Page 20 of Run Free

“That is six, by the way. I know you were a little concerned with my intelligence for a minute there.”

I smirked and shook my head. She was a snarky one.

I didn’t know what the hell had just happened, but she was here now, and so were the others. The faster we got through this project the sooner I could leave. I looked down at the new sheet I’d been handed and quickly got my new team back to work.

I couldn’t help but watch Clara as she worked. She was a doctor, so I knew this wasn’t her type of thing. I thought she’d give up after an hour in the sun, but she stuck it out the rest of the day. I pushed them even harder than I should have just to see what she’d do.

Not once did Clara complain. She was hot and sweaty and looking sexier than hell when we finished the day. My dry mouth watered at the sight of her. I pushed it aside and headed off without a word. I’d been sleeping in my fur in the den we’d restored, but I didn’t want her to know that, so I went for a walk around the park instead.

Dave waved at me from the Safari section and ran over to meet me. “So? How did it go today?”

I rolled my eyes. “Was that your doing?’

He grinned. “No, it was Clara.”

“But she wouldn’t even have known I was there if you hadn’t told her,” I pointed out.

He smirked. “She knew you were here the second she finally stopped sulking and walked outside. Mating bond, remember?”

I groaned. I hadn’t considered that the fact I could sense her and pick out her scent anywhere, or how I seemed to know exactly where she was at any given time, would work two ways. Did she really know where I was all the time too?

“Well?” Dave asked. “How did it go?”

“Really well, actually. We got a lot accomplished for the tigers. Clara worked the entire day. I pushed her even harder than the others and she didn’t once complain about it.”

He laughed. “I’m not surprised to hear that. Her job is, first and foremost, the animals. But once they are secured and tended to, she always sticks around to help. She won’t leave until she knows they are all safe. She’s as much an animal activist as veterinarian. She’s been moping around here all week. It’ll do her some good to get pushed out of her shell, but don’t think you’ll break her. You won’t.”

“Sounds like a challenge to me!”

He winked at me and walked away. I was discovering there was even more to my mate than I originally thought. I knew she was smart and beautiful, kind and caring, but the way she had worked hard and without complaint made me admire her even more.

Clara

Chapter 12

My body ached all over. It wasn’t that I didn’t do manual labor, but it was just that I had refused to cave no matter what Gage threw my way. I knew he was testing me, trying to break me. I didn’t fully understand why, but my wolf refused to back down. I had taken a hot shower, and then the second I got back to my room, behind closed doors, I’d shifted to my wolf to heal my overextended muscles faster. It helped. I knew I would have been hurting a whole lot worse, but the next morning I was still sore.

With a groan, I dragged myself out of bed and did it all over again, a smile on my face.

Working close to Gage was everything to me. He turned out to be a great leader and the project I’d given him was moving at a much faster pace than any of us had suspected possible. Mostly because I refused to back down from the insane pace he pushed us. None of the others complained, either. I knew if I cracked even a little, that would all change.

It wasn’t that he just pushed us, though. He motivated the team and worked just as hard by our sides. Everyone wanted to see the project through as he reminded us how much happier the tigers would be when we were done.

“It’s looking great,” I got up the courage to tell him on our third day. I had let my actions speak for me, unsure of how to approach him or what to say to him. I didn’t know him, yet a part of my heart belonged to him. It was a strange and overwhelming feeling and I was still terrified he really would leave when we were done.

“It really is,” he said with admiration and pride in his voice as he looked around at all we’d accomplished. “I hate seeing any animal in captivity, but if this is the life they are destined for, at least we can give them five-star accommodations, right?”

I smiled. “That’s exactly how I’ve come to think of it. It breaks my heart to leave them behind. Every single mission slays me a little more, but I have to hold on to the fact that most of them were born in captivity. They wouldn’t survive in the wild, so I give them the best chance at a good life as I possibly can,” I confessed. I had never admitted that to anyone before.

I saw emotions wash over Gage’s face as he studied me, like I was a puzzle he couldn’t yet see. “You really care about these animals, don’t you?”

I gave a short laugh. “Of course. Why else would I get involved in something like this?” We had never really talked. I wanted to know so much about him, but I also wanted him to know me, and this seemed like a great opportunity to start. I dove right in. “I come from Collier Pack in Wyoming. It’s a farming community of shifters. If I just wanted to practice medicine, I’d open my own practice back home. I like knowing I’m helping these animals, and on occasion, shifters, too. Animals are one thing, but to find shifters locked in cages angers me so much. I go into every job knowing it’s a possibility.”

He looked horrified and I shut up, realizing what I’d said. He knew the horrors of being trapped in a cage. Tears pricked my eyes at the memory of watching the videos of what they’d done to him while he was here.

He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. Was he embarrassed? That was the feeling I got as he said a quick goodbye and ran off, leaving me standing there, alone.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to him again all morning, but when we broke for lunch, I saw Gage walk towards the lake with his meal. I grabbed mine and a cold bottle of water and followed. It was out of my comfort zone to chase a guy, but Gage wasn’t just any guy.

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