Bowie’s beast burst from inside of him a heartbeat later, and if Dane had the time to roll his eyes and groan, he would have. As it was, Dane allowed his beast to break free of the steel cage he’d, almost perfected, and three big ass bears went head-to-head right there on the front lawn of the property.

  Rayner’s jaw dropped at the sight of the three beasts going balls deep with their fangs and claws. She’d witnessed that bear fight on clan land that had resulted in her being bitten, but that was like a schoolyard fight compared to the chunks that these guys were ripping out of each other.

  Yet, there it was – her big old bear wanted in on the action. She could feel the beast within her rush to the surface, and she couldn’t get out of the damn truck any faster than she did.

  Even the damn hinges on the passenger door protested when she booted the door open and tossed her body outside. Rayner tried to fight against the beast – hold it at bay – and for a few long moments, she was winning the damn day.

  Then her mate roared with anger that was tinged with pain and her bear burst from inside of her with a roar.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ~

  “Maggie,” Roland had helped his mate to her feet, and now she had the look of a caged beast about her. Her instinct still said; run, and that was one thing that Roland couldn’t allow to happen.

  “I know – I know – I’m sorry for kneeing you in the balls…” she tossed up a hand in frustration.

  “Good to hear, but that wasn’t what I was going to say,” Roland said and watched as her body unclenched just a little.

  He guessed that she’d been pretty much on her guard since the moment that she’d arrived on clan land, and he knew within his bones that his big hulking presence probably wasn’t helping matters, but he couldn’t make himself smaller and less intimidating – after all, intimidating had been what he was going for when he’d first tried to run her from their land – but he could make himself a little softer around the edges.

  He just needed to figure out how the hell to do that.

  “Oh.” She gave a little shrug. “Well, the apology is out there now, and it still stands.”

  She folded her arms and tipped her chin up in defiance. Yep, she still looked like a woman that had her back to the wall, and that thought sent another wave of X-rated thoughts through Roland’s mind. He’d sure like her back to the wall, and his cock buried deep within her.

  “My balls would surely appreciate it never happening again…” he cocked an eyebrow and she pressed her lips together once more to squash a smile, but there was amusement in her eyes.

  “Talk to them often, do you?” she couldn’t help herself.

  “They were screaming at me not long ago, now they’re just kind of offering up what I like to think as a silent protest,” he said, and the start of a grin took his lips and made a smile pull at the corners of her lips.

  “Well, you can tell them from me – I’m not promising anything, but if their owner behaves himself…” she waved a hand and let the rest of that sit between them.

  “Good enough – I guess – for now – maybe,” he said and watched her grin once more.

  “Anything else you want to add to that?” she teased him.

  “Not right now, but I reserve the right to later on.”

  “I should leave…”

  “No!” Roland balked at the idea as he put his big bulk between her and the door.

  “See, this is one of those moments why I couldn’t promise not to slay your nuts in future,” Maggie said with a scowl.

  “Ok, now just hear me out,” Roland said as he held up two large hands to his chest, palms towards her in the hope of showing her that he meant her no harm.

  “I’m all ears,” she said and tried to quiet her heart from trying to escape her chest in a bid for freedom.

  She didn’t like the way that he’d blocked the exit. She didn’t like just how he filled the doorway, well, that wasn’t entirely true, she liked that a lot, but it still felt kind of scary, and she certainly didn’t like or understand, why he was trying to keep her there.

  Maggie was conflicted because she could also list a whole lot of things that she did like about him too. But the whole situation just didn’t feel right to her, and yet, it did. She kind of wished that she could read people because right then and there, she was a whole lot of confused.

  “Damn,” Roland bit out.

  How did you go about telling a human that she was your mate and all that implied?

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Rayner could only see red. Her mate and Bowie were under attack, and that was enough to send her bear bat-shit crazy.

  There wasn’t much Dane could do, he’d been knocked sideways by Tank’s bulk, and was dragging his backside up from the ground when Rayner had decided to launch her beast into the fight.

  She was damned ferocious in her attack. He wasn’t sure if Tank was surprised, blindsided in some way, or reluctant to engage in a fight with a female, but his beast was taking a hit.

  Bowie’s bear was getting into position to the right side of the fight, and Dane took the left side. They had Tank right where they wanted him.

  “Stop, please, stop!”

  The woman’s voice cut through the mayhem and madness for Rayner, and her beast paused its attack on Tank.

  But it was the sound of the hearty cry that went up from the distressed newborn that was cradled in the woman’s arms that stopped the fighting and held everyone in place.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ~

  Tank’s bear did an about face and limped its bulk back towards the house and get between the woman and cub, and the clan bears. He turned and scanned the area, quickly assessing the danger in front of him.

  His bear had been injured, but until the moment that he no longer drew breath, he would protect his kin with his life.

  He growled as if he was facing demons from hell, and even Rayner could understand the emotion behind that one. The beast was defending his family.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Maggie needed to sit. Her legs felt kind of weak, and she felt kind of breathlessly dizzy, but all in all, she thought the good thing was that she wasn’t screaming out loud, but, somewhere in the back of her mind – she sort of had a little mini-me that was jumping up and down, waving her arms, and screaming at her to run for the hills.

  Not that it would do her any good. The man was a bear shifter, and he would surely be a lot damn faster than she was.

  Then there was the whole – bear – thing, and yeah, she wasn’t about to take off running, not when the warning not to do it had been his first words to her after telling her that they were mates. Mates – kerpow.

  “You look like you could use a drink…” Roland said.

  “A keg of whiskey would be good,” she replied, practically collapsing down onto the chair in the kitchen and starring with something approaching disbelief at him.

  Roland reached for the bottle of scotch and poured her a good measure, and she accepted the glass gratefully. He noted the way that her hand was shaking a little, noted how, when their fingers brushed, she stiffened a little at his touch, and then there was the look of shock on her face – he got that – all of it, and he couldn’t blame her.

  He’d told her a lot that she needed to know in such a small space of time, and he realized that it was a lot to take in, but she wasn’t screaming, or heading for the door – so that was a damn bonus. She didn’t look too happy though; he guessed that he couldn’t blame her for that either, he wasn’t exactly a great catch.

  “Rayner’s a mate too,” he offered her and watched her eyebrows reach for her hairline.

  “Rayner!” It didn’t really make her feel any better about the whole thing. Rayner was also kickass, and that was something that Maggie knew she’d never be.

  “It’s a shock…”

  “Ya think?” Maggie snapped back at him, and he winced.

  “I don’t expect you to be celebrating or…”

  “Well, I’ll just cancel that cake.” Maggie folded her arms again, and Roland knew that his arguments were going to hit a brick wall. She needed time to digest things.

  “Speaking of which – are you hungry?”

  “I lost my appetite…”

  “Why did you come here?”

  “That sounds like an accusation, this isn’t my fault,” she said, eyeing him as if he’d just thrown up on her shoes.

  “That’s not what I meant.” Roland held his hands up in surrender again.

  He didn’t need an irate mate. He was trying to change the subject, get back on solid ground, and give her something to think about other than him. He guessed she was seeing problems where there were none.

  “I’m being evicted and hoped Rayner knew somewhere that I could stay for cheap.” She shrugged.

  “You’ll be staying here.”

  Roland hadn’t thought that one through. His mouth had started working before he’d put his brain in gear, and the look on her face told him everything he needed to know.

  “What are you – nuts?” She shrieked, and his ears almost bled. He really needed to work on thinking before he spoke.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Rayner tossed on the spare clothes that she’d stashed in the back of the truck and eyed Tank’s bear as it prowled back and forth in front of the house. Bowie’s bear still clung to him, but Dane had shifted back into his skin and was stalking back towards her with every tense muscle moving under his skin.

  She kind of wished they were home so that she could take advantage of his lack of attire and pounce on the man. Not that clothes were ever a barrier between them.

  A growl rumbled within her, and she saw his eyes lock on her. Yep, home would have been good for what she was feeling.

  “That better not be you trying to deflect my attention,” Dane growled, as he sidled up to her and snatched up some clean clothes.

  “How sad is that accusation,” she said, cocking an eyebrow at him.

  “Damn it, Rayner. I told you to…”

  “Stay in the truck – yadda – yadda – blah. My bear didn’t like that idea, and this was not my fault,” she snapped back.

  “Sure it was…” Dane grumbled, thrusting a leg into the confines of his jeans.

  “You were fighting. My bear didn’t like it,” Rayner said, yanking down her shirt and leaning in towards him to take his scent as she started by him. “Don’t put yourself in danger if you don’t want me wearing my fur coat.”

  Roland’s hand reached out and locked around her wrist; he yanked her back in front of him.

  “Now, you just wait right there until I’m dressed…” he growled.

  He wasn’t about hopping around and trying to yank on his clothes as he followed his mate back towards that big ass Tank bear, and the man had already attacked once. Although, he hadn’t laid a paw on Rayner.

  “He’s not coming at me, Dane,” Rayner said, and she sounded certain about that. Dane didn’t share that sentiment.

  “You don’t know that…”

  “Sure, I do. How come you don’t, alpha?” She offered him a teasing smile, and he cocked his head to one side and gave a deep growl of annoyance.

  “Behave,” he grumbled. “And wait for me.” He let go of her arm and double-timed getting into his jeans.

  “All done?” She asked impatiently as he zipped up his fly and reached for his shirt. “Feel better now your little pee-pee is away?” She started off on fast feet away from him, and Dane bit down on a few choice words as he started after her.

  He knew she still had a bear to tame as best she could and a lot to learn about being clan, but he was sure that his mate was going to be the death of him – he just didn’t know if his end might just be self-inflicted.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ~

  Maggie was back up on her feet again. Her hands were on her curvy hips and if that female had been a witch – he’d really have thought about bending over and kissing his ass goodbye.

  “What I meant to add was that you can stay on clan land. We have other cabins,” Roland rushed out the explanation.

  Hell, he hadn’t really meant that at all. He was planning on wooing his mate, and she didn’t need to be anywhere other than where she was right now, but if telling a little white lie calmed her then he was up for that.

  “Oh,” she said as her deep scowl and dark glare eased a little. “Well, could you start saying what you mean the first time, so I don’t get the wrong end of the stick?”

  “Probably not. I’m male, and I’ve got two brains vying for my attention. You’re female, and let’s face it, you’re always going to get the wrong end of the stick,” he said, and slapped one of those sexier-the-hell grins on his face that knocked the stuffing out of her argument before she’d even formulated a response.

  Roland couldn’t help but chuckle, the look on her face said that she’d gone from rushing to bite his head off to confused and considering if she should be offended or not.

  He liked her off balance, and silence was golden, definitely better than when she squealed. She looked really cute like that.

  Maggie couldn’t get over that smile. It was a sexy grin, and his eyes flashed with laughter. If he’d insulted her, then he’d done a damn good job of sidestepping it.

  “Admit it — I got you there,” Roland said. He watched as she considered it for a moment more, and then she shrugged her shoulders.

  “I’m not staying here,” Maggie said with a small shake of her head.

  “Actually.” Roland took a long moment to think about it. What better way to get his mate accustomed to living in their new cabin than having her live in his cabin. “The other cabins are in need of work. I’ll stay in one of them, and you can stay here.”

  He thought that was the ideal solution, but he guessed that he was wrong when she rushed to crap on that idea. He didn’t need to hear the words; he could see it written all over her face.

  “That’s not a good idea…”

  “It’s a very good idea. You need somewhere to stay, and I’m supposed to be fixing up the other cabins anyway — I don’t have a problem living where I work.”

  “I can’t throw you out of your home…”

  “I’m leaving — voluntarily.” That smile was back on his lips again, and boy, did that make her pause for thought. Roland took that as a yes. “Great, well that’s settled.”

  “It is?” Maggie rushed to catch up. “No, it’s not!”

  “Sure it is.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Where else are you going to live?” Roland stopped chasing his tail and decided it was time to hit her with the hard truth. He watched as she considered his words.

  “Well…” Maggie slowly lifted her hands to waist height, opened her mouth to speak, closed her mouth again, and dropped her hands to her thighs – the fight had gone out of her.

  “See — settled.”

  Roland grinned to himself as he turned away. That was probably the first thing that had gone in his favor since he’d met her.

  Maggie eyed Roland’s back. She was almost certain that she heard sniggering coming from his direction — and his shoulders did move a little as if he was laughing.

  He had certainly steamrollered right over the top of her with that one. But he wasn’t wrong — where did she have to stay?

  She needed to see Rayner. She needed to find out exactly what being a mate to a bear shifter meant, and she needed to get it straight from the horse’s mouth.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Bowie’s bear growled a warning at Rayner as she stalked towards where Tank’s bear was guarding the house. When Rayner showed no signs of stopping, Bowie put his bear between her and Tank.

  “Don’t make me walk around you, bear,” Rayner said as she slowed on her approach toward him, but didn’t stop completely.

  Bowie growled again. Rayner had no choice but to ground to a halt, she tossed her hands onto her hips, and tipped her head to one side as she eyed the bear.

  “I’m thinking — you’d look great as a throw rug on my cabin floor,” Rayner said and almost chuckled out loud when Bowie’s bear twisted its head to one side and grunted.

  Rayner heard Dane coming up behind her; she didn’t have to toss a look back over her shoulder to know that he would be grinning like a Cheshire cat. It seemed that Bowie was his new guard dog where she was concerned.

  “Come on, Rayner, play nice with Bowie,” Dane chuckled.

  “Don’t want to,” she tossed back over her shoulder.

  “You’re the one that wanted Bowie here,” Dane reminded her.

  Rayner shifted her weight on her feet, chewed on her lower lip for a moment, and then rolled her eyes towards the sky. Then she sighed.

  “Okay, you tell him to move. We are getting Bute’s money,” Rayner said.

  “Yeah,” Dane took an extra long time to think that one through.

  “Bowie, I’m warning you…” Rayner took matters into her own hands. She went to move left, and Bowie did too, she went to go right, and Bowie moved to intercept her.

  Rayner stomped her foot on the grass in annoyance. Dane chuckled, Bowie snorted, and behind him; tank grunted. Then the front door to the house opened, and the woman stepped out onto the porch once more, this time without the cub in her arms.

  “Tank, what’s going on?” The female asked.

  Tank’s bear made a strange grunting sound as he was communicating with the woman via a mental link between them. She eyed Rayner, woman to woman, for a long moment, and then she nodded.

  “You’d better come in,” the female said.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9