His to Seek

by Elena Aitken

“Home is Kodiak Island in Alaska?” The youngest brother, Kade, shrugged. “I read your article.”

  “Fair enough.” Cyrus shook his head but he had a smile on his face as he drank his beer. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. But yes, Kodiak Island. It’s beautiful and quiet and…kind of like it is up here.”

  The men nodded. “Well, we’re happy to have you here,” Luke said. “Any friend of Nat’s is welcomed anytime.”

  “Friends?” A voice from the door grabbed his attention and Cyrus turned to see a very large alpha grizzly shifter in the doorway. “Is that what you are? Friends?”

  Cyrus put his beer down and crossed the space. The man was big, but Cyrus had a few inches on him, just as he had with all the men at Grizzly Ridge. Kodiaks were the largest bears in the world, and as an alpha, he definitely couldn’t be described as small. “You must be Ryker.” He stuck his hand out and waited for Nat’s brother to shake it.

  It took a beat, but Ryker took his hand and shook it before his face split into a wide grin. “Welcome.”

  He smiled, but Cyrus was no fool. As friendly as Ryker seemed at the moment, he was still a big brother bear. He knew he’d have to watch his step.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Ryker said once he’d taken a step back. “What’s the deal with you and Nat?”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “I like her a lot.” There was nothing but truth to his answer. He did like Nat. A lot.

  “Are you serious?” Ryker crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “What are your intentions?”

  “Whoa, Dad.” Luke laughed and slapped his cousin’s back. “Give the guy a break. He just got here.”

  “Don’t tell me you weren’t the same way with Kira.”

  “Hey.” Cyrus took a step between them. “I get it. If I had a sister, I’d be exactly the same way. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Either way,” Kade said. “You’re still our guest. Let’s get back to the Den before the women send a search party after us.”

  Cyrus wasn’t going to argue with that, especially if it meant spending more time with Nat. He’d only been apart from her for less than an hour and already he could feel his bear deep inside yearning for more.

  A lot more.

  Which meant only one thing—he was in trouble.

  Chapter Four

  Dinner was a loud, busy, chaotic affair and Nat loved every minute of it. She loved to travel, and even liked to be alone while she traveled, but there was nothing quite like coming home to a house full of people who loved you to make your heart sing.

  Platters of food had been passed around, with everyone talking over one another and at least six different conversations going on at the same time. It was impossible to keep up with everything, but Nat focused on her cousin Kira, who’d joined them at the table in her wheelchair.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Nat said for at least the third time. “And the babies. I can’t even imagine how scary it was.”

  Only a few weeks earlier, Kira, pregnant with twins, had fallen and started bleeding. It had ended up being superficial bleeding, but still the doctor was worried, and Kira’s blood pressure had gone up. The doctors, worried because multiple pregnancies could be hard enough without the added stress of having shifter babies, had ordered her to bed rest. As Kira had already explained to Nat, the doctor had conceded to allowing her to join the family for dinners as long as she stayed in her wheelchair. Kira wasn’t pleased about it, but it was better than spending all her time alone in bed.

  “It was terrifying,” Kira admitted. “I’m so lucky that Doctor Bennett is familiar with us. She’s dealt with enough shifter babies to know we’re different.” That was an understatement and they both laughed. “Especially since my situation is…” She rubbed her hands on her belly. “Very different.”

  That was the truth. Kira had mated with Nash, a wolf from Yellowstone, which meant that when it came to their offspring, there were a lot of unknowns. Would they be wolf shifters or bear? Or bi-shifters? Not that any of it mattered at the moment. The only thing that mattered was getting Kira to a safe delivery date, which meant at least one more month. The twins would still be early, but the doctor would be happy with that. And judging by how tired Kira looked, she’d be more than happy with that as well. The pregnancy was really taking a toll on her cousin.

  “I’m so glad you’re here now, Nat.” Kira took her hand and squeezed. “And I’m even more happy to see you with Cyrus Steele. I mean, hello. He’s a total hottie and—”

  “I know.” Nat laughed. “He’s Cyrus Steele.” She waved her hand dismissively and winked. “Or so I’ve been told.”

  “He’s a huge deal, Nat.”

  Was he? Nat shrugged. It wasn’t his financial status or his family position or the fact that he was on the cover of a national magazine that Nat thought was a big deal. It was the fact that when he was near—and even when he wasn’t—he made her heart race, her palms sweat, and her stomach flip in a way that had never happened before. And when they’d kissed—damn. That was a big deal. A very big, very huge deal.

  “He’s Cyrus.” She looked down at her plate, but Kira wasn’t about to be fooled.

  “Whatever.” She smacked her cousin’s arm lightly. “You can’t fool me. You are so into him. And he can’t keep his eyes off you.”

  Nat’s head snapped up. “What? Really?”

  Kira laughed. “The heat between the two of you is insane. I am so happy you found your mate, Nat. It’s so amazing to—”

  “Excuse me.” Abruptly, Nat grabbed her plate and pushed back from the table. “I should help clear.” Some of the others had started to gather their plates and take them to the kitchen, but that wasn’t what made Natalia get up so rudely from the table. Kira had mentioned the “M” word. And that was just ludicrous. After all, it was one thing to pretend that she was dating Cyrus, but mates? That was insane. Wasn’t it?

  She glanced back at her cousin, who didn’t bother to hide her hurt. Guilt rushed through her and Nat quickly bent down to pull her into a hug. “I’m sorry, Kira. I was just…it’s just…I’m sorry,” she finished lamely. It wasn’t as if she could admit to her favorite cousin that she was lying to everyone.

  The Jacksons were nice. Really nice. They welcomed him without any reservation—except for the brief hard time Ryker had given him—and even better, despite the fact that most of them knew who Cyrus was, and who his family was, they didn’t make a big deal about it.

  In fact, apart from being home on Kodiak Island, Cyrus couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so accepted and comfortable.

  But despite that, all Cyrus really wanted to do was take Natalia, throw her over his shoulder, and find the nearest guest room, where he could toss her on the bed and really get to know her. And judging by the looks she’d been giving him across the table all night, he was pretty sure she’d be up for a little bit of play time, too.

  When Nat jumped up from the table and started to clear dishes, he was about to follow her in to the kitchen so he could finally get her alone long enough to make his move, when the front door of the Den opened and in stepped a cop.

  Cy tensed, every muscle in his body prepped and coiled for a response. Not that he had a bad history with the police. It wasn’t them that was the problem. It was the fact that they usually brought bad news.

  There’s been an accident.

  Your father…he…

  “Gabe!” The woman he remembered as Zoe jumped up from the table, along with the little boy whose name he couldn’t remember, and they rushed over to give the police officer a hug. “Come meet Cyrus. He’s Natalia’s mat—boyfriend.” She looked to Cyrus in question; he only shrugged in response and pushed back from the table.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Cyrus said, the same way he’d been saying it all night. “And just when I think I’ve met everyone. This clan is...” He waved his arm to encompass the room. “A big group,” he finished with a laugh.

  “Th
at it is,” Axel said from the table. “And growing all the time.” He bounced his baby girl in his arms.

  Cyrus looked back to Gabe, whose smile had turned into a frown.

  “You’re Cyrus Steele,” he said without any question. “That would explain it.”

  Cy crossed his arms defensively and eyed the cop. “I am. But I don’t see what that would explain.”

  “It would explain the reporters in town sniffing around, asking questions.”

  One simple word and Cyrus’s bear was ready to rip someone to shreds. It was a violent reaction to be sure, and one he was definitely not proud of. But the last few months since his father had died, leaving him the head of a massive fortune and unwittingly turning him into an unlikely celebrity, the word reporter had become synonymous with trouble.

  Mate.

  The word kept circling in Natalia’s head. Even once she got to the kitchen and started to busy herself with dishes and catching up with Harper, Chloe, and Ella—her cousins’ mates—about everything that had been going on at the ridge since she’d last been there for Harper and Axel’s wedding, she couldn’t shake the reverberation of the word in her brain.

  Was Cyrus her mate?

  That was ridiculous. He was a Kodiak. She was a grizzly. They’d only just met. He was a mega celebrity. None of those things matched up.

  “So, were you ever going to tell me about him?” Ryker’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.

  She spun around from the sink where she’d been washing and rewashing the same bowl for the last few minutes. “About Cyrus?”

  “I wasn’t talking about the president of the United States.” He crossed his arms and stood like a wall in front of her.

  Nat almost laughed at the big brotherliness of the action, and in any other circumstance she would have, but she was too distracted. “I just told you,” she said. “I told everyone.” She turned to look around the kitchen, but they were alone. She hadn’t even noticed everyone leaving them.

  “You know what I mean, Nat.” Ryker’s face relaxed a little, and some of the tension was replaced by what Nat would have described as disappointment if she didn’t know her big brother so well. “I wish you would have told me.”

  Maybe it was disappointment.

  Guilt flashed through her because Nat would absolutely have told Ryker about Cyrus in any other circumstance.

  Like, if it were real.

  She wiped her hands on a towel and squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry,” she said genuinely. “I really am. I didn’t mean to make you feel unimportant.”

  “I know.” He smiled. “And I also know I’m being super sensitive.”

  She laughed. “Yes, you are. But that’s okay.”

  “I think it’s just because of everything that you helped me out with when it came to Nina.”

  Nina was Ryker’s mate and she’d helped him realize that even though she was a human and not at all what he normally would have thought of as acceptable as far as mates went, you couldn’t fight instinct and he owed it to himself to be with the one he loved.

  Instinct.

  Was that what it was with Cyrus?

  Nat could have laughed at herself. There was no way she could compare what Nina and Ryker shared with whatever was going on with her and Cyrus.

  “I promise that you’ll be the first to know if anything else important or exciting is going on. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  She let her brother wrap her up in his big arms and hug her tight and was just about to make her excuses to get out of there and go find the man who was causing so much excitement among her family, when a loud crash sounded outside the window.

  “What the hell?”

  “What was that?”

  Natalia spun around just as a flash of movement moved past the kitchen window.

  “Stay back.” Ryker’s arm shot out in an effort to keep Nat from moving, but he was too late; she was already headed for the door to the living room. Before she could get there, though, it flew open and Cyrus stood in the doorway. His eyes wildly searched the room until they landed on her.

  “Natalia.” He reached out for her, and automatically she went to him and let him crush her tight against his chest.

  There was no danger. Or at least, she didn’t really think there was any danger. After all, they were in the mountains. It was probably a raccoon or something getting into things. But it felt like more. And obviously Cyrus thought so, too.

  “Get away from the windows, both of you.” Gabe came into the kitchen behind Cyrus and automatically they both sank to the floor behind the kitchen counter.

  “What’s going on?”

  “They know I’m here.”

  “Who?”

  “Reporters.”

  One word, and Natalia knew what it meant. The end of her weekend with Cyrus.

  “You guys can’t stay here,” Luke said from somewhere she couldn’t see.

  “Not if you don’t want to be hounded,” Gabe agreed. “I can keep them off the property legally, but—”

  “That would be admitting I’m here,” Cyrus cut him off. “And right now they can’t prove it. They haven’t seen me.”

  “And we’re certainly not going to tell them,” Ella said in her thick Spanish accent. “You two, rápido.”

  Her entire family and all the people she cared about had gathered around her to protect her. Her heart swelled both with love and with guilt for her deception to them. But there’d be plenty of time for guilt later.

  “The hunting cabin,” Zoe said. “They should go there. It’s remote and you guys just fixed it up. It’s perfect.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Nat looked up to see Gabe touching Zoe’s cheek tenderly. She hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know Zoe. But she did know that she was Chloe’s sister who’d only just recently found her mate Gabe and his son, Ashton. And even more recently had been kidnapped and taken to the very same remote hunting cabin they were now discussing.

  “I’m sure.” Zoe smiled and looked down at Natalia. “Besides, it’s time for some new memories in that place.” She winked and despite the circumstances, Nat couldn’t help but laugh.

  “It’s settled,” Luke said. “I’ll take them up there and Axel and the others will keep watch outside and make sure no one managed to get up here. If anybody asks, we’ve never even heard of Cyrus Steele.”

  Chapter Five

  If Cyrus hadn’t been so on alert and pissed off about the potential for reporters—who, by his experience, had been pushy, intrusive, and at times, downright dangerous—he might have actually had a minute to think about what it meant to be shuttled off in Luke’s truck to a private cabin at the back of the Grizzly Ridge property.

  Because what it meant was a one-room cabin. All alone. With Natalia.

  He shut down the image of Natalia, lying naked on a blanket in front of a roaring fire, before his cock had a chance to twitch completely to life, and focused on the task at hand, which was making sure the perimeter of the cabin was clear.

  “You take the right side,” Luke ordered. “I’ll go around the left. Nat, you—”

  “Get inside where you’re safe.” The command popped out of his mouth before Cyrus could stop it and he couldn’t be sure who was more surprised—himself or Natalia.

  She opened her mouth to object, but glanced at Luke and finally nodded. “I’ll get a fire started.”

  A twitch of desire sparked low in his gut. She was feisty. He liked it. He liked a lot of things about her.

  Focus.

  He turned away and quickly stripped himself of his clothes. Leaving them discarded in a pile on the porch, Cyrus took two running steps and let his body morph into his animal. His muscles stretched and pulled and a feeling akin to relief ripped through him. It had been too long since he’d let his bear free. There just wasn’t the privacy in the Bahamas and he couldn’t even imagine the chaos it would have caused if anyone had seen him. With a roar, he took off running and quickl
y circled the cabin, working his way out in a widening perimeter.

  It only took him a few moments, but the area was clear. He sniffed the air, and there was no sign of anyone, let alone an annoying human reporter anywhere near the hunting cabin.

  He easily slipped back into his human form and strode naked and confident around the corner of the little log house to the porch where he’d left his clothes.

  Natalia and Luke both stood exactly where he’d left them, looking bemused.

  “I didn’t say anything about shifting.” Luke lifted an eyebrow and laughed.

  Nat’s lips twitched up in a sly smile as she spent a moment checking out his naked body. His skin felt as though it were on fire under her gaze, and Cy quickly reached for his jeans and tugged them on before his body could betray how much he liked the way she was looking at him.

  “I needed a little release.”

  “I bet you did.” Both men looked at her and laughed. “I’m going to start that fire now.” She turned and disappeared into the cabin.

  “Anything else I need to know?” Cy asked Luke. He was eager for the man to head out so they could be alone.

  “Not much. There’s spotty service up here, so your phone might not work, but I gave Nat a radio in case of an emergency. Of course, we’ll let you know as soon as Gabe’s dealt with the reporters. Hopefully it should only be overnight.” Cyrus couldn’t help but hope it was longer, but he didn’t say so. “Harper packed you enough food to last a month.” Perfect. “And you just might need it,” Luke continued. “More snow is coming. I’m not sure what we’re going to get, but the forecast never seems to account for the altitude up here. Be safe.”

  “Thanks, man.” Cyrus slapped him on the back. “I appreciate this, really. I don’t want to subject Natalia to that kind of attention, not yet when it’s still—” He caught himself before he gave away just how new their relationship really was. “Well, I guess not ever. It’s definitely not always easy.”

  “I bet it’s not.”