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Gunner - Silverback Redemption 1 Page 3
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And make sense, his bear added. She was a little out of it before. She’d need to be more coherent before we go off like an avenging angel.
She was a little out of it. She might not remember any of this. And don’t worry, I have no desire to be an avenging angel. They both had personal experience as to how that turned out. Neither of them wanted to go to that dark place again. Ever. Not even for their mate.
Gunner turned her gently onto her back and after checking her breathing, he began to examine her arms and legs. Focusing on each bone, and keeping alert for any sign of pain kept his mind off the rising panic inside him. There hadn’t been enough time for Jason to get here yet, he knew that, but his impatience bubbled up inside him.
Then he sensed it.
Gunner rose to his feet and stood protectively over his mate as the creature drew closer. He knew they existed, but he’d never seen one before. Not in real life at least.
Dragon, his bear breathed in awe.
There! Gunner pointed into the darkness as the large shadow loomed over them, blocking out the stars.
Magnificent. His bear could hold his own against any other shifter. Wolf, mountain lion, bear. But a dragon? They didn’t stand a chance.
The creature passed overhead and then circled around before landing a few hundred feet away. Gunner watched the silhouette of the dragon as it lowered its front leg and two people scrambled down to the ground. The first he recognized as Jason, the second was unfamiliar until he scrambled over the boulders with his medical bag in his hand.
“Kit! Thanks for coming at this time of night.” Gunner thrust his hand out to the doctor, who shook it as he walked past Gunner, his expression troubled as he looked down at the woman lying on the ground.
“No problem. When Jason called, he made it clear this was an emergency.” Kit placed his bag down on the ground and knelt beside it as he began examining Sadie.
“She has a nasty bump on the back of her head. Although, she seemed quite coherent and lucid at first, when she was talking to...” He gave a sheepish look. “My bear.”
“Your bear?” Jason asked.
“Yeah, I was running across the mountain and it was as if I was drawn to the place where she was.” Gunner shrugged. “I have no idea how she got there.”
“So this isn’t where you found her?” Jason asked, reaching for the backpack which laid on the ground next to her.
Gunner reached out and grabbed it first. Jason met his friend with a look of surprise. “Sorry, but whatever is in here, she asked me to get it to the authorities.”
“And you don’t trust me?” Jason asked levelly, but there was a hard edge to his voice.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you.” He tapped the pack. “What if…whatever is in here is something neither of us is supposed to see?”
“A conspiracy.” Jason rolled his eyes. “We haven’t had one of those for a long time.”
“I gave her my word I would hand it over to the authorities,” Gunner replied.
“Which leaves us with one problem.” Jason pressed his lips together.
“If you don’t know why she is here and what happened to her, how do you know if the authorities you hand the backpack over to aren’t the very people she was running from?” The dragon had shifted into an older woman, whose age he could not fathom. “I’m Fiona. And I’m your ride down this mountain.”
“Thanks for coming,” Gunner said and cursed himself. “That makes it sound as if you’ve just turned up at my birthday party.”
“To which I was not invited.” Fiona fixed him with a steely eye before she grinned. “Lighten up. I’m not going to eat you. Bear fur tends to get stuck in my teeth much like spinach.”
Jason laughed as he stood with his hands on his hips. “How is she, Doc?”
“Okay, the only injury seems to be the knock she received to her head. Her breathing is a little shallow and her pulse weaker than I’d like. We should get her to the hospital where I can run further tests.” Kit began putting his equipment back in his bag “I know you don’t want to invade her privacy by looking in the backpack, but what we do need is her name. So if there’s a chance there is some ID in that pack, someone is going to have to open it.”
“She told my bear her name is Sadie. But that’s not a lot of use since we don’t have her last name.” Gunner looked down at the pack and then grabbed the zipper and opened it. “A folder, a couple of memory sticks and a floppy disk.” He pulled out the floppy disk for them all to see.
“Those are almost as old as you, Fiona,” Kit joked.
“Almost. But not quite,” Fiona answered drily as she arched an eyebrow at the doctor.
“Who uses those anymore?” Jason asked.
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Gunner said as he slid it back inside. “No ID. But since there is also a change of clothes…that belong to a man, I’m going to assume this isn’t Sadie’s backpack.”
“That’s not much help.” Jason glanced down at Sadie. “Due to the circumstance Sadie was found and her need to get this information to the authorities, I’m assuming she’s on the run.”
“She asked me not to involve mountain rescue or the authorities,” Gunner told them.
“I thought you said she told you to get this backpack to the authorities?” Fiona asked. “Which is it?”
“She asked me to get the backpack to the authorities because she thought she was going to die on the mountain. Before that, she asked my bear if there was any way to get down off the mountain without informing them,” Gunner explained.
“She’s on the run.” Jason chewed his bottom lip as the dim light of dawn appeared on the horizon.
“Whatever we’re going to do, we need to do it fast while I can still fly unseen,” Fiona barked.
“Is there any way we can get her to the hospital and get the tests done without revealing her name?” Gunner asked.
“If she goes in as a Jane Doe, it’s hospital policy to alert the authorities in case she’s been reported missing and her family is looking for her.” Kit drew in a long breath. “Which they might be.”
“It’s too risky. Other people, people who want the information contained on that floppy disk, might also be looking for her.” Gunner’s mood darkened at the thought of anyone threatening his mate.
“They might be. Which is why we are going to take her to the hospital under a different name.” Kit looked down at Sadie. “We need someone around the same age.”
“I know someone we can ask. She’s relatively new in town so the hospital staff won’t recognize her,” Jason said. He glanced up at Kit. “And you’re okay with that?”
Kit’s jaw tightened. “My patient’s safety is paramount. So, I’m not going to say I’m happy about it. But I think it’s the right thing to do. Unless our sleeping beauty wakes up in the meantime and tells us differently.”
“Okay, let’s get moving,” Fiona said. “The sun rises early but so do some townsfolk. We need to get off the mountain before there is any chance someone might see a dragon flying over Bear Creek. These days everyone has a phone and can pluck it out and record me.” She didn’t sound very happy about the modern age, and Gunner longed to ask her about the old days, the really old days when men fought with swords and wore armor. But that could wait for another day. Right now, they needed less talking and more action.
“Can you carry us all down the mountain?” Gunner asked as he moved forward, ready to lift and carry his mate to where the dragon had landed and where he presumed, she would take off.
“That’s why I came,” Fiona said bluntly. “I’m old enough and strong enough to carry you all.”
“Come on, let’s get Sadie down off this mountain. Once she’s been examined, and she regains consciousness, you can figure out what happened here.” Kit picked up his stethoscope and other instruments as he watched Gunner pick Sadie up. “Try to keep her head supported and keep her warm.”
“Where are we flying to?” Gunner asked as he followe
d Fiona, with Sadie held protectively in his arms.
“We’re going back to The Happy Bear Club. Fiona can land in the parking lot and then we can go straight to the hospital.” Jason walked behind the others, his expression tense.
“Let’s hope there’s no one around to witness a dragon landing in the parking lot. I don’t think we’d ever be able to explain it away,” Gunner glanced down at Sadie, checking her breathing as Fiona put her hand up to stop the others in their tracks.
“Wait here. Kit, Jason, you know what to do.” With that, she strode forward another twenty feet before she stopped and the air around her shimmered and crackled.
We are about to watch a dragon shift, his bear said like an awestruck teenager.
We are. It’s not a thing we are ever likely to see again. He held Sadie close as his heart thundered in his chest, a mixture of nerves and excitement as the woman in front of them disappeared, but only for a split second. For almost immediately, a large shadow emerged from the darkness and filled their vision. It’s blank features slowly came into focus, a large body, and a sinewy, almost snake-like neck, on top of which sat a head with a large jaw, filled with sharp teeth.
She could bite our head off and spit it out, his bear muttered.
Best keep on the right side of her then, Gunner answered.
“Come on. She doesn’t like it if you stare,” Kit said as he rushed toward the dragon who was now fully formed, with a tail that swished like an angry cat.
Staring was one thing, getting on the back of a dragon was another. Particularly when until a half-hour ago, Gunner had no idea the mythical beasts really existed.
But then we also had no idea our mate actually existed until a couple of hours ago. Yet here she is.
As Gunner climbed onto the back of the dragon with his mate in his arms, he took a moment to consider whether this was all in his head and it was him who had fallen and hit his head.
As the dragon took off and flapped her wings to carry them through the night, Gunner knew if this was a dream, he never wanted to wake up. Not ever.
Chapter Four – Sadie
The wind rushed in her face, cold, refreshing, invigorating. She was alive.
Opening her eyes, her stomach lurched. Where the hell was she? Not only was the wind rushing in her face, but all around her, too. She was flying. But not on a plane. Or a helicopter.
A giant wing beat down next to her and her fingers tightened around the broad-chested man whose strong arms held her close as they flew through the night. Sadie turned her head a little to the left, as much as the pain in the back of her head allowed. They were high in the sky, flying over mountain peaks before skimming along the tree line of the valley below. A valley that led them over small houses dotted across the lower slopes of the mountains. Then on further on silent wings toward a small building in the distance. A building that grew bigger as they drew closer.
The Happy Bear Club. Was it some kind of stripper club?
Her eyes widened as the dragon wings altered their angle and flapped slowly, bringing them in to land. Sadie’s vision blurred and the tension in her head tightened like a vice. If there were dragon wings, then there must be a... dragon.
Large talons attached to large, birdlike feet led to long scaly legs and a massive winged body. And the head. Could the dragon breathe fire? If Sadie got off the dragon and made a run for it, would the dragon incinerate her on the spot?
Sadie pushed that thought out of her head. If the dragon meant her harm, it would have harmed her already, way up in the mountains where no one would find a trace of her.
She inched her head around and stared up at the man who cradled her in his arms. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn’t quite remember where she’d seen him before. There was something about his eyes.
Sadie tensed and the pain in her head intensified. Was he one of the men who had been sent to hurt her? She’d only gotten a fleeting look at them as they chased her out of her Professor Augustine’s house.
Her slight movement caught his attention and his head jerked around as he gazed down at her. Sadie closed her eyes and tried to relax. She didn’t need a confrontation with this man as the dragon came in to land.
Dragon. A wave of hysteria slid over her. She was riding on the back of a dragon in the arms of a man who may or may not be intent on harming her. Or worse.
Her backpack!
If they’d gotten their hands on Professor Augustine’s research, they didn’t need her alive. Sadie opened her eyes a sliver to check if he was still looking at her. No, his attention was drawn to the building in front of them as the dragon seemed to hover in mid-air before dropping to the ground and landing gracefully.
There it was, dangling from the wrist of the man holding her so tightly, so possessively. If she reached out, she could grab it, but that would alert him to the fact she’d regained consciousness. For now, she needed to bide her time and then grab the backpack and run.
“Okay, let’s get Sadie into the truck and straight to the hospital.” A younger man, maybe in his thirties, swung his leg over the side of the dragon and slid down its scaly side as easily as if he were dismounting a horse. Certainly, this was not his first time on the back of a dragon. Sadie’s curiosity got the better of her and she opened her eyes a little wider.
“Here, Gunner, I’ll hold her while you climb down onto Fiona’s leg and then I’ll pass her to you.” Another man, around mid-forties, maybe a little older, held out his arms. The man holding her, who she presumed was Gunner, hesitated, his arms tightening possessively around her for a fraction of a second before he leaned forward and passed her into the arms of the other man.
A peculiar sense of loss washed over Sadie. She wanted to turn around and scramble back toward Gunner who was now scrambling awkwardly down the side of the dragon and perching on her leg. Fiona’s leg. Sadie reminded herself the dragon had a name. Fiona. Who named a fire-breathing dragon Fiona?
It wasn’t the name she’d have picked for a creature capable of destroying anything in its path with its fiery breath. If dragons could breathe fire. Maybe that was the myth. Dragons might be real, but they weren’t fire-breathing monsters, instead they were tame creatures who did their master’s bidding.
“That’s it, lower her down, Jason. I’ll take her.” For a moment the world tilted sideways before Gunner’s strong arms closed around her and a sense of belonging hit her in the chest. Sadie lolled her head onto his chest, hoping it looked natural as he took her weight and then jumped down to the ground.
Jason slid down behind her and then turned to the dragon. “Thank you, Fiona, we owe you one.”
The dragon puffed smoke out of her nostrils and rolled her eyes before she crouched down, her muscles bunched like coiled springs. In one giant leap, she launched herself into the air and flew away, the four people she left in her wake pounded toward the ground with each downbeat of her wings.
“I would seriously hate to get on the wrong side of that woman,” Jason said, his eyes resting on Kit.
“Don’t look at me. She loves me like a son. And I try very hard to keep it that way.” He grinned as he swung his doctor’s bag in his hand. “Do you want me to grab the pack from you, Gunner?”
Gunner shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ve got it.”
“We’re getting straight in the truck anyway.” Jason indicated a truck parked in front of the bar and pulled out a set of keys.
“We should get going,” Kit confirmed. A warm hand touched Sadie’s cheek and she tensed. “The color has come back to Sadie’s cheeks, but she still needs to be checked over. I’m not sure how she got that bump on her head, but it’s pretty bad.”
“It’ll soon be light.” Jason looked toward the horizon where the warm glow of dawn held the promise of a beautiful day. “When we get to the hospital, I’ll call Lana and ask her if I can use her name.” He paused. “If we have to.”
“I thought we’d agreed…” Gunner’s voice faded away. Sadi
e had missed something.
She cracked her eye open a little wider. All three men were staring at her. “Where am I? And who are you?”
She could play the amnesia number, but that would just make things more complicated than they already were. These men were trying to help her, even though she was a stranger. The least she could do was level with them and try to keep them out of danger.
“Bear Creek. And we’re the people who got you down from the mountain.” Jason gave a half-smile then placed his hand on Gunner’s arm as the man who was carrying her opened his mouth to speak. “Before we get into how you managed to get lost on the mountain with a lump the size of a brick on the back of your head, our doctor wants to do some tests to check that you are okay.”
Sadie wriggled in Gunner’s arms. “You can put me down. I think I can walk on my own.” Her eyes strayed to the backpack. If she could grab the pack and Jason’s keys, she might be able to make a run for it in the truck. As her eyes locked with Jason’s, she realized he’d just read her thoughts and his hands clamped closed around the keys.
“Gunner can carry you to the truck.” Jason turned on his heel and strode toward the vehicle. “We might not know you but, we are trying to help you.” He flicked the keys in his hand and the truck’s lights flashed as it unlocked.
“Thank you. All of you.” Sadie’s stomach lurched as Kit pulled the rear passenger door open and Gunner set her down on the seat. “My head does not like being in a vertical position.” She placed her hand tentatively on the back of her head as pain radiated out.
“Now that you are conscious, I can give you something for the pain,” Kit said, placing his bag down on the front passenger seat. “But you need to be honest with me while I ask you a few questions.”
“Absolutely.” Sadie pressed her lips together as she nodded.
Kit went through the usual questions like are you pregnant. She shook her head and said a polite no, when she should have laughed and said, no chance. Her work had consumed her for so long she hadn’t thought about dating or sex for months. Maybe even years. Her life had become her work and her work had become her life.