Bear the Consequences

by Rochelle Paige

  “Almost there,” Dad assured me as he raced through town. Braden was on his phone, calling ahead to the hospital so they’d be ready for us when we got there. They were both doing whatever they could to make sure Finley pulled through this and I knew I needed to be ready to do the same.

  As soon as we pulled up in front of the emergency room, the door was flung open and Finley was pulled from my arms and placed on a gurney. A deep growl rolled up my throat as my bear fought to break free so he could yank her back into my lap.

  “Easy, boy,” my dad whispered. “She needs to go with them so they can get her medical attention.”

  I followed behind as far as they would allow, stopping to stare through the doors until I couldn’t see her any longer. My dad led me to a chair and I collapsed into it. Sitting in the waiting room with my family surrounding me, I pulled out my phone and did something I thought I’d never do. I called Finley’s father. He picked up on the first ring, almost like he knew something was wrong.

  “We’re at the hospital in Wolf’s Point. She needs you.”

  ****

  “You were stabbed with a silver knife!” I heard myself roar at my little mate as she sat on the edge of her hospital bed and glared at me. Even though I was frustrated as hell at the situation, I knew it wasn’t Finley’s fault and I shouldn’t have been taking it out on her. I was the one to blame for the situation we found ourselves in. I hadn’t found a way to bridge the gap between Finley and me.

  She had looked at me with such trust and innocence the day we first met—the day I took her as my own. Even though she had somehow remained untouched until that moment, she didn’t hesitate or flinch away from me. I was responsible for the distance and I needed to be the one to fix this. Instead, I was standing there, shouting at her, while she sat in a hospital bed, waiting to be discharged. My dad might not have raised me to be a dumbass, but I sure as shit was acting like one. “I’m the one who’s supposed to take care of you when you’ve been hurt,” I said in a softer tone.

  “Not when the wounds I’ll have the hardest time healing are the ones you’ve inflicted on my heart.”

  “Finley, please don’t do this,” I whispered as I fell to my knees in front of her. I’d never begged anyone for anything in my life, but I was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she didn’t give up on us. “I know I fucked up, and it’s my fault you were hurt, but we can figure out a way to work through this.”

  “I’m not leaving because I blame you for what happened to me,” she reassured me.

  “Then why are you leaving?”

  My heart dropped as her beautiful eyes filled with tears. “Because I need some time to think, Alasdair. And you do too.”

  “I did all the thinking I needed to do while I sat out there waiting for someone to tell me you were going to be okay,” I said, flinging my arm wide and pointing in the direction of the hall.

  “Well, then, too bad for you that I didn’t have time to do my own thinking while I was unconscious,” she retorted.

  Her hands were clenched in her lap and I pulled them into mine. “Please stay.”

  “A couple of days ago, I would have given just about anything for you to look at me like you are right now,” she said softly, tears streaming down her cheeks. “But...today? I just don’t know anymore.”

  There was a light knock on the door and then her mom stepped inside the room, pushing a wheelchair in front of her. “I’ve got your discharge paperwork all taken care of and they said I could roll you out of here if you’re ready to go.”

  Finley pushed on my shoulders to make enough room so she could stand up. I watched as she limped to the chair and her mom propped up her feet. “I promise to call you in a few days,” she said softly before her mom wheeled her out of the room—and possibly out of my life.

  “What the hell have I done?” I whispered to myself, not expecting anyone to respond.

  “As impossible as it is for me to believe, it looks like you’ve managed to royally fuck up your mating with Finley,” Annora said as she wrapped her arms around me and rested her head against my back.

  “How could I not even know how much she was hurting this whole time?”

  Annora slid around me and captured my gaze as she spoke. “I wasn’t close to Finley when I was growing up. She was a few years older than me and the alpha’s beloved daughter while I...well, we all know what I was.”

  “I’m sorry, sis,” I whispered, hating that the mess I’d created might be hurting her, too.

  “I’m trying to tell you something important here, so listen up,” she huffed with impatience. “I was always jealous of how perfect her life seemed from the outside. Her dad did whatever it took to make sure she was protected at all times. It was clear to anyone looking that she was well loved. Treasured, even.”

  “I treasure her, too!” I objected, knowing where she was going with this.

  “But did you show her how much you loved her? If I asked the members of your clan about Finley, would they tell me how loved she was like her old pack members would have done when talking about her dad?”

  I shook my head, knowing damn well nobody would say any such thing. “I was so fucking stupid. I thought she’d just know I loved her and never even said the words.”

  “All women need the words,” she chided. “I was lucky because Parker was the balm my soul needed after everything I’d gone through. He didn’t hesitate to mate me and give me everything I needed. And Finley? Well, I’m not saying this to hurt you, but she lived an almost perfect life right up until the moment she met you. It never crossed her mind that her mate wouldn’t treasure her like her father had growing up.”

  “And instead she got stuck with me and I did the opposite,” I admitted.

  “Pretty much. I don’t think you realize how much you hurt her, especially after last night.”

  “Last night? Does she really think I did something with Katya?”

  “God, you have no clue, do you?”

  “About what?”

  “There was a full moon last night, dipshit.”

  “Oh, fuck,” I breathed out as realization struck. “She’s never going to forgive me, is she?”

  “Women can forgive a lot when it comes to the right man,” Annora replied. “Just look at Eliza. Spencer refused to admit to himself that she was his mate for years, yet they’re one of the happiest couples I know today.”

  “I don’t know how to fix this.”

  “That’s easy,” she said as a huge grin spread across her face. “You’re going to prove to Finley that you love her and she’s the most important thing in your entire world.”

  Chapter 12

  Finley

  “My sweet baby girl,” Momma sighed. “You should talk to him.”

  It had been three days since I left the hospital and moved back into my parent’s house. Alasdair had called several times and sent an insane number of text messages. Some were as simple as I miss you, while others detailed how he had spent his day. The gifts started the day after I got home. They weren’t the usual flowers and candy kind of presents either. I hadn’t thought Alasdair had learned much about me in the weeks we spent together, but somehow, he managed to pick the perfect gifts.

  First, he sent a brand new Kindle with an Amazon gift card so I could load it up with more books than I could read in several months. Yesterday, I got a receipt for a sizeable donation to a national charity dedicated to helping single moms. I wasn’t sure if he’d even send something today, but I spent my whole morning watching the door, waiting to see what it would be.

  “Your mom’s right, baby girl. You need to call that boy and put him out of his misery.”

  Daddy’s advice shocked me. He hadn’t been happy when I left with Alasdair and he had every right to blame my mate for my injuries since I wouldn’t have been hurt if he’d just listened to his warning. “You really mean that?”

  “As much as I want to beat the living shit out of him for what happened to you,
I still have to respect the fact that he called us when you were hurt,” he admitted.

  “Alasdair called you?” I gasped, surprised to learn he’d reached out to my father.

  “He did,” Dad confirmed. “And I was pissed as hell the whole drive there. Ready to make him hurt for not protecting you the way he should have.”

  “What stopped you?” I asked.

  “I almost didn’t stop. I stormed up to him as he sat there unharmed and healthy while you were fighting for your life. But even through the red haze of my anger, I could see he was a broken man,” Dad replied. “He would have let me destroy him without lifting a finger in his own defense and I just couldn’t do it.”

  “Broken?” I repeated.

  “When I found him, he was slumped over with his head in his hands. He didn’t even notice me coming up to him and I wasn’t the least bit quiet about it,” Daddy explained. “He just looked up at me with eyes full of pain when he finally realized I was standing in front of him.”

  “I didn’t know he called you,” I whispered.

  “You didn’t really give him a chance to tell you much of anything, sweetie,” Momma reminded me.

  “The pain was too much,” I admitted softly.

  “I knew they shouldn’t have let you out of that damn hospital so quickly,” Daddy muttered.

  Momma whacked him in the arm. “She didn’t mean her leg, silly man. She meant her heart.”

  “Sure seems to me like being away from him hasn’t helped her get over it.”

  I traced my finger over the edge of the Kindle in my lap. “It hasn’t.”

  “Would it help you to know he’s called me every single day since you’ve been home?” Daddy asked.

  My head jerked up at the news. “He has?” I gasped.

  “His dad called me, too. Wanted to thank me for telling him what I’d heard. Said he owes both of us for the lives of his daughter and granddaughter.”

  “As well he should,” Momma grumbled. “My baby girl wouldn’t have almost died trying to protect Annora if they’d just listened to you in the first place.”

  It was nice to hear Daddy laugh in response to her complaint. There hadn’t been a lot to laugh about lately. “I think they learned their lesson. He even asked if I could put some feelers out and see if I could learn anything else since I have better ties to the other wolf packs than he does.”

  “Carrick asked you for help?” I breathed out, stunned by this turn of events.

  “He did,” Daddy confirmed. “The man who tried to take Kyla didn’t last long when Spencer questioned him. He admitted to being hired by Annora’s stepfather. From what he had to say, it sounds like he’s out for her blood and blames her for all the problems he’s having now that he and her mom are without a pack. News travels fast in the shifter world and when I proclaimed them shunned, no other alpha would ever consider adding them to their pack—not after what they did to Annora.”

  “Alasdair didn’t mention any of that to me this morning,” Momma complained.

  “What?” I gasped. “You’ve been talking to him, too?”

  “Well, of course I have. Who do you think has been telling him all of your secrets?”

  “So that’s how he’s been picking the gifts,” I mumbled.

  “If you’d talk to him, then maybe you’d be willing to go see the best present of them all.”

  “I’m scared,” I admitted quietly. “I love him so much, but I don’t know if he really wants me for me or if it’s all just because his bear wants my wolf.”

  “Do you trust me?” Daddy asked.

  My answer was easy. “All my life.”

  “Let me take you to him so you can see what he’s done to show you how much you mean to him. I think you’ll be surprised, but if it’s not enough for you to believe in him, I’ll bring you back home and we’ll figure out what to do then.”

  I looked away from my dad and over to my mom. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s a nice day for a drive.”

  It was hard to argue with both of them at the same time. Alasdair must have done an awful lot of talking to make them both willing to champion his cause. “I’ll need help getting ready.”

  Momma helped me shower and change and then forced a pain pill down my throat before doing my hair and make-up. I was sleepy from the drugs and dozed most of the way there. It seemed to be a tradition now since the only other times I’d made the drive I’d also been sleeping.

  I heard Daddy telling her to wake me up as we pulled into Bear Creek. He turned the opposite way from Alasdair’s house, however. “You’re going the wrong way.”

  “Your present is this way,” Momma explained.

  We drove a few more blocks and then parked in front of a house just outside of town. Carrick, Braden, and Camden were waiting for us on the steps, but there was no sign of Alasdair. Carrick came to the car and opened my door, holding out a big hand to help me.

  “I’m glad you came,” he greeted before giving my mom a hug and turning to shake my dad’s hand.

  My jaw practically hit the ground when Braden and Camden followed suit, each of them kissing my cheek after they said hello to my parents. “I don’t understand.”

  “When Alasdair told us what he wanted to do for you, we all pitched in to help,” Carrick explained, waving one beefy hand toward the house. It looked like it had been freshly painted and there were newly planted flowers out front. “A small gesture of apology as well as a thank you for what you did for Annora.”

  “But Alasdair already has a house. We don’t need another one. Where is he anyway?” I asked, still not understanding.

  “He had one last errand to run and should be here any minute,” Braden answered.

  “The house was missing one thing,” Alasdair said from behind me. He was holding a slat of wood in his hand. It looked similar to the one my daddy gave me the day I met Alasdair. When he turned it around, I finally understood what my present was.

  Finley’s Honor House

  “Our clan might not be as big as your dad’s pack, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t women nearby who could use our help,” Alasdair explained.

  “This is only the first one,” Carrick added. “Braden, Camden, and I are going to work on setting houses like this up in each of the towns where we own a club.”

  “But there are Honey Pots all across the United States,” I gasped.

  “We didn’t do a good job welcoming you into my clan—into our family—when you mated with Alasdair. Consider it a welcome gift plus an apology for being a dumbass and letting you get hurt,” Carrick replied.

  “This is quite the welcome-slash-apology,” I sputtered.

  “I always taught my boys to go big or go home. We figured it was about time we showed you exactly how much you mean to us. After what happened, we agreed it called for a grand gesture.”

  “We?” I whispered, turning to look at Alasdair again. He was so handsome, it almost hurt my eyes.

  “Mostly me,” he admitted. “I didn’t want there to be any doubt—not in your mind, your parent’s, or my family’s—over how much you mean to me.”

  “This is amazing,” I said, tears gathering in my eyes. I wanted to run and throw myself into his arms, but I made a promise to myself days ago that was stopping me now. “And I think I know what it means, but I need to hear you say the words.”

  Alasdair came to me then and knelt in the grass at my feet. Clasping my hands in his, he finally told me everything I’d been waiting to hear. “I love you, Finley. Not just because fate picked out the perfect mate for me. Or because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I love you for the woman you are inside. The one who loves to read romance novels and looks up at me like I can hang the moon in the sky for her. The woman who took a heartbreaking situation and turned it into a way to help other people. Who was braver than I’ve ever been and let me into her heart without knowing I’d keep it safe.”

  “Alasdair,” I sighed.<
br />
  “I want to grow old with you. To raise a family with you. To have children who will be lucky to have you as their mother and your parents as their grandparents. Please tell me you want the same.”

  I could barely see him through the tears streaming from my eyes. “I do.”

  “You let me mark and mate you the very first day we met. I know I’ve messed up a lot between then and now, but I was hoping you’d let me claim you the very first day I managed to win you back.”

  “Today?” I gasped.

  “Now,” he corrected. “We can do it again on the next full moon, if you’d like. I know claiming ceremonies are a big deal for wolf packs, but for bears, they’re fairly straightforward.”

  I nodded my head and Carrick joined us as Alasdair came to his feet. Carrick reached for our joined hands and wrapped his own around them. He smiled at Alasdair and then turned to me with love shining in his eyes before he looked up at the sky.

  “Bless mé an aontas!” he bellowed.

  As simple as that, I was claimed by my bear.

  Epilogue

  Alasdair

  Less than a month after I claimed Finley in the front yard of Finley’s Honor House, I found myself in the last place I had ever expected to be before I fell in love with my mate: facing the alpha of the Woulffe pack, surrounded by all his wolves. With her hands in mine and knowing how much joy this ceremony brought her, I didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for Finley, but being here today wasn’t a hardship. Once I let go of my anger, I was able to build a relationship with her father and discovered we had more than our love for Finley in common. Besides, I was well aware what my willingness to do this on his lands meant to my mate.

  “I’d like to say something before you begin, Daddy,” Finley said.