Gunner: Bishop’s Snowy Leap – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance (Bishop's Snowy Leap Book 4) Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  World Castle Publishing, LLC

  Pensacola, Florida

  Copyright © Kathi S. Barton

  Paperback ISBN: 9781953271600

  eBook ISBN: 9781953271617

  First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, January 13, 2021

  http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

  Licensing Notes

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

  Cover: Karen Fuller

  Editor: Maxine Bringenberg

  Chapter 1

  Dressed in her blues, Hodge looked over at Gunner. He, too, was dressed in his dress blues, what the service considered dressing up. His, however, were covered in medals and ribbons all over his blouse or jacket. Plus, his arms were decorated with patches and other items that she was sure no one, but he and a few other people had ever obtained. Hodge did know that if he were promoted again, he’d be in a whole new level of medals. He looked over at her while the funeral that she’d been brought to today proceeded. His wink, something that he did quite well, didn’t deter her from thinking this was a colossal mistake in them coming together.

  Tuning out the minister, she wondered what anyone would say if they knew she didn’t know this man any more than she had the other three that had died over the few days since she’d been rescued from the vets’ hospital. But, as a vet, she wouldn’t know how to do anything else but to honor his death the way he’d deserved. The same with Gunner.

  The man’s family, a young wife and three children, needed to know that someone from the veterans administration would be there for her. No one had since her husband had been brought into the States and treated for wounds he’d acquired while serving abroad—treated poorly, as it turned out. Hodge knew all too well what kind of treatment they and herself had received there.

  Captain Penhall had been killed by an enemy, not on foreign soil but right here at home. Also, the man that had taken his life was a friendly. A doctor that should have been helping him and the others instead of hurrying their deaths along, as he had “better things to do than cater to losers.” His words rang through every newspaper in the world when they were leaked from his military trial. The doctor did not have a friend in the world, it seemed, after that.

  Today was the fifth day she’d been out of the hospital. She wasn’t any happier than she had been while there, but at least she wasn’t hurting, nor did she feel she was going to be killed off every second—just a few times a day rather than all the time, as it turned out. She was, however, still very weak. Her body had had an infection so bad that it was a wonder she made it through Gunner changing her.

  Hodge looked over at Gunner when he touched her arm. It was time, he told her.

  The folding of the flag was something she’d seen done a hundred times, much more than she thought should have been necessary. But this was the first time she’d been one of the few that were helping at taking the draped flag from the casket and preparing it to be given to the wife of the fallen. Not only that, but it was going to be her duty to hand the flag over to Mrs. Shirley Penhall. It was an honor all within itself to do something so profound.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss.” Mrs. Penhall nodded, her face red from the tears she shed in her sorrow. “If you need anything, please make sure you let me know. I’m here for you.”

  “Thank you so much, Captain.”

  Nodding once, she moved back to stand with Gunner. Nothing could have prepared her for the overwhelming need to have him hold her. It was crippling, this need, and it took everything in her power to remain stiff and ready when the guns were fired for the man’s funeral.

  She’d not realized that the entire Bishop family had attended this funeral. Hodge didn’t know why she was surprised—they’d attended each of them so far. They all dressed for the part too. Sawyer was in his police uniform, and the others in nice suits that looked as if they’d been made with them in mind. When the family was leaving, she made her way to the car, leaning heavily on the cane that she’d been given.

  “I could help you with that if you’d let me.” She told Gunner that he’d helped her enough, she was already a cat. “I meant that I could carry you. You don’t weigh all that much, so it wouldn’t be that hard to pick you up.”

  “Such a charmer you are. No, I don’t want you to pick me up. I’m fine walking. Besides, wasn’t it you who told me I needed to get up and moving more?” He told her not to the point of exhaustion. “I couldn’t not attend this funeral. It’s not right that anyone within a mile shouldn’t attend this one because the man gave up so much to fight for us.”

  “He did. So did his family.” She was at the car by then and leaned against it while looking at Gunner. “Are you looking for a place to stick a knife? It won’t work, you know. We’re both immortal. I believe you were told that.” He grinned like he was off his meds or something.

  “I know that, but you can’t fault me for thinking about it. Don’t you have someplace to be? Like, I don’t know, overseas or something?” He said he was retired. “Sure, you are. Like I’m retired. I doubt very much either of us would be able to retire after all we’ve been through. I know for a fact that you’ve seen shit that no person should.”

  “And how do you know this?” She said that her bedroom was just down the hall from his. “You hear me cry out? I’m sorry for that. I’ll sleep in another room from now on. Or outside. I don’t mind if—”

  Hodge punched him in the gut. When he stood up again, she drew back to hit him again. Before she could, Raven told her to stop. Glaring at her, she asked her why the fuck it was any of her business.

  “I don’t know, but people are watching us, and I didn’t want you to be slapped all over the front page of the paper. They’re just waiting for something like that to happen.” Raven looked at Gunner. “Behave yourself, Gunner. Wait until she’s fully recovered before you start driving her to beating the shit out of you.”

  Raven just stood there, rubbing her belly. There was a stiffness in her stance, more so than there normally was. Hodge moved closer to her and put her hand on her large belly. When Raven knocked it away, Hodge put it back and told her to fucking stand still.

  “You’re in labor.” Nodding, she saw the first bit of fear on her face. “How long? Do you have them timed?”

  “They just started while we were standing there. But they went from little twinges to something powerful.” Hodge asked her if she realized that shifter labors were different than human labors. “I was told they’d be quicker, but not too much else. I’ve been putting off getting things ready.”

  “Ready or not, here it comes.” Hodge helped her to the other side of the limo they’d been standing next to. “Breathe. And don’t give me any shit about what I’m about to do.”

  “What can I do?” She told Gunner to make sure that Sawyer or the others didn’t come here. “All right. I can do that.” He kissed her on the mouth, then took off.

  She was still staring at him when she realized what s
he’d been doing. When Gunner disappeared over the hill, she looked down at Raven, who was lying on the back seat of the limo. It was good, she supposed, that they didn’t go for little cars. Not that she thought any of them would fit in one. The limo was going to be perfect. However, this was going to cause some shit to hit the fan. But this was an emergency.

  “Look. I can do this thing. I want you to just do what I tell you, and it’ll be over in no time. All right?” Raven asked her if she was going to be all right. “You’re an immortal, moron, what do you think?”

  “Snarky. Just what I need. All right, you do your thing. But I’d like Sawyer here at some point. He’s the father.” She nodded and looked up over the hill again to tell Gunner to bring Sawyer and his brother Quincey. They might need him. This link thing was kinda nice when things like this shit was happening. “What is it you want me to do?”

  “I want you to listen to my voice. The timber of it, the calmness of it. Do you hear it? The way that I’m calm? That I’m not upset?” Raven said she did. “Close your eyes for me. Close them and think of something that is calming to you. No matter what it is, it calms you to the point of relaxation.”

  “Do I need to tell you what it is?” Hodge told Raven that she could see it, but to tell her calmly what it was, describing it in detail. “I’m sitting at my desk. There is no clutter on it. The board in front of me is cleared. I’m going to make it home on time today, and I’m excited about that.”

  “Good. Now, put it in a bubble above your head. I want you to be able to open your eyes and see the bubble there with you doing just what relaxes you. Do you see it?” She said she did. Hodge saw Sawyer coming down the hill and reached out to him to tell him to keep his fucking mouth shut, or she would shut it. “Reach your hand up to the bubble now, Raven, and touch it. It will attach itself to your finger, and I want you to bring it closer to your head. Like you’re able to see into a building from all levels.”

  What can I do? She told Sawyer to wait for her to tell him. That’s my wife there, and if you hurt her—

  You finish that, and I will hurt you to the point where you wished you weren’t immortal. Now just stand there while I finish this for her.

  Talking to Raven, she told her to bring the bubble over her head. It would be safe, she could breathe, but she could make adjustments in her work environment to get ready for the next day. Hodge kept up the magic she used to calm someone while she delivered the baby. “All right, Raven, I want you to stay where you are and tell me what it is you see now. Look out the window from your office. Below you, there are others. Family that has come to bring you home to them to have dinner.”

  “Yes, I see them. Sawyer is there. And Molly. Even my grandma Holly.” Hodge handed the baby to Quincey and waited for Raven to speak again. “They’re waving at me. I can see them. Oh, Andi, this is the most wonderful way to relax. I have to have you do this for me again.”

  “You have no pain, do you?” She said she didn’t, and Hodge stuck her tongue out at Sawyer. “All right, Raven. You’re going to go to sleep now. Close your eyes, and then I want you to take ten steps in relaxing the rest of your body. Start at your toes. Relax them so that they’re not stiff. Then your calves and knees.”

  As she worked her way up the other woman’s body, relaxing her as she went, Hodge delivered baby number two. She’d known all along that there were twins, but not what the sex was. A boy first, then the daughter. Both of them were healthy and looked wonderful. As soon as Raven was deep into her sleep, Hodge fell back against the door and slid to the ground. It wore her out something terrible to do this, and she also fell into a deep restorative sleep.

  ~*~

  “If you ask me that one more time, Sawyer, I’m going to pound your head in so far that you’ll need to start talking from your fucking ass. I don’t know. All right? I don’t know what she did or how she did it. I only know that your wife is fine and dandy. And so are your children. Now, I want you to back the fuck off before I really do test the theory about all of us being immortal.” Raven came into the living room where he and Sawyer were. “Don’t. Just don’t ask me.”

  “I wasn’t going to. But I noticed that you don’t have any juice in your house, so I had your cook order some. Is he really an army grunt?” Gunner nodded and said that they were in the same holes together. “Well, he’s a great cook. I had one of his cupcakes. He said that he bakes when he’s nervous. Sawyer, leave your brother alone and go see how your parents are doing with the babies. I can’t believe I feel this good after giving birth to two nine pound children.”

  When she went toward the kitchen and Sawyer to the living room, Gunner made his way up the stairs to the bedroom where he’d put Hodge when they’d gotten home. She was still in the bed, but she wasn’t sleeping like he thought she should have been.

  “How are the twins?” Gunner told her they were both doing fine and dandy, something that he’d caught himself saying a lot today. But he explained to her that their parents were going to die. “Yes, I heard you telling Sawyer you were going to hurt him. By the way, who else besides them knows what happened out there?”

  “My family. Was it supposed to be a secret?” She shrugged and sat up in the bed. He started to help her, but one glare in his direction had him standing back. “Would you tell me what you did? That way, I can get them off my back and on to their own homes. I’m not used to having this many people in here at one time. It’s too much.”

  “Why do you think I’m still up here? I’m not good around people either. In fact, you being in here is pushing it. Are you all this hulking?” Gunner laughed. “From where I am, you look to be about seventy feet tall. Sit down, will you? You’re making me a nervous wreck.”

  He sat down but was up again when she staggered a little going to the bathroom. She allowed him to help her, and that made him think she really shouldn’t be up and around just yet. But he knew better than to point that out to her. If nothing else, she was a fighter.

  “My mom is directing the cook to make you something brothy. I don’t know what that means, but Grunt, as he likes to be called, knows and is currently making it. I think he’s afraid of her.” Hodge asked him if he was. “Of course, I am. She’s my mother, but she is also the one person that can make me feel about two inches tall when I get out of line. Which I do quite often, but not where she can see me.”

  “Good to know. So when you piss me off, again, I can just go and see her.” He helped her as far as the door, and Hodge grabbed the vanity before turning to him. “I have a little bit of magic given to me by an old witch. I don’t know if she gave me more, but that one spell is all I’ve ever used of it. As I’m sure you’re aware, sometimes there isn’t time for a doc to come around and pull a bullet from one of your men. Also, men cry like babies, and it would keep them quiet too. I’m going to pee, then I’m going to go back to bed. I suddenly feel like death warmed over.”

  “Do you think she gave you more?” It took her a few seconds, but she did nod. “All right. We can work on that if you want. Or not. The very fact that you delivered Raven and Sawyer’s children is putting you in good standing with the rest of the family.”

  “What about you? Am I in good standing with you?” He leaned against the door frame and told her that she was his mate, his everything. “Didn’t really answer the question, now did it? Go away. I have to pee, and I can’t if you’re going to be lurking right outside the door. Go get me something to drink. Please? Don’t hurry back.”

  “I’ll go and get it for you if you promise not to try and do anything but go from the bathroom to the bed.” She promised him she couldn’t do anything else. “If you can’t make it back, Hodge, I’ll carry you. Don’t overdo it again. I can’t stand to see you this weak.”

  “I can’t either. I might be here when you come back.” The door shut, but she didn’t engage the lock. “I’m not locking it in the event you have to come carry me back.
I don’t want you busting down a door just to find me laying on the floor with my nooks and crannies hanging out.”

  Gunner was still laughing when he entered the kitchen. His mom was there, as was Penny, Raven, and Quincey. They all turned to look at him as he moved to the refrigerator to get out something to drink for Hodge. Mom asked him what was going on.

  “Nothing. She’s up and in the bathroom now. Weak, but stubborn about it.” He looked at Raven when he continued. “She said that she got a little magic from a witch once and that she has been using that particular thing on her men when they’d been shot. It also kept them safe, as the person was no longer feeling the pain they might be in and crying like a wimpy baby in the field. Are you satisfied with that answer?”

  “No. And I’m sure you’re not either. She delivered twins from me, and I didn’t know a thing was going on.” Gunner asked her if she was mad about that. “I’m not. But I would like to know where she got it. I know you said witch, but I’m also sure you know witches don’t go giving out magic to just anyone.”

  “That’s all I know. If she wants you to know more, I’m sure she won’t have any trouble telling you. I’m not trying to be rude here, but I’d really like it if you all left us alone. She’s not very good around a bunch of people, just as I’m not.” Raven pointed out that they were family, not strangers. “No, you’re right. But you’re still in the house of two people that have spent a better part of their adult lives with only the grunts around them. It’s a little noisy and disconcerting for both of us to have to share much space. I’m sorry about how that sounds, but you have to understand that we’re different than the rest of you are.”

  Raven stared at him, and he wasn’t worried. Gunner, too, had a few tricks up his sleeve. Raven could read minds—all of them could, but not one of them would get past the barrier he had in place. Not unless they wanted to hurt themselves.

  “Come on, everyone. Gunner is right. We’re only making the situation worse by hoping she’ll come down here.” Mom looked at him before leaving the kitchen. “You take care of her, Gunner. All right? I know you will without me telling you, but she isn’t as strong as she might think she is.”