What a Bear Wants

by Winter, Nikki

  She snarled a bit. “Keep them away from me. Keep them off my territory. Or someone is losing their head!” The Jericho brothers had been sniffing around Wilder land for years; continually testing Fallon’s tolerance for their bullshit; insistent that the land had once belonged to their pack and that they deserved to have it back. Like that shit was ever going to happen. Between them and that goddamn pushy bear, Fallon was going to start shooting or clawing people!

  “And now we have bellowing,” Makya murmured, once again staring at the screens. “I do so love the bellowing.”

  With an angry bark, Fallon left the office, once again storming through the lobby and out the double doors. She made her way past families with pups and cubs, eyes scanning until they landed on...

  “Cree!”

  The woman in question visibly cringed as she climbed off of one of the mountain bikes, breaking away from the group of riders she’d been with for the last hour or so. Then ever so slowly, Cree Chayton, a woman who was known to latch herself to the heads of men four times her size at the slightest provocation, turned and ran.

  “Goddammit don’t you run from me!” Fallon yelled, taking off after her.

  “Leave me alone crazy woman!”

  “No! You come back here and you talk to me!”

  “Never!”

  “Cree!”

  “Don’t snarl and snap at me!”

  “I’ll do what I please!”

  Fallon’s friend brought up one hand as they ran through crowds of people, flipping her the bird.

  Growling now, Fallon leapt atop one of the wooden fences and launched herself at Cree’s back, knocking them both to the ground. The other woman rolled over and a lovely slap fight commenced.

  “Get off of me!” Cree shouted, swinging wildly.

  “Stop trying to run from me!”

  “Why? Because it makes it easier for you to harass me?”

  “I don’t harass you! I cajole you!”

  “Cajoling insinuates that you have charm and finesse which you do not!”

  Fallon gasped. “How dare you?! I’m plenty charming, you bitch?”

  “No! You’re plenty insane!” Cree jerked upwards, dislodging Fallon and managing to stumble into a standing position. “And if you wanted to know something, all you had to do was ask me!”

  “How am I supposed to do that when you hide from me!”

  Cree paused, took a deep breath and honestly answered, “Well...I don’t really know but I’m not exactly ready to release my righteous indignation just yet...Wait! Where are you going?! I thought we weren’t done making a scene yet!”

  Some days, Fallon wanted to shift, run into the surrounding Colorado woods, and never look back. Just never ever look back...

  Chapter 2

  “Do you have a death wish? If so can I have all your stuff? And that little black book that you keep?”

  Ransom slowly looked up from the blueprints on his desk and towards his office door where his brother stood. “No, no, and no.”

  Maddox McKenna stepped fully into the room, taking a seat across from Ransom’s desk. “I knew asking for the black book would be pushing too far.” He watched his older brother carefully. “Would you like to tell me why you’re harassing she-wolves?”

  “I’m not harassing anybody.”

  Drumming his fingers against the hardwood in front of him, Maddox said, “Really? Then why did Hannah just skirt past me with a list of things to send to Fallon Wilder?” His brows rose ever so slightly. “Flowers and candy? Are you trying to date her or do business with her?”

  “I’m trying to entice her into meeting with me.” Ransom sat back in his chair. “Women sometimes like to be convinced in a completely non-threatening, unskeevey way.” It had been about two weeks since his last interaction with the she-wolf and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss the bantering. It was the first time in a long time he’d been able to have an exchange of words with a woman that didn’t involve him expressing his opinion on Ronnie and Sammie’s relationship on the Jersey Shore.

  His brother smirked. “The only thing you’re going to entice that she-wolf into doing is using you as a lovely bear skin rug for the foyer of her lodge.” His smirk turned into a grin. “And I’ll miss you...the women in your black book? Not so much.”

  “You’re not getting my black book.” Something that he hadn’t used in months. Which would probably explain his fixation on Fallon.

  “Why not?!”

  “Because you’re a whore!”

  Maddox sat back. “That’s hurtful.”

  “Which is exactly why I said it. Is there a reason you’re in my space right now? Breathing my air? Igniting my desire to kill?”

  “Other than the fact that I know it makes your life miserable?” The other man shrugged. “Not really.”

  “Then get out.”

  “Not until you explain to me precisely why you just can’t seem to let Wilder Lodge go.” Maddox pointed at him. “I know you. This isn’t lust over a new property. It’s just lust.”

  Ransom shook his head. “Completely inaccurate. I don’t know her to lust over her. We’ve exchanged emails and I’ve tried to bribe her—”

  “Do you know what she looks like?” His brother interrupted.

  He shrugged. “Mebbe...”

  Maddox grinned. “Big tits?”

  He slowly shook his head. “Rude. You’re so fucking rude.” Then he paused, motioning to his chest and going, “Huge tits.”

  “Ah-ha!” The other man pointed at him accusingly. “Then it is lust. The one female who won’t fall for your bullshit and you’re going after her like a dog with a bone.” One brow quirked higher than the other. “Feel free to allow your mind to run with that statement.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. She has something I want.”

  “Which happens to be a pussy.” Maddox stated gleefully.

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  Ransom’s head dropped back on his shoulders. “I don’t know her.”

  His brother shrugged. “I don’t know a lot of women. Doesn’t stop me from wanting to fuck them on every available surface that I can.”

  “Speaking of fucking on every available surface,” Ransom stood and walked over to one of his bookshelves, pulling down a small box and tossing it to Maddox. “If you’re going to fuck Hannah after hours, don’t do it on her desk. This is a respectable business. Do it in the goddamn bathroom like everyone else.”

  Chuckling, Maddox pulled the pair of panties from the box and tucked them inside one of his pockets. “The beast wants what the beast wants.”

  “The beast better not want a sexual harassment suit.” Ransom and his brother had spent entirely too much time building their business for that. It had started off with simply flipping houses and turned into a multimillion dollar corporation that had over two thousand clients a year.

  Maddox stood and gave his signature smile, the one that said he was forty steps ahead of everyone else. “That can’t be done if you have a waiver.” He started for the door.

  “You are such a whore.”

  “Not the point, big brother. Not the point...” He then stopped and turned to look at Ransom. “Oh and Ma wants you over for dinner on Sunday.”

  Ransom froze. “Why?”

  “Why do you sound like I just told you she wants you over for murder?”

  “Because Ma doesn’t ask me over for dinner unless it’s going to result in something that will make me cranky.” His eyes narrowed on his sibling. “Is it going to make me cranky?”

  Maddox put up his hands. “I have no idea.” He opened the door. “I just know that I was given a message to deliver and that you don’t ignore Ma’s messages unless you want a sow paw to the back of the head when you least expect it. Remember Thanksgiving?”

  Snorting, Ransom said, “You were only out for an hour or so.”

  “Not the point, big brother. Not the point...” Then Maddox was gone, leaving Ransom to consid
er all the horrible possibilities as to why his Mom wanted to see him. It wasn’t that they weren’t close. Actually it was the exact opposite. Lorna McKenna could genuinely be called one of the most important people in his life, along with his Dad of course.

  It was just that...his Mom was a traditionalist. She was all about marriage and family and bringing strong cubs into the world to continue what she loved to refer to as the McKenna Lineage. That usually meant if she wanted him over for dinner, there would be someone else there. Someone with a vagina.

  Ransom wasn’t opposed to vagina. He just wasn’t ready to be mated to the same vagina for the rest of his goddamn life. Not that there was something wrong with mating, because there wasn’t...for men who didn’t have nomadic tendencies. He’d always been the strange one among his kin, consistently bouncing from place to place. Ransom liked change and it showed because unlike the rest of his. He liked moving around. It was the biggest reason he’d gone into real estate. The ability to pick and choose where he laid his head at night was a priceless privilege for him that he wasn’t willing to give up.

  Lorna called him restless, while his father Callum, simply thought that at any moment the right female would be cause enough for him to settle down. Ransom didn’t see that happening anytime soon, if ever. California was home right now. But that could change at any moment. He liked his life. Liked his freedom even more. And no one, may she be bear sow, feline or canine, was going to make him give it up.

  ***

  “I hate bears!”

  Cree’s head jerked around to see her best friend and alpha stomping towards her. She turned a strained smile to the black bear family that was currently eyeing Fallon as she handed them the key cards to their rooms.

  “Chicago. She means Chicago.” Cree looked towards Fallon and back to the bears. “Hates their team. Loves the pizza. You all have a wonderful stay!”

  They moved along as the woman she’d known most of her life finally reached her at the front desk, slamming her hands against the wood. “He’s trying to make me mental!”

  Cree grabbed fallon by the collar of her t-shirt and pulled her down the hallway until they wound up at one of the back exits. Then she pushed her out the door.

  “And you’re clearly trying to make me mental! What’s wrong with you?!”

  Fallon swung around. “Do you know what he sent me?”

  “What who sent you?”

  “That goddamn bear!”

  Cree rubbed her temples, praying for some form of calm. “Are you talking about Ransom?” She’d been hearing about Ransom McKenna, real estate tycoon, for the last few months and it was beginning to become rather clear that Fallon was starting to harbor some serious feelings for the grizzly; whether she knew it or not. Being that Cree knew her better than anyone else, she was well aware of when her friend liked someone and when she didn’t. Fallon wasn’t one to dwell on a person. She’d rather take their throat and continue about her day. But there seemed to be something about Ransom that made Fallon express herself.

  “Why are you calling him by his first name? Don’t call him by his first name! He’s the enemy!”

  “Oh good lord on high...”

  “Look at this shit!” Fallon snatched something from her back pocket and shoved it into Cree’s hands. “Do you see this?!”

  Eyebrows lowering, Cree asked quietly, “You’re upset because he sent you vouchers for a weekend at the hotsprings?”

  “Yessss...” The other woman hissed.

  “And that would be because...?”

  “He thinks I can be bought! That if he tosses a few gifts my way I’ll agree to hand over our home!”

  Cree took a deep breath and suggested, “Or he’s interested in you.”

  Fallon froze like a deer caught in headlights. “Why would he be interested in me? He doesn’t even know me...why are we having this conversation? You know what? We’re not having this conversation. Because clearly you refuse to use rational thought!” And with that, she snatched the vouchers from Cree’s hand and stomped off, cutting a swath through crowds of people the same way she’d been doing for the past several weeks since her very strange yet very interesting relationship with Ransom started.

  Cree watched her friend and simply thought to herself, I really wish she would’ve left those vouchers. Then with a sigh, she followed, knowing Fallon would need someone to talk to.

  ***

  “Are you ready to have a nice, normal, rational conversation now?”

  Fallon looked up from the rippling water of Hanging Lake as Cree came and took a spot next to her on the grass. “No.” Why yes, yes she was pouting. And no, she had no intentions of stopping anytime soon.

  That unnecessarily hard pinch to her side completely replaced the pouting with wincing. “Ow!”

  “Now are you ready to have a nice, normal, rational conversation?” Cree queried in a monotone voice.

  Fallon glared at the other woman. “Did you really pass the sociopathic evaluation?”

  Cree held up two fingers. “Twice.” She put her pointer finger down leaving her middle up. “And let’s not forget the psychopathic test also.”

  “Why are we friends again?”

  “Because I’m the only one blunt and brave enough to not put up with your bullshit?”

  Nodding, Fallon returned her gaze to the lake. “You may have a point.”

  “Okay,” Cree sighed, sounding all kinds of put out. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

  “Of course I should. Because you sound so enthused to hear about my problems.”

  “Start talking Wilder...or I will pinch you.” The she-wolf’s eyes slid to Fallon’s chest. “And this time it will be even less pleasant.”

  A little disturbed now, Fallon slid a few feet away from her friend. “It’s all that bear’s fault. Him and his need to harass me.”

  Cree smirked. “Harassing...or courting you?”

  “He is not—”

  The she-wolf put up a hand. “The man sent you flowers...and candy. I don’t think he wants Wilder land, sweetheart. If he did, he’d be just as obnoxious about it as the Jericho brothers.” She shook her head. “He wants you.”

  “He doesn’t even know me!”

  “But he knows enough.” Cree stated simply. “Sometimes all a predator needs is to catch the right scent to know their prey.” Her lips curved. “I do believe Mr. McKenna has you in his sights.”

  Fallon rolled her eyes. “The only reason he’s attempting to kiss my ass is because I beat him on this year’s top ten list in Shifter’s Paradise.” It was something Fallon was rather proud of too. Wilder land had been in her family for years. The Colorado area was taken fair and square from the Jericho pack after Jeremiah Wilder fought for it and won against one of the old alphas over fifty years ago.

  Passed down from son to son, Fallon was the first female in the Wilder pack to inherit it being that her parents only had one child due to her mother’s inability to carry a pregnancy to full term. She’d been what her Mom and Dad affectionately called Wonderpup from a very young age. And when it was time for Helena and James to retire, leaving the pack to the younger generation, Fallon had stepped up, the strongest one of the strongest among those who were willing to take over the responsibility to lead. There’d been very few objections to the fact that she was more than capable of doing so. In her decision to build a lodge, there’d been too many disagreements to count amongst her kin, and she’d had to fight both physically and legally to keep the land given to her, but in the end she’d won. Because at the end of the day, she had something that the majority of her family would never have—that her miscarried brothers and sisters didn’t get a chance to develop before their lives were cut short—inner strength and rage.

  Because honestly, there were only two things wolves really respected, strength and anger. Fallon had both in spades. It was simply something that had always been inherent to her. She wasn’t a naturally intimidating female, didn’t do a lot of talking about he
r ability to bring down even the most dominant of males or females. No, Fallon simply moved with a purpose when it was necessary and left the rest to her pack members.

  It had been a long time since anyone had challenged her, a long time since anyone had gone after what was hers; what she’d so painstakingly earned. Every scar on her body had gotten her pack to this place and she’d be damned if she let some hump growing bastard or some deep south trash take it from them.

  “Fal,” Cree said softly. “Your claws are out, sweetie.”

  Taking a deep breath, Fallon retracted them and sat back, leaning on her palms. “They’re trying to test me, Cree. Trying to test my resolve, my patience. God help them if they push me too far.”

  “You were born and bred an alpha, no one can argue with that.”

  “But?” Fallon hedged, knowing it was coming.

  “But I think that sometimes you forget that it’s okay to be a woman apart from your pack; that it’s okay to want something outside of all of this.” Cree waved her hands around their general area. “I’m not saying you should fuck the bear—okay that’s a lie, I’ve seen that bear with the help of some extensive research and let me tell you, you should really fuck that bear—but I do think you could stop being so hard. It would seem to me that proper protocol would dictate that he send you a gift basket or two along with a proposal for business. He’s sent several gift baskets, along with bouquets of flowers and an ungodly amount of candy. He wants something from you, Fal and it isn’t just your property.”

  “I hate you and your facts and examples.” Fallon growled. “As a matter of fact I hate everybody!” She stood. “Why can’t shifters be normal? Why do we have to stalk each other in borderline creepy ways? He’s seen a picture of me. A picture—”

  “Actually by now he’s probably seen several.” Cree interrupted.

  Fallon froze at that, slowly turned. “What?”

  The other she-wolf shrugged. “Well occasionally I’ll toss a picture of you out there into the world. Of course they’re all flattering.” She suddenly winced. “Except that one from the year you got egged on Halloween but to be fair, I did tell you making Cade and the rest of the guys work the haunted house was not going to end well for all those involved.”