Boarlander Silverback (Boarlander Bears #3)(46)

With a shake of her head, Alison handed the money to Clinton and wiped her palm on her jeans as if that would remove the grimy feeling of the twenty dollar bills.

Harrison’s eyes were hard as he shoved a man who got too close to Audrey for a picture of the gorillas.

Clinton was yelling. So was Mason, and now Emerson was with them, and Bash was protecting his mate’s stomach as they made their way toward the exit.

So much jostling. Kirk wrapped his massive arm around her back and moved her in front of him, then curled his lips back at the solid wall of onlookers fighting for a closer look and screaming questions at them. She looked back at Layla who was pale in the dim lighting, eyes worried. Beside her, Kong was bleeding. A lot.

Matt from the Gray Backs appeared through the crowd, a first aid kit thrown over his shoulder. Had he stolen it? Such a huge, pristine kit didn’t make sense here in the dirty barn. Chills textured her arms, and Alison rubbed them to try and rid herself of the tingling sensation. Was she in shock? How weak. She’d only been a witness to the battle.

No, that didn’t seem right. She’d felt right there with him, affected blow by blow, hurting alongside her mate.

“It’s the bond,” Layla said from behind, as if she could read her thoughts.

Oh. The bond. More she didn’t know about.

Outside, Kirk cast her a lingering glance over his shoulder, then took off, charging away from the crowd, Kong following directly after him. They disappeared into the woods behind the field where all the cars were parked.

“They have to shake the crowd,” Harrison explained to Alison as he drew Audrey close to his side. “Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”





Chapter Eighteen


It took half an hour bouncing around in the back of the Jeep on old dirt roads to track down Kirk.

And by the time Audrey pulled them into a clearing that looked like it was a local hangout for muddin’, Kirk and Kong were Changed back to their human forms and dressing in a couple pair of jeans Matt pulled from a duffle bag, while Willa stood off to the side, eyes a blazing green color Alison had never seen on her. Apparently the boys had riled up her inner bear, and from what Alison had gathered, Willa’s animal was a dominant she-grizzly.

Willa was funny as hell, but Alison made a mental note not to piss her off in the future. Really, after seeing the brutal power with which Kirk and Kong had fought tonight, she was disinclined to piss off any shifter.

The headlights illuminated the silverback shifters who were talking low to each other. Matt was administering first aid to the side of Kong’s neck, but it was Kirk who kept drawing Alison’s attention.

His eyes were still too bright to be human, and the wisps of conversation carried on the wind made his voice sound like a snarly demon’s, but it was his body that drew the gasp from her lips. Harrison and Bash were trying to get the bleeding stopped on his shoulder, and his entire torso was black and green with bruising.

“Oh, my gosh,” Emerson murmured from the front seat.

Alison scrambled down from Audrey’s jeep on shaking legs, then ran across the knee-high grass that stood between her and her mate. Kirk’s gaze, reflecting like an animal’s in the headlights, collided with hers, and he broke away from Bash and Harrison. He was favoring his arm to his ribs, but he strode toward her at a quick clip, his good arm out.

She meant to go in easy so she wouldn’t hurt him, but Kirk pulled her against him hard and rocked them slowly back and forth, his cheek pressed against her hairline. His chest was heaving, and his heart pounded like a drum. He smelled like iron, but he was here. He was whole, alive. Okay.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

She laughed in surprised disbelief and eased back. “You’re sorry? Why on earth would you be apologizing to me right now? You did nothing wrong.”

“Disagree,” Harrison barked, eyes narrowed on his glowing phone. “And now excuse me while I get my ass chewed out.” He accepted the call and said, “Hey Cora. Before you give me what for, you should know I couldn’t stop it.” Harrison cocked his head and winced, pulled the phone away from his ear as if Cora Keller was yelling. “Well, you can blame Kirk and Kong for any bad press. Tell me something. Would you send Boone in there to break up two warring silverbacks?” He paused. “Didn’t think so. I wanted to survive. Yeah.” Harrison sighed, rubbed the heel of his hand against his eye as if he was getting a headache. “Yeah. Will do, just give me a call tomorrow and tell me what I can do to clean this up.”

Kirk lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, “I’m sorry you had to see that. I couldn’t stop the Change. My animal didn’t like feeling so out of control when you were that close to the fight. Next time you’ll have to watch from the platforms.”

“Next time?”

Kirk pressed his lips against her forehead. “Kong and I are settled, but like I told you—”

“You’ll have to fight. Because of me.”

When he finished his kiss with a soft smack, he leaned back. He had a sexy, crooked smile. “You’re worth it.”

She sighed and shook her head as she studied his torso.

“Hey,” he murmured, hooking his finger under her chin and lifting her gaze to his. “I’m okay. We’re okay.” Another breathtaking smile. “I got us a crew.”