Alright, Beast, Jacob thought. Let’s see what kind of fight you’ve got left in you.
Gold flashed in Jacob’s eyes and he fell onto his hands and knees with a groan. When he lifted his head, he wore a black bear’s shaggy face, and he roared.
Chapter 71
Holly’s Buggy bounced down the highway, headlights jerking in the haze of the sunset. In her pocket, she could feel the cold metal of the talisman she’d found in the hollowed-out knot in the weeping willow tree. The necklace was ragged, the rope around it frayed, but the six-pointed star shone clearly, opaque gemstone shimmering in the middle.
She gasped as she felt a sudden pain shoot through her, burning the side of her neck, and her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Holly glanced briefly in the rearview mirror and saw the mark on her neck. Her mark. It was flaring up. Which meant one thing: Jacob was in trouble. Holly shifted gears and the Buggy zipped forward at full speed, winding down the empty highway.
Dear God, please. Let me not be too late.
Chapter 72
The bear and cougar clashed, locked together in a vicious fight. He had heft on his side, hard, solid strength, but she moved fluidly, like water, dodging his blows, hissing, and leaping over him to swipe her long claws down his back. She dug in through his fur, hitting skin between his shoulders and ripping, which made his Beast snarl in pain. He twisted around and got on his haunches to throw her back against the wall. She yowled and swiped at him, claws gleaming. They struggled there for a moment before she wiggled out of his grasp and leapt over him. Almost made it, too, except his jaws snapped in the air and caught her tail. She yowled in a loud, animal cry as he dragged her across the cave floor. He tasted fur, felt her teeth on the back of his neck, and finally had to let go.
When she pounced off, they circled each other, panting. Jacob could see Brent, pressed as flat up against the wall as possible, watching. The cougar was bleeding, red blood staining her pristine fur. But so was he; he could feel it hot on his skin, and his back leg felt damaged, so he limped on it.
Her eyes locked on his, irises singed with gold fire. They were both winding down and they knew it. The muscles in his legs burned and he grunted as he panted, straining for new breath to relieve the ache in his lungs. Soon, one of them was going to drop their guard or fall to exhaustion, and when they did, the other would go in for the kill. Jacob shook off, his fur rippling behind him, and braced himself. Someone was going to fall, and it wasn’t going to be him.
She drew back her lips to bare her teeth and hissed loudly, her tail whipping around behind her.
Then he saw it. Easy to miss but, only for a second, her gaze shifted to Brent huddled in the corner before snapping back to Jacob. Of course. The cougar could fight, but her real strength was psychological warfare, and she’d just landed sights on the one thing that might make Jacob lose his steely control.
They moved at the same time—she made a quick dash to Brent, helplessly stuck in his human form, while Jacob barked a warning and lunged. Brent yelped and scrambled back as far as his chain would let him until it was taut against the cave wall. The cougar swiped a paw at him, claws extended, but Jacob slammed into her before she could get to Brent. In the collision, his mouth closed over soft cougar throat. She howled, hissed, and clawed at him, struggling to get away, but he only clamped on tighter until she began to choke. Now I’ve got you. He trapped the large cat in his strong jaws and shook her, hard, before releasing her again.
She skittered across the stone floors, body tumbling, rolling. It’d been a long time since Jacob had been in his bear form, and he hadn’t realized his own strength. He hadn’t anticipated that he’d throw her so hard and far that her back legs would lose ground over the lip of the cave.
The cougar let out a yowl. Her black claws screeched against the rock floor, chipping small lines into the stone. They snagged before she went all the way over and she twisted on the edge, mewling, ears flat back on her head in panic as she tried to claw her way back up.
A rush of pity swept through Jacob. An all-too-human instinct to help someone in trouble. Her golden eyes faded to brown as they locked on his pleadingly.
His bear, however, lifted his head, immune to her manipulations. He smelled the ocean below, salty and inviting. He licked his snout.
The cougar hissed, gold eyes flashing venomously one last time before she lost traction. Her paws slipped and she vanished from the cliff face entirely. The bear heard a descending yowl, and then nothing. Silence, except for the crashing waves below.
Chapter 73
Holly got out of the Buggy—driver’s door left open in her rush—and was already halfway to the estate when she heard the yowl. Her head snapped to where it originated, but she saw nothing, only the edge of the cliff upon which the estate overlooked the ocean. She tightened her fingers around the talisman, keeping it close. Holly stepped closer to the edge of the cliff and caught the sound of voices on the wind.