Bear The Consequences
Rochelle Paige
Copyright
© 2015 Rochelle Paige Popovic
All rights reserved.
Edited by Monica Black
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons or living or dead, events or locals are entirely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/ Use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Note From the Author
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Other Books By This Author
Become an Insider!
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Note From the Author
When I was writing Thrown to the Wolves (Black River Pack #3), Annora’s backstory evolved in a way I hadn’t originally anticipated. I knew before I sat down to type the first word that her childhood was going to be bad, but it ended up being darker than I planned. I struggled with this at times, but in the end it was an important part of her character. I just couldn’t change it.
But no matter how dark it gets, the sun will always shine again—and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Parker would bring her the happiness she always deserved. Even as they found their happily-ever-after, there was another surprise in store. Annora discovered a family she never knew about—including three older brothers who sparked my interest as soon as they pushed their way into her story.
Although the Black River Pack series ended with Parker and Annora’s story, I couldn’t leave their world entirely... and the McMahon Clan series was born. I hope you enjoy seeing some familiar faces as much as I did.
Prologue
Finley
Growing up as the daughter of an alpha werewolf usually meant you were raised one of two ways: toughened up so you were ready to face the world on your own or coddled like a princess and practically wrapped in cotton so nothing could ever possibly happen to you. My daddy went with the latter and took his protectiveness to a whole new level.
The list of rules I had to follow was practically endless. My curfew was the earliest out of everyone in the pack. I couldn’t wear the same outfits as the other girls because they were too skimpy and boys might “get the wrong idea” about me. Not that there was a chance in heck any of the boys in our pack would even look at me twice—they were scared to death of my father. I even had guards who were with me pretty much around the clock. As a result, even though I was well loved and wanted for nothing, I lived most of my life slightly separated from the rest of my packmates.
I spent a lot of time with my nose stuck in a book, dreaming of the day my fated mate would sweep me off my feet so we could ride into the sunset. I knew it sounded a little melodramatic, but I was addicted to reading romance novels and looked forward to getting my own happily-ever-after.
There were three things I wished with all my heart to be true. First, he would be a fierce wolf who wouldn’t cower before my daddy like all the other boys in my pack. Second, he would mate, mark, and claim me as quickly as possible because he couldn’t bear the idea of waiting a moment longer than necessary to make me his. Lastly, he would love me as much as my daddy loved my momma—even if he ended up being as ridiculously protective as Daddy was with her. Based on how happy Momma was, I figured it was a small price to pay.
I didn’t know how she put up with him some days. He could barely stand to let her out of his sight and liked to think he was the boss of her, but she pretty much did whatever she wanted and then batted her eyes if he got mad. The only thing he wouldn’t budge on was anything pertaining to our safety. At the first sign of trouble, we went straight into lockdown mode.
Unfortunately, I was always the last person to know what was going on. Daddy didn’t want to worry me, so I usually had to resort to eavesdropping. At a young age, I learned trying to creep up on an alpha male wolf in times of trouble was no easy feat.
And today was no different. I received a 911 text while in class and rushed out—I knew one of my guards would come in to get me if I didn’t get my butt out the door right away. When we made it to the SUV waiting at the curb, I was surprised to find the pack enforcer in the front passenger seat. Nolan didn’t leave my daddy’s side often, so for him to be picking me up, they expected whatever trouble was coming to be bad.
The ride home was incredibly quick—less than five minutes since the private college I attended was down the street—but the tense silence made me anxious in no time flat. As soon as we pulled into the driveway, I leaped out of the vehicle and rushed into the house. My steps faltered when I heard my parents arguing in the kitchen. I couldn’t think of a single time I’d heard Momma raise her voice at him like that. Luckily for me, there was no sign they had even heard me return over their heated conversation. Holding my breath, I tried to be as silent as possible so I could figure out what was going on.
“That’s your plan?” my mom practically shrieked. “Send Finley and me up to the cabin with guards surrounding us while you try to figure out whether we’re even in danger?”
“Yup,” he confirmed.
“The cabin we never use because you know how much I hate roughing it?”
“Yup.” When he resorted to one-word responses in that low tone, it wasn’t a good sign. It usually meant he was losing his temper.
“With Nolan?” she prodded.
“Absolutely.”
“Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a tad?” my mom asked.
“Nope,” he disagreed.
“But you don’t even know if we’re in any danger!”
“Maybe not, but I do know there’s a lot of shit going down and I have a bad feeling.”
“Finally, a full sentence!” she snapped. “The least you can do is tell me what’s going on. I know your instinct is to protect me, but I’m your mate and a wolf who has instincts of her own and mine are to support you.”
“Fuck,” he muttered.
My mom sighed, and then there was a moment of silence before my daddy finally gave in.
“I’ve heard talk linking our name with the Lyalls. You know I’ve never liked their alpha or approved of how he runs his pack. They’ve been in town way too much lately for my liking.”
“I can see how that would be unsettling, but that doesn’t mean Finley and I are in danger. None of them are here right now,” she pointed out.
“And neither is the Channing girl,” he growled. “Her father turned up this morning without her after being gone for a couple days.”
“Annora?” Momma gasped.
“I can’t help but think that it’s too much of a coincidence. That Lyall alpha has always had his eye on her and she up and disappears just when the gossip mill is rife with talk about them and us,” he grumbled.
“Whatever happened to her, it wasn’t your fault.” My
mom’s voice softened. “She was with her father when she left town.”
“I’m the alpha,” he gently reminded her. “Annora is part of my pack and under my protection. It might be too late to help her, but I’m going to get to the bottom of whatever the hell is going on here and I need you two safe while I do it. I have a feeling I’m not going to like what I find out.”
Momma and I found ourselves packed up and off to the cabin in the woods within an hour. It turned out Daddy’s feeling was right. Trouble was swirling around us—trouble that would eventually bring my mate to me.
Chapter 1
Alasdair
“Back the fuck down, Dair,” my dad growled from behind me as I slammed my fist into the face of a guy I was holding up by the collar of his shirt. I’d just pulled one of our cocktail waitresses off his lap after he’d yanked her there moments ago. The fucking horny bastard couldn’t follow the rules even though we made them crystal clear to everyone who walked through the door of the Honey Pot. He had to be a stupid fuck to think he could cross us and get away with it. The plan had been to make him pay a little for messing with one of our girls. Maybe let him serve as an example to anyone watching. Then, when I’d grabbed him, I caught a whiff of the animal lurking under his skin. The scent of wolf set my bear on edge, making me think of the man who had hurt my sister for years. All reasonable thought fled my mind and the next thing I knew, I was pounding the shit out of his face.
The red haze that had taken hold of me receded when I heard my dad’s voice. I released my hold on the guy’s shirt and he crashed to the floor. Apparently, I’d done more damage than I’d planned—he didn’t even react when his head hit the ground. His nose looked broken and he was more than likely going to have a couple black eyes tomorrow along with a concussion, since he was currently passed out. It probably should have bothered me, but I didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for a wolf shifter who thought he could take advantage of someone smaller than himself. Now that he knew what it felt like to be attacked by someone bigger, maybe he’d think twice in the future.
“Get him out of here,” I ordered one of the bouncers before turning swiftly and heading to the back office.
I grabbed a bottle of scotch and poured myself a much-needed drink. The click of the door caused me to look up, finding my dad had followed me. I knew what I’d done had crossed the line and I expected him to let me have it, so the tone of his voice when he finally spoke surprised me.
“You need to lock down the anger, son,” he said softly. “I’ve seen it growing inside you day by day, but you need to find a way to get a handle on it.”
Surprise swiftly turned into anger. He knew damn well why I was struggling with an overwhelming sense of rage. “How long are we going to wait?” I growled in frustration.
I’d enjoyed spending the last year getting to know my sister, but the need to avenge her was getting stronger by the day. The knowledge that there were people who had hurt her out there in the world, living their lives like nothing had happened, was beginning to fill me with an overwhelming bitterness. At first, I was assuaged by the fact that the Lyall alpha had been killed by her hand, but as I grew closer to her and learned about her childhood, my anger took on a new focus: her mother, stepfather, and the alpha of her old pack. I knew my dad felt the same way, but he just wouldn’t let us move forward and do anything about it.
“We aren’t leaving until she has the baby,” he answered, not even trying to pretend he didn’t understand what was eating at me. “They’ve taken enough of her life away from me. I’m not missing the birth of my first grandchild.”
“I don’t want to miss it either, but if we don’t move soon, I have a feeling we’re going to have a hell of a time finding the ones who should pay for what was done to her,” I urged. “And I’m not saying we all have to go. I just think we need to lay the groundwork now so we have the information we need when the time comes.”
“And how would you go about getting that information?” he asked.
“Braden and I can pay her old pack a visit,” I suggested, “see if her mother and stepfather are still there. Maybe have a few words with their alpha about how badly he fell down on the job when she was his responsibility. Fucking wolves are supposed to be all about their pack and he let them hurt her for years. He doesn’t deserve to be called an alpha.”
“The last time I was in that town, I didn’t make it out of there the same man I was when I arrived,” he whispered, showing me a rare flash of weakness.
I was too young to understand it at the time, but I saw the changes in my father when he returned from that trip. He was still a great dad to my brothers and me, but he was less welcoming to outsiders and a formidable foe to anyone who crossed him. For eighteen years, the cause of his pain remained a mystery—until we met the sister none of us knew existed. Annora had suffered greatly at the hands of her unfeeling mother and the man she’d chosen over my father.
“You had no way of knowing the mate fate had chosen for you would turn out to be such a bitch,” I muttered. “You would have been fine if you hadn’t met her.”
“But then I wouldn’t have Annora either,” he reminded me. “The pain I went through back then brought me to where I am today and I think I’ve done a damn good job of moving beyond the past and building a future for you boys and now Annora and the baby.”
“You have, Dad,” I assured him. I could do no less. He was right, after all. Fate might have given him the short end of the stick when it came to his mate, but my dad was strong—the strongest man I knew—and he hadn’t crumpled like most shifters would have after being rejected by their mate. Instead, he had made a big enough name for himself in the shifter world that he was the bear representative on the council. I was damn proud to have his blood running through my veins.
“I know patience isn’t something that comes easily for you, but I need you to try to keep a leash on your temper for a little while longer.”
Taking a deep breath, I tried to center myself and focus on the positive. Most bear clans were small—mostly family groups—and ours was no exception. There hadn’t been a birth in our clan in many years and never had it been my niece or nephew. Annora might have mated into the Black River Pack, but that didn’t make her any less ours. At least, not where we were concerned; although, I was sure Parker considered her one hundred percent his. Same with the baby on the way.
My dad must have mistaken my silence for disagreement. “Don’t let them steal this memory from me. From us.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t do anything until after the baby is born. Those bastards won’t take anything away from us ever again.”
****
Barely two weeks later, the ringing of my cell pulled me from a deep sleep. I’d only fallen into bed a couple hours earlier, but exhaustion had quickly pulled me under.
“Fuck,” I groaned, reaching for the phone and hoping like hell it wasn’t an emergency when I wanted nothing more than to roll back over. I didn’t hold much optimism since calls at this time of night usually meant trouble.
I reached out blindly and swiped at it to stop the shrill noise before I missed the call. “This better be good,” I mumbled.
“Annora’s in labor.”
My dad’s reply cleared the fog from my brain. I leaped out of bed and grabbed the jeans I left on the floor last night. “I’ll be at your place in a couple minutes.”
The drive to my dad’s house normally took twice as long, but I didn’t want to listen to my brothers giving me shit all the way to Wolf’s Point, or my dad if we ended up getting to the hospital too late. It was important to him to be there before the baby was born. Still, I managed to be the last one to pull into the driveway.
I’d barely gotten my vehicle into park before my dad and brothers were striding out of the house. I honked my horn a couple times and kept the engine running, making it clear that I expected them to get in so I could drive.
“You better not drive like a grandpa,” Camden
muttered from the backseat as I was backing out of the driveway.
“Driving like a grandpa isn’t necessarily a bad thing since Dad’s about to become one,” I joked.
“Grandpa,” our dad sighed from the passenger seat before we all fell silent—a silence that lasted almost the entire two-hour drive to the hospital. I was so focused on getting us there as quickly as possible, I didn’t even realize my brothers had fallen asleep until I heard Braden snoring. Since we only had a few minutes left in the drive, I considered waking them, but decided to let them sleep for as long as they could—it was bound to be a long night. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at my dad only to find him staring out the window, his lips curled downward.
“For some reason, I thought you’d be a little more excited,” I prodded.
When his head swiveled my way, I was stunned to see tears in his eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him cry. I thought it might have been five years ago at my grandmother’s funeral, but even then, he hadn’t done it in front of us. I had woken up in the middle of the night and saw him with his head held between his hands as he sat in her favorite chair in front of the fireplace. I figured he needed a moment to himself, so I crept back upstairs as quietly as I could.
“It just hit me that my baby girl is going to be a parent,” he explained. “For so many years, I didn’t even know about her—wasn’t able to be her dad. Yet, here she is, making me something I thought you boys would never get around to doing. I’m going to be a grandpa.”
“Can you blame us?” When he tilted his head in response, I continued so he would understand what I meant. “You were a fucking great dad, but before we found out about Annora, none of us knew why you never mated. At least for me, I guess I kind of took it as a sign that there’s no rush in finding my mate. That I can live a pretty decent life and if I stumble across her someday, great. If not, no big loss.”
“There’s no greater loss than not having your mate,” he corrected.
Bear the Consequences Page 1
