by T. S. Joyce
BETRAY THE BEAR
(BEAR VALLEY SHIFTERS, BOOK 4)
By T. S. JOYCE
Other Books in this Series
Bear Valley Shifters
The Witness and the Bear (Book 1)
Devoted to the Bear (Book 2)
Return to the Bear (Book 3)
Redeem the Bear (Book 5)
Betray the Bear
Copyright © 2014 by T. S. Joyce
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the author.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Dedication
For A.
Prologue
“You don’t have to do this,” Brody murmured against Joanna’s throat.
His hands gathered her hair at the base of her neck, and his lips brushed the sensitive skin just below her earlobe. His eyes, more green than brown today, were serious and troubled. He was stalling and distracting her, and he was doing a damn fine job of it. She didn’t want to see Nathan any more than Brody wanted her to, but Riker had asked, and he was her alpha now. He hadn’t demanded she obey, like Nathan would’ve done. He gave her a choice.
A meeting with the alpha of the Long Claw Clan was a last ditch effort to avoid war, and anyone with eyes in their head could see Riker didn’t want another bloody battle. He’d led too many fights—lost too many soldiers to old bear shifter traditions. It wasn’t just Riker who had convinced her to go. Hannah, without saying a word, had helped. She was a dear friend now, and if Joanna could stop the war that was brewing like dark storm clouds over their kind, well, she would do just about anything to keep her new clan safe. To keep her friends safe.
Brody trailed his warm lips down her throat and brushed the collar of her loose shirt wide enough that it slid down her shoulders. Soon she wouldn’t remember what they were arguing about.
"Brody,” she panted as his teeth grazed the curvature of her ear. “I have to go.”
A deep rumble rattled his chest and the crack of power and anger wafted from his skin. This behavior used to scare her, but now she knew better. It was just the way his bear was made—all bark and only pleasurable bites.
“If you’re really going through with this,” he whispered, unzipping his pants, “you’ll go with my scent on you, Jo.” The mahogany dresser of their small bedroom creaked as she arched her neck back and opened her legs for him.
Brody was dominant and insatiable, and even though her heat had ended last month, she was still just as hungry for his skin as he seemed to be for hers.
Riker was just going to have to wait.
Brushing her sundress slowly up her thighs, Brody’s eyes seemed to darken as he pulled her panties down her legs and tossed them to the carpet beneath his feet. His dark hair was silken beneath her fingertips as she urged him closer. His fingers dug into her waist, and a helpless sound wrenched from her throat as he yanked her forward against his stony erection. Her blood flamed, burning through her veins until it landed in a pool in her stomach. “Now, Brody,” she pleaded.
With a muttered oath, he slid into her. Her breath hitched as he filled her and her eyes rolled back in her head as he murmured her name. She’d never tire of that word on his lips. She’d never tire of her life here with the man she had fallen hopelessly in love with, and a vision of Nathan watching her, teasing her, slashed across her mind. Desperate to cast the ghosts from such an intimate moment, she clutched harder to Brody’s back, digging her nails in.
Another growl, deeper and throatier than the last, rippled through her mate and his hips crashed against hers until she cried out his name and shattered right along with him. He tensed and stilled as his warmth filled her in throbbing bursts. Two more thrusts and he held her against the mirror like he couldn’t let her go.
She understood. She was scared of losing him too.
Minutes ticked by and still he held her, filled her, his breath steadying, and she wished she knew what he was thinking. He was a quiet man, and if she pushed too soon, she wouldn’t have the satisfaction of him telling her on his own. He’d been trying more since their mating ceremony.
“I don’t want Nathan anywhere near you. Not after what he did. Not after how he treated you.” His voice was hoarse like he hadn’t used it in a while.
“Riker will be there and we’re meeting in a public place. He won’t try anything or he’ll risk exposure, punishable by death. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“I should be going with you. This isn’t right, Jo. I’m supposed to protect you, and I can’t do that from here.”
“Mmm. You’ll kill him this time, Brody. We can’t risk that in front of humans, and you could be banished for fighting on neutral ground. You won’t be able to control your bear.”
Another snarl ripped from him and she eased back. “Hey.” She pulled his gaze back to hers with cupped hands on his cheeks. “That’s not a flaw with your bear, Brody. You’re my mate. You should protect me, and I you. But if we want to stop what’s happening, I have to do this alone. He’s asked for me. I have to try and fix this.”
Running his hands through his hair in an agitated gesture, he pulled out of her and stood back. “I trust you.”
“I don’t care about him like that and you know it.”
“No, I know you don’t. I mean I trust you to take care of yourself. You’re strong, Jo. Even stronger now than when you came back to Bear Valley with me.”
“Brody Bannister, are you complimenting me for the second time today?”
His lips twisted into a wry smile. “Figure you’re due after everything we went through.”
She hopped off the dresser and kissed him soundly. The man probably didn’t even know how much he affected her.
“One hour,” he murmured against her lips.
“And what if I’m late?” she asked, teasing.
His hands slid over her backside and gripped her hard. “Then I shall have to punish you, mate.”
Well, that sounded delicious.
His eyes grew serious, and he traced the length of one of the cuts he’d made across her chest the day she’d escaped the Long Claws. “Remember who you are. You’re Bear Valley now. Don’t let him make you feel less than.”
She smiled and grabbed his hand, kissed it and let her lips linger. “I won’t ever forget. Riker’s waiting,” she said, dipping to retrieve her panties from the floor.
He swatted her ass, then turned and leaned back against the dresser until his triceps flexed. Just the sight of him made her stomach do flip-flops.
“Tell Nathan I say hi.”
“Right,” she said, arching her eyebrow as she redressed. She turned for the door and shook her head. Brody had almost killed him five weeks ago. Nathan wouldn’t appreciate a salutations from her mate.
A short hike and the gravel parking lot came into view. Riker stood against his giant black Ford pickup with his arms crossed over his chest like he’d been waiting a while. Oops.
“Sorry,” she muttered as she climbed the railroad tie stairs.
His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed as she passed and climbed into the passenger seat, but if she smelled like fresh Brody lovin’, he didn’t mention it.
“Blaine is already at the diner,” the alpha said in a deep, careful voice as he slid behind the wheel. “He’ll be sitting up at the bar top with a small arsenal behind the counter in case Nath
an tries anything.”
“Do you think he’ll try to take me?”
“He’ll die if he does,” Riker said quickly, like he was itching for him to try. “You’re my clan member now, and you are mate to one of my best friends.” His lightened gaze found her as he started the engine. “I’ll cut him down if I even sense he’s up to something.”
Riker’s claim did make her feel better. She’d seen his bear on several occasions. He was even bigger than Brody. Hell, he was bigger than Bear Valley’s lead fight trainer, Chase, and that man was a mountain of an animal. She sighed and pulled her seatbelt over her lap as he pulled onto the worn dirt road that led out of clan territory.
The thirty mile ride to the small Montana town of Sheridan was quiet. Riker didn’t seem to want to talk, and that was fine by her because she was growing more nervous with every passing mile. She had lived with Nathan for two years after the Long Claws had destroyed her clan. He’d spared her life in battle, had even been kind to her once. That was all before he had become alpha and his bear got the taste of unchecked power. He had turned cold as winter and the life had died from his eyes. He pursued her even as he collected his three mates, Anya, Greta and April. She’d kept her distance for two years, and every day he grew more desperate to possess her. And now she’d see him again—sit in a tiny diner in Sheridan, and eat lunch like they were old friends instead of bitter enemies. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Why did he obsess over her rejection of him? He had three mates to satisfy him. Four now if he’d made a deal with that horrible woman, Merit.
Why couldn’t he just let her go?
The sight of the diner at the end of Main Street washed a new wave of panic over her. Riker shot her a fierce look, and she tried to steady her breathing. All she was doing was getting his bear riled up and ready to fight.
Everything was going to be okay. She could do this. The fate of Bear Valley rested on her ability to have a civil lunch with a psychopath, but it was fine. No pressure.
She shut the door to Riker’s truck a little too soundly as the nervous flutters spread to her shaking hands. She closed her eyes and took a long, steadying breath, imagined the smile Brody had given her when he saw her at their mating ceremony, and it helped. Riker watched her with something akin to pity in his eyes, and he followed her up the creaking metal stairs to the diner.
She thought she’d been prepared to see Nathan, but when her gaze drifted to the table in the corner where he sat watching her, she had to remind herself to breathe. With his head canted and those cold, predatory eyes that had only grown emptier since she’d left his clan, he looked otherworldly, like a nightmare come to life.
Riker’s hand on the small of her back made her jump like a startled rabbit, and he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “We’re right here if you need us.” His narrowed gaze stayed focused on Nathan, who watched their exchange with hard, dead eyes.
Checkered tile floors sat under cracked plastic tables in differing shades of red, depending on where they were situated under the direct window light. Squeaky spinning bar stools housed two humans sitting on the opposite wall, talking quietly amongst themselves and casting suspicious glances over their shoulders at Riker. Blaine was leaned against the counter, clad in his police uniform and nursing a fragrant coffee. His hand rested on the pistol in a holster at his waist. He nodded a greeting to her, but his eyes were on Nathan.
They were wise to be suspicious of the cunning alpha. He was a bigger danger than anyone could understand. She’d watched his mind slip over her time with his clan. She knew the havoc that followed him. He was a destroyer, annihilating all in his wake.
He blinked once, and she took slow steps toward the table. Nothing in her wanted to do this. As she drew closer and he turned his head, she stifled a gasp. Nathan’s eyes were still the blue of summer skies, and his hair still blond and messy on top. He still had that chiseled jaw that had the females of his clan clambering over themselves to spend time with him. His green stretch cotton shirt was unbuttoned on top and accented the angles of tense muscled that stretched across his chest. But long jagged scars, still red and angry looking, dove down his neck and disappeared under the collar of his shirt.
He didn’t move, just let her take him in.
“Did Brody do that to you?” It was an unnecessary question. Of course he did.
Nathan nodded and sat straighter, pushed a hamburger basket in front of her and offered her an empty smile. “Eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
His face tinged red and he looked away, jaw working as he clenched his teeth. He couldn’t control her anymore though. He wasn’t her alpha.
“Do you like your new life as much as you thought you would?” he asked.
Crossing her arms, she shook her head and leaned back into the plastic bench seat. Small talk with him was pointless. “Why did you ask for me, Nathan? What do you want from me?”
“Everything.” Emotion jutted across the icy blue in his eyes, and he leaned forward. “I want every fucking thing from you, Joanna.” His throat moved as he swallowed and seemed to try and gain control. He shook his head as if he were trying to clear it. “I loved you.”
She huffed the ghost of a laugh. “You don’t know what love is. You hurt me.”
“No, I tried to take care of you. I tried to make you my mate.”
“You hit me and then you chased me through the woods, Nathan. You were going to kill me.”
His breath froze, and he tilted his head like he was unsure if she were joking. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not playing whatever game you’re getting at.”
“When?” he asked, voice cracking. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “When did I hit you?”
Unbelievable. She stared at him with a half-smile that said he was a complete douche-boob for trying this crap with her. “When you saw me escaping with Hannah. You were going to end me, Nathan. I saw it in your eyes. There was nothing there. No soul, no feeling, no recognition that what you were doing was wrong. You couldn’t have me, so no one could.”
“I don’t…I don’t remember that part.”
“Fuck you.”
“I’m not saying I didn’t do it. Maybe I did, I don’t know. I just don’t remember. I remember…” His eyes looked a million miles away and his voice dipped to a ragged whisper. “I remember him cutting you, claiming you, and I couldn’t get to you in time.”
“It’s what I wanted.”
“Are you still with him?”
“Of course I am. Brody is my mate. For life, Nathan! It’s what I told you I wanted for two years and Brody gave that to me.”
“Come home, Joanna. I need you.” His voice sounded gruff and broken, and the tiniest bit of his hardened exterior was showing tarnish and cracks.
She pulled her shirt to the side, revealing Brody’s mark on her. “I am home.”
“I can’t stop a war if you stay. The only way I keep alpha is if I avenge your loss and annihilate Bear Valley.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she pleaded. “Just let me go.”
“It’s bigger than that now,” he yelled, slamming his fist on the table. His nostrils flared as he heaved breathe. He shot a warning glance over her shoulder and shook his head but when she turned around, it didn’t look like Riker or Blaine had moved. In a calmer tone, Nathan said, “We lost on our own territory to your betrayal. I was marred on my own land and had to bury nine of my men that day because of what you brought to us.”
“No. That was because of what you brought. You took Hannah, mistreated the mate of one of the most battle savvy alphas in the world. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
“Please. You can still save me,” he said, and the brush of his fingertips touched her knee under the table.
She jerked back. “Don’t you touch me. No one can save you but you. I’m not your salvation or your cure. I was never yours and never will be.”
“Tell me what to do.”
His eyes were wide and desperate and a little piece of her felt sorry for him. His bear was bloated with power from running a clan without a council to keep him in check. Nathan was at war for his sanity now.
“Leave the Long Claws. Find a mate. A real one, not the three you screw to try and continue your line. Find someone to love you and love them back. Spend time away from the clan until your bear settles. Run from being alpha, Nathan. Maybe this is what is supposed to happen. Your people are putting pressure on you to retaliate? You’ll kill so many, and then you’ll be doomed. How will you ever hope to be saved after a war like this?”
A slow, wicked smile crooked his lips and the emotion drained from his eyes. “Run from alpha?” His voice sounded strange, inhuman. Power, like thunder rumbling through her body, filled the space in between them. “I’m born for alpha, mate.”
“I’m not your mate.”
“Eat your food!” he roared so loud she jumped.
He wouldn’t do this to her. She’d been cowed under him for years, but not anymore. She was a Bear Valley shifter now and stronger than this. “You aren’t my alpha. Riker is, and thank God for that. He’s ten times the leader you could ever hope to be.”
“Come home with me now, Joanna, or so help me, I’ll drown those mountains in Bear Valley blood. You can save everyone. Just come home.”
She could end it all. There would be no war, no retaliation, no loss of life. There could be peace if only she could shut her heart down and live a cursed existence under Nathan’s rule. She’d known freedom though, and once uncaged, she couldn’t be confined again. “I’m sorry.” She wasn’t apologizing to him, but to all the people she would hurt with her selfish decision.
Standing, tears burned the backs of her eyes, but she blinked them back. Nathan didn’t deserve to see her so raw like this. He’d only earned her frosty disdain.
“Do you love him?” The question sounded strained coming from his tight lips.