Silas got up from the other side of the room. “I told you to stay away from him. I warned you not to go near him, but you did it, anyway.”
She rounded on him. “You don't have the authority to order me to do anything, Silas.”
Silas's shoulders swelled to twice their normal size. “Oh, yes, I do. You just watch and see if I have the authority or not.”
“Someone's got to help him. His own family doesn't even care about him anymore.”
“And with good reason,” Silas replied. “He's too far gone to bother with.”
“Really, honey,” her mother added. “Don't you think you better pay attention to some normal Bruin instead of some madman from the hills?”
“I'm not interested in Riskin as a mate. I just want to help him.”
Iris shook her head and turned away. Silas moved in. “You've talked of nothing but Riskin since we saw him by the swimming hole. He's turning into an obsession with you, and now you deliberately went and visited him when I told you not to.”
“Since when do you tell me what to do? You're my brother, not my Alpha, and even if Pop did tell me not to visit Riskin, I would probably still do it. Since when has anyone in this family turned their back on a Bruin in need? Isn't that what you've been trying to teach me all these years, Ma? He's the one you should be trying to help, not Bass Cunningham and all the others who can take care of themselves.”
“I haven't been teaching you to put yourself in danger, honey. That Bruin is dangerous. I talked to some people about him since you started getting interested in him. He's attacked several people, including his own mother.”
“He attacked you, too, Briar,” Silas put in. “You can't deny that.”
“I don't deny it. That only proves how bad he needs help. He's hurt, not only in his body, but in his mind. He only needs kindness to get through to him. Isn't that worth the risk?”
“It's not worth your safety,” her mother replied. “From now on, you stay away from Riskin Dodd.”
“I'm sorry, Ma. I just can't do that.”
Silas surged forward. He pointed in Briar’s face and thundered down at her. “That's it. You disobeyed me, and now you're disobeying Ma. This whole Riskin Dodd thing has gone too far. You stay away from him. Do you hear me? I forbid you to see him again. You're not to go near the parts of the forest where you might find him unless one of us is with you. Do you understand me?”
Briar's hackles raised, and her hands balled into fists. “How dare you talk to me like that? Who do you think you are? I'm not yours to order around. I'll go where I want and do what I want. You go back to your room and play with your phone, boy. You keep your opinions about my life to yourself.”
Silas chopped the air with his hand. “As long as I'm living in this house, I'll have something to say about anything you do that affects this family. You're playing with fire, going around that Bruin, and you know it. You're risking your life, and that affects me and everyone else. You just heard Ma say you shouldn't see him again, and you threw her words right back in her face. Now you'll hear it from me. If you don't back down and do as you're told, I'll have no choice but to discipline you.”
“Discipline me?” Briar laughed in his face. “I'd love to see you try. You're too worried about getting a smudge on your shirt to lift a finger around here. You don't do anything except mess with your phone from morning 'til night, and you think you can come along and discipline me? Since when are you Alpha around here?”
“I'm all the Alpha you ever need to know about, girl. Go upstairs, and if I find out you visited Riskin again, there’ll be trouble. Understand that right now.”
Before she could catch herself, she overreacted. The she-bear exploded out of her with a tremendous bellow, and she flew across the room at him with slashing claws and spit foaming on her lips. She launched herself at his head, and he barely got his arms up in time to jam her jaws away from his face.
Her teeth clamped around his starched sleeve, but she didn't reckon on his hidden strength. She knew her brother was strong, a lot stronger than he looked. She never considered how strong he really was.
With one massive eruption of his arms, he sent her sprawling across the room. Iris shrank back, and May jumped off the couch, but Silas already shifted and charged across the room to attack Briar.
She landed against her father's easy chair. He hit her with all his weight before she rolled to the floor. In seconds, he weighed her to the ground and flattened her under a bundle of muscle and fur.
Briar spat and roared and slashed and bit, but he overpowered her without even breaking a sweat. He knocked her head aside with one sweep of his neck and closed his teeth around her cheek. He pinned her head to the floor and held her there until she stopped thrashing.
Iris moved in. “Children, children. Let's not have any fighting in the house. Come on, Silas. Let her up.”
In an instant, Silas's weight lifted off her. He tugged his sleeves down to his wrists and smacked his lips over the hole in the fabric. He gritted his teeth and growled down at Briar. “Go upstairs.”
Briar scrambled to her feet and ran for the stairs. She didn't look back, but slammed her bedroom door and threw herself on her bed.
What was the matter with her? Why did she let Silas or anybody else rattle her about Riskin? She never fought with her siblings before. They always stayed close no matter what.
She put on a brave face and told them all she wasn't interested in Riskin as a mate, but in her heart, not even she believed that. She didn’t want to be attracted to him, but her bear soul couldn’t help it.
He was crazy, wasn't he? He didn't shift. He lived his life as a bear in the woods. He would probably stay that way forever. What was the point of getting attracted to him if he wasn't capable of leading a normal life?
The she-bear didn't care if he could or not. Those few minutes they spent together in the woods imprinted him on her soul. His smell and his presence occupied her every thought. If he couldn't live in the world of houses and people, she would go to him. They would live together as bears. They would always have that, and they would always be happy together.
How could she even think of him like that? Where was the romance in this tragic story? He was too scarred and traumatized ever to recover. She ought to walk away from him and find herself a successful, well-groomed guy like her brother. No one could ask for anything better.
Lots of Bruin girls had their eyes on Silas. Handsome, rich, savvy, influential—that's the kind of mate Briar always dreamed of marrying. She dreamed of it, right up until yesterday when she met that battered old bear at the swimming hole.
A soft knock resounded on her door. May came in without waiting for an answer. Briar buried her face in her pillow. “Leave me alone. I don't want to talk about it.”
May sat down on the bed next to her. “Don't worry about Silas. He'll be all right in a few hours.”
“All right! Do you think I care if he's all right? What about me? Doesn't anybody in this stupid house care if I'm all right?”
May rubbed her back. “We all know you're going to be all right, darling. There's nothing wrong with you. He didn't hurt you.”
“He's a pig and I hate him.”
May clucked her tongue. “You shouldn't stand up to him like that, sweetie. He's a lot stronger than you.”
“He's not my Alpha.”
“He's stronger than you and he can put you down without lifting his little finger. That makes him all the Alpha you need to know about.”
“I don't care. I don't care what he says. I won't stop seeing Riskin no matter what anybody says.”
“He's got a lot more important things to worry about right now than Riskin Dodd. You should be more careful.”
“All he cares about is his stupid companies. That's all he ever thinks about.”
“You're wrong, darling. Didn't you see those men who came to see him this morning?”
Briar flipped over fast. “What do you mean?”
&
nbsp; “You must have seen them in the living room.”
“I saw 'em, but…” she trailed off.
May nodded. “Foicks Dunlap, Azer Mackenzie, and Dax Cunningham came to see him yesterday. They want Silas to join them in making war against those panthers from Burkes Road. They want to invade the country and destroy the bear-baiters in their own backyard.”
Briar blinked. “I didn't…”
May cut her off, “Then this morning Ash Dunlap, Kelso Cunningham, and Barton Kerr came around to see him. They're trying to get Silas to side with them to seal a peace agreement with the panthers to stop the bear-baiters coming into Bruin territory. Everybody's coming at him from every direction.”
Briar opened her mouth, but no sound came out. How could she miss this? How could she become so blind to these movements happening right under her nose?
“And do you know something else?” May went on. “Both groups visited Shaw, too, but at different times. They're both working Silas and Shaw. No one knows which of them will take over as Alpha after Pop. They both want to make sure the new Alpha sides with them.”
Briar couldn't speak above a whisper. “I didn't know.”
“Silas is trying to run his businesses while all these competing forces are pulling him in every direction. You've been so wound up thinking about Riskin you didn’t even notice.”
Briar looked up at her sister. “If you're right, that means…”
May stood up. “Do me a favor. Don't get into any more fights with Silas. He has no choice now but to prove himself as Alpha. If he loses, Shaw will kill him. Just support him. Take him as your Alpha and do what he says. He doesn't need you worrying him right now.”
May let herself out and eased the door closed. Briar slumped back on her bed. May was right. She couldn't keep wondering if there is any hope for bringing Riskin to his senses. If he wouldn’t come around, she should walk away from him now and concentrate on potential mates. She should build a real life with someone else.
Chapter 6
The bear lay in the dense thicket with his chin resting on his paws. His head swung up when the girl appeared coming up the path. He narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't move.
Briar slowed her pace. She locked her eyes on the bear. “I came back. I had to see you again. It looks like you've been waiting there for me to come back.” She set her basket under the tree and straightened up. “I brought you some more food, and I brought you some medicine for your leg, too.”
She plucked a bundle out of her basket, unwrapped it, and tossed the meat down in front of him. He sniffed it, and without taking his eyes off her, he picked it up and swallowed it.
She stood still and watched him. “You've been out here alone too long. You need contact with other Bruins. You need someone touching you and bringing you back around people, but if you keep your distance, that will never happen.”
She unwrapped another bundle, but she didn't throw it down to him. She squatted in the path and held it out on her upturned palm. “Come on out here and get it. You know I won't hurt you. I'm here to help you.”
He didn't move.
Briar waited. Then she pursed her lips and tossed him the meat. She stood up and straightened her skirt. “I won't shift again. If you don't want to be with me like this, as a woman, I better leave you alone. I care enough to try to help you, but you have to meet me halfway. You have to shift so I can talk to you and work on your leg. You have to want me to help you. If you don't, I'm leaving and I won't come back.”
He still didn't move. His black eyes searched her face.
Briar let the long moments tick by. Then she sighed. Her voice cracked when she spoke. “All right. I guess that's your answer. I thought there might be something between us, but I guess I was wrong. If you want to be a bear, you can be. I won't give up my life and my family for you.”
She started to turn away, but at the last second, she turned back. She took the same small container out of her basket and held it out. “Why don’t you let me put some of this on your leg? It will make it feel better.”
She took a step closer. He raised the hair along his neck, but he didn’t growl or move away. He let her draw close. She squatted down in front of him, and he flared his nostrils to catch her scent.
Oh, that blessed scent! He would do anything to get it. He would tolerate anything. He would even tolerate her moving around to his side and rubbing the stinging ointment into the weeping scar running from his hip down to the knee joint.
She moved her finger in slow, gentle swirls over the angry red skin. “This looks nasty. It’s a lot nastier than I expected. It’s seriously infected, and it needs a lot more work to get it healing. It could be a while before you can use your leg right.”
He rested his chin on his paws. The salve sent a prickly tingle through the wound. He couldn’t call it pleasant, but she was right. It did feel better. Maybe her touch did it. He couldn’t tell.
Briar inched closer. She shifted the ointment jar to her left hand and compressed the abscess with her thumb. The bubble popped under the pressure, and a trickle of hot, foul-smelling puss broke the surface and spurted onto the ground.
The bear jerked at the sudden pain. He snarled at her and jumped away. He came to a standstill some paces away and glared at her.
She held up her hands. “All right. I won’t bother you anymore. I can see you don’t want me around.” She screwed the lid on the container and tossed it in her basket. “I can see you’re too far gone. You don’t want to come back, and you never will. I was stupid to think I could get through to you. I’ll go now. Thanks for letting me try. See ya later.”
She picked up the basket to walk away. The bear didn’t understand much of what she said. Her voice spoke to a part of him lying long dormant, a part he would just as soon forget. When he saw her getting ready to walk away, he understood only one thing. She would walk out of these woods and she wouldn’t come back. She was finished visiting him.
He didn’t know how to stop her leaving. Before he knew what happened, a vibration bubbled out of his deep chest. It flowed over the ground to touch her. “Thanks.”
Briar whipped around fast. Riskin looked around and shrugged. “Thanks, Briar.”
She stared at him in stunned surprise. “Riskin?”
He could only shrug. That name meant nothing to him.
All of a sudden, something strange happened to her face. It split in half, and the most glorious warming sunshine he ever saw burst out of it to surround him with its heavenly light. He never saw anything like it. He basked in that most sacred glow. Her teeth shone through her lips, and her eyes sparkled.
She rushed over and grabbed his hands. Were those hands? Where were his paws? He couldn’t understand what was happening to him. He only understood that blinding sunshine pouring out of her face to bathe him clean of all his rage and pain.
“Riskin!” she breathed. “You’re back! Oh, I’m so relieved. You don’t know how much it hurt to have to turn my back on you just now. Promise me you won’t do that again.”
He couldn’t look at her anymore. He looked down at her fingers holding his hands. How could those white things be part of his body? “I can’t promise you that. I don’t really understand how I did it in the first place.”
She drew him down next to her on the soft moss. “You’ve been a bear so long you must have forgotten how to shift. A few more shifts, and you’ll remember.”
He took a close look at her all over. “You look different this way.”
Briar laughed. That sound tickled his ear. How long had he gone without hearing someone laugh? His mind wouldn’t register the sound. He only recognized her shining face. She was happy, happier than he’d seen anyone in a long time. “I’m sure a lot of things will seem different to you. You’re not just seeing them with different eyes. You’re understanding them with a different brain. You’re thinking about them as a man instead of a bear.”
“Show me how you shift. Show me how you look as a bear
.”
“Not just yet.” She picked up her basket. “Let me work on your leg some more. I want to make you well so you can walk and run.”
He moved closer to her. “I don’t want you working on my leg. It hurts, and I want to look at you like this. I want to understand you like this.”
A beautiful pink flush covered her cheeks. She lowered her eyes and turned away so a wisp of hair fell over her face. A flash of mighty fury exploded through Riskin’s heart. He wanted to kill and main and tear. The next minute, his brain understood. That sensation was a powerful attractive force pulling him toward Briar.
He wanted her. He wanted to touch her and take her and consume her. The bear wanted that female with whom he hunted and explored the woods. The she-bear wasn’t here. Briar was here. The bear wanted his female, and Riskin wanted Briar. He wanted her not as a bear, but as a man wants a woman. He wanted to be a man taking her as a woman.
She plucked the ointment jar out of the basket and twisted off the lid. She held out her ointment-covered finger and pointed to his leg. “Let me see it.”
He didn’t move when she slid around to look at his leg. She found the gash and milked the rotten puss from the abscess again. This time, he gritted his teeth and sat still while she worked over him.
The pain subsided and she started with the salve. Riskin looked the other way so he wouldn’t see her face hovering inches away from him. Her presences and her glowing beautiful happiness drove him out of his mind. He would never be able to sit still if he looked at her.
He couldn’t escape the sensation of her soft, gentle hands working over his leg. She squeezed his knee without meaning to. Then she cupped his thigh in one hand to move his leg sideways so she could massage up around his hip.
Her fingers lit his skin on fire. He never had to worry before about anything getting near his skin. His fur protected him. Now nothing protected him from the heady closeness of her skin touching his leg.
He winced and turned away. He pulled out of her hands so she wouldn’t notice the swelling between his legs. She frowned. She thought the gash hurt too much.
Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume II) Page 16
