Alpha Bears And Brides (Red Lodge Bears) The Complete Collection

by Vivian Wood

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be digging through my trash,” Alex pointed out.

  “You— you’re—” Gregor was comically shocked.

  “Pregnant? Yep, that’s me.”

  “Is it… whose is it?” Bette asked, sitting on the bed opposite Alex.

  “Cameron’s,” Alex sighed.

  “Are you certain?” Gregor said, his tone sharp as a blade.

  “One hundred percent. Couldn’t be more sure.”

  “How— You only dated a month! Haven’t you ever heard of family planning?” Gregor said, his words halfway to a growl.

  The family planning bit stung, and Alex felt a lump form in her throat.

  “If you make me cry, I will kick you out of my apartment,” she promised. “Besides, it happened before you set us up. It was a one-night stand. I didn’t even know his name at the time.”

  “Wait, Cameron Beran was your steamy hookup?!” Bette squealed, looking every bit as shocked as Gregor had moments before. “Why the hell didn’t you say so?”

  Alex shrugged.

  “What does it matter now?” she asked.

  “Girl…” Bette said, giving her head a fierce shake. “This is everything, now. You have to make some serious decisions. Like, when are you planning on telling Cameron?”

  Alex was silent for a long, guilty beat.

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’ve only known for a few days.”

  “And you didn’t call me?” Gregor asked, anger gathering in his expression.

  “I’m not really used to having anyone to call,” Alex said.

  “You were just going to do this all on your own?” Bette asked, reaching out and taking Alex’s hand.

  “It’s what I’ve always done. I thought I might move back to be close to my parents. They won’t be happy that I’m doing this alone, but they’ll be supportive.”

  “You are seriously the dumbest cousin I’ve got,” Bette tsked. “Like, seriously. There’s no way we’d just let you be alone with all of this. That’s what family is for, Alex.”

  “Thanks,” Alex said, giving a watery laugh. Her stomach did an odd flip at the thought of family. She hadn’t considered Gregor and the England clan at all. But they were her blood relatives, weren’t they?

  “You’d better hope that baby has Cameron’s brains,” Bette said.

  “We haven’t heard what he did to earn your wrath, though,” Gregor said. “Is he as ridiculous as you are?”

  “Twice as much. Three times,” Alex informed him.

  “You’d better tell us the story. Then we can make a plan,” Bette said, moving over and making room for Gregor on the bed.

  Alex looked at them both, hope rising in her chest for the first time in what felt like ages. So she told them, every detail, pouring out her soul to Gregor and Bette… her family.

  83

  Thirteen

  Cameron drummed his fingertips on the polished glass tabletop of the coffee shop where he’d agreed to meet Alex. He’d dressed carefully, selecting dark jeans, a slim-fit white dress shirt, and an expensive gray tweed blazer. Outside, he was coiffed and groomed. Inside, he was a mess.

  His nervousness rose to fever pitch when he saw Alex enter the coffee shop, looking around for a moment before she spotted him. She wore a clingy emerald dress and sky-high black heels, and her hair was loose and free about her shoulders, fiery and fierce as a lion’s mane. Cam’s only saving grace was that she’d obviously made an effort, too, so maybe she was every bit as nervous as he.

  “Hey, Cameron,” she said as she approached.

  Cam stood, unsure if he should try to hug her or not. Alex pulled out a chair and dropped into it gracefully, saving him the decision.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said, her gaze scrutinizing his every detail.

  “Alex, I’ve been calling and calling. Why wouldn’t I come?” he asked.

  She gave him an odd look, shaking her head.

  “I wasn’t sure you would. I guess… I should have returned your calls. I’m sorry,” she said.

  “You don’t have any apologies to make. I should be apologizing,” Cam told her. When she didn’t reply, he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “You want a coffee or something?”

  Alex wrinkled her nose, a strange emotion flitting over her face. It was gone in a flash, and she merely shook her head.

  “No, thanks.”

  “You sure? You love coffee,” Cam said.

  “Yeah… Maybe later. I want to talk to you first,” she said, flattening her hands on the table.

  He eyed her, both admiring her beauty and thinking how much she intimidated him at this precise moment. Though he easily beat her in physical prowess, his flame-haired vixen had him at a distinct disadvantage: he actually cared about her, cared what she thought, what she wanted.

  Needless to say, giving a shit about a particular woman was a new development in Cam’s world.

  “You look really great right now,” Cam said, the words out of his mouth before he so much as thought them.

  Alex flushed prettily, giving him a soft grin.

  “Quit flirting with me,” she accused.

  “I can’t help it,” Cam said with a shrug. There it was, that camaraderie they’d found together in the brief time they’d been at the Lodge. It was easy with Alex, natural. She brought out a better side in him, made him feel…

  “There you are, you fucking asshole,” came a shout from across the room.

  Alex and Cam turned to see a group of big, bad Berserkers stroll into the cafe. Half the humans took one look at the approaching bears, all dressed in dark suits, and made for the exit.

  “Shit. Why is your father here?” Cam asked Alex.

  She gave him a startled look before turning back to watch Alfred England stride up to their table. The Alpha moved with purposeful steps, power rolling off him in waves, and six nearly-as-terrifying Berserkers were right on his heels.

  “Alex, what the hell?” Cam asked, reaching over and taking her hand, trying to get a reaction.

  “I don’t know, I don’t know! I’ve never even met him,” Alex said. She was flushed, and judging by the expression on her face, close to panicking. Doubtless this wasn’t how she thought she’d meet her birth father for the first time, Cam reflected.

  “Okay. Okay. Let me do the talking, okay?” Cam said. Alex’s eyes glossed over, some strange kind of shock overtaking her. “Alex, can you trust me? Let me take care of this.”

  He squeezed her hand and she turned to him at last. Biting her lip, she nodded. Just in time, as Alfred England arrived at their table.

  “Get up,” the Alpha commanded, his tone impatient.

  “Mr. England,” Cam started, but the Alpha silenced him with a curt gesture.

  “Don’t talk yet,” England ordered. He turned to Alex, raking his eyes over her person. “You. You look like your mother.”

  Alex made a soft, sad sound, and Cam’s heart hardened toward the man who’d spawned and then spurned the woman Cam adored.

  “Don’t talk to her, talk to me,” Cam said, rising and putting himself between England and Alex.

  “That’s what I’m here for, jackass,” he said, his Chicago accent so thick it screamed old-school gangster. It was clear that England thought of himself as some Al Capone type. He wore a slick, pinstriped suit, kept his silvering hair slicked back, and held a swaggering, bully aura. The only commonality between England and Alex was the eyes; it was easy to see where she’d come by her gleaming cobalt gaze. Seeing her most beautiful feature on England’s glaring mug only made Cam more angry.

  “I think you’d better be more careful with your language when you address me,” Cam said, his Alpha rising. He understood the other man innately, understood Alpha bluster as well as anyone could.

  “Says the piece of shit who knocked my daughter up and then dumped her cold,” England snapped.

  It took several beats for his words to sink in fully. Every eye followed Cam as he turned to A
lex, his mouth opening, unable to form a coherent thought.

  “Knocked— What?” he uttered, at a complete loss.

  “Um,” Alex mumbled, standing up. “Cam, I was going to tell you.”

  “Hey,” England said, reaching out and giving Cam a hard push to the chest. “Like you said earlier. Talk to me, not her.”

  A thousand impulses swarmed Cam’s brain, but somehow he managed to keep his cool. He turned to England, turning his voice to ice, letting the Alpha attitude exude from every pore.

  “Nobody’s dumped anybody. Not only were you misinformed, but you ruined Alex’s surprise,” Cam snapped, glaring at England.

  Their gazes caught and held for a deadly moment, aqua clashing with navy, but eventually England cleared his throat and stepped back.

  “Fine,” was all the aging Alpha had to say for himself.

  “Furthermore, you don’t come to see Alex unless she contacts you. You’ve never been around before, and she doesn’t need you now. Invitation only, you hear me?” Cam added. His bear was rising, so close to the surface, desperate for the shift. His bear wanted to challenge England, take his Alpha status, banish him from the clan. Lay the whole city of Chicago at Alex’s feet, to please his mate.

  England stared at Cam for another second, then shook his head. With a huff that could have been a miffed chuckle, England spun on his heel and left the coffee shop without a further word.

  Suddenly it was just Cam and Alex, staring at each other across the table, a thousand unspoken words hanging in the air between them. Cam looked at her, the faint pallor in her cheeks, and emotion clawed at his heart. She didn’t look any different, every bit the composed beauty he’d been drawn to when he’d first laid eyes on her at The Bronze Throne.

  “Alex… Are you really…” Cam wasn’t sure how to say the words.

  “Yes,” she said, dragging her hands into her lap, fingers twisting together. “I’m not sure how it happened. I thought we were careful that night, and I’m on the pill, too. I don’t know how it’s possible… I just… I know it’s not what we discussed—”

  Cam was out of his seat in an instant, rounding the table, grabbing Alex’s arms to pull her to her feet. She flinched, something that killed him a little, but when he pulled her body up against him, the way she softened soothed his momentary hurt. Cam zeroed in on her lips, his mouth crashing down on hers, taking her and possessing her with a fierce kiss.

  My child, he thought. My child is inside her.

  Alex’s hands came up to clutch at his shoulders, nails digging into his skin through his shirt. She clung to him, moaning when he splayed his hand over her lower back, seeking to bring her closer, closer. Every inch of his being felt tight, tense and hungry and excited, eager for Alex’s pleasure, eager for his own.

  Cam broke the kiss after a long minute, pulling back a little so he could stare down at Alex. Her head tipped back, that searing navy gaze meeting him without faltering. In that moment, there was no room for doubt or uncertainty or fears for the future. There was just Alex, and Cam, and the newness of the life they’d created together.

  “I need to show you something,” Cam said.

  Alex opened her mouth to say something, but Cam shook his head. Taking her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers, he led her out of the coffee shop, ignoring the stares of all the onlookers. In his heart, he’d already known Alex would be his, already planned for her in his life.

  Now, he just had to prove it to her.

  84

  Fourteen

  Silence reigned as Alex watched out the window, marking each neighborhood that passed as she tried to figure out where Cam was taking her. He’d tucked her into the passenger seat of his car, refusing to tell her their destination.

  “Just wait. Trust me,” was his only explanation. “I have a hundred apologies to make to you, but I need you to be patient with me first.”

  Alex lowered her lashes and studied him. His mahogany hair was disheveled, and he’d shucked his blazer in favor of rolling his sleeves up to the elbow, exposing his muscular, tanned forearms and a hint of those strange, fiercely sexy that she couldn’t seem to stop drooling over. He gripped the steering wheel tightly as he drove, his gaze roving all around, clearly absorbed in his own thoughts and emotions.

  He navigated to a nicer neighborhood about fifteen minutes from downtown Chicago, one that Alex admired but didn’t know well. As a responsible single woman, she’d never considered living anywhere this classy; in fact, since leaving her parents’ home, Alex had never lived in a white-picket-fence type of neighborhood, preferring the culture and convenience of more transitional parts of town.

  Cam pulled the car to a stop in front of a quaint, two-story cottage painted in a fetching shade of peach. The lawn was neatly kept, with white geraniums dotting the landscape in front of a cheerful white porch.

  “Okay. Where are we, exactly?” Alex asked, confused.

  “There’s something important we need to do,” Cam said, giving her a no-nonsense glance.

  Cam got out and came around to open her car door, taking her hand and escorting her across the yard. They went right up to the front door, where Cam fished a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He ushered Alex inside, where she found a beautiful, bright space… that was completely empty. It was obviously intended to be a living room, and she could see a fancy-looking kitchen in the next room, but the whole place was spotless and bare.

  “This way,” Cam said, tugging her toward a set of stairs that divided the living room and kitchen.

  Alex dutifully followed him up the highly polished wood steps, around a corner and into a barren white hallway.

  “Cam… can you please tell me what we’re doing here?” she asked, pulling at his hand.

  “In here,” he said, leading her to a doorway to their right. He swung open the door, moving Alex in front of him and propelling her into the room.

  Alex gasped. Where the rest of the house was bare, this bedroom was fully furnished, decorated in vibrant, fun hues. The walls were a lovely robin’s egg blue, with two big windows dressed with pale peach and white curtains. A big four-poster bed stood in the center of the room, swathed in soft white tulle. The bed’s dark headboard matched a huge armoire, two small bedside tables, and a chest of drawers. An open doorway to Alex’s left gave her a glimpse of a bathroom, all done in pastel yellow tile.

  “Wha—” Alex began, turning to face Cam, but he was too quick for her questions.

  He leaned down and gave her a deep, hard kiss. He picked her up by the waist and walked her backward, his tongue finding hers as he pushed her onto the bed. Alex let him lay her out across the bed, stretching out so their bodies were side by side. He kissed her with fervent hunger, an urgency she hadn’t yet seen in him. Perhaps it had been there during their first drunken encounter, but she couldn’t parse that now.

  “Cam!” she protested at last, pulling back and staring him down. “Tell me what we’re doing. Whose bed are we in?”

  “Ours, obviously,” Cam drawled, lifting a brow.

  Alex was flabbergasted. Her mouth opened, and an unflattering noise came out, but words were a bit more of a challenge.

  “What do you mean, ours?” she demanded.

  “I bought it after our second date. That’s how sure I was about you and me,” Cameron said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  “You’re crazy,” Alex told him, a wild rush of happiness filling her chest.

  “You can’t fight chemistry. And we’ve got that in spades,” Cam said. He pushed her hair off her shoulder, leaning in close to nuzzle her neck. Alex shivered at the feel of his warm lips skating over her pulse, moving up to tease her earlobe.

  “This is crazy,” Alex repeated, but her words came out a breathless giggle. “You bought us a house, on impulse?”

  “I’d say instinct. And it’s a good thing I did,” he murmured against her skin. He nipped and kissed her neck, warming her whole body from t
he core out. “Because I’ve heard kids need a good house to grow up in. Lots of space.”

  Before Alex could protest further, Cam captured her lips in a tender, searching kiss. His hand came up to cup her breast through her dress, lifting and kneading, making pleasure flare deep in her body. His movements were devastatingly slow and languid, though Alex wanted nothing more then for Cam to strip her and fuck her, fill her, give her the satisfaction her body already needed more than anything.

  Instead he teased her, brushing his fingertips over her collarbone, tracing the lines of her cleavage. He ran a hand down her ribs, taking a long moment to splay his fingers over her stomach, reminding her of the precious life growing inside her body.

  “Cam,” she pleaded, shifting so she could unbutton his shirt.

  Alex parted his shirt, smoothing her hands over his taut pecs and chiseled abs, gripping his leanly-muscled hips. She traced the lines of his tattoos, vowing to herself that she’d examine them in more detail later. Just now, she didn’t have the patience, no matter how drawn she was to Cameron’s ink. When she started unbuttoning his jeans, Cam chuckled and pushed her hands away.

  “Easy. We’ve got all the time in the world,” he admonished her.

  Alex made an impatient sound, but she didn’t press the issue. Cam rose and removed his shirt, tossing it to the floor. He coaxed her into a sitting position and pulled her dress up over her head, throwing it beside his shirt. Alex wore lacy black panties and a matching bra, a hasty yet hopeful decision on her part, and now she was glad she’d done so.

  “Beautiful,” Cam said, mostly to himself, his eyes taking in her bared skin.

  Alex resisted the urge to cover herself, letting him look his fill. Watching him, seeing the naked hunger in his gaze, made her want him even more. She licked her lips and the movement caught Cam’s attention. He made a low sound in his throat and rose to shuck his jeans off, leaving him in tight black boxer briefs that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Alex stared at the thick bulge he presented as he climbed back on the bed.