Her eyes landed on him and he couldn’t stop himself from staring at her. Stared so long that she grew awkward, fidgeted with the hem of her summer top and dropped her gaze there.
“Sorry. Just hard to believe it’s really you. Twenty years… It’s a long time.” And it had changed her in ways he hadn’t been prepared for.
He strode past her, needing some air that wasn’t laced with her tempting scent, breathed deep of it as he wrestled his urges back under control.
She caught up with him, fell into step beside him as he slowed his pace, and her eyes darted around the forest.
“You really live up here?” She glanced at him but this time her gaze didn’t linger. It leaped back to the trees.
“Sure do.” He took in the forest too and the glimpses of mountains through the dense green canopy. The air was cooler in the shade of the towering pines, dropped a few degrees as they followed a trail down towards the creek. “Since we escaped.”
“Who else lives here?” She lifted her head as they reached the creek, her eyes wide as she surveyed it. “This place makes Whistler look like a dump. It’s gorgeous.”
He frowned when she bent over right in front of him, giving him one hell of a view of her curvy ass as her jeans tightened over it. “What are you—”
She looked over her shoulder at him, still bent over, making the fire raging through his blood all the worse. “I was going to paddle.”
Maverick grabbed her arm and pulled her upright. “You can paddle later. The creek runs through Black Ridge.”
Was that his voice, so tight and scratchy? He cleared his throat, was quick to release her and distance himself. Maybe he should have let Rune come along. He rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing at how damp it was. Maybe he should have made Rune go to meet her by himself. Looking back, it would have been the better choice.
He started walking again, gulping down the air that wasn’t laced with her scent, aware that any second now she would catch up with him. She managed it faster this time, walked beside him with a bounce in her step.
“So, are you going to answer my question?” she said and when he glanced at her, she added, “Who else lives here?”
“Saint and some others. Pride’s been growing lately. Around nine of us living permanently at Black Ridge now.”
“Nine?” Her eyes widened and her step slowed. “So many?”
He sensed the shift in her emotions, a trickle of fear that had him slowing too and turning towards her. “It’ll be all right. You know Rune, and his mate is nice enough. And you remember Saint, right?”
“Saint,” she echoed, her gaze distant, and then it sharpened. “He was the big grizzly who offered to let us join his pride too. I remember you wanted us to take him up on that offer.”
Not just him, but she made it sound as if he had been the driving force behind trying to convince her to come live with them. Hell, maybe he had been. The thought of leaving her in the care of her brother hadn’t sat well with him.
“I remember your brother growing a spine and refusing.”
Her beautiful face darkened as he said that, fire flaring in her eyes, bringing out the gold. “Don’t talk about Andrew like that.”
He huffed, torn between apologising and walking away. Walking away won. He wrestled with himself as the distance between him and Winnie grew. What the hell was wrong with him today? He was normally abrasive, but it wasn’t like him to be this caustic, not for a long time.
Not since the compound.
Maybe it was just her presence bringing that darker side of him to the fore so easily, memories of his time at the compound affecting his mood, agitating him and making him fall back into his old ways. Being an asshole had been the best way to keep himself safe at the compound, had kept everyone at a distance from him.
Except for Rune.
And Bronwyn.
He never had been able to bring himself to be like that with her, so what had changed? Why was he flipping so quickly between wanting to be nice to her and wanting to push her away that he was starting to get a headache?
Maverick massaged his temples, a need building inside him, one he would have to surrender to soon or he would only get worse. He was already looking for a fight. Soon, looking for one would turn into picking one, and he didn’t want Winnie to be on the receiving end.
“Maverick?” Bronwyn’s voice was small, cautious as she trailed a few feet behind him.
He sighed. “Sorry. Just… not in a good place mentally today. Didn’t mean to be an asshole to you.”
He wasn’t going to apologise for being an asshole about her brother though. Andrew was a weak, spineless male who only really cared about himself. What she had told him was proof of that. Her brother was spending more and more time away from her, leaving her alone at her pride, at a time when she needed the support of her family.
She came up beside him again, glanced at him, and then her eyes came back to him and lingered.
Maverick tried to keep his focus on the hike, on the world around him, on anything but the curvy female beside him. Tried and failed. He was bone-deep aware of her, of how much she had changed in the years they had been apart.
When she had first arrived at the compound, she had been in her mid-seventies, had looked barely twenty in human terms, but in bear terms she had been an adolescent. He had felt protective of her then, had wanted to kill every male who had dared to come on to her or had thought they could do as they pleased with her.
She hadn’t been mature, and gods, he hadn’t wanted her to mature in that environment as he had been forced to. He hadn’t wanted her to end up as messed up as he was, and he was messed up. He was deeply aware of that.
Just as he was deeply aware she had matured now.
For five years he had protected her, had taken better care of her than her own damned brother, had made sure she had come through the whole experience without ever being touched by a male or thrown into the cage to fight.
The one time their captors had tried to do that was a nightmare that still regularly haunted his sleep.
He had stepped up and told the hunters he would fight in her place.
Little Winnie hadn’t wanted him to do it, had been distraught, but he hadn’t given her a choice. Protecting her had taken priority over his own well-being, and he had taken a good beating in the cage that night, the hunters repaying him for his audacity in thinking he could make demands as he had.
It had been worth it though.
It had kept her safe.
And for once, he hadn’t spent the fight eager to see if the hunters would reward him with a soft female to fuck in that cold, clinical holding room they always sent fighters to after a match.
He had been eager to get back to Winnie and see she was all right.
He gazed at her, couldn’t keep his damned eyes off her.
Hell, she was all woman—all soft curves—and her scent was divine, driving him wild.
He moved closer to her as they passed through Cougar Creek, kept a wary eye on Rath and his brothers where they were lingering in the long sloping clearing that stretched a good two or three hundred feet up from the river.
“Are they shifters too?” Bronwyn’s soft voice had his focus splitting between her and the cougars.
He grunted in response, didn’t take his gaze off the males even though none of them were a threat to Winnie. When Rath’s head swivelled towards him and Bronwyn, Maverick had to leash the urge to bare fangs at him, warning the dark-haired alpha away. Tension flooded him, had his muscles aching as he stared the cougar down, the need to fight rising swiftly now. Rath was a good fighter, could probably help Maverick ease this need growing out of control inside him, but the cost of surrendering to it would be high.
Saint had been working hard to smooth things over between their pride and the cougars, and starting a fight with them over nothing would only ruin everything his alpha had accomplished. He wouldn’t be the one to wreck things, couldn’t be. He needed Black
Ridge. He needed his pride.
And he feared Saint would kick him out if he caused trouble with the cougars.
Bronwyn moved closer to him as they passed the clearing, as she gazed back at the cougars, wreaking havoc on his control. The urge to fight got twisted in his head, had hunger rolling through him as he grew painfully aware of how close she was to him, as her scent taunted him and lured his gaze to her.
He raked it over her curves, his mouth drying out as he took her in.
His cock stiffening in his jeans.
Gods, it was wrong of him to be attracted to her. She was like a little sister to him—or maybe she wasn’t. As he gazed down at her, a feeling stirred inside him, one that whispered the truth to him.
Their relationship had never been brother-sister.
He had always been fiercely protective of her.
And looking back, he didn’t feel it was because she had been like a sister to him. He had the feeling that maturing in captivity, in that depraved and dark world, had made it impossible for him to recognise what she was back then, or maybe he had always known she was meant for him and he just hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it.
Because he wasn’t worthy of her.
Maverick felt that keenly in his soul as he looked at her.
Bronwyn was like a light that shone too brightly—it hurt to look at her.
He swallowed hard as she glanced at him, his brow furrowing slightly as he tried to think of something to say, as her soft look tied his tongue into a knot and had him feeling unsteady.
A little frown creased her brow as her eyes softened further.
She canted her head slightly. Blinked. Opened her mouth and looked as if she wanted to say something.
His lips parted and he wrestled with himself, tried to line up the words to tell her that he was glad to see her, to tell her that she had changed everything for him when she had arrived at the compound, that she had been a blessing in disguise for him.
That he should have recognised back then what she was to him.
That she was meant for him.
That he wasn’t good enough for her.
“Pooh Bear!” Rune’s deep voice startled him, had his shoulders tensing and his head whipping around to face the direction of Black Ridge.
Rune strode along the pebbly bank of the creek, his pace swift, his blue eyes bright with warmth as he grinned from ear to ear and opened his arms to Bronwyn. She was quick to run to him, to burrow into his arms as he wrapped them around her, hugging her tightly.
Making Maverick want to growl.
Making him wish he had done that, but at the same time feel glad that he hadn’t. Being close to her had been wreaking havoc on him as it was and he was deeply aware of the reason why now, his eyes wide open at last.
It didn’t change anything though.
It couldn’t.
Chapter 5
Rune placed his arm around Bronwyn and led her towards Black Ridge. What Rune was saying as he angled his head towards her was lost on Maverick as he stared at her. She turned her cheek to him as she smiled and laughed at whatever Rune had told her.
An ache built inside Maverick.
Not a need to fight or run this time.
He ached for her to look at him like that—for her to laugh and smile with him like that.
She had been on edge since he had walked into the bar, had been tense around him for some reason, maybe even a little withdrawn, giving him the impression she wanted to keep her distance from him.
But she was a completely different person with Rune.
And gods, it hurt.
He tipped his head back and stared at the clear blue sky, breathed deep of the cool air and exhaled hard. What the hell was he doing? He closed his eyes. No good would come of this. He shouldn’t have brought her here. He should have told her to go back to her pride. He should have put as much distance between them as possible.
Her gaze landed on him.
Maverick heaved another long sigh and followed her and Rune, trailing after them, lost in the war happening in his head and his heart, a war the sensible part of him needed to win.
He and Winnie didn’t belong together.
Fate had been cruel to make him her fated one.
She deserved someone better.
“Here, come and meet Callie.” Rune’s voice cut into his thoughts and Maverick realised they had reached the clearing in the heart of Black Ridge.
And everyone was waiting in it, loitering around the unlit firepit that was close to Saint’s cabin.
Bronwyn tensed, an almost imperceptible tightening of her shoulders that most would have missed, but not him. He was too deeply attuned to her to miss even the slightest change in her mood.
“No one here is going to hurt you, Winnie,” Rune said, almost a growl, and Maverick was glad his friend had noticed the spike in her nerves.
Callie was quick to come forwards, leaving the twin blond bears, Knox and Lowe, with their human mates.
Saint remained sitting on the step of the raised deck of his cabin with Holly tucked close to him, his dark eyes watching Bronwyn closely. His alpha must have been fooling around with his cougar mate in the creek that ran to the right of his cabin, because he was wearing khaki shorts and a faded black T-shirt, and his brown hair was damp. His petite black-haired female was dressed in similar clothing, her shorts made from cut-off jeans and her top a purple tank. Around her bare feet, the boards of the steps were damp.
Callie’s amber eyes were bright as she greeted Bronwyn.
Maverick kept tabs on Bronwyn as the others came forwards, keeping his distance from them all. Knox and Lowe were polite enough, their blue eyes warm as they welcomed her to Black Ridge.
Skye nudged her mate, Knox, out of the way, a mischievous glint to her dark eyes as she reached out and feathered her fingers through Bronwyn’s hair. “I’d love a cut like this. Knox likes my braids though.”
She ran her hand down one of her twin braids.
Knox’s low growl and the heat that shone in his eyes said the reason for him liking her braids was sexual, and Maverick really didn’t need that mental image of the big bear holding on to them as he took his mate. Flashes of females spread before him like that shot through his mind, a replay of every one he had taken while they were on their knees.
He needed a run.
His body felt too tight.
He stared beyond Saint’s cabin, towards the mountains and the glacier there, his heart pounding faster, the need to run growing stronger as Bronwyn’s scent hit him again and he felt her eyes on him.
Maverick took a hard step forwards.
“And this is Saint. You probably don’t remember him.”
Those words leaving Rune’s lips and the hint of fear that laced Bronwyn’s scent snapped Maverick back to her, purging the need to run and replacing it with a need to remain, to move closer to her and ensure his alpha didn’t frighten her.
“I remember you.” Bronwyn bravely stepped forwards as Saint pushed to his feet.
Saint took the steps down from his cabin and closed the distance between them. The big alpha towered a good foot taller than her, made her look small and triggered a need in Maverick, a powerful urge to close ranks with her.
That need only intensified as Saint’s dark eyes narrowed, his jaw setting beneath his beard.
“You’re our guest here, but we have rules. You cause any trouble at Black Ridge and you deal with me.” Saint held her gaze, his features set in hard lines as he laid down the law.
“Dial it back,” Maverick growled. “Winnie the Pooh is a good girl.”
Her shoulders tensed and she glared over them at him, and he could see in her honey-coloured eyes that his words had hit a nerve. Good. He needed some distance between them, needed her to see that he was no good for her. She would be better off with any other male in this world.
Just the thought of her with someone else made him want to roar.
Made him want to rage.
&
nbsp; To fight.
Bronwyn turned on him, her eyes flashing dangerously. “I told you not to call me that! I’m not a cub now. I’m not little Winnie the Pooh, or Pooh Bear, or any other damned pet name you had for me when I was a girl. I’m not that little girl anymore, Maverick.”
He was aware of that.
Too damned aware.
Rune cracked a rare grin. “You certainly aren’t. You’re all grown up now. Isn’t she, Mav?”
Callie growled at him. Maverick was tempted to do the same.
He grunted, but refused to commit to an answer. The last thing he needed was Winnie growing aware of the fact that the moment he had set eyes on her again, he had noticed she was all grown up. Hell, it was hard not to notice how curvy she was now, how she had filled out in all the right places, and how beautiful she was. It was driving him mad.
Pushing him dangerously close to the edge.
He clung to that fragile distance between them, holding on to it as if it were a life raft, his only hope of surviving this unscathed.
He glanced towards the glacier again.
Needed to run.
“You can bunk in one of the cabins across the creek. Rune set one up in case I brought you back here.” Maverick refused to look at her, kept his gaze on the glacier, that need pounding inside him, drumming harder and faster, pushing him to obey it. Maybe he could hit the lodge and stay there until Rune had dealt with Winnie’s problem and she was gone. It was tempting. “Rune can show—”
“You’ll have to do it.” Rune cut him off and Maverick glanced at him, barely bit back a growl as Callie pulled Rune towards their cabin at the far end of the clearing, beyond the wooden bathroom-come-storage building that stood in the centre of all the cabins.
Rune tripped along behind his mate as she growled and snarled, an air about her that said Rune’s remark about Bronwyn had triggered a need to stake a claim on him.
Great.
Maverick flexed his fingers, struggling now. His skin felt as if it was tightening around his muscles, choking him, and he wanted to claw it all off, ended up loosening a few buttons on his black shirt as he felt as if he couldn’t breathe. He needed to run. He was all too aware of what would happen if he didn’t burn off some energy. He would want to fight. With Rune occupied, he would have no way to vent himself, would grow aggressive towards everyone, trying to make a fight happen.
Awakened by her Bear (Black Ridge Bears Shifter Romance Series Book 5) Page 4