Montana Wild Bears: Books 1-4 Bundle (BBW Paranormal Werebear Shape Shifter Romance Boxed Set)

by Anya Nowlan

  Jonah shrugged his shoulders slightly, managing a weak smile. He had to admit that he was a bit relieved. Finding support from at least one of his brothers was a welcome derailment from what he was expecting, and it made him a bit more secure in his decisions. He was an Alpha, a proud werebear, who knew his place in the universe now, but a curvy, sassy woman still had the power to bring him to his knees and knock his whole world off kilter.

  “Alright. I did come here to get some advice, and I’m just going to have to take it. You were always better at politics than I was anyway, Julian,” Jonah said. Finally, he could relax a little. His shoulders slumped, and he exhaled deeply. At least he hadn’t been kicked out of the Arder clan yet for fraternizing with the enemy. He could only hope that Callie was finding some compassion with her people as well.

  “It’s settled then. You’ll stay for the night, it is way too wet to try and make it to your lodge. I had it cleaned for you a few days ago.” Jonah looked at Julian, again surprised by his brother’s foresight. For a bear who had been away from the community for so long, Jonah had to admit that Julian’s instincts were spot on. “Just guessed you’d show up any day now. I’ll talk with Jackson tomorrow, and then you can go see him yourself, hat in hand or guitar over your shoulder and all that.”

  “Thank you. It means a lot to me,” Jonah said, a fraction of his worries lifting from his shoulders. Leave it to the clan to make him feel like there was hope even when he thought there was none.

  “You’d do the same for me. Now, how about dinner? I’m starving and all this drama is just making me more ravenous!” Julian said, jumping up and dragging Susie along with him, twirling her around before heading towards the kitchen with her. Jonah grinned and shook his head, following the loving duo with his eyes.

  Feels good to be home.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Calliope rubbed her forehead tiredly as Ryder paced back and forth in the big dining room of his lodge. He’d been treading around in a circle for the better part of an hour, barking random obscenities every now and then and generally looking worse for wear. She’d hoped to god that tales of her relationship with Jonah wouldn’t reach Ryder, but she had had no such luck. A week had gone by since she’d arrived home and all had seemed fine. Until, of course, Ryder had called her up to his house that afternoon and started giving her a long, thorough earful about how her choices affected the whole clan.

  You’d think he’d pay attention to the fact that I was together with Jonah long before all of this got blown out of proportion, Callie thought sourly, staring at the pattern on the parquet floor.

  “How could you be so god damn irresponsible?! And why didn’t you come and tell me about this yourself, why did I have to hear about this from…” Ryder suddenly paused, making Callie look up. Her chin was squared in defiance.

  “Hear it from who?” she asked, her voice level. She was pleasantly surprised that instead of breaking down and cowering in front of Ryder, she had the fortitude of feeling indignant in the face of his rage.

  Who does he think he is, judging me when he used to run with Jacqueline Arder? She thought to herself, keeping her brown eyes on Ryder. Her defiance only seemed to fuel the fire in the tall blonde werebear, his body obviously tensing up. She wouldn’t put it past him if he were to smack her around for being insolent. Years ago, she couldn’t have imagined the wild but caring Ryder Hunt to be capable of such things, but from what she’d heard recently, nothing could really surprise her anymore. Ryder had changed and not for the better, and it was just her luck that she now had to deal with being on his bad side.

  “None of your business, Calliope,” Ryder spat, a growl in his voice. Callie blushed, heat lighting up her cheeks.

  “I haven’t done anything wrong. We’ve known each other since we were kids, and when I heard that he enlisted, I wrote to him. You know what happened to Christopher. I felt like I had a duty to talk to him before he ended up going down the same dark path Chris did, and we found that we had a lot to talk about. And it all kind of grew from there.” Even mentioning Christopher to Ryder made Callie’s stomach churn uncomfortably. Her brother had been dead for a few years now, but it still stung as if she had just got the news a few minutes earlier. He died in combat – not the first or the last werebear to go that way. The modern world was no place for a werebear anymore, and when one of them strayed too far from their clan and ended up looking for meaning in the military, it often ended badly.

  They were too determined, too driven and dedicated to look out for themselves the way they looked out for others. They made excellent soldiers – daring and willing to do anything for their brothers. But it also wasn’t rare that a werebear died an honorable death on the battlefield, getting too caught up in the service to care about themselves anymore. Whether it was in the military or during clan conflicts, a werebear warrior was a force to reckon with. Still, it meant the loss of werebear lives, which was something that Callie couldn’t stand by after having lost someone so close to her. Her painful past had brought her together with Jonah, and even if they’d had problems lately, it didn’t make their connection any less special.

  Ryder glared at her, his lips pushed into a thin line. She was still struck by how much he had changed. Callie had last seen him when he was still with Jackie and living in Bear’s Grove. Her family had left just as the clan migrated to Bitterroot, and Callie drifted further and further from the everyday dealings of the clan. Ryder and Jackie had always had their troubles, but they managed to work them out, for better or for worse. She had to wonder what had driven the wedge between Ryder and Jackie as she had the suspicion that it might explain a lot about Ryder’s recent behavior. Not that Jackson Arder outsmarting Ryder as of late wouldn’t be enough cause for Ryder’s bursts of anger, but still. The Bitterroots were facing some serious financial trouble since Jackson had managed to cut them off again. Some of the bears who had been with the clan throughout the Kadin incident, during which the werewolves drove them from their home of almost six years over the span of a few days, had said that they hadn’t seen Ryder so tense since the last days of the battles.

  “You should have called it quits the moment we decided to run the Arders out of their lands, Calliope,” Ryder said, his malice barely contained.

  “We? You mean you and your goons? I never agreed to that. What we are doing is not right and you know that. Jackie would be disgusted by what you’re doing,” Callie said, and Ryder stopped dead in his tracks. She could feel his inner bear roaring at her across the room, and it made her hackles stand up. As much as she was willing to test Ryder’s limits, she didn’t want to push him past them. He was mad and, judging by his recent actions, that could mean just about anything. Callie quickly raised her hands up a bit, blanching in the face of his rage.

  Note to self, don’t mention Jackie around him.

  Callie pulled back as Ryder stopped in front of her and leant into her, putting both hands on the armrests of her chair. She had to bite down a yelp that wanted to gather in her throat. His piercing blue eyes stared right through her, and her breath caught in her chest as his lip curled up in a snarl.

  “Last I checked, you weren’t even a senior in this clan, Calliope Masters. In fact, you’re barely in this clan at all. You should be thankful for your blood and the way your parents served the clan, because without them you might not have a home or a family to come to. So, unless you want to find out what really disgusting things I could do to you, you better watch your words when you’re talking to your Alpha,” Ryder growled. Callie bit down on a retort. She might have not agreed with his methods, but Ryder Hunt was her Alpha, and there were some lines she couldn’t cross, even if she wanted to. Really, really wanted to.

  “You know, you better learn how to behave, Calliope. Or I’m just going to have to teach you some lessons about how good clan members treat their Alpha,” Ryder said. He ran a finger down her cheek, and Callie cringed. His breath was hot on her neck as he considered the thin red streak he lef
t with the edge of his nail, and Callie thought her heart would explode in her chest.

  Her silence seemed to appease him a bit, and Ryder continued his frantic pacing, looking deep in thought. When he stopped again, Callie’s heart dropped right through her chest. He had that horrific glint in his eyes that told her he had a plan for her, and that she wouldn’t like it. “Now, since you’ve decided to be a nuisance and fuck the enemy, we might as well get something out of it. I think you’re just who we needed to get the upper hand on the Arders. I’ll be expecting to hear from you soon on what they’re planning.”

  He used to be such a handsome man… Now he’s just terrifying, she thought to herself, ignoring the shiver that traipsed down her spine. His presence was powerful and all-consuming. There were a lot of things to be said about Ryder Hunt, but no one could describe him as weak. He had always been a strong leader, but the misfortune that had befallen him over the last few years, often due to his own bidding, seemed to have taught him to feed on the rage that boiled in him. For a split second, Callie imagined what would happen if Jonah caught Ryder and her like that. Even in the face of danger she could barely keep her thoughts away from him.

  She was inches from jumping up and running out of the room just to get away from him, when a chatter of voices sounded in the hallway and the tall forms of Troy and a few others appeared in the doorway. Troy peered in curiously, quirking a brow at the exchange, and Callie breathed a sigh of relief as Ryder snapped back.

  “Everything alright?” Troy asked, his voice guarded. Even Ryder’s closest confidants had learned to tread carefully around the Alpha. The scar on Troy’s forehead was a bitter memory of his first contact with Jackson, and Callie had the feeling that it was only one of the many scars and wounds her clan would have to deal with if Ryder kept going down his chosen path.

  “Just splendid,” Ryder hissed with a low voice, tossing a glance at Callie. She nodded reluctantly, her breathing returning to normal. It wasn’t like her to be shaken by so little, but there was something about Ryder those days that brought goose bumps to her skin. He had become dangerous and erratic – two things that didn’t go well with being the leader of a werebear clan. “Callie was just telling me what a good girl she’s going to be. She’s been fucking the little Arder brother. Now, she’s going to be doing it for us.” Ryder grinned wickedly and Callie made to quickly get out of the chair and away from Ryder while she still could.

  “Don’t disappoint me,” Ryder’s voice echoed behind her as she rushed down the corridor, the jaded laughter of Ryder and Troy following her like a bad memory.

  ***

  Callie gasped for breath, the wind whipping at her fur. She scraped at the earth under her paws, taking a whiff of the cold soil and letting the scent of it fill her lungs. It had been so long since she’d last run free, and she was determined to enjoy it, her worries be damned. Her matte brown coat was slick against her large form, the prickly hairs smoothed back by the howling winds. The landscape was bowing under the weight of the wind, and Callie reveled in the all-encompassing noise of the Montana Cabinet Mountains. There was nothing quite like being back home, even if her clan was looked at as little more than unexpected guests at best and marauders at worst. Callie let out a long roar, listening to it reverberate across the valley for no one but herself. The first snow would be coming soon. She couldn’t wait for the blanket of whiteness to fall down and cover all the lands, hiding any imperfections. Snow had been the thing she had missed the most during her time in Texas, right after vast open grounds, of course.

  She’d just kept running the moment she had got away from Ryder. Instead of going back to the small lodge she shared with a few of the other single female bears, she had made a beeline for the woods and shifted as soon as she could. It had been hours since she got away from the Bitterroot clan and it felt bittersweet.

  It’s not right to feel so good about getting away from your people, Callie thought to herself, shifting back into human form. She wrapped the jacket tighter around her shoulders. As a bear, the wind was more an annoyance than anything else. As a human, it was cold and nipped at her flesh. She was sorely lacking a pair of strong arms to pull her into a tight embrace and sweet words to make her discomfort and confusion drift away. She needed Jonah, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

  The last conversation they had ended in a disaster. Callie winced inwardly as she remembered how she accused him of not caring about his roots, and he bit back by telling her that she should know where her loyalties lay. He didn’t make her choose between the clan and him, but he might as well have. Callie was back with her people and not with Jonah – wasn’t that choice enough? The entire trip home had been wrought with regrets and long talks with herself. She missed him as soon as she had stepped out of the house, and by the time she hit Colorado, the pain was almost blinding. Their bears had grown so tightly together that the threat of ripping them apart hurt her to the core. Not only did her human object, her bear was none too thrilled either.

  How can I choose between love and my clan? Callie asked herself, pursing her lips as she stood surrounded by the winds and the constant tumbling of dying leaves. Autumn was beautiful in Montana, but Callie had to imagine that she was far from seeing all the colors it had to offer. She was too depressed to see all the joy she knew she could have.

  Why couldn’t I have just stayed with Jonah? I wouldn’t be here, Ryder wouldn’t be holding my relationship over my head… they wouldn’t be looking at me as if I was a traitor… and I wouldn’t be missing him so badly, Callie thought quietly, the hot threat of tears welling in her eyes making her shake her head silently. But, she knew why she was there. Her clan had been there for her when Christopher died. The clan had supported both her and her brother when her parents passed in a clan war long ago. Through thick and thin, they’d been there for her. Every clan had its good times and bad, but hers had deserved her loyalties.

  But hasn’t Jonah earned it as well?

  The thought was too bitter to gulp down. They’d been together for only a year but it felt so much longer. She knew they were still young, she was just 23 and Jonah 25, but it felt right. It felt exactly like she’d imagined it to feel like when she found the one bear or person that she could share her life with. They clicked immediately, though they were painfully different. She had always prided herself on being passionate and full of fire but remaining rational and levelheaded even during the most heated moments of anger. Jonah was nothing like that – he was stoic to a fault, but lit up like a bright flame when anything he held dear was threatened. A gentle, wounded soul, but still a werebear ready to strike when his loved ones were threatened.

  Then, logic and reason would all be out the door, and there was only room for emotions and reactions. She loved that about him, but it made their rare and far between fights that much more animated. He’d speak from the heart, and she couldn’t help but ignore her feelings and go with her rationality instead. That had been the main culprit why she was standing in the middle of the Cabinet Mountains alone now. If she had just got over her stubborn streak, odds were that she and Jonah could have figured a way out of it all. Or at least a way to explain it to both clans without bringing down the lightshow that they had now.

  Callie sighed, brushing a curly lock of dark hair out of her face. Bear’s Grove was down low in the valley, errant lights flickering behind the windows of the shops and houses. She hadn’t been down there in so long, but Callie had the distinct feeling that she wouldn’t be a popular character there now. She might have had friends there, but the Bitterroot clan was not high on anyone’s lists after the stunts they’d been pulling. Ryder had gone so far as to burn down not only the Arders’ trucks, but had almost caused the diner to burn down by lighting up Susie’s hauler. And if there was one thing that lumberjacks didn’t like then it was someone messing with their waffles. Things had only escalated since then.

  Ryder had sent out groups of his more rabid followers to harass the Arder clan
members and even some local business owners, probably looking for a way into someone’s wallet again. He wasn’t past threats and shows of dominance anymore, and that scared Callie as much as it did the rest of the bears. At the same time, she knew that a strong leader was something a lot of them couldn’t pass up. Especially with the humiliation they had borne at the hands of the Kadin pack.

  Callie found herself staring at a distant patch of thick forest, catching the slightest hint of a smoke pillar. The corners of her mouth twitched and then turned into a smile, the unhappy glint that had been stuck in her brown eyes quickly lifting. She knew what it meant when there was smoke coming from that particular bit of land. It meant that Jonah had to be home. Callie chewed on her lower lip, warming herself with the thought of seeing him again. He’d returned to her life so suddenly when she’d made the decision to write to him a few years back, and when he’d shown up at her door one dark night, she’d willingly lost herself in him. Juggling studying for a law degree and the heat of a werebear romance had been a task well worth taking on.

  She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen him for more than a week now. It made her insides twist angrily, and she had to resist the urge to run to him right away. The call was hard to ignore. She’d thought she’d felt him enter the area the night before, but she’d put it off as just her nerves playing tricks on her. What was a woman to do with the knowledge that her one and only love was within reach, but any conversation she had with him could mean that she becomes a liability to her clan and he to his?