Alpha's Rescue (Shifter Ops 5)

Teddy sets me down and strides forward. He pulls off his jacket and tosses it over Darius's crotch. Darius wakes up and jackknifes in half to catch the jacket a second before it hits him.

“Cover yourself up,” Teddy orders.

“Took you long enough to get here, fucker,” Darius retorts. “What were you doing, moping on the mountain while I was giving my all to protect your mate?”

My breath catches. Has Teddy accepted that I'm his mate?

“That's right.” Teddy pulls me into his side. “She's my mate and don't you forget it.”

She’s my mate. I lean into him and focus on Darius. “Are you okay?” His pale skin is streaked with blood, but I don't know if it's his or the assassins'.

His mouth splits into a grin. His beard looks bushier than usual. “All good, sweetheart.”

Teddy turns me, so he’s between me and his twin. “Quit flirting with my mate.”

“I’m not, I swear.” Darius chuckles. “I like her, now that I’ve gotten to know her. I’m sorry I compared her to Tiffany earlier. I was just giving you a hard time.”

“You're an asshole,” Teddy says.

“Yes,” Darius sighs, lying back on the blacktop like he’s exhausted. “I am.”

He looks so pathetic, I have to say something. I angle my head up to Teddy. “He took a bullet for me. I think possibly several.”

“It's no biggie.” Darius waves a hand. He glances beyond us and calls, “Matthias, sorry about your car. I’ll buy you a new one.”

A huge bear with light brown fur sidles up to the car and pauses to examine the bullet riddled doors. The bear that must be a Matthias is somehow still wearing glasses perched on its long snout. It shakes its head mournfully and ambles off into the night.

“You okay, Lana?” Canyon asks, popping out from behind an SUV. He’s fashioned some sort of loincloth out of what looks like Hutch’s shirt.

“Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for the rescue.”

“Teddy,” Bern calls. “Can you come here a minute?”

Teddy moves in the direction of his voice, and because we’re joined at the hip, I go too.

Behind the SUVs are a bunch of captive assassins. Some are hogtied with gags stuffed in their mouths. Others are lying in a row. Dead or unconscious, I don’t want to know. I guess they deserve it.

A polar bear appears, dragging the limp body of an assassin. As it passes, Everest raises a paw and angles it, so a claw points to the sky. I swear he’s giving us a thumbs up.

Hutch and Canyon lead us to an SUV with a stack of weapons piled up next to it.

“Look who we found,” Bern sounds grim.

In the trunk of the SUV, my stepbrother sits up straight, practically mummified with rope. There’s a strip of duct tape over his mouth.

I suck in a breath.

“He says his name is Bentley Dupree, and he’ll give us anything if we let him go,” Hutch reports.

“I say we give him a running start, and let the bears hunt him.” Canyon’s grin flashes a mouthful of fangs.

Bentley whimpers behind the duct tape gag. His skin is ghastly white. He looks about twelve seconds from keeling over with fear.

“Seriously, though, he saw us shift,” Bern says. “So did the assassins. What are we going to do?”

Teddy motions and Hutch rips the duct tape off Bentley’s face.

Bentley’s eyes almost roll back in his head. “Bears…” he squeaks in a hoarse whisper. The whites of his eyes flash as he looks around at the ring of brothers. “Bears! Bears!”

Holding Teddy’s hand, I stride up to my stepbrother and lean close. “That’s right, Bentley. They’re Bad Bears.”

“Very bad bears,” Hutch says, and Canyon adds, “The worst.”

I look into Bentley’s eyes, expecting some sort of feeling of pity or connection. There’s nothing. He was never my family. There’s family you find and family you choose, and life’s too short to spend it chasing people who don’t treat you the way you deserve.

I step back into the circle of Teddy’s arms. The Bad Bear brothers close ranks around us, ready to protect me from anyone or anything.

“Take them to the leech and mindwipe them,” Teddy orders. “All of them.”

“On it.” The Terrible Threes snap into action, hoisting Bentley and the remaining assassins up, leading them off. One of the assassins struggles, and Everest hauls him right off his feet and drags him into the van, like a mother cat carrying a kitten by its scruff.

Matthias appears, looking neat and tidy in pressed jeans and a t-shirt he procured from somewhere. Probably the trunk of his poor car. “Axel’s on his way with the Black Wolf pack. I let them know the action’s over. And I texted the leech to expect a crowd.” Matthias peers at me. “You okay, Lana? I can give you a ride, if you still want to go.”