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She couldn’t kill this man either. She couldn’t really tear him limb from limb. Even in her bear form, that would be murder. It would be taking a life. What was wrong with her? How could she even have contemplated that?
She still saw red when she thought about this man hurting her daughter.
That was how. She was a mother.
From the back pocket of her jeans, her phone dinged. She didn’t move.
“Answer it,” he encouraged her, and what was left of her blood that was still heated, froze in her veins.
She reached out woodenly, because what else could she do? She wanted this over. She wanted to run and get back home and make sure Onyx was safe.
She gaped at the screen when she saw the private number and the little video that popped up. Her. On the ground. A field. Evening. Naked. She didn’t have to press play to know what it was. She didn’t have to have a memory of it either. It was her and she had no doubt that she was about to shift. This fucker had video evidence of her turning into a bear.
“I have debts,” he went on, that horrible, scraping sound of his voice echoing in the silent woods. “Big ones. I owe money to the wrong people. You’re going to get me ten grand and you’re going to get it for me within twenty-four hours. I’ll send the information. If you refuse, the video goes viral.”
That word pierced through her. She knew what it meant. An image of a laptop and a phone, her watching a video and laughing at it, her brothers commenting that it was impossible it had millions of views because it was so dumb.
The memory blanked out as soon as it came on. With it, her temples started to throb. Trying to remember was exhausting. Her brain was exhausted. Her head was going to ache soon. It was going to feel like her brain was splitting itself in half.
“Don’t try to find me,” he said. “You won’t anyway, but I’ll always know where you are.” He pointed at Onyx. It made Taylee gasp, and she dropped her phone and wrapped both arms around herself and her daughter. “Cute kid.”
He had the last word. The bastard turned and walked away.Sauntered. Right through the woods. Her woods. Clan property.
She was so shocked she couldn’t breathe or move. But then she did. She grabbed her phone, supported Onyx with her arms, and walked as fast as she could back in the direction of home.
How did she know him? Would she have truly loved someone like this?
From what she’d learned of the Pinefall clan since losing her memories, it was that they didn’t mix. Kier had told her how much it had taken for her family to accept him because he wasn’t part of their clan—so would she really have had a relationship with someone who wasn’t just not a clan member, but also clearly not a bear shifter?
The pain was now lancing and brutal in her head, but she forced herself to think anyway.
She couldn’t tell her brothers about this, even though that was the first thing she thought of. They’d do what she thought of doing. They’d find this guy and murder him. She couldn’t go to her parents either. Not yet.
She had a stronger impulse. An image of a man’s face, strong and kind, with lovely butterscotch eyes.
Kier.
Sheneededhim, and the impulse was so strong she nearly stumbled. She stopped, panting, bracing herself with her hand on the rough bark of one of the huge trees. What she felt wasn’t a sexual need. It was something so much more intimate, refined, yet raw and animalistic at the same time. It wasn’t desire. It was something that felt as old as the dawn of time. Something stitched into her body, woven into her being.
It felt a lot like the purest form of trust.
Chapter 6
Taylee
There were so many thoughts racing through Taylee’s mind that she felt the pressure starting up at her temples that signaled one of the headaches she’d been having since the accident. She didn’t have a concussion, Josephine had ruled that out. Though had said if she wasn’t willing to go to the city for further tests, then they wouldn’t know what was causing the pain.
The doctor also couldn’t tell her when, or if, she would ever fully recover her memory. She was making new memories which she said was good—and she’d retained her skills, which was also a good sign. But she couldn’t say when her memory would return. Head injuries had a lot of unknowns and uncertainties in humans, and Josephine had no idea how head injuries would impact on shifter physiology. Maybe she’d always have the headaches. It was a lot of sharp pains and pressure that felt so much different than any headache she’d ever had. As to how she knew this, she didn’t know.
How was it possible that someone seemed to capture the sunshine in their skin, their very essence, even in the middle of the gloomy, murky winter months?
Of all the thoughts, that one took precedence when Kier got out of his truck.
She raced out the front door, confident that Onyx was safe with her mom and dad for an hour. As soon as she’d returned from her walk she’d told them that she reallyneeded to talk to Kier. They thought she was having a moment. A relationship moment, so they’d offered to watch Onyx right away for her and she’d called Kier a few seconds later.
Can you come here? I need you. Please. Now. If you can.
She’d no doubt sounded so unsettled that the urgency came over the phone because he’d okayed it with the clinic and would be there in twenty. He texted her two minutes after she hung up to let her know he was on his way.
