by Liv Brywood
“Why?”
“I haven’t really told you much about myself, but I was born into a very wealthy family. But for all the money we had, there was no love in our house. I don’t even think my parents liked each other, let alone loved each other. They were both from wealthy families and their fathers did business together, so looking back, I think it was more of a marriage of money than of love.”
“That sucks.”
She forced a smile. “Yeah.”
“My parents were madly in love with each other. We didn’t have much when I was a kid. They spent their whole lives building up the ranch to make it what it is today. That’s why I’m so adamant about protecting it. I want to make sure that their hard work wasn’t for nothing.”
“It sounds like you loved them a lot.”
“I did. They did everything for us. Not a day went by that I didn’t know how much they loved me. I was very lucky in that regard. I know not all families are like mine.”
She laughed bitterly. “You have no idea.”
He reached for her hand. “No matter what happens, I’m here for you. Okay?”
“We hardly know each other.”
“I know. But sometimes you can be friends at first sight. It’s like love at first sight, without all the longing,” he said.
She agreed with him about feeling that indescribable spark when she first met him, but she wouldn’t have called it friendship. It wasn’t love either. She didn’t know what it was, only that it was special.
They pulled into the driveway. Mack jumped out of the truck and ran around to her side. After opening the door for her, he helped her down.
“Do you want me to go with you?” he asked.
“Are you going to hold the stick?” she half-joked.
“No. But I’ll sit outside and wait for you.”
“This is so weird.”
“Life can be weird.”
As they walked into the house, she couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks.”
“Let me know what you need and I’ll get it for you.”
Upstairs, she slowed her pace. “I need to do this alone.”
“I’ll be downstairs.” He grabbed her hand. “Regardless of the outcome, I’m here for you. Okay?”
“Okay.”
When she entered the bathroom, a fresh wave of nausea overwhelmed her. She dropped to her knees in front of the toilet. The pit of her stomach hollowed as she dry heaved. Nothing came up but fear.
She stood and washed her hands. After splashing water on her face, she stared at her pale reflection. Dark smudges lined the bottoms of her eyes. Her pale lips pressed together. She set the wrapped stick on the counter and eyed it warily. Part of her wanted to throw it in the trash and pretend that this wasn’t happening. But she had to know the truth.
Two minutes later, she stood over the stick and watched in horror as the blue plus sign appeared in the small window. Her hand flew to cover her mouth. “No.”
A soft knock sounded on the bedroom door. Her knees wobbled as she crossed the room. She opened the door and fell into Mack’s arms.
“Shh…” he murmured.
“It’s… it’s positive. Oh, God. What am I going to do?”
“You don’t have to decide right this second.”
“I have to tell Ben.”
He pulled her closer, wrapping her in his strength. As he held her, she sobbed against his chest. In his arms, she could unleash the torrent of tears she’d been holding back. Several minutes passed before her tears finally dried up.
Her horse voice took on a haunted quality. “I have to tell him, don’t I?”
“I can’t tell you what to do with your life.”
“But it’s the right thing to do. I can’t hide his baby from him. Regardless of what happened between us, it would be wrong to keep it from him.”
He stroked her hair. “My brother just went through something like that. It hurt him more than you could know.”
“That’s why I need to tell him.”
He relaxed his embrace. “I’ll give you some time alone. I’ll go get lunch started.”
“I’m supposed to be doing that.”
“I’m happy to help.”
“You’re so good to me.”
“My mom raised me to be a gentleman. It’s in my blood.”
She gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. “She did a good job.”
As Mack left the room, he closed the door. She reached for her cell phone and took a deep breath before dialing. Ben picked up on the second ring.
“Where have you been?” he asked in an angry tone.
“Away.”
“You need to come home so we can talk.”
“I can’t. I’m working.”
“Working?” he asked as if he couldn’t wrap his mind around the concept.
“Yes, working.”
“Where?”
“I’m on a ranch in Montana.”
“Jesus Christ, Madison. You should be here in Seattle with me. What the hell are you doing on a ranch?”
She sighed. There was no point in trying to cushion the blow, so she blurted it out. “I’m pregnant.”
The silence on the other end of the line lasted so long that she glanced at the screen to make sure he hadn’t hung up on her. The numbers depicting the length of the call continued to click up.
“Ben?”
“You need to come home.”
“I can’t. Not right now. I’ll come back after Christmas and then we can discuss a custody arrangement.”
“The hell we will! You’d better get on the next plane and come home or I’ll hunt you down.”
Anger coiled around her belly and steeled her spine. “No. I just called to tell you about the baby. I’m not going to come back to you. This doesn’t change anything between us.”
“I’m not going to have a bastard child running around.”
“Well if you’d kept your dick in your pants, you wouldn’t have this problem.”
“Why are you so caught up on one indiscretion? It happened once. Get over it.”
She pulled the phone away from her ear. Her finger hovered over the “End” button. Mack was right. She should have waited to call him.
Ben’s nasally voice snarled through the air. “I’m coming out there and we’re going to work this out.”
“Don’t you dare come here. I don’t want to see you. I’ll call you when the baby’s born and we’ll work out a custody agreement.”
His tone changed to whiny. “Why won’t you give me another chance? I made one mistake. Now that we have a baby on the way, we owe it to him to work things out. If you would just forgive me—”
“I’ll never forgive you. Never.” She’d never get the image of him in bed with her best friend out of her mind.
“You’re making a huge mistake. I’ll take the baby away from you.”
“There’s no way a court would do that.” She hated the way her voice wavered. With his money and power, anything was possible. He probably had every judge in Seattle in his back pocket.
“Obviously you’re hormonal. When you come to your senses, call me back. Don’t do anything stupid.”
She glared at the phone in disbelief. “I’m not stupid. You’re a jackass, Ben. If you weren’t such an ass—”
The call ended. He’d hung up on her? Seriously? She wanted to throw the phone across the room. What had she ever seen in him? He was a complete asshole. Her mother had set them up, always going on about how she needed to marry within her class, like it was the nineteenth century or something.
She huffed. He was delusional if he thought she’d ever go back to him. She didn’t need a jerk like him in her life. She needed someone more like Mack. Someone who was kind and considerate. They barely knew each other and he’d treated her far better than Ben ever had. If only she’d met someone like Mack before she’d fallen into the abyss of Ben’s obsessive love.
Looking back, she realized how controlling he’d been. He’d chosen the invitations.
He’d chosen the restaurants and he’d insisted on choosing her clothes. At the time, she’d thought he was a doting fiancé. How could she have been so naïve?
Chapter 8
Mack fisted his hand and leaned against the wall. He’d only overheard half of the conversation, but he could guess what her ex had been saying on the other end. The bastard was trying to get her back. Mack’s bear roared in anger. If that guy ever showed his face on the ranch, Mack wouldn’t work too hard to control his bear.
A moment of clarity hit him square in the gut. What was he doing? He wasn’t involved with her. She wasn’t his to protect. He’d spent the last thirty-two years of his life single. The ranch was his whole world and he had a responsibility to protect everyone on it. He had enough to do without having to take care of a woman who had her own set of problems. Why was he so worried about her?
His bear answered. She’s your mate.
Stunned, he backed away from the door. His mate? Could his bear be wrong about that? He’d never declared any other woman his mate, so why now? Could that explain why he’d been so immediately and inexplicably drawn to her? Could that be why he couldn’t get her out of his mind?
He needed time to think, so he hurried downstairs. After whipping up a stir-fry for lunch, he packed a bag and left a note for Madison:
I’ll be out on the ranch most of the day. We’ll talk tonight.
After jogging to the barn, he chose Grayson, a large black stallion. He saddled the horse, then took off toward the back pasture. He had plenty of work to do away from the B&B. The fence alongside old man Wrangler’s property needed to be checked. Normally Jack would take care of his portion of the fence, but since his heart attack, he couldn’t do as much work as he had in the past. Mack didn’t mind. Jack was in his late seventies and had refused help until he’d been forced to rest after his illness.
Mack raised his face toward the sun. It was near freezing, but warmer than it had been in a week. During the winter, he tried to spend as much time as he could out in the sun. The short days and long nights could wear on his psyche if he wasn’t careful.
As he approached the fence, he took in the view of Jack’s property. Hills covered in snow rolled on for miles. In the distance, majestic mountains reflected shimmering snow-heavy trees. He passed a quaking aspen. Nature had decorated the trees with long, clear icicles. Fresh, crisp air blew down from the hills, bringing with it the sweet scent of the natural world.
He couldn’t imagine ever living in a city. A concrete jungle of buildings, cars hacking out deadly chemicals, strangers racing around to their walled-in jobs without a view of the sky. They didn’t call Montana “Big Sky Country” for nothing. The sky stretched up from the snowy landscape to form a dome of robin’s egg blue. A few wispy clouds drifted on the breeze.
Mack’s heart swelled with pride as he turned to survey his family’s property. The ranch had been owned by his family for generations. He frowned. Who would he pass on the legacy to? Brady had his son Jimmy, so he would take over if none of the other brothers had kids.
Worry lines creased his forehead. What if something happened to Jimmy? His surgery had been successful and he was recovering really well, but was one heir enough? He had a legacy to uphold. He needed to make sure that their family would continue to run the ranch for another seven generations.
An image of Madison with a swollen belly popped into his mind. His bear leapt with recognition. He quickly shook it away. She couldn’t possibly be his mate. He’d never really thought about marrying, but if he had, he never would have dreamed that he’d marry a woman who was already carrying another man’s child. His bear had to be wrong.
He shrugged. She’d be on the ranch for a few more weeks. As long as she didn’t leave, he’d have the time he’d need to figure out if his bear was right. He flinched. She couldn’t leave. Based on the conversation he’d overheard, she wasn’t planning on leaving, but things could change. Although, if she did leave, then it wasn’t meant to be.
His bear pawed at his heart and insisted that she was his mate.
“We’ll see about that, buddy.”
After riding the length of the fence, he sat on a log and ate his lunch. He hadn’t been getting much sleep. Even though they hadn’t been sleeping in the same house, he could scent Madison from his bedroom. He’d spent the last two nights tossing and turning, thinking about how her skin felt under his hands. So soft and supple.
A flash of her naked and spread out beneath him brought a rush of warmth to his groin. He shifted uncomfortably as his bear fought for freedom. Maybe he should let him loose and run until the urge to claim Madison passed.
He shook his head. “Down, boy.”
His bear snarled. Mack hadn’t let him out in over a week, which was far too long. Maybe tonight after dinner he’d shift and run through the woods just to let off some steam.
The afternoon sun dipped low on the horizon. His eyes drooped from a lack of sleep. The cold didn’t bother him, so he found a patch of grass under a tree and curled up to take a quick nap. Ten minutes and then he’d head back.
Hours later, bleary eyed and disoriented, Mack woke to complete darkness. He sat up and brushed pine needles from his hair. Overhead, a million stars twinkled against a midnight sky.
Shit. So much for a short nap.
His stallion stood nearby. At least he hadn’t wandered off. The horse had to be cold by now. Guilt brought him to his feet. He’d have to make sure to give him extra carrots.
The ride back to the barn took longer in the dark. Even with good night vision, the chance of hitting a small hole wasn’t worth the risk of moving faster. He’d apologize if he was late for dinner.
As he walked the horse toward the barn, a truck rumbled up the driveway. Odd. He hadn’t been expecting anyone. The front door opened and Logan came out to greet the stranger. The nice thing about having so many brothers was that they shared the work. He didn’t have any illusions about running the ranch himself. He gave credit where credit was due.
Inside the barn, he brushed the horse and wiped him with towels until he was completely dry. He settled a thick blanket over the horse, then walked him into a stall. Three carrots later, he finished petting the horse and stepped out.
Two steps from the entrance to the barn, he heard yelling. As he rushed into the clearing, he spotted the stranger standing toe-to-toe with Madison.
She screamed, “I don’t care what you want. This baby is mine.”
“He’s mine too. You have no right to take him.”
What the hell? How did her ex find her and get to the ranch so quickly? Mack had only been gone six or seven hours. Didn’t he live in Seattle?
“I never should have told you,” Madison snarled.
Mack raced to her side. “What’s going on here?”
“Who the hell is this?” Ben snapped.
“I own the ranch. Who the hell are you?” Mack already knew, but wanted to assert his authority.
“I’m Madison’s fiancé.”
“Ex-fiancé,” she corrected.
As Mack placed his hand on the small of her back, Ben narrowed his eyes. “What the hell is going on here? It hasn’t even been a month since you walked out on me and you’re already fucking someone new? Or were you already cheating on me too?”
“No. I was faithful the whole time we were together.”
“And now you’re with him?”
Before she could respond, Ben held up his hand. “Never mind. If I’d known you were a slut when I met you then I never would have agreed to marry you.”
Mack’s bear snarled. The beast punched against his will in an effort to be unleashed. He struggled to control him. The fierce need to defend his mate reared up and overwhelmed him. He couldn’t hold back his bear.
He fell forward onto his hands and knees. A cracking, ripping, crunching snarl of tangled bones worked beneath his skin. Fur sprouted from his body. His hands and feet formed huge paws. As the transformation neared completion, h
e threw back his head and roared loud enough to shake the snow from the trees.
***
Madison shrieked as Mack dropped to his knees. What happened next, she couldn’t reconcile. Brown fur sprouted from every inch of his skin. His clothes ripped and shredded as his legs transformed. For a second, she thought she was hallucinating. The ear-splitting roar infused every muscle in her body with adrenaline. Her mind screamed—run!—but her feet refused to cooperate. She stood mute with her jaw hanging open as an enormous grizzly bear emerged from a haze of flying snow.
Ben stepped back as the bear approached him. “Wha—?”
The bear stood on his hind legs. Huge black paws tipped with wicked-looking claws raked the air. When he dropped to all fours, the earth trembled.
Madison backed up a few more steps. The grizzly turned and stalked toward her. Her heart pounded in terror. She’d heard of werewolves and had laughed them off as a myth, but bears? No way.
The closer the bear got to her, the more her stomach clenched. Icy fingers of fear scraped down her back. This couldn’t be Mack. But if it wasn’t, then what had she just witnessed?
The grizzly stopped less than three feet from her. Frosted air streamed from its nostrils as it huffed. It cocked its head to one side and regarded her with the same hazel-colored eyes as Mack’s. Was he in there? Did he want to hurt her? Why wasn’t he attacking?
She struggled to remember what to do in the event of a bear attack. In Seattle, she hadn’t ever worried about running into a bear, so she had no idea what to do.
Ben yelled, “Leave her alone, beast.”
The bear whipped around, moving faster than she would have expected. As it stalked toward Ben, it snarled. The second it turned its back to her, her gaze darted around, searching for a place to hide. The bear stood between her and the house. If she tried to run for it, the bear would be on her in seconds.
She chose the only viable option she had and sprinted toward the trees. After ducking behind a tall pine, she pressed her back against the rough bark and listened for the sound of pounding paws. An eerie silence settled over the forest, as if all the other creatures realized there was a predator in their midst.
