One by one, they found places for themselves. They sat on couches and chairs. They walked outside or leaned against the walls. Little kids ran around in the sunshine and played. The older ones wandered away and disappeared. Some of them wouldn’t come back for days, and that was just fine.
Haven looked around for Foicks, but she didn’t see him. What was he doing? Was he even thinking about her? Maybe he was too wrapped up in this conflict to care about her.
While she was looking, she happened to wander into the conservatory attached to the back of the house. She would have left to keep looking if she hadn’t seen her mother and Sky talking to Briar and Natalie behind the rubber tree. Virginia sat in a chair to one side.
“Make sure you don’t tire yourself out,” Haven’s mother was telling Briar. “You have to conserve your energy. You’ll need it once the baby is born.”
“Thank you,” Briar replied, “but I feel fine. I wake up with more energy than I’ve had in my life. I have to do something.”
“It’s lucky for us Briar was here when Dad died,” Natalie remarked. “I don’t know what we’d have done without her.”
“Well, I couldn’t let the place fall apart, could I?” Briar returned. “This is my home and my family now as much as yours.”
“What about your mother?” Sky asked. “What will you do about her?”
“There’s nothing to do,” Briar murmured. “She’s gone.”
“Gone?” Leda exclaimed. “What do you mean?”
“Look at her,” Briar replied. “She hasn’t said a word since Addison died. She barely eats anymore. She’s fading away.”
Leda and Sky cast a quick glance at Virginia. The elderly lady slumped in her chair. Even her hands lay limp and lifeless in her lap. She didn’t respond to people discussing her a few steps away.
“She’s heartbroken,” Briar went on. “She’s lost her mate, and we all know what that means.”
“Poor thing!” Sky whispered.
Leda patted Briar’s arm. “It’s all the better this family has you to take over for her. You’re the matriarch around here now, and it couldn’t be better.”
“Thank you, dear,” Briar replied.
Just then, Riskin strolled in and came to Briar’s side. “If you’re not too busy, could you and Natalie join me for a strategy meeting in the living room?”
“Sure,” Briar replied. “What’s afoot?”
“The Mackenzies want to negotiate the lease of some of our land. I want you two present as witnesses.”
“All right. We’ll come.” Briar touched Leda’s hand. “Thanks for your kind words. Let’s catch up later. Okay?”
The Dodds went off together, and Haven and her mother and sister made their way back to the buffet. Leda kept glancing toward the living room. “I don’t blame him for wanting his wife with him. She’s a rock.”
“Briar has grown up so much since marrying Riskin,” Haven remarked. “It seems like only yesterday she was an awkward teenager running errands for her mother. Now, she’s running a whole tribe.”
Chapter 2
Haven followed her mother down the hall toward the buffet when she spotted Foicks coming the other way. Haven lagged behind so her mother and sister kept walking. She met him alone in the hall outside the living room.
He showed all his teeth when he smiled at her. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“Really?” Haven laughed. “That explains why you didn’t find me, because I was looking for you.”
He turned red all over. “You were? I thought you were avoiding me, especially after what your father said.”
Haven shrugged. “This conflict has everybody on edge. You have to admit it’s not the greatest thing that could happen to Bruins’ Peak.”
He frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re in the peace camp.”
“I’m not in any camp. I don’t see why we have to have camps at all. That’s all my dad is saying, and I agree with him.”
He humphed. “Let’s not talk about that then.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
His eyes sparkled. “I want to talk about you coming up to the greenhouses to visit. When do you think you want to come?”
“Don’t you have to get permission?”
He waved his hand. “Not really. You tell me when you want to come, and I’ll tell Aiken. That’s all I have to do.”
“Well, I have to get my father’s permission. After he just told you to keep away from me, he would accuse me of sneaking around if I didn’t.”
Foicks cracked a big grin. “I like the idea of you sneaking around to see me. It sounds so… I don’t know. It sounds like Romeo and Juliet or something.”
Haven’s eyes popped. “You did NOT just compare us to Romeo and Juliet.”
“Does that surprise you?”
“We don’t even know each other. I mean, we know each other. I’ve known you all my life, but we’re not exactly involved.”
He took a step closer. “We could change that.”
Haven’s heart pattered. She had to crane her head back to look up into his face. “You don’t really want that, do you?”
He murmured under his breath, “I can’t think of anyone I would rather get involved with. If you’re worried about what your dad said, though, maybe we shouldn’t. Maybe I’m too dangerous for you.”
Haven burst out laughing. Falling into him and kissing him would be so easy right now. He was right there in front of her, so big and broad and radiant. He consumed her senses so she couldn’t look away.
At that moment, two sounds interrupted the inevitable. The living room door opened, and Riskin, Briar, and Natalie appeared, along with Mattox Farrell and Lyric Mackenzie.
At the same time, the house door opened. A powerful, square-shouldered man stepped into the hall and looked around like he owned the place. Anyone could have mistaken him for Riskin, except he entered the hall from the opposite direction. He wore a plain gray suit and polished leather shoes. He wore his hair buzz-cut over his round skull, unlike Riskin’s tussled curly top thatch. It was Rhys Dodd.
He stopped still when he spotted Riskin coming out of the living room. The two regarded each other with cool detachment. Everyone in the vicinity froze stiff and stared to see what would happen. Riskin stepped forward first. He set his jaw in a hard line and strode up to his brother.
Rhys braced himself, but Riskin put his arms around his brother’s shoulders and clapped him on the back. “I didn’t think you’d come. Come inside. Mom wants to see you. I would have sent word before, but I didn’t know where you were.”
Rhys relaxed, and he let Riskin lead him into the house. “Thanks, man. I should have come a long time ago.”
Riskin shrugged. “Have you seen Dad?”
Rhys nodded. “I just came from there. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Riskin slung his arm around Rhys’s shoulders. “Don’t hold off anymore. This is your home. You’ll stay here from now on. I’ll take you to see Mom, and then I want to talk to you about something.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a little matter of leasing some of our land to the Mackenzies. You’re part of this, and I want your opinion.”
Riskin conducted Rhys down the hall toward the conservatory. They turned the corner and disappeared.
Haven caught her breath. “Did you see that?”
Foicks stared after the party. “He’ll make Rhys his second now. It’s the best thing that could happen.”
Haven flashed him a smile. “Now, if we could only get you to make up with Ash, we’d all be sitting pretty.”
A cloud crossed his face. “That will never happen.”
Haven’s heart sank. “Don’t say that.”
He shrugged. “Let’s not talk about that. What say you take a walk with me outside?”
Her eyes lit up. Then she cast a glance over her shoulder. “Maybe I shouldn’t.”
“Are you worried about your parent
s finding out?”
She cracked a grin. “I’m more worried about you. You think you’re dangerous, but you haven’t seen what I can do.”
He grabbed her hand. “Then I better find out. Come on.”
They slunk out of the house. Haven didn’t see any of her family around. Her heart stuck in her throat as she dodged around behind the house after Foicks. He stopped where the house wall turned to glass next to the conservatory.
He leaned against the house. “Well, here we are. Show me how dangerous you can be.”
She held back from getting too close to him. “You don’t want to see my claws, mister. I just didn’t want you to think you were the only dangerous one around here.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can be just as dangerous as you want to be. Maybe I should get you to fight the panthers.”
“I’m not fighting anybody. Get that into your head right now. If you want to travel across the country to get yourself killed, that’s your business. Don’t sign me up to do it, too.”
He gazed into the distance. “We should all be getting ready to fight them. That’s the only way to teach them to respect our territory.”
Haven snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Hey! I’m right over here.”
He smiled down at her. “Sorry. I was just thinking…”
“After you asked me to come out here with you, you better not have been thinking about anything but me.”
“Sorry. I’m a little distracted these days.”
She set her hand on her hip. “Maybe you’re too distracted to take a walk with me after all. Maybe you should concentrate on getting your head blown off.”
He moved closer to her, all his distraction gone. “I’ll never be too distracted to take a walk with you.”
She found herself moving closer to him, too. His giant shoulders and chiseled feathers cast a spell over her. She looked down at his mouth. His teeth and tongue shone between his teeth. What would it be like, just once…?
Their lips touched, just a soft butterfly touch. He exhaled, and his Bruin scent filled her nostrils and her brain. She could breathe that scent for the rest of her life and never get tired of it. She put out her hands and touched his hips. His hands rested on her shoulders, and his massive presence excited her deepest desires.
At that moment, Haven’s brother Easton barreled around the corner and collided with her. She jerked back with her head spinning. “What are you doing?”
“Daddy sent me to find you. He wants to leave. He says you have to come now.”
She let out a shaky breath. “All right. You go tell him I’m coming.”
Easton ran off, and Haven faced Foicks. “I guess I better go.”
“Yeah.” He raised his hand to touch her cheek, but he let it fall before it got there.
She took his hand and they strolled back around the corner. She let go when some people started coming out of the house. “I guess I’ll see you later…sometime.”
“I meant what I said about you visiting the greenhouses.”
She nodded. “I’ll ask my father. Then we can figure out when.”
He stood back. She got ready to walk away when he flashed a bright smile. “I can’t wait.”
She blushed all over. “Bye.”
He raised his hand to wave, and she turned away toward the house just as her parents and Sky came out with Easton. When she looked again, Foicks was nowhere in sight. Oh, well. At least he knew how to disappear at the right time.
The family went back to the Suburban, and Haven buckled in next to Sky, but she did not tumble in a turmoil of emotion on her way home. She couldn’t think of anything except that kiss behind Dodd Homestead.
Did he feel that thrill of excitement the way she did? Did that kiss mean as much to him as it did to her? Was he thinking about her right now and planning their next meeting together?
Chapter 3
Foicks trotted out of the trees behind Dunlap Homestead. He noticed Aiken and Harmony parking the Escalade in the shed. He skirted the house so they wouldn’t see him go into the bungalow he shared with his brothers.
He kicked off his boots by the door and stepped into the living room to find Ash and and their older brother Jana already there. Jana still wore his funeral suit, but Ash reclined on the couch in his T-shirt and blue jeans.
Though not as tall as Foicks and Jana, Ash’s blonde curly hair turned more heads on the Peak than any other eligible young man. He called out from the couch, “Don’t forget to wash the blood off your hands before you come inside.”
“Go jump off a cliff before I throw you off,” Foicks shot back.
“You’re too chicken-livered to lay a finger on me, chump,” Ash drawled. “Last I checked, you couldn’t lift an axe to chop your share of the kindling.”
“And the last I checked,” Foicks returned, “you cared more about keeping your make-up perfect to clean the cow manure out of your mouth. When are you going to get a haircut and be a man? Maybe you don’t want to be one. Maybe you’d like to be a girl and kiss Silas MacAllister’s ass instead of hanging your nuts on the right side.”
Jana groaned from the LazyBoy across the room. “Can’t we just spend the day in the same room for once without you two cutting each other to pieces all the time? Do you think I want to listen to this stuff?”
Foicks arm shot out. “Look at him. He’s a flower child. He couldn’t lift a finger to defend this mountain if he tried. He’s good for nothing, and everybody knows it.”
“You’ve got nothing to talk about,” Ash fired back. “You’re a cutthroat hound. Do you think I didn’t hear Josiah Farrell warn you off his daughter? No one on this Peak wants to have anything to do with you and your bloody war faction. You don’t know when to quit cutting off your nose to spite your face. Then again, cutting off your nose would be a big improvement. Just about anything would be.”
“For God’s sake,” Jana spat out. “Will you both shut up for once in your lives? I swear I can’t stand the sight of you anymore.”
Foicks jabbed his finger at Ash. “You see what you did? Now your own brother can’t stand the sight of you. You’re a pansy-assed hippy, and that’s all you’ll ever be.”
“You think I’m a hippy? I’ll show you how much of a hippy I am. Come on. I’ll put you in the ground right now.”
Foicks took a step toward him. “Let’s go. I’m ready when you are.”
Ash stood up. He barely got his feet under him before Foicks launched himself across the room. He put out his hands to grab his brother by the throat. Ash braced himself for the impact. At the last second, Jana jumped out of the LazyBoy just as the two brothers closed to fight.
Jana’s head came up between their arms, and his body blocked them from coming together. He planted one hand on each of their chests and pried them apart. Foicks fought with everything he had to get hold of Ash’s neck, but Jana overpowered them both.
He bellowed into Foicks’s face. “Back off before I thump you into the pavement.” He gave Ash a shove so hard he fell back on the couch. “Sit down, you. I swear to God, if I have to get in the middle of you two one more time, there will be hell to pay.”
Foicks bared his teeth to slash and maim when a firm knock sounded on the bungalow door. All three brothers froze in their tracks to listen. Jana moved first. He pointed in Foicks’s face and sidled out from between the combatants.
He opened the door to find Aiken on the porch. Aiken waved a white envelope in his hand, but no one could mistake that for a flag of truce. “I can hear you idiots all the way over at the house. You’re darn lucky you’re not living under my roof. I’d whoop the hide off all of you before I’d listen to that crap for two minutes. Here. This is for you.” He held out the envelope to Foicks.
Jana looked down at the floor. “Sorry, Sir. I’ve been doing my best to rein ‘em in.”
“I know you have. I can hear every word you say. If you boys can’t get it together, I’m gonna ask Boyd to get rid of you.”
J
ana’s head snapped up. “Get rid of us?”
“Not you, Jana. You’re all right. It’s these other two fools. No one can hear themselves think with them around. If anybody’s going, it’s you two. Remember I said that the next time you want to fight it out.”
Jana shut the door and puffed air into his cheeks. “That was a close one. Do you hear what he said? You two better straighten up, or Boyd will throw you out on your ears. I don’t blame him, either.”
Foicks didn’t listen. He frowned at the envelope in his hands.
His brothers stared at him until Ash spoke up. “Who’s it from?”
Foicks sat down on the opposite couch. “There’s no return address.”
He tore the envelope open and unfolded a white piece of paper. He read a scrawl of writing without looking up.
“Well?” Ash asked. “Aren’t you going to tell us who it’s from?”
Foicks didn’t look up from the letter. “It’s from Azer Mackenzie. He’s gone.”
“We all know he’s gone,” Jana replied. “He went to find his sister in Burkes Road.”
Foicks shook his head. “He’s really gone. He’s not coming back. He met a girl, and they ran off together.”
Ash shot out of his seat. “What!?”
“He fell in love with one of those panthers. He says they’re called the Midnight, and she was the bear-baiters’ chief accountant. They’re mated for life, and he convinced her to run away with him so neither of them would have to live in the other one’s world.”
Jana whistled through his teeth. “Unbelievable.”
“Listen to this. He says there’s a tribe of black bear shifters living near Midnight Moraine. That’s what he calls the panthers’ territory. He found a little black girl in the bear-baiting ring, and he set her free with the help of this panther mate of his—Raven, he calls her. He sent a message by this little girl to her people. Her name is Hazel, and these bears live on Renegade Ridge near Burkes Road. They’re called NightShade. He told her to tell her people about us, that we want to fight the panthers, too, and that we could form an alliance.”
Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume II) Page 50