When he let the shift come over him, his instincts would grow stronger, his more rational mind suppressed by them to a degree. Meaning, chances were high that he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to attempt to take out all the men in one go in order to rescue his fated female. His instincts as her destined mate were strong enough in his human form, drove him wild with a need to save her, but he was in control, wouldn’t let them overwhelm him and make him do something reckless. In this form, he could keep his head on straight and remain rational, thinking things through before acting. He thought he could anyway.
Time was going to tell on that one.
The longer it took him to get Skye away from the males, the harder it was going to be to remain in control. He clenched his fists and focused on his breathing, on resisting the urge to shift and tear through the males in his bear form. He couldn’t do that. As much as he hated it, he had to be cautious, careful, and take things slowly. Rescuing Skye was his priority, but he wouldn’t risk getting her caught in the crossfire. He couldn’t risk her being injured.
If he went thundering into the middle of the men in his bear form, they would start firing at him, and while he could take a bullet or two and survive, Skye couldn’t. One stray bullet might end her life.
And gods, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he lost her because he had given in to his instincts and surrendered control to his bear side.
So as hard as it was for him, as painful as it was, he had to remain in control. He had to. For Skye’s sake.
And for his own sake too.
Because he couldn’t have that second chance he wanted with her—the future he wanted with her—if he got her killed.
Voices in the distance had his head turning towards the direction they were coming from and his mind clearing as he focused on his surroundings again. Skye. As he had hoped, she had found the trail he had left and had brought the males this way.
Knox ducked down behind the boulder, his vision sharpening to cut through the gloom as darkness fell.
Waiting to strike.
Chapter 6
Skye tried not to think about the fact that Knox was out there in the forest, tried not to hope that he was going to save her from this mess, and tried not to worry that he might try to do just that and get himself hurt. He had directed her towards the place she had intended to lead the men, a lone cabin that sat further up the valley, one that, as far as she knew, hadn’t been used in a long time.
Were Karl’s friends there?
This woman he was hunting?
Her pulse hammered in her throat as she walked. No matter how hard she tried to keep calm, adrenaline and fear had her heart racing and it was beginning to take its toll. She was tired, treading dangerously close to doing something very unlike her.
She wasn’t going to cry, dammit. She just wasn’t.
Fine, tears might have burned the backs of her eyes and stung her nose when she had seen it really was Knox in the woods with her and not an illusion, and when he had made it clear that he wanted to help her and knew she was in trouble.
But not a single one had fallen.
She wasn’t the sort to cry about things, hadn’t been for a long time now. She had left that part of her behind, had toughened up in the years she had been alone, making her way solo in this world.
The last time she had cried had been when her brother had died.
Skye grimaced. That wasn’t exactly true. She might have cried a little because of Knox. But only a little. Two or three tears tops. She had pulled her shit together and turned those tears into fury fuel, condensing them into a blazing anger that had made her feel a lot better—and a lot worse at the same time.
That rage still burned inside her even now, had roared back to the fore when she had gotten a good look at Knox. Damned stupid, gorgeous Knox. She harnessed it, used it to stoke her courage so she could keep going and as a shield, one that would hopefully make her appear confident and not at all scared of the four armed men behind her. She figured if she could appear as if she was taking this all in her stride, that it could only be a good thing.
Karl didn’t strike her as the sort of man who tolerated whimpering, trembling women on the verge of an emotional breakdown. He would probably turn violent with her if the courage she was clinging to failed her and fear got the better of her.
Worse, Wade struck her as the sort of guy who was looking for any excuse to get close to her. She had met plenty of men like him in her time running a bar and could spot the tells. He was itching for a reason to get his hands on her and comforting her would be the perfect excuse.
She carefully scanned the woods, making sure she didn’t move her head too much, so she didn’t alert Karl or his men to what she was doing. No sign of Knox. Where had he gone? Was he armed?
She still couldn’t believe he was up here in the valley in the dead of winter.
Really couldn’t believe that he had just happened to run across her, not when they were still miles away from the nearest cabin.
What was he doing up here?
She pondered that as she wove around a tree, frowned at the ground and stepped over the sprawling roots that had broken through the dirt in places and peeked out of the snow. Part of her hadn’t believed the rumours that said he lived up in the valley, stories she had heard when he had disappeared on her and had asked around about him. Those stories said he didn’t live alone either. A few other men she was familiar with from their visits into town lived up here too.
How much of those rumours were true? Was he alone up in this valley or did others live here too? Did they live together, like some sort of hunter community? When she had asked Knox whether he hunted, he had confessed that he took the odd moose here and there for food, but that trophy hunting wasn’t his scene. Maybe not a hunter community then. Plenty of people in these parts came here to live a quiet life away from the fast pace of the cities and towns. Maybe he was one of those people.
Maybe he was in hiding.
She glanced back at Karl, pretending to check whether the men were following her. What if Karl was lying and had mentioned that he was looking for a woman because it would curry favour with Skye and make her more inclined to help them? What if the one he was really looking for was Knox?
Knox had always held his cards close to his chest, had never really revealed anything too personal about himself in the times they had talked at her bar.
Because he had a secret?
Because he was in trouble with the mob or whoever Karl worked for?
Her legs shook at the sudden wave of adrenaline that swept through her and she faced front again, had to clench her hands to stop them from shaking as her mind raced and fear flooded her. If Karl was after him, then she needed to lead him and his men away from Knox rather than towards him.
Unless.
Unless Knox had a plan and meant to take them all down.
Christ, the thought he might intend to kill Karl and the others turned her stomach, but at the same time, a small part of her wanted him to do it. If it meant she survived this, if it meant he survived it, then she would gladly help him take out Karl and his men.
She swallowed hard.
Was she really going to do this?
The sound of running water caught her attention and she quickened her pace, frowning into the distance as she tried to tell where it was coming from.
“Hey!” Karl barked.
She froze and raised her hands, her heart lodging in her throat as fear he would shoot her blasted through her.