Unbearable: Russet Falls Series (21 page)

Twenty minutes later, Zane was
showered and dressed again. He awkwardly walked back into Gabby’s room, where
she was sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.” Her eyes were dark with worry
and he could just imagine the internal dialogue going on in her head. He didn’t
want to stress her out more, so he picked up his shoes from the floor.

“I guess I’ll get going.” It was
dark out now, and he should check in and see how things were going with the new
security measures.

“Umm, yeah,” she stood up too, and
moved toward the door. “Would you like something to drink?” she asked, and Zane
could see how polite she was trying to be.

“No, Gabby. I’m fine. Thanks.”

They went quietly down the stairs.
Gabby looked like she wanted to say more, but she kept her mouth closed and she
pulled open the front door, looking out into the dark night.

“Look,” she said, “About what just
happened –’’

“It’s fine,” Zane cut in. “I get
it. Things happen. We got caught up in the moment. We can forget about it.”

“Oh, okay. Right,” she tried to
smile but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Well, thanks for being so
understanding.”

“Unless there’s something else,”
Zane said, unsure of what Gabby was thinking.

“No, nothing else. You’re right. We
got caught up in the moment.”

Zane nodded. How the hell did
things go from being so hot to being so cold? They had just had mind-blowing
sex, and now it was as if nothing had happened between them.

He never should have gotten so
carried away. Gabby was going to hate him even more now and probably blame him
for taking advantage of her.

Fucking great.

He resolved to put this behind him,
and to think of it as nothing more than great sex. Steeling his thoughts, he
walked out into the dark night.

The next day Zane found himself at
the park office, thoroughly exhausted. He had been up half the night helping
with the new security system, and then Michael requested that he come into work
so they could go over the results.

He yawned as he stepped into
Michael’s office.

“Tired?” Michael asked.

“Yeah. Aren’t you?”

Michael shrugged. “Too much
adrenaline, I guess. I’m excited to keep all those trespassers off our land for
once and for all.”

Zane had to agree.

“Alicia did a bang up job,” Michael
remarked.

Zane hated to admit it, but Michael
was right. Turned out Alicia had a knack for security. Who would have known?

“So before we get into details from
last night, I plan on putting Alicia in charge of managing the technology
behind this system. Can I count on you to handle yourself professionally?”

Zane grunted. Like he had a choice.
“Of course,” he muttered. “Would I have a choice, otherwise?”

Michael laughed. “No, you wouldn’t,
but I’m glad you’ll be able to work with her.”

Fucking great. This was just what
he needed.

“The good thing about that,”
Michael continued, “is that we now have someone to take over her financial
duties.”

Gabby.

At least Gabby wouldn’t have to
come work at the park office. That would certainly be too much for both of
them.

Zane sat down as Michael pulled up
the details of their new security system and they began going over them. Zane
had lost track of time when a knock at the door interrupted them.

“Come in!” Michael called.

The door opened and Gabby stepped
in. “Oh,” she said, her face falling, “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, no, no,” Michael said quickly,
“Come in.” Gabby stepped into the room, running a hand self-consciously through
her hair. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, which of course, hugged her ass
beautifully—just like everything else he had ever seen Gabby wear. She had on a
bright blue shirt that brought out her eyes, and her hair fell softly around
her shoulders.

Zane jumped up quickly and Gabby
looked down at the ground.

Zane could practically feel Michael
growl.

“I was just leaving,” Zane said,
grabbing his things and heading out of the room.

“Actually, Gabby, I need to make a
quick call,” Michael said, glancing down at his phone. “Could you give me five
minutes?”

“Sure.”

Zane heard her follow him out into
the hallway. He didn’t even turn around, and instead continued to his office.

“So, that’s it?” she called after
him, her voice filled with anger.

“Huh?” he turned back around, and
Gabby walked up to him.

“So, that’s it?” she repeated, her
voice furious. “You just fuck me and then pretend like it didn’t happen?”

“What?” he asked in shock.

“You heard me,” she hissed.

“Look,” he snapped, feeling his
bear come alive. “I was just trying to respect you.”

She laughed bitterly. “Respect me?
Bull shit! You got what you wanted and now you’re acting like you want nothing
to do with me!”

“Whoa! Chill the fuck out for a
minute!
You
have made it perfectly clear that you want
nothing
to
do with me. So, excuse me if I was trying to help make things easier on
you
by not brining up what happened.”

Gabby seemed momentarily surprised.
She folded her arms across her chest. “Oh. I didn’t look at it that way.”

Zane rolled his eyes. “Of course
not. You thought I was just some douchebag who was going to screw you and
pretend like it never happened.” He felt anger burn within him and he couldn’t
stop himself. “I told you that I had feelings for you! I don’t take those things
lightly. Last night was amazing. And even if you never want to talk to me
again, I’m not sorry about what happened.”

Gabby’s face filled with confusion
and then remorse. She hung her head. “I’m such an idiot,” she moaned.

Zane wiped his face of emotion. He
wasn’t going to play games with Gabby. He knew they had no future, and the
sooner he forgot about what happened, the better.

“Yeah, well, obviously not as big
an idiot as me,” he bit back bitterly, heading towards his office.

“Zane! Wait!” Gabby hurried after
him.

Zane turned around, feeling all the
exhaustion from the night before. “What?”

“I—I’m not sorry that it happened
last night. It’s just—everything is so complicated. I can’t deny that there’s
something between us, but you kill—’’

“I know what I did, Gabby!” Zane
said exasperated. “It doesn’t getting any easier hearing you repeat it!”

Gabby’s face hardened. “Oh, I’m
sorry,” she said sarcastically, “I’m sure it’s
so
hard for you to hear.
It can’t possibly be as hard as it was for me!”

Fuck.

“Gabby—wait!”

But she was already striding back
towards Michael’s office.

She wheeled around, her eyes
flashing. “Just let it go, Zane! You’re right. Last night was a mistake. I gave
in to a moment of weakness!”

At that moment Michael opened the
door, catching the last of their exchange. He fixed Zane with such a deadly
look that Zane had to look away.

Fuck.

Michael was going to destroy him.

“We’ll talk later,” he growled at
Zane, holding the door open for Gabby. Gabby stomped in the office, her hips
swaying back and forth as Michael shut the door.

Gabby fumed as she took a seat in
Michael’s office.

“I’m not even going to ask what
that was about,” Michael said in a dark voice, but Gabby got the impression
that Michael knew
exactly
what it was about.

“Have you had any luck in finding a
mate?” Michael asked, and Gabby could hear the impatience in his voice.

She shrank back in the chair a bit.
“No, not yet.”

“You know that you have met nearly
all the eligible men in our tribe.”

She nodded again.

“And you do realize that you need
to pick someone? That was our agreement.”

“I know.”

Michael gave her a long stare. “I
don’t want to rush you, but I must stress your commitment to this.”

Gabby nodded again.

“And you and Zane seem to make-’’

“Zane and I are nothing,” she said
quickly, not meaning to sound so sharp. Michael raised his eyebrows but let the
comment go. He finally moved on to business and Gabby was shocked to learn that
he was offering her a full-time job. Alicia was taking a new position, and they
would now need Gabby to fulfill Alicia’s duties.

She forgot all about her run-in
with Zane as she happily accepted. Her good mood carried over into the evening,
and continued into the next few days. The only thing that dampened her spirit
was the lack of suitors.

Two more men stopped by, neither of
which Gabby had any interest in pursuing. Of course, most of the men were very
nice, some even charming, and many were handsome. But Gabby couldn’t picture
herself with any of them.

She sighed, closing the door on a
shifter named Kenneth.

“Another no?” Alicia asked from the
kitchen.

Gabby popped her head in. “Yep.”

Alicia shook her head. “You sure
are picky.”

“You would be too if you know you
were supposed to spend the rest of your life with them!”

“I guess so,” Alicia agreed.

“I’m heading up for the night,”
Gabby sighed, before making her way upstairs. She washed her face and changed
into a pair of shorts and a cami. She climbed into bed, not caring if it was
barely eight o’clock. She was starting to lose hope that she would ever meet
someone. The whole idea of meeting someone and instantly knowing if they were
right for her was ridiculous. She should have just taken her chances and made a
run of it.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing
sleep to come. At long last, sleep found her and she drifted off.

Gabby’s eyes flew open.

Why was she awake?

She looked over at the clock; it
was just past eleven at night. She hadn’t been asleep for long.

She sighed with annoyance, rolling
over and punching her pillow. She closed her eyes.

BANG.

She shot up in bed and then froze.

She strained her ears and suddenly
heard some kind of scuffle downstairs and then Alicia screamed.

Panicked, Gabby jumped out of bed
and ran to her bedroom door. With her heart pounding, she pressed her ear
against the door, listening. She could only hear muffled shouts and something
told her that she needed to get out of her room. She wasn’t sure what was
happening, but she was a sitting duck if she stayed where she was.

She pulled the door open, hurrying
down the hall towards the master bedroom. She remembered it had a balcony, and
even though she didn’t want to go outside, she thought having the option to get
outside would be best.

As she turned the corner, she
suddenly heard a loud ripping sound and then a ferocious roar.

Shit! Someone had shifted.

“Gabby!” Alicia screamed, and Gabby
froze, terrified. Did Alicia need her or was she warning her?

“Run!”

Okay—that was clear! She needed to
get out of here. She tore around the corner and yanked open the master bedroom.
She noticed that the bed was still made so Alicia must not have made it
upstairs. She felt awful leaving Alicia, but she had told her to run.

She threw open the balcony door,
and the cool night air surprised her. She snapped out of it and scurried to the
edge of the balcony, looking down at the ground.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she cursed. It
was a long way down, and she didn’t see how she could scoot down the outside of
the house. She heard another loud noise from within and she scrambled over the
ledge of the balcony, trying to find a position where she could shimmy down.

“I don’t think so,” a deep voice
growled, and suddenly she felt a hand sharply yank her by the hair.

“Argh!” she screamed, and she kicked
and yelled in pain as she was hauled up over the ledge.

She was brought face-to-face with
an extremely handsome man, which surprised her. Yet, though he was handsome
with clear green eyes, and chiseled features, his beautiful face was twisted
into an ugly grimace.

“We’re done playing games with you,
princess.
You’re coming with us now.”

Gabby heard more yelling and
roaring coming from inside the house and all she could think about was poor
Alicia.

“Let me go!” she cried, kicking at
the man. He smacked her hard across the face, causing her to cry out, and her
eyes welled with tears.

“Enough, you stupid cunt. Those
other morons might not have been able to handle you, but I can.” He yanked her
by her hair, dragging her back into the bedroom.

Gabby didn’t give up, fighting at
his hold on her hair as she cried out from the pain. She stumbled along as her
scalp screamed for relief. The noises downstairs grew louder as the man pulled
her down the staircase and Gabby looked around wildly for some way to escape.

“There,” he yelled, shoving her
into the kitchen. With horror, Gabby saw Alicia slumped over on the ground
against the dishwasher. She had a bloodied lip, and bruises were blossoming
along her arms. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving. Gabby prayed she
was only unconscious.

She caught herself before falling
directly into the kitchen table, and another man, this one familiar, grabbed
her.

“Drake!” she gasped.

He laughed. “Guess you didn’t know
that my father was Cruentus?” he sneered. “Looks like I’m going to get you as
my mate after all,” he grabbed her to him, tugging on her body and planting his
slimy lips on her mouth.

“Ugh!” she screamed, trying to
shove him away. “Get off me!”

He pulled on her harder, squeezing
her ass. “Shut up!”

“Get off!” she screamed, kicking
him in the balls and making him cry out.

“Bitch!” he yelled, trying to punch
her. She tried to duck, but he still caught the edge of her jaw.

Her face exploded in pain and she
fell to the floor, clutching at her mouth.

“You dumb asshole,” the handsome
man yelled at Drake. “You know what we were told.”

“Fuck you,” Drake spat.

“Keep your god damn paws off her
until we know what to do with her. The others should be attacking now.”

That got her attention. She was
still reeling from the pain, but it couldn’t be good if there was an attack.
And what the hell had gone wrong with Alicia’s new security system?

No one was paying attention to her
now, and she crawled towards Alicia to try to see if she was okay. What had
happened to the bear she had heard roaring? It couldn’t have been Alicia—could
it have been someone else?  It had certainly sounded like there had been more
people downstairs before. Drake couldn’t have been making all that noise alone,
especially if Alicia was passed out.

As she approached Alicia she saw
with relief that she was still breathing.

“I don’t think so,” Drake called
out, picking up Gabby and hauling her to a chair.

“We need to go,” the other man
said.

“What about that one?” Drake asked,
pointing to Alicia.

The man shrugged. “Who cares? Leave
her here. She’s not going to do anything.”

“You’re walking with me,” Drake
drawled, grabbing Gabby and dragging her up off the floor.

“Don’t touch me!” she shrieked,
ready to kick him, but the other man yanked her towards him.

“Hey!” Drake protested.

The man rolled his eyes. “I’m not
dealing with your shit tonight, Drake.” He tugged some rope from his pocket and
pulled Gabby’s hands behind her, tying them tightly together. “Don’t get any
ideas, princess.”

“You’re not going to get away with
this,” Gabby spat as the man pulled her forward. He slid a knife from his
pocket, holding the cool blade up to Gabby’s neck. “Better not push me,” he
whispered sinisterly.

Gabby bit her lip to hold back a
scream.

The man pushed her towards the front
door, and Drake followed behind, turning off the lights in the house.

“Come on, we need to hurry,” the
first man said, pulling Gabby along. She tried to keep up as best she could,
but tears blurred her vision.

“Don’t worry,” Drake said to the
other man, “He’s not going to come back with more. There are too many of us.”

Gabby didn’t like the sound of that,
and as they moved closer and closer to the border, the panic within her grew.
She stumbled along and Drake cursed every time she tripped.

“Just think of all those little
bear cubs you’re going to be popping out,” Drake chuckled as they edged into
the forest.

Gabby felt sick.

She wondered wildly where Michael
was. Where could the others be? Shouldn’t the security alarm, or whatever
Alicia had been working on, been tripped? She had been certain that she would
be rescued, but her hope was quickly fading. She somehow knew that if she made
it to the Cruentus lands she would never escape.

She had to do something. Even
though her hands were tied and she had two massive shifters on each side of her,
she had to try. Frantically, she went over her options. She could try to run,
but that would be pointless. She could try to kick one in the balls again, but
then the other would get her.

Unless…

She could pretend she seriously
hurt herself. Then they would try to carry her, but maybe, just maybe, she
could act quickly enough to injure one and then hurt the other.

The ground was thick with roots and
bushes, and before they got any closer the Cruentus lands, she fell over.

“My foot!” she screamed, curling
over and praying to God that her plan would buy her enough time.

“Fuck!” Drake cursed. “Now what,
Ben?”

Ben. Gabby tucked that info away
incase she needed it.

Ben, the handsome one, bent down to
examine her, and Gabby screamed louder.

“Shut it!” he snapped, slapping her
across the face.

That definitely shut her up, and
she reeled from the shock of being hit again.

Before she could moan, cry, or
scream again, a terrible roar erupted from behind them, and Gabby’s head snapped
up.

Three huge brown bears came tearing
towards them.

Gabby saw Ben and Drake move to
shift, but they weren’t fast enough and the brown bears knocked them to the
ground.

Crying out, Gabby scrambled back
against a tree, wishing her hands were free. She heard an awful ripping sound,
and saw that Drake had managed to shift into bear form and was now fighting the
other bears, but Ben had not been so lucky. He seemed to be mid-shift, but was
being attacked—the result was grotesque.

Gabby turned her head, not wanting
to see how disfigured Ben had become.

 “Gabby! Run!”

Gabby looked up to see Quentin
barreling full force toward them, and before she could blink, he leaped into
the air, shifting as his clothes fell onto the soft earth in shreds.

Something about Quentin’s panicked
order jolted her into action, and she sprang up, nearly stumbling, and began
running blindly. She couldn’t be sure where the borders were and she did not
want to cross into Cruentus territory. She continued to run, and then suddenly
a black bear came out of nowhere, knocking her to the ground.

Everything went black.