Bearly Mated

by Natalie Kristen

  It was good to know that there were people they could rely on. Turning her attention to Caden, she smiled and asked, “Did you sleep well last night?”

  “Yeah. I slept till morning,” Caden replied. “Then I got hungry.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  After Axel and Tyrell left, Rocco went back to the kitchen and sat down with Emma and Caden.

  The three of them had breakfast together, and Caden seemed to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere around the kitchen. The kid had a huge appetite and was helping himself to more pancakes.

  “Caden woke up real early today,” Rocco told Emma with a grin. “I heard him come out of his room, and tiptoe down the stairs.”

  “I was trying not to make a sound,” Caden said. “I didn’t want to wake anybody up.”

  “I came downstairs and found him sitting beside the fridge,” Rocco went on. “I figured he was hungry so I whipped up some pancakes in a hurry.”

  “They’re the yummiest pancakes ever!” Caden exclaimed, smacking his lips appreciatively.

  Rocco laughed. “No one has ever complimented my cooking before. Thank you, Caden, you’ve made my day!”

  Once they finished breakfast, Emma insisted on washing up the plates. Rocco chatted with Caden, and casually asked him if he would like to do some shopping in town.

  Rocco wanted to buy Caden some new clothes and toys. He knew that Caden had escaped with nothing but the clothes on his back. But he didn’t want to remind the little boy of his devastating loss. He would have to broach the topic very tactfully.

  “We can explore the town. Shadow Point has some pretty cool shops and eateries,” Rocco said casually.

  Caden nodded and gave a nervous smile. “Okay.” The boy looked both excited and anxious at the same time. His smile turned into a frown and he bit his lower lip to keep it from trembling.

  Rocco could see the fear and worry in Caden’s eyes. The kid had lost his entire family and pride, and he was being hunted by his homicidal uncle. No doubt he had great physical and mental resilience, but he was still just a child. To survive, he had to rely on the kindness of strangers. But would these kind strangers leave him without warning?

  “Caden,” Rocco said, holding him by the shoulders. “You are not alone. I am here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Caden held his gaze for a long while. Finally he nodded.

  “Rocco’s right. You’re not alone. You have us,” Emma spoke up. She dried her hands and came up to Caden. “We will always protect you.” When he smiled at her, she added firmly, “That’s a promise.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Rocco put all the shopping bags in his car. He had bought so many new clothes and toys for Caden. The boy seemed happy and excited to visit the bustling town center. Some of the shopkeepers gave him a friendly smile and wave, and Caden waved back. He was an extroverted, outgoing kid, but Rocco knew that he had many invisible scars which would take a long time to heal.

  Locking up the car, Rocco went to join Emma and Caden. Caden was holding Emma’s hand and pressing his nose against the window of an ice cream parlor.

  “It’s a hot day. Shall we get a large ice cream cone each?” Rocco suggested.

  Caden grinned and nodded eagerly.

  Emma insisted on giving them a treat and they walked out of the shop nibbling at their towering ice cream cones.

  When Caden finished his ice cream, he tugged at Rocco’s hand and whispered urgently, “I need to go to the bathroom.”

  “Okay.”

  They hurried to a nearby shopping mall and Emma told them that she would wait for them in front of the discount store, which was near the entrance of the mall.

  Rocco accompanied Caden to the bathroom and stood outside the door to wait for him.

  When Caden was done, Rocco reminded him to wash his hands. As Caden soaped his hands, his little face screwed up suddenly and he started sniffling.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Rocco asked gently.

  “Daddy used to tell me to wash my hands,” Caden whispered as he hiccuped a sob. “But...he’s not around anymore...”

  Rocco hugged the kid and let him cry on his shoulder. The memory of his ordeal was still fresh, and Rocco knew that no matter how much time had passed, memories of his family would still cause him pain. The pain might lessen with time, but it would always be there.

  It was natural for Caden to experience bouts of grief, pain and anger. The boy needed time to work through his grief. Crying was a healthy and normal expression of pain and sorrow, and Rocco encouraged Caden to just let his tears and emotions flow freely.

  He would be more worried if the kid didn’t cry at all.

  When Caden had calmed down, he dried his eyes and washed his face. With a brave smile, he straightened up and said, “Let’s go. Emma is waiting for us.”

  They went straight to the discount store but Emma wasn’t there. Rocco looked around and walked into the store, but Emma was nowhere in sight.

  “Where is Emma?” Caden asked, frowning.

  “Maybe she went to buy something,” Rocco answered.

  They waited for a few more minutes, but Emma didn’t show up. Rocco pulled out his phone and dialed her number.

  To his surprise, he heard a faint ringing. It seemed to be coming from a trash can just outside the mall.

  Rocco went to the trash can and the ringing grew louder. He looked in and saw Emma’s purse inside.

  “That belongs to Emma!” Caden cried when Rocco fished the purse out of the trash can. “Why did she throw it away?”

  Rocco sucked in a sharp breath. “She didn’t,” he said through clenched teeth.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Rocco jerked when Emma’s phone started ringing again in her purse. He had already put his phone away, yet Emma’s phone was chirping insistently in her purse.

  He yanked the ringing phone out and answered it at once.

  “I have something that belongs to you...” Hector’s voice came on the line. “And you have something that belongs to me.”

  “Let Emma go,” Rocco growled.

  Hector chuckled. “Are you sure you’re in a position to make any demands? Your human mate is in my hands. I can do anything I want to her...”

  “If you touch one hair on her head...”

  “Just give me the boy, and you can have your mate back. There is a hill at the back of Shadow Point. The top of the hill is called Poison Peak. We will rendezvous at Poison Peak at sundown. Bring the boy. If I don’t see the kid with you, I will push your fragile human mate off the peak.”

  Hector laughed nastily. “I don’t think she’ll survive the fall.”

  The line went dead and Rocco stared at the phone in his hand. His fist shook with the effort not to crush the damned phone to pieces.

  “Rocco?” Caden said in a small frightened voice.

  Rocco immediately wiped the rage off his face as he looked down at the child. Caden was pale and trembling, but his green eyes burned with anger and steely resolve. With his sensitive shifter hearing, Caden had heard everything.

  “I’m not going to hand you over to Hector,” Rocco said firmly, crouching down to look the kid square in the eye. “Trust me, Caden. I won’t betray you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  Caden nodded. “Please don’t let him hurt Emma. I’ll go with you to Poison Peak.”

  “No...”

  “I have to be there. If Uncle Hector doesn’t see me, he’ll hurt Emma. I won’t let him do that!” Caden said fiercely.

  Rocco squeezed the boy’s shoulders. The youngster’s first concern wasn’t for himself. He was worried for Emma, and he was willing to risk his own safety for Emma’s sake. The young lion cub showed exceptional courage and loyalty, and Rocco felt so proud of Caden. There were some adults who didn’t even have a fraction of the kid’s bravery and integrity.

  “We’ll get Emma back,” Rocco assured him. “We’ll get her home safely.”

  “Okay. Let’s go now!”
<
br />   Rocco stopped Caden from running to the car. “Wait a sec...”

  “Why?” Caden asked anxiously. “What are we waiting for?”

  Rocco gave the spunky lion cub a quick smile. “Let me make a call. Hector is a wily, unscrupulous man, and I know that we’ll be walking into a trap. I’ll deal with Hector, but I won’t leave you unprotected, Caden.”

  Caden shook his head angrily. “You’re not leaving me behind. I have to go with you! I don’t want Emma to get hurt because of me...”

  “You’ll be with me, buddy.” Rocco smirked. “And some friends will be with us too.”

  Caden’s eyes lit up.

  “Remember, three bears are better than one.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Rocco put his phone away once he ended the call. Caden had listened intently to his conversation and was hopping from one foot to the other impatiently.

  “Do we have to wait until they get here?” Caden asked.

  Rocco turned when he heard the squeal of tires and the loud slam of a car door.

  “They’re here now,” Rocco replied. He couldn’t hide his surprise at how quickly Axel and Tyrell had reached him.

  Axel and Tyrell had promised to help him and Caden, and he knew that they were men of their word. They were his closest neighbors and friends in town. Axel and Tyrell were the first to know his true identity. But even after they found out that he was Roc Jones, the highly successful and distinguished artist, they didn’t go around blabbing about it. The two brothers were discreet and trustworthy, and Rocco knew that they wouldn’t betray his confidence.

  Axel tore out of the car and came running to Rocco. “Hey,” he panted. “Sorry we couldn’t get here sooner. We had to lock up the office.”

  Rocco barked out a laugh. He knew Axel and Tyrell ran a business together, and he’d told them to meet him before sundown. He didn’t expect them to just drop everything and rush to him right this minute. “What are you talking about? You’re here in record time. How in the world did you get here so fast? You didn’t have to...”

  Tyrell got out of the driver’s seat, leaving the engine running. He came up to Rocco and Caden, his expression grim. “I knew Hector wouldn’t just let the kid go. But I never expected him to do something so despicable. Taking a helpless human female...”

  “Yeah,” Axel agreed. “What a piece of shit.” He made a face and looked at Caden. “Sorry, kid, I know he’s your uncle...”

  “He’s a murderer,” Caden said, unable to conceal the quaver in his voice.

  Rocco took the boy’s hand. “Axel and Tyrell will be coming with us. They’ll keep you safe. I don’t know what tricks Hector will pull...”

  Caden’s eyes narrowed and he clenched his small fists. “Keep me safe? Emma’s the one in danger, not me! I don’t need to be protected or babysat.”

  “We’re not babysitting you,” Axel said quickly.

  Caden looked unconvinced. “I can fight,” he said angrily, baring his tiny fangs for them to see. “I’m a lion!”

  “Yes you are,” Rocco said. “Listen Caden, we still have some time. I need you to tell us as much as you can about the Kingston Pride. How many members exactly are there in the pride? Just tell us what you know. We need to be prepared. We’re fighting to win. You’re going to help us win, okay?”

  Caden nodded. “Okay.”

  “There’s a small quiet diner just round the corner. We’ll talk there,” Rocco said.

  “Let me go park the car and I’ll join you guys in a jiffy,” Tyrell said, jogging back to his car.

  The engine roared and Tyrell’s car hurtled off in a cloud of smoke. “Ah, now I know how you guys managed to get here so fast,” Rocco muttered.

  Axel grinned. “That’s my brother. The wannabe Grand Prix driver!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Emma glared at the three people crowded into the back of the van with her. Hector was sitting up front with the driver, and she was squeezed into the back with two burly men and a woman. She knew that the two men and the woman were all lion shifters, members of the Kingston Pride.

  But she wasn’t afraid of them. In fact, she felt nothing but utter contempt for them. They had to resort to trickery and deceit to achieve their aims. What a bunch of losers!

  Emma narrowed her eyes at the woman who was facing away from her. The woman had taken off her wig and was peeling the fake wrinkles off her face and hands.

  Emma wanted to curse at her. The woman had disguised herself as a white-haired, wrinkled old woman and hobbled up to Emma at the shopping mall while she was waiting for Rocco and Caden.

  “Can you help me?” the woman had asked in a timid voice. “I left my shopping bags out front. Can you come out and watch my bags while I drive my car over so I can load the bags in? I can’t carry all those bags to my car by myself.”

  Emma had readily agreed to help the woman. She had walked out to the front of the shopping mall with the woman and was about to ask where her shopping bags were when the woman suddenly pushed Emma forward.

  Emma stumbled and a pair of rough hands caught her. When she looked up in shock, she saw two muscular men flanking her. They closed in on her and one of them wrenched her purse from her shoulder and dumped it into a nearby trash can.

  Before she could cry out, she was shoved into a waiting van and the two men piled in after her. The old woman was already in the van, and once Emma saw just how swiftly the white-haired woman could move, she knew who these people were.

  They were all Hector’s minions.

  “Cowards,” she spat.

  Hector twisted around to glare at her from the passenger seat. “What did you say?”

  “I think you heard me just fine,” she snapped. “Aren’t you an Alpha lion shifter? Oh wait. You’re not really the Alpha of the pride. You’re nothing but a scheming traitor and coward.”

  When Hector growled at her, she went on disdainfully, “Look at your actions. Are they the actions of a true Alpha? You get your underlings to kidnap me, a human woman, and you terrorize a small lion cub. But you would never dare face a true alpha shifter in a fight.”

  Hector snarled. “I am the Alpha of the Kingston Pride now...”

  “You didn’t win the Alpha position fairly,” Emma sneered. “You stabbed your brother-in-law in the back, and killed your sister and her kids. And now you’re going after a five-year-old, who is the true heir and Alpha of the Kingston Pride. Shame on you, Hector!”

  Hector glowered at his minions, “Why are all of you just sitting around doing nothing? Shut the bitch up, will ya?”

  One of the men shoved Emma. “Keep quiet, bitch.”

  Emma snorted. “Why do you even obey a guy who isn’t your true Alpha? He’s a fraud.”

  “Hector is our Alpha,” the man stated.

  Emma rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to argue with stupid.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked instead.

  No one answered her.

  “I asked you a question,” Emma said, raising her voice. “Are you too scared to answer, Hector?” she taunted. She was really glad that her voice didn’t betray her emotions.

  Her tone was loud and bold, but inside she was terrified.

  Emma took a shuddering breath and swallowed.

  She wasn’t a fool. She knew just how dangerous and deranged Hector was, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear. She would put up a brave front and be as loud and brazen as she dared.

  Hector growled a command to his underlings. “We’re reaching Poison Peak soon. Bind her and gag her. And make sure you get into position before they arrive.”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  The woman leaned forward and asked in a fawning voice, “Do you want me to grab the kid, Alpha?”

  “Leave the boy to me. I want to make sure that he doesn’t escape this time.”

  Emma froze, unable to even breathe.

  “After I grab the kid, kill them all,” Hector ordered.

&nbs
p; CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The sun was setting and throwing long shadows over the landscape as Rocco drove up to Poison Peak. Axel was in the passenger seat and Tyrell was sitting in the back with Caden. Everyone was silent during the drive, and the tension in the air was palpable.

  Rocco glanced in the rear view mirror and saw Caden looking out the window with an angry scowl on his face. His green eyes were glowing slightly, and Rocco saw that the fierce, protective lion in Caden was ready to muscle his way out of his human skin.

  The cub was ready for war.

  So was he.

  Rocco knew that he could count on Axel and Tyrell. The brothers were smart and responsible, and they had suggested various plans and strategies to counter the Kingston Pride’s attacks and ambush. They tried to predict what Hector would do, but Rocco knew that no one could truly understand and grasp what was going through a psychopath’s head.

  They had to be prepared for anything and everything.

  Caden had told them all about the Kingston Pride, and Rocco estimated that after Hector killed off Caden’s family and any members of the pride who were loyal to the old Alpha, there had to be around twenty members left.

  Rocco stopped the car and cut the engine. “We’ll walk the rest of the way,” he said.

  “Good idea,” Axel agreed. “Who knows what that cunning lion has planted along the way. We may run over an explosive device and get blown to smithereens.”

  They got out of the car and walked up to the peak of the steep, rocky hill in single file. Axel and Tyrell made sure that Caden was between them at all times, while Rocco led them up to Poison Peak.

  “I see her,” Caden cried. “Emma! Emma!”

  Rocco’s heart clenched. He could see Emma standing at the edge of the precipice. Her hands were tied behind her back and there was a dirty rag in her mouth. Two men were gripping her arms, and Rocco knew that all they had to do was give her a hard push and she would lose her balance and topple over the edge to her death.