by T. S. Ryder
Beside him, Matt growled. Joshua sent him a warning glare, and his beta reluctantly lowered his head. This was not going to end with violence, but Joshua also was not going to just give up his people's claim to this part of the territory to the Wolves. It had once been a burial site for the Bears, although fortunately all the Bears buried in his location had been reburied elsewhere. If they hadn't been, Joshua wouldn't have been able to stop his people from burning down this cabin.
Hell, he would have lit the first match.
"You know what this place means to us Bears, you are deliberately trying to provoke us. Our land agreements have proven this piece of property belongs to us. You will move your cabin or I will sue you and your pack for every cent that you own."
A look of disgust came over Tucker's face. "That's the problem with the world these days. Instead of settling these things like good, honest shifters, weak Alphas like you have to go running to the humans to solve every little problem they're faced with."
Joshua couldn't help but roll his eyes. The deliberate attempt to provoke him was pathetic. He knew what he was, and weak wasn't among his list of attributes.
"You Bears aren't even using this land. It's flat and fertile, I could feed a dozen families with crops grown here."
"This land is ours. Unless you would like us to start building our houses on your burial grounds." Joshua stepped forward, resulting in Tucker cocking the gun. Well, it seemed that talk wasn't going to get through to the Wolf Alpha–at least, not just talk. He turned to Matt and rose a brow. "Are you getting all of this?"
"Getting it?" Tucker repeated.
Matt ignored the Wolf and adjusted the small camera he had attached to the label of his blazer. "Yep."
Tucker stared at the small device. It wasn't completely unnoticeable, but it was small enough that the Wolf clearly hadn't seen it, too engrossed in his attempts to provoke the other Alpha. Joshua grinned as the Wolf bared his teeth and growled. His grip on his gun tightened.
"Filming me? What could you possibly hope to accomplish with that?"
"Just proof, should things become hostile, to show the human justice courts that we did not initiate."
Joshua didn't like to rely on the threat of human intervention to get the Wolves to cooperate, but in times like these, he had to act swiftly and decisively. Humans levied heavy fines against the guilty party whenever fights broke out between the Bears and the Wolves. Given the state of finances under Tucker's leadership, he couldn't afford any more problems with the local human authorities.
As Joshua had expected, Tucker lowered the gun. "Fine. If you want to waste this valuable land and you think ten feet is oh so important, we'll relocate our cabin. My girls' hands are blistered until from building this one, but if you think it's so important—"
"Your daughters are here, then?"
Tucker narrowed his eyes. "Where I go, they go."
"Good. I'll be taking your eldest back with me to be my mate, then." Joshua surprised himself when he spoke. He had been toying with the idea for some time. A connection between the leadership of the two packs would help facilitate peace.
He hadn't expected to make such a blunt demand for it, though.
"My eldest daughter?" Tucker cried. "My flesh and blood, my precious Naomi? The child that will succeed me? I'll sooner see you all dead—"
"Enough, Father." A young woman pushed Tucker aside and marched towards the Bears. Her gaze locked on Joshua. "You're the Alpha?"
He nodded.
"I am Naomi Stewart. I'll mate you."
Joshua's brow rose. Perhaps he wasn't the only one to have thought of this before.
Tucker spluttered. "Naomi! Get back here at once!"
Joshua ignored the Wolf, focusing instead on the woman. Skin the color of pale cedar, eyes gray, hair chestnut brown. She was quite lovely. A little thinner than Joshua would have preferred, but that didn't matter. He felt himself stirring at the thought of mating her.
"You'll be my mate?" he asked her. "Just like that?"
"Yes. I'm a virgin and so you'll have to be patient with me that way, but I'm sure we can work it out."
Joshua inclined his head. Wolves, as far as he knew, only ever had sex with their mates, so that she was a virgin was to be expected. He had the sudden thought that maybe he didn't have enough experience to please her properly, but put that aside as he offered her his hand.
Tucker spluttered. "Naomi Tucker, if you leave with that Bear—"
"Goodbye, Father," she said coldly and put her hand on Joshua's.
***
Joshua opened the door to his house, gesturing for Naomi to enter before him. She walked in, her expression blank, and glanced around. He watched her carefully, wondering what was going through her mind at that moment. Was she regretting her choice?
"This is where we will live?"
"Yes. We won't officially mate until the next full moon—"
"Christmas Eve," Naomi murmured. "Do Bears celebrate Christmas?"
"Some of us do. I usually put up a few decoration this time of year, but I've been too busy this year. Your father had been causing me a lot of problems."
Naomi's gray eyes darkened and she shrugged, turning away from him. There was definitely more going on in her head than she was saying. But considering that she had said all of twenty words since they left her father's cabin, that wasn't very surprising. He couldn’t guess what she was feeling, whether afraid or resigned or bored.
"Do you celebrate Christmas?" he asked.
"We did before my mother died. Haven't since. My father doesn't like it. Says it's human nonsense." Naomi turned back to him. "You said that we won't officially mate until Christmas. But that doesn't mean we'll remain celibate until then, does it?"
Her simple question had a dramatic effect. Joshua's loins tightened, and his gaze traveled down his future mate's body. While on the thinner side, she still had plenty of curves and Joshua couldn’t wait to taste them all. Her lips beckoned him, but he held himself back, trying not to show the effect she had on him.
"If that's what you want, we will," he told her. "I know Wolves are a little different about these things than Bears."
Naomi's own gaze wandered over his form and nodded as though satisfied. The pale cedar color of her cheeks darkened. "I'll have to decide on that. We only decided to become mates a few hours ago, after all."
Joshua smiled, but before he could respond the door slammed open. In strode a woman almost as tall and broad as Joshua himself. Blonde hair, like his, though she was somewhat paler and she never wore makeup.
Susan. He sighed at the anger blazing on her face. Ever since they were children, Susan assumed that they would one day be mates because of her fighting prowess. Joshua himself had assumed the same for a long time, but had already decided against the female Bear. She was a spoiled, entitled brat whose violent temper tantrums got her everything she wanted. There were those in town that liked her, but Joshua wasn't one of them.
"What is this I hear about you taking a Wolf as your mate?" Susan seethed, glaring at Joshua.
"I'm taking a Wolf as my mate."
Susan's eyes landed on Naomi and a growl ripped up her throat. "That little girl? You'll break her in half. Or maybe I will, to show you how weak Wolves are."
Anger flared. Joshua was always proud of the fact that he could control his temper, but as Susan stepped towards Naomi, he found himself grabbing her by the throat and dragging her towards the door. Susan gasped as he tossed her out of his house.
"I am tired of your tantrums, Susan," Joshua said coldly. "You are hereby banished from the bear territory for two months, or until you learn that the world owes you nothing just because you can beat up half the Bears in town. You're a bully, and unless you change, I see a dark future ahead of you."
Susan stared at him in shock, but Joshua merely shut the door. He was done with her. He turned to Naomi, whose eyes were wide, and took a deep breath. Perhaps that wasn't the best time to banish the woman,
but he wasn't going to undo it now.
"I'll show you to your room now," he grunted, moving towards the stairs.
Chapter Two – Naomi
Naomi burrowed her hands deeper into the sleeves of the parka Joshua had given her. So far the fact that she had left home without any of her possessions wasn't bothering her at all. Joshua had received bags of donated clothes for her to go through the first day she was there. Bears, she decided, had excellent fashion sense.
They were also surprisingly friendly, especially considering that she was a Wolf. She had expected barely-restrained hatred, but for the two days since she had arrived, they had treated her with nothing but respect. Although that might be because Joshua hadn't been more than ten feet away from her in that time, and they must have heard about the female's banishment the first day she was here.
She snuck a look at him as they walked down the street. He greeted everybody they passed. If it had been her father, she and her sisters would be lined up behind him, and the Wolves they encountered would move out of their way as James did whatever it was he had decided to do. Joshua, however, was welcoming to his fellows, and if Naomi ever fell behind, her shorter legs unable to quite keep up with his huge Bear strides, he would stop and wait for her.
I made the right decision by agreeing to be his mate, she thought.
Other than banishing the woman Bear who had tried to attack her, he hadn't shown the slightest bit of anger. He seemed to have a calm head, and he was quite handsome. He was taller and more muscular than she ever thought she wanted her mate to be, but his features were well formed, his blond hair thick and straight, his blue eyes sharp, decisive.
He also said it was her choice whether they remained celibate until their mating or not. She had been tempted the previous night to go to his room, already desiring him, but she had stopped herself. Among Wolves, there was no fancy mating ceremony. If two individuals slept together, they were mated for life. She wanted the option to go back to her people and find a mate there if it turned out Joshua was more like her father than he appeared.
Her thoughts turned to her sisters and she shivered. Anne and Heather would be hiding in their shared room right now, listening to their father rant and rave. Her heart ached for them, but once she was established here, she would send for them. She'd get them away from their father.
"Where are we going?" she asked as they passed a cute little café that boasted French onion soup on their sidewalk board.
"There are certain ceremonial rites we have to perform before we mate," her Bear replied, his voice like thick maple syrup.
It made her mouth water–and maybe some other bits of her, too. Sexual arousal was not new to her, but being able to act on it was. The idea of mating was exciting if a little frightening. That was another reason she wanted to wait. Her hormones would easily get the best of her with this huge, handsome male.
"Are we going to perform one of the ceremonies now?"
Joshua nodded. "We have to go out in the forest and agree on a creature to hunt together, and then bring it down."
Naomi wrinkled her nose. That sounded utterly ridiculous to her. "Why?"
"It's meant to symbolize that we will work together for our goals and that we trust each other with what is important."
"Oh. That's… actually quite beautiful. Wolves don't have ceremonies like that. We have the full moon run when the Alpha leads us through the forest, but lately, my father has only taken whom he calls his 'elites.' He says that the rest of us have to prove our worthiness to come with him."
She bowed her head a moment, her hands clenching. If her mother was still alive, none of this would have been happening. She had been the daughter of the previous Alpha, and the pack loved her. When she died and James took over leadership as her mate, things changed. At first, Naomi thought it was because he was so maddened by the loss of his mate. Now she wasn't so sure.
It occurred to her that in order to be Alpha, Joshua must have lost his parents, too. She glanced at him. How had they died? Did they die in an accident like her mother, killed in a head-on collision? Or were they murdered?
With shifters, there weren't many other options.
Joshua was silent as they continued walking. Eventually, the stores faded away to residential buildings, and then even these became more spread out until they reached the edge of the forest.
"Why did we walk here? Is it part of the ceremony?"
Her Bear gave her a cocky grin. "No. I was just showing you off. Now let's go."
He quickly stripped off his clothes, clearly not bothered by the fact that the people in the nearby houses would be able to see him. Naomi certainly didn't mind. She fingered the zipper on the parka, admiring his form. Nudity was common among the Wolves like it was among all shifters, but she rarely had to opportunity to ogle a man without earning herself a lecture from her father.
"Like what you see?" Joshua asked, facing her.
Heat crept into her cheeks, but she nodded as she traced her eyes down the perfect V his abs formed. "You're nicely put together."
"Thank you. Now let's see you."
Naomi continued to toy with her zipper, considering. She had never deliberately bared herself to anybody before. It happened, of course, when she shifted in public, but taking off her clothes in front of another person was strange.
Maybe this was part of the ceremony, showing each other their bodies. She took a deep breath and stripped, shivering as the cold winter air brushed against her skin, causing goosebumps to break out everywhere. Joshua cast an appraising glance at her and nodded in satisfaction.
"You're as pretty as I thought you would be. I think I'm going to enjoy mating you very much."
The heat in her cheeks increased. The cool air didn't seem as cold anymore as something clenched inside her, heat flooding that area thoroughly. She was going to enjoy mating him, too. She only hoped that she knew enough from her readings to know how to please him.
"What do you want to hunt?" he asked.
Naomi shrugged. "A pine tree? I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat meat and hunting… I don't. Actually, I should say I won't."
"You're a Wolf and you don't eat meat?"
Naomi shrugged. "Go ahead and laugh. Everybody does. But my mother was a vegetarian also, and she was a strong Alpha."
Joshua frowned a moment, then nodded. "We can just run together, then. The point of this is to help one another, and I would not be helping you if I tried to force my lifestyle on you."
He smiled at her and shifted smoothly. Naomi was shocked for a moment that he'd be so understanding before she shook herself off and shifted as well. Joshua's Beast form was huge, with a cream-colored fur that was darker on his paws and over his shoulders. His head was vaguely polar-bear-shaped, but his shoulders had the distinctive grizzly hump. A grolar bear then?
She was the first to dash into the trees, yipping at him to chase her. He followed her, and they ran through the trees. Naomi's eyes brightened as she breathed in the clean air, feeling full of life and vitality. The drifts of snow weren't big enough to really slow progress yet, and she dashed through them joyfully.
Until a thin wail reached her ears.
Naomi came to an abrupt stop. She swiveled her head from side to side. The wail came again. A baby? What was a baby doing out here in the woods? Joshua grunted at her. Didn't he hear what she was hearing?
When the cry came again, Naomi turned on her paws and flew towards the sound. The deep drifts slowed her but she ploughed through them.
The baby was in a car seat, bundled up tightly in a thick blanket. There were even hot water bottles tucked in beside it. Naomi Shifted again and quickly pulled the baby out of the car seat. The hot water bottles were cold, although the baby's tiny hands and face weren't too chill. She held it close to her chest as Joshua joined them.
He sniffed the car seat before shifting. "Wolf. We get babies like this sometimes. Best we can figure is they're abandoned because they can't shift. But that they're left s
o close to the Bear town, we figure the parents don't want them to die."
Naomi wished she could say that shocked her, but the truth was it wasn't surprising in the least. "My father," she snarled.
Joshua put a surprisingly gentle hand on her shoulder. "We'll take it to the humans. They'll find a good home to adopt it."
Her heart jolted at the thought. A feeling of steel crept into her spine and she stood and faced her mate.
"No."
"Excuse me?"
She could feel the baby searching for something to drink from. Poor thing must be starving. "You're a Bear, I'm a Wolf. Doesn't it make sense for our first child not to be a shifter?"
Joshua stared at her. "You want to adopt it?"
"Yes."
"But… but you just found it. And we just met. Don't you want to try for our own before resorting to adoption?"
"Adoption is not the lesser option. This baby needs parents. Why not us?"
So much for waiting to see if she actually wanted to be his mate. Her father always said that her stubborn streak was going to cause her trouble. Well, maybe this would be when it did, but she found herself unable to control her temper as she glowered at her bear.
"When I decide on something, I do it. Just because this baby isn't a shifter doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve to be brought up in a community of shifters. They still have our instincts. It's not fair to them!"
Joshua held up his hands. "We'll discuss this back in town. Right now that baby need to get to a hospital, to make sure it's okay. I'm going to shift, you can ride me on the way back."
Naomi opened her mouth to keep arguing, but he was right. She nodded. Joshua shifted again and the Wolf scrambled onto his back awkwardly, holding the baby with one arm. Its cries actually grew louder as Joshua ran, which Naomi thought was a good sign.
They were almost to the tree line when a shot rang out.
Joshua roared in pain, his whole body twisting. Naomi lost her grip on him and fell. She wrapped her body around the baby as she came crashing down. Her head swiveled and finally saw a man with a hunting rifle pointed at them.
