Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume III)

by Sarah J. Stone

  He kissed her and left her alone. She couldn’t stop staring out those windows until a door clicking shut attracted her attention from behind. Arryn entered from another room and she almost had a heart attack. He wore a tailored grey suit and calf-skin boots. His dark skin set off his shirt collar, and gold cuff links decorated his sleeves. She barely recognized him.

  In front of her eyes, he touched a screen set into the wall. It flickered awake, and he danced his fingers over the surface. He did something to it, and when he glanced her way, calm, confident power radiated out of him.

  He owned this world. He moved through it on a magic carpet of power, money, and influence. Something happened to him on Bruins’ Peak, all right. This is my world now, and I’m going to make it great. He said it, and it became true. He became an Alpha male. He dominated this world the same way he dominated any world he chose to enter. This city spread its arms to receive him. He would take it by storm. He would control it and mold it to his whims.

  Now she was the poor, ignorant country cousin. She had some transforming of her own to do if she expected to fit into this new world. She never gave much thought to her life. She helped her mother. She learned her lessons. She enjoyed herself the way most Bruin kids did.

  She couldn’t relax her life away anymore. She had to learn and grow and find her passion. She had to contribute her talents and her time and her strength to make this city great. She was NightShade. She would work and become part of this world, these people.

  He came toward her. Even the way he looked at her changed when he put on those clothes. He made her into a new person. She was his mate, his other half. They would rise to dominate together. They would complement each other and control their world for the benefit of all NightShade. They would forge a bond between Renegade Ridge and Bruins’ Peak to make everybody stronger. Nothing stopped her now from seizing the life of her dreams.

  He didn’t have to ask. He took her hand and led her into her new bedroom. A silken coverlet covered the bed, and piles of cream-white pillows mounded at its head. Mirrors along one wall reflected the rest of the room. The luxury and comfort of Arion enfolded her. The living room light blinked off behind them, and the bedroom light brightened of its own accord. So many mysteries about this world remained for her to discover.

  Arryn sat down on the bed and pulled her between his knees. Even that simple movement struck her as so different from the same thing he did in Briar’s old room back home. He wasn’t the same person. Neither was she. They couldn’t touch each other the same way. They were married. They were mated for life.

  He compressed her legs in his chiseled arms. He rocked her on her feet. He was master and conqueror. He belonged to this world more than any other. What torture he must have endured, living on the surface all these years, never achieving his true potential, never rising to the challenges set out for him. How did he stand it?

  Then again, how did she live the same unfulfilled life back home? How did she waste so many years doing nothing when she could have been here? She had to meet him. She had to love him and accept him as a country bumpkin before she could meet her own destiny.

  Her flesh melted against him, and she let him draw her down on the bed. The mattress welcomed them into its tender cushioned surface. No hardship or want could touch her here. Loneliness and deprivation and conflict did not exist in this shining city under the mountain.

  His lips descended over her mouth, and he sucked the sighs of ecstasy from her soul. Only he could give her this contentment, this completion. Gratitude and adoration from him flooded her heart. She could never pay him back for this if she lived a thousand years. She could only hitch her wagon to his rising star and ride into the bright distance. He would take her where she needed to go.

  Magnetic power filled her every pore. It seeped into her skin through his suit. It infused the whole apartment with his presence. Her body rose to greet his desires. Her heart and soul sang in glorious delight.

  He worked his hips between her legs, and the light faded overhead. Did these NightShade program their computers even to detect when the apartment’s inhabitants most wanted darkness to hide their intimacy? Did the computers read the NightShade’s thoughts?

  She didn’t have to think about any of that right now. At this moment, heavenly perfection embraced her from every side. She settled onto that magical bed with the man of her dreams. A mystical world of happiness and promise spread all around her as far the mind could stretch, and she belonged here. She belonged here so perfectly, she almost pitied the poor souls she left behind at home.

  ******The End.

  Book 4: Eden

  Sarah J. Stone

  57. Chapter 1

  Luna Black fell on her mother’s neck and burst into tears. “I don’t want to go.”

  Her mother Amelia wiped tears off her cheeks and hugged the girl. “You have to go. It’s not safe for you here anymore.”

  Luna buried her eyes against her mother’s shirt. Behind her back, Amelia held out her hand to her other daughter, Eden. Eden swallowed down the lump in her throat. She tried not to cry, but the tears wouldn’t stay back. One overflowed and skated down her cheek. “It’ll be all right, Mommy. We’ll be all right downstairs.”

  Amelia pursed her lips and nodded. Their father Noah crossed the room and tried to pry Luna out of her mother’s arms. “Come on, honey. It’s time to go. You’ll miss your train.”

  Luna covered her face and sobbed. “Why do we have to go? Why can’t we stay up here with you?”

  “You know why,” Noah replied. “We already lost Abel. We can’t run the risk of losing you two on top of that. That would break our hearts.”

  “What if Abel comes back?” Eden asked. “We could just stay a little while longer. He might turn up.”

  Noah shook his head. “He might never come back. None of us knows for sure. He came back battered and beaten from Midnight Moraine. He packed his things and left with no explanation. We couldn’t live with ourselves if something like that happened to you girls. The only safe place for you is downstairs. You’ll be safe there with your grandparents. No one will bother you.”

  “But we haven’t even had time to say goodbye to anyone,” Luna wailed. “We can’t just vanish off the Ridge.”

  “You can, and you will,” Noah boomed. “Give me a kiss, Eden. You don’t want to leave your grandparents waiting.”

  Eden kissed and hugged her father. She refused to fall apart right now, even though she felt the same way Luna did. Parting from the only family she ever knew hurt worse than anything. She might never see her parents again. They would vanish out of her life the way her brother Abel did.

  Eden and Noah had to drag Luna out of the house. She bawled and howled. She didn’t want to go. She clung to her mother, and her shoulders shook with sobs. Eden hated to look at her. Luna’s outburst only made this harder for everyone.

  Eden refused to glance around her at Renegade Ridge. The sun glittered off the granite spires behind her. The birds chirped in the trees. The sky rang clear and blue overhead. No one ever saw a more perfect summer day on the Ridge, but Eden couldn’t enjoy it.

  If she stopped for one instant to think about what she was doing, she would never be able to go through with it. Maybe that’s the mistake Luna made—she thought. She thought about the friends she left behind, the families scattered down the ridge in rough, handmade houses like her own. She thought about all the hardship and work she put into this life.

  Now all of that was gone. She would never haul water from the spring in heavy wooden buckets slopping against her bare legs. She would never boil the clothes on the stove and beat them with a wooden paddle. She would never burn her arms and fingers starting the fire on frosty winter mornings.

  Eden didn’t think. She couldn’t. Someone had to hold it together long enough to get Luna downstairs. If she thought for a fraction of an instant, she might realize how much she loved this life. She might realize the beauty, the togetherness of fam
ily and the closeness of good neighbors made the hardship and sacrifice well worthwhile.

  Noah hauled Luna around behind the house and threw open the door to a crude lean-to attached to the back wall. He pushed Luna into the dark and opened a wooden grain bin set in a corner. He peered down into the gloom.

  “You better get going,” he murmured. “I’m trusting you to take care of your sister, Eden. You make sure she gets on the train.”

  “Don’t worry, Daddy. I’m sure she’ll be fine once we get downstairs. The sooner we go, the sooner she’ll come out of this.”

  Noah nodded, but no one could say anything more over Luna’s blubbering. Eden stepped into the grain bin and descended the stone stairs a few steps. Noah put his arms around Luna. “I love you, girl. Don’t forget me.”

  “Oh, Daddy,” she moaned.

  Instead of letting her go, he picked her up in his arms. He lifted her feet over the bin and set her on the first stairs. Eden caught hold of her and guided her down into the dark. Luna’s sobs echoed off the stone walls, but Eden didn’t stop pulling her forward and down.

  The bin lid closed behind them, and the blackness blocked out Eden’s eyes. She rested her other hand against the wall to show her the way. As she suspected, Luna followed more willingly the farther they went. A few more steps, and a faint glow illuminated the pit.

  As soon as the light appeared, the tension in Luna’s arm slackened. She drew near Eden so Eden didn’t have to pull her along. She let go of Luna’s hand, and the sisters dropped into the ground side by side.

  In a few minutes, the light spread all around them. Floating orbs bobbed overhead, and a gentle breeze wafted the smell of cherry blossoms into their faces. The light got stronger until they could make out tall buildings all around them.

  Eden pressed on. The stairs ended, and she walked down a long stone platform extending into the distance. A huge stone structure stood to one side, and dozens of doors opened onto the platform. Lights winked in the windows rising higher than the eye could see.

  They walked a long way down that platform before they got anywhere near the building. A vehicle soared over their heads. Air rushing off its wings tossed their clothes around, but the craft made no noise. It landed on the platform near them, and half a dozen people got out. They paid no attention to the girls, but rushed headlong into the building.

  No sooner had the craft lifted off the ground once more than another vehicle streaked along the platform to their right. It whizzed over the ground on a cushion of air. It, too, made no noise. It slithered to a stop next to the building.

  Dozens of doors opened in the side of the train, and people streamed out of it heading every which way. No one acknowledged the girls. As soon as they rush diminished, the doors opened in the building’s side. Even more people flooded out. They boarded the train, the doors closed, and the vehicle streaked away out of sight.

  None of this surprised Eden. She’d seen it all so many times, she couldn’t be surprised by it now. She kept a firm hand on Luna, but none of this surprised her, either. In fact, it comforted her. Now that the hard part of separating from their parents was over, both girls fell into city life like they never left it.

  They passed a square glass box standing on the platform. In front of their eyes, a man rushed to it, opened the door, and stepped inside. He fastened the door behind him, laid his hand on the glass, and a shower of bright sparks rained down on him from above. He closed his eyes and raised his face into them. The sparks danced on the ground and fizzed out, and the man disappeared from view. The next minute, the booth stood empty and cold and harmless.

  The girls walked all the way down the platform to the huge building separating the train station from the street. A puff of brisk air blasted into their faces, and a long train sailed up next to them. “Quick, Luna!” Eden exclaimed. “That’s your train.”

  Luna spun around to face her. “Give me a hug, little sister. Wish me luck.”

  Eden threw her arms around her sister. “You’re gonna be just fine. You’re gonna knock ‘em dead at that academy.”

  Luna wiped away the last of her tears and actually managed to smile. “I’m not worried about that. I’m gonna make Mommy and Daddy proud.”

  “I know they’re proud of you already. You know only the top candidates get accepted to the Engineering Academy.”

  Luna squeezed Eden’s hands. “What about you? What will you do?”

  Eden shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll figure that out after I get to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Now, hurry. You don’t want to be late.”

  Luna moved away toward the train’s open door. People rushed all around them. A confused jumble of conversation bubbled on all sides. “Bye. See you soon.”

  “You get in touch with me as soon as you get there,” Eden called after her. “Don’t you dare be a stranger.”

  Luna shot her one last smile. “I won’t. I’ll get in touch with you before the end of the day. I’ll be right across town, and we’ll see each other at Grandma and Grandpa’s house during school breaks. All the time.”

  Another puff of air escaped from the train. Eden waved. “Go!”

  Luna jumped aboard the train, and the door slid shut on her. She placed her hand on the window until the train carried her out of sight. Eden gazed down the platform. In just a few seconds, her whole life collapsed into nothing. She lost her brother, her parents, and now her sister. What did this big, beautiful city have in store for her?

  She wished she had something she cared about as much as Luna cared about her engineering career. Luna spent the last three years studying in their loft room upstairs to get accepted to the Academy. This day represented the culmination of years of hard work.

  What did Eden have to compare with that? At least she wouldn’t be completely alone where she was going. She would be surrounded by loving family and unlimited possibilities. If she could only find her passion, she would pursue it with all her heart.

  She waited a few more minutes until the next train arrived. She took a seat by the window, and the train took her away from the stairway leading to her old house. She could go back there any time she wanted, but it might as well be a million miles away. What were her parents doing right now, besides crying in each other’s arms? Was Abel coming back home right now?

  She had to put those thoughts out of her mind. She had to focus on the city streaming past her window. Buildings, vehicles, people, activity—same old Arion. Arion never changed. It always welcomed her. She loved this city as much as ever. It was her second home and always would be.

  Stately courtyards, manicured gardens and grassy lawns, along with majestic buildings decorated with millions of lights surrounded her on all sides. The ceiling stretched away so high she couldn’t see it. Only the lighted orbs hovered there to illuminate the city as bright as day.

  Trees lined the sidewalks, and the breeze rustled their leaves. Outside Eden’s window, couples walked hand in hand under the blossomed tree branches. They lounged on blankets in the squares, and children ran and played from one street corner to the other.

  The train rushed over the river where boats glided on the current. It passed a wide open field where two teams of men ran around, tackled each other, regrouped and attacked again. Crowds watched from the sidelines.

  Eden would join all this life. At the moment, she looked in on it from outside. She peered at all these people moving around like fish in a fish bowl. The train window separated them from her, but that would change as soon as the train stopped. She would become one of them, and someone else would look in on her and her life. They would wonder how she could go on with the details of living without realizing there was ever anything else.

  Most of these people never saw the surface of the Earth. They didn’t know about Midnight Moraine or Bruins’ Peak. They didn’t know about wars in different parts of the world. They knew only their own city under the mountain.

  Well, Eden could never forget the surface. She would never stop marv
eling at this hidden world. Would she ever be anything other than an outsider?

  She didn’t have time to wonder before the train stopped at another station like the first. This was it. This was the beginning of the rest of her life. She walked down the block to her grandparents’ apartment building. It overlooked the central district where the Labor Pool building and the Elders’ council building towered over the main square. She could have used the teleporter booth at the train station, but she preferred to walk. She wanted to see this place in all its magnificence. She wanted to experience it and know she was home at last.

  People greeted her on the streets. They smiled and nodded, and some scanned her up and down. Now that she finally arrived at her destination, she saw herself from their point of view. She still wore the rough homespun clothes from the surface. She didn’t fit in this glamorous city full of well-dressed businessmen, educated women, and clean-cut young people.

  She hurried on her way. Her grandparents would give her new clothes, and she would become another NightShade girl growing up in this city. Maybe then she would belong here. Maybe then she would understand what she was supposed to do to join the city’s buzzing life.

  She came to another skyscraper adjoining the square. She touched a computer screen embedded in the wall next to the front door. The screen lighted up, and a cheery female voice asked, “Please state your name.”

  “Eden Black.”

  The voice sang out, “Welcome home, Miss Black.”

  The lock clicked, and the door slid aside. Eden strolled into the high tiled foyer. Massive overhead windows let light into the open area inside, and the polished metal and velvety wood shone clean and bright. She started to relax. She wasn’t on Renegade Ridge anymore. She moved into a world of power, money, luxury, and promise.

  She took an elevator to the thirty-seventh floor. It let her out in a hallway carpeted in red velvet. She followed it to an innocent-looking door labeled Tamar and Jeremiah Hood.