“OK. But what do we do then? It’s all very well having the DNA, but what do we do with it?”
“Let’s find what we need and then think about that. Of course, we need to ask Eirik as well. Do you think he’ll mind?”
“Are you kidding? If it will prove his father didn’t do something as irresponsible as producing a cur like Carson, then he would give his right arm.”
“Let’s do this, then. I plan to get some workers in and get the house fixed up. I’m going to get onto it when I get back home.”
“That will certainly show Carson you mean business.”
“Yes, it will. I hope to have the place up together by Beltane. I thought about having a party here.”
“That soon?”
“I don’t think there’s much that needs doing except cleaning and airing. I was thinking of it being more of a garden party. You know how Beltane is.”
“I don’t know what it’s like in Bear Creek.”
“The whole town comes, so we bears have to be on our best behaviour—you know, in control of our other selves. Once the ritual is over at Long Meadow then everyone can come back here. It’s what my father used to do. Since then the venue has been moved around. Malcolm did one year I believe, but swore never again. Sometimes Sam has let them use the farm, but it’s his turn to take part in the ritual. He found his mate late last summer, so I thought why not let him enjoy it without the responsibility.”
“That is thoughtful. I love Beltane: the great bonfires, mates exchanging life forces. I’ll go to the ritual in Bear Bluff and then come over here. The party there is usually a more staid affair. I can imagine things get out of hand here.”
“I was going to ask your father and Eirik.”
She laughed. “Why not? Then the people of Bear Bluff can let their hair down. I will definitely change things when I am chief.”
“I bet you will, Freyja. I can imagine you will be a chief unlike any other.”
“It makes me nervous. But right now, we need to finish here. Where is Carson’s bathroom? Shall we start there?” she asked, now dressed and ready to leave. But there was time to stand and watch her man get dressed first. She enjoyed the sight of his muscles flexing as he pulled his shirt over his head. Then the need to touch him when he had encased his thighs in his leather pants was almost too much. If she didn’t concentrate on matters in hand, she would be stripping them back off him.
“I’ll show you, although I’m not sure there will be anything usable.”
“We won’t know unless we look,” she said and they left his bedroom.
She followed him down the hallway to one of the closed doors. There he stopped and looked at her intently. “It feels like I’m invading his privacy.”
“He’s invaded more than that, Will.” She placed her hand on the doorknob and opened it up.
The room was bare. Only a bed and a desk, completely cleared, was in there. Her heart sank. It looked as though he had cleared the stuff out of there and left nothing for them to use. Will headed for the bathroom, opening the door and going in.
“Anything?” she asked, but it seemed hopeless. “It looks as though he came back and cleared everything out.”
“It always looked like that.” Will’s voice came from in the bathroom. “He was a little OCD.”
“A little. There’s nothing in here.”
“But there is in here.” He came out with the small trashcan from the bathroom. Opening it up she saw an old toothbrush and what looked like...
“Ugh. Toenail clippings.”
“I think they will be perfect.”
She wrinkled her face up. “Let’s just hope they are his.”
“No one else used this bathroom. It has to be.”
“Can we go now?” She shivered. “This room gives me the creeps. When you open the house back up, I think this will have to be a guest bedroom. And then only people we don’t like get to sleep here. It has a peculiar feeling to it.”
“It can’t be haunted, he’s still alive,” Will said, carrying the contents of the trashcan. “But I know what you mean.”
“OK. I really need the bathroom, so let’s go.”
“After you.” He held the door open for her and then closed it quietly behind them. They headed downstairs, out of the back door and into the sunlight. She had never been so glad to get out of a house before. She hoped that would change if they decided to live there.
He locked the door and this time pocketed the key before they went back to his bike. This was going to be a test of her bladder strength as they bumped back up the drive and out onto the road. He steered the bike back to the hangout and, once there, she dashed inside to the bathroom, leaving Will downstairs talking to Joel.
When she was ready, she had needed to get back to Bear Bluff and talk to Eirik. The sooner they had the samples and sent them off, the sooner they could start putting all the pieces together. She only hoped they fit right. Their hopes lay in the fact that Carson was not related to Wayne McCormac. If it proved he was, they were out of luck.
But as she went back out and saw Will sitting on a bar stool talking, she knew one thing for sure. She would never be with another man. Ever. Even if it meant Bear Bluff being torn down, she was his and his alone.
Chapter Fifteen – Will
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Joel asked.
Will looked at his second in command and wondered how much he knew. News always travelled fast in this small community. However, he didn’t know anyone who would have spread the news about Carson and the deal he wanted to go down.
“Not at the moment, Joel. Thank you. It’s a private matter that I hope will be dealt with soon.”
“You know we are here for you. You’ve made us what we are. If you need us, then we will fight for you.”
Will sighed and decided to trust Joel with at least some of the details. “It’s not the kind of fight I can win by brute force or money, I’m afraid. I have some trouble from my old life.”
Joel looked up as Freyja rejoined them. “And from your new life.”
“Freyja is not the cause of this. It’s Carson.”
“That old boar. He has shifty eyes, never did like him. We were at school together. I never could reconcile you two as being of the same blood.”
“You got that right then, Joel.” Will got up. “I need a drink.”
“Will, I thought you’d given it up,” Freyja said, not wanting to sound as though she was nagging him.
“A glass, not a bottle, Freyja. Want one? It’s been a long day and it will help relax my brain. We still need to think of how we are going to get the test done.”
“Test. She pregnant already?” Joel teased.
“No. I need a DNA test, though.”
“Why not ask Brad?”
“Brad. Of course. He must know; maybe he can even process this through the police department. It is a matter of fraud, after all.”
“Is that how Carson took the company from you?” Ethan, one of the other gang members, slid into a seat next to Will.
“I’m not sure,” Will answered cagily. It did him no good to look weak.
“He always was a slimeball. And I couldn’t work out whether you wanted to get rid of that company or if he took it from you.”
“Bit of both, I think. But now he’s taken things too far. He’s taken ownership of the lands at Garrow’s Creek.”
Ethan whistled. “Now, that is out of order. So can we get over there and beat the deeds out of him. I always remember he had the kind of face you wanted to pummel.”
“Unfortunately, Ethan, that is not going to help. He will have the upper hand if we don’t do this properly.”
“Even so. If you are paying him a visit, then might I suggest we all go? He needs to know who he is dealing with.”
“That’s not a bad idea, Will. Remember, Carson sees you as the person he persuaded to walk away from everything that was rightfully his. What he never got to see was how many good friends
you have made and the respect you have earned,” Freyja said.
“Well put, perhaps you might be worthy of our Will,” Ethan said, grinning. “Even if you are from the other side of the mountain.”
“Thanks,” said Freyja. “Maybe you aren’t such a bad influence on Will. I had plans to drag him away from here.”
Joel and Ethan stood up, their postures changing as they sensed the danger in her words. Will put himself between them, wanting to protect his mate, but also shocked at her words.
Freyja laughed and shook her head. “Bear Creek bears, they always were so easy to wind up. Maybe I’ll have that drink now, after all.”
“You play a dangerous game, Freyja,” Will said.
Her eyes flashed and he felt the power emanating from her. “I play to win, Will. Especially where my mate and my family is concerned. Seeing what he made you walk away from today has made me want to rip Carson’s head off. More for you than what he plans to do to me and my clan.”
“Fighting talk,” Joel said, bringing a bottle to the bar. “I like that. Hey,” he said loudly to the other people in the bar. “Let’s toast our leader and partner in crime, Will, and his lovely mate, Freyja.”
“Will and Freyja!” About a dozen voices joined in the toast.
Freyja drank too, wincing as the liquor hit the back of her throat. “To my beautiful mate,” Will said, finishing his drink and then placing it down on the bar. Joel moved to fill it, but Will put his hand over his glass and said, “No thanks, Joel. Just the one is enough. I never want to lose my senses again. I never want to forget what ... who, I’m doing this all for.”
“You sound love-drunk, Will,” Ethan teased.
“I think I maybe I am,” Will said and kissed Freyja on the lips, wanting to make love to her again. “Shall we take this upstairs?”
“Yes, please,” she answered.
Chapter Sixteen – Freyja
“I never expected this to turn into a circus,” she said as they entered the small Sheriff’s office. For once Brad looked frazzled; he was standing up trying to organise everyone. Without much luck.
It was a mixed crowd. Five of Will’s bikers, Malcolm and what looked like a bodyguard, her father and Eirik, plus her and Will. For a room used for a maximum of five people at one time, space was tight. They were all here for one thing: to hear the results of the DNA test that Brad had received back after asking for it to be expedited.
“OK, folks. Let’s get this done so we can all get out of here and on with our business.” Brad passed out copies of the report; everyone else fell silent as they looked at it. “Right, I guess this might need a bit of explaining.”
“Maybe you could just tell us, is Carson part of the Bear Bluff Clan?” asked Stuart.
Brad looked nervous and double-checked the findings. Freyja could tell the enormity of this news was weighing on him. He probably wondered what mess he was going to have to clear up after the truth was out. That mess might just include scraping Carson off the tarmac.
“No. The results are conclusive.” Noise erupted, although Brad carried on, almost unheard. “He has nothing in common with Bear Bluff. The bloodlines of our town have been kept so diverse that there is no relationship there at all.”
Will stood silently at her side. She reached over and held his hand in hers and said, “Thank you, Brad.”
Malcolm spoke to Will quietly. “I think it’s time we paid him a visit, don’t you? Let’s go and teach this young cur a lesson. He has brought shame on our Clan.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” said Will.
“And are you prepared to take back everything that is yours? The Frasier Corporation is in need of a new master.”
“I don’t feel qualified.”
“Nonsense, you have taken this ragtag band of bears and transformed it into a multimillion-pound business. You might hide behind your leathers and bikes, but these men you put together could run Frasier Corporation if you were at the helm.”
“Of course you could, Will,” Freyja said proudly. “I think you need to prove to yourself that you are worthy of your father’s empire.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Freyja. Would your father like to travel in the car with me? I think it’s time we put all our differences between us aside. We shouldn’t keep ourselves so isolated from other clans in this changing world. It would be good for us to share our knowledge and our customs. Especially now that our clans are to be joined on such a high level when you and Will marry.”
“I’ll ask him,” she said, slipping through the crowd to where her father stood talking quietly to Eirik.
“Freyja. We have been trying to decide how to proceed now we know this news.”
“I think Malcolm plans to go to see Carson and confront him. He is part of the Bear Creek Clan and Malcolm sees it as his duty to call Carson to heel.”
“A thing I would like to see,” her father answered. “I have so many questions that remain unanswered.”
Eirik agreed. “Why would my father hand over the deeds so easily?”
“Eirik, I think Carson knows how to manipulate people. He persuaded Will to leave behind everything he knew and loved. To renounce his inheritance.”
“And his mate,” Stuart added.
She lowered her eyes for a moment. “And his mate.”
Eirik touched her shoulder. “He is lucky, Cousin, that you waited for him.”
“And I am lucky he was man enough to agree to help me, regardless of who he thought he was. I know now how much courage it took for him to walk into Carson’s office that day. Anyway,” she said, shrugging off those thoughts. “Let’s go and put things right.”
They moved towards the door; she caught Will’s eye and he followed. Slowly the Sheriff’s office emptied, much to the relief of Brad, who followed them out. “Please keep within the law,” he said.
“Don’t worry, Brad. This will be handled in the appropriate manner.”
“You need to concentrate on getting your beautiful wife to the Beltane Rites tomorrow night, Brad. No wonder you look nervous.”
“That’s why I could really do without a murder investigation on my hands.”
“Don’t worry, Sheriff,” said Malcolm, “there are other ways of dealing with the likes of Carson.”
“Just be careful. All of you. I still have to answer to my superiors. And there is only so much I can turn a blind eye to.”
“Understood, old friend,” said Will. “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, and afterwards at my house.”
“I heard you had taken over the festivities. It will be a night to remember,” said Brad and he went back into his office and shut the door. Although he still watched nervously as the band of bears left Bear Creek. Some were on motorbikes, followed by one limousine and Eirik alone in his truck.
As part of the little convoy, Freyja had chosen to ride pillion to Will, who took the lead as they left Bear Creek and headed onto the main road. Carson would be at Frasier Corporation now, and that was where they were headed. It seemed prudent to have witnesses to whatever was going to happen. Which made her a little nervous and also relieved. Witnesses might take it upon themselves to protect their boss. It also meant that when he had been stripped of everything, there would be people there to say he was at least alive when he was kicked out.
She wrapped her arms tightly around Will and prayed this wouldn’t go wrong. Her fears that Will would hurt Carson in some way and be taken from her again by the law, were so great, she almost told him to turn around and forget the whole thing. She could live without Garrow’s Creek, they could live without the Frasier Corporation, but she couldn’t live without her mate. Not now, they had come to mean so much to each other. Before, when he had denied her, she had not known exactly what she was missing. Now she did, and she intended to fight tooth and claw to keep what she had found.
But she said nothing and simply let his presence comfort her as they made their way towards the confrontation with Carson. What her fa
ther must be thinking, indeed what he was even talking about in the car with Malcolm, she had no idea. All she knew was that he would not be leaving the building without the deeds. Or if they were not there—and she firmly believed if Carson had any sense they would be locked in the safe in the building—Carson would be escorted to where they were. Hopefully without being forced.
She placed her head on Will’s back as they pulled into a parking space, giving him one last hug. Please let Carson see that he was never going to win, if he would only hand over what he had stolen and leave. But she knew that was very doubtful. He was deceitful and immoral. So he would not give in without a fight, even if it were a verbal one.
“I just hope no one has let on we’re coming,” Will said as he hung his helmet on the handlebars of his bike.
“I don’t think many people know about it. Do they? I know within our clan there is only the three of us who know.”
“Let’s hope he hasn’t been forewarned.”
Will led the way to the elevator; they needed to go up separately. It was decided the bikers would go first so that if there was a fight they would be able to respond. The others, including Freyja, would come up next.
“I can go with you,” she insisted.
“Freyja, I would prefer it if you helped defend your father and Malcolm if it comes to it.”
She laughed. “They will not need to be defended. My father is a very tough old bear.”
“Still...”
“OK. Just be careful.”
“I will,” he said kissing her. “I have my phone; if anything happens I will let you know. In fact, whatever happens I will phone you and let you know if it’s safe.”
“You make this sound like some kind of espionage thriller.”
“Who really knows what we are up against?”
She stood and looked across the parking lot while the elevator went up to the floor where Carson had his office. No one moved, no vehicle came and went and the minutes dragged on.
Chapter Seventeen – Will
It all looked normal. Everyone behaved calmly until they started to wonder why the six leather-clad men stood in front of the elevator. Then panic set in. Will phoned Freyja and told her to come up. Obviously, they had not been expected.
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