Page 49 of Sweeter Than Honey
“There!” Desi gestured to a pile of rocks blocking their path a few yards ahead. They drove as close as they could, got out, and surveyed the area. Rocks had tumbled clear over the side on the left while a hill of rubble formed in the center and eased up the right side of the mountain. There was no way around it. They’d have to go over.
Jett started to climb, Desi beside him. Focusing on the task at hand, he didn’t allow his mind to wander, to think about what if’s. They’d almost reached the top when rocks kicked down from above. A burly man appeared at the top, King of the Mountain style. He glowered down at them. His scent pinned him as one of the shifter’s whose blood-stained Jett’s yard. Sure enough, he had a gash in the side of neck.
“I got this.” Desi stood and gave a violent shake. His body quivered, breaking and snapping all his human pieces as he morphed into his bear. In a blink, Desi transformed his body into a rolling mass of muscle and hide. Thick, glossy pale brown fur gleamed in the sunlight, his canine teeth bared into dagger points when he opened his mouth and roared. Standing on his hind legs, Desi pushed forward and lunged at the man, taking him down at the ankles before he had a chance to shift. They tumbled backward and out of sight.
Jett scrambled to the top, instinctively looking for the van down the side of the mountain to his left. There! A glint in the sun caught his eye. Movement from the right pulled his attention as a fully shifted grizzly charged him. It ran remarkably steadily on the rock, its huge feet digging into the surface and kicking smaller rocks away as it propelled forward. Jett cursed his lack of shift and hefted a boulder between his hands, lifted it over his head, and launched it at the bear’s head. It struck the bear in the shoulder.
The bear faltered, shook violently, and kept coming. Jett grabbed another small boulder but didn’t have time to launch it before the bear was on him. Tossing it to the side, he met the beast head on, grabbing the fur at the neck and holding on as the bear attempted to wrap him in a death hug. Jett drove his fist into the side of the bear’s snout. The animal roared, his paws swiping. A claw caught Jett in the hip, ripping through his jeans and the flesh over his hip bone. Gritting his teeth, he punched again. The bear’s mouth flap ripped open against his teeth. Jett let go and jumped to his feet, grabbed a rock, and pummeled it at the bear’s head. The animal backed up, shaking its head, trying to get its bearings. Desi came out of nowhere, digging his claws into his opponent’s hindquarters and dragging him down the rock pile.
Turning back to the van, Jett assessed where Cara’s captors had attempted to slide down to reach the van. Rivulets of loosened rock displayed where they’d tried to walk, each attempt pushing more and more loose rock on top of the van. One heavy enough misplaced boulder could push the van from its resting place and send it careening down the side of the mountain.
From his vantage point, he couldn’t see what position the van was in. Looking around, he spied Jere’s trucks parked a few yards away. One was a large utility truck with a roll of chain on the back. If he could hook onto that chain, he could use it to guide himself carefully down the embankment to the van.
Desi and the other shifter were tearing into each other, blocking Jett’s access to the truck. Another shifter appeared in Jett’s path. Then another.
Jett ground his jaw. He might not be able to take them all down himself in his human form, but he sure as hell was going to try. He’d die before he allowed them to keep trying to get to Cara.
Inhaling deeply, he focused on pulling in her scent. It was there, warm and sweet and as much as he wanted to call out to her to see if she was injured, he didn’t dare. Any loud noise could set off another avalanche.
The shifters advanced on him. Jett steeled himself, his hands clenching into fists. The first bear body slammed into him, driving him back against the rocks. Jett groaned as pain clawed at his spine. The animal’s body weight crushed him against the rocks, suffocating and crushing him. Jett pressed his feet against the bear’s belly and pushed with all his strength. The animal moved back just enough for Jett to roll and free himself. Pushing to his feet, he squared off, ready for another blow when a streak of black crossed from the right and plowed into the bear. Estes shifters advanced from the woods, easily pushing the rogue shifters back. A surge of pride and gratitude welled in Jett’s chest. Leaving his pack to the fight, he hurried to Jere’s men where they waited in their vehicle.
He waved at the man hauling the excavator and yelled when the window rolled down. “Can you hook onto that van?”
“Need to get the chain underneath it. Then we can steady it.”
“I’ll do it.”
The man scratched his head as if he couldn’t believe any of this was happening and tossed a safety harness out the window. The sound of gears warming up was loud in Jett’s ears as he slipped into the harness and connected it to a safety strap hooked to a winch on the front of the truck. A thick chain with a hook on the end dangled from the end of a much larger winch on the side of the utility truck. He grabbed it and pulled it along behind him as he began a slow, careful descent down the embankment. Getting closer, he realized the van was upright, facing backwards, and surrounded by fallen rock. It rested against the lip of a narrow cliff. Heart pounding, he measured each step, careful not to dislodge large rocks that could upset the balance and send boulders crashing into the van.
Sweat rolled into his eyes and his shirt clung to him by the time he reached the van. The front was lifted off the ground, wedged by a flat boulder beneath the frame. Hooking here would be almost impossible. Swinging himself to the driver’s side window, Jett rapped on the glass. The window was foggy, a good sign! Someone was breathing inside. He didn’t know if a shifter was inside with her, but it was a chance he had to take.
“Cara,” he called out calmly, evenly. “Can you roll the window down?”
His throat clenched, his heart beat double-time. If she didn’t answer in three more seconds, he was going to break the glass—
A hand pressed against the window seconds before it rolled down a crack. “Jett?”
Her voice was small, weak. Cautious. He slipped his hand through the opening in the window, grappling for her fingers. She touched him; her fingertips cold as they meshed with his. The window came down more and more until he could see her dirt-streaked face.
Relief burst inside him.
She was pale and drawn, eyes red-rimmed and swollen.
“Jett! Please get us out.”
Us?
Someone shouted his name from up top. Jett glanced up just in time to see two bears struggling on the edge. One flung onto the side, his massive body rolling and crashing into two huge rocks. The rocks broke free and careened straight toward the van while the bear’s body tumbled past him and over the cliff edge.
Jett’s heart leapt into his throat. The rocks bounced over smaller ones, their paths changing as one went around the van. But the second rock set off an even larger boulder. It rolled like a cue ball into the front of the van.
The van lurched backward, the rocks piled around it broke free and cascaded over the edge. Cara screamed, her hand breaking free from Jett’s. He was forced to swing out of the way to avoid getting struck.
The van stopped moving, one of the back tires hanging over the cliff’s edge.
“Cara,” he hollered. She appeared back at the door. “I need you to climb out the window. Hurry.”
The door wasn’t blocked but he was afraid the movement of opening it would set the van back into motion.
