Jasper yelled, as did the witch on the ground, both jumping up and putting their bodies between the darts and Nessa.
Bear roared and leaped through the air, taking ten darts in the chest. He kept going, rushing the shooter and bashing him back against the truck. Rage took hold of Bear, and he snapped his teeth through the wolf shifter's neck, decapitating the bastard with one righteous bite.
The head rolled away.
Bear turned around just as his helicopter made a fast descent behind the truck. He shook out his fur and stood on his hind legs, shifting back into human form with barely a twinge of pain. "Load them up," he yelled.
His men shifted quickly and ran for the injured witches, rapidly loading them into the waiting helicopter. A couple had taken more than one dart, but Nessa had helped to heal them. Bear loaded the last witch into the helicopter and leaned around to talk to the pilot. "Take them to the Realm hospital north of Vancouver." Canada offered the best hospital nearby.
The pilot nodded.
Bear ducked and hurried from the helicopter, the scent of Irish roses filling his head and unadulterated fury filling his body.
Garrett and Logan pulled up in a four-wheeler, quickly dispensing the clothes that had been left at the garage.
Bear didn't give a fuck about his clothes. His mate had come out into pure danger, a place where darts flew, against his express orders. Worse yet, the lies she'd told him still poisoned his gut. It hurt, and he hated hurting. He found her standing near a tree, her face pale, her eyes wide.
There was a lesson to be taught. Now.
Adrenaline ripped through his body, intensified by the anger heating his blood. Stalking toward her, he slowly pulled out each of the ten darts still stuck in his flesh, one at a time.
She turned even paler.
Finally, he reached her and grabbed her arm. "Let's go."
Chapter 24
The ride back to the cabin was made in total silence. Nessa tried to concentrate on the mystery of wolves being after her. Why wolves?
Bear had ordered his soldiers to find out how the hell wolves had ended up on his property, while Nessa had sent Jasper to check on the rest of the troops and then answer the same question. He'd looked at her with concern, but she'd given a clear order, so he'd followed it.
Why would wolf shifters have Apollo darts, and why would they want her dead? They'd attacked witches on the perimeter. Were they trying to get inside to her? They'd certainly focused their darts on her the second she'd been recognized.
Nessa tried to focus on these very important questions, but the half-naked male driving the vehicle all but commanded her attention. For once, there was no give on his face or in the lines of his body: no humor, no laziness, no amusement.
Bear McDunphy was pissed. Not pissed-furious. Was there a word past fury? Rage? No. Rage connoted out-of-control behavior.
Bear was one hundred percent in control. Cold, methodical, deadly. And pissed.
God, was he pissed.
She swallowed over a huge lump in her throat. Her breath came in shallow gasps, and her lungs felt as if a belt was banded around them. Okay. She was tough and trained, the leader of a police force. Sure, she worked mainly from a desk creating strategy and not fighting on the front lines, but still.
Her hands trembled.
His anger filled the small space, heating her skin. Steam came off his wet jeans as they dried, and his bare chest was already dry. Probably from the fury inside him.
Freezing rain hit the top of the plastic cover, making it fog inside. She tried to logically work through what was scaring her. All right.
He'd ordered her to stay in the office.
She didn't take orders from him.
He'd wanted her to stay away from the poison darts.
Her soldiers were fighting, so she couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
He'd had the situation pretty much under control.
She hadn't known that.
By the time they reached the cabin, she'd worked up a good dose of self-righteousness. Without a word, she jumped out of the vehicle, her boots sliding on the icy ground. Regaining her footing, she stood straight. "This is ridiculous."
He paused and then shut his door, facing her across the front of the four-wheeler. "Get inside." His voice was a low growl.
The rain slashed against her hair and pelted her arms, chilling her. But she didn't care. She lifted her face. "No."
He changed. Nothing obvious, but something shifted beneath his skin, something more than just the bear shifter inside him. His eyes flashed black. "Excuse me?"
Her knees went weak. So her spine snapped straight. In that moment, she realized she was actually afraid of him. That thought, that one simple thought, exploded her temper as nothing else could have. She flung out her arms, stomping around the vehicle. "You are not the boss of me, so just lose the attitude," she screamed through the sleet.