Neal and Tyler sped through a stale yellow light, earning them irritated shouts from some nearby pedestrians about how dangerously they were driving. But Tyler didn’t care. He just wanted to get to Kat.
“Are the girls safe?” Tyler asked. Obviously, the answer was not really, since they were speeding toward the cabins at breakneck speed. But Tyler wanted to get a better idea of just how much trouble they were in.
“They’re hiding in Ryker’s cabin. Kenzie has a gun, but she’s not sure how many Blizzards there are. She said she saw at least three.” Neal paused for a moment as he and Tyler veered around opposite sides of slow moving pickup truck to pass it, then continued. “She doesn’t know what they were doing, but they didn’t seem interested in breaking into the cabin, at least not at that moment. It sounds like they’re vandalizing the new cabins we’ve been building.”
“Shit,” Tyler said, trying to urge his four wheeler on faster, but he was already testing the limits of how fast it could go. His heart pounded with nervous energy as they sped past the outer edges of town and toward the cluster of cabins owned by the Northern Lights Clan. As they cabins zoomed into view, Tyler counted five enormous polar bears. They were definitely Blizzards. As they turned toward the sound of Tyler and Neal’s fast approaching four wheelers, he could see their jet black eyes glittering with pure evil.
One of the Blizzards roared, and the rest of them answered with roars of their own. Then they started running toward the forest in a hasty retreat. Clearly, they had not been expecting any Northern Lights bears to show up. Since Northern Lights bears could each take out about five Blizzards on their own, it would take a whole lot more than five Blizzards to take down Neal and Tyler fighting together. Tyler followed Neal’s lead, staying on his four wheeler until just before the forest entrance. Then he braked hard, skidding sideways and jumping off of his vehicle at a full speed run. As he and Neal ran toward the forest, two loud roars sounded out, followed by two whooshes of strong wind. Suddenly, in the place of the two violet-eyed men, two violet-eyed polar bears were running. And they were angry.
They nipped at the Blizzards heels as they zigzagged through the forest. Neal’s bear caught one of them and wrestled him to the ground. Tyler’s bear left his alpha in the dust as he continued to chase the other four. He wasn’t worried in the slightest about Neal’s bear. That Blizzard didn’t stand a chance. Tyler’s bear tried to swipe at the back paws of the fleeing Blizzards, but each time he swiped at one of them, they managed to just barely escape his paw. Panting, and filled with adrenaline and frustration, he let out a roar. One of the Blizzards glanced back at the noise, and it delayed the bear just enough for Tyler’s bear to catch its back paw with a good, hard swipe. The Blizzard went tumbling head over heels, stopping with a hard thud when it hit a large tree trunk. Tyler’s bear pounced, and he closed his huge teeth over the neck of the Blizzard before the other bear could even react. In just moments, the Blizzard’s body went limp and lifeless. Tyler’s bear batted his paw at the bear’s face one last time for good measure then turned his back and started walking back in the direction he had come from. A few moments later, Neal’s bear came bounding through the forest. When they saw each other, they shifted back into human form with two loud whooshes.
“I got one,” Tyler said. “The other three just kept on running. They’re long gone by now, so there’s no point in going after them.”
“Bunch of lowlife cowards. I can’t believe they didn’t even stop to help their own clan members,” Neal said. He kicked a big stick out of the way as they walked through the thick forest brush.
“We should hurry back,” Tyler said. “I want to make sure the girls are okay.”
Neal nodded and quickened his pace, but he didn’t look too worried. “They’re fine. The Blizzards weren’t there to go after the girls. It looked like they were there to try to ruin the cabins we’ve built. They’re scared of us all being together next winter. They know taking us down that way will be difficult.”
“Bunch of pansies,” Tyler said.
“I agree,” Neal said. “But what I really don’t understand is how they’re managing to stay down here during the summer, given how sensitive they are to heat. I thought they had just left a bear or two here while the rest of them went north, but I’m starting to think that they all stayed around Glacier Point. I don’t know how they’re doing it. Obviously, they’re trying to lay somewhat low during the summer. But they’re not hiding completely. They want us to know that they’re here.”
The men walked in silence for a few moments, then Neal glanced over at Tyler with a smirk on his face.
“So, are you still going to ask me if you can ask Kat to be your life mate?”
“What the heck? How did you know that’s what I was coming to the shop to ask about?”
“You smell like Kat. And you look like bear that’s bonded to his mate. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together.”
Tyler looked at Neal sheepishly. “Well? What do you say? Will you accept Kat into the Northern Lights Clan?”
Neal smiled. “Yes,” he said. “I’ve seen the happiness you’ve felt this summer as you’ve spent time with Kat. And Kenzie’s talked about Kat a lot. She seems quite impressed with her. If Kat’s okay with your being a bear shifter, and she thinks she can put up with you for a life mate, then she’s welcome to join the clan.”
Tyler grinned from ear to ear as they stepped back into the clearing near Ryker’s cabin. He could hardly wait to pop the question to Kat. He knew she would say yes, but he wanted to make the occasion special. He immediately started devising plans for how he would surprise Kat.
* * *
If anything surprised Kat, it was the way Neal and Tyler walked into Ryker’s cabin, naked as they day they were born, and no one seemed to give it a second thought. Kenzie was lying down on her bed, holding her pregnant, swollen stomach and taking deep breaths to try to relax after their distressing ordeal. She had finally been able to reach Ryker at work, and her life mate had promised to return to the cabin as fast as he could. Delaney started filtering through a dresser, and she handed the men some clothes as though this happened all the time.
Maybe it did. Kat felt way out of her league here. She had been sitting there, talking and laughing with Kenzie and Delaney, when Kenzie suddenly hushed them and hissed out, “Blizzards!” Delaney had grabbed Kat’s arm and dragged her into the new spare room that had just been added to the cabin, while Kenzie grabbed the cordless phone and rushed after them.
Kenzie had called Neal, speaking in hushed, terrified tones. After she hung up the phone with Neal, she tried calling the superstore where Ryker worked as a security guard, but she hadn’t been able to get a hold of him right away. The next several minutes felt like an eternity. Kenzie got a rifle and readied it to shoot, pointing it in the direction of the door. Delaney’s face looked drawn and pale. Kat wanted to ask for more details on what the Blizzards were doing, but she didn’t dare speak. The silence in the room felt deafening, but it was finally broken by the sound of roaring four wheeler engines and shouting men, one of whom sounded like Tyler.
When two whooshes of powerful wind shook the cabin, Kenzie and Delaney visibly relaxed.
“They’re here,” Kenzie said. “They just shifted.”
Delaney even dared to go peek out the front window. “They’re chasing them into the forest. Holy shit, though, those asshole Blizzards really messed up the work Eric and Alan have done on the cabins. Scared to move, but overcome with curiosity, Kat had edged toward the window and peeked out as well. Logs lay scattered and shredded across the clearing, and she could see that the front face of the cabin that Alan was building for Tyler had been demolished.
The sound of voices bursting through the front door of the cabin startled Kat back to the present moment, as three angry men stormed into the room. Eric and Alan had arrived back from their hike to see the devastation at the same time that Ryker had made it back from the store. The entir
e clan was present, and for a moment chaos filled the cabin as everyone talked at once. Finally, Neal’s voice rose above the rest.
“Everyone, quiet down and listen up,” he bellowed. “Obviously, despite our promises to take the Blizzard threat more seriously, we’ve been pretty slack about it lately. That has to change. And the first thing that needs to happen is that we need to get these cabins finished, pronto. We need to move out of the city and all be out here together. We can’t leave our new homes unattended anymore, and we definitely can’t leave Kenzie unattended anymore. If the Blizzards want to harm her or the new Northern Lights cub, they’re going to have to do it over my dead body.”
“Mine too,” Ryker growled, putting his arm around his pregnant life mate. The room filled with a chorus of agreeing growls.
Neal nodded and raised his hands for silence. “It’s still early enough in the summer that we have almost twenty-four hours of uninterrupted sunlight. I want these cabins done tonight. Do any of you have a reason you can’t work here for the rest of the day?”
None of the men spoke, so Neal started for the door. “Alright then,” he said. “Let’s get to it.”
For the next twenty hours, the men worked nonstop. Kat had no idea where they found so much energy, but they didn’t stop until the last nail on the last cabin had been hammered in. Luckily, the majority of the damage the Blizzards had managed to inflict was cosmetic. With most of the other work already completed, five angry, motivated Northern Lights bears made quick work of the remaining tasks.
Kat helped in whatever way she could. She cooked large pots of food with Delaney, and tried to make Kenzie as comfortable as she could. With only two months left until her due date, Kenzie’s stomach was full and round, and Kenzie constantly felt uncomfortable and exhausted. Kat didn’t envy Kenzie’s discomfort, but she did feel jealous of the fact that Kenzie would soon get to be a mother. Kat hoped that one day relatively soon she would get to share that same joy. Delaney felt the same way. As they washed dishes up after the men had scarfed down food and returned to their work, Delaney cast a wistful glance in Kenzie’s direction.
“She’s so lucky,” Delaney said. “I hope I can have a little cub soon, too.”
“Me too,” Kat said with a smile. “Wouldn’t that be so fun? All of us with little cubs about the same age running around.”
Delaney returned Kat’s smile. “That would be perfect,” she agreed. “Tyler needs to hurry up and officially ask you to be his life mate.”
Despite the seemingly constant threat of the Blizzards, the clan held a lot of hope for the future. Kat breathed a happy sigh for the thousandth time that evening. She had lost her only family when her dad died and her ex broke up with her. But now she had a new family. The Northern Lights Clan had taken her in as one of its own.
When the men finished working, Kat drove Tyler’s four wheeler back to her cabin, since Tyler didn’t even have energy left to drive. He put his arms around her and leaned his head against her back, and she breathed in the feeling of his body snuggled against hers. He had taken a few days off from the gym, and tomorrow they would pack up both of their cabins and move over to the new cabin in the woods. Kat had never been a big fan of packing and moving, but she found herself looking forward to the next few days, anyways. Several days of unlimited time with Tyler sounded like heaven, even if all that time would be spent moving.
It had been a strange day, and Kat had realized she still had a lot to learn about life as part of a shifter clan. But, with Tyler by her side, she was ready and excited to learn.
Chapter Eleven
After an exhausting few days, Tyler and Kat finished moving everything into their new cabin. Nearby, Eric and Delaney had moved into their new cabins as well, and Alan and Neal had each taken up residence in their adjacent cabins, which the clan dubbed the “bachelor pads.” Kat still had quite a bit of stuff back in Nebraska, but she had put it all in storage before she left for the summer. She would need to go back and sort through it eventually, but there was no rush.
As Tyler closed the door behind him after they finished unloading the final boxes from Tyler’s old cabin in town, he swept Kat up into his arms.
“We’re done, babe! All moved in,” he said, planting a triumphant kiss on her lips. Kat grinned and returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around him, too. She felt sweaty and gross from a long day of moving, but he didn’t seem to notice. In fact, the way he was looking at her when he pulled back and gazed into her eyes told her he thought she was exactly the opposite of gross.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said. His violet eyes glowed yellow around the edges.
“Did you know your eyes sometimes do this weird thing where they change colors?” Kat asked.
“The yellow glow, you mean?”
“Yeah. It’s not constant but it seems to happen fairly often.”
Tyler chuckled. “It’s another genetic mutation, unique to the Northern Lights bears. Whenever a male Northern Lights bear sees a female he’s attracted to, his eyes glow around the edges.”
“Ohhhhh,” Kat said, “I see. So, you’re attracted to me, then?” She gave him a coy smile, and he let out a low growl.
“I think it’s time to christen this place,” he said, and pulled her back close to him. Their bed wasn’t even set up yet from the move, and boxes were strewn everywhere. But the couch sat in the middle of the living room, and Tyler pushed Kat down onto it. He straddled her and kissed her urgently, slipping his tongue into her mouth and pushing his groin against her groin. Breathless, she felt herself growing warm and wet under his spell.
“Tyler,” she moaned, grabbing fistfuls of his spiky blonde hair in her hands and pushing his face even closer to hers, his tongue even deeper into her mouth. Their tongues met again and again, sliding over each other with abandon. Finally, Kat couldn’t take it anymore. She gathered all her strength and pushed Tyler up.
“Stand up,” she ordered. With an amused look on his face, he climbed off of her and stood next to the couch.
“Clothes, off. Now,” she said. Then she pulled at his shirt, struggling to reach high enough to pull it up and over his head. He grinned and helped her, then tossed the garment aside, letting it land on one of the many boxes surrounding them. Kat pulled at his shorts next, grabbing the hems of his shorts and underwear simultaneously and sliding them both down and off his legs in one fluid movement. He stepped out of them, and she threw them over on top of his shirt. She took in his naked body and groaned. His physique was everything you’d expect from a personal trainer, with every muscle sculpted and defined. His massive dick stood at attention, ready and waiting to find its way into her ready body.
“Hey, if I have to be naked, then you do, too,” he said, reaching for her sweaty t-shirt.
“I guess fair’s fair,” she said, and lifted her arms to let him pull the shirt over her head. He threw the shirt haphazardly behind his head, then reached around and unclasped her bra, sliding the straps down over her shoulders and arms. He pulled the simple black garment off and tossed it as well, revealing Kat’s full, round breasts. It was his turn to groan. He reached over and pulled off her cotton gym shorts and panties in one movement, using the same technique she had just used on him.
“Hmmm,” she teased. “Where’d you learn that move?”
“I think you know,” he growled, then pushed her down on the couch, straddling her and letting the tip of his dick tease the edges of her entrance.
“I want you,” he said, his eyes locked with hers, glowing a bright, fiery yellow.
“Then take me,” she said, holding his gaze.
And he did. He slammed into her and she cried out with a gasp of pure pleasure. But she never took her eyes away from his. He rode her, moving up and down with perfect rhythm, sending waves of electric heat through her body. Kat panted and moaned, growing wetter and wetter, causing Tyler’s sliding motion to go faster and faster. A tingling sensation filled her body, radiating through every fiber of her bein
g. Tyler moved within her as they both panted with ecstasy, but they never took their eyes off of each other. They held each other’s gaze, eyes locked together and bodies locked together, as their passion built, and then exploded in unison. Kat’s body trembled as her orgasm passed over her in waves, spurred on by an explosion of warm wetness as Tyler’s orgasm filled her. His eyes glowed bright yellow, and her mouth opened slightly as her voice caught in her throat, her passion too overwhelming to even allow her to speak. But she never closed her eyes, and never looked away. She had never had slept with someone while looking deep into their soul the entire time. Until now.
And damn if it wasn’t the most beautiful, intense feeling she had ever experienced.
* * *
A week and a half later, Tyler stood at the starting line for the Glacier Point 5K with Kat. She glanced over at him and smiled, and he felt his heart turning to mush. She had never looked so beautiful, with her bright pink and turquoise tennis shoes and matching hot pink t-shirt. Her mood was upbeat, which was a good change of pace.
Kat had been irritated for the last week. Her temper had run short. And Tyler knew why. Delaney and Kenzie had been feeding her nonstop information about the importance of the life mate ceremony. They had explained to Kat that, until the ceremony was performed, she would not be an official part of the Northern Lights Clan. Kat’s sullen mood had become so unbearable that Tyler had almost given up on his attempt to make his proposal romantic and just outright asked her over a mac n’ cheese dinner one night.
Instead, he talked to Delaney and Kenzie privately and told them his plans, asking them to please, please lay off on the life mate talk. They were freaking Kat out and making her think that he wasn’t serious about asking her.
Tyler was serious. He was bonded to Kat, without question. Even if he had wanted to get away from her, he wouldn’t have been able to. His bear was drawn to her. He wanted her. He needed to be with her. And today, he would show her that.
Bearing the Midnight Sun (Ice Bear Shifters Book 3) Page 7