shifter-based. And of a kind he’d never smelled before.
As if hearing his unspoken query, Gene, who’d reached the body first, said, “He’s a striped hyena. Real common for this part of the world. Dumber than shit too.”
“He’d have to be to attack us,” Brody replied as he arrived at a jog. “Was he alone?”
“Given furball over here has stopped roaring”—Gene inclined his head at Travis, who waved a paw—“and the fact Dr. Hawk, who likes to make an entrance, is perched pruning her tail feathers and probably thinking of how tasty your driver’s eyeballs are, I’d say the area is clear.”
“Only one guy? That’s not much of an attack,” Brody mused aloud.
“Less an attack and more a crime of opportunity, I’d wager. Hyenas are scavengers. Could be this one saw the lone Jeep and thought it would make an easy target.”
Jess let out a caw at that, and Travis chuffed. Easy? With Gene aboard, the guy had signed his death warrant the moment he fired the first shot.
But it did make his blood run cold to think Jess could have been hurt. Maybe killed.
It bothered him even more when she fluttered to the Humvee and shifted shapes, grabbing the clothes Layla handed her and quickly donning them.
Travis and the others quickly averted their gaze, but it burned him to note Frederick, off to the side, leaned against a boulder and smoked a cigarette, not bothering to hide the fact that he stared with a brooding expression at Jess.
Jealousy burned within, hot and bright. He didn’t even know he growled and that his fur bristled until Layla placed a hand on him and whispered, “Calm yourself, Travis. Like it or not, he’s the only one with a legal right to stare.”
He grumbled.
“I don’t like it either, but until Jess gives us permission or does something herself, we have to accept it. Or at least wait until there’s no witnesses.”
If Travis could have laughed, he would have. As it was, knowing he wasn’t alone in his contempt of the prick helped.
Once someone found him some clothes—because of course his duffel bag was in the Jeep that flew off the cliff—they were on their way, if a little crammed, in the Humvee, which could handle up to seven passengers but, given the size of the passengers, was cozy.
Yet Travis didn’t mind because on purpose, or by chance, he got to share the backseat with Jess, and when he brazenly squeezed his fingers around hers, she left them in his grip.
Best day ever.
Chapter Nine
Worse day ever.
Crammed into a vehicle, her outward appearance calm but her inner nerves quaking, Jess really doubted the wisdom of her choice in coming here. Only a few hours on the ground and she’d gone through too much turmoil.
First, she had to contend with her ugly confrontation with Freddy, and then, someone had tried to kill her. Well, not just her, the whole crew riding in the Jeep, but still, at the moment, all she could truly focus on was how close she’d come to dying.
If not for Gene’s excellent reflexes and the fact that she had wings, she’d have ended up dead. A splotch of red on jagged rocks thousands of miles from home.
And for what? Why? Because she foolishly thought confronting her husband would accomplish something. All it did was slap her in the face with the fact that her future stretched even bleaker and lonelier than expected.
The only bright light out of the day’s wretchedness? There was one person who seemed to really care if she lived or died. And surprise, it wasn’t her husband.
While Gene did his best to save her, the one who showed his true emotions was Travis. As the grizzly came barreling for the cliff, his roar and mad dash announced loudly and publicly how he felt toward her.
He cares about me. And he wasn’t afraid to show it.
Although to be fair, while a little more vocal and blatant in his display, he wasn’t alone. Actually, all of the men of Kodiak Point showed relief that she’d survived, slapping her on the back like one
As if hearing his unspoken query, Gene, who’d reached the body first, said, “He’s a striped hyena. Real common for this part of the world. Dumber than shit too.”
“He’d have to be to attack us,” Brody replied as he arrived at a jog. “Was he alone?”
“Given furball over here has stopped roaring”—Gene inclined his head at Travis, who waved a paw—“and the fact Dr. Hawk, who likes to make an entrance, is perched pruning her tail feathers and probably thinking of how tasty your driver’s eyeballs are, I’d say the area is clear.”
“Only one guy? That’s not much of an attack,” Brody mused aloud.
“Less an attack and more a crime of opportunity, I’d wager. Hyenas are scavengers. Could be this one saw the lone Jeep and thought it would make an easy target.”
Jess let out a caw at that, and Travis chuffed. Easy? With Gene aboard, the guy had signed his death warrant the moment he fired the first shot.
But it did make his blood run cold to think Jess could have been hurt. Maybe killed.
It bothered him even more when she fluttered to the Humvee and shifted shapes, grabbing the clothes Layla handed her and quickly donning them.
Travis and the others quickly averted their gaze, but it burned him to note Frederick, off to the side, leaned against a boulder and smoked a cigarette, not bothering to hide the fact that he stared with a brooding expression at Jess.
Jealousy burned within, hot and bright. He didn’t even know he growled and that his fur bristled until Layla placed a hand on him and whispered, “Calm yourself, Travis. Like it or not, he’s the only one with a legal right to stare.”
He grumbled.
“I don’t like it either, but until Jess gives us permission or does something herself, we have to accept it. Or at least wait until there’s no witnesses.”
If Travis could have laughed, he would have. As it was, knowing he wasn’t alone in his contempt of the prick helped.
Once someone found him some clothes—because of course his duffel bag was in the Jeep that flew off the cliff—they were on their way, if a little crammed, in the Humvee, which could handle up to seven passengers but, given the size of the passengers, was cozy.
Yet Travis didn’t mind because on purpose, or by chance, he got to share the backseat with Jess, and when he brazenly squeezed his fingers around hers, she left them in his grip.
Best day ever.
Chapter Nine
Worse day ever.
Crammed into a vehicle, her outward appearance calm but her inner nerves quaking, Jess really doubted the wisdom of her choice in coming here. Only a few hours on the ground and she’d gone through too much turmoil.
First, she had to contend with her ugly confrontation with Freddy, and then, someone had tried to kill her. Well, not just her, the whole crew riding in the Jeep, but still, at the moment, all she could truly focus on was how close she’d come to dying.
If not for Gene’s excellent reflexes and the fact that she had wings, she’d have ended up dead. A splotch of red on jagged rocks thousands of miles from home.
And for what? Why? Because she foolishly thought confronting her husband would accomplish something. All it did was slap her in the face with the fact that her future stretched even bleaker and lonelier than expected.
The only bright light out of the day’s wretchedness? There was one person who seemed to really care if she lived or died. And surprise, it wasn’t her husband.
While Gene did his best to save her, the one who showed his true emotions was Travis. As the grizzly came barreling for the cliff, his roar and mad dash announced loudly and publicly how he felt toward her.
He cares about me. And he wasn’t afraid to show it.
Although to be fair, while a little more vocal and blatant in his display, he wasn’t alone. Actually, all of the men of Kodiak Point showed relief that she’d survived, slapping her on the back like one
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