by Roxie Noir
“You’re right,” he said. “Let’s go back.”
While Leah was in the shower, he finally called Brock back. After all, it would probably be worse to simply show up with Leah in tow rather than give the alpha a few hours to fume.
Brock answered the phone with a snarl.
“Where are you?”
“Outside Anchorage,” Nathan said. “At the Midnight Sun casino.”
“And why are you there?”
“I got married,” Nathan said, as casually as he could.
On the other end of the line, stunned silence.
Then, a door slammed open, and Nathan could hear Jonah Whitehorse’s voice.
“Is that him?” he shouted. “Tell him—”
“Shut up!” Brock shouted back. “Get out.”
Silence again.
“I said get out, Jonah.”
Nathan knew that tone in Brock’s voice, and despite himself, he swallowed. It was a clear don’t fuck with me tone.
A door shut, and Brock spoke into the phone again.
“You got married to Leah Whitehorse?” he asked. His voice shook just a little, and Nathan could hear that he was struggling to keep himself in check.
“Yep,” he said. He opened the curtains of the hotel room and looked out at all the cars shining in the sun, down in the parking lot. “We’re coming back to town. Leah wants to see her family before they leave.”
Brock half-laughed, a totally humorless sound.
“I’m not sure they want to see her,” he said.
“Do you speak for her family, or just for her father?”
“Her father is the one that matters.”
“She doesn’t care about him. She wants to see her siblings and her mother.”
“Ian’s also pretty pissed, you know.”
Nathan snorted.
“She told him off already. He followed us to the casino somehow, and she got right in his face. You should have seen it, Brock.”
Silence again, but this time, Nathan could almost hear Brock’s anger mellowing over the phone. He wasn’t Ian’s biggest fan, either, but he’d been willing to make this match in order to ally the two clans together, and, more importantly, make more matches.
Now, Nathan could tell, the wheels in the other man’s brain were clicking. The clans were still allied. A Whitehorse woman was still married to a North Star man.
“He beat up Carson, you know,” Nathan went on. “To make me look bad to Leah.”
“Come home,” Brock said, still angry but not furious like he had been. “Come home and we’ll talk.”
Nathan heard the water in the shower shut off and hung up the phone.
28
Leah
The closer they got to Fjords, the quieter Leah got. At the casino, far away from her family and especially from her father, she’d felt considerably braver. But now, all she could imagine was his pure alpha rage. She’d only seen him disobeyed a handful of times before, and it had never been her — despite everything, up until now, she’d been the good daughter.
Now, he was likely to hit the roof and go through it.
There was nothing he could do, though. Nathan was her mate now, officially, and there was nothing that her father could do to change that.
Bears mated for life, after all.
Though, there was a small problem: technically, they hadn’t mated. It was a two-part ritual: first the wedding, then the mating. And while what they’d done in bed had been incredible, it hadn’t, technically, been mating.
Technically, she was still a virgin, and she was afraid that her father might be able to tell.
It doesn’t matter, she told herself. You’re still married. You’re still his, and you’ve still been way more intimate with him than with anyone else.
Part of her felt guilty, though, that she hadn’t completely given herself to him yet. True, he hadn’t asked, and he seemed completely happy with what they were doing.
Still, Leah wanted to give him her virginity. She was just nervous about the logistics.
As he drove, Nathan looked over at her. He reached over and squeezed her hand.
“I’m right here,” he said.
She squeezed back.
“I know,” she said.
By the time they reached the driveway to the house where her family was staying, Leah thought that her heart might beat clear out of her chest. She felt a mixture of brave and terrified; for the first time, she wasn’t under her father’s thumb anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something. He wouldn’t hurt her — he’d never do that — but he could still fight Nathan or cut her off from her siblings who were still under his protection.
Like her little sister, Emily.
Nathan pulled the car up next to her family’s van and cut the engine. Leah just stared straight ahead, trying to gather her wits.
He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it tight.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“No,” she said.
Nathan raised his eyebrows.
“I’m going to tell him,” she said, squeezing his hand back. The fury was growing inside her, threatening to take her over.
She’d spent thirty-two years doing what her father wanted her to, and now, she was free, and it felt wonderful. She wanted to be the one to tell him that she’d defied him and see the look on his face when he realized he’d lost control.
Deep inside, her bear growled with satisfaction.
“Let’s go,” Leah said.
Nathan didn’t argue, just got out of the car and followed his wife to her front door.
As Leah raised her hand to knock, the door flew open.
“Leah!” her mother exclaimed, nearly knocking the girl down opening the screen door. She took her daughter in a bear hug, her gray hair tangling together with Leah’s bright orange hair.
“Oh my god, I was so worried,” she said, squeezing her daughter so tight that Leah could hardly breathe. “Are you okay? You disappeared and we thought the worst...”
With one final squeeze, she backed up and took her daughter’s face in her hands.
“I’m fine, mom,” Leah said, smiling. “And I got married.”
Tears rose into Margaret Whitehorse’s eyes.
“Are you happy?” she whispered.
“I am,” she said.
As her mom hugged her again, Leah could see a tall form darken the hallway behind her.
“Leah,” her father said.
“Father,” Leah said. She still stood in the doorway, Nathan quiet behind her.
“Come in,” he said.
Margaret released their daughter and stepped aside and let Leah and Nathan come in. Leah’s father stood still, and Leah could almost feel the anger radiating off of him.
There’s nothing he can do, she reminded herself.
Nathan slid his hand into hers and squeezed it gently.
“You disobeyed me,” her father said.
His voice chilled her to the core, but Leah clenched her jaw and stood up straighter.
“I didn’t want to marry Ian,” she said. “I wanted to marry Nathan. So I did.”
“I don’t see rings.”
“We haven’t gotten them yet,” she said, her face going hot.
“What kind of man marries a woman without a ring?”
“Ian didn’t give me a ring,” she said, feeling her rage flicker brightly.
“He had approval,” Jonah said. He stepped forward, and Leah could see his eyes flash with anger. “I know what’s best for you, Leah. And that isn’t some violent playboy. Did Ian show you what he did to your cousin?”
Nathan started to say something but Leah cut him off, her words sharp.
“Nathan didn’t do that,” she said. “You know he didn’t.”
“He’s lying,” her father said, simply. “You have no reason to trust someone who’d bedded so many women he can’t even count them.”
Then he sniffed the a
ir for a second, a slow realization coming onto his face, and addressed Nathan.
“Have you mated her yet?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Yes,” Leah said firmly. She turned bright red, but her eyes were still flashing.
“Jonah,” Margaret said.
“Quiet,” he told her.
“I will not,” she said, marching past Leah and Nathan and right up to her husband. “Can’t you see how happy they are? You got what you wanted. She married into the North Star clan. Aren’t you satisfied?”
Leah’s father put his hands up, palms out, as if to ward off his wife’s demands, and Leah saw that the knuckles of his right hand were cut open.
Realization dawned on her.
“You beat up Carson,” she said.
“The hell are you talking about?” he asked, distracted for a moment. For the first time in years, Leah could tell that she’d caught her father off-guard.
“You beat up Carson so Ian could pin it on Nathan,” she said.
There was a creak at the top of the staircase to her right, and she looked up to see all three of her sisters and two brothers peering down, all watching the argument.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, but he put his hands down, hiding the knuckles of his right behind his left.
“How could you say those things about Nathan when you did that to your own flesh and blood?” Leah said. Now she was starting to shout. “Carson’s your nephew.”
“Did you, Jonah?” asked her mom, her voice nearly a whisper.
For the first time that she’d ever seen, Leah’s father looked almost lost, between his eldest daughter and his wife.
He was silent for a moment, and Leah could sense his bear threatening to break free, the muscles in his face working desperately.
Then he turned to Leah, taking a step toward her, towering over her. Behind her, Nathan stepped forward as well, more than willing to fight her father, but Leah held him back with one hand.
“You’ll come around someday,” Jonah said, smirking. “When he decides that he’s going to go back to having a different woman every week, and when he goes back to doing his alpha’s dirty work. People don’t change, Leah.”
“Maybe you don’t, father,” she said. Deep down, she was terrified, but she’d also never felt braver. “The rest of us still have a chance.”
Her father gave her a long, withering glare, looked once at Nathan, and then stormed out of the narrow hallway.
For a moment, there was dead silence. Then all of Leah’s siblings charged down the stairs, her sisters in the lead, and practically jumped on top of her, drowning her in hugs.
“You’re back!”
“You got married!”
“To him! Who knew?”
“Tell me everything!”
This is why I came back, she thought, practically lifted off the floor by the enthusiasm of her sisters.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “Everyone calm down.”
She walked into the sitting room, surrounded by her family, and looked over her shoulder as she did.
Still in the hallway, she saw her mother approach Nathan, still standing where Leah had left him, looking a little surprised and bowled over by her sisters’ enthusiasm.
Her mother said something to him, and Nathan responded.
Then they hugged.
It’s going to be a work in progress, Leah thought, only to have her thoughts interrupted by Abigail’s whisper.
“Did you do it yet?” she asked with a wink.
Leah turned pink.
Her sisters all giggled.
Leah and Nathan didn’t see her father again that day, despite staying at the house for dinner.
Afterward, Nathan insisted on doing the dishes and chased all the women out of the kitchen.
“I’ve lived by myself for almost twenty years,” he told a fretting Margaret. “I can clean a kitchen.”
The women congregated in the dining room, not really sure what to do or how to relax.
“Ian left,” Emily volunteered.
Rebecca and Abigail nodded.
“What do you mean?” Leah asked, twisting her napkin in her hands.
“His store is closed up,” Emily said. “And I heard Father talking to Brock about it. Whatever you told him really worked.”
Leah smiled, still looking down into her lap.
“He was kind of creepy,” said Rebecca.
“And too old for you,” added Abigail.
“Nathan’s much cuter,” said Rebecca. “And he’s got a great body.”
Abigail punched her sister playfully in the arm.
“He has very nice eyes,” her mother said, diplomatically. “And he does the dishes.”
Leah could hear her father stomping around on the floor above, but she didn’t care anymore. It was obvious that she’d won.
“Leah,” her mother started, then stopped. She frowned, as if looking for the right words. She sighed. “I’m so sorry I missed your wedding.”
“Mom, it’s—”
“Let me finish,” her mother said, some of the formality coming back into her voice. “I didn’t want to miss my daughter’s wedding, but let us throw you a reception, at least. To welcome Nathan to the family and you to the North Star clan.”
Leah smiled.
“Of course, mom,” she said.
“Father won’t have any of that,” observed Abigail.
Rebecca just shrugged.
“Forget Father,” said Emily. “Let’s have a party.”
Leah looked around at her family, listening to the dishes clink together in the next room.
We’re gonna be okay, she thought.
The next day, Leah drove Nathan to work and then took the car into town. Her mother let her clean out her room the night before, but all she had were dresses made from floral, ugly patterned cloth. They all had long sleeves and came down to mid-calf.
She didn’t own pants or shorts or even skirts that showed her knee, and she definitely didn’t own any high heeled shoes.
She definitely, definitely didn’t own anything sexy, or anything that could be considered lingerie-adjacent. The best she had were the white bras and white panties she wore with her frumpy dresses, and they just weren’t attractive at all.
Nathan hadn’t said anything. He was more than happy to just rip her dresses off and then make her come again and again, but she really wanted to show him something sexy.
Besides, they’d been married for three days and they still hadn’t, technically, mated.
The first night, Leah had been plenty nervous about it. She just couldn’t imagine that big hard thing somehow going inside her, and she was certain it would hurt and never, ever work. But then she’d been thoroughly introduced, to Nathan’s fingers and tongue.
It had been a convincing argument that the act of mating — putting the penis in the vagina, she thought, blushing — could be pretty fun.
She left the mall with an armful of pretty-but-practical clothes. Short skirts, pants, a pair of high heels. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was going to wear all of it, but she’d find something, she figured.
29
Nathan
“Do you want a cocktail?” Nathan called. He was in the kitchen, making himself a drink. Leah was in the bedroom, putting away the clothes she’d bought that day.
He hadn’t said anything, but he was secretly hoping that there was something in those bags besides more frumpy dresses and long skirts. Some skirts that showed her knees. Maybe even shorts.
I could get used to Leah wearing shorts, he thought.
“What kind of cocktail?” she asked from the doorway to the kitchen.
Nathan looked down at his ingredients. There weren’t a lot — the kitchen wasn’t stocked very well at the moment — but he had lemons, sugar, and whiskey.
“I’m making whiskey sours,” he said. “You like those?”
“I don’t know,” said Leah, coming into the kitchen and looking around at
it. “I’ve never had one before.”
“It’s whiskey, lemon, and sugar,” he said. “They’re pretty good.”
“I’ve only ever sneaked Scotch from my dad’s office,” she said, sitting in a chair at the table.
Nathan grinned. “You’re a hellion.”
“You have no idea,” she said, laughing.
A few minutes later, he handed her a cocktail and they went to go sit in the living room, on Nathan’s leather couch. It was the one nice piece of furniture he owned — despite making custom pieces for everyone else in Fjords, he had never gotten around to doing it for himself.
There had never really been a point. After all, he didn’t care what he sat on or ate his meals from. Or at least, he hadn’t yet.
Leah took a sip of her drink and then turned pink almost immediately. She cleared her throat a couple of times and her eyes watered.
“It’s strong,” she said.
Nathan held out his hand. “Sorry. I can go water it down.”
She shook her head. “No, I like it,” she said, and took another sip, looking around the living room.
There was silence for a moment.
“Okay, spill,” said Nathan. “What’s the first thing you’re going to change in the house?”
Leah laughed.
“Is it that obvious?” she asked.
Nathan just nodded, amused. He took another sip of his drink.
“Curtains,” Leah said immediately. “I guess these Venetian blinds block the light OK, but they’re kind of depressing, you know?”
“Not the boxes?” Nathan asked.
Leah glanced at the few boxes that stood against the back wall of the living room and made a face.
“I’ve been trying not to look at those,” she said. “Did you move in recently?”
“Sort of recently,” Nathan said.
She just looked at him, eyebrows raised.
“Okay, four years ago,” Nathan said.
“You should unpack,” Leah said lightly. She took another sip and scooted closer to Nathan on the couch.
“It’s been lacking a woman’s touch,” Nathan said. “At least it’s clean, right? I’ve seen some bachelor hell-holes.”
