Bear-ly Spring

by M. L. Briers

  His bear roared at the claim. He licked over the wound, sealing it, and savouring the taste of her blood upon his tongue.

  Body to body, soul to soul, they were lost together in the moment.

  His bear pulled back.

  His body became hungry for just one thing – to place his seed deep within her womb and finish the claim, finish the bonding between them…

  He moved faster. A fever grew in his blood for her. He couldn’t get close enough, deep enough inside of her…

  He felt her body start to tense again at the same time that his muscles started to lock up, and he strained against the burning inside of him to take them up together.

  He cursed and craned his head back on his neck. His movements became erratic.

  His body was waiting for hers to explode first – demanded it… and with a cry at the intensity of the orgasm that tore through her; her inner muscles suckled his cock, sucking the seed from his balls, as he buried his length to the hilt and roared at the first explosion of his release…

  Lost inside of her. Lost to the ecstasy of one orgasm exploding into the next; they were locked together, bonded.

  Mated for life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  ~

  Jethro’s body was wrapped around Alana’s protectively as she slept.

  When the sound of the bonding roar went up across the mountain, Jethro almost choked on his own tongue at the realisation that his brother had mated – bonded with Andy – bonded first…

  “Well, what do you know…” he muttered to himself. A grin spread across his face.

  If the original will was still standing then he would have lost his land to his brother … or maybe he would have tried harder to woo his mate in time.

  Either way, he was happy for his brother. The man had his mate, and he kind of hoped that would make Elijah less sour with his moods and more open to not being a jackass.

  “Wolf…” Alana muttered, still mostly asleep, but stirring.

  “Bear…” he leaned in and whispered against her ear…

  “Big … bears … big…” she muttered and he grinned harder.

  “You’re safe. I’ve got you, sleep, sweetheart…” he whispered back, reassuring her.

  “Bad … witch…” Alana muttered.

  Jethro still couldn’t believe that Aunt May had anything to do with the wolves going after Elijah. The woman must have lost her mind.

  He doubted that he’d get a reason from Mason when he caught up with him. The man would be too busy fighting for his life; he just wished that he knew why May had done it.

  He didn’t want to hate her. He had too many good memories of the woman for that.

  Family first.

  There was still the threat to Elijah and Andy to deal with. Maybe even a threat to his own mate if the wolf wanted to take a blood vow seriously and wipe out the bloodline of his family.

  It was already eight in the morning, and they hadn’t long gone to bed. The wolf should come for Elijah at some time after dark.

  At least, that was the plan, but something bugged him about that and he wasn’t sure what it was.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “Look at you looking like the … bear that got the honey…” Nash said on a stretch of his clichés.

  “What the hell are you dribbling on about now, bloodsucker?” Elijah scowled.

  He knew that the man had done him a big favour being outside the cabin all night, but it still felt strange having the vampire camped out on his land. Jethro’s vampire to boot.

  “Bonding,” Nash tossed back.

  “I’m not talking to you about that,” Elijah said.

  He reached up and pulled the large brace of mountain ash from the window …

  “And there you are sticking your chest out in a victory salute…” Nash offered back.

  “I did not stick out my chest,” Elijah grumbled as he yanked open the first half of the shutter and Andy’s face appeared at the window.

  “Is he peacocking?” She asked, picking up on what Nash was saying.

  “What?” Elijah looked confused.

  “You know, strutting your stuff, fluffing your feathers…” she offered back.

  “Bears don’t have feathers,” he said, tipping his head to one side and regarding her as if she’d just grown another head.

  “Or a sense of humour, apparently,” Nash offered.

  “I have a sense of humour…” Elijah growled back.

  “Sounds like it,” Andy offered, teasing him right along with Nash.

  “Maybe his bear is a comedian,” Nash offered to Andy with a shrug off his shoulders.

  “I have other things to think about,” Elijah turned on his heels and started to walk towards the back of the cabin.

  “It’s gone,” Nash called after him.

  “What’s gone?” Andy asked, but Elijah already knew what…

  “He came for it just a few hours ago,” Nash informed him.

  “The … body?” Andy grimaced and Nash nodded. “So he was here?” She asked, and he nodded again.

  “He left you something…” Nash said. “On the back of the cabin.”

  Elijah knew what it would be. He didn’t need to go and look at it.

  “What is it?” Andy asked.

  “It’s just a claw mark…” Elijah made a mental note to sand the back wall down once he’d killed Mason.

  “It’s …” Nash cleared his throat and angled his head away from Andy. “Red.”

  “What did he say?” Andy asked, and then rolled her eyes.

  She disappeared from view for a moment before she popped her head out of the front door a moment later.

  “He said it’s written in blood.”

  Elijah offered the explanation as simply as he could. There was little point in keeping anything from her. Not at that point, and she should know about their ways and customs – eventually, she’d have to teach it to their cubs.

  “Geez, you could have been a little bit more subtle…” Nash berated him as Andy scowled.

  “Whose blood?” she asked.

  “His brothers,” Elijah offered back and Nash rolled his eyes up in his head and his head on his neck…

  “Seriously, break it to her gently…” Nash sighed.

  “Why would he do that?” Andy asked.

  “It’s a…” Elijah started to explain, but Nash cut him off.

  “Didn’t have any paint to hand,” Nash offered and Elijah grumbled a growl towards the man. “What?”

  “It’s a blood vow,” Elijah informed her.

  “Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that…” Andy shook her head.

  “It means…” Elijah started…

  “No, it doesn’t…” Nash cut him off.

  “You know it does…” Elijah growled.

  “But she doesn’t need to know…” Nash tossed back.

  “I don’t really want to know…” Andy shook her head again…

  “See!” Nash exclaimed.

  “But, I guess I should for future reference, and not to look like the new human on the block.” She shrugged.

  “See!” Elijah shot back at the vampire.

  “Fine. Scare the heck out of your newly bonded mate,” Nash folded his arms and looked anywhere but at them.

  “It means…” Elijah ground out with a dark look for the vampire. “That he plans to kill the bloodline of the family.”

  “Who’s that?” Andy asked as she looked from one man to the other. Elijah grimaced…

  “Oh, now you get choosy with the information…” Nash berated him.

  “Shut up, Nash…” Elijah tossed back at the man.

  “Hello!” Andy held her hands out expectantly. “Waiting here while you two have your little bromance spat.”

  “That thought just put me off breakfast,” Elijah grumbled.

  “It means…” Nash started and Elijah growled.

  “I was telling it…” The shifter grumbled.

/>   “Then get on with it.” Nash tossed back.

  “How the hell has my brother not staked you already?” Elijah growled.

  “Because I’m useful, and he doesn’t procrastinate.”

  “Geez, I’m going to bake something – by the time that you guys have finished there should be a banquet for twenty on the table…” She tossed her hands onto her hips and waited…

  “Everyone…” Elijah offered and she frowned.

  “Everyone what?”

  “He’s going to kill everyone,” Nash said with a smirk towards Elijah.

  “How’s he planning on doing that?” Andy demanded. “You’ve already killed his brother, and Jethro’s a big … growly … claws and fangs guy too… does he have help?”

  “No,” Elijah offered.

  “That we know of,” Nash corrected him.

  “That we know of,” Elijah rolled his eyes in annoyance.

  “Okie-dokey then,” Andy shrugged.

  “That’s it?” Nash asked on a frown.

  “I’m sorry … did you want me to scream, howl, and cry like a girl?”

  “That’s his job,” Nash pointed towards Elijah and the man growled a long hard warning back at him.

  “I’m going to … go bake my head,” Andy offered back on a small nod of frustration as she turned on her heels and went back inside the cabin.

  “That’s your fault,” Elijah growled.

  “That’s …” Nash sighed. “You’re the one who had to tell her everything.”

  “She has the right to know. She’s my mate.”

  “So I heard. I still can’t believe you mated before Jethro…” Nash shook his head, but he noted the crooked smiled on Elijah’s lips. “Now you’re puffing out your chest.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  ~

  Jethro had taken the call from Nash this time. It was no time to ignore the man with what he knew they were facing now.

  His bear wanted out. It wanted to prowl the grounds around his land and make sure that nobody came close to his mate, and yet the man didn’t want to leave her side.

  He’d thought that Mason would invoke the blood vow to wipe out his kin. Now that put Alana in danger too.

  Mated or not – Mason didn’t know that. Alana was a true mate and Mason wouldn’t risk that his seed had found a home inside of her.

  It was time to stand with his brother and wipe out the threat that the wolf had carved into Elijah’s cabin wall.

  He didn’t foresee a problem with killing Mason, but the man was still a natural killing machine and could get in a lucky swipe with his claws or snap his jaws around his throat and rip it out…

  He needed to be prepared for every possibility. She needed to be prepared.

  “Alana,” Jethro reached out an arm and pulled her back against him … he liked that she didn’t try to pull away.

  She’d laid in his arms sleeping while he’d stayed awake guarding her. Elijah was right about the property being too accessible to attack, and he needed to correct that once everything was done and dusted.

  That didn’t mean that he was going to cut himself off from the world like his brother had, but it didn’t stop him from putting in some kind of system that could protect the windows should it be needed.

  After all, he had a family to protect now. At least, he hoped he did.

  “Shouldn’t we be going to Elijah’s?”

  Jethro buried his face in her hair and breathed in her scent. His warm breath against her neck caused her to shiver.

  “If anything happens to me tonight, Elijah will take care of you…”

  “Ok, take care of me?” Alana tried to turn in his arms, but his lock on her body kept her in place…

  “Just listen. Wolves get in the odd good shot every now and again. I’m just saying that if the worst happens. You’re still my mate. This house is yours, everything I have is yours, and Elijah will watch out for you.”

  “Jethro…”

  “Just nod and tell me you understand…” he chuckled.

  He didn’t want to make a big thing of it, but he didn’t want her to feel that she had nowhere to go if anything happened to him either.

  “I understand. Now you understand that if you die tonight, we don’t get to mate. You don’t get to mark me … isn’t that incentive enough to make you a little more careful and not get eaten by the big bad wolf?” Her voice might have sounded teasing, but he could still hear the strain in it.

  She was his. He knew it right there and then.

  She’d accept him as her mate. She was going to stay with him.

  “I don’t plan on going anywhere but back home to bed with you by sunrise.” He growled at the thought.

  “Deal…” Alana said.

  He released his hold on her and turned her in his arms. He put a big beaming smile on his face as he narrowed his eyes on her.

  “You couldn’t have come to that conclusion a few hours ago?” His playful growl made her press her lips together to keep her smile at bay.

  “Nah, I thought I’d make you work for it, and what better way than to slay the big bad wolf?” Her eyes sparkled with humour.

  “A little harsh…” he teased her right back.

  “Well, a girls gotta have standards,” she shrugged.

  Jethro’s lips came down on hers. There was no way in hell that he could take that kiss to where he wanted it to lead, there wasn’t time, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t give them both something to think about on the car ride to Elijah’s place.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “You take them off – you put them back on – you take them off – you put them back on. Surely there has to be a better way?” Nash made light of the fact that Elijah was once again closing down the shutters around the cabin.

  “Better than having a wolf come through your damn window, don’t you think?” Elijah growled.

  “I’d help, but I don’t want to break a nail,” Nash said as he folded his arms across his chest and propped up the wall with his shoulder, while he watched the man work on the last shutter.

  “Sounds about right for a vampire,” Elijah grunted.

  “Meaning…?”

  “Meaning, you’re not exactly known for your work ethic.”

  Elijah’s mood brightened once more when his mate came back to stand at the open doorway. Just the sight of her made him happier than he’d ever known.

  The sound of a truck coming up the track took everyone’s attention towards approach. That shinny new truck was bouncing along the uneven land…

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Jethro ambled his truck up the overgrown track that had been carved into the uneven ground of Elijah’s land. His suspension protested, but still it managed well against the dips and rises of the earth.

  That didn’t stop him cursing under his breath about how his brother should at least have levelled out the ground. Not that it mattered to Elijah with his battered up truck…

  “You’re growling again…” Alana chuckled and Jethro frowned. He hadn’t noticed that he was doing it.

  “The man can’t even build a decent off road track onto his property.” He grumbled as he bounced up and down in his seat.

  His eyes scanned the area. Elijah was battening down the shutters again on his cabin and Nash was doing his best not to lift a finger to help. That wasn’t unusual.

  The unusual sight was Elijah’s mate as she came to stand in the open doorway. He felt a small sense of annoyance that his brother had been the first to woo his mate…

  “Growling…” Alana bit out.

  “Hard not too…” Jethro tossed back with a snatched look in her direction to see if she was still smiling, and he was happy to find that she was.

  “Still growling…” she spat out a chuckle…

  “I was just thinking how insufferable my brother is probably going to be about mating first…” He grumbled.

  “Then the competition’s
won…” she tossed up her hands. “Perhaps we shouldn’t bother…”

  Jethro’s head snapped around towards his mate and his eyes took her in as his mouth hung open.

  “Catching flies…” She offered back. “Watch the road – not a road…” she grinned harder.

  “It was not a competition…” Jethro tried his best to backpedal from his own words. “Who said competition? I never said competition…”

  “Only three times in a row…” she chuckled.

  “I was just saying…”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t…” she whispered back with what looked to him like glee in her eyes. “Here’s a thought … maybe you should concentrate on the road and pulling the foot out of your mouth before you wedge another one in there to go with it … and let’s not forget you have four paws too.”

  “I…” Jethro considered her words. “Will cut my losses.” He decided that was the best policy.

  “Good idea.”

  Jethro finally turned his attention back towards the house and grumbled a grunt at his brother…

  Then his attention was snatched away to the side of the house. His foot hit the accelerator pedal and his fist hit the horn … the wolf had come damn early!

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  ~

  Elijah moved straight away. His senses were in full defence mode, but he hadn’t scented the wolf coming.

  The moment that his brother blasted out the truck’s horn every hair on his body stood to attention as his beast went into full protection mode for his mate.

  The bear tried to push forward, but Elijah needed to find the threat before they could neutralise it.

  He swung around on his heels, but it was too late … the wolf was already on him, and it was ferocious in its attack. The razor sharp claws dug deeply into his flesh, and the beast’s fangs snapped at him … he had no choice but to let his bear have its way…

  The beast burst from inside of him, flinging the wolf off of his body and ending the attack.

  ~

  ~

  ~