Smokejumpers Werebear 3: Finch and Jessica Read online

  She leaned back on her bed, too excited to sleep, and replayed every moment of their night together, trying to remember every detail. The feel of his jeans under her hand, the smell of the woods at night, even the hard curve of the rock under her legs, but especially the kiss. Kisses to be exact. It was her first kiss and it did not disappoint. It was sweet and sexy. Romantic and hot. She licked her lips remembering how his silky tongue felt on hers. It was all to unreal.

  A loud thump erupted upstairs like a gun shot and then Kai cursed. She squeezed the pillow in her hands as she heard footsteps getting louder.

  “No,” she gasped as the lock clicked and the door ripped open. Kai flew down the stairs, holding a towel in his hands.

  “What the hell is this?” he roared, holding it up to her. Jessica buried her mouth in her pillow and stared at her toes.

  “Did you take a shower?” he asked. She forgot to hide her towel.

  “I’m sorry,” she said like a scared mouse. “It had been a week. I stunk.”

  “What did I tell you about leaving the basement?” he asked, sticking his face in hers, forcing her to look into his chilling green eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” she repeated under her breath.

  He stood up and stared down at her with his arms crossed. “I try to do what’s best for you,” he said, throwing the towel against the wall, “and this is how you repay me. I’m trying to teach you a lesson. So one day you can exist without bringing the family shame.”

  There was dirt on Jessica’s feet from the forest. She slowly crossed her legs, hiding her betraying feet under her thighs. Kai didn’t notice.

  He stormed into the corner of the basement and shuffled through some boxes, throwing them around. He came back holding a chain with two locks. Jessica’s eyes went wide.

  “Give me your wrist,” he ordered. Jessica held out her hand, knowing better than to argue with him when he was like this.

  He slapped the chain around her wrist and locked it tightly in place. He wrapped the other end around the frame of the bed and locked it as well.

  Jessica held back tears as she stared at the chain locking her to the bed like a dog. She would have to miss tonight’s meeting with Finlay. That’s what hurt the most.

  “One day you’ll thank me for this,” Kai said, tugging on the chain, making sure that it was solid. “I can’t leave such disobedience unpunished. No food for twenty four hours.”

  He headed back to the stairs and stopped at the bottom and turned around. “You bring this on yourself,” he said shaking his head. “Pathetic.” He stomped up the stairs leaving her alone in the dark.

  Jessica stared at the shackles around her wrist and tried to hold in her tears. This was her destiny. Not Finlay. Not love. This. As long as her brother was around this was her life.

  Tears flowed down her cheeks falling onto her green shirt. She wouldn’t bring Finlay any further into this than she already had. It wasn’t fair to him.

  She did bring this on herself. She was pathetic.

  From now on she wouldn’t disobey Kai anymore. When Finlay came back tonight she would tell him to leave and to never come back.

  four

  Finch breathed in the smell of grilled sausage and smiled. His stomach grumbled in anticipation. He lifted up the can of maple syrup and drowned his plate in the sweet, sugary liquid. He licked his lips and glanced up. Keene was staring at him from across the picnic table in camp with a scowl on his face.

  “I liked you better when you were miserable,” he said.

  Keene snatched the maple syrup out of Finch’s hand and turned it over onto his plate. One drop fell out of the empty can onto his sausages.

  Finch grinned. “There’s more in that maple tree over there,” he said pointing to a large tree behind the cabins that was basking in the sunshine.

  Keene crushed the can in his meaty hand and tossed it over his shoulder onto the grass.

  Beckett was watching the exchange with a look of curiosity. Finch made a mental note to tone down his happiness level or the boss would start to get suspicious.

  He decided to change the subject. “Where’s Alexi?” he asked Ellis.

  “She stayed in bed this morning,” he answered, swirling his oatmeal around with his spoon. “She’s not feeling well.”

  “I heard her yacking this morning,” Quint said. “Does she have food poisoning or something?”

  “It’s not food poisoning,” Sander snapped. He was the camp chef and took grave offense to anyone criticizing his meals.

  “I’m going to go check on her,” Ellis said, staring past them at his cabin. He was very antsy and kept pinching the skin on his neck.

  “Just leave her be Ellis,” Amanda said. “No woman wants the man she has sex with watching her while she pukes. I’ll go see if she’s okay.”

  “Thanks babe,” Beckett said as she stood up. “I’ll make you a fresh, hot breakfast and coffee when you get back.”

  Amanda leaned down and kissed his forehead. “You werebears really know how to treat a woman.” She headed for the cabin and called out. “And don’t forget my foot massage.”

  “I won’t,” Beckett replied back.

  Finch chewed on his breakfast and wondered if he’d ever be able to spoil Jessica like that. He would love to wait on her hand and foot, cook her food, rub her shoulders, clean up after her and shower her with compliments. He would treat her like a princess, because that was what she was.

  Keene snatched a sausage off of Finch’s plate and shoved it into his mouth as he was daydreaming.

  “That’s for taking all of the maple syrup,” he said, the chewed up sausage rolling around in his mouth.

  “You’re playing with fire big man,” Finch warned.

  Keene laughed. “Fire?” he said. “Maybe in your youth old man. You’re a burnt match.”

  “I’m only thirty eight!” Finch complained. “I’m only five years older than you!”

  “Why don’t you go to the store, use your senior citizen’s discount and get us some more maple syrup.” Keene’s hand struck out to take another sausage off of Finch’s plate but Finch was ready. He pulled his plate away and Keene only grabbed empty air.

  “I’ll show you how young I am,” Finch said.

  Quint lowered his spoon and stared at Finch, a slow grin creeping across his face.

  Finch puffed up his chest and stared at Keene. “I challenge you.”

  Sander perked up. “Bear Blasting?” he asked in a high pitched voice.

  Finch stared at Keene and nodded. “I challenge you to Bear Blasting.”

  “Yes!” Sander cried out, slamming the table with his fist.

  “I’ll get the wine,” Quint said racing away from the table leaving his breakfast untouched.

  “I’ll get the video camera,” Ellis said sprinting towards the truck, apparently forgetting all about Alexi’s sickness.

  Keene cracked his knuckles and grinned, never breaking Finch’s stare. “You really have lost your marbles old man. Nobody challenges me.”

  Finch broke Keene’s gaze and glanced at his shoulders the size of boulders, his arms the size of tree trunks and his grin the size of a city.

  What the hell did I just do?

  Jessica flipped through an old photo album and smiled at a picture of her as a toddler sitting on her mother’s shoulders at the zoo. A curious giraffe was sticking his head into the shot over Jessica, photo-bombing the picture. Her mother and her had identical smiles on their faces. They both looked so happy.

  I wish she was still here. She would have loved Finlay.

  There was a faint click as the door at the top of the basement stairs unlocked and quietly opened. Jessica closed the photo album and slid it under her bed. She pulled her knees into her chest and stared at her feet as the figure made his way down the steps.

  She sighed in relief when it wasn’t her brother.

  “I thought you may be hungry,” Matteo said, handing her an apple, a sandwich and some granola ba
rs.

  “You shouldn’t do this,” she said. Her stomach growled. She was starving and desperately wanted the food but she was afraid of the consequences.

  He placed it on the pillow beside her. “It can be our little secret.”

  He winked and headed back up.

  “Alright so we all know the rules of Bear Blasting,” Beckett said from the side of the cliff. “No biting, no shifting and no weapons besides your blasters.”

  Finch glanced down at the tree in his hands. It was the largest one that he was strong enough to rip out of the ground. It was as thick as a dinner plate. Beads of sweat trickled down his temple when he saw the tree that Keene had chose. The trunk was the size of a dinner table. The roots alone were longer than Finch’s legs.

  Beckett continued. “The match is over when a fighter falls into the water.”

  Finch glanced down the canyon to the raging river twenty stories below. The hungry rapids were white and vicious, gurgling at him, ready to eat him up.

  What was I thinking?

  Bear Blasting was a game that was loved by the Crew but very seldom played. The elders had invented it way back in the day. There was a narrow canyon about thirty minutes from the camp with a deep, violent river flowing between it down below.

  A thick, old, oak tree had fallen across the canyon decades ago, making a natural bridge. This is where all Bear Blasting matches were played.

  There were two fighters at a time. Each one had fifteen minutes to chose a tree as their weapon and prepare it for battle. The rules stated that the trees had to be pulled from the ground by hand and the branches and roots also had to be stripped by hand.

  The two fighters would face each other on the log bridge and try to knock the other one into the water. It was amazing to watch but not so amazing to play.

  Unless you were Keene.

  Keene was undefeated. Finch once saw him knock their cousin Connor, a very strong and athletic werebear, unconscious. Keene dove in after him to save him from drowning.

  Finch squeezed the puny log in his hands as Keene spun his massive oak tree in circles over his head. Finch glanced down at the river and wondered how long the guys would tease him for if he jumped down before the fight. Keene would never let him live it down.

  Keene flexed his chest and lowered the tree, palming it with just one hand. Finch was thankful that he went pee before they left or it would’ve been pouring down his pant leg.

  He knew why he challenged Keene. He wanted to see what he was made of. If he could beat Keene in Bear Blasting than maybe, just maybe, he could beat Kai in a fight.

  It seemed inevitable that he would come to blows with Jessica’s brother and this was a way to gauge the outcome. The log under his feet vibrated as Keene took a step towards him. I should have challenged Quint.

  “Last chance for any parties to back out,” Beckett said staring at Finch.

  Finch held his breath trying to stay upright on his weak knees.

  “Alright,” Beckett said. “In three…”

  “Go Finchy,” Sander yelled.

  “Two.”

  Keene winked at him. Finch wasn’t fooled. He wouldn’t go easy on him. There was no way.

  “One.”

  Finch gulped.

  “Fight!”

  Keene strolled towards him, holding his tree with one hand down by his side. The snaking roots were hanging down past the log.

  Finch swung his tree back with two hands and held it cocked there like a baseball player at bat.

  “I’ll give you a free hit old man.” Keene tapped his chin with his finger. “Right here.”

  Finch glanced at the guys on the side of the canyon. Ellis was holding the video camera up to his good eye, the other one covered with his eye patch. Quint was holding his wine glass up and shouting something incoherent.

  “Come on old man,” Keene said. “It’s almost your nap time.”

  Finch stepped forward and swung the tree with all his might at the real life Hulk standing in front of him. Crack. The tree snapped across his head, only the bark keeping the two pieces together.

  Keene stepped back dazed. His knee buckled for a second and then he was stepping forward again clearing his head with a quick shake.

  Finch swung the trunk down from over his head for a second hit but Keene swung his tree up in a curving arc and connected with it. The vibrations in Finch’s hands was like an earthquake and his fingers gave out.

  “No,” he gasped under his breath as his broken tree sailed through the air and plunged into the canyon to be swallowed by the river below.

  Finch turned back to Keene with wide eyes. He was weaponless and completely helpless.

  Keene pointed into the sky like Babe Ruth at bat and then pulled back the tree, cocking it. Finch glanced at the camera filming him. How many times will they watch this? He closed his eyes and winced.

  A force like a train hit him in the side of his body and then he was flying in the air like a rag doll. He counted to sixteen before he finally hit water.

  Finch winced as he crept around the mill in the darkness. He held his bruised rib. His fast shifter healing had kicked in when he was slammed into the bed of the river after his fight with Keene but for some reason it still hurt. I guess getting hit by the largest tree in the forest by the largest werebear on the planet will do that to you.

  The Flint Crew all seemed to be asleep. The camp was quiet and the main house had no lights on.

  His heartbeat quickened. He would be seeing Jessica in just a few minutes. He tapped his pocket to make sure that his screwdriver was still there. He would have to take off the bars again.

  He raced towards the house, keeping low, and crouched down against the log siding when he arrived. He crept towards the basement window.

  “Jessica,” he whispered through the bars.

  There was no answer.

  His stomach dropped when he thought that something might be wrong. Could Kai have seen us together?

  “Jessica,” he whispered again, a little more panicked this time.

  “Go away Finlay,” she said, her voice breaking up with sobs.

  “Why?” he asked, his heart breaking. What did I do?

  “I’m just going to ruin your life,” she answered. “I’m not worth it.”

  “Yes you are,” he answered. “You’re everything worth living for.”

  Her soft sobs cut through the night like a cancer.

  “Come to the window,” he begged.

  She sniffed. “I can’t.”

  Finch pulled out his screwdriver and began frantically taking off the bars. He pulled them aside after he removed the last bolt and tossed the metal bars behind him. He slid open the screen and climbed through the window.

  Jessica was curled up on her bed, her angelic face red and puffy and wet with tears. She even looked gorgeous when she cried.

  She held up her hand and Finch cursed under his breath when he saw the chain locking her to the bed like a slave.

  “Come with me,” Finch pleaded. “We can escape together. Beckett and Ellis have a cousin in New Hampshire named Connor. He runs a crew of Werebears. We can stay with him.”

  “You don’t understand,” she said, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. “He’ll find us. I know he will. Then he’ll kill us.”

  Finch squeezed her hand. “What can we do?”

  She wiped her eyes and leaned into him, her soft body pressing against his. Their bears purred as they always did when together. “Just hold me.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the apricot scent of her hair. He kissed the top of her head as his mind raced through options. He could ask Beckett and the guys for help but he didn’t want to see any of his brothers get hurt. His only other option was to speak with Kai and hope for the best.

  “I can feel you thinking,” she said. “You’re tense. Just please let it be. Let’s enjoy tonight and then end it. We must go our separate ways.”

  He stroked her cheek. It wa
s wet with tears. “You can’t mean that.”

  She exhaled long and hard. “It’s the only way.”

  “But-”

  She interrupted him with a kiss. Her warm breath tickled his cheek as her tongue pressed past his lips into his mouth. He kissed her back, with a longing and passion that surprised him. He loved this girl and showed it with his lips and tongue.

  She pulled away gasping for air. “I want you to touch me,” she whispered, her voice deeper and throatier than before. She kissed his neck with light nips and licks as he slid his hand up her ribs and cupped her breast over her shirt. She leaned into him further, pushing her chest against his palm.

  She lightly grabbed his wrist and pulled it down to her thigh. “I want you to touch me here,” she said, sliding his hand up her leg. “I’ve never done this before.”

  Finch hardened in his pants as his hand approached her apex. They were both breathing heavily and were absorbed in the moment.

  He sprung up like a stunned cat as he heard footsteps creeping down the stairs. It was too late. He couldn’t sneak out the window. He was caught.

  He would have to fight an enraged Kai. And he would lose.

  “Finch!” Matteo said, snapping his head back in surprise.

  Finch sighed in relief. It was better than Kai but he could still be in trouble.

  Matteo was holding a sandwich with a bag of potato chips. “What are you doing here?” Finch asked.

  “I’m bringing her some food,” he replied. “What are you doing here?” Matteo glanced at Jessica and back to him. “This is a dangerous game you’re playing Finch. You don’t know who you’re messing with.”

  “Are you going to take me to him?” Finch asked.

  Matteo scrunched his forehead and took a pained breath. “He’s my alpha now Finch. You being here is considered an assault on the tribe.”

  Matteo rubbed his goatee, struggling with the decision. “It’s my duty to bring you to my alpha.”

  “Please,” Jessica pleaded. “Just let him go.”