by Kim Fox
“Whoa whoa whoa,” Elena said, jumping in front of Alexander. “It’s okay, Julius. I came willingly with Alexander.”
Julius pried his hard, narrowed eyes off of his brother and turned to Elena. “What? Ava said you just disappeared into the forest. Alexander’s smell and footprints were all over the place.”
“Yeah,” she said casually. “I was waiting for Ava to finish fixing the tractor when I ran into Alexander.”
“You just ran into him?” he asked, with a blank expression.
“Yup.”
“Nine thousand acre ranch and you two just run into each other?”
“Crazy, right?” she said with a tight smile.
“Yeah,” he said, glaring at her. “It’s crazy.”
“We were just going to head back to the house now,” she said, resting her hand on Julius’ arm. “Come. You can walk back with us.” She stepped out of the cabin but Julius didn’t follow her.
He just stood inside, glaring at his older brother who was standing against the wall. “What the fuck happened, Alexander?” he asked. “And if you lie to me, I’ll shove a grizzly bear paw up your ass.”
Alexander tried to stay calm and control his breathing. He wanted to repair the damage he had done to his relationships with his brothers and getting into a fight was not going to be the way to do it.
“Like she said,” Alexander answered, placing his hands in his pockets, trying to stay as non-threatening as he could.
“That’s bullshit,” Julius snapped, stepping forward and getting into his face. Alexander’s polar bear growled from inside him, stirring and pacing around. He had many epic fights with Julius’ grizzly bear and the scent of his anger was spurring him on. Not now. Calm down bear.
“You fucking kidnapped her, didn’t you?” Julius hissed. He was flexing his arms and looking for a fight. Alexander could tell that he had been searching the forest all night, they probably all were, and Julius wanted a payoff. He wanted to throw down. “That’s my sister-in-law,” he barked. “You’re going to pay for this!”
Julius stepped into a fighting stance and raised his fists, just as Elena popped her head back into the cabin. “Walk me back home, Julius,” she said. “I’m hungry for breakfast and we can get to know each other a bit more.”
She gently grabbed his arm and tugged him when Julius wouldn’t take his furious eyes off of Alexander.
“Fine,” he said, exhaling violently. “This isn’t finished,” he hissed before storming out of the cabin and walking a few steps ahead of Elena. She turned back and grimaced as she followed him.
Let her go. He would see her after at the house. It was best to let Julius cool down first. And Alexander didn’t want to fight in front of his mate.
Hannibal and Khan walked into the camp a few minutes later after Julius and Elena were gone.
“What’s this?” Khan asked. “Grandpa’s old hunting cabin?”
“Is this where you always stay when you’re not at home?” Hannibal asked, checking out the roof.
Alexander sighed. “My home away from home.”
“Why was Julius yelling?” Khan asked, sniffing the air. “You didn’t…”
Alexander’s legs weren’t feeling so strong. He plopped down on the log and dropped his head into his hands. “I bonded to her.”
“Oh shit,” Khan said.
“To Elena?” Hannibal asked. “I called dibs on her.”
Alexander shook his head. “What am I going to do? I’m leaving for war in a few days.”
Khan sat down beside him and sighed. “That guy is going to ruin the rest of our lives if we let him.”
“If we let him?” Hannibal asked. “We have to do what he says. You’ve seen first hand what happens to humans and shifters who don’t do as he says.”
Alexander felt his heart pang. He didn’t care what happened to him but he was terrified that something would happen to Elena. And General Samson knew that. His mate would be the first one to suffer if he disobeyed. He didn’t have a choice.
“How can I leave?” Alexander asked. “It will be torture.”
“Then don’t,” Khan said firmly.
The three brothers looked at each other in a tight silence. All of them knew what that could mean although none of them wanted to say it out loud.
“Wait,” Hannibal said, breaking the tension after a while. “Does she actually like you?”
“Hard to believe, right?” Alexander answered with a chuckle. “I know I’ve been a bit of an asshole lately.”
“A bit?” Khan asked.
“Lately?” Hannibal added.
“Okay,” Alexander said, looking from brother to brother. “I’ve been a huge asshole for the past few years. It’s no excuse but my bear has been causing a lot of issues from within. Now that he’s finally mated I’m seeing how bad I actually was.”
“You weren’t that bad,” Khan said.
“Really?”
Khan chuckled. “Nah. You were the worst.”
The three brothers laughed and Alexander felt like one weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn’t shared a laugh with his brothers in years.
There was only one missing but after this morning he wasn’t sure if he would ever share another laugh with Julius again.
“Tell me what happened,” Julius demanded for the twentieth time.
Elena threw her hands up in frustration. “Will you stop? I already told you,” she said, exhaling in relief as the main house came into view. They were almost home, thank God. Julius was driving her nuts with his constant interrogation. “I went willingly to the cabin and he was a perfect gentleman.”
“Alexander?” he asked with a furrowed brow. “Did he drug you or something? Let me see your pupils.”
“Get off of me,” she said, pushing him away. “Leave me alone!”
“Elena!” Ava yelled as she rushed out of the house. She ran down the steps and sprinted across the field towards her.
“Stop running,” Elena called out. “I’m fine.”
Ava didn’t stop until she had her sweaty arms wrapped around her sister. “Are you okay?” she whispered into her ear in a panic. “I was so worried.”
“I’m sorry,” Elena said. “I really didn’t mean to put you through that.”
“Alexander had her,” Julius said with a heated voice.
“He didn’t have me,” Elena snapped back. “I was with him.”
Ava thrust her away, keeping her at arm’s length. “Doing what?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Fishing,” she said. It was partly the truth.
“Yeah, right,” Julius said. “She’s not telling the whole story.”
Elena rolled her eyes and turned away from her new brother-in-law who was quickly getting on her nerves. “Can you get rid of him?” she whispered.
“Julius, my love,” Ava said in her sweet, little girl voice. “Can you be a dear and go make us some fresh coffee and French toast for breakfast?”
He held his breath and stared at Ava with his mouth pinched closed. His eyes were narrowed and he looked like he wanted to say something that didn’t involve breakfast.
“Please?” Ava said, batting her eyelashes at him.
He let out his breath and his face softened a bit. “With cinnamon?”
Ava smiled a wide beautiful smile. “Yes please.”
“Hmph,” he grunted as he turned and walked back to the house.
“That’s impressive,” Elena said, watching him walk across the field. He made her breakfast on demand. And not crappy cereal or Pop Tarts. French freaking toast. She was becoming more impressed by her sister every day.
The sister who was glaring at her with black bags under her tired eyes, signaling her lack of sleep. “Spill it,” Ava commanded.
Elena told her everything from Alexander kidnapping her to the nice night that they had shared together. Ava listened with complete disbelief plastered across her face.
“Alexander?” she asked with her
mouth hanging open. “The big, mean, burly guy with the bad attitude? Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?”
“He’s sweet,” Elena said. “A little crazy but sweet.”
“Sweet is not the word to describe Alexander,” Ava said. “Even if he rolled around in a baby pool full of honey and jumped into a second baby pool full of sugar, he couldn’t be called sweet.”
Elena shrugged. “He is.”
Ava lowered her head and stared at her with serious eyes. “Has New York City lowered your standards in men that much?”
Elena laughed. God, she missed having her sister around. “You know I like a challenge when it comes to men.”
Ava rubbed her forehead. “He’s never said a nice word to me. There’re so many red flags.”
Elena laughed. “I view every blatant red flag as a personal challenge.”
“You’re nuts.”
“I missed you, Ava.”
Ava wrapped her arm around her neck and yanked her forward, kissing her on the cheek. “I missed you too, sis. Come. I want to show off my new husband’s breakfast cooking skills.”
“There’s one more thing,” Elena said, not moving.
“Oh, God,” Ava said, holding her breath and bracing for impact. “Are you pregnant with his baby?”
“No!” Elena said. “Nothing happened.” Although she wanted it to. “He said he bonded to me. Do you know what that means?”
Ava’s eyes widened and she took Elena’s hand in hers. “Yeah, I do,” she said, pulling her towards the house. “It means you’re going to be here much longer than a week.”
Julius gave Alexander an evil glare as he dropped the plate of French toast in front of him. Alexander just gave him a big smile. Nothing, not even his brother’s anger at him, was going to ruin this day. He had bonded to an amazing girl and he was going to enjoy every second of the time that he had with her.
“Thank you,” Alexander said as Julius sulked back to the kitchen. He stopped in his slippers and turned around with a shocked look on his face. Even Hannibal and Khan stopped eating to stare at him. I guess my manners have been lacking the past few years.
“Oh, thank God you’re back,” Bailey said to Elena as she walked into the kitchen with Liam. “Where were you?”
“Were you deducted by aliens?” Liam asked, wearing his Spiderman pajamas. The four-year-old bear shifter climbed up onto his daddy, Khan’s, lap and began stealing pieces of his French toast.
“No,” Elena said with a giggle. “But close.”
“She was staying with me,” Alexander said. He felt pride swell through him at having her willingly stay with him.
“Oh,” Bailey said, looking at Elena in confusion. Was I that bad?
Alexander cleared his throat and stood up. It was best to get this out of the way as soon as possible. “I know I’ve been a bit of a grouchy bear lately,” he said. “And I’m sorry. I was having a lot of issues with my bear but that seems to be over now.”
“A bit grouchy?” Julius asked with challenging eyes.
“Okay,” Alexander admitted. “A lot grouchy. But my bear is cool now.” He couldn’t believe the difference. His bear who would normally be pacing around, snapping and snarling, demanding to go on the search for a mate, even before his first coffee, was resting inside, content as could be. Every time that Alexander snuck a glance at Elena his polar bear purred happily. It was night and day.
“Wait a minute,” Julius said, turning around with a spatula in his hand. “Why is your bear so relaxed all of a sudden?”
Alexander sat back down and stared at his food.
“Why did Elena go missing and your bear chilling out after four years of making our lives miserable happen on the same night?” Julius asked with a furrowed brow. “Don’t tell me.”
Alexander moved the French toast around the plate with his fork, dragging it through the puddle of maple syrup.
“Julius,” Hannibal said, lowering his book. “Maybe we should discuss this later.”
“Yeah, bro,” Khan said, jumping in. “Everyone has had a tough morning.”
“Because his bear bonded to me,” Elena answered when it was clear that Alexander wasn’t going to.
Alexander glanced around the room at all of the shocked faces. Bailey smiled at him and gave him a little wink, Liam was eating Khan’s French toast, oblivious to what the adults were talking about, and Ava was watching him curiously. Julius looked furious.
“Does that mean you two are going to get married?” Khan asked.
“What?” Elena asked, jerking her head back. “Why would you ask that? Again?”
Khan just shrugged. “So we can keep the ranch.”
Ava flashed him a dirty look. “You’re not pawning my sister off so that you can keep the ranch,” she snapped.
“My sister-in-law cannot be your mate,” Julius said with his nostrils flaring. “I’m already related to you once. I don’t want to be related to you again. You’re not going to be my brother-in-law as well as my brother.”
“No one is getting married!” Elena said.
“I want more French toast!” Liam screamed.
“Enough!” Alexander yelled, shutting everyone up. He didn’t want to be the cause of all of this fighting.
“There he goes,” Julius muttered. “Showing off his true colors.”
Alexander just ignored the jab. “Yes, I bonded to Elena,” he said, standing up. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m going to war at the end of the week like we had planned and Elena will be moving back home.” He took a deep breath and held it in. “General Samson will be picking me up in five days.”
“Not soon enough,” Julius muttered.
Alexander glanced over at Elena and sighed. It would be better if he just laid low at his cabin for the rest of the time until he was sent off to war. It would be better for everyone.
He was done causing strife in this family.
He was done being a Vega brother.
He lowered his head and walked out of the house, heading for his cabin.
Where he belonged.
seven
“So what happened?” Ava asked as Elena walked with her to the stables.
“I already told you,” Elena answered.
“No,” she said with a grin. “I’m talking about the juicy details. Did you get some hot werebear loving?”
Elena felt her cheeks start to blush. “No,” she said. But she did get some hot werebear cuddling.
“Was he actually nice?” Ava asked, looking at her with a wrinkled forehead.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that? Was he really that bad before?” But Elena remembered their first encounter when Alexander barked at her and made her feel so unwelcome. Could he really have changed so drastically after one night with her? Did she really have that much of an effect on him and his bear? The thought intrigued her. Perhaps it was her curious nature as a journalist but she wanted to discover more. And that’s just where she was headed after she walked with Ava to the horses.
“He was pretty bad,” Ava said. “He tried to get Julius to kick me out of the house multiple times.”
Elena shook her head in disbelief. How could they be talking about the same shifter? Alexander had been a perfect gentleman, if you could forget about the whole kidnapping part of the story.
She looked up at the tall snow-capped mountains in the distance. The sun was shining today with large fluffy clouds, lazily traipsing across the bright blue sky. It was another gorgeous day and there was only one place where she wanted to be.
Ava rushed into the stables and started talking to her horse, Mad Max as she pet the side of his face. Elena watched her sister as she tried to plan out what to say.
“Ava,” she said. “You’re busy here. I can just go for a little hike to-”
“Alexander’s cabin?” she asked with a knowing grin.
Elena jerked her head back. Was she that obvious?
“Why would you say that?”
; “Please,” Ava said with a laugh. “I am married to a bear shifter. I know what it feels like to have one bond to you.”
“Is that real?” Elena asked.
“Pretty intense, huh?” Ava said with a chuckle. “It’s just going to get more intense as time goes on.”
Elena took a deep breath. “But what if we’re apart?”
Ava shook her head and looked at her sadly. “It’s rough,” she answered. “Julius and I were apart for a few days once.”
“And?”
“I threw up at least twice a day.”
Elena laughed as she shook her head. “Thanks for the words of encouragement.”
Ava just shrugged. “Then don’t be apart.”
I wish it were that easy.
“I work in New York and he’s heading off to war,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “How can it work out?”
Ava smiled softly. “You’re fated mates. Fate will help you along.”
My sister is losing it out here. Or could she actually be right?
“A shifter bond is a powerful thing,” Ava said. “It can be the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Or the worst.”
Elena took a deep breath. “I have to go talk to him.”
Ava nodded. She must have known what Elena was going through because she didn’t even try to stop her. “Do you know how to get back?”
“Yeah.” Elena had been paying attention the whole way back, using unusual looking trees and the river as markers.
Ava leaned in and raised her eyebrow. “A word of warning: If you sleep with him you’ll be with him forever.”
Elena chuckled. “I’m not going to sleep with him.”
Am I?
Alexander sat on the bed of his cabin and raised the pillow to his nose, inhaling the scent of Elena’s grapefruit scented shampoo. The smell was intoxicating and he had been drunk on it all of last night. The only thing he had left of that incredible night was his pillowcase with her ever decreasing smell.
