Hero (Alpha Mountain 1)

“You’ll die here.”

I watched, wide-eyed, as Ford faced off, loomed over Tully, who was trying to crawl backward away from Ford. There was no match.

In this moment, Ford was more mountain man than SEAL. This was his backyard. I was his woman. Tully was going to die.

I knew it solely because we were too far from medical care for the wound I’d inflicted. But Ford wouldn’t see the man off the mountain outside of a body bag.

Ford leaned down and pulled Tully up enough to punch him in the face. “That’s for Buck.”

Tully’s head snapped back.

He kicked him in the wound, and Tully shouted in pain.

I shivered at the fierceness of Ford’s actions, but I didn’t care. That man killed my brother, and he was going to kill me. It had been him or me, and Ford would ensure it wasn’t me.

But this man, wounded and bleeding out, had been—based on what Ford said—the mastermind behind the false accusations against Buck. And he’d killed that poor man. He was a murderer. He had no morals. No compass. He was pure evil.

“That was for my woman.”

Ford grabbed Tully one last time and hoisted him all the way to his feet. He carried the man to the edge of the ravine, pulled Tully’s tortured face close to his. “This is for me.”

As if he were throwing a ball, he tossed Tully over the edge, disappearing from my view.

Ford turned to me. I stood, then flung myself at him.

He wrapped his arms around me, held me so tightly I could barely breathe. This time, I didn’t care.

“Blue. Fuck.”

He set me down and grazed his hands over me, his gaze following. “Are you hurt? Did he—” He stopped talking when he looked at my neck. If it wasn’t bruised yet, it surely would be.

“I’ll kill him all over again.”

I raised my fingers to my throat. It still throbbed where Tully had choked me.

“I’m okay. Oh my God. Ford. I’m so sorry.”

He cupped my face and tipped my chin up. “What the fuck are you sorry about? I should have told you everything. Trusted you. I almost lost you because of it.”

I shook my head. “No. This happened because of him.” I pointed to the ravine. “He… I stabbed him… he… Buck…”

Tears fell then. My adrenaline bled away, and I was weak. Exhausted. Relieved the danger was gone. But… God.

“Shh,” Ford murmured, pulling me into his arms again, cupping my head to his chest as I cried. Sobbed.

For Buck. For Ford. For everything that had happened. For being alive and having Ford hold me.

He kissed the top of my head, then tipped my chin up and kissed my lips. I melted into the contact. The feel of him.

“Buck warned me,” Ford said finally, touching his forehead to mine. “Told me to watch out for you. Because of Tully. I just didn’t know what he meant when he died. The last thing he said, Blue, was to take care of you.”

It was Buck who brought us together at this moment. I knew he’d never have wanted danger to come to Sparks and get me, but here we were. In a way, for a man who wanted us to stay apart, he’d put us together.

“I will,” he vowed. “Fuck, for the rest of my life, I’m protecting your sweet ass.” He cupped my butt in one hand and pulled me in for another kiss.

I didn’t think Buck would like Ford calling my ass sweet, but that was something an older brother would have had to deal with if he’d been here. Because I was going to spend the rest of my life with Ford.

The sound of a helicopter broke through the rushing water. We turned and saw it in the distance. “Search and rescue. It’s heading to Glacier Lake.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “To collect the people you guided. Hayes and Kennedy are with them. Fuck, we need one of those.”

I sniffled and laughed. “A helicopter?”

“Yeah, it’s definitely next on my list to buy. I need to be able to get to my woman anytime. Anywhere.”

“Ford, that’s a helicopter.”

“Sure is,” he said, with a glint in his eye of a man eyeing a shiny sports car. “You up for catching a ride on it? I don’t feel like hiking back down the mountain.”

He let go of his hold, and I went over to the edge of the ravine. I could only see Tully’s leg with all the rocks in the way. The spray from the waterfall soaking his pants. “What about him?”

Ford came over and took the multipurpose tool from my hand. I blinked, not even realizing I still held it. “He slipped and fell.”

He didn’t say more as he wrapped an arm around my waist and steered me toward the lake. Toward home.

Chapter

Twenty

FORD

* * *

The Search and Rescue helicopter landed at the hospital helipad where Gram, the Buchanans, Brandon, Sheriff Tate, and his deputies Megan and Dan, and Taft all waited for us.