There was yelling. The sound of footsteps pounding. Garret quickly picked her up and she had to bite down on her lip not to scream out in pain. There would be a time for falling apart later. Once they were all saf
e.
“Who the fuck are you?” she heard Gio yell. She tensed, unable to hold back her whimper.
“Sh, baby, it’s okay. He won’t hurt you again.”
“Joe—”
“Can take care of himself.”
“I’m here to make you pay for what you did to my mate.”
“What? Fuck, kill him!”
She cried out, but the noise was drowned by a huge roar. She gasped. Who or what had made that noise? There were screams of terror.
“What’s going on? Oh my God! Joe! Sawyer!” She attempted to fight Garret’s hold.
“Stay still, Gigi,” he snapped at her. “You’ll hurt yourself. They’re fine.”
Suddenly, Sawyer stepped into the room. His shirt was ripped, his hair, free of its tie, lay like a wild mane around him. But he wasn’t what caught her attention. No, she lay in Garret’s arms, frozen with fear as she saw an enormous bear squeeze through the doorframe, cracking it slightly to make way for his huge shoulders. He let out a snort.
“Sawyer! Behind you!” Her voice was a squeak rather than a yell.
“Yeah, I know,” Sawyer replied. “Bastard finally loses his control and he does it in the most epic way possible.” Sawyer looked at Garret gravely.
“I take it Gio is no longer a problem,” Garret said dryly.
“You would be right, brother.”
“What? What are you talking about? And how can you be so fucking calm when there’s a bear behind you!”
Sawyer stared down at her. He looked like a savage warrior. There was fire in his eyes, controlled violence in his tight body. “Calm down, Gigi.”
“Calm down! Calm down? Where’s Joe? I want Joe! Now.”
Sawyer turned to the bear. “Joe’s indisposed right now. Leaving me in charge.”
She fought Garret’s hold again. He cursed and held onto her tighter. “Gigi, stop.”
Sawyer grasped hold of her chin. “Stop fighting Garret’s hold now. Joe is fine.”
“Then where is he?” And why the fuck weren’t they more worried about the bear.
“Honey, haven’t you guessed by now? He’s the bear.”
13
She fought the waves of darkness. Her mouth was dry. Her eyelids heavy. Exhaustion was like a weight on her chest, dragging her under. But there was a reason she wanted to be awake.
She pried her eyes open, blinking to clear them.
“Water,” she croaked. She didn’t know how she knew someone was there. She just did.
“Gigi? Shit. She’s awake!” A panicked voice said. Sawyer? Sawyer didn’t panic, did he? What was going on? Why did he sound so upset?
“Sawyer?”