He started to walk away. Briar darted forward and grabbed his arm. “Don't do that, Silas. Can't we talk about this?”
He stared down at her hands around his arm. “Now, you want to talk about this? You're spending way too much time worrying about Riskin Dodd. You said you only wanted to help him, but you're acting like you're mated to him or something. What do you think Pop is going to say about that?”
“What would be so bad if I was mated to him? At least I'd be mated to a Bruin and not a…”
Silas's eyes popped out of his head. “You can't be serious! How can you let yourself get attached to that…that fruit loop? He's not in his right mind. You should know that by now.”
“He is so in his right mind. There's nothing wrong with him. I talked to him just now. The longer he stays a man, the more right his mind comes. He's just been a bear too long. He's confused. He's hurt. He's…”
Silas waited for her to continue. “Are you hearing yourself right now? Do you hear how ridiculous this sounds? You're going after a crazy bear, and you want to fix him up and make him your pet. You want to mate with him? No way! I'm going to get Pop.”
Briar threw up her hands. “Fine. Go get Pop. Tell him all about it, and I'll tell him all about it, too. We'll see who's right and who's wrong.”
Silas stormed out, and Briar threw herself on the couch to wait. May sat down next to her, but she kept her voice low. “You shouldn't have done that, Briar. You shouldn't have defied him like that.”
“If he thinks he's gonna order me around like my Alpha, he better pack a lunch. Pop never ordered me around like that, and neither will he.”
Just then, Silas returned with Iris, their father Don, Shaw Cunningham, Dana, and even their much older sister Claire and her husband Hollan Kerr. Everybody started talking and firing questions at once.
“Is it true you visited Riskin Dodd against your brother's orders?”
“So what if she did? Where's the harm in it?”
“Who gave you the authority to order anybody around?”
“She only wants to help him. That's what she told us.”
“She thinks she wants to mate with him. She just admitted it.”
“Mate with him? That's a different story altogether.”
Briar sat still, but the noise didn’t die down. The commotion escalated to a fevered pitch until old Don MacAllister raised his hands for silence. He faced Briar. “Whatever you did, you shouldn't have done it without my permission. You understand that, don't you?”
Briar fiddled with her fingernails. “You're right, Pop. I'm sorry about that.”
“I'm sure I would have given you permission to help that bear if you asked for it, but there are larger issues at work now. I wish you could keep helping him. I'm sure he's a nice boy, but I have to tell you now you're not to go near him again.”
Briar's head shot up. “But why? How can you forbid me to go near him when I just made a huge breakthrough in getting him to shift?”
Don shook his head. “Like I said, there are larger issues at work.”
“Like what?”
Don shrugged. Silas answered for him. “Rhys Dodd came over earlier. His father Addison is sick. He's going around all the Homesteads, meeting and greeting all the Alphas and potential Alphas. He’s consolidating his power by sealing alliances with the other upcoming Alphas.”
Shaw Cunningham broke in, “That's not all. Rhys is joining Foicks Dunlap and Azer Mackenzie. He wants to attack the panthers, and he came over to add his voice to the others. He wants both of us to join them.”
Briar leapt off the couch. She whirled one way to face Silas. Then she whirled the other way to face Shaw. “You can't do that! You can't seal an alliance with Rhys. Don't you get it? He's trying to supplant Riskin as Alpha. Riskin is the older brother. He should be Alpha of the Dodd tribe, not Rhys.”
“Riskin can't be Alpha. You know that,” Silas told her. “Riskin is out of his mind. He hasn't set foot on his family Homestead in months—maybe even years. He's not fit to lead a tribe. Rhys will do a much better job. He's steady and reliable. He never went crazy and ran off to the woods.”
Briar spun around in a complete circle. Her hands flew out to her sides. She didn't know which way to turn. “You can't do this. You can't support Rhys against Riskin.”
Don held out his hands. “Now, settle down, honey. We only want what's best for you.”
Briar sailed away from him to cross the room. “I won't let you do this. I don't care what you say or what you do. You can order me around 'til you're blue in the face. I'll never stop helping Riskin, and I won’t stand by while Rhys cheats him out of his rightful inheritance. He was born to lead his tribe, and that's exactly what he's going to do.”
She bolted out of the house. She covered the distance to the woods in a heartbeat and plunged into the trees. What came over her? How did Riskin become so important to her so fast?
She had to find him. She had to tell him what was going on. She had to bring him back. How did she know he belonged at the head of his tribe? Weren’t her father and her brother and the rest of their family right? Wasn't he crazy and unreliable and beyond redemption?
She had to find him. She had to get him functioning so he could take over as Alpha. Maybe it made no sense. Maybe she was just as crazy as Riskin, but she had to try.
She found Riskin waiting for her in the same place. He searched the trees for any sign of her coming back until she materialized in front of him. She burst into that same radiant smile when she saw him in his human form.
Even at that distance, the bond between them brought them together. They couldn't fight it. Their arms extended to embrace each other. Their fingers yearned to touch each other. Nothing in the world could be right until they came together.
Briar walked faster until she broke into a run. Riskin's smile broke out as laughter, and he started toward her. Whatever were they thinking to believe they could exist apart?
Briar put on a burst of speed. Nothing could keep them apart now. Just a few more steps, and she would fall into that fated embrace. She crossed the last few inches, and his arms closed around her when a roar shattered the peaceful forest.
Briar jumped a foot in the air, but instead of tearing herself out of his arms, she leapt into them for safety. Riskin's arms closed around her on instinct, and he hugged her against his chest. They turned toward the sound when a massive bear lumbered out of the forest.
Briar didn't recognize him, but before she could react, Riskin sank his two fists into her arms and shoved her away with all his might. She staggered back, tripped, and sprawled on the grass. Riskin launched himself at the bear, and the thunder coming out of his mouth changed to a guttural bellow of rage. “Rhys!”
Like lightning, Riskin's shaggy brown hair flew back from his face. His bared teeth elongated into fangs, and his shivering lips turned black around his gaping deadly jaws. His shoulders hunched and expanded into two mountains of Bruin muscle. The ragged, scarred bear Briar spotted at the swimming hole smashed into his brother with all his force.
They didn't listen when she called out “Stop!” They couldn't hear her over their monstrous growling and bellowing. Riskin got the upper hand early through sheer berserk rage. He knocked Rhys flat on his back and drove in for the throat, but Rhys didn't come out to the forest to go home defeated.
The minute his back hit the ground, Rhys twisted sideways. He rolled on his side and took Riskin with him. Riskin's jaws closed on the rough fur around Rhys's neck. He came up with a mouthful of fur and not much else.
At the same moment, Rhys sank his fangs into Riskin's foreleg. Riskin leg buckled under him, and his wounded hind leg didn't help, either. He couldn't hold himself up, and his weight fell down on top of Rhys.
Rhys took advantage of his brother's weakness by kicking out with his back feet. He slammed into Riskin's bad leg and made him yelp in pain. At the same time, he gave a mighty wrench and flipped Riskin over. In a fraction of a second, the tabl
es turned with Riskin on his back and Rhys on top.
Rhys opened wide his jaws for the killing stroke. Riskin saw him coming, but there was nothing he could do with one hind leg and one foreleg disabled. Rhys reared back.
At that instant, Riskin bent his head low down to dive in against Rhys's chest. He planted his forehead against his brother's sternum, and Rhys's jaws closed around his head. One tooth pierced Riskin's ear and blood flowed.
Rhys gnawed Riskin's head in frustrated fury, but nothing he could do would dislodge Riskin from between his forelegs. He wrestled his brother back and forth. He couldn't decide what to do.
Just then, a flying ball of fur hurtled out of nowhere. It slammed into Rhys's shoulder hard enough to shake him loose. Rhys lifted his head with a roar. Briar hit the dirt on the other side of him and somersaulted onto her feet. In seconds, she flew at Rhys a second time.
This time, she bared her fangs. She landed on top of Rhys and sank her teeth into his neck from behind. He raged and squirmed, but he couldn't turn around to fight her without letting go of Riskin.
He craned his neck around, but he only succeeded in tearing her teeth against his skin. In the end, he pitched over on his side and even rolled onto his back to rid himself of her obnoxious presence.
His weight landed on top of her and knocked the wind out of her. She gasped for breath through her mouth, and her jaws dislodged from his neck. The moment he felt himself free, Rhys jumped clear. He paced away with a deep-throated growl.
Briar jumped to her feet and shifted. In the blink of an eye, the she-bear's furious temper faded away. She could face him with a clear head. A few paces away, the big bear shook himself, and his skin sloughed off to reveal the clean-cut man underneath.
Rhys didn't stop pacing, and his eyes blazed. He coughed and flexed his arms for a fight. He aimed an accusing finger at her. “Do you think you can protect him from me? You can't protect him all the time. I'll find him when you're not around. I'll never quit until I get rid of him. He'll never come back, and he'll never be Alpha of our tribe. You can take my word on that.”
He shrugged one more time and stormed off into the woods.
Briar let out a sigh of relief. That was a close call. She turned back to Riskin and came face to face with the scarred bear. He stood on all fours with his shaggy head hung low between his shoulders, but he didn't put any weight on his hind leg. His foreleg shivered in pain, and he only put it down for an instant before he picked it up and hugged it against his chest.
Briar put out a hand to him. “Come back, Riskin. Come back, and let me take a look at you.”
He growled when she stepped close to him. She stopped dead and stared at him. “It's only me, Riskin. It's gonna be okay. Let me see your wounds.”
She took another step, and he snapped his jaws at her outstretched hand. Briar started back with a gasp. “Riskin! What are you doing?”
He turned away with another growl and limped off into the woods without looking back.
Chapter 8
Briar lounged on her bed and gazed out the window, but the woods outside offered her no comfort. She couldn't even take refuge there anymore. She was better off locked in the house worrying about Melody Mackenzie and her fate worse than death. Briar wished she never met Riskin Dodd.
She rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. The third and final tempest when she came home after Riskin and Rhys's battle eventually blew over. Silas finished storming at her. Her father got through threatening her. Shaw got through suggesting keeping Briar starved and beaten in the basement to teach her a lesson. After four straight hours of yelling, they finally settled on sending her to her room to think about her wicked deeds.
She quit defending Riskin. What was the point? The more she tried to explain, the more Silas turned against her. He wouldn't stop repeating the same old tired nonsense about Riskin being dangerous.
Once she stopped sticking up for Riskin, she started to understand Silas's point of view. He had his own problems to deal with. He had to consolidate his position against Shaw, and that meant making Rhys his ally. Silas would side with Foicks and Azer against the panthers along with Rhys. That made sense, didn't it?
She couldn't really defend Riskin, anyway, could she? He wouldn't shift in front of her anymore. He wouldn't let her patch him up after his fight with Rhys. He snapped at her and walked away from her.
She didn't hear May come in, but May didn't sit down on the bed. She puttered around the room pretending to clean up. Briar kept her back turned. She didn't want to talk. Talking hurt too much.
May murmured to herself under her breath. “Dinner was pot roast and mashed turnips. There's a plate for you if you want to go down and get it. No one is around. It's just you and me in the house, so you won't get in trouble. You must be getting hungry up here.”
Briar didn't turn around. “Thanks. Maybe I'll get it later.”
“Silas is worried about you. He wants Pop to send you away to one of the other tribes to get Riskin off your mind.”
Briar wiped her eyes on her pillowcase. “I don't care if he does send me away. I'm finished with Riskin.”
May turned around with her eyebrows raised. “You are? Since when?”
“I mean Riskin's finished with me. He'll never forgive me for what I did.”
“What did you do that was so bad?”
“I interfered in a battle between him and Rhys. I stopped them fighting it out. I could have spoiled his one chance to kill Rhys and win back the Alpha position. It's all over between me and Riskin. He’ll never come back from the forest now.”
May sat down on the windowsill with a sigh. “It sounds like you two had a misunderstanding, but it can't be over. You wouldn't be pining up here in your room if it was. You two are stuck with each other.”
Briar flipped over fast. “What makes you say that? You've been discouraging me from getting mixed up with Riskin from the beginning. What makes you change your mind now?”
May shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe it's just seeing you so unhappy. Maybe I realized you wouldn't be so unhappy if Riskin wasn't really your mate after all.”
Briar lay back down. “Riskin is not my mate. He can't be. He's too far gone, and he'll never come back. I made a mistake trying to help him. I should have left him alone like Silas told me to.”
“You got him to shift once, didn't you? That's something.”
“More than once. When I saw him yesterday, he was already in his human form. He shifted before I came. Maybe he'd been like that for a while. I don't know.”
“There you go. He must like you an awful lot.”
“I might like him an awful lot, too. That doesn't make him my mate. I can't mess with him anymore. The price is too high. This stupid business of helping Riskin is stressing everybody out way too much, especially me. It's not worth it.”
“Well, you might decide you feel differently later on. Anyway, it's getting late. Do you want me to sleep in here with you tonight? You've been alone a long time with no company.”
“That's okay. I don't mind being alone. It means I can feel as sorry for myself as I want to.”
May laughed. “Well, if you change your mind, I'm right down the hall.”
Briar did her best to smile until May left the room. The window darkened. At least she didn't have to look at the woods anymore. She couldn't look at them without thinking about Riskin.
Was he out there right now? Where did he sleep at night? He must have a den somewhere. He would curl up in a furry brown ball and snuffle into a comfortable position.
The she-bear in her wanted to be there. She wanted to curl up with him in a warm furry nest and snooze until the sun woke them in the morning. They would enjoy another day under the trees, fishing, hunting, rambling, relaxing. What could be better than that?
That would never happen now. She could kiss those dreams good-bye. Riskin would never mate with anybody. What did she want to mate with him for, anyway? She should set her sights on someone
competent, successful, savvy—an up-and-comer like all these young cubs hanging around Silas.
She must have dozed off, though, she wasn't tired. She slept way too much since they sent her to her room. She needed exercise, not sleep. Maybe that's why she woke up wide awake in the middle of the night.
Everybody must be asleep in the house. Now, she could go get her dinner without bothering anyone. She sat up in bed when she heard a noise at her window. It must be a branch scratching the glass. She put out her hand to turn on the lamp when she heard it a second time.
She froze in place and stared into the darkness. The scratch changed to a thump. That was no branch. Every nerve tensed to spring when a shadow crossed the window. Starlight shining outside outlined the shade against the pane. A round head moved from one side to another and dropped below the windowsill.
Briar strained her ears for any sound. Someone or something was out there. Who would come sneaking around her window at this time of night? She grabbed the coverlet to throw it back when the window sash slid up on invisible fingers. The same black head appeared in the open window and slipped through into the room.
Briar stared at the shape in horror. What in blazes was going on? Was Silas playing a prank on her? Was some kid from over the Peak out for an evening of breaking and entering to test the boundaries? That happened sometimes, but it never happened to her before.
The figure moved into the room. It loomed large over her bed. Briar stared up at it in confused shock. She couldn't figure out what it was or what it was doing in her bedroom.
All of a sudden, a cloud passed away from in front of the moon. A shaft of silver streamed into the room. For a brief instant, she saw a gleam on an angular cheekbone and a square jawline. She sucked in her breath, but she couldn't speak above a whisper. “Rhys!”
Faster than thought, he was on her. He dove onto the bed just as she jumped out of it, but he moved faster. He tackled her down on the bed with his hand clamped over her mouth. She fought him off with all her strength, but he was much bigger and heavier. He grunted with the effort of holding her down.
Briar on Bruins' Peak (Bruins' Peak Bears Book 7) Page 5
