Hunter swept the surrounding mountain peaks with his terrified eyes. He glanced up, and his voice cracked under the strain. “Help me, Jordan.”
Jordan’s eyes bulged. “I’ve got you, man. Just hang on.”
Hunter whined in terror, but Jordan held firm. He couldn’t move back, but he didn’t slide any further toward the edge. Hunter thrashed and spun. He slapped his other hand up to catch Jordan’s arm. He missed and tried again. “Oh, God, don’t let me go.”
Hunter tried one more time to grab Jordan’s arm with his other hand, and he caught his own wrist. When he stopped spinning and jerking, Jordan found a moment’s reprieve to gain ground. He inched back until his arm rested on the ground. Someone—maybe Rome—stepped forward to help him, but Jordan warned him back with a jerk of his head. No one could help him save the man he just tried to kill.
He anchored his elbow on the rock. Hunter panted and coughed, but one micron at a time, Jordan moved back until he got his whole body firmly planted on Rocky Point. He squirreled himself around and got up onto his knees. After that, he hauled Hunter up with not much trouble.
Hunter collapsed on the rock. He couldn’t speak, he was wheezing so hard. Jordan took hold of him under the armpits and hoisted him to his feet. The brothers faced each other, and their eyes locked. The crowd held its breath until Hunter threw his arms around his brother. They slapped each other on the back, and Jordan rested his hand on Hunter’s head.
Hunter pushed Jordan away and sniffed. “I’m sorry, man.”
Jordan chopped the air. “Forget it. It’s over. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
The brothers faced the crowd. Jordan raised his voice to call out, “Come on, everybody. The fight’s over. We’re going home.”
The crowd erupted in hysterical glee. Enemies embraced and wiped away tears. Lovers kissed, and parents lifted their children into their arms. Jordan hugged Hunter around the shoulders and started forward when Wyatt shouldered through the crowd. The laughter died on Jordan’s lips when he saw his father’s frown.
Wyatt pursed his lips and glared at his sons. He looked back and forth at Hunter and Jordan with their arms around each other. The noise died, and everyone waited to see what would happen.
Wyatt hooked his thumbs in his pockets and humphed. Then he thrust out his hand to Jordan. “You did it, boy. You won.”
Jordan flushed, and his teeth flashed in the sun when he smiled. He seized his father’s hand and pumped it off the old man’s shoulder. “Thanks, Pop.”
Excited exclamations followed Jordan and Hunter down the mountain. The brothers led the joyful procession back to their compound, where the crowd broke up. No one noticed Ebony left behind, standing alone on Rocky Point.
Chapter 16
A week later, Riley and Melody knocked on the door of Jordan’s little cabin. The house nestled into the trees behind the Archer compound. Its walls shone blinding white with whitewash, and fresh striped curtains hung on the windows.
Jordan opened the door for them. Riley clapped him on the back, and Melody hugged him, but Jordan didn’t smile. He barely looked at them. He kept looking around the house. He left them to scrape a fleck of paint off the window.
“What’s wrong with you?” Riley asked. “Aren’t you happy? You worked like a dog to build this house, and now it’s ready and you’re bringing your mate home. You should be bouncing off the walls.”
Jordan ran his finger along the windowsill. “Do you think she’ll like it? Maybe it’s not good enough.”
“Are you kidding?” Riley snorted. “Have you seen my place recently?”
Melody gave the two men a polite smile. “I’m sure she’ll love it. You did an amazing job on this house.”
Jordan fidgeted. “Maybe I could take another week. I want to sand the floor again.”
“Don’t you dare,” Riley snapped. “You’ve left her pining in her parents’ house all this time. It’s time to bring her home, and today’s the day. No more stalling. The house is fantastic. Don’t change a thing.”
“Do you think so?”
Melody laughed out loud. “She’ll be here in a few minutes. You can’t back out now. The house is fantastic.”
“It’s by far the nicest house on the whole Moraine,” Riley added.
Jordan nodded, but he didn’t look happy. He jumped a foot in the air when someone knocked on the door. Riley and Melody jumped, too. Their eyes flew open.
Jordan flew into a rapid pantomime. He pointed first here, then there. He waved his hands in a whirlwind. Melody started going one direction and collided with Riley going the other way. They bounced off and headed in opposite directions. Jordan grabbed them both and directed them somewhere else.
The knock sounded on the door again. Riley and Melody scurried off somewhere, and Jordan rushed to the door. Once he got his hand on the knob, he stopped short. He caught his breath and opened the door with an air of complete calm.
Outside the door, Scarlet Faulkner set her hand on her hip. “What took you so long?”
Jordan came out and shut the door behind him. “Where is she?”
“She’s over in the kitchen, and she’s dying of curiosity.”
Jordan set off across the yard toward the Archer house, but he drew up one more time. He frowned over his shoulder at Scarlet. “Aren’t you going inside?”
Scarlet grinned. “Maybe later. I’m going out. I’ve gotta be somewhere, but thanks for the invite.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself. Come by anytime.”
She murmured, “Mmm-hmmm,” under her breath and set off somewhere he didn’t see. He fixed his eyes on the Archer house and set off again. He knocked on the door and walked in without waiting for an answer.
He found Ebony sitting alone in her mother’s kitchen. She ginned when she saw him. “This better be pretty good.”
He couldn’t help but smile back. “Are you ready to find out?” She nodded and headed for the door, but he stopped her. “Not so fast.”
“I’ve been waiting a week. What do you want to wait around here for?”
He drew a silken scarf from his pocket. “You can’t see until the last moment.”
He covered her wide eyes with the scarf and tied it behind her head. She groped for his arm. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
He chuckled low. “I should keep you like this. I like seeing you helpless and at my mercy.”
She clutched his hand. “I hope you’re not leading me off to your secret dungeon.”
“If you only knew.”
She stumbled after him toward the door. “This is a side of you I’ve never seen before.”
He guided her to the door and out into the sunshine. The straight stretch between the Archers’ and the new house lay clear and inviting before them. He escorted her by the hand, step by step until they came to the door.
Her other hand rose to her eyes and she took hold of the scarp, but he held her back. “Not yet.”
“When, then?”
He opened the door, and her heel struck the hardwood floor. He steered her into the living room flooded with light. “Now, you can look.”
She ripped off the blindfold and stared all around her. At that moment, Riley and Melody leapt out from either side. “Surprise!” they shrieked.
Ebony started back in surprise. She screamed. Her eyes popped out of her face. She couldn’t stop staring at everything. Jordan beamed from ear to ear. “Do you like it?”
She opened her mouth. Her eyes flicked from one window to the other. She studied every detail in amazement. Melody laughed. “See? I told you she would like it.”
Jordan squeezed Ebony’s hand. “Welcome home, darling. It’s all yours, yours and mine.”
Ebony took a step. She gazed out the window. The Archers’ house stood across the compound, right where she could see it. She turned all the way around. Two bedrooms exited the living room to one side. The kitchen counter covered one wall with an island in front of it. Two couches and two
stuffed chairs occupied one corner, along with a lamp and a low table.
Ebony walked in a complete circle all around that house. She couldn’t speak above a whisper. “It’s incredible. How did you do it?”
Jordan blushed, but Melody answered for him. “Don’t you know he’s been working on this place night and day for the last week? Take a look at that cupboard over there. He built this whole house with his own two hands. He did it for you, to give you a nice home.”
Ebony shook her head. “I…I can’t believe it.”
“Wait ‘til you see the bedroom.”
Ebony took a step forward, but Jordan shook his head. “Not yet.”
Melody laid her hand on Ebony’s arm. “He’s right. Let that be for just the two of you.”
Ebony cast her eyes down to the floor. “You guys shouldn’t have done this. It’s too much.”
“Nonsense.” Melody spun away to the kitchen. She pulled a big cake from the fridge and a tub of ice cream out of the freezer. She slid a bottle of sparkling wine from under the sink, along with four shot glasses. “We’re here for the house warming party. Sorry, I couldn’t find any crystal flutes. You know how people around here are. They’re tripping over shot glasses, and no one has a wine glass for a hundred miles.”
She carried the cake to the table sitting under one window. She set up plates of cake and ice cream and poured everyone a shot of sparkling wine. She passed them out until everyone held a glass.
Melody raised her glass. “Here’s to you two. You two should be happier than you can ever possibly imagine. You should have lots of babies that fight a lot and give you lots of worry, and you should grow old and die side by side in your own bed.”
Riley clinked his glass against hers. “Here, here.”
Everybody drank. Ebony stared down at her glass. “Thanks, guys. You’re the greatest.” Then she frowned. “What’s up with the sparkling grape juice? Don’t tell me you’re flat broke, now that the bear-baiting ring has broken up.”
Riley and Melody exchanged glances. Melody turned bright red. “No. I’m pregnant.”
Ebony’s head shot up. “You are? How?”
Melody shook her head, but she didn’t smile. “I really don’t know. I was prepared to live the rest of my life as Riley’s mate. I gave up on having children. I thought a Bruin and a Midnight wouldn’t be biologically compatible, but I guess I was wrong.”
“So…” Ebony looked back and forth between her two friends. “So, what do you think it will be?”
“Who knows?” Melody replied.
“Maybe it will be human,” Riley suggested.
Ebony shut her eyes. “Don’t even joke about that.”
The four of them sat around the table as best they could. It wasn’t easy, since Jordan made the table for two instead of four. They balanced their cake and ice cream on their knees. They chatted about developments on the Moraine since the big fight a week before.
“Where’s Hunter?” Melody asked. “He should be here.”
“He’s coming by later,” Jordan replied. “He went out hunting with Pop, but he said not to fill up the fridge too fast—whatever that means. He says he’s gonna bring over a little something for our first dinner in the house.”
“It’s great you two made up,” Melody told him. “One of you killing the other would have torn this Moraine apart.”
Riley passed his hand over his eyes. “Can we please talk about something else besides all that doom and gloom? I’ve heard enough of it for one lifetime.”
“We might as well talk about it,” Jordan countered. “None of it is going away anytime soon.”
“You’re lucky,” Ebony told Jordan. “You’ve got your brother. Onyx won’t even speak to me anymore. She doesn’t care about the fight. She says she lost her sister and I’m dead to her now.”
Riley shook his head. “It’s a tragedy. I lost my sister, but at least I know she’s happy somewhere with Azer.”
“You hope she’s happy somewhere with Azer,” Jordan corrected. “She could have left alone.”
“Anything would be better than living without her right here in the same compound.”
“She’s not the only one,” Melody told them. “A lot of people on the Moraine got their feelings hurt. Families have been torn apart. It’s gonna take a while before people are ready to move on.”
“Maybe someday Onyx will find a mate,” Jordan offered. “Then maybe she’ll understand.”
“She doesn’t show any signs of that,” Ebony replied. “She still sleeps around as much as ever.”
Riley groaned. “Can we please talk about something else? We’re supposed to be celebrating here, not rehashing all the same old tragedies.”
A smile twitched at Jordan’s mouth. “What would you like to talk about?”
“Let’s talk about the future. Let’s talk about how wonderful the future is going to be.”
“You should go into business for yourself, Jordan,” Melody suggested. “You did such a good job on this house, you could make a living at it.”
Jordan nodded. “I wouldn’t mind.”
“I’m sure a lot of people would like you to work on their houses. A bunch of the old shacks could be pulled down and replaced with houses like this.”
“The Midnight wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they had houses as nice as this to live in,” Ebony added.
“You could start working on my place,” Riley told him. “I was thinking about adding a new room for the baby. You could do it for me, and you could plaster and whitewash the inside of the house. That would do wonders for the place.”
Jordan nodded. “I’d be happy to. How about I come around your place tomorrow morning, and you can let me know what you have in mind?”
“Perfect.”
They ate in silence for a while until Jordan said, “You realize what this baby means, don’t you?”
Everyone looked at him. “No. What?”
“It means a new species that’s half-Bruin and half-Midnight. Whatever else we do, we’ll have to make peace with the Bruins.”
The others looked at each other, one by one.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it as long as I have to,” Jordan murmured. “We ought to send a message to Bruins’ Peak.”
No one said a word.
“We need someone to take the message,” Jordan went on.
“It’s too dangerous,” Ebony told him. “No one would go.”
Jordan glanced across the table. “What about you, Riley?”
Riley held up both hands. “Forget it, man. I am never setting foot on Bruins’ Peak again as long as I live. I don’t care if it means peace. I’m a dead man on Bruins’ Peak. You know that.”
“What about you, Melody? Would you go back?”
“Not without Riley. Besides, a lot of Midnight still hate the Bruins. Just because the majority have changed, a tiny minority could still make trouble. I wouldn’t want my people believing the Midnight are peaceful—not yet, anyway.”
Jordan shrugged and took a bite of his cake. “Oh, well. It’s just a thought.”
The conversation continued in a much more subdued tone after that. No one mentioned the baby, the Bruins, or anything related to mating for life. They ate and drank until Riley set his shot glass on the table. “It’s time for us to scoot and leave these two love birds to feather their nest.”
Melody hugged Ebony. “I’m so happy for you. Let me know if there’s anything you need.”
Ebony waved toward the window and laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m sure my mother and sisters will be dropping by to borrow the salt every other day. I’ll have more help than I can stand.”
Melody squeezed her hand. “I mean it. You call on me if you need anything.”
“Thanks. You, too. If you need help with the baby, or even just someone to talk to, you come here.”
“Thanks, darling. That means a lot.”
Riley slapped Jordan on the back. “I’ll se
e you at sparrow fart tomorrow, so don’t stay up too late tonight.”
“Don’t worry,” Jordan replied. “I’ve been burning the midnight oil for weeks. Tonight I sleep.”
Jordan and Ebony waved to Riley and Melody from the doorway. Ebony went inside first, and when Jordan shut the door, he found Ebony washing up the dishes.
Chapter 17
Ebony smiled at him from the sink, but Jordan didn’t move into the room. Her smile faded. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, but he didn’t smile.
She moved the dishes back and forth, but when he didn’t move, she looked up again. “What’s wrong?”
He sat down on the couch and watched her across the room. “Don’t stop. I want to watch you.”
“You want to watch me wash the dishes?”
He nodded.
“What’s so interesting about me washing the dishes?” She giggled. “I’m sure you’ll get very bored of seeing that in the years to come.”
He put his head on one side. “You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed of this moment, and now it’s happening. I dreamed about you moving around the house, cleaning up and doing the dishes and folding laundry. I dreamed of your face shining just the way it is now, and I dreamed about sitting here and watching you and loving you and thinking what my life would be like if I hadn’t met you.”
She stared at him from the sink. “Did you really think about that?”
“I thought about it during the day, and I dreamed about it at night. I’ve done nothing but eat, sleep and breathe this house since I met you.”
She shook the soapy water off her hands, dried them on a towel, and rushed across the room. She threw herself on his lap and peppered his face with kisses.
He laughed and pushed her back. “Hey! What are you doing? I just said I want to watch you across the room.”
“Are you nuts? Do you think you can say something like that and then sit over here and watch me across the room? You’re mine, Mister. Don’t you ever forget it.”
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