by Suzie Ivy
Silence descended on the room, though a dual dose of alpha power flowed from Brandt and Emily, causing an electrical current to zing around the room.
Honey gave Mandy a gentle squeeze and tipped her back slightly so he could look into her eyes. “You know I’ll never live this down?”
Mandy turned and placed her hands against his jaw. “You, my stubborn bear, need to loosen up and go with the flow.”
The sizzling current in the room changed when Emily put her head down against her arm on the table and said with a loud groan, “Why me?”
Mandy snapped back, “I tried to talk to you about Honey, but all I got was that I was too young. I’m actually a few months older than you, my baby sister. Besides the fact that we have mated and nothing you do short of killing us both will change that, we… are going to war! We need the bears to assure we win, and our mating helps the possibility of bringing them into the battle with us.” She turned to Dmitri, who had managed to stay silent. “Whether you decide to offer your clan or not, Honey will fight with me and die with me if that’s as the Goddess wishes, but whatever we do it will be together and I stand with the wolves regardless of your dictates.”
Honey’s gentle hold around her shoulders tightened as he looked at the vampire. “I will fight with her, my liege, whether you condone it or not.”
Emily raised her head, looked at Dmitri, and took Brandt’s hand. “We want the bears with us, but will take Honey if that’s all that’s offered.”
Mandy jumped up from Honey’s lap and ran around the table, throwing herself at Emily. Her words came out jumbled, but sincere. “I’ve missed you so very, very much. My plans… our plans… were to contact you as soon as I was pregnant.” She turned and threw herself at Brandt, kissing his cheeks. “I’m sorry I busted your balls. I’m sure Dmitri can help if you’re still in pain.”
A deep sigh expelled from Brandt’s mouth as he looked at Honey over Mandy’s shoulder. “You don’t stand a chance.”
Honey laughed while pulling Mandy back to his lap. “I knew that from the moment I laid eyes on her.”
One by one they all turned their gaze to Dmitri. He stared back for several moments before speaking. “I’ve never had any intention of letting the wolves battle the cats alone. But, as soon as this is known, I will gain little intel from the northern cats.” He looked at Mandy. “You are a hellion and I should quarantine you and your mate so your brand of trouble doesn’t affect my entire clan.” He let the words sink in. “But… I find myself highly entertained by your antics. I’m almost afraid to see what you’ll come up with next.”
Mandy held her smile, but her eyes glared. “All we want is to make a baby. Honey says he’s putting metal bars on the front door, but I guess that won’t stop you since you can pop in anywhere. Unless you want to see Honey in the loincloth I also ordered for him, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she admonished.
Honey groaned loudly and felt heat travel up his cheeks. He looked back and forth between Emily and Brandt. “Regardless of what she says, this is my doing. I should have resisted the temptation to make her my mate before she turned twenty-one, but I didn’t. I expect retribution.” He turned and shot a glower at his mate before turning back to the other two wolves. “I will honor the decision you make. But, I will not give her up. She is mine and nothing short of death will change that.”
Honey watched as Emily and Brandt looked at each other, both alphas, and both incredibly powerful. Emily spoke for them. “Although we didn’t grow up together, she is my sister and I love her. I also know the trouble she finds and I think our retribution can be eliminated if you promise to keep her safe.” She gave Mandy a stern look and said, “Even from herself.”
Honey tightened his arms around his mate. “I promise.”
“I don’t mean to be rude,” Mandy said as she disengaged herself from Honey’s arms and stood. “But we are trying to make a baby and I’m ovulating at the moment. Your threats, bargains, and humor at my expense, are keeping us from our goal.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
They never made it back into their costumes, but Honey did nail the front door shut from the inside and promised he would un-pry it in the morning. Mandy lay snuggling on his chest because he refused to let her stand on her head until the morning.
Within a short time, Mandy knew their quest for a child failed. “What if we cannot make a baby?” she asked softly.
Honey tried to hold back his low grumble, but the subject matter made it futile. “Then we won’t have a baby for many years to come. They tell me it’s easier to allow your mate to breed with a human after a hundred years or so, but I have my doubts.” The grumble grew louder.
She pulled a small tuft of hair on his chest. “Stop that. You don’t scare me, but I also don’t see having sex with a human as a solution.”
He growled again, but let her keep talking.
“I’m worried about your father and what he will do to you.”
Honey took her hand and kissed the backs of her fingers. “That’s my worry, not yours. He will not kill me, especially now that your sister and Brandt gave their blessing.” He rolled them over so Mandy lay beneath him. “Mate, tell me about this loincloth.”
His intense eyes stared into hers and she saw the slight curve of his lips. She let her gaze go dreamy, or at least she hoped she did. “I was thinking a… you Tarzan, me Jane playdate.” She lowered her eyelashes and raised them a few times for good measure.
“No,” he said quickly and forcefully.
“I’m tired. Could we talk about this tomorrow?” She gave a small yawn.
“No, and this discussion ends now.” His voice rose.
Mandy kissed him on his swollen nose that he refused to have Dmitri take care of. “Sure, my Tarzanabear. I hear you.”
***
The delightful feel of Honey’s mouth suckling her nipple woke Mandy the following morning. She smiled with a soft moan, which was immediately followed by an angry growl from Honey because someone persistently began knocking on their front door. Mandy jumped up from the bed, causing an even louder growl, and looked out the window.
“It’s Brandt and Emily.”
“Tell them to go away,” he hissed.
“You are such a grumpy bear. They stayed an extra day so they could spend time with us.”
She pried open the stubborn window with a low grunt. “Honey nailed the door shut so we could mate in peace. I’ll have him get up and open it for you.” She turned to see Honey grab a pillow and roll to his stomach, covering his head.
Walking over, she tugged on a small bit of exposed leg hair. “Get up and I’ll make you breakfast.”
His muffled words made her smile. “You are making me breakfast in bed among other things. Get rid of your sister and her mate. They’ll understand.”
“No, silly. I’ve missed my sister. We can get our business done later today.”
He turned over and squinted at her. “Our business?”
“Baby-making business. I need to stand on my head.”
His sexy smile flashed. “Make them go away now and I’ll stand on my head, too.”
She stubbornly shook her head. “I’m worried about the last time you did it. Your wiggly squigglies may have traveled to the wrong location, and that could be the cause of the problem we’re having.”
His smile disappeared. “My… wiggly squigglies, as you called them, are in the proper place, I assure you.” He actually sounded offended.
She began putting on clothes. “How would you know?”
“I know,” he growled and rolled out of bed. He grabbed his pants, huffed out of their bedroom, lifted the hammer from next to the front door, and began prying nails.
Mandy smiled behind his back. He was such a grumpy bear sometimes. She went into the kitchen and began preparing breakfast. When Emily and Brandt walked in several minutes later, Emily stopped and stared.
“What?” Mandy inquired.
“You don’t cook
.”
Mandy smiled and then gave a small laugh. “I don’t like to cook. It doesn’t mean I can’t. Bears have a few issues with gender roles, but I’m working on them. I think it would help if I had a baby, but I think it would really rock their world if other wolves or even Nicolas’ cats found their mates among the bears. They still think they’re living in the eighteenth century.”
“We’ve wondered why their females are never seen.” Emily’s voice hardened. “Is this something we need to worry about?”
Mandy knew Emily was thinking about the treatment the she-cats received at the hands of the male pride-cats and wanted to relieve her sister’s concern. “No, I’m taking care of it. I’m hoping to train some of the women in combat techniques.”
“You are not.”
Both women turned glaring eyes to Honey, who had just returned from the bedroom where he’d added a shirt to his attire. Mandy ignored him and turned back to her sister. “He thinks he’s the boss of me, but I still have one tranquillizer dart left and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Emily started laughing and her gaze sympathetically turned toward Honey. “She’s actually a better shot than I. Whether you want it to or not, I’m sure your attitude will change before we see each other again.”
Honey turned to a silent Brandt for support.
“Don’t look at me. My mate fights by my side or leads her own team if needed. We learned long ago that if a female wants to train, it’s in our best interest to see that it happens.”
“It won’t matter, because my mate won’t fight.” Honey threw the gauntlet with those words as he cast furious eyes at the mate in question.
Brandt laughed. “If you ever win a battle against Mandy, please call and tell me how you did it. I’ll pass your words of advice onto several other wolves.”
Without saying another word, Honey turned and marched out the broken door of the cabin. A few moments later they all began laughing.
“Is he always this grumpy in the morning?” Emily wanted to know.
“Always, but he’s like this in the afternoon and evenings, too. The only place I can un-grump him is in bed, but even this morning someone interrupted us.” She gave a soft growl. “I think we need what humans call a Honey-moon.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emily and Brandt left for their clan home before noon. Honey came back to the cabin an hour later and methodically hammered nails into the door. When finished, he hooked his hand around the back of Mandy’s neck, pulling her in for a very long kiss. When he drew back, he smiled at her inability to catch her breath. Taking her hand, he led her to their bedroom and, once inside, slammed the door shut behind them.
“Is my Tarzanabear feeling frisky?” she asked playfully.
He stopped his momentum and turned her around to face him. “I’m sure I can find another activity to release some of the pent up steam I’m feeling. If you call me that one more time, I’ll chop wood if I need to.”
“You’re no fun,” she pouted.
“Give me a few minutes and I’ll change your mind,” he growled.
She laughed as he picked her up and tossed her on the bed.
“You have two seconds to get naked,” he said with a leer.
“Or what?”
“I’ll finish your spanking from last night.” He wasn’t joking.
“That hurt and I’m not sure of the allure. I read about it on the Internet and it’s supposed to spice up our sex life.”
When completely naked, Honey advanced on her. “You talk too much, you think too much, and you do not follow orders. Let me help you with that shirt.” He grabbed her shirt and ripped it down the front with both hands.
“I knew you were feeling feisty.”
His lips covered hers so she would stop talking. He didn’t trust the nails in the front door, so he picked her up, positioning her legs around his back, and carried her to the bedroom door. As he pressed her back against the wood, her arms tightened around his neck. With his first forward thrust, he took her mouth again. She started moaning on the third thrust, and he decided he liked her better this way and that he needed to find more time to keep her sassy lips busy. Several thrusts later, he stopped thinking and just enjoyed the feel of her warmth tightly surrounding him.
His low groans filled the room while her moans grew louder until she cried out with release. He carried her back to the bed and gently separated his body from hers, but scooted her in close and breathed in her sweet, musky scent. Her fingers traced circles against his back until she broke the silence.
“Can we spend the rest of the day in bed?” Her soft throaty question made his groin tighten again.
“I have work I must do, but I will be back in time for dinner.”
“Can I come with you?” She sounded hopeful.
“No. This is Kodiak business and I have my orders.” He kissed the top of her head.
The huskiness disappeared from her voice. “What am I supposed to do for the next few hours?”
He didn’t need two seconds to think about his answer. “Stay out of trouble.”
A delightful pout formed on her lips. “Yes, sir.”
***
Mandy knew she would go stir crazy if she stayed in the cabin another moment, so she decided to go for a wolf run. She shifted and took off through the trees, avoiding any cabin she saw in the distance. It didn’t take her long to realize she was followed or who was following her.
Patreous wasn’t very good at stealth reconnaissance, so Mandy decided to sneak around and give him a quick lesson. She lost him for a few minutes, but then heard the leaves crunch beneath his feet. About twenty feet away, covered by a dense section of underbrush, she peered out and watched him try to find her.
A split second before she was purposely going to give her location away, a whooshing noise traveled through the air, and an arrow struck Patreous in the chest. Mandy stood frozen for several seconds—enough time for an enemy cat to step from the brush, his bow at the ready. Patreous didn’t move and Mandy could smell the tangy hint of blood, though she had no time to be thankful she hid downwind. The cat checked the boy’s pulse and began notching another arrow.
She didn’t think… she attacked.
Upon impact, the cat tripped over Patreous’ legs. Mandy knew her only chance to save the young bear and herself was to rely on every bit of fight training she’d ever had. She shifted to human, grabbed the man’s too-long ponytail, and slung his body around. Control the head, control the enemy. She brought her smaller body up from a crouch, and pulled his head sideways and then down, butting her skull against the bridge of his nose. She didn’t stop there… her elbow jammed into his Adam’s apple, and then she released his hair and drove her combined fists into his jaw.
He fell to the ground.
Mandy’s hand grabbed for the arrow he dropped and she plunged it into his chest. His startled eyes looked up and then he gave a small groan before his stare went vacant.
She scrambled to Patreous and realized she should have immediately called Dmitri. Her silent scream traveled through their link, and he appeared at her side as she tried to stop the blood that was coming from Patreous’ back and quickly saturating the ground.
“Step aside, Mandy.” Dmitri’s hand settled firmly on her shoulder.
“No, no, he’s dying. Please do something.”
“Step back.” He gave a light shove and then knelt by the small child. “It didn’t go through his heart, but it did puncture his lung. I need to remove the arrow—I can’t heal him with it inside. You lift him up and I’ll break the shaft and then push it through,” Dmitri said with complete calm.
Mandy responded immediately, grabbed Patreous, and leaned him forward. Dmitri was quick and the arrow slid from the boy’s chest a moment later. The vampire didn’t wait, and sunk his teeth in the child’s throat while Mandy held on tight.
Bears descended on their location. She sensed Honey immediately, but wouldn’t let go of Patreous. Dmitri finished an
d moved back. The next thing Mandy knew, pain exploded on the side of her face and she flew back several feet. She managed to see Tyboll go airborne and Dmitri standing over him, fangs glistening with Patreous’ blood and amber eyes flashing. “If you ever touch her again, I will kill you. She saved your son’s life.”
Honey tried to grab Mandy, but she scrambled away and clutched the unconscious boy to her chest again. She watched as Honey turned away and charged Tyboll.
“Shift, you motherfucker, because I’m going to kill you for touching my mate.” The words meant for Tyboll blasted into every bear’s mind.
Dmitri stopped Honey’s charge with one hand. “Stop.” The vampire’s eyes remained amber.
Honey shifted and stood before his liege, breathing hard, barely in control of himself. “It’s my right and you know it.” He spit the words out, not caring that Dmitri could easily kill him.
A low human growl came from Tyboll, but he didn’t shift. Turning his amber eyes pointedly back to Tyboll, Dmitri’s hand held Honey back. “It is his right, but we have more important things to do at the moment. If you go after Honey before I agree to the challenge, I will kill you myself.”
Mandy watched everything unfold as she rocked Patreous in her arms, willing Honey to look her way. Ever so slowly, she saw his shoulders relax and finally he turned.
The Kodiak’s voice rumbled just as loudly as usual. “Who killed the cat?” He moved in close to Mandy.
She looked him in the eye, while he stood only a foot away. “I did.”
“How?” he barked out.
“With every bit of self-defense I’ve ever been taught.” She took an angry breath and didn’t stop there. “We are going to war and every man, woman, and child needs to know how to protect themselves. You place your women at a disadvantage. They are physically stronger than I am, but will be left with little help if the war continues for long. Maybe you should stay out of the war and save your clan, you stupid bear.” She continued to hold his gaze with daggers shooting from her eyes.