by Jessica Ryan
"I gained dominion over the monster inside of me, Hawk," she said, her voice a high-pitched cacophony of pain. "I tried to come back to Bucklin. It took me ten goddamn years, but I beat the fucker inside of me and I came home. I didn't make it to Bucklin, though. Forrest found me. He saw an opportunity to eliminate the other alphas and take control of Bucklin for himself. He hates Bucklin, Hawk, he hates it more than anything else. The demon inside of me felt the hate and it left me, Hawk. It left me for Forrest."
"Then why hasn't it found Abaddon yet?" Hawk asked. "Why hasn't the demon returned to its mate?"
"I don't know," she cried. "After it left me, the demon brought me here. The evil you feel in the forest? It's not me, Hawk, it's Forrest. He's out there, taunting all of us."
Hawk had dropped the gas can, and the entire cabin smelled of the foul substance. The overtly industrial smell of gasoline stung Hawk's nose and made his wolf recoil in disgust. Yet he still stood there, staring at the fist he had just made. Was any of this true? Was Leena really free? Or was the demon trying to trick him into being let go?
Hawk pulled the book of matches out of his pocket and stared at them, trying to block out the haze in his mind created by the fumes and Leena's constant sobbing. He had to be strong. Someone had to win the internal struggle: Hawk the person or Hawk the wolf.
Chapter 30
The trip was long and arduous, but Ciara finally made it to town after traveling with Beorn for several hours. It was a much easier trek than the one she had embarked on to get to Beorn's cabin. The bear had a trail worn through the forest that easily led back to Bucklin.
When they started she was riding on his back, holding his clothes in one hand and a handful of his fur in the other. The bear moved fast, bounding down the path like nobody's business.
It was a day's walk, but Beorn had other ideas. After three hours of traveling they broke out of the forest into a small campground parking lot. Parked at the far end of the lot was an impressive Ford F-250.
The bear quickly shifted and demanded his clothes, with Ciara doing her best to avert her eyes from his large body. She was spoken for, but she couldn't help but be impressed by what all shifters seemed to pack.
The truck turned out to be Beorn's. He used the vehicle to get back and forth to Bucklin quickly to drop off supplies. Ciara wondered aloud why Hawk hadn't driven to this parking lot first to find the bear's cabin, but Beorn swore her to secrecy. The parking lot was old and abandoned, without a main road leading to it. The road they would take back to the main one was old and filled with holes. A large iron bar acted as a gate across the road, barring anyone from entering the secret road and parking lot.
During the trip Ciara learned that it annoyed Beorn when they called him "old bear". He was only 34, not much older than Rowan and Hawk. Yet for some reason they all viewed him as an old codger living by himself.
He confided in Ciara that he'd never met the right woman, finding most of them boring and self-centered. The bear obviously wanted a challenge, otherwise he would already be married with cubs running around his cabin.
Ciara could respect that. It wasn't often you met someone who refused to settle down by that age. He knew what he wanted and he refused to take any less.
After that Ciara must have dozed off, because she was brought back to the present by Beorn shaking her awake. When she opened her eyes it was dark outside and they were sitting in front of an old house that was kept up very well. Immediately she felt like she'd been transported to a TV show from the 1950's. Every house was a perfect little suburban home with a well-trimmed yard and a white picket fence running beside the sidewalk.
"Where are we?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Rowan's house," he said, sounding gruff again. All of the warmth had left Beorn's face, and he was back to being the grumpy bear he'd been before.
"You really dislike wolves, don't you?" Ciara asked.
"They annoy the fuck out of me," Beorn answered, opening his door and stepping out.
Ciara followed, walking cautiously up to the bright red front door. Beorn knocked twice with his giant hand.
The door flew open and a girl answered, a beautiful girl. She had deep blue eyes, ones that reminded Ciara of Hawk's when he had shifted them to blue. Her shorter hair looked cute on top of her round, perfectly proportioned face. She wore a tight white t-shirt revealing large breasts and a curvy body leading down to a pair of workout shorts and long, thick legs.
She's thick like me, Ciara thought. And a werewolf has chosen her.
It made Ciara feel good to see this. Maybe Hawk wasn't out of his mind choosing her. Apparently the wolves had a thing for real women.
"Beorn?" the girl asked.
"Hello, Eva," Beorn said, taking her hand in his massive paw and kissing it gently. "I come seeking Rowan."
"He's in the shower," she said, shaking her head. "Please come in."
Beorn followed her in, motioning for Ciara to join him.
"Eva, this is Ciara," Beorn said, pointing back.
"Nice to meet you," Eva said, shaking Ciara's hand cordially. "I didn't know Beorn had a mate."
Before Ciara could respond, the old bear began to crack up. "Rowan hasn't told you much about me, has he? I would never mate with a human. No, she's Hawk's mate."
Eva's eyes grew wide and she studied Ciara up and down before finally smiling. Ciara felt at ease with another human here, one who obviously understood the way of the werewolf a little better than she did.
"Beorn?" a voice called from the back of the house. "Back here, Beorn."
"Ladies," Beorn said, nodding his head and disappearing from the kitchen.
"Are you thirsty or hungry?" Eva asked.
"A little of both," Ciara admitted.
"Let me make you something, then," Eva said, standing up.
"Don't trouble yourself," Ciara said, feeling like a giant mooch.
"It's no trouble at all," Eva said. "If Rowan didn't want me to give his food away to guests, then he shouldn't have claimed me."
Ciara laughed, feeling even more at ease to learn that she wasn't the only one in the claimed boat.
As Eva cooked they made small talk, getting to know one another and discussing how they had both arrived at meeting their werewolves. The similarities were striking. Both of their wolves had saved them from a more aggressive wolf who wanted to do them harm, and both had been reluctant to want them at first before giving in to passion and love.
By the end of the meal, which was just baked chicken and mashed potatoes, they were laughing and talking like they had known each other for years.
"It's great to meet someone else who knows what I've been through," Eva said. "It's been tough, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world. I wouldn't trade him for anything, either."
"I know how you feel," Ciara said, nodding.
"I'm so glad you're here now!" Eva said, slapping Ciara on the shoulder. "It'll be fun to have another human so close."
"Yeah," Ciara said, trying to look happy. She didn't want to tell Eva that Hawk was leaving Bucklin and taking her with him. It wasn't her place to give Hawk's business away like that.
Beorn and Rowan were still talking up a storm in the back of the house, their voices rising at times and at other times dropping into hushed whispers. Eventually Ciara found herself growing sleepy again, barely able to keep her eyes open. Two days of intense traveling with no food or water had left her body fatigued and in desperate need of a long recharge.
Eva fixed her a place on the couch and left her there to drift off to sleep. Ciara slept like a log, and didn't hear anyone else speak for the rest of the night. She was awakened the next morning by the sound of intense pounding on the front door.
She jumped up, rushing past a large, well-built man who was exiting the hallway. What he looked like barely registered with Ciara, because she knew that what was at the door was what she had been waiting for.
"Okay," she heard the man say as she threw t
he front door open. "It's not like it's my house or anything."
Ciara ignored him when she saw her man standing in front of her, his face a mix of happiness and pain. He didn't say a word; instead, he pulled Ciara into a tight embrace, sniffing her hair as he held her. Finally he pulled away, about to speak, but Ciara wouldn't give him the chance. She laid a hard kiss on his face, one that would've busted the lip of a normal man. She didn't care; she had to feel his powerful lips pressed against hers. She found herself aching for him, for his touch and for every part of him. She needed her wolf more than anything else.
Finally they stopped, Hawk still looking at her with love in his eyes. Ciara returned his loving gaze, not wanting to take her eyes off his for the rest of her life. However, something caught the corner of her eye. There was someone standing on the sidewalk behind Hawk.
She was a tall, lean girl, probably the most beautiful woman that Ciara had ever seen. Everything about her was perfect, and even though she was dirty she still radiated in the morning light.
"Who…?" Ciara started to ask.
She didn't get to finish her thought. Rowan pushed past both of them, rushing out onto the sidewalk and grabbing the girl off her feet in a tight embrace. Eva appeared at the doorway with them, tears in her eyes.
"Leena," Ciara heard him say. "My god, Leena, I've missed you. Is it really you?"
"It's me, Rowan," she said. "It's all me."
Ciara looked at Hawk, worry stretching across her face.
"Hawk…" she started to say.
"It's okay, Ciara," Hawk said, pulling her closer and kissing her on the forehead lovingly. "She's not our enemy."
"Is it over?" she asked Hawk.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's not over, but it is for us."
"No," she said, putting a finger on his lips to silence him. "It's not over yet. This is your home and you're going to help protect it."
"But what about you?" he asked, his eyes looking worried.
"I'll be here with you the whole time," she said. "We can still go to Stillwater, but we're not going until your family is safe."
"You are my family," he said.
"So are they." Ciara turned and waved her hand through the air in front of them, motioning towards the entire city.
Hawk smiled and kissed her again. She could feel the tingle going through her entire body as her heart tried to jump out of her chest. This man took her breath away, but she wasn't going to let him shirk his responsibility just because of her. Ciara had spent her entire life ignoring her family and responsibilities, and she wouldn't let Hawk make that same mistake. She loved him too much.
THE END
The Bucklin Wolves Are Not Done
Ciara and Hawk's story is finished, for now. Together they will try and help Bucklin survive the combined onslaught of Satan's Angels and the Oakdale Pack.
That story will continue with Aster's tale, due out in November.
However, many of you have demanded to know how Beorn's life will turn out. I will give you that in late September, when the first of three parts chronicling Beorn and his quest for love in Bucklin as he finally meets the one girl who provides him with the challenge he has so desperately wanted: Rain.
After that it's back to the main story as the head alpha Aster is reunited with the love of his life: Leena. But what can he do to protect his people from the scorned gang leader Abaddon and the psychotic, not possessed, alpha wolf Forrest?
Stick around for more exciting tales from The Bucklin Wolves.
A Note from Jessica
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Other Books By Jessica Ryan
Billionaire Ace
Sharing the Billionaire
Secrets of the Billionaire
Ritual of the Billionaire
Lost Alpha
Lost Alpha Part 1
Lost Alpha Part 2
Lost Alpha Part 3
Lost Alpha: Collection
The Bucklin Wolves
Taken By The Wolf Part 1
Taken By The Wolf Part 2
Taken By The Wolf Part 3
Taken By The Wolf: Collection
The Alpha’s Quest Part 1
The Alpha’s Quest Part 2
The Alpha’s Quest Part 3
Taming The Bear Part 1