Page 65 of Salvation

His right paw was tucked against his body, and she could see the pain in his eyes. But there was triumph in them, too. She could see it in the straight line of his back, the sharp angle of his ears. His muzzle was splashed with blood, as was his shoulder, but he stood at attention like a general on the field of victory.

“We did it,” she whispered, starting at him.

His massive bear chin dipped once. Twice.

“You did it,” she whispered, correcting herself. He’d done all the work. Jesus, without him, she’d have been long dead.

The bear swung his head left then right in clear disagreement.We,he seemed to be saying.We did it.

Her throat ached from where LeBlanc had crushed her windpipe, and her left ankle throbbed from a wrenching motion she only vaguely remembered. Her fingers hurt from gripping the golf club so tightly, and when she brushed her cheek, she found blood. Her blood? The enemy’s?

She sat staring dumbly at the blood on her hand, as close to the edge of panic as she’d ever been. The fight was over, but it all replayed in her mind, all the more terrifying for the realization of how many near misses she and Todd had survived. Her hands started shaking, her knees knocking, and all she could see was blood.

She was about to hide her face in her hands when a huge, brown muzzle crept closer. Todd moved slowly, holding his breath, and she held hers, too. It didn’t seem possible to come that close to a grizzly, just as it didn’t seem possible for a beast of that size to have suddenly grown so quiet and gentle.

He chuffed once.It’s okay. Everything is okay.

Her heart beat faster instead of slowing down, and she closed her eyes, because the bear was coming even closer. Its breath warmed her cheek. She froze, every muscle in her body stiff.

Then something soft and velvety touched down on her cheek. Her heart skipped a beat.

He licked her — the tiniest, most careful lick in bear history, she’d bet — and she giggled. One of thoseI’m not sure if I’m about to scream or laughkind of giggles that could have gone either way. When Todd licked her again, she caught his muzzle in both hands and held on.

He licked the blood from her cheek, then puffed gently in her ear. That time, she cackled out of sheer relief.

“I’m okay,” she whispered, answering the question in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

The top of his tongue showed pink in the T-intersection of bear nose and mouth.I’m okay.

Which just about made her melt into the rock behind her until a thought hit her out of the blue.

“Oh, God! We have to check on the girl!” She scrambled to her feet and made for the pathway behind the rock.

Her steps were slow and creaky, like an old woman’s, but she plowed on despite Todd’s questioning chuffs. The second she trotted out on the other side of the boulders, the young woman cried out in relief. She’d been straining at the end of her bonds, but the moment she saw Anna, her knees gave way.

“Did you…? Are they…?”

Anna rushed forward. “They’re gone. Oh, you poor thing,” she cried at the blood caked around the young woman’s wrists. She worked the ropes as gently as she could, but the thick, rough strands still sawed at the woman’s skin.

“Just do it,” the woman said through clenched teeth. “Please, just get me free.”

Anna glanced over her shoulder. Todd hadn’t followed, and she could hear his heavy footsteps thump into the distance. Was he making sure that last wolf wasn’t coming back?

“Quickly,” the woman begged. “We have to save them.”

To Anna,themmeant Teddy, Sarah, and the others. Who was the woman talking about?

“Emmett forced me to help them.” Tears slipped down the stranger’s cheeks, but her voice was stubbornly even. “Please believe me.”

“I believe you,” she assured the girl. The blood on her wrists was proof, just as the worry in her eyes was. “Do you know them? Those…those shifters?”

The word felt foreign on her tongue. Had she really just seen men turn into wolves? Had her lover really beaten them as a bear?

The woman nodded without asking what shifters were. Did that mean she could turn into an animal, too? “My stepfather was one of them,” she said. “In the beginning, it wasn’t so bad. He was all talk and no action. But then Emmett Whyte started—”

“Emmett LeBlanc,” Anna corrected, still working at the ropes.

The woman shook her head. “He used a lot of false names, but he’s a Whyte. Brother of the worst one of all. They made me stay with them. I swear I never hurt anyone. But it got worse and worse, and I couldn’t get out.”

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