“That’s nonsense, Austin. We’re Bruins. Since when did you give a stiff wind about the traditions of our people or going through the motions of anything? You’re a rogue,” Aurora huffed out her reply.
He gave her a playful kiss. “You’re so sweet. You really know how to make a guy feel like a real man. I may be a rogue, but the times they are a-changing. I never thought I’d be bringing home a mate, but now that I’ve found you, I want to do this thing right. I want to honor you in the eyes of our people, and that means walking the time-worn path.”
“Star and Brody never got permission from their Alphas.” She argued.
“Walker gave his consent. You must know that.” Austin responded quickly.
“What did your Dad say?” Aurora demanded more than asked.
“That was different. Our Dad told Brody point-blank he would be Alpha. I’m not going to be Alpha, not as long as Brody’s alive. I have to at least tell him what I plan to do. You wouldn’t want to live outside your tribe anyway. You wouldn’t want to thumb your nose at your Alpha.” Austin responded with assurance.
“I wouldn’t have to thumb my nose at him. He gave his permission for Star to marry Brody, so he can’t object to me marrying you,” Aurora stated with finality.
“So, there you go.” Austin stated in the same tone of voice.
“What about you?” She asked.
“What about me?” Austin asked confidently. “I have nothing to worry about. Brody won’t give me any trouble. How could he, when he’s married to a Cunningham himself?”
“That’s true. You gave him the most trouble of anybody.” She tried to hide her smile.
He jostled her shoulder. “Stop it.” He responded jokingly.
Aurora put her arms around him. “Can’t we just stay a little longer?” She quietly pleaded.
“We’ve already stayed almost a week. How much longer do you want to stay?” He asked quietly.
“Maybe just another ten years or so; I think that should be enough.” She responded in a very serious tone.
“And miss out on your Mama and your Pop seeing our kids and making a big fuss over us? You can’t be serious.” He responded while smiling and shaking his head.
Aurora got up from the chair by the fire. “Alright; I’ll go, but I’m not saying anything to anybody until Walker comes back.” Aurora’s tone indicated she was not changing her mind on that point.
“He must be back by now. He’s probably wondering where you are.” Austin mused.
“Maybe Brody or Aiken told him about us already.” Aurora said, thinking out loud.
“Maybe; maybe not: they could be worried sick about you,” he replied.
“Are you really saying we have to go back?” Aurora asked one more time.
“Yes, I’m really saying we have to go back. I can’t stay out here another day. I want to get Brody’s permission and start planning our wedding. I don’t want to sneak around anymore like we’re doing something wrong. I want the whole mountain to hear the news so I can show everyone what a prize I have.” Austin stated his desire with complete seriousness and pride.
She padded to the cave entrance and stepped into her boots. “Alright; let’s get this over with.” Aurora finally conceded.
He followed her out into the sunshine. The whole mountain resonated with raptors and ravens calling, birds singing and crickets chirping, welcoming them back from their private dream world. Aurora paused on the threshold. Nothing had changed in the days she spent in Austin’s den, but everything had changed inside her heart.
Her old crust of propriety, her old insistence on being ultra-human and keeping the bear under control – all of that fell away and crumbled into dust in that den. Day after day, she and Austin came out of their hiding place to wander and hunt in the woods as bears. They mated in the open in wild animal lust and ambled home to fall into bed in peaceful contentment.
Aurora couldn’t remember a time in her life when she had experienced so much happiness. No one in her family knew where she was or what she was doing, and she didn’t care. She was with her mate. They lived as man and wife in the den and as bears in the forest.
They ate their fill of fish, deer and rabbits that they caught in the woods. Twice, Austin made the trip into town for groceries that they cooked on the fire inside their cliffside house. Aurora kept the place clean and the bed aired after their nightly romps.
Austin filled her with such pleasant satisfaction; she could stay in that den forever. She never wanted to go “back” home. This was home; she was home. Cunningham Homestead held no appeal for her at all anymore. Her stomach turned when she thought of that place. Going back there meant going away from Austin. She no longer belonged there.
He was right about one thing, though. She had to talk to Walker. She might not have to get his permission. Neither he nor any other Alpha had the power to part a mated pair, but she had to talk to him. She had to tell him she had mated with Austin Farrell.
She already knew what he would say. He wouldn’t like it one bit. He would try to talk her out of it. He would remind her of what a fireplug Austin was, that he was dangerous and how he had tried, more than once, to kill the Cunninghams and ruin their family.
All that was true Aurora acknowledged the truth of all the statements. She couldn’t argue with any of it. All of it was true – in the past. However, the Austin of now embodied different characteristics. She had seen that for herself when she met him outside the Beater. He was even more different now, after a week with her in their cave den. He was steady and reliable and well in control of himself.
The decision he had made – to return to his family and insist she return to hers – proved how much he changed. The old Austin would’ve been the first Bruin to thumb his nose at his Alpha. He would have acted without regard to the consequences.
No more; he cared about her too much to follow that course. He wanted everything between them to meet the highest standard of Bruin romance. He wanted everyone to honor Aurora the way he did, and that meant following the rules and getting his family’s permission.
At least he had Brody to look forward to. A big question mark hung over Walker when Aurora thought about going home. What would she find? Would he try to lock her in her room the way Dax had?
She pushed Dax out of her mind and concentrated only on Walker when Austin’s hand appeared on her shoulder. She looked up into his face. His beard grew thick around his jaw and made him look older, more reserved and distinguished. His longer hair darkened his head. He looked more like his father now, and his eyes searched hers for some clue of what she was thinking. “Are you ready?” He asked somewhat hesitantly.
She took his other hand in hers. “Promise me we’ll come back here together when this is all over. Promise me this isn’t the end.”
He put his arms around her shoulders. “I wouldn’t leave if I thought there was any chance of losing you. We’re going now so we can come back forever. Once you talk to Walker and I talk to Brody, we’ll never be apart again. That’s the whole reason we’re doing this.”
Aurora nodded. “I know. I just needed to hear you say that.” She responded quietly.
He pulled her in and covered her mouth with his lips. He breathed into her and gave her new life. “You belong to me now. Nothing can change that. Whatever happens, we’ll always be together. When I see you again, we’ll go home together.”
“You promise?” Aurora looked into his eyes to find her truth.
“I swear it. I won’t live without you.” She saw her whole world in his eyes; heard all his love in his voice.
They lingered with their lips entangled in holy union. Aurora wanted to never let it end; but all too soon, he pulled away. She ached for his kiss, for his skin on hers; but every passing moment took him farther and farther away until even their hands parted.
He pointed behind her. “Go home,” Austin intoned in a mock commanding voice.
He walked backwards away from her. She clung to him with
her eyes, to the very last sight of him, until he spun around and ran off into the trees. She waited there, outside their den, for hours. The sun crossed the sky. The birds rustled in the brush and squirrels chattered, but none of them took any notice of her.
She couldn’t stay there without him. She couldn’t stay anywhere without him. She belonged nowhere without him; she could only get him back one way. She wandered away with her heart seemingly dragging behind her, down on the ground, writhing in agony.
The farther away she moved from the den, the faster she walked. She would do this and be done with the matter. With any luck, she could have a quick talk with Walker and be back at the den in a few hours. Brody already knew about Austin and Aurora. Austin would meet her there, and everything would go on as before.
She came to the lookout at the very pinnacle of Bruins’ Peak. She sat down on the bench where Star and Brody met each other. If only she could have Star with her when she broke the news, everything would go much better. Star wasn’t there, though. She was back at Farrell Homestead with her husband and her son, her trials long over.
Star and Brody’s cabin, their first home, lay tucked in amongst the trees down in the ravine. What a happy, carefree time they had in that cabin. Aurora admired them for breaking the mold then, but she never really understood until now the hardship they went through for their love.
At least Star broke the ground for Aurora. Aurora didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Pop might make a stink about Austin, but no one did more than Walker to end hostilities between the Farrells and the Cunninghams. He would see the marrying of Austin with Aurora as another step in breaking down the feud between the two families.
She got up and hurried down the other side of the mountain toward the Homestead. For the first time in her life, the sight of it didn’t fill her with a feeling of welcome or with happy relief the way it always did in the past. She had to force herself up the front steps and through the front door.
Dax sat on the couch with a cold bottle of beer balanced on the arm next to him, his stocking feet resting on the coffee table. He looked up from his phone to scowl at Aurora. “Where have you been?”
Aurora didn’t dignify that question with a response. “Where’s Walker?”
“In his office; he’s been in there for days, but you wouldn’t know that. You’ve been out too long. Where did you go? Did you go back to your human friend in town? Did she find you a human boyfriend yet?”
Aurora walked away down the hall without answering. At least Walker was alone. She could talk to him right away. She tiptoed down the hall past her parents’ bedroom. She didn’t want to see or explain herself to either of them at a time like this. Once she got the thumbs up from Walker, she could tell anyone she wanted about Austin, but not before.
If Pop found out another of his daughters would be marrying a Farrell, he would freak out. She needed Walker’s permission to shut him down in a hurry. She stopped at the closed door at the far end of the hall and tapped on it with her finger.
No one answered. She turned the knob and stepped inside. Walker Cunningham sat in his big leather swivel chair, but he didn’t face the desk that covered half the wall of his tiny bedroom. A filing cabinet stood in the corner. File folders and computer screens occluded every inch of desk space.
From his bedroom, in the back of his parents’ house, Walker controlled one of the wealthiest tribes on Bruins’ Peak. Not many people knew what he did or how he did it. His mind operated like a vast encyclopedia. Once a fact or figure entered his head, he never forgot it and could recall it in a split second. He thought and figured faster than any computer, and he constantly trained himself by performing complicated math problems in his head. He never used a calculator or spreadsheet to tabulate his business figures. He did it all in the blink of an eye.
He sat with his back to his desk and stared out the window at the trees waving in the breeze. Aurora came up behind him. “Walker?” She laid her hand on the back of his chair. She didn’t dare touch him.
He didn’t move at all.
“Walker? Can I talk to you for a second?” Aurora asked again, a little louder, her tone colored with concern.
He swung his chair around. “Sit down, Aurora. I’ve been waiting for you to get back.”
Aurora sat down in the chair by the door. “I’m glad you’re back, Walker,” Aurora replied, sitting with her back straight, looking him directly in his eyes. “I need to talk to you,” she stated firmly.
“You can talk to me anytime, Aurora. You know I’m always here for you,” Walker responded in a low, if somewhat detached, tone.
He acted like he wasn’t there. He floated a million miles away from her. He made sound with his voice, but it then seemed to just collide with the floor. Not a spark of life animated him. Was this her brother? Was this the man the Cunningham tribe relied on to carry them through any hardship?
Aurora couldn’t back out now. Lifeless or not, he was her oldest brother, her Alpha. “I have to tell you something, Walker. I’m getting married.”
His eyebrows went up. “Really: who are you marrying?”
Aurora took a deep breath and thought to herself, “Here goes.” She then uttered two words: “Austin Farrell.”
His Walker’s eyelids snapped. The spark of his old self flashed in his eyes, and Aurora’s heart leapt. Better to confront an angry Walker than a dead one. She would rather see him fired by hatred for the Farrells than heartless, brainless and lifeless. “Austin Farrell? What makes you want to marry him?”
“I know what you’re going to say. He’s wild, lawless and trigger-happy. Well, he used to be that way, but he isn’t anymore. He’s grown up and filled out. He’s Brody’s right-hand man now; any Alpha would be glad to have him. He helps run his family’s business and he’s… well, if you saw what I’ve seen, you would know he’s not the man everybody thought he was.”
“You know this is a bad idea, don’t you? Austin Farrell has a bad reputation on this mountain, and for good reason. He’s done some very dangerous things in his time. A lot of people on this mountain will never forgive him, no matter how much he’s changed.”
“I know all that; but he isn’t like that anymore.”
“A tiger doesn’t change its stripes, and neither does a Bruin. He might behave himself for a little while to get you to like him, but he’ll go back to his old ways. What will you do then?”
“That won’t happen, Walker. You don’t know him like I do. He’s steady and reliable, and he helped me out when no one else did. Because of him, the Bruins on this mountain are safer than they would have been if he hadn’t helped me.”
“What did he do?”
“He helped me raise the alarm when Bain Campbell laid those traps on the ridge, and he helped me stop Bain when no one knew where he was. It’s thanks to Austin Farrell we don’t have to worry about Bain anymore.”
“He may have done all that, but I’m not convinced. He could have done that to impress you.”
“There’s another side to him, a side no one else knows about, except me. He kept it hidden all these years, and he definitely didn’t create what he did to impress me.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I can’t tell you everything. I can just tell you he’s been like the Austin he is now all along. It’s just that the right combination of events were needed to bring it back out. He won’t go back to the bad way he was before. Brody helped change him back, and finding a mate finished the job. He’s not a weasel at all.”
“Another Farrell and a Cunningham mating could reignite the war between our tribes. Did you ever think of that?”
“Star is a Cunningham and Brody is a Farrell. The feud is all but ended since you and Brody took over. In a few more years, no one will remember there ever was a feud.”
“What about Dax? He won’t forget about the feud. I don’t know if the Farrells have any relatives who will keep the old animosity going, but I’m sure some of them won’t be so quick to forg
et.”
Aurora lowered her eyes. Mona’s pinched, sour face telling her to get out of her house hovered before Aurora’s eyes. Mona would never forget, and she would never give her consent to her son marrying a Cunningham.
Walker had a point, but Aurora couldn’t back down. She couldn’t let go of Austin, not after everything they went through together. “Another Cunningham marrying another Farrell will finish what Star and Brody started. The rest will come around in time when they see which way the wind is blowing.”
Walker shifted in his chair. His eyes drifted back to the window. What was he looking at out there? He watched some faraway tableau playing out before his eyes that no one else could see. Would he ever come back?
Aurora waited. “Walker?” She asked with concern and a frown.
“Hmm? I don’t know, Aurora. I’ll have to think about that,” Walker replied distractedly, his eyes looking clouded again, and again his sister felt he had left the room.
“We’re already mated, Walker. I didn’t come here to ask your permission. I don’t need that. I only came to tell you, as my Alpha,” Aurora stated clearly and firmly.
He didn’t answer.
“Walker?” She spoke louder, feeling fear and trepidation when she could not get a response.
She sat there waiting for a long time, but he never looked at her again. He lost all awareness of her presence. She got up, going to the door and casting a backward glance at her brother. He had always given her a solid foundation to stand on, but now he drifted free of his moorings.
She could tell herself from morning ‘til night that she didn’t need his permission to marry Austin. However, that was all smoke and mirrors. She had to admit to herself she couldn’t make a move without his agreement. He controlled the Cunningham tribe. If he didn’t give her the green light, she couldn’t flout his word unless she wanted to walk away from Bruins’ Peak forever.
Austin didn’t want that, and Aurora didn’t want that, either. She couldn’t walk away from her family, not even for Austin’s love. She had no choice but to wait until she got one slight nod from Walker to let her go ahead with her plans.
Bruins' Peak Bears Box Set (Volume I) Page 38