Rhys moved from one man to the other, but Briar couldn’t hear what he said to them. They pointed into the woods and around the road. They must be planning something—another hunt for Riskin, no doubt.
Briar glanced over at Riskin. He stood stock still inside the trees. His glinting eyes took in the scene just as fast as Briar did, but she didn’t dare speak to him now. Pent-up tension sizzled through his whole body. His jaw clenched, and his nostrils flared when he breathed.
The terrible tension infected Briar, too. Her teeth chattered, and she knitted her fingers together to stop them shaking. How could Riskin ever stand up to all those Bruins bent on putting an end to him? If he stepped into that yard, they would tear him to pieces. They would set their dogs on him and shoot him with their guns. They would never let him walk out of here alive.
She wanted to run, to bury herself in the woods. She wanted the trees to swallow her up and erase her existence, to save her from those men, but that would never happen. Every spot on God’s green earth she set her foot, she left scent behind. Any Bruin could track her. They would find her. They wouldn’t let her run far.
All at once, Riskin rounded on her. Frightening fire burned in his eyes, and his voice hissed through his gritted teeth. “Run away, Briar. Run back home to your Ma. I can’t do this if I think you’re in danger. Go on. Turn around and run. I’ll keep ‘em here long enough for you to get clear.”
Briar took one last look into the yard. Rhys laughed loud enough for the sound to carry into the woods. He ruled this Homestead. He’d already won.
Briar turned back to face Riskin. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze, and this time, she didn’t let go. “I’m not running away, Riskin. We’re in this together, and I’m going out there with you. I won’t be in danger. Take a look. A yardful of dozens of Bruins is the best protection we could ask for. Think about it. If you defeat Rhys in front of everybody, no one will dare harm us. Your victory will go unchallenged.”
Riskin glanced through the trees, but he didn’t scan the dozens of Bruins milling around. His eyes locked on his brother, and they didn’t leave him. His shoulders swelled out, and his hands balled into fists. The strength he never let himself feel before pulsed in his veins.
Riskin could defeat Rhys. Nothing could stop him, and he knew it. He was stronger than his brother. He always had been. Rhys couldn’t face Riskin without twenty or thirty armed men and trained dogs backing him up. All Riskin had to do was challenge him.
Riskin’s chest rose and fell with steady breath. His eyes never wavered from his brother’s face. “All right. Let’s go.”
Without waiting for Briar to reply, he stepped out of the trees. A few men saw him coming. Most didn’t. Riskin got halfway across the yard before a surge of activity swept the assembly. A murmur of surprise went through the men. They spun around to look, and Rhys glanced over to see what the commotion was.
He froze when saw Riskin. His rifle still rested on his shoulder, but the self-satisfied smirk drained off his face. He stared at Riskin coming straight toward him. Riskin glanced neither right nor left. The men jumped off their fenders. Some backed off and some moved closer to get a better look.
Riskin strode right up to Rhys. He kept his voice low and casual, but no one could mistake the expression on his face. He jerked his chin at his brother. “You and me, Rhys, right now, and the winner take all.”
Rhys shook himself out of his trance. He glanced around at his friends, who watched to see his reaction.
Riskin waited, but Rhys didn’t say anything. Riskin nodded one more time. “Come on. Put your gun away and face me, man to man and bear to bear.”
Rhys woke up with a start. He swung his rifle down and cradled it against his elbow. He looked Riskin up and down and laughed in his face. “Man to man and bear to bear, just like you did at the Mackenzies’? Is that how you want to do it?”
Deep lines furrowed Riskin’s brow, and black thunder smoldered in his eyes.
Rhys looked around at his friends and laughed. “Take your little friend and get out of here before you get hurt—again. Go back to the woods where you belong and leave the tribe to a real man. You don’t belong here.”
Riskin glared at him. The insults stung Briar to the quick, but she couldn’t tell if they bothered Riskin at all. Did that old humiliation shatter his new-found confidence? Could he overcome his defeat to face Rhys and win?
Some of Rhys’s friends joined him in strained laughter at Riskin’s expense, but most stood still and watched. They all heard Riskin challenge Rhys in front of everybody. Only a coward would back down from that challenge, and here was Rhys delaying to beat the band.
Riskin waited for the laughter to stop. In one swift stride, he stepped close to Rhys and murmured into his face. “What’s the matter, Rhys? You’re not scared, are you? Don’t you think you can beat me without your rifle in your hands?”
Rhys twisted up his mouth in a hideous grin. “I’m not scared of you.”
Riskin stepped back. He spun around to turn his back on Rhys, and he raised his voice to a yell that echoed out to the forest and back. “He’s scared. He’s scared to face me. You all heard him.”
Riskin walked away. He didn’t turn around, but kept his broad back turned toward Rhys. He walked up to Briar and stopped. He muttered to her under his breath, “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
At that moment, Rhys shot forward with a broken cry. He pitched his gun aside and launched himself at Riskin from behind. He barreled straight into him and slammed his shoulder into Riskin’s back. He flattened Riskin to the ground and landed on top of him. Before they hit the ground, Rhys shifted and the great bear brought all four paws down on Riskin’s back.
In an instant, all the onlookers jumped away to give them room. Briar scuttled out of the way just in time. Rhys spread his gaping mouth, but he didn’t maul Riskin’s exposed neck and head. Not even Riskin’s arms could protect him from that, but Rhys only held him down while his back legs worked up and down to shred Riskin’s pants to ribbons.
Briar couldn’t figure out what Rhys was doing. He should be taking advantage of his position to crush Riskin’s neck, but he didn’t even try. He kept looking down at his hind quarters, where his claws worked against Riskin’s legs. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Rhys wanted to attack Riskin’s old injuries, to disable him and weaken him.
Riskin must have figured it out, too, but he didn’t try to get away. He didn’t even try to make a space for himself to shift. Briar stared at him in horror. He couldn’t intend to fight Rhys, man against bear. That was sheer insanity. It was suicide.
Riskin didn’t shift, though. Once he realized Rhys wouldn’t dive for his neck or maul his face off, he let his arms drop away. He flipped over and looked his brother bear right in the face. He waited until Rhys turned back from checking Riskin’s legs. Then, with a upthrust of his hands, he jammed his fingers right into Rhys’s eyes.
Rhys flinched away from those stabbing fingers, but he was too late. He squealed out loud and sailed clear off Riskin in one jump. The bear pawed his face, but he couldn’t open his eyes.
Riskin took all the time in the world to roll onto his side and climb to his feet. He faced his brother in no particular hurry and waited until Rhys recovered enough to open his eyes.
Rhys shook his head and snorted. He growled low under his breath, but he stood off at a distance and made no move to attack again. Riskin stayed where he was. He didn’t bother to shift.
Rhys lowered his big head between his shoulders and roared. He paced back and forth and shook his head and shoulders. Riskin glared at him under his furrowed eyebrows and nodded. “Well, come on if you’re coming. Don’t stand there making a big noise. You’ll wake the neighbors. If you don’t come now, every man on this Homestead will know you’re scared. Is that what you want?”
Rhys still didn’t come. He thundered and trotted back and forth, but he didn’t come any closer.
One of the men murmure
d on Briar’s left, “It’s not a fair fight. He can’t win, man against bear. Rhys cheated attacking when his back was turned.”
Riskin showed no sign of having heard. He shook his head. “You’re a coward, Rhys. You always were.” He raised his voice to a deafening boom. It struck fear into every heart within earshot. “He’s a coward. Dodd Alpha is a coward. Do you want to stand with him now?”
Riskin didn’t have to look around to know the affect his words had on his listeners. The men fidgeted back and forth. Some put their weapons away, and others shook their heads.
Riskin faced his brother. “All right, Rhys. I’ll make this easy for you.”
In the blink of an eye, he rocketed forward. His feet didn’t touch the ground. In mid-flight, he changed, and the battered old bear sailed across the gap to attack Rhys.
Rhys spun around with his mouth open, but he couldn’t stop himself from crouching under that impending attack. Riskin pounced on him from above. All four paws trained on Rhys to maim and his fangs bared to rip. Riskin’s forefeet landed on Rhys’s back, and his mouth closed around his brother’s face.
Before Riskin could close the deal, Rhys burst into action. He swung around and rose on his hind legs. He shrugged Riskin off, and the two bears faced each other chest to chest. They hugged each other with their burly forearms, and their open mouths darted to and fro in matched ferocity in search of a place to bite.
Some part of Rhys’s strategic mind kept functioning. He lunged forward and knocked Riskin back. Riskin planted his injured leg behind him to brace his balance. Briar held her breath. Would that leg hold? Rhys counted on Riskin’s old weakness, but he didn’t know Riskin spent the last three weeks working for Austin. He couldn’t know Riskin made that leg stronger than it ever was before Mattox crippled him.
The leg held. The leg held strong enough to stop Rhys knocking Riskin over. It held strong enough to push Riskin back upright and force Rhys a step back. Riskin pushed Rhys off. Rhys broke free and stood off again, but Riskin closed in a heartbeat.
Riskin tried to grapple with Rhys face to face again, but Rhys changed his strategy just as fast. He dropped down on all fours and dashed around Riskin’s flank. He swooped in low and made a grab at Riskin’s hind leg. That leg offered him his best chance to defeat Riskin’s strength and confidence.
Riskin saw him coming, but he didn’t even try to counter that flanking move. He let Rhys move in. At the same moment, Riskin swiped his open jaws and slashed one razor-sharp fang down Rhys’s side. The shaggy fur parted, the white skin split, and the blood-red muscle shredded under that brutal cut.
Rhys never got his teeth around Riskin’s leg. He let out a sickening grunt and jumped clear. He would have stood off the way he did before, but Riskin wouldn’t let him. Riskin snapped his jaws to hound Rhys back. Rhys retreated again and again, all around the yard, before that rabid demon-bear snapping at his heels.
Men scattered in all directions, but Riskin never let up. Rhys yelped like a puppy. Riskin gnashed and snapped. One nip pinched the skin on Rhys shoulder, and Rhys tore Riskin’s teeth out to leap clear. Riskin slashed his open mouth in Rhys’s direction and caught his brother’s chest. He ripped a gaping hole across Rhys’s collarbone, and the flowing blood matted Rhys’s fur.
Briar heard muttered curses coming from all directions.
“Holy canaries! Look at him!”
“Don’t get in his way. Make room.”
“Cripes! I’m getting out of here. This is a bloodbath.”
Briar clenched and unclenched her fists, but she couldn’t relieve her dreadful tension. This fight could end only one way. What made her think she could stand by and watch Riskin kill his own brother? She couldn’t watch this any more than she could watch Rhys kill Riskin. Were Virginia and Addison inside that house right now, watching their own sons fight to the death?
Rhys tried everything to retreat far enough away to round on Riskin again, but Riskin kept after him. He drove him right up against a parked car. Rhys spun around and rose on his hind legs. The two brothers closed in a death grip. Riskin slammed Rhys back against the car so hard that the vehicle rocked on its tires.
Riskin drove in for Rhys’s throat, but Rhys arched his head sideways at the last second so Riskin’s jaws closed on Rhys’s shoulder instead. Riskin’s teeth sank into his brother’s flesh. The hot blood sent him into a foaming rage. He shook his powerful neck side to side while Rhys howled to the heavens.
Their bellowing voices shook the forest. Briar clapped her hands over her ears, but she couldn’t get that noise out of her head. That was the sound of a Bruin dying a terrible, bloody death.
The reality sank into Riskin’s rage-embattled mind. He wasn’t getting a better grip on his brother’s throat. He gave Rhys one massive twist and knocked him off the car. He rode Rhys down to the ground without loosening his bite. Rhys’s back shook the ground when he hit the dust, and Riskin came down on top of him.
Rhys would never get away from Riskin now. Riskin would find a way to sink his bite on his brother’s neck, and that would be it. Briar couldn’t watch. She started to turn away, but the moment Riskin slackened his hold, Rhys reacted.
Rhys thrust his muzzle into the air and rammed Riskin under the chin hard. Riskin’s jaws clicked, and his head flew back. He lunged straight back down for the killing stroke, but Rhys already curled himself into a ball. He tucked his head between his forelimbs, rolled under Riskin’s chest, and tumbled sideways.
He hit Riskin’s legs out from under him on his way through. Riskin landed on his knees, but Rhys already rolled clear and kept on rolling. Riskin sprang up and spun around to follow, but the big bear disappeared in front of his eyes.
In full view of all the onlookers, Rhys shifted on the ground. His limbs straightened out, and his fur vanished into his white skin. The man bounced off the car’s tires and came to rest.
Before Briar could blink, Rhys set his hands on the ground and vaulted onto his feet. His arm swung out, he grabbed a rifle leaning against the fender, and he raised it to his shoulder.
The moment he got to his feet, he steadied the weapon, took aim at the enormous Bruin bearing down on him, and fired. The onlookers froze in mute shock, but Riskin already galloped forward to assault his adversary again. That gun didn’t phase him in the slightest.
The bullet whizzed off Riskin’s shoulder and zipped into the trees. The bear bellowed in pain and rage. He paused for one instant. The next, he thundered across the ground heading straight into the gun’s path. Rhys’s fingers tightened around the trigger to fire again.
Briar couldn’t watch this. She couldn’t watch death stalk these two reflections of the same Bruin force. She had to protect her heart from what happened next, but she couldn’t move a muscle. Her whole destiny played out in front of her eyes.
Voices rose all around her. Men moved in on the fight, but they couldn’t move as fast as Riskin. He hit his brother full force and sent him flying back against the car. Rhys’s body shattered the side window, and the gun fell out of his hand.
Riskin never planned to fight an unarmed man, but the bear understood how to deal with this helpless foe. He swept his paw and flattened Rhys to the ground. He leapt on the fallen man and clamped his jaws around Rhys’s throat. Rhys never got a chance to cry out or make the slightest move to defend himself.
Riskin pinned him to the ground with his weight until Rhys’s prostrate frame stopped moving. Rhys’s head lolled sideways, and he lay still.
Chapter 18
Riskin straddled Rhys’s still form. He balled his hands into fists and his flashing eyes dared any man to step out and face him. He bared his teeth, and he shook the sweat-drenched hair out of his eyes. He swelled out his chest with a big breath and thundered over the landscape. “Who wants to challenge me? Who wants to challenge me as Alpha of this tribe?”
No one moved. No one breathed. Briar’s throat hurt. She couldn’t recognize him. He was Alpha. He was as Alpha as any Bruin could be.
No one dared challenge him after that fight.
Riskin spun around. He waved his arms at the assembled men. “Get him out of here. Don’t let me see his face again.”
He strode over to Briar, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Rhys. Blood stained every part of him—every part except his throat. In the haze of fury and bloodlust, Riskin kept his self-control. Rhys’s chest rose and fell in peaceful, subconscious breath. He was still alive.
Men rushed in from all directions. They grabbed Rhys by his arms and legs and heaved him into a truck bed. Vehicles skidded every way at once in their haste to clear out.
Riskin kept his back turned until the last screeching motor dwindled into the distance. Briar fought to breath. “You did it! You beat him.”
He caught his breath and combed his fingers through his hair. He coughed. “Of course, I did. I knew I would. Didn’t I tell you I was stronger? He knew it all along. That’s why he had to cheat.”
Briar started to relax. “His friends won’t give you any trouble. They all saw him. He’ll be humiliated for the rest of his life after the way he acted.”
Riskin let out a shaky breath. “I’m glad that’s over.”
Just then, the house door flew open and Virginia rushed out. She threw her arms around Riskin’s neck and burst into tears. She babbled, but no one could understand a word she said.
Riskin frowned down at her hanging off him, but Briar had to smile. The blessed relief of Riskin’s victory started to sink in. He was home. He was where he belonged.
The tension lifted off the whole Homestead. Rhys’s tyranny no longer overshadowed the place. Virginia could weep on her prodigal son’s neck without worrying about Rhys finding out.
Briar’s smile vanished when Natalie stepped out of the house. Natalie leaned on a post and watched her mother fawning over Riskin. Riskin managed to pry his mother’s arms off his neck, but when she touched the scar next to his eye, she broke down sobbing all over again.
Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume II) Page 24
