Page 8 of Bear Haven
Chapter Three
Beck took one last look at the hunting cabin. When he was growing up, he hadn’t thought twice about the hunting trips his father, about the dead animals he and his buddies came back with. He hadn’t thought about the living, breathing lives of the animals.
He thought of little else nowadays.
He was surrounded by animals. Shifters. Part human, part animal.
His daughter was one.
His. Daughter.
He shared her DNA with the woman he’d loved and the shifter who’d forced himself on them and tore their lives apart.
But Bex was his.
His. Daughter.
And he’d protect her the very best he could. Which, if he were honest with himself, wasn’t going to be much when it came right down to it, was it?
He had to try, though. He had to try to give her all the help he could. It would come in the form of money, but that was better than nothing.
He’d lost everyone in his life after the attack so many years ago, but his father had invested Beck’s inheritance from his mother and Beck could live very well off the interest alone for the rest of his life.
If it meant he could keep Bex safe, he would gladly hand over every cent. He wished there was more he could do, more information he could impart to Gus and Luke that would help them bring down his father’s organization. It spanned several states and had hundreds of members.
It seemed an impossible task and it made Beck nauseous thinking about the kind of man he’d been raised by.
That man, his father, stood at the living room window staring out at him. Beck didn’t know when or if he’d ever see the man again. He’d saved Beck’s physical life, but had taken his mental and emotional life from him.
He’d meant everything he’d said last night. He’d stand with Bex. He’d choose Bex. He would give what was left of his life for her.
A rustle in the bushes drew his attention. He caught a brief sight of a tail and without looking at his father again, Beck eased himself into the car.
Driving was easier for him the more he did it, but his sight was shot to hell and he knew it wasn’t safe for him to do any driving at all, especially in the mountains.
He took it slow, easing out of the long driveway and onto the highway. He didn’t go fast, maintaining the speed limit and amassing a load of horn honks from behind. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t risk his life or anyone else’s anymore than he already was by being on the road in the first place.
Three more exits and he could turn off the parkway and onto the side road that would lead him by the campground and deeper into the forest.
The tail in the bushes he’d seen before leaving the cabin had to belong to Luke.
It wasn’t anything like that of a bear.
And it wasn’t a small animal. It had headed off in the direction of the town Gus was holed up in.
He had to admit a liking for Bex’s lover. Gus loved her deeply and like Beck, would give his life to keep her safe, but Beck hoped it never came to that. He would never wish that kind of pain, that kind of loneliness on anyone. He’d experienced a version of it that made his heart wither every day he woke up and Jolene wasn’t beside him.
He turned on his blinker and eased off the road to the right. He stopped at the flashing yellow and red light at the bottom of the exit ramp, then turned to the left. Under the overpass, to the left, was a barely discernible dirt road.
He knew the terrain like the back of his hand. He’d grown up exploring every inch of the forests and mountains and streams between the ghost town and his father’s hunting cabin. He’d been worried that he wouldn’t be able to find his way around after so many years being away from the area, but it had come back to him immediately the closer Gus had driven down the road.
Beyond the line of trees ahead of him, the roof of the abandoned mill could be seen and beyond that, the roof of the old two-story hotel. That’s where he should find Gus. Luke would be a ways off yet, but running as a wolf, it wouldn’t take as long as it would have if he’d been in his human form.
Beck pulled behind the hotel, out of sight should anyone happen upon the town and before he could get out, two men exited the back of the building. He recognized both. Gus’s father and he couldn’t remember who the other man belonged to or how he was related, but he’d been in Dandridge the day his father had first threatened Bex’s life.
“Where’s Gus?” he asked.
“The bluff. He’s watching for Luke.”
