Wed to the Bear (Denali Den Book 2)

by Rebecca Thomas

  And now, now what had she done? She was probably just a notch on his belt. She was so pathetic. She shook her head, sat up and searched for her bra.

  He reached out and coiled strong fingers around her forearm. “Ava, are you okay?”

  “Of course.” She shrugged. “I’m just a little cold. Do you know what happened to my bra?”

  He opened his mouth, then closed it. He blew out a breath and reached behind his back. “I think you threw it over here.”

  Ava would play it cool with Stryker. She couldn’t get in deep with him. Her plan was to leave him soon. But he was right about one thing, she’d never asked for what she wanted in the bedroom before. She never said, don’t stop to anyone. He didn’t need to know she’d experienced an orgasm only a handful of times in her life. He didn’t need to know that he had rocked her world. He didn’t need to know how confused she felt.

  Bears like Stryker Vane slept with women like her, then set them aside. She’d seen it over and over again in her own den. Married or not, it didn’t matter.

  “I meant what I said, Ava. That was amazing. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.” He handed her bra to her. “Let me help you.”

  She snatched it out of his hands. “No, I’ve got it.” She looped the straps over her shoulders and hooked the back.

  “Can I just say—” Stryker started to speak.

  “Do you know where my panties went?”

  “Ava, stop.” He scooted closer to her and cupped her face in his hands. “Please, listen to me.”

  She nodded. “All right.”

  “You are so beautiful. No, you’re stunning is what you are. And your breasts…I’ve never seen a rack—not ever—as perfect as yours.”

  As much as she believed he said this to all the women he slept with, he sounded sincere. She swallowed and found the bravado to speak. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you to say. I’ve always thought my nipples were too big.”

  “Your nipples are perfect.”

  She looked into his eyes and had to believe he was being genuine. Glancing lower, she eyed his sculpted chest, his ab muscles, the line of hair below his bellybutton, and his nakedness. Desire gushed up and grabbed her around the throat. “You aren’t so bad yourself.”

  Slowly, he gazed down at his bulging hardness, then back at her. “I already want you again.”

  Butterflies beat their wings in her belly. No, she couldn’t do this. Could she? Make herself vulnerable again?

  “I—I can’t. I’m really tired.” She was making excuses, but she didn’t care.

  He held up his hands. “Hey, no pressure.” He grabbed his boxers and slid them on. “You call the shots, okay, Ava?”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  “It sounds like the rain has let up,” Stryker said. He lay beside her and they both stared up at the tent ceiling.

  She gathered her emotions. Every muscle in her body ached, but she wanted Stryker again. “Actually, I lied.”

  He propped up on his elbow and gazed into her eyes. “Lied about what?”

  “About being tired. I’m not tired at all. I want you again too.”

  7

  The next morning, Stryker packed up camp and his new wife, loaded all in his truck and set out for Denali Crossings. Ava sat at the passenger side window of the truck’s bench seat. He wished she had chosen to sit beside him.

  That’s okay, he counseled himself. He had to take things slowly with her. He sensed her anxiety. “Are you worried about meeting Silas?”

  She stared out the window not acknowledging him in any way other than answering his question. “No, of course not.”

  “I’d love nothing more than to take a couple weeks off, but I’ve got to make sure I have a few things at camp covered first, then we can leave for a real honeymoon.”

  She crossed her arms. “We don’t need to have a honeymoon.”

  “I know, but I’d like to. We need time to get to know one another.” He started to slide his hand across the seat, but thought better of it. “I run Denali Crossings, therefore I need to make sure everything is covered administratively before I leave.”

  “We’re leaving?”

  “If you’re agreeable, my family owns a cabin twenty miles to the northwest of here. I thought we could stay there for a while. However long you’d like.”

  She didn’t respond, only continued to stare out the opposite window.

  “It’s private with nothing but wilderness surrounding it. We use it on occasion for camp members, but it’s open right now.”

  “What do camp members use it for?”

  “If one of our teens needs space and separation from the group, then this cabin is available to them. Coming to terms with shifting and the difficulties it presents, learning to control your urges, that’s all amplified when you’re a teen. You must know. Unless you weren’t like most teens.”

  She nodded. “Oh no, I was a normal teen. That’s why when Silas told me what you do at Denali Crossings for werebear teens, I was intrigued.”

  “It’s all under the guise of a regular wilderness therapy camp. It’s not just for werebears.”

  She nodded. “I understand.”

  “I’ll get the next group of campers settled in, then we’ll leave.” He realized he was gripping the steering wheel harder than was necessary. “If that’s okay with you.”

  She uncrossed her arms. “Listen. I was completely honest with you when we started this marriage thing. My intentions are to be married just long enough to convince my family. So they’ll leave me alone, then I’ll get divorced.”

  “And I told you I take marriage very seriously. How can you deny that you aren’t my True Mate?”

  “I don’t believe in all that True Mate crap—I told you already.”

  “You wanted to get married for protection—I get that, but—”

  “I don’t need protection!” she growled.

  “Yes, you do, and I intend on giving it to you. You’re a Vane now and part of my family and you will be protected.”

  “I don’t need protection from my own family. I just needed them to let up on me.”

  “I think there is more to the story than you’re willing to tell me, but it doesn’t matter. We’ll move forward from here.”

  “Just stop the truck.”

  Stryker didn’t hesitate. He slammed on the brakes with entirely too much force.

  “Pull over to the side of the road.” She removed her shirt, followed by her bra.

  “What are you doing?” He moved his truck to the side of the road and put it in park. If she didn’t get enough lovemaking last night, he was more than happy to give her more.

  “I just need—I need to be a bear for a little while.”

  She opened the truck’s passenger side door, stepped outside and slid off her shoes, followed by her jeans.

  “I’ll come with you.” Stryker untucked his t-shirt. Not exactly what he was hoping for, but a close second.

  Ava slid off her underwear and stood naked. “I need to be alone. Will you give me that?”

  “You aren’t familiar with the area.” He grasped for any reason he could think of to keep her nearby, but seeing her beautiful curves with the sunlight streaming over her was so damned distracting.

  “I’m not going to get lost. My nose works good. Better than good. If nothing else, I’ll sniff my way back here.” She ran her hand through her thick hair, tension radiating off her jerky movements.

  “I’m here to talk and to relieve any…any anxiety you might be feeling. I want to help.” He wanted to do a whole lot more than help. Hell, he wanted to possess her. He wanted to take her over the nearest log and ravish her.

  “Stryker, you’re great. You are, but please just give me some space. Give me a half hour. If I’m not back here in half an hour, then come and find me.”

  “Ava—”

  She held up her hand. “Can I trust that you’ll be able to find me?”

  “Of course, I can find you. I s
mell you. I sense you. You’re my mate. Your scent is embedded into my DNA.”

  “Okay, great. Just give me this.” She stared at him. Her eyes pleaded with him.

  “Fine.” He couldn’t deny her this. She was a bear every bit as much as he was and sometimes you just had to be a bear. “You have thirty minutes and not a second longer.”

  “Thank you.” She slammed the truck’s door, then turned around, giving him an amazing view of her curvy ass before she shifted into a black bear. She ran into a thick grove of spruce trees and disappeared.

  Stryker punched the steering wheel. “Dammit.”

  Grinding his teeth together, he pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. “You’ve got exactly twenty-nine minutes left.”

  He picked up his cell phone. It seemed inappropriate to tell Silas over the phone that he’d gotten married, but he had thirty minutes to kill and if he didn’t do something, he’d go stir crazy. And now that he thought about it, just yesterday Silas had told him on the phone that Lexi Durham was his True Mate, so turnabout was fair play.

  Silas answered on the first ring. “Where are you?”

  “I’m about an hour away. I’m on the main road. I decided it was too late to drive all the way in, so I stayed in my tent. I called and let Scarlett know.”

  “You sound different. What’s going on?”

  “Well, a lot, actually.” Stryker couldn’t decide how to say it—how did you tell your brother, whom you thought was insane for meeting women on a werebear dating site, that you’ve just done something more insane?

  “How did Ava take the news? Did she fly back to Wyoming?”

  “No, not exactly.”

  “Get to the punchline. What happened?”

  Nothing like just saying it. “I married her.”

  “You married Ava?” Silas sounded incredulous.

  “Yes.” Stryker swiped at the perspiration on his brow.

  “Well, I’ll be…damned.” Silas laughed. A big hearty boisterous laugh.

  “So I guess I don’t need to worry about you being pissed?” Stryker asked sarcastically.

  “Why would I be pissed?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you were going to marry her might have something to do with it.”

  “No, I’m not pissed. I told you Blue and I are together. I just never thought—damn, she never told me the reasons why she wanted to get married—I just assumed it was for the same reasons I wanted to get married. Not sure we really talked about it. She was agreeable, so we decided on meeting with the intention of marriage. But hell, I didn’t know you were interested in getting married. At least not for a while. Who would have guessed that you’d get married before me?”

  “Yeah, well, I did. Why did she want to marry you—sight unseen, so to speak?”

  “You know, we really never got to the reasons.”

  Stryker gripped the phone tighter, not sure why it was important to him to know the answer.

  “I just figured she wanted to marry me because of my charming personality,” Silas finally replied.

  “Riiiight.” Stryker looked in the rearview mirror at a white Hummer pulling up behind him. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

  “Are we expecting someone?”

  “No, we aren’t. Maybe they’re lost. I’ll call you back.” He clicked off his phone, set it on the dashboard, and stepped outside.

  The Hummer parked behind him. He couldn’t understand why anyone would want to own a white Hummer. Black or green maybe, but white? He preferred dark colors.

  Two men opened the passenger and driver’s doors simultaneously and stepped out. Stryker sniffed the air. They were both bears and every instinct in his body screamed they were up to no good. The driver was blonde and slightly larger than the dark-haired passenger.

  Stryker widened his stance. “Can I help you boys with anything?”

  “We’re on our way to Denali Crossings,” said the driver. “Saw your truck here and thought we’d make sure we’re going the right way.”

  “What business do you have at Denali Crossings? I’m pretty sure I would have known if we were expecting visitors.”

  The werebears weren’t from Alaska—he was sure of it. They were dressed too nice to be Alaskans. They wore casual business attire. One even wore a vest and loafers—a dead giveaway for being an outsider.

  “The camp is for teenagers,” Stryker continued. “You both look older than sixteen, so state your business or move on.”

  One bear, the larger of the two, rubbed his forearms in agitation. “We’ve got business with someone who works at the camp. From what I hear…” The bear gave a grunt and sideways glance at his friend. “…he’s the camp cook.”

  “That would be my brother Silas. I’ll say it again, state your business.”

  The blonde bear approached him and casually leaned his arm on the back of Stryker’s truck. “Good to know we’re on the right road.” He turned to his friend. “Isn’t it, Luka?” Then he incrementally turned his gaze back to Stryker. “Our business is with Silas.”

  Stryker took a step closer, within arm’s reach of the bear. “Any business of Silas’ is business of mine.”

  The bear sniffed the air before moving to the passenger side of Stryker’s truck. “I smell her. She’s been here.”

  Stryker moved at lightning speed to stand between the bear and his truck. He knew they were trouble. His instincts never betrayed him. He heard his cell phone ringing from inside his truck. “Stay clear of my property. You’re on my land and I’m not feeling neighborly. Silas isn’t expecting you, so move on.”

  The blonde bear gave him a snide look with a fake smile. “I could have sworn we were on National Park land. And last I checked, a National Park is open to the public.”

  “I’m not going to argue with you about property lines. I’m just telling you to leave. Get off my property now.” Stryker stepped into the bear’s personal space and pushed his chest up against him.

  The smaller werebear, Luka, stepped between them and gently shoved his friend a step back. “We don’t want any trouble. We’re just here to collect my sister.” He pulled on the sleeve of the bear’s designer dress shirt. “Come on, Brett. Let’s go.”

  The larger bear crossed his arms. “I’m not going anywhere. She’s been in his truck. I smell her. Where’s Ava? Where’s my fiancée?”

  Stryker had a fairly mellow temper by bear standards. He was usually slow to anger, but rage welled up in him at a speed he’d never experienced. At a slow boil for only milliseconds, he drew in a quivering breath. His inner bear clawed to be released, to lash out at this werebear who threatened what belonged to him. If these men didn’t leave immediately, he’d shift, and wouldn’t be responsible for his actions. They wouldn’t get anywhere near Denali Crossings or his family. “Ava is my wife.”

  “The hell she is!”

  The blow that hit Stryker’s jaw wasn’t completely unexpected, and while the contact didn’t force him to step back, it did cause his head to jerk in the opposite direction.

  An all-encompassing heat flared inside his body.

  “Brett, what the hell are you doing?” Luka called out.

  Stryker didn’t wait for a response, instead he shifted into his bear form. He hated ruining clothes, but it didn’t matter.

  Brett shifted too. Stryker roared, then struck first with a swift bash to the other bear’s head.

  Brett recovered quickly and charged him. Stryker dodged to the side and swiped his claws at the other bear’s face. Triumph was his in drawing first blood.

  Brett shoved Stryker to the ground. The bears rolled over each other several times, alternating turns with gnashing teeth and claws detaching pieces of fur. Brett was bigger, but Stryker was faster.

  “Knock it off!” Luka yelled. “This isn’t accomplishing anything.”

  Still in his human form, Luka tried to split them apart.

  Not a smart move.

  Luka was catapulted ten feet
in the air and hit the ground with a thud. Stryker wasn’t sure if he’d done it or if Brett had. He couldn’t be bothered with wondering, because he needed to be prepared for the next blow, which came only a split second later.

  The sparring between them continued. Biting and clawing at each other, both tried to make a lethal blow, but neither gained the upper hand long enough to do so.

  “Knock it off—you idiots! Can’t you see you’ve hurt my brother?” Ava’s voice called.

  Stryker was about to take a bite out of Brett’s shoulder, but he stopped.

  The sound of Ava’s voice filled with worry and stress undid him. Whatever physical pain he was feeling, it was nothing compared to the sound of his mate’s voice. She was hurt. The sound of her voice pierced his insides like a hot knife. He had to fix it. He had to alleviate her pain.

  8

  When Ava heard the bear fight, she knew. She knew it was because of her and guilt pummeled her.

  Ever since she’d landed in Fairbanks, all her plans had come crashing down around her. First of all, she’d thought she could just marry a bear far away from her family and then eventually get divorced, but when she and Stryker consummated their marriage, she knew it wouldn’t be that easy to break the bonds they shared. She was attracted to Stryker.

  No, attracted wasn’t a strong enough word to describe what they had, she was hot for her husband. She wanted him over and over again.

  And that wasn’t part of her plan.

  She’d shifted into her bear form to clear her head and get some distance from Stryker, but when she heard the bear fight, she knew Brett was here. He wouldn’t leave her alone. He wouldn’t let her live her life and make her own choices. She should have known.

  When she approached the brawl, her attention went to her brother. Luka was knocked out cold.

  Ava quickly got dressed before she yelled at Stryker and Brett. Hunched over Luka, she lifted his head away from the blood that had seeped out on the ground. Tears burned the back of her eyes. “You’ve hurt him. How could you?”

  Brett and Stryker crouched down on either side of her. They’d shifted back into their human forms.