Page 3 of Grizzly's Bear

“I can give you something for the headache,” Jensen assured her, moving around the room. “Leg and ribs should be better in another day or so.”

Rissa squeezed Slade’s hand then used it to tug him closer, practically wrapping around him. “Did something happen to me?”

“You could say that,” Jensen answered before Slade had a chance. Slade sent his brother a hard glare.

“Oh, God! Is anyone else hurt? Did we get attacked again?” She shoved against Slade, kicking her legs at the covers, trying to get free, but Slade held her tight, refusing to let go. “Em? Is Em okay? Ruby? Please, tell me Ruby’s safe!”

“Shh, baby. Ruby and Em are both fine. They’re fine. I swear. No one was hurt,” Slade vowed, which wasn’t exactly the truth. He knew she could see that in his eyes.

“Except me. It’s why I’m here instead of the cabin I share with my brother.” Fear filled her face. “The last thing I remember was fondling you while we made out against the tree.”

Jensen cleared his throat, and Slade sent him another glare before glancing back at Rissa.

“I don’t remember. Did I go back to the cabin I share with Adam? Or did you and I go somewhere? What happened to me, Slade?”

He turned to Jensen, seeking his medical opinion before saying anything. Would it make it worse for her if he answered, or did it matter at all? And why couldn’t she remember? He knew she’d taken a hard blow to the head. There’d been swelling and a hairline fracture of her skull. Jensen had monitored her around the clock to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Slade wanted to go back and once again, slit the throats of the ones who’d taken her, who’d hurt her, who’d brought that look of fear and uncertainty to her eyes.

“Rissa, you don’t remember anything after that night with Slade?” Jensen questioned.

Her gaze bounced back and forth between them before remaining on Slade. She shook her head frantically back and forth. “No.”

“You were taken,” Slade told her.

“No, that’s impossible. I stayed on Holloway land. I didn’t leave, Slade. You told me I’d be safe here. I’m safe here. I couldn’t have been taken.”

She was shaking, and when she tugged away from him again, he let her go. He felt like the lowest life form as he watched her wrap her arms around herself, appearing completely lost and alone. She wasn’t, though. She had him. Still, he’d promised her she’d be safe on Holloway land. He’d cockily told her hunters would never dare step foot on their property. Then they had, and the bastards had taken her.

“Do you remember Ariel?” Jensen asked while Slade silently watched her. Rissa had withdrawn from him.

“Of course. She walked outside with me last night. Then Matheus took her to the cabin she’s staying in with her mate, Daniel. Why? Did something happen to her too?”

“She was taken with you,” Jensen told her.

“I don’t understand,” she murmured, and Slade reached for her again. She didn’t pull away this time as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest. It killed him to feel her trembling.

“You and Ariel were shot with darts, thrown into the bed of a truck, and taken,” Jensen answered with no emotion in his voice. Only someone who knew him as well as Slade did would understand the very lack of emotion on Jensen’s face, in his voice, proclaimed how angry he was.

“I don’t remember that.” A tear spilled down her cheek, and Slade couldn’t hold back his growl. “Where’s Ariel? Is she okay?”

“She’s back home in Oklahoma with her mate and the rest of her pride. She’s called to check on you a few times. She said you’d claimed her as your new best friend, and she wasn’t giving you up,” Slade answered.

“I wish I could remember that.” Her voice was soft and shaky. She closed her eyes then wiped her hands over her cheeks, brushing the tears away. “Tell me the rest of it.”

“We left as soon as we knew you were taken,” Slade continued. “By the time…” He paused as the growl bubbled up from his chest. Remembering how she’d looked when he’d found her had him ready to kill again.

“By the time they’d found you, you’d been stripped naked, restrained to a table, and severely beaten,” Jensen finished for him.

Rissa whimpered, and Slade gently tightened his hold on her.

“I got you back here as quickly as I could,” Slade assured her before Jensen jumped in again.

“Your injuries were extensive. It was touch and go for the first seventy-two hours. You’ve been in a coma since then while your animal genetics worked on healing you.”

Rissa’s gaze bounced back and forth between them again. “Wait? Seventy-two hours? Coma? How long have I been out?”

“A little over four weeks,” Jensen replied.

“The longest four weeks of my life,” Slade swore.

---