His smile faded. “You’re right. We should keep clean. That’s why I suggested the hotel room.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. Just imagine how the tongues would wag when anybody found out a Bruin rented a hotel room for the afternoon for a quickie.”
Walker snorted. “Right again, Clouseau. When did you get so smart?”
She eyed him. “This getting a hotel room business is kinda out of character for you, isn’t it? I never pegged you for that kind of guy.”
He shrugged. “I’m not, but then again, getting together with the woman of my dreams is kind of out of character for me, too. Well, if we’re not going to get a room, let’s get out of here.” He took her hand again and led the way to the supermarket, where he found his truck still parked in the parking lot.
They got halfway across the parking lot when a bulky man came out of the supermarket. Marla sensed Bruin, and when she looked that way, she saw her brother, Aiken, coming toward her. He slowed his pace when he spotted Marla and Walker crossing the parking lot hand and hand.
He looked Marla up and down. Blood still stained her T-shirt, and pinprick dots of blood spotted her arms and pants. “Are you all right?”
She squeezed Walker's hand. “I'm just fine. How are all the folks at home?”
“They're fine. They're just worried about you. That's all.”
She moved closer to Walker. “Well, you can tell them I'm all right.”
Aiken hesitated to walk away. “Are you coming home?”
She glanced at Walker. “I guess I have to.”
“Marla will not be going home,” Walker declared. “I'd appreciate it if you would tell your parents. She's coming home with me.”
Aiken's eyes popped open. “She is?”
Marla rounded on him. “I am? When did you decide that?”
“Just now. You don't have to go home and face a big to-do about the prodigal returning. You're coming home with me—to stay.”
Marla's face burst open in a brilliant smile. On impulse, she lifted Walker's hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles.
Aiken stared at them. “Well, I guess I'll have to tell 'em. I'm glad to see you safe, Marla, and I can see you're happier than you've been in a long time.”
She beamed from ear to ear. “I am. I'm going where I belong.”
“Good.” Aiken turned to Walker. “By the way, Cunningham, I thought you'd like to know your sister, Aurora, is mated to Austin Farrell.”
“Yeah, I know,” he muttered. “I have to talk to her about that.”
“You'll find her up on the Peak,” Aiken went on. “They just moved up to Star and Brody's old house in the no-man's land between Farrell territory and Cunningham territory.”
Walker frowned. “Is that so?”
“Didn't you know?” Aiken frowned. “Maybe you're not supposed to know. Maybe I shouldn't have told you.”
Walker relaxed. “It's all right, man. I don't mind them living up there. I just have to go see Aurora to tell her it's all right. I made a mistake not telling her before, and I have to put it right.”
“I don't want to put a damper on your homecoming,” Aiken added, “but your brother, Dax, has been making trouble for the Farrells again.”
“I know that, too, but thanks for the warning.” Walker growled under his breath. “I'm sure I've got a fight waiting for me when I get home.”
Aiken nodded. “All right. Will I see you around, Marla?”
“I'm sure you'll see plenty of me. Hopefully, you won't have occasion to curse my name the way you have been these last few years.”
“I never cursed your name, little sister.” He shifted to the other foot. “At least, not very often.”
“It's okay, Aiken,” Marla exclaimed. “I know I made your lives a living hell these last few years. I can only apologize by saying I made my own life much worse than I made yours. I'm sorry I was rude to Harmony, and maybe when Ma finds out I'm getting married, she'll forgive me.”
Aiken smiled on her. “You don't have to apologize that way, darling. You can apologize by being happy. That's all any of us ever wanted for you, but I can see you've got that now. You run along home to Cunningham Homestead, and I'll spread the word. Dad will probably want to come and have a talk with you, Walker.”
Walker held out his hand. “I'm sure he will. You tell him he's welcome whenever he pleases.”
Aiken shook his hand and set off to the other side of town. Walker unlocked his truck, and he held the door open for Marla while she got in. He closed it for her after she settled into the seat. He got into the driver's seat and turned the ignition.
The truck rumbled out of town, up the road and into the mountains. Bruins' Peak stuck up over the trees. Marla was never so happy to go back there. The mountain welcomed her home into its loving embrace. She didn't have to go back to Dunlap Homestead. She was going somewhere beyond her wildest dreams, somewhere everyone accepted her and where she could shelter in the arms of the man she loved most in the world.
Her happiness evaporated when he pulled up in front of Cunningham Homestead. A dozen cars cluttered the yard and driveway. Dax moved from one vehicle to the next and spoke to the people inside. He carried his shotgun over his shoulder and wore a pair of pistols holstered on his hips for all the world to see. “What's going on?”
Walker kicked the brake pedal and skidded to a halt. He threw the gear shift up into Park and swung his door open. “You stay here. I'll sort this out right now.”
He stepped out of the truck and headed straight for Dax. Dax froze when he saw Walker coming. Someone spoke to him from a nearby car window, and he bit back a muttered answer before coming to meet Walker.
Walker waved to the cars blocking the driveway. “What's going on here, son?”
Dax fidgeted with his gun. “How ya doing, Walker? I didn't expect to see you back so soon.”
Walker’s voice rumbled deep in his chest. “You obviously didn't expect it, or you wouldn't be getting up to no good while I was away. I asked you what's going on here. I better get an answer the next time you open your mouth, or things are going to turn nasty in a hurry.”
Dax swallowed hard. “These are the cousins from over the ridge. You know Marty and Kelso and Bass.”
Walker cut him off before he could go any further, “Yeah, I know who they are. What are they doing here loaded down with guns? No, wait. Don't answer that. You're on your way to the Farrells'. Am I right?”
“You can't let the Farrells creep up on us, man,” Dax wheedled. “They're our enemies. Nothing can change that. We're on our way to attack them, the way we should have done a long time ago.”
“They're your sister Star's family,” Walker shot back, “and your sister Aurora's family. Both of them are married to Farrells, and Star's son Hector is a Farrell. That makes them our relatives.”
Dax waved his hand. “That doesn't matter. You're not Alpha anymore, Walker. You left. You abdicated. That makes me Alpha. These men follow my orders, not yours.”
“I'm Alpha as long as I say I am.” Walker chopped the air with his hand. “I'm ordering you, as Alpha of this tribe, to send your cousins and your buddies home. No one is attacking the Farrells today.”
“You can't do that,” Dax argued. “You're an outsider now. I decide what we do, and I say we're attacking the Farrells.”
Walker glared at him with smoldering eyes. “Would you kill your own sister and your own nephew in your crazy lust for Farrell blood?”
Dax drew himself up. “I'll do a lot more than that before I quit as Alpha, and you can't stop me. You have to get my permission even to live in your own parents' house. So, what are you going to do about that?”
“Is that the way you want it?” Walker thundered. “Do you really want to face me in an Alpha challenge? Do you really like your chances against me?”
Dax looked around at his friends. No one moved a muscle. “You can't do this, man. You can't run off wherever you want, whenever you want, and then waltz b
ack in here and take over like nothing happened.”
“I was getting my mate,” Walker explained, “and now I've brought her home. I'm here to stay, and you can't beat me, Dax. Do yourself a favor and stand down. Send your boys home before they wind up mopping up your blood off the lawn.”
Dax bared his teeth, and his fingers tightened around his shotgun, but he didn't move.
“I challenge you, Dax Cunningham. I challenge you as Alpha of this tribe. We've got enough witnesses here, and may the best man win.”
Chapter 15
Dax twitched. His eyes darted this way and that. What he would do? He couldn't be so foolish as to try to beat Walker in an open fight. No one could beat Walker, and he dwarfed Dax by a mile. Anyone could see that. Marla made the mistake of underestimating Dax's ego investment in the short time he acted as Cunningham Alpha. He couldn't back down from that.
Walker didn't flinch. He kept his eyes locked on his brother's face and waited for Dax to make the first move. Dax bit his lip. Then, with a roar, he flung his shotgun aside and reared up over Walker's head. His shoulders dropped, and a giant bear took the place of the man.
Walker took a few rapid steps back to get out of his way, but Dax advanced on his brother with his foreclaws outstretched. He bellowed in Walker's face to make the mountain ring. In the blink of an eye, dozens of men jumped out of their cars to watch. They formed a ring around Dax and Walker, and some of them shouted encouragement to one or the other.
Walker recovered in an instant. He twisted his head around on his neck, and his teeth stretched out of his mouth into dripping fangs. He let out a roar to answer Dax's challenge, and his towering bulk rose to meet his brother.
The two bears closed in match aggression. Dax hugged Walker against him and drove his gaping jaws in on Walker's throat, but Walker hurled his greater bulk against Dax and knocked him off his feet. Dax's jaws closed on the rough fur around Walker's throat, and when he staggered back to catch his balance, his teeth combed through the fur and did no damage.
Marla clenched her fists in her lap, but she dared not move from the truck. Walker had to handle this all by himself. If he hoped to live in this tribe, he had to establish once and for all whether he was Alpha. If he didn't settle this now, Dax would never stop causing trouble.
As soon as Dax lost his footing, Walker rushed him. He gave Dax one more shove with his powerful arms and sent his brother barreling over backwards. At the same moment, Walker dropped onto all fours and came down hard on Dax's chest. He opened his mouth and closed his jaws around Dax's face.
Dax roared once, but his roar changed in an instant to a terrified whimper when Walker’s jaws closed around his head. Walker clamped down hard to crush Dax’s head in his powerful bite. Dax cringed against the inevitable, but at the last second, he swept his hind legs up with a swift kick out. He raked his razor-sharp claws against Walker’s vulnerable belly.
Walker screeched in pain, and in the instant when his jaws opened to release Dax’s head, Dax planted his hind legs against Walker’s chest and flung him end over end, over his head. Walker careened through the air and struck the side of a nearby car. His weight caved in the car door, and he slumped to the ground.
The instant he hit the ground, he leapt to his feet. He twisted around and lunged for Dax again, but even Marla, sitting some distance away in the passenger seat of the truck, could see blood trickling from his fur. He snarled a terrible challenge at Dax, and his lips quivered with feral rage.
Dax rounded on him, and he met Walker head on. Walker propelled himself forward with all four legs. His jaws gaped in slathering fury to rip Dax to pieces, but Dax wouldn’t back down. He’d come too close. He wouldn’t let go of the Alpha position without coming close to losing his life into the process.
Marla’s knuckles whitened on the car door. If only she could do something to stand by Walker right now, she would kill and main and shred. He helped her enough when everyone else lost hope in her. She would stand by him now if she thought it would do any good. A woman helping him now could only hurt him, though. He had to walk away from this challenge with his authority unquestioned if he walked away from it at all.
The harder Dax fought, the stronger Walker’s authority would be when he won—if he won. What if he didn’t win? What if Dax won? What would become of Bruins’ Peak then? What would become of her? She dared not think about that.
Dax flung himself against the mighty Bruin attacking him. He fought with the best of them. Marla had to give him that. No one could accuse him of lacking strength and courage to face a bear like Walker. Any sensible Bruin would back down before provoking that raving maniac, but Dax held his own. Not even Walker could rest assured of an easy victory.
The moment Walker closed with him, Dax used his advantage once again. He couldn’t match Walker for size and weight, so he used speed and agility instead. When Walker tried to overpower him by main strength, Dax kicked and bit and wrestled him one way and then the other. He smashed Walker against the cars. When Walker pinned him to the ground, Dax drove in with his teeth and claws to mangle any sensitive part of his brother’s body.
Walker took time to adjust to this strategy, but when he did, Dax couldn’t stand against him. Walker got Dax down on the ground after wrestling him onto his back, but Dax wriggled free of his crushing jaws to flip over on his stomach. Walker tried harder than ever to bite him, but everything he could get hold of came up tough and thick and protected.
When he clamped down on the back of Dax’s neck, he got a mouthful of fur and not much skin. The skin folded away from the muscle with the soft jugular safe underneath Dax’s chin. If Walker mouthed his shoulders or head, he could make no headway or cause Dax any pain at all.
Walker thundered his rage and frustration, but he couldn’t do anything to make Dax roll over and expose himself. Dax roared back a loud, mocking laugh. He could sit here all day and never move. He held Walker in the hollow of his paw.
That’s when Walker changed his strategy. He climbed off Dax and left him alone. With excruciating slowness, he walked around in a circle to Dax’s head. He stood right in front of Dax and glared down into his brother’s black eyes.
Dax had no idea what to make of this. He stared up at his big brother—his Alpha. In that moment, everyone watching knew the truth. Continuing the fight only prolonged the inevitable. Walker Cunningham was Alpha of his tribe. Dax couldn’t best him. No one could, and everybody knew it.
Walker grunted once. Dax didn’t twitch a hair. He could only crouch and await his fate. He put up a good fight, but it was all over now. He might as well slink off home and behave.
Walker waited, but Dax didn’t move. All at once, Walker attacked. He rushed in on Dax faster than thought. Dax saw him coming and rose on all fours, but he couldn’t match Walker’s surprise attack. He reacted just a fraction of a second too late, and that’s all the time Walker needed to throw him on the defensive.
The second Dax rose off the ground, Walker hit him with all his weight. He knocked Dax over onto his back and tackled him, but he didn’t go for the throat the way he did before. At the last instant, he dodged. He swooped in low and closed his jaws around the tender muscle connecting Dax’s foreleg to his chest. His fangs met and ripped.
Dax screamed to wake the dead. Marla heard the muscle tear, and Walker came up bloody all over his face and muzzle. He didn’t bother to roar at Dax again, but dove in low under Dax’s forelegs. He wrenched his neck around sideways and took another bit out of Dax’s side. With another powerful twist of his head, he ripped another bloody hole in Dax’s belly and jumped clear.
Without Walker there to hold him down, Dax twisted away and up onto his feet. Walker paced back and forth some distance away and didn’t reengage. He didn’t have to. He’d done his job. Dax limped away with one forepaw against his chest. He wouldn’t put any weight on it. Blood spattered the ground wherever he stepped.
Walker shifted first. The big golden Alpha bear stood up straight,
and his bulk dwindled to the sturdy man Marla loved so well. He scanned the onlookers. “All you men pack up your stuff and go along home. There won’t be any attack on the Farrells today, or any other time as long as I’m Alpha.”
No one opposed him now. No one said a word. They climbed into their cars and trucks. One by one, they drove past Marla, down the driveway, and disappeared until only Dax remained.
Dax limped a few feet farther away and turned to look back at Walker before he shifted. He clutched his wounded arm over his wounded side, and he hunched over in pain when he tried to walk. He coughed once.
Walker jerked his chin at his brother. “Clean yourself up before you show yourself to Mama and Pop. Don’t let them find out we were fighting.”
Dax lowered his eyes. “Yes, sir.”
“When you finish cleaning yourself up and changing your clothes,” Walker went on, “I want you to pack up all your guns and bring them to my office. I want a full inventory of your ammo stocks, and you’ll turn in your keys to the barn lock-up.”
Dax’s eyes widened. “What for?”
“I’ve schooled you more than once about antagonizing the Farrells,” Walker snapped, “and you didn’t listen. Now, you’ve challenged me in front of the whole tribe for Alpha, and you lost. You’ll turn in your guns and relinquish your keys until you’re ready to fall in line with my authority. You won’t get your guns or your keys back until you show me you can behave and follow my orders, and if you ever mouth off to me again even once or call me lily-livered or even suggest I attack the Farrells or turn my back on this peace initiative, you’ll never get them back—not ever. Do you hear me?”
Dax flinched, but he turned away with a murmur, “Yes, sir. I’ll have the guns and the keys in your office in a few hours.”
“Make sure you bring them all,” Walker called after him. “Don’t forget I know where you keep your secret stash.”
Dax cast a frightened look over his shoulder before he slunk away—not to the house, but to the barn.
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