Page 11 of Grumpy Special Ops Bear: Ep. 3
I turned my eyes toward hers and stared into their depths. I still had so much I needed to tell her. Hell, I didn’t even know that much about her. In that moment, all I wanted to do was shift back into human form, profess the truth, and take her somewhere quiet where we could be alone and I could finish what we’d started, see where a single kiss could get us.
“Fergus, you’re kinda freaking me out here.” Her grip tightened on my fur.
After another moment, I shook my head, and we kept on walking. I tried to keep my thoughts to myself because I knew the others could hear them. We needed to find a distraction before what I was thinking turned into what I hoped might happen.
The last thing Trinity needed to hear on top of everything else was that she was my fated mate.
I was pretty sure I’d get smacked again—hard.
Chapter 7
Trinity
After Fergus had shiftedinto his animal form, it didn’t take long for us to find a herd of elk. Fergus grunted. Cutter lumbered his way back to wait with me as Grant and Fergus headed off to get their kill.
For a minute, I thought I wouldn’t be able to watch, that it would be like observing the wolf pack kill all over again. But it was entirely different. Grant and Fergus worked together as they edged around the herd. When they charged forward, most of the elk took off, but Grant and Fergus separated one. When Fergus went in for the kill, he aimed for the neck and bit down, and I heard the loud snap. He’d broken its neck. The elk was dead. It was a clean and humane kill.
I let out the breath I’d been holding and told myself to relax.
Fergus dragged the body, and we headed back to our campsite.
Once the three bears shifted back into men and got dressed, Grant went about preparing the elk so Cutter could cook it. They chatted and joked quietly back and forth as I watched, content to be near them with the warmth of the fire in front of me. A knife landed at my feet, and I jumped, looking over at Fergus across the fire.
“Let’s go,” he announced.
I glanced from the knife to the determined look on his face. “And do what?”
“You need to learn to fight or at least how to defend yourself.”
Gingerly, I picked up the knife and then glanced at the gun holstered at his shoulder. “With a knife? Why can’t I just have a gun?”
His lips narrowed to a thin line, but he pulled out the handgun and came around the fire. “Hit the target, and I’ll let you use it.”
Easy enough, I thought, getting to my feet and trading the knife for the gun.
It was big in my small hands but not uncomfortable. “All right, what am I hitting?”
I looked around at the trees and knew I could make a shot without a problem, until Fergus got my attention and pointed to what he wanted me to shoot.
“That? How am I supposed to hit that shit?”
High in the trees, ravens were flying from one branch to another.
“You act like you can shoot. Prove it. Hit a moving target, and then maybe you can have the gun.”
I glared at him, and then I raised the gun and aimed. I slowly squeezed the trigger. Three quick rounds popped off. Nothing fell dead to the ground.
Shit.
I’d missed the birds. “I can’t hit a moving target,” I grumbled.
Damn, this is harder than I thought it would be.
“Then you can’t have the gun.” He gently took it from my hands.
“The wolves are bigger targets,” I argued. “I could hit them easily.”In the head, ass, and flank. I wouldn’t miss those fucking shots.
Fergus shook his head as he handed me the knife again and backed away. “Shifters aren’t as easy to kill as humans. Hit them in two spots—head and heart—if you want to kill them. Both targets are moving, and shifters are faster than any raven.”
