by Elle Thorne
“Dakotah, I’d like to provide you with an option.” His expression was serious.
“What kind?” She should probably feel nervous, but she didn’t. There was something about Griz that instilled trust within her.
“A place to stay. A place where Larsen can grow up safe. A place where you can live without fear.” He moved his hand from Larsen’s forehead to her shoulder. “Girl, I’d say you’re due for a little bit of happiness. Bear Canyon Valley can bring you some of that. And the mountain ranges that surround it are my territory. They have been a long time. I can teach Larsen everything he needs to know about being a shifter.” Griz glanced at Braden. Then he looked back at Dakotah. “Unless you find someone who can do that instead of me.”
“Oh no, Mister Griz. You’re not getting out of that so easily.” She smiled at him. “As his godfather, you will have some very definite responsibilities.” This time she put her hand on his shoulder and looked deeply into his eyes. “And you will instill in him values I know he will carry with him the rest of his life. I don’t think it was an accident you were where you were, or an accident you have become his godfather.”
Griz looked down. And she could have sworn, for just a moment, there seemed to be glistening in his eyes. He rose to his feet. “I’ll let you get some rest. I’ll see if we can send one of the boys to get something for you to eat. My grizzly heard your stomach rumbling.”
She laughed. “I’m pretty sure they heard it in the next county.”
* * *
Dakotah woke with a start. She’d been sleeping quite heavily. The warmth of Braden’s polar bear was lulling. And it probably had something to do with the big meal Mae had brought in. After Larsen had nursed and gone to sleep, avoiding rest had proved impossible as Dakotah’s eyelids became heavier and heavier.
She moved position slightly, as her foot had fallen asleep. And then she noticed: her arms felt empty. A familiar weight was missing.
Larsen!
She pushed her panic away, maybe Mae had taken him, perhaps to change his diaper. Or maybe Doc had removed him from her arms, to make sure he was still healthy and well.
Panic came back as she realized the blanket Larsen had been wrapped in was wadded and still in her lap. That couldn’t be.
A mewling sound, low and barely audible caught her attention. She turned her head and glanced at Braden’s bear.
Dakotah gasped.
A tawny bundle of fur, practically rolled into a ball, was curled against Braden’s bear. The bear had rolled onto his side, one large paw on the tiny furball.
Oh Jesus. Was that her baby? Would that polar bear kill him if he woke up? Panic surged anew.
“Larsen?” Dakotah’s word was just a whisper, not wanting to wake the bear, fearing for her baby’s life. If that was her baby.
The tiny furry head, tiny when compared to the bear’s head, rose, and the little cub’s eyes opened.
Dakotah stared in those eyes, and saw the recognition and saw her baby.
“How did you do that?” She clamped her hand over her mouth. She hadn’t meant to speak aloud.
The bear moved slightly, its muscles seeming to tense, rippling with the movement.
Dakotah froze. Should she be fearful? Braden had risked his life to protect her and Larsen.
But this was not Braden, she reminded herself. This was his bear.
Larsen opened his little baby lion mouth with a wide yawn.
Dakotah tensed as he ended his yawn with the sleepy sound that she feared would wake the bear. She was not willing to take any chances. She was not willing to leave her baby in that large polar bear’s grasp.
Dakotah stood, slowly, putting her weight on one foot at a time, praying she would not make a sound.
She leaned down to where the bear and the baby—cub rested, and put her hand out for her son. Except it seemed that Larsen’s lion cub had other ideas. He turned his head away from her and tilted his way deeper into Braden’s polar bear’s arms.
Damn.
Now what?
“He’s fine.” Griz’s voice was soft, barely above a whisper.
“Please help my baby.” She grabbed his arm and jerked on it.
“Braden would never hurt Larsen.”
She knew that. But still. “I —”
Griz held up a hand. “I won’t let anything happen. But as sure as I would give my life to protect him, I know Braden would do the same. I know his bear would too. His bear has found what he has been looking for.” He looked at her intently, as if she should know what this meant.
She watched little Larsen, adorable in his lion form, looking as if he felt perfectly at home and safe in the arms of that massive bear. She didn’t understand this. Then again, she didn’t exactly understand her feelings for Braden either.
Dakotah dropped to her knees, willing to wait until Larsen crawled out or the bear awoke.
Chapter Eighteen
Braden was still in the grip of his bear’s control, but he was not unaware that his bear was at peace. And in that peace, Braden was able to rest, and let his body heal. He had taken quite a hit, a major artery in his thigh. He had bled a lot, and hadn’t realized himself how much until he felt himself fall.
He was still groggy, but slowly coming to. In that state of half-asleep, half awake, he heard several heartbeats. He scented different smells. One was Dakotah. The other was Griz. The third was a lion.
His polar bear eyes flew open.
A lion, could this be the lion that had attacked him? The one they had killed?
Movement against his chest made him look down. A lion cub, small compared to his own size, was shuffling and kneading at his fur.
The answer was immediate.
Larsen.
Braden wrapped his paws around the little lion, and made him comfortable. He studied his tiny features, the little spots that would have provided camouflage if he’d been born in the wild, the tawny tufts on his ears.
Cuteness personified. He couldn’t resist the smile that crept to his face.
Then, he had this feeling of being watched. Braden glanced up, to find Dakotah watching them, a scared expression on her face that was fading away.
He shifted into his human form.
Hopefully, she realized he wasn’t a threat.
“Hey.” He kept his voice low, not wanting to wake Larsen.
“Hi,” Dakotah said. She chewed her bottom lip in a way that not only made her adorable, but left him with a furious desire to kiss her.
Okay, maybe a whole hell of a lot more than kiss.
“He looks like he feels at home here, doesn’t he?” Braden hoped she would agree with him.
Her chewing became more intense. Finally, she said, “I hate to admit it, but I think he does.”
Just when Braden wanted to talk to her, to tell her so much, Griz walked in. “You’re awake.”
Braden nodded.
Then Griz said, “You don’t look too bad.” A half-smile came to his face. “Seems my godson is making himself at home, isn’t he?”
Just that moment, Larsen’s lion cub glanced up at Braden then across at his mother, and then shifted into a baby. A second later his mouth was open and wailing.
“My cue to exit.” Griz laughed.
“Time for the handoff.” Braden indicated for Dakotah to take the crying baby.
She was already reaching across. “Sorry,” she said with a smile. “I’m guessing you like him better as a lion.”
Larsen was already quieting.
Braden caught her fingers with his, trapping them for a second. “I like him anyway he is. Same with his mama.”
A blush bloomed on Dakotah’s cheeks, and she released a scent that told him she very much enjoyed what he said. And then she put a stern look on her face. “I’m not into casual flirtation.”
“Do I seem like the casual type?” he asked. His tone was serious.
She shook her head. The red color fading.
“Good. No flirtation here.�
�� He locked gazes with her, hoping she got it. He didn’t want her to underestimate the message he was sending.
A soft knock on the door’s jamb, then Ciara peeked her head in. “Griz said you were awake.”
Grand Central Station, Braden thought, but didn’t say. “Yeah, I’m up.”
Too bad he couldn’t have a single moment alone with Dakotah. There seemed to be so much he wanted to say.
“What’s on your mind,” he asked Ciara.
She glanced between the two of them, clearly using her Intuitive skills to assess the scenario, then spoke. “I was thinking maybe you would want to do something about,” she glanced at Dakotah as if wondering if she could mention this in front of her.
“It’s okay,” Braden assured her.
“I was thinking maybe you would want to do something about your scars.”
“Like what?” She had his curiosity piqued. He’d never thought there could be something done about the nightmare he lived in.
“Well, I was talking to Griz and Doc. I think I know what my brother did. The original shot put your bear under so my brother’s dastardly act could work. He attached a hex, for lack of a better term, and it’s making your bear relive your torment.”
Braden frowned at the complexity of this. “Sounds more like witchcraft.” He was definitely not a fan of sorcery, had never really been a fan of witches, until meeting the Romanoffs and some of their friends.
“I suppose it is sort of like witchcraft,” Ciara said. “Do you know my brother? Why would he do this to you?”
“I don’t know him and never met him before. But I’ll never forget eyes like his.”
“I heard he works for hire. Can you think of any enemies that you might have?”
“Enemies? Don’t all shifters have enemies?” He shrugged. “There was another polar bear shifter in Sigma Eps. I was in Gamma Psy. That polar bear shifter is dead, killed by Gavin Castro.”
Ciara tilted her head. “Gavin, as in Mr. Mikhail Romanoff’s daughter’s mate?”
“Yeah, a butter-bar second lieutenant officer who got most of Gavin’s unit killed. Gavin’s brother was one of them.”
“Excuse me, Larsen’s hungry,” Dakotah said, and slipped out the door.
Braden and his bear both noted her absence immediately. It was as if his world had a void the size of a continent in it now.
Man, I got it bad.
His bear had it pretty damned bad too.
Yeah, he does.
“Braden?”
Ciara pulled him from his reverie.
“Sorry. What?”
Ciara shook her head at him, a mystical smile on her face. “Shifters and their fated mates.”
“What? No. I—”
“Don’t bother.” Ciara shook her head. “It’s not exactly a secret. You shifters, your love, the way you bond, the foreverness of it, the intensity of it, it’s no secret to other paranormal beings, you know?”
He cocked his head. “Intuitives aren’t the same? Others aren’t like this? You don’t feel this kind of love?”
“Oh, I didn’t say that.” Ciara had a look on her face that for a brief moment he wanted to identify as melancholy, but then quickly, she covered it. “We feel.”
He raised a brow. That was all she was going to say? He found that hard to believe, especially when he’d just read an emotion on a face that was practiced to contain emotions. Intuitives were renowned for their skills with hiding their emotions and detecting emotions in others.
“Shall we work on your problem?” Ciara was definitely ready to change topics.
“You mean the one your brother gave me?”
Her already light skin paled and she let out a sigh, dropping down to the pallet next to him.
“Sorry,” he said. And he was sorry. It wasn’t her fault that her brother was a douche bag who’d hexed him into a state of insomnia and agony. But still, he was human—his bear roared—okay, part human, and it was hard not to be angry at the world at times. “You really think you can help me?”
“She can.” Griz walked in.
Damn, this place really was Grand Central.
Ciara gave Griz a look. “I believe I can.”
Braden frowned. “That sounds dubious.”
“I’ve never done this before. I watched my grandmother’s sister. Even helped her a couple of times.”
“So what’s this procedure.”
“Pretty much like an exorcism.” Griz grinned.
“What the—” Braden did a double take between the two of them, his gaze bouncing like a ping pong.
Ciara groaned. “No. Don’t listen to him.” She hit Griz on the shoulder. “Why do you do that?”
“Well, what else would you compare it to?” Griz protested, his smile reduced to a grin.
“I wouldn’t call it that. There aren’t any demons in him.”
“Then what would you call what’s in him.”
“Time for you to go.” Ciara rose to her feet and not so gently urged Griz out of the room. “Your bedside manner stinks.”
“So what’s the deal,” Braden asked her. “Don’t sugarcoat it. If it’s not an exorcism, then what is it?”
“He’s put an essence in to haunt your bear.”
Braden shuddered, bothered by the thought of that. “Sounds like a damned exorcism to me.”
“It’s not a demon. It’s not even alive. It’s something that haunts your bear.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re minimizing? You don’t, do you? You don’t know the torment. You have no clue.”
Her face saddened. “I do. I have a very definite clue.”
“How’s that?” Braden barked, irritated by the idea she didn’t understand how dire this was, how he’d reached a point where he didn’t want to live.
“My—” Her voice choked, and still standing from shooing Griz out of the room, she turned to face the wall, fiddling with jars on a shelf, rearranging them over and over again before she finally cleared her throat. Her shoulders were stiff as she began to talk. “My fiancé.” She shook her head, then turned to face him.
Her lighter than light eyes were surrounded by red shot whites. “My brother did that to my fiancé Wharton when he found out I was going to take a shifter as my mate. Wharton’s tiger killed Wharton trying to get out of his body and away from the hexed essence my brother put in him.” She was clenching and unclenching her fists.
Braden rose, put an arm on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s—you had no way of knowing. But you see, it means a lot to me to make this work. I have to make it work.”
If it worked, he’d be free. He felt like he’d been giving a reprieve from death row.
A sound from the doorway made Braden snap his head in that direction.
Dakotah stood there, her hand over her mouth. It must have been what he heard. She was taking in the scene, her eyes full of concern.
“What are the dangers?” Dakotah asked.
Chapter Nineteen
A pinch of jealousy shot through Dakotah. She didn’t think for a second there was anything going on between Braden and Ciara, but that didn’t stop the intensity of the feeling that traveled through her.
The next emotion that coursed within her veins was fear as she processed what she’d just heard.
Whatever it was—this essence hex thing—it could kill Braden the way it had killed Ciara’s fiancé.
No. Hell to the no. Dakotah wasn’t willing to stand by and watch that happen to Braden. She didn’t know if he’d ever share the same feelings for her that she had for him, but she’d be damned if she’d watch this amazing man die.
And I’ll find Ciara’s brother and fucking kill him with my bare hands if Braden dies. I swear this.
Braden walked away from Ciara and approached her. “This isn’t what you—” She put her hand up. His explanation was secondary to her concern about his wellbeing.
She looked at Ciara. “What are the dangers?”
Griz stepped into the room. “Mae said to tell you Larsen’s asleep.”
“Thank you.”
Doc followed Griz into the room. “I’m here to help, if there’s anything I can do.”
“When do you want to do this?” Braden asked as if suddenly in a hurry to get this over with.
“It’s up to you,” Ciara said.
“Now okay?” His voice was anxious.
Dakotah noted he definitely couldn’t wait anymore and wondered why. Maybe he had someone special back home. Someone waiting for him to return.
“Is that all right with everyone else?” Ciara looked around the room.
“Sure,” Griz said.
“Absolutely,” Doc agreed.
Braden looked at Dakotah.
“I still haven’t heard what the dangers are.” Dakotah felt awkward saying that, knowing maybe he had someone else, but it didn’t matter. She cared. She wanted to know.
Ciara opened her mouth to answer, but Braden shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter what the dangers are. You have to understand the danger if we don’t do this…” He stumbled around the words as if stumped what to call it.
Dakotah was happy he wasn’t using the word exorcism.
“Procedure,” Ciara finished for him.
“Thanks. Procedure.” He motioned for Dakotah to come closer. “You don’t understand.”
“Let’s give them a moment,” Doc said and slipped out.
Everyone else followed Doc out of the room.
Dakotah stepped closer to Braden. He took her hand in his.
“If I come through this okay, there’s stuff we need to talk about.”
“But—”
“There’s no buts. You don’t understand. This thing that’s going on. It’s about driven me to the point where I didn’t want to live. I don’t want it to take me there again, if it gets as bad. I need to have something to look forward to.”
“Look forward to?”
“Yeah.” Then he raised his voice. “Let’s get the show on the road.”
Dakotah was perplexed by how distant he seemed at this moment. Maybe it’s not distant. Maybe he’s just so focused on this goal.
She kept her voice low. “Mind if I’m in here?” she paused, uncertain how to proceed, sorting her thoughts before continuing. “I mean during the procedure.”
