Page 19 of Watch Me

Stopping before we could get backed into the barn or a trap, I stood my ground. Zed tried for Ricky, but he rolled and came closer to my side. We needed a plan, but all I had was to survive.

A howl rang out, but it wasn’t a wolf. There was a higher pitched yipping to it instead of the deeper, more haunting sound I was used to from my pack mates. A coyote.

There was no way a wild coyote would feel safe enough to wander onto pack land. This had to be someone from the tribe. Were they there to help?

Before I could process the new edition or wonder how far away they were, a bear pounced on me. The wind wasknocked from my lungs as I hit the ground under his weight. I couldn’t lift him, but then I felt an impact and the bear was off of me.

Lifting my head, I saw Ricky had a bear by the scruff of his neck while hanging onto his back. The bear shook and Ricky hung on, his eyes fierce. The bear went to roll Ricky under him, and Ricky let go in the nick of time.

Getting to my feet, I moved out of the way as the other bear came for me. Zac. His scarred face had drool dripping from his jowls and teeth like a rabid beast.

Taking a page out Ricky’s playbook, I leapt on his back and bit into his neck. He roared and tried to scratch at me, but his arms didn’t reach. Using my claws, I gouged the other side of his face. Maybe he’d finally shut up if I destroyed his whole face.

The coyote yip reached my ears over the bear’s struggle and I saw another animal barreling towards Ricky. Letting Zac go, I jumped down in time to see the coyote was aiming for the other bear, who almost got a paw on Ricky. I recognized this coyote. It was Kono Dasan.

He’d been angry about the bears kidnapping Channing on tribal land, but I never saw him helping us fight the bears. His sleek body was smaller than Ricky’s, but he was an alpha. He was strong and I could appreciate his help.

As Kono bit into Zed’s neck, Ricky jumped back on his back again. Between the two of them, I saw blood spraying out from multiple wounds. Zac was still shaking himself off from my attack, so I rushed to join the others.

Biting into the opposite side of his neck, the bear let out a sound of pain and dropped to the dirt. I heard a bear growl behind me and let Zed’s neck go to guard the others’ backs.

Zac came at me and I lunged first. I caught a few claws, but didn’t feel the pain with the adrenaline racing through me. A door slamming in the distance didn’t distract me, but the sound of a shotgun blast did.

Scuffling back, I looked around for Ricky. He had blood on his muzzle but was standing on all four feet behind a still bear. Kono was backing up to flank Ricky’s other side.

“Did you kill him?” someone yelled and I saw it was the man who came outside with the twins running our way. Athird guy was holding a single-barrel gun and shot towards the sky.

What the fuck was that supposed to do, scare us off like rabbits?

The bear on the ground started to shift back and I saw the damage. In addition to the many neck wounds, he had shot-gun wound in his side. These idiots shot one of their own alphas.

Zac shifted back and ran to his brother.

Kono yipped beside me, and we ran to the back of the house. At the door, he shifted back to open the handle and got inside. Ricky and I followed, but the scent trail for Channing ended in an empty room. She wasn’t there.

The sound of a bear roaring had us racing out of the house. Kono followed us all the way to our stuff, where we found his motorcycle stashed next to mine.

When we were all back in clothes, Kono finally spoke. “They’re going to be angry now.”

“I’m angry,” I practically yelled. “Where the hell is Channing?”

“We’ll find her,” Ricky spoke up, placing a hand on my shoulder. He turned to Kono. “Thank you for helping.”

Kono only nodded once in reply before tilting his head. I watched as his nostrils flared. “You two smell different.”

“I probably smell like nasty bear blood,” Ricky spat on the leaves. “I’m glad we killed one of them.”

“Agreed,” I replied, but my brain was still stuck on what Kono said about our smell. Did he know we had sex not long ago? How fucking embarrassing.

If that wasn’t what he was implying…I didn’t want to think of another reason Ricky and I might smell differently at the same time. Because the other option was impossible.

Chapter thirteen

Ricky

Konopartedfromusat Northlake while we kept going. Back at the pack house, we relieved Rel to get some rest after watching over Gramps. Apparently the old Alpha kept trying to leave and go look for Channing, giving Rel more work than expected to keep him safe. Merle could drive his tricked-out tricycle, but his looking for her wouldn’t have helped.

We had no clue where Channing was. Staying in Lakeland did us no good. The bears would be out for our blood after trespassing and leading to the death of one of their new alphas.