by Elena Aitken
“I’m ready now,” he interrupted. “How about I take off a little early?”
“No can do. Just hang tight, Ryker. I’ll get everything sorted and we’ll have you on a plane before you know it. Take a few days and relax,” he continued. “I’ll be in touch.”
He hung up and Ryker stared at the phone for a minute. He should have been thrilled by that phone call, for a number of reasons. Not only would it be one of the most thrilling shoots he’d ever done, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it could also make his career. And of course it had the added benefit of taking him as far away as possible from Nina.
It was perfect.
His eyes dropped to the camera in his hands. While Tyler had been talking, he’d clicked over to the review pane and the series of shots he’d taken of Nina only a few days before appeared on the screen.
His bear roared at the image of her on her stomach with her round ass presented to him. Her light hair fell over her smooth, sexy back, and there on the back of her neck was the mark.
His mark. The one that bonded her to him.
Two days. He just needed to survive two days before he could get on a flight and get away from Grizzly Ridge. And Nina.
He touched a finger to the screen and her image.
Two days before he could leave her safely behind so she could have the future she deserved.
One without him.
It was only two days, but Ryker had no idea how he’d be able to survive them.
Nina was confused and frustrated by the time she walked up to the front porch of Ella’s cabin. It was the cabin tucked the farthest away from the others, with the most privacy. She had no idea why Harper had insisted on meeting her out there, or why she couldn’t simply tell her whatever it was she had to tell her earlier. It was all starting to get a little annoying.
Before Nina could knock, a rustling in the trees next to the cabin caught her attention. She turned in time to see a magnificent grizzly bear. She jumped back reflexively, but the bear didn’t seem to be threatening in any way. It sat calmly next to a pine tree, watching her. Nina took a step back toward the front door of the cabin, never taking her eyes off the bear.
There was something familiar about it. But that was crazy. How could a bear be familiar?
There was a flash of movement next to the bear and a moment later, another one appeared. But this bear was different.
Smaller. It was a black bear.
Nina should have been scared. Two bears only feet from her? She should have been screaming and panicking.
But strangely, she wasn’t.
There was nothing threatening about the animals. Instinctively, she took a step toward them, keen to get a closer look as the door to the cabin opened and Ella and Kira stepped outside.
Nina glanced between the women and the bears before Ella and Kira joined her on the edge of the porch.
“I don’t…what…”
“There’s a lot we need to tell you,” Kira said softly. “Harper didn’t want to scare you.”
“Harper?” Nina flipped back quickly to the bears, who had come to the edge of the porch and watched them with a tilt of their heads, as if they understood them.
Did they?
Again, Nina looked quickly between the animals and the women.
What was going on?
“It’s kind of complicated.” Ella put her hand on Nina’s shoulder. “But Harper and Chloe…”
“Chloe?”
The black bear shared the same electric-blue eyes as Chloe.
There was no way.
Nina’s head started to spin with the connections she was beginning to put together.
Chloe and Harper…the bears…
“This doesn’t make any sense.” She shook her head but Ella’s hand on her shoulder squeezed and grounded her. “Harper and Chloe are…bears?”
The grizzly nodded once. Its eyes looked concerned.
Could a bear look concerned?
Before Nina could question it out loud, the two bears turned together and ran into the trees.
“Let’s go inside,” Kira suggested. “Chloe and Harper will be here in a minute.”
Stunned, Nina let herself be led inside. Kira sat her on the couch while Ella went to prepare a cup of tea. A moment later, the door opened and Chloe and Harper joined them in the cabin. Harper was doing up the top button of her blouse. As if she’d just—
“Harper? What’s going on?” Despite her confusion, Nina wasn’t panicking the way she probably should have been. As crazy as everything seemed to be, it also somehow seemed perfectly normal, which was the craziest thing of all.
“This is what I needed to tell you.” Her best friend sat next to her on the couch and took her hand. “And I don’t want you to freak out, okay. Because I know it seems completely insane, but it’s really not. It’s just the way it is up here.”
“You and Chloe?” Nina asked. “You’re bears?” It sounded even more insane to say the words aloud, and a laugh escaped her lips as she asked. But when Harper nodded, confirming her suspicions, the laughter died.
“And Kira and Ella, too,” Chloe said from across the room.
Nina’s eyes shot to Ella, who nodded as she handed Nina the tea. “It’s true, but because we’re both pregnant we try not to shift very often. It’s not good for the—”
“Shift?” she interrupted. “Is that what you call it? You shift?”
All the women nodded.
“And you can all do it?”
They nodded again, but Harper added, “I didn’t know until after I came to the ridge that I was part shifter. It wasn’t until after I mated with Axel that I—”
“Mated?” That word again. Always that word. Is that because— “And the men? Are they—”
“All grizzlies,” Kira said. “The Jacksons are grizzlies. Chloe is a black bear and Ella is a bespectacled bear. But we’re all shifters.”
“Shifters.” Nina tried the word on her lips. After a moment, she nodded. “Okay, so Ryker? He’s a shifter, too?”
Harper nodded and glanced to Chloe. “That’s what we wanted to talk to you about. He’s part of the Jackson grizzly clan and we think we know why he left.”
All at once, all of her senses were on full alert. Anything that could tell her why Ryker might have left her when they had such a deep connection was something worth hearing. Anything that could give her a hint as to where he might have gone. “Why?” She put the tea on the table in front of her, unable to drink anything. She needed answers first.
“Remember the other night when you tried on your dress and we all kind of freaked out?”
Nina’s hand wrapped around to the back of her neck and the spot that was still bruised and vaguely ached. “I remember. But what does that have to…” Could it mean what she thought it might? “Ryker did this,” she said slowly. “He…I didn’t even notice…is it—”
Harper nodded to her unasked question. “He took you as a mate.”
“A mate?”
“His mate.” Kira spoke up. She crossed her arms over her ballooning belly and shook her head. “He shouldn’t have done it.”
“Which is why we think he left,” Ella said.
“There’s a code,” Chloe explained. “And Ryker broke it.”
“A code?” Nina’s head started to spin. “I don’t understand.”
“Because you’re not a shifter, you should never have been told about our existence at all.” Harper took over the conversation. “It’s part of the shifter code to keep it from humans. It’s a safety issue,” she continued. “Both for them and us.”
“But you’re telling me.”
Her best friend squeezed her hand. “That’s because you’re mated and that’s going to be a very difficult bond to break between the two of you.”
“No.” Ella shook her head with a smile. “It’s impossible. You’re forever joined.”
“Which is why we know Ryker will be back. He’ll never be able to stay away from you now. I
t’s in his blood. And if the way he was behaving from the moment he met you is any indication, the two of you are a whole lot more than just mates.” Harper’s smile was wide and knowing. “You’re fated.”
“Fated?”
All the women smiled and nodded as if they knew a secret she didn’t.
But she didn’t want to hear any more secrets. Nina shook her head and stood. She paced to the window and looked out into the woods, as if Ryker would be standing there just as Harper and Chloe had earlier. But she knew in her heart he wouldn’t be.
“I don’t understand any of this,” she said after a moment. A sob of frustration threatened to break free, but she swallowed it down. “If we’re fated the way you say we are…and he mated me—without my permission,” she added sharply, “then where the hell is he? Why did he just leave?” She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. None of it. With Ryker, I feel…no, I felt…whole. Like I’ve never felt before. We just fit. And we were happy.” She remembered what Shelly had told her. Had it been the same with her? With Harper’s dad? She spun to look at her best friend.
“Your mom. Did she…was she…” Nina had no idea how to ask the question on her lips, but Harper only nodded.
“I think she knew,” Harper said. “She never said. We have a lot to talk about. Later.”
“But he left her, too.” Nina shook her head. “I don’t understand how he could have done that.” She was talking about Ryker again and memories of all the moments they’d spent together flashed through her head. “It was right. And then he was just…gone. I don’t understand. If he truly is connected to me, how could he just leave?” Tears streaked down her face as she searched the faces of the women for answers.
“I think I can answer that.”
They all turned to the open door and Natalia who stood there. “I know why he left.”
Chapter Eighteen
There was still one more day before Ryker had to be in Bozeman to get on a plane for Switzerland and the job that would make his career but, more importantly, would take him away from his greatest temptation. And it was a temptation.
He should have insisted to Tyler that he needed to leave right away. Because the last twenty-four hours had been an exercise in restraint. An exercise he was failing.
For the second time that day, Ryker had found himself on the ridge. All he needed was just one more run. One more and he’d burn off the energy that threatened to consume him.
At least that’s what he kept telling himself in the hope that one of these times he’d actually believe it.
He left his clothes in a pile on a log and took three giant strides before letting his bear take over. His muscles stretched and burned as he shifted in the air. When his feet hit the ground, he took off running as fast as he could, pressing and pushing his body.
In his grizzly form, Ryker was massive. An alpha, he was one of the biggest bears in the clan. He crashed through the trees, breaking branches as he went, uncaring of the destruction he left behind.
He ran until he stopped thinking. His mind cleared of everything but putting one foot in front of the other.
Not the job he was about to take.
Not his grandfather.
Not Nina.
Nina.
It was all Nina. Always Nina.
In his bear form, Ryker’s senses were clearer than they’d been in weeks. Since before he laid eyes on Nina and his instincts kicked into overdrive. Things had gotten better since they’d mated.
No, since he’d mated her.
The guilt still ate at him. More every day.
But he couldn’t think about that now. He couldn’t let that guilt in. Not now.
Ryker pushed himself. The ridge was to his left, the blue sky going on for what seemed like forever, but Ryker only barely noticed the view because as much as he tried to keep them out, thoughts of Nina filled his brain, clouding any other thoughts, blurring his instincts.
As much as mating had cleared things up, the mess he’d made of everything just made it worse again. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t process. Couldn’t—
Dammit.
He cursed and roared as he tripped over a log. His massive bear form summersaulted and crashed into a tree. He landed with a grunt and immediately shifted back into his human form.
“That was impressive.”
The voice startled him, and he flipped over to his knees as he scanned the bushes around him.
Ryker didn’t have to look hard to see his cousin Luke leaning against a tree, his arms crossed and a grin on his face.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a bear your size trip. A little clumsy, are you?”
“Fuck off.” Ryker turned and leaned against the tree. He rubbed his head and the dull ache that had already begun. “How long have you been standing there anyway?”
“Long enough to see you running hard enough to crash and burn.”
Ryker grumbled. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to anyone.
Luke stepped away from the tree and tossed Ryker an armful of clothes. His clothes. “I brought you these. Saw them back there and thought you might need them.” Ryker looked up in question. “No one runs that hard for long,” Luke explained. “It was only a matter of time. You’re lucky you didn’t go straight off the ridge.”
“That would have been better.” Ryker tugged his T-shirt over his head before pulling his jeans up and slipping into his boots.
“Would it?”
“Yes.” He rose from the ground to stand in front of Luke. “And don’t think I’m not tempted to try it again. Maybe this time I’ll get lucky.” He kicked a rock and turned to stalk off. Only twenty-four hours left before he could get the hell out of there.
“Running away again?”
Ryker froze. He knew Luke was egging him on, but he couldn’t resist. He was itching for a fight and if Luke wanted to oblige, who was he to turn it down? He spun, his hand curled into a fist. “Does it look like I’m running, asshole?”
“Sure does.” Luke straightened his shoulders and stared directly into his eyes. He was a Jackson. He wasn’t about to back down.
Perfect.
“There’s more than one way to run, Ryker. You’ve already demonstrated how graceful your bear is.” He chuckled and Ryker’s rage grew. “And the other day during Axel’s wedding, you did a great impression of a little boy running home from the playground because things didn’t go his way. What’s it going to be today? Things getting a little too hot for you in the kitchen, Ryker? Can’t handle the heat?”
Ryker roared and swung his arm, but his cousin was too fast. Luke ducked his punch and lunged for his waist, knocking him to the ground. Ryker was bigger than him, but Luke had the advantage of being clear-headed. His instincts were sharp, while Ryker’s were muddled. The red-hot rage flowing through him only clouded them more, and Luke overtook him easily. He straddled Ryker, his arms pinned beneath each of his knees, and smiled down at him.
“Feel better?”
“No.” Ryker grunted and pushed up so Luke tumbled to the side. He was up on his feet quickly and swung a punch that connected with Ryker’s jaw. The pain crashed through him, and only fueled him to lash out. Finally one of Ryker’s punches connected and Luke stumbled backward as he brought his hand to his lip.
When he pulled it back, he laughed. “How about now?” he asked. “Feel better now?”
He did. A little.
“Not yet.” Ryker lunged forward again. Another punch connected and he felt the bones in his hand crunch with the impact. “Fuck.”
Ryker pulled back, his hand cradled in his good one. No doubt he’d broken Luke’s nose as well, but to his intense annoyance, his cousin laughed again.
It was really starting to get annoying.
Ignoring his pain, Ryker landed another shot and then another.
It was after dinner time when Nina finally left Ella’s cabin. She’d heard enough from the women. Seen enough.
And still, nothing m
ade sense. At least not in a real way. Ryker was still gone.
She picked her way down the trail back toward the Den and the refuge of her room. She needed to be alone to process everything on her own.
“I’m sorry.” Natalia jogged up next to her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t.” Nina shook her head. It wasn’t Natalia who had hurt her. It was her brother. She’d just spent the last twenty minutes telling her how much Ryker obviously cared about her—how much he loved her, in fact—but how he couldn’t allow himself to hurt her and a bunch of other bullshit that had only frustrated her. If everything the women had said was true and they were bonded in a way that couldn’t be broken, then how could he have left?
“I’m sorry Ryker hurt you.”
Nina stopped in her tracks and looked at the other woman. “Are you? Because it seems to me like you encouraged him to leave.”
Natalia took a step backward and shook her head. “No. It was Liam.”
“Liam?” Nina nodded. “Right. Your brother.”
“Yes, I told you, he—”
Nina held up a hand to stop her. She couldn’t hear any more. She couldn’t stand to hear about how Liam had shown up and convinced Ryker that what he had with Nina was wrong. She couldn’t hear how Natalia sat back without doing anything to stop it, actually encouraged it. And she really couldn’t stand to hear about how little she actually meant to Ryker for him to be able to leave her so easily without even trying to talk to her about it.
“Nina,” Natalia tried again. “I don’t think you understand. I mean, it’s not as simple as you think.”
That was it.
“Enough.” She forced the word out through clenched teeth. “I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about shifters or clans or your code or whatever else it is that you’re going to throw out as an excuse as to why Ryker left me without a word. And you know what,” she continued. “I don’t care.” Her voice shook, but she kept going, the emotion needing a release. “You know what else I don’t care about? I don’t care about any of the reasons that you or anyone else can give me about why he left without saying good-bye. Unless it comes from him, I don’t care. Because as far as I’m concerned, he wasn’t trying to protect me by leaving me the way he did. And if he cared about me at all, he’d know that. If we’re really fated or connected or even just regular in love, then he’d know how much he hurt me. And I may not be an expert on love…” Nina took a breath and forced herself to keep the tears at bay until she was done saying what needed to be said. “But I do know that when you truly love someone, you don’t leave them.”