Page 150 of Mountain Men Heroes

Reaper and his men wore blood-splattered jeans and boots. The fight left their shirts and coats in tatters hanging around their arms and torsos like torn paper.

“We’ve been attacked. I think we have a common enemy now.”

Damon stepped forward and she followed him, taking Reaper by the opposite arm.

“Traffickers?” It didn’t come out as a question but more of a fierce statement filled with disgust.

Reaper nodded and pulled out of their arms.

“Do you know a name? The person who did this to you?” she asked, eyeing his sides. Her fingers trembled as she eased apart the jagged edges of a wound that looked singed with something. Acid?

Ivy’s glasses slipped and she righted them with a trembling hand as she took a closer look at the other men. All looked like they went up against an army and narrowly escaped.

Unrelenting snow battered all of them.

“Some Christmas,” she muttered. “Such violence. Who would miss a small community tucked away north of the Arctic Circle?” She repeated Damon’s words back to him, and the chill of their meaning seeped into her mind.

“I remember your sister said you were a doctor.” The full force of Reaper’s gaze fell on her. “We need your help.” His words came out stronger than a demand. As if when he spoke it became law.

“No. I’m no doctor.” Her eyes darted between him and the other two men who flanked him on either side.

Reaper turned as if to walk back out into the snowstorm that gathered force every second they spent talking. Cold claws of trepidation snuck beneath her heavy coat and sent a spiral of goosebumps down her spine. Fear thicker than the air clogged her throat. What kind of human being was she to turn them away injured, bleeding and no hospital for hours?

She advanced and grabbed Reaper’s arms right below the elbow.

He turned to look at her over his shoulder. “There are more, Ivy. My family needs me. And you.” His tone came out colder than the snow that gathered at their feet on top of the several feet already fallen. “I gathered a couple of my brothers to come here to get help and you turn us away from fear? What do you have to fear? They are already either dying or dead.”

How many brothers did he have?

His accusation struck hard. “What do you mean? How do you know anything about me?”

“It’s in your eyes.” He paused. “I need a doctor for my people. The nasty fucking bastards died for what they did, but not without a cost to me and my family.”

At least they weren’t walking into an ambush. Small miracle there.

Something in Reaper’s tight expression, the way his eyes searched hers struck a note of desperation she didn't expect.

“I’ve lost two brothers tonight.”

“I am so sorry, Reaper.” How could people do this to one another? Wasn’t it a time of peace?

She studied him for less than half a second when Damon stepped up beside her. While she talked with Reaper, she felt him as a solid support there to cut down anyone that dared show an ounce of menace toward her. At least it was what she felt. She couldn’t quite describe it but the thoughts settled in her mind as if they were her own. She shifted just enough to where she could look at him and Reaper.

“Don’t be sorry. Help us.”

She pushed her glasses up and raised her chin. “I can't. I don't have any supplies and I don't have a license to practice in Alaska. I still need to take my final exam.”

“Fuck your red tape. Can you save their lives or not?”

“Yes.”

“Then I don't fucking care what a piece of paper says about you. If your man agrees, let's go. They don't have much time; I left several very wounded.”

“He’s not my man and I can speak for myself.”

“Really?” He turned his gaze on Damon “Maybe your debt should become hers? Would that get me the help I need?”

Something passed between them.

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