Page 91 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

“Now, bear-man!” Spittle spewed from Ben’s mouth as he pointed the gun at Mack’schest.

Mack stared into the barrel of the gun and prayed he wasn’t about to make a deadlymistake.

Chapter11

Madison bolted upright in bed.Angry voices shot up from downstairs. She glanced at the chair where Mack had been sitting. Hewasgone.

After sliding out of bed, she hurried to the door. When she opened it, she recognized Mack and Ben’svoices.

Ben yelled, “Get on yourknees.”

“No!” Madison screamed as she flung herself out of the room and down thestairs.

When Ben whirled to look at her, Mack leapt onto his back. Madison screamed as Ben’s arm jerked to one side. The loud pop of a gunshot registered a second before the bullet lodged itself in thefrontdoor.

“Madison, run!” Mackyelled.

She raced from the struggling men into the hall. But she wasn’t leaving. She had to do something tostopBen.

As she yanked open the closet with the cleaning supplies, she spotted a long-handled broom. She heaved it out from behind a bucket, knocking aside bottles of bleach and ammonia. She clutched the broom and hurried back toward themelee.

Limbs twisted and scraped across the floor as fists flew in a tumble of rage-filled testosterone. She raised the broom overhead. The second she could find a good shot, she’d take it. As she frantically waited for an opportunity, a glint of black metal caughthereye.

Thegun!

In the same second that she lunged for it, Ben broke away from Mack and tackled her. The crack of her chin against the floor rattled down every vertebra in her spine. Temporarily stunned, she gasped as Ben scrambled across her in an attempt to grabthegun.

Her eyes went wide as she jerked her knee into Ben’s stomach. He cursed and rolled away from her. When the tip of his finger touched the butt of the gun, she knew she had toactfast.

She threw her body across his and yelled, “Getthegun.”

Already on his feet, Mack circled toward the weapon and snatched it up. He’d just trained it on Ben when he kicked Mack’s knee. Mack went down with a growl, giving Ben just enough time to fling open the front door. Ben hooked an arm around her throat and dragged heroutside.

“Stop fighting me,” hesnarled.

Madison clawed at his hands. She couldn’t breathe. Her heels dragged through the snow, leaving a trail down the porch steps. They’d only made it a few yards from the house when Mack jumped onto the porch. A roar blasted through the air. Ben froze but didn’t releasehisgrip.

In a twisting mass of rippling muscles and emerging fur, Mack transformed into an enormous grizzly bear. He stood on his hind legs and clawed at the air with paws the size of her head. A shiver went through Ben. Her heart filled with relief. Ben wouldn’t be able to outrun or outfightMack’sbear.

Ben yelled, “Come any closer and I’llkillher.”

She yelped as his grip tightened aroundherneck.

Mack roared, shaking globs of snow from the trees. He bounded down the steps, only stopping when he was less than a foot from MadisonandBen.

Her eyes watered as she struggled to remember the videos she’d seen about self-defense. She couldn’t remember what to do, so she went limp. It diverted Ben’s attention for a second, giving Mack the chance heneeded.

As Ben tossed her to the side, she rolled through the snow. She turned to watch Mack stalk toward Ben. There was no doubt in her mind that the bear side of him was a predator. The look in his eyes and the glint of saliva on his teeth held an aura of feralintent.

Ben glanced at her. “Do something! Don’t let thisthingeatme.”

She had absolutely no sympathy for Ben. He’d just tried to strangle her. As she got to her feet, she brushed the snow off her nightgown. Icy spikes of pain pierced her bare feet. In the rush to help Mack, she hadn’t had time to grab hershoes.

Each step brought another slash of agony. Frozen to the core, she hobbled toward the main house. If she could rouse his brothers, they could help Mack capture Ben. Hopefully that was Mack’s intent, but she wasn’t sure. She’d never seen such rage inhiseyes.

“Logan! Drew! Hank! Cody! Brady!” She screamed their names as she stumbled through the snow. Behind her, the bear’s increasingly rough pants terrified her. Would Mack actually eat Benalive?

She rounded the corner of the house and nearly slammed into Logan. Clad in only a pair of flannel pajama pants, he rushed toward her. He held a shotgun in both hands, poisedtofire.