Bruins' Peak Bears Box Set (Volume I)

by Sarah J. Stone

  Chapter 10

  Star sat in her living room and punched buttons on her phone. She did her best to ignore her mother Rena and her sister, Aurora talking on the other couch.

  “It’s a nasty gash. I think it might get infected. I’ll put a garlic poultice on it tonight,” Aurora said softly.

  “Poor guy: I don’t know how anybody could be so cruel, and over such a trifle, too. It’s taking this business too far, if you ask me,” Rena replied.

  Star slammed her phone down. “Oh, come on, Mama. Dax is going to be just fine, and he attacked me first.”

  “He didn’t bite you,” her mother responded.

  “He would have, and don’t call Brody a trifle. I’ve mated with him, and you know what that means,” Star stated firmly.

  “That's nonsense, darling. You know your father wants you to marry Hyatt Kerr. It’s all arranged.”

  “It’s not arranged if I don’t give my consent. Not only is it against human law, it’s against Bruin law, too. I never wanted to marry Hyatt, and I never will. I’ll never marry any man but Brody Farrell. I only regret not telling you and Pop a long time ago. I shouldn’t have let you believe for so long that I would marry Hyatt.”

  Her mother closed her eyes and help up her hand. “Please, honey, don’t mention that name in connection with you getting married.”

  “What name? Farrell?” Her mother shuddered. “You better get used to me and everyone else saying the name Farrell a lot more in the future because I’m marrying Brody. Live with it. The Farrells aren’t the bad guys any more than we are. This feud has gone on long enough, and Brody and I won’t be party to it any longer.”

  “You won’t have anything to do with any Farrell. You’ll stay here until your father finalizes the arrangements with the Kerrs.”

  At that moment, Kaiser stepped in from the other room. He slipped his phone into his pocket. “I just talked to Laird Kerr. He has given his permission for you to marry Hyatt. He wants us all to come over for dinner tomorrow night to talk it all over.”

  Star whirled around. “Pop! I told you I wouldn’t marry Hyatt. I’m mated to Brody. You can’t do this.”

  Kaiser sat down next to her. “Now, Princess, we’ve been through all this before, a dozen times. You know you can’t mate with any Farrell. The tribe wouldn’t accept the match.”

  “The tribe has nothing to do with it. It’s a done deal. Bruins mate for life. You can’t force me to marry Hyatt, and I won’t do it. Get out your phone and call Laird back and tell him you made a mistake.”

  For the first time in her life, Star saw her father’s face darken against her. “I didn’t make a mistake. This match is our only chance against the Farrells. Didn’t you see that young fella stand up to his tribe? He’s the strongest Bruin on the mountain. I wouldn’t be surprised if Duke bypasses Mattox and sets his crown on Brody. We have to defeat them before that happens. We’ll be living under their thumbs for the rest of eternity if we don’t, and making allies of the Kerrs is our only chance to defeat them.”

  “Forget it, Pop. I’m not going.”

  “If you don’t marry Hyatt, the Kerrs will be offended and ally with the Farrells instead. Is that what you want? With the Kerrs on their side, the Farrells will be even stronger. We can’t let that happen.”

  Rena stood up. “Come with me, honey. We have to get you some nice clothes for the dinner tomorrow. Come on. You always like going over your clothes.”

  “I’m not going anywhere tomorrow night.”

  Rena didn’t hear her. She was already on her way to Star’s room and rummaging in her closet. Kaiser hitched up his pants and strode out of the house to join Walker and Shaw at the front fence.

  Aurora rested her hand on Star’s arm. “Don’t worry. The Kerrs are nice people, and they have more money than any other tribe of Bruins in these parts. You’re gonna have a fine life.”

  Star stole a peek at her sister’s face. “Have you ever loved anyone, Aurora?”

  “Love has nothing to do with it. This is your future we’re talking about, along with the future of everyone else in the Cunningham tribe. You’re carrying all our lives on your shoulders. Don’t forget that.”

  Aurora tiptoed out of the room. Star hung her head, but she made no move to join her mother. Getting out some nice clothes for tomorrow’s dinner was the last thing in the world she wanted to do.

  She threw herself down on the couch and pillowed her head on her elbow. Bruins’ Peak stuck up into the sky beyond the living room window. Was Brody up there right now? Was he ambling through the forest as a bear and fishing in the streams? If only she was with him right now, all her fears and cares would fade to nothing.

  Was he in danger from his family? Would his father punish him for nearly killing his own brother? Her family didn’t punish her for injuring Dax. They never punished her for anything. They just nagged and sniped about how cruel and vicious she was, and how she needed to work on her loyalty to her family.

  They would never forgive her if she out-and-out refused to marry Hyatt. Her father was right about something else, too. The Kerrs would never forgive an insult like that, either. Refusing could spark hostilities between the Kerrs and the Cunninghams. Another hostile tribe on their eastern boundary was the last thing the Cunninghams needed right now.

  She rifled through the whole sordid mess again and again, but she always came back to Brody. He offered the only solution to her problem. All roads led her back to him. Nothing could be wrong as long as she sheltered in his arms.

  How could she get to him? Was he waiting for her in his cave? Not likely. After their display at the Meadow, his family would keep him under lock and key back at Farrell Homestead. They would do their best to force him to give up their match. They wouldn’t take no for an answer any more than the Cunninghams would take no for an answer from Star.

  He was at Farrell Homestead, so that’s where she belonged to. Walker and Shaw kept up a constant patrol around their territory, but she’d given them the slip more than once before. With a little planning and a little luck, she could do it again.

  The first step to getting away and getting back to Brody was to put everyone off their guard. She would make them think she’d given in. Then, when no one was looking, she would escape and run away to join the Farrells.

  Did she really just think those words? Join the Farrells! She couldn’t. Every fiber screamed in protest, but Brody reeled her in towards him from beyond Bruins’ Peak. He hooked her, and now he could bring her to him anywhere, any time.

  She clamped her eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be planning to leave her family in the lurch while she ran off to join their blood enemies, but she had to. She had to be with Brody. She had to feel his arms around her one more time. She had to kiss his chest and his stomach and watch the tattooed patterns undulate with his steady breath. She had to feel his weight on top of her and his rhythmic pulses pumping into her.

  She stuffed her phone into her pocket and went to her room. Her mother laid one frilly dress after another on the bed. She admired each one as she took it out of the closet and said, “And then there’s this one. This always made you look real nice.”

  Star flopped down on the only spare corner of her bed, but she didn’t listen to her mother ramble on about what she would wear. Her mind drifted over the house, through the trees, and down Craven Creek to the waterfall. She would make her home there.

  Her mother held up the last dress. “What do you think about this one?”

  Star touched her phone to text Dana MacAllister. “Whichever one you want, Mama.”

  Rena laid the dress next to a pink one with a big ribbon bow on the hip. “It’s this one or this one. Which do you pick?”

  “You decide, Mama. I’ll wear whatever you pick.”

  Rena picked up the first one. “Are you sure this one still fits you?”

  “They all fit me.”

  “Then I say this one. Is that all right?”

&nbs
p; “It’s fine. Now do you want to put the others away, or are you leaving that for me to do?”

  Rena blushed. “I’ll do it. What about your hair?”

  “What about it?”

  “We should curl it.”

  “Why?”

  “So it looks nicer.”

  “What’s wrong with straight hair? You don’t want Hyatt thinking he’s marrying someone with curly hair. That would be false advertising.”

  Rena batted her. “Oh, honey! We’re not talking about advertising. We’re talking about two young people getting married. You want to look your best.”

  “Hyatt already knows I have straight hair.”

  “He knows you have straight hair, and he already thinks the sun rises and sets on you. You don’t have to do anything to win Hyatt’s heart, but you want to look your best for Laird and Celia, too. They won’t want you marrying their son if you show up with dirt under your nails.”

  “Then, by all means, where’s the potting soil?”

  Rena smacked her lips. “Come on, darling. Stop being a party pooper and do your hair. You only get married once.”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  Rena paid no attention. “Maybe you need to rest. Take a nap: when you wake up, come to my room; I’ll put your hair up in curlers. We don’t want you looking like Dawn of the Dead.”

  She bustled out of the room before Star could answer. Star heard Aurora snickering in the living room before the door swung shut.

  Star lay down on her bed and closed her eyes on her pillow, but her mind raced through all the possibilities. Should she take anything with her? Should she leave her phone behind so her family would have no way to contact her? How would they find out she was safe at the Farrells and not dead in a ditch somewhere? Should she leave a note and explain her decision?

  She couldn’t see Bruins’ Peak from her window in the back of the house, but it loomed large before her eyes. She covered every inch of it in her mind’s eye. It haunted her dreams.

  The sky darkened long before the sun went down, and clouds blocked out the moon and stars. Star stayed in her room, even when her mother called her to supper. When Star didn’t answer, Rena came into the bedroom and laid her hand on Star’s forehead. “Are you sick?”

  “I’m fine, Mama. I’m just tired,” Star replied listlessly.

  “Then stay here and rest. I’ll put your supper in the fridge for you.”

  “Thanks, Mama.”

  Rena shut the door, and darkness descended over Star’s room. She kept her eyes closed, but nervous tension kept her awake. What would the Farrells do when she turned up on their doorstep? They wouldn’t dare touch her as long as Brody was around, but what if he wasn’t? If he was out in the mountains, that crack-brained younger brother of his might get funny ideas. He might decide to pay her back for whatever imaginary slight he laid at the Cunninghams’ door.

  Voices rose and fell in the living room, and the TV blared. She recognized Walker’s voice. Shaw was out on patrol in Walker’s place while he took the night off. This was a much better plan. Walker could track and sniff out a mosquito on a lily pad on a pitch dark night. Shaw wasn’t as good as his older brother. Star could give him the slip without much effort.

  A gust of wind shook the treetops, and a smattering of raindrops peppered her window. The dark settled in. Star pulled the curtain. She couldn’t look outside anymore or she would lose her nerve. She had to keep her mind on Brody.

  Each hour passed by very slowly. The clock ticked over one number at a time. Star counted the seconds until she would see Brody again. She closed her eyes and replayed the images of him at the Meadow. His enormous bear form dwarfed everyone around him, and he silenced everyone with his deafening bellow.

  He shook his head, and saliva flew off his sharp teeth. He curled his lips back from his teeth and menaced everyone with his ferocious power. Her arm still tingled at the touch of his hand. His presence seethed behind her back. She didn’t have to see him or hear him as long as she could touch him. She could sense him with the small hairs on the back of her neck.

  The TV squelched when someone flipped off the remote. Familiar voices bubbled down the hall. Walker and Aurora answered their parents. Then a door closed, and another. Only one set of footsteps creaked on the loose board in the hall.

  Star held her breath until the third and final door clicked shut. The house fell silent and dark. Star switched off her bedside lamp and sat back down to wait. Now began the real test of her patience and resolve.

  The dark dragged her eyelids down, but she hung on to the pinnacle of tension and excitement. How long should she wait? She had to get away without anyone knowing her plans. If they brought her back again, they would never let her get away. They would trap her in a life of misery where the name Brody Farrell never reached her ear.

  Ten o’clock passed. Then eleven o’clock. Walker got up and walked down the hall. Was he going out to relieve Shaw after all? That would mean the end of her plans. He could hear a pin drop on the other side of the mountain, and he knew every square inch of his territory. He would make a mighty Alpha when Kaiser handed over the reins. A Bruin would have to have a death wish to challenge Walker Cunningham.

  To Star’s relief, he turned off into the bathroom. The water gurgled down the pipe, and his footsteps padded back down the hall to his room. He shut the door, and the silence throbbed in his wake.

  Finally: it was midnight. Star’s digital clock flicked over to all zeroes. If she wanted to get away, now was the time. She eased herself off her bed and went to the window. She bit her lip and wedged her fingers against the casement. It stuck, and she tensed her muscles to push just a little bit harder.

  The casement budged and stuck again before it slid up. Rain lashed Star’s face, but she didn’t turn aside. Once beyond the yard and into the woods, she would shift. A little rain never bothered a bear.

  The window slid all the way open without a sound. Star swung her leg over the sill, and rain wetted her side and arm. She didn’t hesitate. She dived through the window and landed on her feet on the wet ground. She slid the window down until it rested in its groove. Her family would never know she was gone until morning.

  Chapter 11

  Star vaulted the split rail fence and ducked into the tree line. She stopped to listen for any sound, but dripping in the canopy overhead blotted out everything else. A steady drumming of rain on the upper treetops covered every noise she made.

  She stole a peek into the yard. Where was Shaw? She had to skirt around him to the northern side of the yard to get to the path over the mountain. She dared not shift into her bear form just yet. She could see and hear much better as a bear, but Shaw could hear and smell her better, too. She had to stay human until she got well clear of him. Then she would shake the rain off her fur and away she would go.

  She picked her way through the trees. She stayed just inside the tree line, out of sight, but where she could command a view of the yard. Shaw and Walker kept their patrols to the Homestead itself. Sometimes when Walker left Shaw on duty, he ranged wider to cover more territory, but he wasn’t doing that tonight. He was resting in his own bed, surrounded by quilts and pillows.

  She made her way around the western corner of the Homestead when she spotted Shaw. He followed the same worn path back and forth, around the barn and the woodshed, and back to the front gate. He never deviated. He lacked Walker’s Alpha instinct for danger. He did his duty and nothing more unless Walker gave him a direct order.

  All that worked in Star’s favor. She kept her middle brother in sight while she threaded her crooked path through the trees to the north side of the yard. Shaw started his circuit again. He traversed the length of the fence to the barn and walked around it. He would make a circle around the woodshed next.

  When he passed out of sight behind the barn, Star put on a burst of speed and sprinted across the last stretch of ground to the path heading north. A moment later, Shaw reapp
eared. He swept the yard and the forest beyond with his eyes. Then he headed for the woodshed.

  Star spun on her heel and booked up the hill toward Bruins’ Peak. The mountain welcomed her into its black arms, and the woods swallowed her up for good. No one could catch her now.

  She pumped her legs under her on the long climb to the look-out. In a minute, the rain steamed off her warm skin. She enjoyed the sensation of the rain on her bare skin too much to shift now. She was fully alive in the night. She was free at last and on her way to Brody.

  She scaled the slope. Her raked breath into her lungs, but she ignored the pain. She didn’t stop running until she approached the tree line. From a distance, she heard the steady pelting of the rain in the canopy turn to one unbroken drone.

  She didn’t notice the weather change until she passed the last trees. The moment the trees disappeared and she broke the tree line, she ran straight into a solid wall of water crashing into the ground. It saturated her hair and her clothes. She blinked to clear her vision.

  Just beyond the crest of the hill, the bench sat dark and alone on the Peak. At that moment, a vicious fork of lightning split the sky. It slithered down to the ground and quivered for one eternal instant. In a fraction of a second, the bone-shattering thunder knocked Star back against a tree trunk.

  The bear in her shrank from the fury of the storm. Bolt after bolt of lightning rent the night sky. She stumbled back at every strike to seek shelter in the trees. She couldn’t cross that bald, jagged peak in the middle of a lightning storm. She was wet to the skin. She would be struck in no time.

  She retreated down the path the way she came. The rain got stronger and ripped through the canopy. Even with the dense foliage overhead to protect her, it stung her skin and chilled her to the bone. She couldn’t cross the mountain like this. She had to find shelter somewhere.

  Shelter. Brody. The thoughts crossed her mind, and her limbs responded without another thought. She took off down the hill as fast as she could run, but the running didn’t warm her or make her happy anymore. She had to get away from that lightning.