“Satisfied?” Lucy glared at the screens again.
A slow smirk crossed Joseph Fenn’s face, and I had a sinking feeling that Lucy had just jumped in way over her head.
“Yes, Ms. Elmsong. You’ve made your point. You may act as proxy for your brother’s trial, if you wish.”
“I do,” she said, ignoring Luke’s protest. I didn’t blame her. Lucy wasn’t likely to win against any of us, but Luke would be slaughtered in his current state.
“Would the arresting lawman please step forward? You have been issued a challenge.”
It took my brain a few sluggish minutes to realize that he meant me. I had made the arrest. I was the bear she’d be facing. Oh shit. I couldn’t do it. Not to her.
I forced my legs to carry me forward until I stood only a few feet away from her. She didn’t look taken aback or even frightened. She trusted me not to hurt her. Or maybe she didn’t care if I did. Either way, she was being foolish. This would end badly.
“She can’t shift yet,” I said, desperately trying to forestall the inevitable confrontation. “She’s new. If she forces it, we don’t have enough manpower to contain her.”
“Then you will fight as humans,” Joseph said with a shrug. “You know the rules. The fight goes on until one of you yields. No throwing the fight.”
He steepled his fingers and leaned over to get a better view. “Begin.”
I was still reeling, unsure of how exactly I’d been put in this horrid position when Lucy ran at me. Her form was terrible, and she was telegraphing so blatantly I could have put a kibosh on her plan right then and there if I’d been thinking straight.
Fortunately for her, I wasn’t. And while I was still horrified by the idea of taking a swing at her, she had no such qualms with attacking me. She hit me hard, ramming her shoulders into my stomach. I hadn’t even had the chance to shift into a ready stance, and the combined force of her charge and the newfound strength in her limbs sent us toppling to the ground.
Despite everything, I was more than a little proud that she’d managed to get me on the ground. She scrambled onto my chest, pinning me. Her legs twined around mine, limiting the movement of my hips. I couldn’t roll to dislodge her. Smart. She’d apparently taken at least one self-defense course.
My common sense finally kicked in. I had to fight, no matter how abhorrent it seemed to me. The Thing would dismiss the trial by combat if I yielded without a fight. Not only that, I hadn’t yet proved myself to her bear. It would cause problems later if her spirit found me lacking.
She had leverage, but even with her new strength, she couldn’t beat my reach. She couldn’t pin my wrists in the way she truly needed to and also keep my lower half on the ground. I strained against her hold, pushing my hands several inches from the ground. She gritted her teeth in frustration, but rather than expend more strength than she ought to, she surprised me again.
She bashed her head against mine. My head thunked against the hard-packed ground and I let out a pained grunt. She let out a similar sound and her grip slackened. I wrestled my hands free and was finally able to turn my torso. I rolled her quickly to the ground beneath me.
It shouldn’t have been sexy. We were both in pain. She was struggling vigorously and clearly trying her hardest to push me off. But she was so warm, so near. She was mine. And I no longer had to be careful of my teeth or blood around her. I could lay my teeth into her throat and erase the mark that mangy wolf had left on her.
She got her knees under my chest and kicked me off of her. I was once again knocked breathless and landed in the dirt. My head thumped painfully against a rock. Again. I groaned. She ran at me again, ready to try the whole damned song and dance again.
I swept her legs out from beneath her. She went down with a startled sound, and this time I was able to pin her legs successfully.
“Yield.”
She shook her head. “No! I can’t! I have to-”
“Yield,” I growled. “I can’t kill you Lucy. So please, just yield.”
Her body sagged beneath mine, boneless. A choked sound escaped her. She knew I was right. It would kill me to hurt her more than I already had. I smelled salt and knew she was crying.
“Trust me,” I whispered, pressing my lips to her ear so only she would hear. She whimpered. I waited, heart thundering in my chest.
“I yield.”
I climbed off her the instant the words were out of her mouth. I tasted blood in my mouth and realized I must have bitten my tongue when she’d pulled the stupid head-butt. I spat it on the ground. First blood had been Lucy’s, but victory had been mine. I turned to face the screens.
“His life is mine.”
“Choose steel or a gun, Mr. Kassower,” Joseph instructed calmly.
“I choose neither,” I said, and pointed at Luke. He’d rushed to his sister’s aid the moment I’d released her. Lucy was rubbing her forehead with a grimace. “This man, this bear, saved my life. I owe him a debt of honor. I vote that he be outcast.”
A murmur of ascent ran through the assembled lawmen. When human, Luke had been very cooperative. He’d killed no other humans and he had even helped to save my life. No one save Joseph Fenn seemed to have a cause to want him dead. If he could be contained and controlled, why shouldn’t he live? And as an outcast to bear society, he could be hunted if anyone so wished.
“We will put it to a vote,” Joseph said sourly.
He conferred with his fellow members of the Thing, and the vote went in favor of my plan. I glanced back at Luke and Lucy. She had a lump on her forehead and it turned my stomach to see the bruises on her fair skin. Bruises I knew I’d caused.
Never again, I promised myself. Never again would I let harm befall her, by my hand or anyone else’s.
“He is outcast,” Joseph pronounced finally. “No bear outside of his family may have dealings with him. We do not acknowledge or protect him as one of our own. He will live or die by his own power.”
I helped Luke get Lucy into an upright position and together we limped away from the campsite.
“What does that mean?” Lucy grumbled. “They weren’t acknowledging him before now.”
I sighed. “It was the best I could do. What it means is that if someone decides to hunt Luke down, I’m powerless to stop them while operating as an enforcer. He’s outcast now.”
“It’s fine,” he muttered, when Lucy looked about to argue. “They said I could still see family. I’ll have you, at least.”
She stood on tiptoe so she could get her arms around his shoulder. She held the other out to me, inviting me into the embrace. I stepped into her arms. It was odd being pressed so close to another man, and Luke and I exchanged an awkward hug before letting go of one another.
“Yes. Of course you’ll have me. You’ll have us both.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I thought he wasn’t supposed to associate with me. Family only.”
“He will be,” she said confidently. She glanced up at me nervously. “Right?”
“Of course,” I said, squeezing her lightly. “You’re mine, remember?”
“And I’m yours.”
“Promise?”
“If you can stay human long enough, I’ll prove it tonight.”
Luke gagged. “I think that’s my cue to leave. I think I’m going to go find a nice cave to throw up in.”
“I’m not sure sex is advisable with a head injury.”
“Excuses, excuses,” she said breezily. “I think maybe you just don’t want to sleep with me.”
I pulled her to the ground, careful not to jostle her too badly. She giggled as I levered myself over her. “Now that is where you’re wrong,” I said, and I nipped her throat lightly.
“Prove it,” she taunted, her blue eyes sparkling merrily.
It didn’t matter to me that the lawmen were probably nearby, and that Luke was not further on than that. I had my mate. She was warm, and willing, and mine
And so I shredded what was left of her jeans a
nd did exactly that.
Epilogue
Lucy
“Ooh,” I moaned. “Right there. Keep doing that.”
Chance chuckled and continue to rub at my instep. “I should give you foot rubs more often if that’s the sound you’re going to make.”
I was leaning back in the recliner in our new home. I’d insisted we be closer to Luke. Chance was still getting used to his job as an enforcer in the new territory that composed West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland.
While the move had been good for me, I hadn’t realized how much I’d been leaving behind until I’d gotten the influx of calls from home. Millie had been equal parts relieved and irate when I’d finally returned her calls. Uncle Mack and Aunt Caroline had apologized and had even invited me back home. Chance and I planned to put in an appearance at Thanksgiving, as long as nothing disastrous happened.
And there was a better than average chance of that, according to Freyr. The God popped into our lives periodically, usually when we least expected it. The most recent encounter he’d looked older and more haggard. Chance said that until Idun’s apples were returned to the Gods, both sides were going to age and could possibly die.
It had made me wonder about Frigg. Had my attack killed her for good, or was she out there biding her time, waiting to get revenge on my happy little family?
Well, Chance and I were happy. Luke was still trapped in the Blue Ridge Mountains, afraid to venture back into society lest he lose control. While Chance was working with us both on it, he was having a harder time controlling it than I was. Or perhaps the ease of the transformation was due to a different factor, one that Luke couldn’t replicate.
“You owe me,” I groaned as his long nimble fingers worked magic on my sore feet. “You could have warned me that you’re especially virile.”
He smiled and his free hand came up to press against my huge pregnant belly. The babies inside always seemed to know when he was touching me, because they always kicked at his hands.
“Do you regret it?”
“No,” I sighed, and I glanced out the open French windows. The sky was overcast. It would rain tonight. “I’m worried. Freyr said Thor was on the move. He said the battles would be harder from here on out. I don’t want to drag the twins into it.”
Chance followed my gaze, regarding the storm front gravely. “We agreed we’d do our part. We’ll face it when it comes.”
“Together,” I agreed.
Thunder rolled ominously in the distance.
Tracking the Bear (Blue Ridge Bears Book 1) Page 13