Merrily Mated (Ouachita Mountain Shifters 3) by P. Jameson Read Free Book Online

wound. She took the anchor between her jaws and counted to three in her head.
    One… two…
    With a quick jerk, she swung her head from side to side and pulled with all her might. Her powerful jaws strained and popped with her effort. The tension of the chain held, but she pulled harder, ripping into it like it was fresh meat instead of steel. Ignoring the pain of her wound, she bunched her hind legs, giving more of her weight to the struggle, and twisted her head, growling with determination.
    It was close. She could feel it about to give, the way her skin felt when her claws pushed through. The tree groaned at her assault. One of them would go, if she could just…
    Another tug of her jaw to the left was enough pressure to snap the lock that held the chain in place. Layna stumbled backward, rolling with the chain still stuck in her teeth, but she was free. Struggling to her feet, she darted through the clearing to the trees, the trap dangling from her tail. The world was spinning and the ground seemed like the sky, but she ran as fast as she could toward the lodge.
    Halfway back she realized she wasn’t going to make it. Her running had turned to loping, and she could no longer see the path before her. Her vision blurred and the agony pounded in time with her heartbeat.
    The cabins are close. Renner. Get to Renner .
    She slowed to a walk, hoping like hell she was moving in the right direction. The trap caught on twigs and rocks as she went, adding new horrid sensations to her pain-wracked body. But she could smell the smoke from the wood burning stove in her brother’s cabin. Just a little farther.
    Black flickered at her vision, but she was determined to keep conscious. She let off a feeble roar in hopes that one of her clanmates would hear. Pushing through the next set of trees, she collapsed onto the beaten down trail in front of her brother’s home.
    Crying out, she sounded puny to her own ears. Please hear me, Ren .
    Time passed while she lay on the stony path, fighting with darkness that threatened to pull her under. More frail sounds tumbled from her mouth before she finally heard footsteps crunching along the frozen ground.
    “Ohhhh shit .” Renner’s voice echoed in her ears as he knelt beside her. “Shit, Layna.” He tried to remove the chain from her mouth but it was too tight, and a snarl ripped from her throat. Renner jerked his hands back. “Okay. Okay, just… Bethy! We need Doc! And… and… shit, I don’t even know. Sis, I need to carry you to the house, hear me? Let me carry you in.”
    She must have blacked out for a minute because the next thing she knew, she was lying on the floor next to Renner’s woodstove. The heat felt good, but she was bleeding all over the rug. Bethany was going to kill her.
    “Anyone else feeling that déjà-vu shit right now?” Owyn’s voice rumbled in her ear and that’s when Layna noticed all the people around her.
    Magic and Owyn held her down, one man over her legs and the other across her shoulders. Bethany held her head, using her fingers to gently massage behind Layna’s ears. And Doc did what Doc does.
    Even as a cougar, Layna felt that déjà-vu Owyn talked about. Just a few years ago, Renner had been injured by hunters, lying on the floor while Doc worked to help him. Owyn, Magic, and Beth held him down while Layna begged him to change back to human so Doc could sew him up.
    But Layna’s wound wasn’t as bad as his had been.
    Was it?
    “I don’t want to tranq her…” Doc muttered. “But this is going to hurt like a bitch and I need her to stay still so I can stitch her up.”
    Layna snarled. No. No tranquilizers. Those things made her psychotic as hell. She’d be seeing talking roses and butterflies made of bread slices and Ryan’s lips. Her own fucked up Wonderland.
    “Damn it, Layna. It’s necessary,” Renner snapped. His footsteps attacked the floor behind her and she knew he’d been pacing while Doc worked.
    Layna growled a low