to keep her safe. Tag hoped she agreed. He slammed on the brakes. The door was hidden from view of the road.

“Come with me.” Grabbing his weapons bag from behind the seat, he ran to the entry of the building, pressed the combination on the lock and then opened the door.

Even though his Land Rover made better time than his enemies’ car on this rough terrain, they still didn’t have a lot to spare.

“Please don’t… I don’t want to go in there.” Visibly shaking, she looked inside the dark, musty building.

“You’re my heart.” With one finger he touched her nose. “Wide open, remember?”

Swallowing hard, she nodded and straightened.

“That’s my girl. Go inside, I’ll lock you in. They’ll be here soon.” With a gentle push, she moved inside and he locked the door. Running through the trees, he leapt 20 feet into the air and landed on a large branch with a clear view to the door of the building.

Three men exited the car and stalked toward the shelter. “All we want is the girl and we’re on our way. Let’s talk about it, I’ll pay you for your trouble,” one of the men said.

A low rumbling growl escaped Tag’s chest.

“I’ll pay you $50K.”

One man walked toward the door. Tag fired, hitting him in the head, tearing off a chunk on the spot. The other two scrambled back. Tag wished he had a clear shot at their car; he’d flatten their tires so they couldn’t escape.

“Name your price.”

Tag never hated anyone before. Disliked, yes. But the asshole offering money to purchase his mate so he could sell her like a damn side of beef… just made the top of that list.

The two men split up, one running back toward the vehicle and the other making his way through the trees.

Inhaling, Tag locked onto both scents. Green, that coward had run to the car. “No!” Grizzle said panting to go after Green. Tag waited. A few seconds later, Tag took the shot. The man released his weapon and rolled on the ground holding his arm.

Green started the car.

“Oh hell no,” Tag said as he dropped from the tree, shot the man moaning and holding his arm and took off after Green.

Camilla’s screams filtered through the concrete and he stared at the car backing up slowly. Looking around, he picked up a hefty rock and threw it, with considerable force, through the front windshield. The glass webbed around the hole reducing visibility.

The car stopped abruptly. He took a couple steps toward the car but his mate’s distress grabbed him and he couldn’t allow her to remain in that state another second.

Rex’s heart beat slower.
Good.
Tag hoped the man bled to death. He searched the area for Amber; in his mind she was the real threat. She’d spent enough time at his place in the past to know the best places to hide. Expanding his search beyond his property he hoped to pick up her heartbeat or her scent but smelled nothing fresh. She had left.

Moving quickly, he unlocked the door and opened it.  Camilla, face contorted and full of tears, collapsed in his arms. Her entire body shook beneath the force of her fear. Holding her tight, they both dropped to the ground where he rocked her in his lap, making silly sounds and offering reassurances.

“Mate
…” Grizzle whined as if in pain. Tag understood, seeing Camilla like this broke him.

“You’re safe. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you. Shhh…. It’s okay. Be easy…” He continued until her heartbeat slowed and her breathing normalized. When her tears turned to sniffles, she pushed away.

“Can we go now?” Camilla pleaded in a ragged whisper. He looked toward Rex’s car, the man wasn’t dead yet.

“In a few minutes, there’s still one more person… in that car. He’s hurt but–”

“Then can we just go? Please?” Her gaze skimmed over the man crumpled on the ground missing a part of his skull. Her eyes widened, she covered her mouth but couldn’t hold it and spewed her breakfast in the dirt next to them.

Standing, he pulled her close against his chest, amazed at how fast her heart beat. In all his life, he never dreamed he’d be mated to a human and one who never used a gun… he thought of his adored weapon collection and sighed.

“Let’s go home,” he said softly and kissed the top of her head. Eventually they needed to talk, she needed to know the type man she mated. If they hadn’t rushed, they’d’ve gotten to know each other better but then perhaps she wouldn’t have chosen a life with him.

Leaving a wounded man who tried to kill him went against everything he believed in. Rex Green needed a bullet between his eyes for what he did to women in general, let alone Camilla. But his mate couldn’t take it, not with her body shaking against his. His heart demanded he take care of his BAE first.

He relocked the building, walked her back to the Rover and gently eased her into the car, buckling her in before closing her door. As he walked to the driver’s side, he tried to look into the car for Rex but the webbed windshield didn’t allow him to see much.

At least Green’s heartbeat hadn’t picked up speed. The man had been hit. How bad, Tag didn’t know. As he repacked his weapons, his finger itched on his trigger and he debated whether to shoot the tires and return after tending his mate or allow Green the ability to drive away.

In the end, he left the car alone. Even though he planned to spend the night in the bunker, Camilla had made a valid point. Any time they were separated, she could be used for leverage and he refused to give his enemies that.