Except for the rare times he had smiled at her.
It had been so long since she had heard the voice of the grizzly who was like another brother to her together with Rune, one who had protected her countless times and had taken good care of her when they had all been held captive by Archangel.
The urge to tell him everything that was happening was strong, had her afraid to speak in case she accidentally blurted it. She cursed Archangel again, despising them for making her do this, unsure whether she could go through with it.
“Anyone there?” Maverick said.
“Maybe it’s a prank call.” Rune’s voice was distant, but she caught it, wanted to cry and scream at the same time as she thought about handing these two bears over to the hunters.
Maverick snapped, “Who’d prank call me?”
Rune muttered, “Someone with a death wish?”
Maverick huffed at that.
Bronwyn couldn’t believe she was going to do this, but it was her brother’s life on the line. She denied the urge to tell Maverick everything, to trust that he could help her. The hunters would kill her brother.
“I’m hanging up.”
She panicked.
Whispered, “Maverick?”
Silence.
And then his deep voice rolled over her.
“Pooh Bear?”
She huffed now. “I told you to stop calling me that.”
He cleared his throat. Sighed. Not a sigh of exasperation, or any emotion she could decipher. He always had been skilled at hiding his feelings. But if she had to name the feeling behind his sigh, she might have called it relief. Or something akin to gratitude, as if he was glad to hear she was alive.
They hadn’t spoken since the raid that had freed them from captivity, had gone their separate ways thanks to her brother, but she had missed him and Rune every day of the twenty years they had been apart.
Rune said, “Who is it?”
Maverick’s deep voice warmed her and irritated her at the same time. “It’s Winnie.”
“Little Winnie the Pooh?” Rune sounded as surprised as Maverick did and then his tone darkened. “What’s she doing calling you of all people?”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Maverick growled back at him. “What’s wrong with Pooh Bear calling me?”
Bronwyn smiled at how familiar all of this was. Rune had always been more fatherly towards her, had always done his best to shield her from the darker side of life at the compound. Maverick had always wanted to toughen her up.
She wished he had managed it as she growled, “I’m not a cub anymore. Stop calling me Winnie the Pooh or Pooh Bear!”
“What’s wrong, Bronwyn?” Maverick sounded serious, the hard edge to his voice making it easy for her to picture how his face would be set in dark lines, his grey eyes bright with a hunger for violence.
It would have scared most.
But gods, she melted at the way he said her name, feelings she had been suppressing for decades rolling up on her to break over her, catching her in the swell of them. It was Maverick on the other end of the line. Maverick those bastards wanted her to hurt, trading him for her brother.
Maverick.
She clutched the phone as if she were holding on to him.
Maverick who she’d had the crush to end all crushes on. A galactic-sized crush. She could remember every time they had come into contact, their skin brushing, whether it had been intentional or accidental. She could remember every smile he had given her. They had been rare, but she had cherished every one.
Because he had only ever smiled for her.
A need to protect him warred with a need to protect her brother and she was torn between them again, just as she had been the night they had escaped, unsure whether to choose him or Andrew.
Her heart or her blood.
She squeezed her eyes shut, sending tears slipping down her cheeks, and drew in a shuddering breath to steady her nerves, to give her strength.
Because she had to do this.
She had no choice.
She lined up the words and forced them out.
“I’m in trouble.”
Chapter 2
Maverick clutched the phone to his ear, unable to believe it was little Winnie calling him. Just the sound of her voice roused a fierce protective instinct in him, and that instinct had transformed into a compelling need to go to her the moment she had announced she was in trouble.
He stared at the world outside the window of Rune’s cabin, restless with a need to move, to do something as his friend stared at his back. He could feel the bear’s desire to know what was happening and could sense the curiosity of the female Rune held balanced on his thighs, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn away from the window, couldn’t stop himself from staring into the distance, all of his focus on the female at the other end of the line.
Winnie sounded the same as she always had—softly spoken, too gentle to be part of the seedy, violent world of the underground arena where they had been held.
Too innocent to be exposed to the things that had happened there.
To be exposed to him.
His heart thundered, drumming at a fierce pace as he fought the need to leave the cabin, battled the restless urge to go to her even when he didn’t know where she was.
Little Winnie needed him.
His bear side prowled, shifting back and forth, wild with a need to go to her, goading him into surrendering to it.
He tamped it down, tugged on the leash and brought it to heel, because he was done letting it control him, knew better than to surrender to it every chance he got now. Those days were behind him.
“What kind of trouble are you in?” Maverick said, blood rushing in his ears to fill the silence.
Rune helped. “Winnie is in trouble?”
The big bear set his wolf mate aside on the crisp beige couch when Maverick looked at him, his pale blue eyes flicking to her, concern shining in them as he stood. In the weeks since Callie had come into his life, Rune had been making one hell of an effort when it came to sprucing up his cabin, making it fit for a female. New couch. New drapes. New bed. Maverick barely recognised the place.
Rune strode over to him and pressed close, his arm rubbing against Maverick’s as he leaned his head towards the phone, listening in on the call.
“What’s up, sweetheart?” Maverick willed her to answer him.
No matter how low her mood had been, or how fierce, she had always responded to him calling her that. She had always talked to him whenever he had been gentle with her.
She was quiet for a few seconds more and then sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it on the phone.”
He frowned at that, a seed of suspicion taking root in his mind, one he denied because he was just on edge, still struggling to cope with the shock of answering the phone and hearing her voice when he hadn’t heard a word from her in twenty years. It was transporting him back to the compound, flooding him with memories of that place, pushing him off-balance to the point where he was starting to regard everything with wary eyes.
Hell, even the peaceful stretch of pale grey pebbles and green grass between him and the other three cabins on this side of the creek came under his scrutiny, his gaze seeking anything out of the ordinary. He tracked Saint as the big dark-haired male crossed from his cabin to the left, one that stood with its back to Maverick, heading towards the two cabins to the right of the clearing that had their sides to him and their rears to the thick pine forest that covered the foothills of the mountains.
“You can tell me anything. Just tell me what’s wrong,” Maverick said and waited.
Holly bounded towards Saint, caught up with him and looped her arm around his, her black hair swaying as she turned to her mate. Saint bent his head towards her and said something, and then looked ahead of them again, to the cabins. Lowe and Cameo were hanging out on the deck of Knox’s cabin, talking to him and Skye. Probably planning tonight’s menu. Saint had said somet
hing about a belated welcome party for Callie.
Life at Black Ridge was getting busier by the day, and Maverick had thought it would disturb him, but he had found part of him welcomed the addition of the females.
In particular, Rune’s female. His friend deserved to find happiness after everything he had been through. Maverick rested a little easier knowing Rune was taken care of, that he had a future to look forward to, and the love of a good female.
He switched his focus back to the female on the other end of the line, growing impatient as she refused to answer him.
“I… I’m sorry I bothered you.” She sounded defeated, upset, and fear swept through him, cranking him tight.
“Don’t hang up.” Those words burst from his lips, ripped from him by the thought that he might never hear from her again if she did. “I’ll meet you. Ah… I can meet you at…” He looked at Rune and then at the others as Saint and Holly reached Knox and Lowe and their females. An idea struck him. “I’ll meet you at The Spirit Moose. I’ll text you the address.”
Skye owned the bar and it was a place he could control, one where he would feel safe and less on edge, looking for trouble in every shadow.
“Thank you.” Gratitude shone in her voice, softening it, easing some of the tension from him and he relaxed as he loosened his death grip on the phone. She sighed. “It’s been a long time.”
Maverick muttered, “It has. I remember you like it was yesterday though. Little freckled-face Winnie the Pooh, always hanging out in our cell, brightening the place with that smile that refused to fade.”
Giving him hope that there was a better future for him out there somewhere.
Her tone hardened. “I’m not a cub anymore. I’m not little freckled-face Winnie the Pooh. I’m an adult now.”
It wasn’t like her to be so snappish. Whatever had her running scared had to be serious.
He tried to hold back his sigh as he thought about her, but failed.
“You’ll always be that girl to me.” He wasn’t sure what he had done wrong when she met that with a huff that spoke volumes, that berated him without her needing to say a word.
“I’ll be there tomorrow,” she snapped, and he was sure that was the first time she had been angry with him, couldn’t remember her ever barking at him like that before, baring her fangs.
The line went dead.
Maverick pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it, and then at Rune. Rune slid him a look, one that clearly said the bigger male wanted to cuff him around the head for some reason.
“What’s wrong with Winnie?” Rune looked from him to the phone.
Maverick shrugged. “I don’t know. She wouldn’t say. Just asked me to meet her.”
He still didn’t like that. It had him on edge, gearing up for a fight, and it was hard to shake off the urges building inside him, stopping them before they could seize control. He breathed through it as he texted her the address of the bar, as he stared at his phone, waiting for a response so he knew she had got it. His muscles tightened further with every second that trickled past, each of them feeling like an hour as he willed her to respond, part of him needing to know he could contact her whenever he wanted now.
A message came in. Three words.
I’ll be there.
Was she angry with him? He didn’t like the thought she might be. He didn’t like the fact she had refused to tell him what was wrong either. There was something off about that, something he couldn’t shake. He huffed and put it down to the decades he had spent at the compound, years that had moulded him into a male quick to doubt anyone and always looking for an ulterior motive, or a blade hidden in plain sight ready to plunge into his heart.
“I’m coming with you.” Rune went to turn away from him and Maverick grabbed his arm, couldn’t stop himself from pressing his fingers hard into it through his long-sleeve black T-shirt.
“No.” Maverick looked across at him as he slipped his phone into the back pocket of his black jeans, met Rune’s pale blue eyes and didn’t let the look in them sway him. “I’m going alone.”
“Mav,” Rune started, and he could feel the lecture coming. “It’s Winnie.”
“I know. I know that… but I’d rather go alone. There’s no need for both of us to go. You stay here with Callie.” Maverick held his gaze, letting his friend see in his eyes the reason he couldn’t let him come with him.
He trusted Bronwyn, but the bear in him was riled for some reason and he wasn’t sure it was just restless because it knew someone he cared about was in danger. If he let Rune come with him and, gods forbid, something happened, he would never forgive himself. Rune was at the start of a new life, a better life, and Maverick didn’t want anything to ruin that.
Maverick flicked a glance at Callie.
The black-haired wolf nodded slightly, her amber eyes silently telling him that she would keep Rune here and keep his mind occupied while Maverick was away from Black Ridge. Maverick hated it as much as Rune did whenever they were parted, always felt compelled to get back to his friend’s side, a need that had been formed over the years they had spent together. It was a powerful bond, one that always pulled him back to Rune.
He and Rune both shared a similar bond with Bronwyn too. They had become like family in the few years that Winnie had been at the compound, and he needed to remember that. He needed to trust her. She wasn’t a danger to him.
His bear side growled and groaned, swayed restlessly in a way that he realised had nothing to do with the feeling he was in danger, and had everything to do with the fact Winnie was.
Maverick stared out of the window at Black Ridge, not seeing the beauty or feeling the peacefulness of it as evening light bathed it. That restless feeling kept growing stronger, pounding inside him, driving him to do something.
He tensed, locking up tight when Rune placed a hand on his shoulder. His head whipped towards his friend.
“You good?” Rune’s blue eyes searched his.
Maverick swallowed and nodded, ran a hand over his short black hair and exhaled hard. His brow furrowed as he looked at Rune, as the compulsion grew too strong to deny.
“Go. I’ll make your apologies to the others. Callie won’t mind, will you?” Rune looked at his mate.
She shook her head, her voice soft and warm. “I’ll make sure they save you something to eat.”
Maverick glanced at her, nodded his thanks, and stepped out of the door.
He peeled off his T-shirt and left it on the deck.
Heard Callie murmur to Rune.
“Tell me about Winnie. I figure she was at the compound too. What is it about her that has Maverick so worked up?”
Maverick burst into a dead run, putting Black Ridge behind him and heading for the glacier, the route he always took when he needed to work off some steam.
That question ringing in his mind.
Chapter 3
Bronwyn twisted the glass in front of her back and forth, watching the condensation form and the ice refuse to move. It remained almost still as she shifted the glass, floating serenely on top of the dark liquid. The bartender had given her a look when she had asked for a soda, and maybe she should have taken the silent prompt to order something stronger.
Her stomach had refused to settle from the moment she had heard Maverick’s voice on the other end of the line, had given her hell during the long drive from Whistler. She had left immediately, hadn’t returned to the pride to tell them where she was going, had just texted her aunt to let her know she had gone to stay with some friends for a few days and then got in her small car and started driving.
It had taken her all night to reach the remote town deep in the heart of the mountains and she was bone-deep tired, had downed several coffees at a local café and forced herself to eat something before she had plucked up the courage to go to the bar.
The Spirit Moose.
It resembled an ancient log lodge set in a large parking lot just outside the centre of town and the man who
had been sweeping the deck that surrounded two sides of it had been surprised to see her when she had asked if it was open. When she had explained she was supposed to meet someone here, he had been sympathetic and had let her wait inside while he finished getting the bar ready for the day.
Around three hours ago, he had officially opened it up.
She glanced at her phone again, woke the screen and stared at the clock. She probably should have set a time to meet Maverick. Was it too late to text him?
Bronwyn rubbed sleep from her eyes, fighting off a yawn, and stared at the message he had sent her. He hadn’t sounded happy about meeting her and she feared he knew she was up to no good, that he wouldn’t come or that he had lured her here to see if she was setting him up for a fall. Her stomach somersaulted and she pressed her hand to it as she told herself that she was reading into things. She was nervous about seeing him, hated herself for doing this to him, and it was playing havoc with her.
Another minute ticked past.
Another minute without Maverick showing up.
Another minute without a call or message from the hunters who had her brother.
The sickness swelled again, made her tighten her grip on her stomach through her burgundy camisole, sure this time she would vomit. Every time she recalled how bleak her brother had looked, kneeling in that cell wearing only shorts, and how that male had looked hungry to hurt him, she wanted to be sick.
She’d had to stop several times during her long drive, pausing at the side of the road in the dark for some fresh air, gasping at it. Other times, she had dry heaved.
She cursed the hunters, acid scouring her veins, hatred darkening her heart. They had taken so much from her, and from Maverick and Rune, and now they wanted to take more.
Light burst across her eyes.
Bronwyn’s gaze darted to the door, her eyes adjusting to the onslaught of sunshine, and she sagged as she saw it was just some human.
She went back to nursing her drink.
She had picked a table where she could see the door, one away from the bar to her right. That didn’t stop people from looking at her. Several other tables had occupants now, locals and regulars judging by the way they talked, catching up with each other and the bartender, discussing the latest round of roadworks and some festival that was coming up. She listened to the air conditioning unit whirring, savouring how cool it kept the dark-walled room.
Awakened by her Bear (Black Ridge Bears Shifter Romance Series Book 5) Page 2