He hurried to the front door, barring itagain and closing the blinds. They didn’t want anyone to be able tosee inside the house. “Now, let me look at that shoulder.”
“It’s fine, really,” she promised, pushingthe rag harder against the bleeding wound. Luca came over andinspected the area, sucking air through his teeth when he got alook at the exit wound.
“You need to shift,” he reminded her.
“We should go to our quarters,” Adasuggested. “I’ll tell Tessa to lock herself and Aria inside untilthey return. Anna Claire, you really should shift and heal thatwound.”
Ada was right. She needed to shift, andGunnar’s quarters were large enough she wouldn’t break anything asshe shifted back and forth a few times to mend the wound.
“Luca, come with me to Gunnar’s quarters,please?” she pressed as another shot was heard. She bit her lip tokeep from screaming out in fear at the possibility the males hadbeen fatality wounded. Gunnar had already taken two healablewounds, but what about the others? Would they be okay?
“You go on down and I’ll stay up here,” hereplied, pushing her toward the corridor leading to Gunnar’s room.“Everything is going to be okay, Anna Claire. I promise.”
She nodded and ran toward her room, closingand locking the door as soon as she was safely inside. All shecould do was pray to their gods to keep the males safe while theysearched for the people responsible.
She didn’t hear the roar of the bears asthey fell to their knees from the bullets pelting their bodies.
Chapter 2
Gunnar’s beast took another hit, but itwasn’t going to stop him from killing the human males who’d beenshooting at them from the wooded area across the road. Drake andRex, despite their injuries, had taken off to loop around thewooded area of their land, coming out on the road just over a smallhill. They’d sneak up behind the shooters and take them out ifGunnar and Ransom couldn’t get to them by using the trees in thefront yard for cover.
His beast wanted to run at them, but Gunnarcalmed him, telling the animal to be patient for the kill. It wouldhappen, and his brothers would make sure Gunnar was the one to taketheir lives for harming his female.
Anna Claire was too perfect to be harmed,and those assholes had put a bullet in her arm. He shook the imageof pain that bloomed on her face the moment she’d been hit. Bloodsplattered from her shoulder, landing on her thin face. The bloodstained her pouty lips, and he wanted revenge for that alone.
Gunnar’s beast snarled at the possible painshe was in, but they both knew her wound wasn’t fatal. Hopefully,Ada and Tessa were watching her as she shifted to heal. He alreadyknew Luca, her cousin, was there to assist.
The bullets were coming faster, and thebeast was losing blood with each hit. There was no way the shootingwas coming from game hunters. There were too many shots being firedtoward their land for it to be random.
Keeping his head low, Gunnar’s bear foundshelter behind a stack of firewood where it’d been left between twolarge oak trees. His gaze landed on Ransom. The young bear hadshifted, forcing his healing to begin as he used another tree inthe yard for cover. In his human form, he could hide easier.
Loud screams sounded as his brothersattacked the humans, giving Gunnar and Ransom a chance to chargeacross the street. Ransom shifted and ran with him despite hisinjuries.
Cool pavement met his bear’s paws, but thebeast didn’t falter as he jumped across the ditch and low fencetoward the neighbor’s land. They knew the old man who owned theland. It’d been in his family for fifty years, and he didn’t wantanyone past his fence for any reason. Old man Miles didn’t likeanyone.
Gunnar’s beast lifted his nose when thescent of weapons and blood filled the air. Beyond the small meadow,his brothers’ bears were standing over their kills. Three humanmales lay on the ground with blood oozing from what was left oftheir throats.
Gunnar’s beast huffed at the loss of thekill, but he roared with the victory anyway. Anna Claire had beenshot, and he was worried for her. But the need to kill the threatoutweighed everything.
“Get the ATV,” Drake ordered as he shifted.“Grab a set of clothes from my mate and tell her the threat isgone.”
Rex’s bear dropped its head and meanderedoff toward the house. He kept to the tree line and out of sight ofthe road until he was clear to pass.
“Gunnar, go check on Anna Claire,” Drakecontinued, jerking his chin in the direction of the house. “We willtake care of things here.”
Taking care of things meant they’d bring thebodies back to the house to dispose of them the old way…with fire.They had ways to keep the scent of burning flesh down so the humanswouldn’t be snooping around their lands.
He followed his brother’s path and came uponthe house as Rex was walking out with a stack of folded clothes andthe key to the barn hanging from his finger. “She’s okay, but she’sasking for you.”
Gunnar pushed at his bear, demanding heallow the shift. The beast was exhausted, but knew they needed toshift to heal. He had lost count on how many times he’d been hitbefore Drake and Rex were able to stop the humans from killingthem.
He accepted a pair of shorts Rex removedfrom the top of the stack and pulled them on as he limped into thehouse. Shifting was needed, but he wanted to see Anna Clairefirst.
“Gunnar!” she gasped as he entered thehouse. Gunnar steadied himself for the impact of her running towardhim, but it never came. “Oh, my gods!”
“Shh,” he cooed, thankful she held off onthe contact. Touching her was a dream, but that moment wasn’t theright time. Honestly, he didn’t know when a good time would be,either. They hadn’t discussed it in months. “I’m fine. Just need toshift.”
“You’re still bleeding,” she observed as sheswiped at her beautiful brown eyes. He wanted to reach out andsteady her hands, but he leaned over just a little to catch hereye.
“Are you okay?” he asked,
