The pain of loss was still fresh in hermind, and if she lost the love of her life, she wouldn’t be able togo on. “I love you, Gunnar. Please don’t leave me.”
His head rolled to the side at her words,and a soft smile pulled at the corner of his lips. His face wasslowly reforming, and she leaned over when he whispered something.“I…love…with…everything…I…am.”
She jerked back when his body shimmered,hugging the wall to give the thousand-pound grizzly enough room.Anna Claire breathed a sigh of relief when the bear rested his headin her lap.
The human male’s body wasn’t far away, butshe noticed the gun beside his body. Scrambling as gently aspossible, she reached for the gun and returned to her originalposition. Gunnar’s bear closed its eyes as though it was satisfiedshe was protected so he could begin the healing process.
Anna Claire rested her back against thedoorframe and waited for someone to arrive. She held the gun at theready in case another hunter came looking for his friend. Shewasn’t afraid of them, but she was scared she was about to lose themate of her life.
As she stroked the grizzly’s head, AnnaClaire prayed for a miracle. It was only a second later that thetornado sirens blared and all hell broke loose.
Chapter 19
Luca heard the gunshot, and only secondslater, the sound of Anna Claire’s beast sent him running for thehouse. He would know her roar over anyone else’s. They’d beenthrough so much together, and he was tuned into her every move.
The wind, rain, and hail from Gaia’s weatherstorm pelted his body as tornado sirens went off in the distance.The fighting in the front yard was still going on. The panthers andMorgan brothers were taking out the humans one by one, and a few ofthem were on the run.
As he entered the back door, he turned fortheir hallway and stopped in his tracks the moment he saw thebloodbath by their bedroom door. He held up his hands as heapproached, because Anna Claire was pointing a pistol at hischest.
“Anna Claire, put down the gun,” he ordered,glancing down at her mate who was in his animal form. There wasblood everywhere; the floor, the walls, the door. A few feet awaywas the corpse of a human male with his throat ripped out. “Let mehelp Gunnar.”
At the mention of her mate’s name, shejerked out of the shock she was in and dropped the gun. Fresh tearsescaped her eyes as she pleaded with him. “Help me, Luca. I can’tsave him.”
Luca dropped to his knees and placed hishand on the bear’s fur. Gunnar was still breathing, but his bearwas unconscious. He swallowed a lump in his throat at theresemblance between Gunnar and Ransom.
“Wake up!” he snarled at the bear, shakinghim vigorously. When Gunnar’s bear started to move, Luca backedaway. “Shift, Gunnar. You need to heal.”
The bear rumbled, opening his eyes. AnnaClaire put her hands on either side of the bear’s snout and begged,“Please, Gunnar. Shift now.”
She let go when his body shimmered. Lucanoted how it took longer for the male to regain his human form.
“The healer is on his way, but I don’t knowif he will be able to get to the house,” Anna Claire said as shetook Gunnar’s head into her lap. “Please, go find him.”
Luca climbed to his feet and hurried to thefront of the house just as the rain and hail came to a screechinghalt. Out on the one-acre lawn, bodies dotted the landscape. Rexand Drake were leaned over at the waist, panting heavily. The fourpanthers were pacing and snarling at the dead.
Sheriff Lynch stood protectively next toGaia as they surveyed the damage. During the storm, not one branchfell from any tree…not one blade of grass was out of place. She’dcontrolled the storm, directing it at the humans. He didn’t knowhow she had done it, but he was glad she did.
Drake jerked his head around and called outfor Gunnar as soon as he realized the male wasn’t in theirpresence.
“He’s been shot in the house!” Luca yelled.“The healer is on his way.”
A truck pulled in as they all took offtoward the house. The panthers shifted and gathered their clothes,meeting their healer as he came to a stop. The older male hurriedup the stairs to the porch and walked inside without saying a word.The look of worry on his face disappeared as soon as he crossed thethreshold.
“I’ll clean this up,” Garrett advised. “Yougo in and check on Gunnar.”
Gaia touched his arm as he passed, givinghim a little strength. It was odd to have the female touch him andit not make him want to shy away. She wasn’t like them, and hedidn’t know if she could even take a mate. She was an earthlybeing, and not made by the gods. Hell, she was a goddess, wasn’tshe?
Luca pulled his long, black hair back andused the tie on his wrist to keep it out of his face before walkinginside to see if he was needed with Gunnar. If he wasn’t, he wouldgo check on the elders and let them know if was safe to comeoutside. He didn’t need to worry about the mates anymore since themales were close.
It was just him, and going back to thatlonely cabin made his heart ache.
Ransom, I fucking miss you.
Gunnar came awake with a jerk. His visionblurred as he tried to roll over to his side. The ground was a lotsofter than it was the last time he was awake. Odd.
“Gunnar?” Anna Claire’s sweet voice reachedhis ears as he struggled to see. Blinking several times, he feltlike a weight was on top of his chest, but it didn’t matter. Hecould scent his mate and cub, and that lulled him back into a deepsleep.
“Gunnar, please wake up,” her voice calledout again.
This time when he blinked, he could make outthe outline of her perfect face. The longer he stared, the clearershe became. “Don’t cry, honey.”
“He’s awake,” she called out over hershoulder, and he wondered why she was telling anyone that. Wasn’the in his bed? “Gunnar, can you hear
