Bobby Ray [Grizzly Ridge 2] (The Lynn Hagen ManLove Collection)

by Lynn Hagen

  “And just like I told Jesse when my father was dropping bodies, this is clan business. We’ll handle the wayward human. Step on my land again without being invited, and you’ll learn why the Rising men have such a fierce reputation,” Clint snarled.

  “Don’t push me,” Lazarus warned. “You’re running short on allies, Clint. We all want peace in these mountains, but I have no problem going to war with you. From what I hear, you’re on Jesse’s shit list. You don’t need all the shifters of the mountains gunning for your clan.”

  As much as it irked Bobby Ray to admit, Lazarus was right. Feuding with one pack of wolves was bad enough. If the leopards and lions got involved, shit would get bloody.

  It felt like déjà vu of the conversation they’d had last year with Jesse. Bobby Ray wondered if war was inevitable, and prayed that wasn’t the case. He had a cub coming and a mate to protect. Noel just might try to run again if he found out how strained relationships were between the residents of the mountains.

  “Get off my land,” Clint snapped. “Like I said, we’ll deal with the problem.”

  Two aggressive males always made for a disaster. If Lazarus didn’t leave soon, Clint and the leopard just might come to blows. As much as Bobby Ray disliked the cats, he knew that would be a huge mistake.

  “Head my warning.” Lazarus shifted and took off. Bobby Ray watched until the cat was no longer in sight.

  “Damn it!” Clint rubbed a hand down his face. He turned to Walker. “I want Bart found and brought to me. I don’t care if you have to comb every inch of the mountains to find him. I’m gonna slowly torture that fucker for shooting Bobby Ray and for bringing Lazarus here.”

  The mountains consisted of over five hundred thousand acres. That was an impossible mission, but Bobby Ray didn’t point that fact out. Clint was already pissed enough.

  Bobby Ray spun when he heard a gasp. Just inside the tree line was Noel.

  * * * *

  It had not only taken an hour to calm Noel down, but the combined efforts of Bobby Ray and Dane. His mate had become hysterical to the point that Dane had threatened to slap him. Bobby Ray had raised one of his brows, wondering if it would come to that.

  Thank fuck it hadn’t.

  Noel fanned his face, tears still prickling his eyes. “I can’t believe Bart completely lost his damn mind. I understand why he shot at you, but why the leopard?”

  “What?” Bobby Ray wasn’t sure if he should be pissed or not.

  “I mean, I understand why because we’re together. I didn’t say it was okay or that his decision was even sane. But there was a reason behind him shooting you,” Noel quickly amended. “But why the leopard?”

  “You’re asking me why insane men do the things they do.” Bobby Ray snorted. “If I had an answer for that, I wouldn’t have been shocked when my father killed those innocent humans.”

  “Hello?” Dane waved his hands. “He’s nuttier than a box of rocks. There’s no explanation needed. In his twisted mind, he…I have no idea what he was thinking.”

  Bobby Ray scented the guilt eating away at Noel. Nothing anyone said seemed to convince him this wasn’t his fault. In truth, he understood where Noel was coming from. Bobby Ray had felt guilty as fuck when his father had lost his ever-loving mind and had started killing people.

  “I just don’t know.” Noel dropped to the sofa. “One the one hand, I agree with Clint. Bart needs to be stopped. But killing him? Does his punishment have to be so harsh?”

  “He shot me,” Bobby Ray gave the needless reminder. “If I didn’t have the ability to shift and heal, I might’ve died.”

  Noel paled. “I know.”

  “Then this discussion is over.” Bobby Ray walked out of the room. It fucked with his head that Noel was so adamant about keeping Bart alive. Bobby Ray wanted blood. He wanted to rip Bart’s spine out. There were a lot of differences between humans and shifters, one of those differences being the law. Humans had courts, jails, and bureaucratic bullshit. In the mountains, justice was swift and there were no trials, red tape, or someone guilty going free.

  Bart had brought death down on his own head by trying to kill Bobby Ray—by shooting at Riley. The son of a bitch would die, and hopefully peace would be restored between the bears and leopards.

  “I’m sorry,” Noel said as he hurried behind Bobby Ray. “But it’s not easy for me to agree to kill someone, and I’m glad it’s not. It should be a struggle. The decision should keep me up at night and make me examine who I am.”

  “You think it’s easy for me to kill?” Bobby Ray turned to face his mate. “I don’t have a black heart, Noel. Each time I take a life, I feel as if a part of me has died. I hated my father to his core, and it’s batshit crazy, but in my own way, I mourned his death. He might’ve been evil incarnate, but he was still my old man.”

  Bobby Ray still didn’t understand his conflicted feelings about Clarence. His father had abused the shit out of him, yet, he’d still felt the pain when Clarence died.

  “I wasn’t the one who took my old man’s life, but I have killed,” Bobby Ray clarified. “Does that make me a monster?”

  “Did you do it because you had to, or because you wanted to?”

  “Had to.” Bobby Ray wasn’t going into any details. He already felt as if he’d tarnished himself in Noel’s eyes.

  “Then you’re not a monster.”

  Bobby Ray pulled Noel into his arms, needing the connection, the comfort. He sighed as he rested his cheek on Noel’s head. “I’m sorry you have to go through this, but there isn’t any way to save Bart.”

  Noel slid his arms around Bobby Ray and tightly hugged him. They stood in the hallway, silent, holding one another until Dane cleared his throat.

  “I’m heading home,” Dane said. “Or do you still need me?”

  “I think my meltdown has passed,” Noel said.

  “For the record,” Dane said. “You’re right. Taking a life shouldn’t be an easy decision.” He grinned. “Sorry, I was eavesdropping.”

  “You’re not walking home by yourself.” Clint would wrap Bobby Ray’s intestines around his throat if anything happened to the human.

  “Duane is waiting for me outside,” Dane said. “See you guys later.”

  Bobby Ray took Noel to the backyard. A barbecue was in order. Whenever he and his brothers got together over a grill, life’s worries seemed to melt away.

  * * * *

  “Whoop! Whoop!” Bobby Ray held up a bottle of beer and a pulled pork sandwich. “Got the brew and the Q. Tell me how life can get any better than this?”

  “Sex,” Wade said. “You should try it sometime. You just might like it.”

  Bobby Ray burst out laughing, pointing at Noel with the hand holding the beer. “Right there says I enjoy it immensely.”

  “No you didn’t just put me on blast!” Noel turned seven shades of red. “I swear, Bobby Ray, I’m gonna kill you.”

  Noel screamed when Bobby Ray leaned in and spilled his drink on his legs. He jumped up and jabbed a finger at his mate. “Sit down somewhere before I toss you in the lake.”

  The Rising men chuckled as Dane chased King around the yard. The two laughed, seeming to have a good time. That made Noel wonder what his child would look like, him or Bobby Ray? He forgot about the spilled beer as he placed a hand over his stomach and watched the two.

  “Sorry, darlin’.” Bobby Ray curled his arms around Noel, pressing his chest into Noel’s back. “Kinda gets to you, doesn’t it? The miracle of life, watching father and son interact. The sound of a child’s laughter makes me smile.” He ran his hand over Noel’s stomach. “I can’t wait for our cub to be born.”

  “Your meats burning, Bobby Ray.”

  “Shit.” Bobby Ray hurried toward the grill as Noel smiled. He couldn’t believe how much he loved the goofy man, and he agreed with his mate. Noel couldn’t wait for their baby to be born.

  He headed toward the house, needing to use the bathroom and to get a cold bottle of water.
Although the backyard had plenty of shade, it was still hot for a spring day. It had to be at least eighty degrees out.

  Noel sighed in relief as he entered the central air, and headed straight to the bathroom. After taking care of his business, he entered the hallway and stopped. Something wasn’t right. Noel couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but…he wandered toward the living room, glancing around.

  When Noel spun to go back outside, he ran into a hard wall. He screamed, tumbling backward. But Wade caught him before he hit the ground.

  “What the hell did you scream for?” Wade asked as he steadied Noel.

  “Because you scared the shit out of me.” Noel jerked his hand away. “Next time make some noise instead of creeping up on someone.”

  Bobby Ray ran into the living room, his canines showing as his eyes bounced everywhere.

  “There’s not threat,” Noel said. “You’re brother just likes giving people heart attacks.”

  “I didn’t know you were so jumpy,” Wade defended. “I’ll start wearing a bell around my damn neck.”

  “Quiet.” Bobby Ray scented the air, which made Wade sniff, too. Noel, for some reason, did the same. It wasn’t as if he had preternatural senses, but he didn’t like feeling like the odd man out.

  The only thing he smelled was the meat cooking on the grill, and the spilled beer on his pants. “What are we sniffing for?” Noel whispered.

  “Go get Clint,” Bobby Ray growled to Wade. He turned to Noel. “Don’t leave this house.”

  “Not leaving the house.” Noel wasn’t sure what was going on, but the feral look on Bobby Ray’s face said he wasn’t moving from his spot.

  Clint came inside with Wade hot on his heels, as well as Walker and Duane. “What is it, Bobby Ray?” Clint asked.

  Bobby Ray headed toward the front door. “We got visitors.”

  How the hell did Bobby Ray smell someone outside when the front door wasn’t even open? When the men filed outside, Noel hurried to the window. He peeked past the curtain to see three men standing in the front yard, looking around as if searching for someone.

  “What the fuck are you doing on my land?” Clint bellowed.

  “Tracked the nomad here,” one of the stranger’s said. “He killed a hiker.”

  Noel’s blood ran cold. They couldn’t be talking about Bart. He wasn’t the nomad, but the image of that wolf attacking Noel made him want to pee his pants.

  “We tried to call you,” one of the other strangers said, “but you didn’t answer and we didn’t have time to wait.”

  Clint barked out orders for his brothers to track down the nomad. Noel looked over his shoulder as Dane and King entered the living room. “What’s going on?”

  “I guess the nomad came back.” Noel looked back out the window just as Bobby Ray shifted into a bear and took off into the woods. He was pretty sure his mate had fighting skills, but that didn’t stop him from worrying.

  “I tell you,” Dane said as he joined Noel at the window. “I’ve been here a year, and I’m still not used to the dangers here.”

  “No different than the dangers in the human world.” Noel had always kept up with current affairs, and humans were just as evil as some of the things that roamed the mountains.

  And one of those evil things was his brother. When Noel had been in college, some psychopath had been drugging and raping women who lived on campus. They guy had finally been caught, but, even though Noel was male, it had taken him a while to feel safe roaming the campus at night.

  “True,” Dane said. “Two weeks before I came here, I’d heard about a home invasion in town. The owner had been shot and killed. We might live with dangerous shifters, but in truth, I think we’re safer here than out in the world.”

  “That’s because humans are savages.”

  Noel jumped and turned to see Trigger behind them. “Not all humans,” Noel defended. “And some shifters are just as savage.”

  “We’ll leave that debate alone,” Trigger said. He scooped King from the floor and set the cub on his shoulder. “Meanwhile, you two entertain yourselves inside. I’m gonna keep an eye on things around the house, make sure that nomad isn’t close-by while the others hunt for him.”

  “Who were those men outside?” Noel asked.

  “Some wolves from Jesse’s pack,” Trigger said with a good amount of disgust in his voice. “Avery, Declan, and Bruno. They know better than to step foot in our territory without permission.”

  “But I thought Clint and Jesse were at odds,” Noel said. He wondered if they were the same men who had approached him in the woods.

  “When it comes to a common enemy, all arguments are put on hold.” Trigger tickled King’s belly before setting him back down. King grabbed Trigger’s pant leg and gave a tiny growl, whipping his head back and forth as he gnawed at the denim.

  King let the pant leg go and cocked his head to the side, listened, then scurried toward the hallway. Trigger went rigid. He grabbed King and handed him over to Dane. Noel had no idea what was going on, until he heard something clatter in another room.

  “Stay here,” Trigger growled before taking off down the hallway.

  Chapter Ten

  “He’s been gone an awful long time,” Noel said to Dane. “This cabin isn’t that big. He should’ve come back by now.”

  “If I didn’t have King with me, I’d go check.” Dane nibbled on his lip as he stared at the hallway.

  “I’ll go check.” Noel wasn’t a brave man. Not brave enough to find out what had made that noise or to go investigate why Trigger was still gone. He needed to keep his ass right there in the living room, but concern prompted him forward.

  “Trigger?” Noel crept down the hallway. He didn’t like this one bit. He felt as if he was in some horror movie and heading to his doom. With his heart lodged in his throat, Noel eased the bathroom door open. He was terrified to peek inside, but forced himself not to turn around and haul ass back to the living room.

  The bathroom was empty.

  Noel pressed a hand against his wildly beating heart. His knees felt weak, his head started to pound. His anxiety shot through the roof as he moved to the next door.

  The spare bedroom was to his left. Swallowing around his fear, Noel closed his eyes and pushed the door open.

  Open your eyes, idiot. How can you see if you have them closed?

  With a deep breath for courage, Noel opened them.

  The room was empty.

  This was like playing a jump-scare version of hide-and-seek. Noel never did like the game. When he was younger, he used to play with Bart, but his brother would lock him in the closest Noel was hiding in, or punch Noel when he found him. If Noel cried, Bart would call him names.

  Damn, his childhood had been really fucked up with a brother like Bart. Running to their parents to tell only made the beatings worse, so he’d stopped ratting his brother out.

  He should’ve seen the signs back then that Bart was a sadistic man who derived pleasure from making Noel’s life a living hell. Noel hadn’t wanted to see it. He’d told himself that Bart was being a typical older brother.

  There was nothing typical about the way Bart treated him. Noel saw that now. He’d thought Bart was getting worse over the past few years, but in truth, he’d been that cruel all along.

  Noel shoved those thoughts down as he turned to his and Bobby Ray’s bedroom. The door was slightly ajar. Noel blew out a series of quiet breaths before pressing his hand against the wood and easing the door open.

  “Trigger!” Noel rushed forward, dropping to his knees next to the prone man. Trigger was out cold. He lay on the floor, his head nearly under the bed. Noel shook him. “Trigger, wake up.”

  “He won’t be waking up anytime soon.”

  Noel spun, falling on his ass as he stared up at Bart.

  * * * *

  It was hard to track the nomad when all Bobby Ray smelled were Jesse’s wolves. He also didn’t like the fact that he’d left Noel at home with Trigger w
hile he hunted the nomad down.

  Bobby Ray shifted into his human form when he spotted Duane. “This is some real bullshit.”

  Duane shifted. “All I smell is mutt. We’ll never catch that nomad while the wolves are around.”

  Every instinct Bobby Ray possessed told him to get back home to Noel. There were plenty of men already on the hunt. They didn’t need him. If Clint hadn’t ordered him to find the nomad, Bobby Ray wouldn’t have left in the first place.

  Duane moved closer. He pressed his finger to his lips and nodded to his left. Bobby Ray directed his attention to where Duane was looking. Well, damn. They’d been searching for an hour, and the son of a bitch was ten feet away.

  Anger swirled inside of him. The bastard had attacked Noel. Bobby Ray wanted to knock the guy’s head clean off just for that alone. He wasn’t sure why the stranger had been deemed a nomad, and he really didn’t care.

  The nomad turned. Their gazes locked. The stranger snarled before he took off. Bobby Ray and Duane gave chase. Just when Bobby Ray thought the guy would get away, Clint came out of nowhere and tackled him.

  “Don’t move a fucking muscle,” Clint barked. “I’ll tear your heart out if you try anything.”

  Bobby Ray panted as he leaned against a tree. Chasing down a wolf wasn’t easy. They were fast and agile, and he wanted to kick the nomad in the head for making him so winded.

  “I’ll kill your entire family!” The nomad struggled as Clint crushed his knee into the guy’s back. “I’ll slaughter your cubs, bathe in your mates entrails, and eat your bear hearts.”

  This guy was off his fucking rocker. Bobby Ray glanced at Duane. The threat made him see red. Bobby Ray snarled as he cocked his leg back and kicked the bastard in his ribs.

  The wolf howled in pain. Clint locked the nomad’s arms behind his back. “You fucked with the wrong clan.”