I never prided myself on being an emotional man, but I wasn’t ashamed when I felt the burn of tears behind my eyes. My life wasn’t whole until Emma returned. And now that she was here to stay, I couldn’t imagine ever being so lonely again.
“I love you, too.” I said as we sat in the hot spring wrapped in each other’s arms and enjoying the feel of our skin pressed against one another.
Brandt and I stayed in the spring until we began to fall asleep. My body had never felt so content to be with him. Not even before I left had I ever remembered being so complete. Perhaps I needed the time away to truly appreciate how wonderful and perfect Brandt was for me. There was no denying our mates any longer—we would be together for the rest of our lives.
I woke to his large, yet soft hand brushing against my shoulder. We’d slept in our room once we returned and although it was only for a few hours, it was the best sleep I’d had in a long time.
“Emma, wake up,” he whispered.
“Do I have to?” I grumbled.
Though his laughter he kissed my cheek. “Yes.”
I opened one eye just wide enough to see that it wasn’t very bright outside yet. “What time is it?”
“Seven.”
“In the morning?”
He laughed again. “Yes. Get up.” I mumbled something incoherent so he shook me again. “Please, it’s important.”
Curiosity getting the best of me, I pushed the covers back and exposed my naked body to Brandt. He watched me closely, eyes eating up every inch like he’d never be filled. I was on my side, but I slowly rolled onto my back and spread my legs a little wider, pushing my hips up into the air.
He cleared his throat and bit his lip. I heard the low rumble and found myself getting wet already.
“Can I interest you in something else?” I teased.
Brandt let out a moan and dropped his head into his hands. A piece of paper dangled from his fingers while he stayed crouched on the floor next to the bed. “You’re killing me, Emma.”
“I know.”
He looked up at me with such a brilliant smile, my insides melted away into mush. Heart pounding and sex throbbing for him, I wished we could stay locked up in this room forever.
Brandt let his hand, the one not holding the paper, fall onto my stomach and he slowly slid it down between my legs. When his finger slipped in my wetness he sucked in a quick breath. He gently rubbed back and forth, covering my whole area and I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment. But it ended too quickly when Brandt jumped to his feet and walked to the end of the bed.
“What are you doing?” I pleaded. My body craved his so badly right now it physically hurt to have him be so far away.
“Believe me, there’s nothing else I’d rather do more than to jump on that bed and fuck you into oblivion.”
My sex throbbed again with his words and I saw his nostrils flare with the amount of pheromones I was releasing.
“But I found this attached to the mailbox this morning and I need to take care of it now.” He held out the letter, the worried look in his eyes telling me that this was something serious.
“Oh no, what happened?” I asked, sitting up and crawling to the end of the bed so I could grab the letter. “Is someone else hurt?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Scanning the hand-written note, I read it two times before saying anything. “Scarlett Kani? The enforcer of the Tik’a pack?”
“Looks like it.” Brandt took back the letter and examined it again. “She’s good people. And this,” he flicked the paper, “this could give us the answers we need to find Dixon’s killer.”
While I hadn’t forgotten about Dixon’s death, after the events of last night it felt like it had been more than a day. A deep sadness took hold of my chest and I did my best to push it back down now. Being sad wouldn’t bring Dixon back, but I could at least help Brandt get some answers and feel like I was contributing to the clan again.
“Can you trust her?”
“What do you mean?” Brandt said, distracted by something else.
“I mean she’s asking you to come onto their territory and speak with them. It could be a trap.”
He sighed and passed his gaze over my breasts. They tingled with that look. “I don’t know. Do you think it’s a trap?”
I shook my head. “Scarlett’s never been a liar. She’s robotic and practical, not a schemer.” While I hadn’t talked to Scarlett in many years, her reputation as a fair leader and enforcer had always taken precedence. Her uncle was the pack alpha, but rumor had it that she was really the one running the show.
“That’s what I think too.” Brandt read the letter again. “If she’s suggesting a meeting, I think we need to go.”
“Have you told your brothers or Derrick?”
“No.”
“Are you going to?”
“No,” he said a little too quickly. “I’m telling you.”
My heart swelled with warmth and pride. Brandt, the presumed alpha and my mate, trusted me with this news before all others. Bo had been right, I would need to be a strong partner for Brandt because Brandt would actually treat me as an equal. And I loved him so much for that right now.
“All right. We should go then,” I said, jumping out of bed and running into the closet where I’d stored my bag. In a few minutes, I had my jeans and tee shirt on, pulled my hair back into a pony tail, and slipped on my sandals.
When I emerged, Brandt stood still, smiling down at me in that hungry way again. “What?” I asked.
“I love you,” he said.
“Well good,” I teased, pressing up to my toes so I could kiss him, “because I love you too.” Slapping his tight ass, I walked past him and stepped into the hallway. “Come on, let’s go talk to a werewolf.”
The pack’s land bordered our own, but with the lack of roads traveling between the two areas, it took us a little more than an hour before we arrived outside the trailer park where most of their members lived. Brandt pulled to a stop near the sign that said Bristling Pine Estates. Carved out in a single piece of cedar, the letters had been burned into the wood and the ground around it landscaped with fresh flowers in full bloom for the summer.
“Are we sure about this?” Brandt asked.
I reached over and squeezed his thigh. “Yes. We have to trust someone.”
Brandt pulled forward and the second we crossed into the park, I swear I felt a tingle in the air. Like magic, only not. I didn’t say anything, fearing that Brandt would just laugh at me and say I was being overly cautious.
Each trailer had been covered in wood siding, making the buildings look like they’d always been a part of the forest. Small, yet manicured plots of grass surrounded every trailer, the only difference being the color of the doors on each house. As we rounded the first turn in the road, several tall but skinny men stepped into the road in front of us. Their dark hair, bright green eyes, and warning glares had Brandt stopping as soon as he could.
“Here we go,” he muttered.
“Yep,” I added, trying to make myself leave his truck and face whatever it was Scarlett wanted us here for.
Brandt opened his door and had one foot on the dirt road before his cell phone rang. Pulling it from his back pocket, he glanced at the screen and then quickly silenced the call. He placed the phone in the center console and turned away from me.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“Derrick.”
“Should you answer?”
Brandt glanced up ahead at the crowd of wolf shifters gathering in front of us. “It would be rude.”
With a nod, I agreed with his point and jumped out the door. We met in front of the truck where Brandt grabbed my hand and held on tight. At least twenty wolves in human form stood in front of us but my bear sensed a few animals lingering in the woods nearby. I suddenly felt uneasy and wanted to shift into my bear so that I could protect us if anything went wrong.
“There is no need to be frightened,” a sharp f
emale voice said from somewhere up ahead. “You are an invited guest and you have my word no harm will come to you here.”
“Scarlett?” Brandt asked.
The men didn’t move when a tall, slim but athletic Kenaitze female with a long, dark braid hanging on one side of her body weaved her way through them. She wore all black from her shoes to her leather vest and her eyes glowed a greenish-yellowish color when the sunlight hit them just right. “Brandt Callaghan,” she nodded. “Thank you for coming.”
He replied with a slight head bob and squeezed my hand even tighter. “Can we speak somewhere private?” he asked.
Scarlett smiled, her perfect teeth showing through. She was beautiful and despite being the pack enforcer appeared to have the confidence of a successful woman as well. “Please, follow me.” She waved us forward and then turned her back—a sign that even two grizzlies didn’t concern her.
The men parted as we stepped through. Scarlett led us toward the last trailer on the end of the road. She walked with only one other, a teenage boy who spoke closely to her ear so that we couldn’t hear. A group of young children rushed up to our sides and quickly surrounded us in a circle of laughter and squeals. They chatted in their native Dena’ina language, a dialect only a small number of Kenaitze still spoke. I had known that they kept their language alive in this particular shifter pack and I’d always loved that the elders had passed all traditions on to their young ones—both animal and human traditions alike.
An elderly woman shuffled over from the front porch of one of the trailers and yelled at the children. She shooed them away and after a few minutes they complied. Smiling kindly at us, her eyes traveled to our clasped hands and then focused just on me. She lifted her hands to the sky and twirled in a circle three times, chanting the same few words over and over. I only caught one of them, chadaka’a, and knew that it was one of their words for bear.
Brandt leaned in to me and whispered in my ear. “I think we’re being blessed.”
“Really?” I asked, eyes still on the woman.
She continued to chant and stomp her feet and then finally she came to a rest by my side. Suddenly, she rested one hand on our clasped hands and one hand on my stomach. “Un niłqetni. Qaduniłhdetnesh.”
A shiver jolted from my neck to my toes as the woman’s hand seemed to warm on my belly. Brandt tensed beside me but he didn’t chase her off. She repeated the same words several times and then bowed her head and backed away. I continued to stare at her even as Scarlett waved us forward again. She was waiting on the porch of the only trailer with a red door. When we got close enough, I could see her smiling down at both of us.
“Looks like Fedosina has given you her blessing,” she said, her words coming out like silk.
“Told you,” Brandt whispered and kissed the side of my head.
My free hand rested across my stomach. Why had the old woman touched me there? Was she trying to tell me something? Was I pregnant? I immediately shook that thought from my mind. There was absolutely no way I could deal with that right now. And as we followed Scarlett inside, I swear I could feel something different deep within my soul.
The trailer was lighter than I’d expected. White wash walls and large windows on the side let in ample sunlight and helped make me feel at ease. Scarlett gestured for us to sit down at the small kitchen table and disappeared into the hallway.
“Do you know what she’s doing?” I asked.
“Getting her alpha I suspect.”
“Oh.” I whispered and sank back into the chair closer to Brandt.
A moment later Scarlett helped an older man out of a room and into the kitchen where we waited. His chin-length black hair was mostly gray, his face wrinkled from old age. He seemed frail and in pain, but the moment he saw us he stood tall on his own. “Brandt Callaghan. It’s been a long time,” the man said.
Brandt rose and extended his hand across the table. “Peter Kani. Thank you for having us.”
My bear cringed at the contact between the wolf and the grizzly, but I pushed her down the second Peter snapped his head in my direction.
“This is Emma Davis. My mate.” Brandt said, trying to alleviate some of the tension.
Peter nodded and Scarlett helped him sit. I was very surprised that Peter would allow us to see the extent of his frailty. I also wondered why no one had challenged him for alpha yet.
“Scarlett has informed me that you recently lost two of your own, including your father.” Brandt nodded. “And she has also told me that someone is making it look like we are responsible for their deaths.”
I tensed but Brandt stayed calm. “There was a note, with a lone wolf print on it, left beside the mutilated body of our second. We found him yesterday and some members of the clan are ready to come after you.”
“I see.”
Brandt continued. “My brothers and I do not believe that your pack had anything to do with this. And then I received Scarlett’s note this morning and thought this would be an opportunity to get some answers.”
Peter paused and looked at Scarlett, giving her permission to speak. “I’ve been watching your clan lately,” she said. “There seems to be a divide among you.”
“You’ve been watching us?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“Yes,” she smiled. “And welcome back.”
Brandt squeezed my thigh in warning to be silent. “Why have you been watching us?” His voice rumbled with displeasure and I was sure both Peter and Scarlett picked up on that.
“For security,” she said flatly. “If there is something amiss in your clan, it has the potential to trickle down into our business and our privacy.”
“It is no secret that we had been…working with your father to secure a say in the happenings in these mountains,” Peter said. “But our negotiations didn’t always end favorably.”
Brandt hung his head. “I did not know this.”
“I assumed as much,” Peter continued. “And we are willing to open these discussions with you again, should you become the new leader.”
Scarlett studied Brandt for a moment before speaking. “You do not have the support of everyone, correct?”
“Correct.”
She nodded. “Well, I believe you are being tricked into inciting a war with us in order to see you fail.”
“Why do you think this?” I asked. Brandt tensed beside me but said nothing.
“Your bears like to frequent our establishments and they also like to talk.” Her establishments were the three strip clubs the pack owned in the neighboring towns.
“Son of a bitch,” Brandt growled. “So you didn’t kill Dixon?”
“Of course not,” Peter said. “Nor did we have anything to do with your father’s death.”
“You need to look at one of your own,” Scarlett said, then added softly. “And I’m sorry for that.”
As a leader, she would definitely understand what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you trust. Or by someone who, by blood and pack, should be trusted until the day they died.
Brandt rose from his chair, ready to jump into action. “Thank you for telling us this.” He then pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and laid it on the table between us. “I was going through my father’s things and found this contract. Should I become alpha tomorrow, I would like to offer you what’s rightly yours.”
Peter glanced down briefly and then grinned. “I shall wish you success in your challenge tomorrow.”
Scarlett grabbed the paper and read the highlighted part. Her lips turned up in the corner and she gave Brandt a wink. “I look forward to talking to you again about this.”
We both made our way around the table and waited for Scarlett to open the door. “I’ll walk you out,” she said.
There seemed to be nothing else to say, and Brandt used the silence to digest what we had just learned. I could see it in his tensed jaw and raised shoulders. I had no doubt he was scrambling through the list of everyone in his mind wondering who would be
stupid enough to kill their alpha and their second.
Scarlett caught up to us and stood beside Brandt. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, she froze. I smelled it at the same time as a wolf howled in the nearby woods. “Someone’s here,” she growled.
The dirt road in front of us was empty, but just a few seconds later, the dust kicked up around our truck where two giant grizzlies charged full speed toward us.
“Shit,” Brandt growled, stepping forward in an attempt to ward them off. He lifted his hands and shouted at them. “Stand down now!”
Scarlett started taking off her clothes, a signal of her impending change. The bears didn’t stop running, and if they continued on their path, they’d destroy Brandt. I tried to call out to him but suddenly found myself flying face first into the ground. I screamed in pain when a pair of grizzly teeth crunched down over my shoulder and lifted me into the air.
Brandt spun around and charged at us, but the bear holding me in its grip shook me violently from side to side in warning. Pain seared down my arm as my human flesh ripped into pieces and blood splattered all over my face.
“Let her go!” Brandt yelled.
But the bear didn’t listen. Instead, he dropped me to the ground and stood, with two paws, on my back. It crushed my stomach and ribs making it very difficult to breathe. I closed my eyes, fighting through the pain so that Brandt wouldn’t do something stupid and get himself killed.
“Joshua,” Brandt warned, taking a step closer. “Let her go.”
Joshua huffed, his hot air blowing against my torn skin and lifting the hair off my face. He placed both feet on the side of my head, relieving the pressure on my torso for just a few moments. Droplets of drool fell on my face, wretched breath smothering my senses. I heard something scuffle off to my side but I couldn’t see. Had that been Scarlett? Or Brandt?
“Joshua,” Brandt warned.
But I knew the grizzly above me had no intentions of obeying Brandt. I could feel it in the air, the angry and defiant scent of a crazy person.
“Joshua don’t!” Brandt screamed out in fear a second before I felt it.
Obeying the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 1) Page 7