“I can testify to that,” Jake said. “Come on over here, Rachel.”
She didn’t have to be asked twice. Running to him, she accepted the protection of being tucked firmly against his side while he kept his attention on Mitch and Karl. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“Don’t mention it.” He held her so tight, she wondered if he’d cut off the circulation in her arm. And he was trembling. He’d managed to intimidate the two werewolves who’d abducted her, but he was vibrating from the residual fear. For that matter, so was she.
Even so, his voice was steady as he spoke to her captors. “We’ll leave with Rachel now. Want us to call a tow truck for you?”
“We’ll handle that,” Mitch said.
“Up to you.” Jake took a deep breath. “You might want to reconsider your choice of friends.”
“Trust me,” Karl said. “I’m already doing that.”
“Good. Come on, Rachel. We’re done here.”
Lionel kept his rifle at the ready. “You two get in the truck. I’ll keep these idiots covered until you beep the horn.”
“Thanks, Lionel.” Jake gave Rachel a squeeze. “Let’s go home.”
“Do you mean that?”
He hustled her toward the truck. “I do. In every sense of the word. I’m never leaving you again.”
Her heart soared. Maybe getting kidnapped wasn’t such a bad thing if it could convince the love of her life that he belonged by her side.
Once they were all in the cab, with Rachel wedged between Lionel and Jake, Lionel was full of questions. “I never did ask why somebody would take Rachel in the first place. I mean, who were those guys? They seemed to know who you were, Jake.”
Rachel decided she’d better take the lead on this one. “I got some info while I was in the SUV. They thought if they kidnapped me, eventually I’d cave and empty my bank account to buy my freedom.”
Lionel considered that. “I suppose that makes sense, but how did you figure that out, Jake?”
“When I saw the note Rachel had supposedly written, I knew they’d decided to use me as part of the scheme. I’d planned to move back to Idaho to be with my extended family, and the kidnappers made it look like Rachel had gone with me, to throw everybody off until they were ready to make their demands.”
“That’s what I get for being a little bit too rich and famous,” Rachel said. “I’m going to be much more vigilant from now on.” She hoped the story would pass muster with Lionel, because he must never find out the truth. She didn’t want him to be put under house arrest for the rest of his life.
“So are you going to Idaho, Mr. Hunter?”
“No, not anymore. I realized my life is here, with Rachel.” He reached over and laced his fingers through hers.
She adored Lionel and was incredibly touched that he’d come along to help facilitate the rescue. But she had so much to say to Jake that couldn’t be said. She’d have to wait until they were alone and hope she didn’t explode from frustration in the meantime.
The rest of the trip home was filled with a recap of the exciting chase and the satisfying ending. Lionel had obviously had the time of his life and could hardly wait to share his hero status with his friends and family.
Rachel blessed that urge, because when they pulled into the parking space near her cabin, Lionel was fidgeting in his eagerness to leave.
“I’m really glad you’re home safe, Miss M,” he said as he stood with his gadgets piled in his arms. Jake held his rifle for him.
“Lionel, I can’t ever thank you enough for coming to my rescue.”
He beamed at her. “You had to know I would. Jake and I, we knew we’d get you back. It was a given.”
“It was.” Standing on tiptoe, she kissed Lionel on the cheek. “Now go party. You deserve it.”
He blushed. “Thanks.”
“Oh, and Lionel . . . do you happen to know any women who might be interested in Ted Haggerty?”
“Mr. Haggerty? He likes being single! He said so a bunch of times.”
“Well, he’s not quite as happy as he wants us to think.”
Lionel nodded. “All right, then. I’ll ask around. See you in the morning, okay?”
“You bet.” Rachel gazed at him with fondness. “By the way, is your carving in the woodshop?”
“Oh, yeah. I left it there. We can talk about it tomorrow.”
“I may pay it a visit before then.”
“Aw, you don’t have to do that, Miss M. You and Mr. Hunter probably need . . . well, you know.”
Jake wrapped an arm around Rachel. “We can take time to look at your art, Lionel.”
Rachel didn’t think she could love Jake any more, but that comment made her full to the bursting point.
“Well, see you two later.” Lionel dumped his gadgets in the passenger seat, took the rifle from Jake, and climbed into his truck. With a wave, he drove away.
Rachel sighed and leaned her head against Jake’s shoulder. “Oh, my God.”
“Yeah.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go see Lionel’s carving. If we don’t do it now, we’ll forget.”
Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. “Okay.” No one else had understood the dreams she had for Lionel, but Jake did. After a short walk through the midday sun, they stood in the workshop, arms wrapped around each other as they gazed at the piece of wood that she’d given Lionel to carve.
She’d wondered if Lionel would choose to carve wolves because she did. But no. He’d wisely decided to take a different path. In his carving, a majestic eagle soared over a rugged mountain range. The rush of freedom he’d caught in the eagle’s flight took her breath away.
“It’s good,” Jake said.
“It is.” She tightened her hold on him. “Very good. He’s going to make it as an artist.”
Jake was quiet for a moment. “I’m glad I’ll be here to see it happen.”
She glanced up at him, so afraid that his choice would be painful for him, at least in the beginning. “Will you become a pariah because of me?”
His gaze was filled with love. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t give a damn. But I won’t. If there’s one thing werewolves understand, it’s the importance of finding a soul mate. I’ll have to eat some crow when I admit that my soul mate turned out to be you, a human female, and WARM will take a big hit.”
“I hate that. It was your baby.”
“I know, but thanks to this humbling experience with you, I realize the concept was too limiting. I have to expand my thinking, and there will be those who criticize me for changing my mind, but . . . it’s a small price to pay for being able to love you for the rest of my life.”
“What about the Hunters?”
A shadow crossed his features. “I’ll have to deal with them, no question. They’ve hooked up with some fringe group called the Consortium, and I’ll have to report that to the Were Council.”
“They don’t want me to live in your world.”
“No.” His jaw tightened. “But they’re renegades. I’ll protect you with my life, and so will those who support our nonviolent heritage, which is most of us. Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You’ll be safe from the likes of them.”
“But your life is more complicated because of me.”
He laughed in that low, intimate way she loved. “Of course it is. I’ll have hell to pay, and MacDowell will be insufferable. But you’re worth it.” Still holding her, he turned so that they were face-to-face. “I humbly ask you, Rachel Miller, if you will consent to be my mate.”
She looked into those green eyes, knowing that they were the eyes of a creature she only partly understood. But she knew his heart, and it belonged to her. She didn’t intend to give in quite that easily, however. After all, he had recently rejected her on the basis of her human genes. “It’s a thought. I’ve always wanted a wolf of my own.”
“You’re going to make me beg, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” She smiled up at him. “You spurned me before, so now you’ll have to work to win me over.”
“Rescuing you from the kidnappers wasn’t enough?”
She laughed. “It was a start.”
“My God, you’re issuing a challenge!”
“Are you up to it?”
He gave her a slow, easy smile filled with all the confidence of a sexy werewolf alpha. “Yes, my love, I am.”