Page 28 of Caught Bear Handed (Sawtooth Security #3)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Kayla

These absolute motherfuckers. How were they constantly two steps ahead of us? I was more furious than scared when they greeted me on the other side of the river.

The ride on the zip line had gone surprisingly, uneventfully well. I’d been so worried about Gigi, but she’d done the ride like a champ. Landing had been rocky, and I’d given us both a second to recover.

We saw the wolves first. Silly me thought they’d be friendly, more like I was holding on to a pipe dream that the Sawtooth pack had come to usher us to safety. But Gigi wasn’t fooled. Her hackles were up, and she growled, baring her teeth.

I vowed that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. But as those wolves dragged me away from Gigi, I realized we’d zipped right into their trap.

They dragged me through the dirt, their jaws incredibly strong. I wasn’t going down without a fight. My wolf was begging to make an appearance, but I pleaded with her to hold off just a few more minutes.

There were humans ahead, and as much as she wanted retribution, I wanted answers.

The wolves left me in a heap at their human overlords’ feet.

I looked up to find Mark Peters, catfisher and stalker extraordinaire.

No surprise there. He was with Mike, who seemed to be much more than a clueless Neanderthal getaway driver, and a few other familiar faces who had been so friendly when they’d wined and dined me out of my money in the first place.

“What the fuck do you want?” I spat.

Let me get answers for you. My wolf wanted out, but if I shifted, it would only mean one thing—fight. I was outnumbered and overpowered by the wolves already, and she could smell more. Some of these guys were shifters, and they’d managed to hide it from me before.

I didn’t have time to think about how they did it.

Mike leaned down and slapped a cuff around my wrist. It burned on contact.

“Silver? Are you serious?” I clenched my teeth as he roughly pulled my arm behind my back and cuffed the other wrist.

“Struggle all you want, sweetheart.” Mark’s voice dripped with condescension. “We have you exactly where we want you.”

The wolves circled me, baring their teeth. Every move I made sent a jolt of pure lava through my veins. I could hardly think straight. The longer the silver stayed in contact with my skin, the weaker I’d get. I wouldn’t be able to fight them, let alone shift.

Mike crouched down so we were eye to disgusting eye. I’d always known this guy wasn’t right. He was a shifter, but he wasn’t a wolf. At best, he might have been a coyote. His gaze was completely feral, and he chewed on a stick like it was candy.

“Don’t think you’re gonna pull another stunt like you did last time,” he said with a chuckle. “You should’ve been a good little wolf and gotten this over with.”

“Stop talking in circles,” I managed. Thinking hurt. Breathing hurt. “Answer my question.”

“You’ve evaded us several times, Kayla Mitchell.

It was very clever, and I have to admit, quite annoying, but it forced us to get more creative.

” Mark paced in front of me. He had his hands behind his back—willingly, like he was taunting me because mine had been bound there.

“Since you probably still think you have choices in this matter, let me tell you what they are. They’re quite simple.

You cooperate, or we auction you off. Such a recognizable name will fetch a pretty penny on the black market.

We’ll get the money out of you one way or another. ”

Chills ran down my spine, laced with a side of pain. The rumors of the trafficking ring were true, but they weren’t just throwing hapless, innocent people into it. It was their way of punishing the opposition.

I had absolutely no plans to cooperate, but I had to stall. Beau should be here any minute?—

Seriously, where was he?

And this was a chance to get all the dark and dirty details about what was actually happening at the heart of this operation.

Bellamy had been able to crack in, but since Mark and Mike had managed to best us at every single turn today, I had a feeling that they’d hacked into Sawtooth Security’s surveillance system too.

Gigi barked, and one of the wolves turned to growl at her. If they hurt her, there would be hell to pay. I’d make sure of it.

“Your bear isn’t coming to save you, Kayla.” Mark stopped pacing. “We tampered with the zip line equipment to make sure only one of you made it across the river. And we knew that the chivalrous fool would send you first with the best equipment, trying to play the hero.”

My heart sank. Beau not being here gave credibility to his claim, but my soul, my spirit, simply refused to believe it.

“Say I worked with you.” I kept my voice as even as I could. No emotion was safe, they’d all be used against me. “What would you want me to do?”

A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me, wondering how Mark’s vision would differ from Barrett’s plan of having me go undercover.

Hell, where were those bears?!

Even in the darkness, there was no missing the way Mark’s face lit up. He didn’t think I’d go for it. He was definitely a shifter. Now that he’d let down his guard, I was picking up on those cues. He gave me an oily smile. “You’d give us access to your powerful Hollywood friends.”

The joke was on him if he thought I was powerful and influential…

You are. My wolf shut down that pity party right out of the gate. You have power over them. Look at what they went through to capture you. They wouldn’t do that if you were no one.

She was right. I might be cuffed and drained, but I had a hold over these men. These beasts. I had to use this to my advantage.

“Like who?” I asked.

“Obviously, we’d love to talk to your co-stars. Logan Mathis, Amelia, the rest of the cast,” Mark said. “If you hadn’t been such a rotten bitch when I attempted to date you, I would’ve had that already.”

He was lying to me. I knew for a fact Amelia had invested. What did he really want?

“Now that you’ve got an in with the Sawtooth pack, you’ve made yourself even more valuable. We’d love to tap into The Real Werewives Network. Even The Mating Game . The audience potential is endless.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to question why he’d want to have access to our viewers, who were predominantly young and female but not necessarily wealthy.

My stomach churned as it dawned on me. After they screwed them out of what money they had, they’d lure them in as trafficking fodder, promising them a chance to get closer to their idols.

“You help us, or we use you to our advantage,” Mike added. “It’s that simple.”

Gigi launched into a new bark storm and ran in the direction of the zip line deck.

Mike snapped his fingers, getting the wolves’ attention. “Get her,” he commanded.

“No!” I lurched forward, seeing nothing but red hot pain. I didn’t care what happened, I would not let those wolves touch one hair on Gigi’s head.

Then a roar shook the earth.

My bear was here.

“What the fuck?” Mark muttered as he turned to face my mate.

The rest of the men wore the same uniform of shocked expressions. They tried to kill Beau and they’d failed. Thank the moon and every single star in the sky.

But I hadn’t totally believed it until I saw Beau with my very own eyes.

He emerged from the darkness, filthy with soot and shining with sweat. The wound on his forehead had reopened and the side of his face, beard, and T-shirt were painted with blood. Was it wrong that I thought he’d never looked more beautiful?

“You’re outnumbered, bear,” Mark said without missing a beat. Moments ago, he’d been writing Beau’s eulogy. “Kayla belongs to us now.”

“Like hell she does.” Beau lurched forward, taking on the closest guy to him, which happened to be Mike. Their arms were locked in an embrace as they circled, growling at each other in their human forms. They went round and round, daring each other to make a move.

Mike swung for him, but Beau somehow was still faster. I didn’t see exactly what happened, but I was relieved when Mike’s body fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

But the celebration didn’t last long. There was an arm around my midsection, a knife to my throat, and Mark’s hot, sickening breath against my cheek.

“I’ve got skilled marksman in the trees.

Their guns are loaded with silver. You lay another paw on any of these guys and I can assure you, they won’t miss their target. ”

Beau’s head fell back as another earth-shattering roar thundered out of him. His skin split as his body expanded. Fur emerged, and he became a massive brown bear. This was the first time I’d seen him in his bear form. He was huge, and those claws were nothing short of deadly.

The grip tightened around my waist. The other guys—the ones who looked so good in suits when they took me out for those expensive, champagne-soaked dinners—weren’t taking any chances in the wild. They made a run for it.

Beau stalked forward, a rumble low in his throat, his eyes fixed on Mark Peters.

I braced myself for gunfire that didn’t come. If I was willing to risk a bet on anything right now, it was that he’d lied about his hidden gunmen. Beau had called his bluff, and now the only thing standing between him and Mark Peters was me.

And of course, Gigi, ride or die with her dad, lunged for Mark.

“Hey! Ow! Let go of me!” Mark backed from me, and I could only imagine that Gigi had attacked his leg.

Beau wrapped his arms around a tree.

Shit, had he been hit by one of those bullets? Did he need to leverage it for balance?

No. Instead, he ripped it out of the ground, roots raining dust as he stepped toward Mark with a roar that shook my bones.

It was the most terrifying and awesome thing I’d ever seen. My heart swelled with pride. This bear would do whatever it took to protect us.

Mark came into view, his hands up.

“You can have her,” he said, like he actually had a choice in the matter. “This bitch isn’t worth the trouble.”

Beau responded by swinging the tree like a baseball bat. It connected with Mark’s gut, sending him flying in the direction of the river. The firelight on the other side of the river made his dark silhouette disappearing into the abyss even more surreal.

The river swallowed his scream.

The wolves barked, charging Beau, but they stopped short as he held up the bat, ready for another swing. With a few quick whines, they ran off into the darkness.

Then it was just me and my bear. And Gigi, of course.

Beau stepped toward me. His fur was covered in ash and streaked with blood. He fell to his knees, holding his massive paws out to me.

Gigi pawed my leg, like she was trying to help her dad free me.

“I’m cuffed,” I said. “They used silver.”

The earth shook, and Beau shifted back to human. I blinked, hardly believing my eyes.

He took my face in his hands and kissed me with such intensity that the entire world faded away.

“I am so glad to see you.” He punctuated the statement with another kiss. “Are you okay? You’re bloody.”

“It’s probably your blood from the cabin. I’m fine, and I’m so happy to see you. When you didn’t show up when I thought you would…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“There was a jam on the line. Almost knocked me right into the water.” He chuckled, most likely still in shock from the ordeal. Someday I’d tell him that was exactly Mark’s plan. “I’ll get you out of this. Do you remember what happened to the supply bag?”

That was my bodyguard bear. The job wasn’t done until it was complete. “I probably dropped it on the deck. Those assholes were waiting for us.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t realize they’d be here, I thought I was getting you away from danger,” he said as he rose, gloriously naked.

“Don’t you dare apologize for anything.” I winced. The silver was threatening to burn straight through my skin. “You were amazing.”

“I’ll get you out of this, I promise. I put some tools in the bag I sent over with you,” he said. “Hopefully, the phone is working now.”

I couldn’t believe he was thinking this clearly after all we’d been through. In the darkness, I could only see his shadow searching for the supplies, but he emerged empty-handed.

“Stay still,” he said as he moved behind me. “This soon after a shift I still have my bear strength.”

Nothing had ever sounded more satisfying than the snap of metal as Beau broke the restraints away from my wrists.

My arms were numb, my whole body not much better, but that wouldn’t stop me from wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him.

“It’s over,” I said against his cheek with a mixture of relief and sadness.

He nodded. “You don’t have to hide anymore.”

Beau’s body stiffened, and Gigi growled. Leaves crunched under human footfall and I braced myself for another attack. More bad guys wanting retribution for Beau’s actions.

But instead, it was Barrett, Bellamy, Brad, and a bunch of other people I assumed worked for Sawtooth Security.

“Mark Peters is dead,” Beau announced. “This case is closed.”