Chapter 3

3

I ndiana closed the door to his home office, and thankfully Sheriff Wade waited a moment before laying into him.

"What the hell, Indiana? You killed a man! You promised me you wouldn't hurt anyone if I let you live here." Wade jerked his hat off his head and smacked it across his thighs as he paced the length of the room. "You promised me that you'd make no trouble. Now I have a dead man up in the hills there, sliced up like Sunday brisket." Wade wiped the back of one hand over his brow as he blew out a breath. "What the hell really happened?"

"Everything I told you over the phone was true. I heard her scream. She was running from that abusive asshole and she fell. He was going to kill her right there in my stream. I saw him kick her hard enough to break her ribs. She can barely breath without pain. She was covered in blood, and he had her pinned down. I think he was going to hold her head underwater with his foot."

"And then?" Wade asked.

"Unofficially?" Indiana asked with a rueful smile.

The sheriff shot him a look that clearly warned now was not the time to be a smartass.

"My bear saw him brutalize a helpless female and when the guy ran … my bear stopped him."

The sheriff closed his eyes and blew out another breath. "When word gets out, people will come hunting for that bear … for you . Humans don't like a bear that isn't afraid to attack people. It won't be safe here for a shifter, not for a long while. If you stay, you won't be able to change without risking your life."

"I'm aware." Indiana had realized that fact an hour ago, after he gotten off the phone with 911. Bears were killed all the time for straying too close to towns. But a bear that had killed a man deliberately? It would draw every hunter for miles who had something to prove or wanted a trophy for his man cave.

"Christ," Wade muttered. "Who is this woman? Does she know…?"

"No, she passed out before I changed."

"Small miracle," the sheriff muttered. "When the boys are done taking photos, the coroner will load up the body. I need to take that girl into town and have the doc look at her. She might have a few broken ribs, and she ought to have some x-rays done."

"I can drive her," Indiana offered. For some reason he didn't want to let Hadlee out of his sight. It wasn't just his bear who felt overprotective. His bear always been protective of women, but with Hadlee it seemed even more heightened.

"Only if she wants you to. She may want me to drive her instead. The girl's been through hell."

The sheriff had no idea. Indiana's mouth hardened to a grim line. She'd been savagely attacked by a man who she'd put her trust in, a man she'd been romantically involved with. He couldn't imagine a deeper betrayal than a lover trying to kill you.

"I shouldn't say it, not as a law man anyway, but I'm glad that bastard is dead. We don't need people like him still breathing on this planet. Call me old-fashioned, but some crimes don't deserve to go unpunished." The sheriff clapped a hand on Indiana's shoulder. "I'll go ask Ms. Wilson if she wants a ride to town and I'll check on the coroner."

Indiana found Hadlee standing in front of the wall in the kitchen, getting pictures taken of her wounds and self-defense injuries. She looked so small and battered. His bear growled just beneath the surface.

"All done, Ms. Wilson." The deputy put away the camera and turned to nod respectfully at Indiana before he left the room. Hadlee's shoulders sank, and her face was far more pale than it had been a short while ago.

"You need to shower and rest," Indiana said, and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Sheriff Wade and I both think you need to visit the medical clinic in town."

"I don't, I'm?—"

"Do not say you're fine, honey." Indiana stepped close to her, and she shied away but then relaxed as if she sensed he wouldn't hurt her. That instinct to flinch would take time to fade before she realized she could trust a man again. And he needed an excuse to hold her in his arms, to calm the tempest he could feel brewing in her soul.

"Indiana, please just?—"

"No, honey. Sheriff's orders. You can take his car into town, or I can take you. If you go with me, I'll feed you at the best diner in town after the doc's had a good look at you." He wanted to be the one to take her and make sure she was okay, but he wasn't about to force her choices, not after all she'd been through.

"Okay." She glanced out the kitchen window and her lower lip trembled. He glanced in the direction she was looking. The coroner and his assistant were loading up Parker's body which had been retrieved and carried back to the nearest place where the coroner could park his van which was in Indiana's driveway. The corpse was wrapped up in a body bag, but the sight was no less awful.

He'd made that living, breathing human become nothing more than a body, a dead one. It was an awful feeling to be relieved that a murderous creature was dead, but still feel the innate remorse of having taken a life.

Indiana put an arm around Hadlee's shoulder and gently pulled her into his arms, turning her away from the scene. She started to cry, the soft sound of her pain knifing him deep inside places no one had dared touch in years.

"Hush," he murmured as he kept one hand around the back of her head and cradled her against him. "It's over," he promised.

Thump—thump . Her heart beat against his chest in a delicate rhythm for a few minutes before it steadied and matched his own.

What will I do? a voice whispered, and he stilled. That wasn't his voice in his head. It was hers . He was hearing her thoughts… He hadn't imagined it? There were only a few reasons a shifter could hear another's thoughts … and if what he suspected might be true, he was screwed.

You will survive , he thought back, praying she could hear him.

Hadlee turned her head, her green eyes clearing of the pain fog a little and returning back to the dark forest green that made him think of the woods around his home. God, she was lovely. Those eyes held him prisoner. The bruises forming on her skin, the cuts and scrapes, made her look so fragile, so easily hurt. But her eyes? Damn, those eyes held the strength of the mightiest forests, the hardest bedrock, the deepest of the Earth's seas. He knew better than most, that being strong didn't mean one couldn't get hurt. It meant that one survived despite the pain. And this woman? She was stronger than anyone he'd ever met. She was a woman worth killing for, a woman worth protecting against every evil in the world.

"I think I'm ready to go to town."

"All right." He reluctantly released her and went to fetch his keys to the Bronco.

"Well?" the sheriff asked as he met Hadlee and Indiana on the steps outside of Indiana's house.

"I'll be taking her into town," Indiana said.

"That all right with you, Ms. Wilson?" Wade asked.

Hadlee nodded. "I … um … I will need some clothes. My suitcase is in Chad's car in the parking lot south of the trail I told you about. My stuff should still be in the back of the car. He made me leave my phone and keys… He said it would be more romantic to be unplugged during our night beneath the stars." Her voice sounded so hollow as she seemed to realize it had been one more way he'd kept her from reaching help.

"I'll have someone grab it and meet you in town. We have to notify Parker's next of kin after we process his car, which we can do pretty quickly. We can release your luggage to you after that. It shouldn't take more than an hour." The Sheriff gave her a gentle, worried look before he resumed a more business-like expression. "Indy, I'll call you when we can return her possessions to her."

"Thanks, Sheriff." Indiana nodded to him and gently guided Hadlee to his vehicle. He opened the passenger door to the Bronco and lifted her up into the passenger seat. She started to buckle herself in but winced.

"You can leave it off if it causes pain," he said. "I'll drive slow and careful into town."

"I'll be okay," Hadlee replied, and clicked the belt into place.

Indiana followed the sheriff's patrol SUV out of the woods and onto the dirt road that led to the main street which would take them to town.

Indiana didn't mind the silence; he was good with silence. But he wondered if Hadlee might need conversation as a distraction. She kept wiping at tears as she glanced out the window.

The sight of her tears was fucking killing him. He wanted to roar, to tear down every person who had ever dared to cause those tears. The only solace he had was that he'd ripped out the throat of the man who had done this. God, maybe he should distract her or something… Talk about the weather? No, that was stupid.

Get it together, Indy , he snapped at himself.

"So … uh … where are you from?" God, that was just as bad as asking about the weather.

"Chicago, I lived in the suburbs but moved downtown for a job in advertising. That's where I met Chad."

Shit . Was every question he asked going to lead back to that asshole?

"Advertising? What kind?"

"I help create story boards for commercials. I fly to LA a lot to help with the shoots when they're ready to put them on film."

"Really? Do you like that? All the traveling?"

"I did at first, but the novelty of it has worn off. It would be nice to be in one place for a while." She relaxed a little as they talked, and Indiana was glad his distraction strategy worked.

"What about you? Do you just live in the woods here or…?" She looked at him and he realized he had her full attention.

"Me? I've always liked the peace of the woods, ever since I was a child. I can be myself here. I work remotely as a website designer, so it doesn't matter where I live."

"You design websites?" Her eyes widened.

"I don't look like the type, right?" He grinned. He knew he looked more like a lumberjack than a nerd who had an office that looked like some kind of a command center.

"No," she agreed, and laughed softly. The sound was so adorable it punched him in right in the heart.

"You look more like a sexy lumberjack." She stopped giggling and blushed. "Oh my God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud."

Indiana laughed. "I'll take being called a sexy lumberjack any day." Hell, he had been a lumberjack a few years back. Being called sexy was a bonus.

Hadlee grinned. Her blush still flushed her face, but she definitely seemed less embarrassed when she interacted with him.

"I'm surprised a web designer would want to live out here," she added after a moment.

"It's quiet here," he said, his voice soft. "I can think out here. I can create out here. My head gets filled with noise in the city, and it's a lot harder to do my job." He couldn't tell her the other part—that as a bear shifter, he needed the woods. If he lived in the city, he would never be able to change, which meant he would repress part of who he was. And that really wasn't living, was it?

"I wouldn't mind the quiet or the woods as long as I felt safe," Hadlee murmured.

"You would," he said. "I'd protect you." Too late he realized what he'd said. "I mean, you'd be safe with anyone you lived next to out here. The residents of Aspen Falls are good people," he said.

"You wouldn't mind having me for your next-door neighbor?" Hadlee asked with a shy smile.

God, she was brave, to want to live in the place where she'd been attacked. Maybe it was because she understood it hadn't been the woods that had been the danger to her, but rather a man.

"I wouldn't mind a neighbor like you," he assured her, and found he was smiling again. His heart gave a wild jolt as she reached over and touched his arm.

"Thank you for finding me. I can't remember if I said that already." Her emerald eyes were large and luminous, and he hated to look away from her to focus on the road.

"You're welcome." His voice was a little gruff as he tried to calm his raging heart. When was the last time he'd felt like this around a woman? Years, certainly.

"How far is town?" She yawned.

"About fifteen minutes. Why don't you get some sleep. I'll wake you when we reach the clinic." He stretched his right arm behind her seat and found his spare blanket. "Use this for a pillow against the window."

"Thanks." She accepted it, folding it up into a makeshift pillow, and was asleep the moment her head hit the blanket.

His bear rumbled in approval at the sight of the little female resting trustingly in his care yet again.

Mine, the bear growled.

Not ours , he argued back. Can't be ours.

He couldn't take a human mate. The dangers were too great. Indiana's heart gave a thudding beat as he fought off the sorrow such thoughts brought. Perhaps he would try to visit his father's old clan at the summer solstice. Maybe there would be a female willing to take him as a mate and leave her clan to come here. But that was a long shot. Bear clans were heavily driven by matriarchal support structures. While bears were often solitary creatures, they liked to stay near their clans for support, especially the females. His mother's clan had almost died out; he was the last one. He had nothing to offer a female bear—no clan, no support. Just himself. The only way he'd be welcomed back into a clan was to make his own with a female who had no clan either, or by mating with a female in a preexisting clan. Rogue male bears were not allowed in clans without having mated into them or having been born into them.

He was still thinking things over as they reached the little town of Aspen Falls. It had been his home for the last several years and it was welcoming and warm. He felt safer here than anywhere else he'd lived in a long while. It was as idyllic, with quaint shops and little restaurants and businesses. He didn't spend much of his time in the town, but he'd made friends over the years with many people who lived here.

Indiana stole a glance at the sleeping Hadlee and again his inner bear rumbled in deep satisfaction as he saw she looked less troubled as she slept. The dark smudges under eyes had lessened a little and while her bruises had darkened to a purple shade, she was breathing normally, deeply. He parked the Bronco in front of the medical clinic. Then he reached out and touched her arm. A second later, he regretted the move when she woke up screaming.