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Chapter Nineteen
“Get off me!” Alani wasn’t sure where the fire had come from, but before she knew what was happening, she was kneeing the naked guy so hard in the balls that he’d probably taste them. If he thought a single mom of two girls, the kind who can handle learning the guy she loves can turn into a bear in the blink of an eye without shedding a tear, would take his crap lying down, he had another think coming.
He grunted, his boxy face screwing up in pain as the fist grasping her shirt loosened. Alani shoved him off and tried to dart around the boulder, only to have one of the rams slam those immense curling horns into her side. The blow forced her to lose her footing, and before she could catch herself, her balance was gone. Down she went, tumbling over rocks and thorny plants, hands over her face and head to protect herself. When she finally stopped at a point where the ground evened out slightly, Alani was too dizzy to just get up and run—but she sure as hell tried.
Ram hooves sounded like thunder as the herd rumbled down the mountain after her, and she let out a cry when one of them slammed into her again, this time the back of her legs, and sent her scrambling for footing. Something felt like it cracked in her wrist when she landed on the ground, hands out to stop herself.
Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, and she curled up into a ball as ram after ram lunged at her. Some made contact. Some seemed to be doing it just to frighten her. Whatever the reason, she’d never been more terrified of anything in all her life.
“Easy, boys, easy,” came that horrible voice again. The shadows looming overhead backed off, and Alani slowly lowered her arms and sat up weakly on her elbows. Sure enough, the same naked guy as before strolled toward her like he was king of the mountain, his… appendages flopping around everywhere. She looked away; cheeks flaming when he crouched in front of her.
“W-Why are you doing this?” She hated the way her voice cracked and wavered, letting him know just how much the assault had gotten to her. Alani wanted to be strong. These were probably the same rams who hurt Ivo—she wanted to rip their horns out and shove them where the sun don’t shine. Adrenaline must have kept her from feeling the pain because when she glanced down at her hands, she noticed they were bleeding. Sharp rock edges must have sliced her up as she tried to stop her descent. Great. Just what she needed.
“We heard you calling for someone,” the man said, grabbing her by the chin and yanking her face so that she looked directly at him. “Who was it?” When she didn’t answer right away, he actually lifted her off of the ground by her neck and tossed her back toward the loitering rams.
“Ivo! Ivo!” she cried when he surged toward her, fist cocked and ready to slam into the side of her face. “I was looking for Ivo!”
“Just like I thought.” He scoffed, hovering over her again. “I think we’ve found our favorite bear’s fated mate.”
Alani’s eyebrows knitted together as she stared up at him, his features finally becoming familiar. He was the guy who Ivo had seen waiting outside her apartment—at the bus stop, on the way home from their museum date. Same square-ish face, black shaggy hair and brows. Unattractive was an understatement. No wonder Ivo didn’t want to introduce them; she could barely accept that Ivo associated with a guy like this.
“I-I’m not,” Alani protested as he stood and laughed. “I’m not his fated mate. I-I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Sometimes ignorance worked better than fire. In a blink, a few other rams had gone from animal to human, muddied and naked and leering at her like she was a piece of meat. Or… blade of grass. Whatever rams ate.
“I think you are,” the ringleader sneered. More and more of the rams were shifting back to humans—and somehow that was even more intimidating, huddled over on her side as a cluster of naked men looming over her. “I think you’re exactly who I think you are, and I’m just so glad you came to our mountain.”
“Your mountain?” She closed her eyes tight as they all laughed. What a foolish mistake—she had chosen the wrong end of the mountain range.
“Yeah, our mountain.” Alani slapped his hand away when she felt it crawling up her leg, which only seemed to make him leer harder. “And I’m sorry to say, but your lover boy is going to die. All of them are. Because this ain’t bear country anymore.”
The others laughed again—apparently they were also part hyena, and in their moment of distraction, while they all threw around how they were going to take land from all the shifters, she quietly unzipped the front pocket of her sweater and pulled out her phone.
“What d’ya think, boys? Should we keep her?”
Alani’s eyes widened.
Signal.
There was a freakin’ signal!
“Yeah, I think she’d make a pretty toy,” someone sneered, but Alani ignored them as she hastily tapped around to Ivo’s profile in her phone, and then pressed call. “Think ol’ Ivo would mind if we roughed her up a bit? She could definitely stand to lose some clothes. We’re naked. It’s only fair—”
“Hey, gimme your fucking phone!” Someone wrenched her head back by her hair, trying to grab the device from her, and Alani let loose.
“Ivo! Ivo!” She screamed at the top of her lungs when she lost hold of her one chance at a rescue. “Ivo, help me!”
The rams mimicked her cries, laughing, and the ringleader tossed her phone aside before yanking her back up the mountain.
Alani could only hope her screams would reach Angel Fire.
But deep down, she knew they wouldn’t.
***
“Is that everybody?” Ivo asked, pulling Miguel aside as what looked like the bulk of the clan filed past him and into the cave. The Alpha’s jaw flickered, a sign of him clenching it, and he pulled Miguel toward a spot where they wouldn’t be overheard. “So what’s the plan?”
“Everyone needs to know what is happening,” Miguel said. “I won’t keep people in the dark, not when they have cubs and mates to look after. I’m going to tell them straight that you pushed back an attack made by the rams last night and that they are probably coming back today—”
