Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hours past with no word from the Alpha Protectors who were out hunting the rogue bears. Leah got to know Suzette and Jezebel well. They played all kinds of games and laughed together.

She felt bad that Olivia was stuck outside alone, but either Daddy, Felix, or Gavin took turns sitting with her. They couldn’t communicate, but hopefully their presence made her feel less lonely.

It was mid-afternoon. Leah and her friends were sitting in her playpen reading when a low growl made Leah’s skin crawl. It was filled with menace and caused all three of the women to sit up and take notice.

The door flung open wide, slamming into the wall. Olivia stood in the entrance, ears up, teeth bared, nostrils flaring. She growled again before suddenly shifting.

Daddy rushed toward her from the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

Olivia stood in the doorway, holding the sides to steady herself. She was panting, and frustration sluffed off her in waves, making the hairs on the back of Leah’s neck stand on end as she and the other two women stood to see her better. They weren’t permitted to stand in the playpen, but these were extenuating circumstances.

“Bears,” she growled even in human form. “Two of them. I don’t recognize them. They are about a mile away and approaching.”

Elias pulled out his phone and shot off a message. “Come inside, Little one.”

Olivia shook her head. “I need to shift back. I can’t keep track of them in my human form.” She didn’t wait for a response before she shifted and spun back to step onto the porch again.

Daddy opened the gate to the playpen. “Come out here,” he ordered. “If I tell you to shift, you need to do so. If I tell you to run, you stick together and head toward Brock’s house. Understood?”

Leah had no idea where anyone’s house was, but she nodded with the others. She would follow their lead. For the first time in her life, she was frightened. Truly scared.

The door was wide open. Leah could see Olivia clearly on the porch. She was standing at the top of the steps. Elias joined her, standing tall and formidable at her side. He glanced at her several times.

Felix and Gavin came to stand in front of them on the grass. The two of them were in wolf form.

Olivia exuded power. In her human form, she was small and dainty and rightfully shy and nervous. But her wolf was a force to be reckoned with. She seemed larger than life.

Leah nearly jumped out of her skin when Olivia tipped her head back and howled. It was so loud anyone for miles away could have heard her. Why?

“Need you to talk to me, Olivia,” Elias said.

Olivia glanced at him and then back out at the clearing.

Elias turned his head to look at the women who had crept to the doorway. “Be prepared to shift, girls.”

Olivia jerked her gaze to him and then around to the women and shook her snout. She didn’t want them to shift.

“Olivia…” he warned. “I need information.”

Felix and Gavin crouched down in an attack position as if they expected to have to leap into the air at any moment. They were scanning the clearing constantly. It was obvious only Olivia knew what was about to happen.

Two bears suddenly galloped into the clearing. They were huge and heading directly toward the house.

“Fuck,” Elias exclaimed. “Shift!” he shouted right before he also shifted.

Leah shifted. So did Suzette and Jezebel. They stood next to each other in the doorway, mesmerized as two more bears leaped into the clearing, and then two more.

A fight began. The first two bears were taken down by the other four, but they kept fighting back, growling loud enough to shake the foundation of the house. Elias was howling so loud that Leah wished she could cover her ears. Felix and Gavin joined.

The bears were huge, and they fought for blood. They cried out when they got clawed, and their cries of pain were palpable.

One of them broke free and came galloping toward the house. Felix and Gavin attacked, scaring Leah to death. The wolves were not nearly big enough to battle the bears, but Felix and Gavin held their own.

When Elias leaped off the porch to join the fray, Leah howled. Before he even reached the others she felt a sharp pain in her chest. If anything happened to him, she would never recover. It physically hurt to watch him pounce on one of the bears with the others.

One of the other bears noticed and turned to help the wolves. It was difficult to tell which ones were the bad guys and which were the good guys. Everything was a blur of black fur. All six bears were enormous, and every time they tumbled around in a battle for superiority, Leah lost track of which one was on which side.

Suddenly, a dozen wolves burst into the clearing at full speed. They spun around in circles, seemingly trying to make sense of the fight. Felix, Gavin, and Elias must have communicated with them with a look or predetermined sign because everyone quickly knew who to attack, which left the rogue bears outnumbered.

Leah couldn’t breathe as she watched this scene unfold as if in slow motion. It looked like Felix was injured. He’d howled when one of the bears had swatted at him with claws extended. His right flank was bleeding.

Now that the rogue bears were outnumbered, they joined each other in the center of the clearing and spun around in circles as the other four bears and all the wolves surrounded them.

The two bears looked at each other for a moment and then took off running, knocking the wolves out of the way as they barreled into the tree line and disappeared.

Three of the other bears galloped after them. One stayed behind.

Time stood still while the bear made eye contact with Olivia. Seconds past. Long interminable seconds while no one dared move. It was clear Olivia was in communication with the bear, and finally she nodded.

The bear took off after the others and disappeared.

The wolves moved to the edge of the clearing, ears tall, watching and waiting.

Leah kept her gaze on her mate, hoping he hadn’t been injured. Uncertain. It was hard to tell. All of them were bloody, but whose blood was it?

Finally, one by one, the wolves shifted and walked toward the porch. Damon beelined for Olivia and dropped down on his knees on the step in front of her. He grabbed her furry head and held it. “Look at me, Baby girl.”

She didn’t move.

Elias stepped around Damon and came to Leah. She whimpered, afraid. She backed up into the living room. Please don’t let that blood be his .

He squatted in front of her. “I’m fine, Little one. Not a scratch on me. Shift for me, Baby girl.”

She whimpered again, shaking. It was hard to concentrate and force her shift, but she finally managed to do so and fell on her bottom, disoriented.

Daddy scooped her up and cradled her in his arms. He kissed all over her face. “It’s over.”

Over? It didn’t seem over. It seemed like they were only on a short break.

“Olivia…”

Leah turned in her Daddy’s arms to find that everyone had shifted except Olivia. She stood in the same spot, ears high, body rigid, nose to the air.

“Shift for me, Little one,” Damon encouraged again.

Until she shifted no one would know what had happened. She was the only one of them who knew.

Finally, she lowered her head, softened her stance, and shifted. Less than a second later, Damon had her in his arms, hugging her against his chest, rocking her back and forth. “Such a brave Little girl. I’m so proud of you.”