A Bride For The Bear (Bear Brides #1) (9 page)

“Were you scavenging
for human scraps, Graig?” Cole asked evenly.

Graig snarled and stabbed his
claws into the bottom of Cole's chin. Cole saw his men lurch forward
and he put up a hand to stop them.

“I saw her first. I
got my hands on that human female first, and if you hadn't
interfered, I would have gotten my dick in her,” Graig spat.

Cole's eyes turned completely
feral and he gripped Graig's thick wrist and wrenched his arm down.
“You touch her, and you're dead,” Cole growled.

“Oh, oh I see. You got
a thing for that human chit,” Graig taunted. “Tell you
what. Since I was first in line, I'll have her first. After I'm
done with her, I'll let you have the leftovers. That way, everyone's
happy. And we won't have to fight over a human whore.”

Cole grabbed Graig's collar
and dug his claws into the scoundrel's neck. With a snarl, he tore
Graig's bloodstained collar off and flung it to the side.

Graig roared and staggered
back. At the corner of his eye, Cole saw Brad pick up that ragged
piece of cloth that reeked with the scent and blood of the Blood
Shadow Beta. Brad gave him a quick nod and disappeared swiftly into
the shadows.

His younger brother knew
exactly what to do.

Cole bared his teeth in a
smile.

Slowly, he turned back to
face Graig. He had thrown down the gauntlet. He knew Graig would
rise to the bait. His ego wouldn't let him live down the insult.

Tearing off his shirt, Graig
bellowed, “You are challenging me? I will fucking kill you,
Cole. I will bleed you slowly. You will beg me to kill you! Come
on! Are you afraid to fight me? This is just between you and me.
You will pay, oh yes! You will pay with your life!”

With that, Graig charged
straight at Cole, shifting as he ran. Cole was ready. His bear
emerged with a roar, and met Graig head on.

The two huge bears wrestled
and rolled on the ground, snarling and snapping their jaws at each
other. They were evenly matched in size and strength, but not in
skill.

Graig's uncontrollable rage
made him reckless. He attacked blindly, too eager for Cole's blood.
Cole parried his blows and let Graig wear himself down. He danced
out of the way with some fancy footwork, subtly poking fun at Graig.
As expected, Graig exploded in rage, his bloodshot eyes bulging as he
tore towards Cole. The black bear lashed out viciously, aiming for
Cole's eyes and throat. Razor sharp claws whistled past Cole's
shoulder, and Cole bit down hard on Graig's forepaw as it swung in
front of his nose.

Graig roared in pain and tore
into Cole's side with his claws. Cole unclamped his jaws to release
Graig's bleeding paw and managed to score a forceful kick at Graig,
toppling the panting black bear. Staggering up, Graig charged again
and again, working himself up into a murderous rage.

Graig's attack was chaotic,
without thought and direction. He reeled and stumbled to the side,
losing energy and focus. He wasn't going to last long. Cole knew he
only had to bide his time and keep circling and baiting the big,
black bear. Graig was going to make a fatal mistake soon, and then
it would be all over.

Cole swiped Graig's massive
paw aside and raked his claws down the black bear's shoulder. Graig
lashed out and aimed his fangs at Cole's throat. His teeth found
Cole's leg instead and Cole roared at sharp fangs pushed deep into
his flesh.

They both sported injuries
all over their bodies, but Graig's energy was running low. His
wounds were deeper than Cole's and he lacked Cole's patience and
stamina. Cole raised his head, and caught his brother's scent. Brad
was returning from his mission. And from the scent and sound of it,
he had succeeded.

It was time.

Cole launched into a
full-scale attack, rearing up with his fangs bared. He smashed into
Graig, and toppled the black bear. Cole didn't give Graig a chance
to get up. His claws slashed down mercilessly, shredding Graig's
face and tearing out chunks of fur and flesh.

Graig bellowed in pain, but
Cole wasn't done. He clamped his jaws around Graig's throat and
tightened his hold. He bit down just hard enough to draw blood, but
not to kill.

He looked up just in time to
see Brad shift back to human form. Behind his brother stood
Haluddin, the Blood Shadow Alpha and the rest of the Blood Shadow
clan.

Cole shifted swiftly to human
form, but he left his claws unsheathed. He held Graig firmly by the
throat, his claws lodged in the bear's bleeding neck. All it took
was one powerful thrust and he would rip out Graig's throat. He was
literally holding the life of the Blood Shadow Beta in his hands.

“Haluddin,” Cole
greeted the elder werebear.

“Cole,” Haluddin
replied without inflection. Despite the speed with which he had
traveled here, not a strand of Haluddin's thick silver hair looked
out of place.

The Nightfire and Blood
Shadow clans were gathered on opposite sides, watching the grisly
scene before them in silence. Cole was covered in blood, and his
claws were embedded in Graig's furry neck. The black bear struggled
and bellowed in agony, but no one moved a muscle. The slightest
movement would mean his instant death.

The Blood Shadow bears who
had come with Graig were utterly silent and tense in the presence of
their Alpha. Cole could see some of them trembling.

“I did not authorize
this invasion of Nightfire territory,” Haluddin said, his black
eyes glittering. He raked his gaze over the fifty shamefaced Blood
Shadows bears. “Are you under his command—”
Haluddin pointed at Graig. “Or mine?”

As one, the fifty soldiers
lowered their heads and fell to one knee in a display of submission
and allegiance to their Alpha.

Haluddin's lined face was
stony as he pronounced, “I will not banish you. But every one
of you will be duly punished.”

At a command from one of
Haluddin's lieutenants, the fifty soldiers joined the rest of the
Blood Shadow clan and took their place behind their Alpha.

Graig wheezed and snarled,
but the more he thrashed, the deeper Cole's claws pierced into his
flesh.

Cole could smell Graig's
blood and anger. Cole held on to his human form even though his bear
rammed against his shields, claws and fangs out, wanting to finish
the fight and finish the bastard off. But Cole held his bear back.

It was tempting to kill.

Every cell, every nerve in
him was tingling to kill.

He was an alpha predator, a
lethal killer.

But this had to end.

Blood begets blood. He knew
that all too well.

Slowly, Cole stood up,
pulling his claws out from Graig's flesh. He stepped away from the
groaning black bear and faced Haluddin.

“I hereby spare the
life of your Beta,” Cole said, his voice carrying clearly over
the field. “The Blood Shadow clan owes this debt in blood.”

The entire Blood Shadow clan
was present. Every Blood Shadow bear bore witness to his words and
deed. They would be bound by the blood of their Beta and the word of
their Alpha.

A dangerous glint entered
Haluddin's black eyes. “We will honor the debt. I am prepared
to execute him in front of your clan.”

“No,” Cole
answered. “I do not want his life.”

“What do you want,
Cole?”

“I want the Blood
Shadow clan to leave me and mine in peace.”

Haluddin held Cole's eyes for
a moment. A curt nod. “You have my word.”

Cole signaled for his bears
to move aside and let the Blood Shadow clan leave their territory.

Haluddin strode to Graig and
snapped out an order. Graig's bear receded immediately. Two of
Haluddin's lieutenants hauled Graig's limp human form up and without
a sound the Blood Shadow clan began their retreat.

Haluddin could punish his
Beta, maim him, banish him or execute him. Cole didn't care what
happened to Graig. He was no longer his problem. The Blood Shadow
clan would have to deal with him.

Cole heard his younger
brother come up behind him. Turning to Brad, Cole grinned and
clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks.”

Brad gave him a crooked
smile. “It wasn't hard at all. Once Haluddin recognized
Graig's blood on that torn collar, he knew I was speaking the truth.
He ordered the clan to go retrieve their Beta, and followed me
without further question.” Brad shrugged. “I told him
he could have my head if this was a trap. I think that helped too.”

“The head of the
Nightfire Alpha's baby brother is certainly worth a lot.” Tony
came up and grabbed Brad in a headlock. “Wagering your head!
Who told you to do that? You prat!”

Brad and Tony fell to the
ground in a scuffle.

Cole didn't stop them. He
would let Tony teach Brad a lesson this time.

Brad was just supposed to
deliver the bloodied piece of cloth to Haluddin. Cole knew that
Haluddin would come for his Beta straight away. Allowing another
clan to kill your Beta was a severe blow to a clan's reputation and
would undermine the Alpha's power and authority. If Cole had killed
Graig, it would make Haluddin an assassination target for the other
predatory packs and clans in Moonstone Creek. An Alpha who was
powerless to fight for his Beta was a toothless, ineffectual Alpha,
and would be deemed an easy target.

By sparing Graig's life, he
had protected Haluddin's reputation as well.

Cole knew his plan would
work. But he hadn't given Brad the order or authority to use his own
life as a bargaining tool. If Brad had allowed himself to be killed,
Cole swore he would dig him up and kill him all over again.

Dalton stood at his side,
watching Tony and Brad have at each other. “You should have
told me,” Dalton said quietly.

Cole turned and looked his
cousin in the eye. “If I told you what I was planning to do,
you would feel responsible for the plan. If I failed, you would have
blamed yourself. Dalton, should anything happen to me, you are the
new Alpha. And you'll have to take care of those two.” He
jerked his chin at Tony and Brad. “You won't be able to be a
good Alpha if you have a ton of guilt sitting on your shoulders.”
Cole gripped Dalton's shoulder. “As Beta, your job is to
command your men and carry out your Alpha's order. You did that.”

Dalton nodded and blew out a
rough breath. “If you weren't my cousin and my Alpha, I'd have
punched you.”

Cole slapped his back. “You
can punch me some other time. Now get the clan home. I have to go
home to my mate.”

“What?”

“What did he just say?”
Tony scrambled up and yelled.

“Mate, he said mate.”

There were loud gasps as his
clan crowded round excitedly.

“Cole has found his
mate?”

“Really?”

Over his shoulder, Cole saw
Brad staring at him with unblinking, hopeful eyes. He nodded and
mouthed a 'yes' to his brother. Immediately a wide, impish grin
split Brad's face. His baby brother was so happy for him.

“Is it that human lady
we saw at his house earlier?”

“Did you see his mark
on her?”

“I wasn't look for a
mark. I was a-roarin' and a-revvin', getting ready to kick some
Blood Shadow butt!”

“You're an idiot, you
know that?”

“When are we going to
meet Mrs Alpha?”

“Hey, how did you meet
her, Alpha?”

As he loped off, Cole shouted
over his shoulder, “Through that dating site we signed up for!”

A volley of questions were
fired at him, followed by loud guffaws.

But Cole didn't stop to
answer them. He had to get home to Abby.

His clan members gleefully
hollered after him. “Dating site? We want to sign up too.
Sign us all up, Alpha! The whole lot of us! Maybe we can get a
group discount!”

Abby held her phone away from
her ear and grimaced.

“You did what?”
Terri's voice screeched over the phone.

Four pairs of dark, brown
eyes looked up at her. Cole, his younger brother Brad, and his
cousins Dalton and Tony were all crowded round the kitchen counter,
huddled over a laptop. Cole had made them come round to his house so
he could make them log in and spruce up their profiles on that dating
site. And he wanted to make sure they read every single message they
received.

“Abby's message was
right at the bottom,” he'd told them. “I missed it
completely. I don't want you to make the same mistake. You have to
go through every message. You've got to hunker down, put in the
effort, find your mate.”

“Yes, Alpha.”
Dalton and Tony had rolled their eyes and groaned when they opened
their inbox and saw the deluge of messages.

“We'll never finish
this by dinner time,” they'd grumbled.