Laid Bear 2: The Kodiak Clan (15 page)

“Bethany! What have you done with her?!” He advanced on the elder, which was a serious breach of etiquette in any clan, but he was barely restraining himself from throttling this old codger, so he figured it evened out.

“Lower your voice!” The elder’s commanding tone stopped Max in his tracks. If he hadn’t been so furious, he might have smiled at the irony of half-deaf Elder Watkins telling
him
to lower his voice. “Now,
calmly
tell me your grievance.”

Glaring at Watkins, Max took a deep breath. “Moments after our phone call, Bethany was snatched off the street. I demand to know what you’ve done with my mate.” He could no longer contain his bear’s agitated growl.
 

“Tsk tsk, Max. After I explicitly told you to keep her safe in the hotel, you let her leave?” The old man shook his head in disappointment.
 

Shame, grief, fear and anger were making his blood boil. It
was
his fault. He’d been warned, but his shock at finding out the sex of their baby caused his devastating hesitation. Tears pricked behind his eyes at the thought of Bethany and his son being in danger, not knowing if they were safe or even alive. He would do anything to ensure their safety, and he told Elder Watkins the same.

Watkins nodded sagely. “I have no doubt, Max. And more than anything, I’m hoping for their quick and safe return.”

He stood and edged around his desk, wrapping an arm around Max’s shoulders. The simple gesture sent waves of revulsion through Max, but he didn’t dare pull away. This asshole was his only hope.
 

“What do you want me to do?” He begged through gritted teeth.

“Me?” Watkins feigned surprise. “You think I had something to do with this…abduction? No, my friend, it wasn’t I. But who could it have been? Let’s look at that.”
 

He guided Max to a pair of simple plastic chairs in a corner. As soon as Max was settled, Watkins gingerly perched himself on the other until he was sure it wouldn’t crumple under his girth.

“Of course our council might have reason to…
incentivize
your cooperation in the Yoren Brand situation, but we rarely find it necessary to take such drastic actions. Next on the list of likely suspects, naturally, are the Brotherhood.”

Cold pierced Max’s heart at the mention of the hate group. What would they do to the human mate of a
were
? One who was getting ready to give birth to a mixed-species baby, no less. His horror at the thought was broadcast like a flashing neon sign on his face.

“You know as well as I do that the Brotherhood are a bunch of unpredictable hooligans. It seems quite logical, in fact, that they might not take too kindly to your
mate’s
presence here in Kodiak. Some might even think her being here could encourage other werebears to think they might also have a happy union with a human.”

Max was a statue, waiting for the shoe to drop. Watkins sat across from him, fingers steepled in front of his mouth, pretending to look extremely thoughtful and worried.
Asshole.

“Now, it’s possible the Brotherhood, if that’s who took Britannia—“

“Bethany,” Max growled.

Watkins continued as if he didn’t hear. “It’s possible they’d release her unharmed if you were to show your support for our clan by ensuring a Brand-Muir union. If something were to go awry…”
 

His shrug said it all. If Max didn’t make sure Veronica and Yoren became mates, he might never see Bethany again. He couldn’t bear the thought of never meeting his son, never teaching him the ways of the
were,
never watching him grow into a man, never seeing him fall in love with his own mate. A piercing cold swallowed his heart. He knew as well as Elder Watkins did that he’d do whatever it took to get his family back.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.” Even he could barely hear his whisper but, deaf or not, Watkins heard it just fine.

“Wonderful, Max!” He clapped him on the back and pulled him up, ushering him toward the door. “And in the meantime, I’ll ask around about Betty.”

“Bethany.” He couldn’t even muster the energy to growl this time.

“Yes, yes. I’m sure she’ll be fine, Max. Now off you go!”

As Elder Watkins’ office door slammed in his face, Max struggled to not break down. They’d broken him and they knew it, but he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing any weakness.

His bear, on the other hand, was starting to get angry. Max felt the adrenaline pushing through his bloodstream, shoving the despair to the side in favor of righteous fury. He rarely allowed his bear to take over his emotions like that, but anything was better than feeling so helpless. He needed to focus, not only on his task at hand, but on figuring out who took Bethany and how to get her back.

And who needed to be killed.

~ * ~ * ~

Grace lied. Things didn’t look better after a couple hours sleep. In fact, the mix of nasty sweet wine and the weird gin drinks had soured her mood considerably.
 

“Bitch,” she whispered, and even that was too loud for her aching head.

She stumbled out of her room and into the tiny bathroom to splash water on her face. She gulped handfuls of coolness down her throat to quench her deadly thirst and to try to rinse out the horrifying taste that seemed cemented to her tongue. “Gack!”

A pot of coffee and some ibuprofen, and a few minutes to let them take effect, sounded just about right. But the thought had no sooner waded through the muck to the front of her mind when her front door burst open and the squeals of two excited little werebears were like icepicks in her brain.

“Momma! Momma!”

Sam and Jason came screaming around the corner into the hallway and leaped into her arms. She did her best not to wince at the noise, but her mother-in-law couldn’t help but notice as soon as she spotted her.
 

“Boys, be dears and get your old grandma some water,” Gretchen said while peeling the boys from their mother and gently swatting their bottoms toward the kitchen.

Jason gave her a very severe look. “Gramma, we’re
bears
not
deers
!”

Gretchen laughed, sending another ripple of misery through Veronica’s head. “Go on now, Mr. Smartypants.”

As soon as they were out of earshot, Gretchen gave her a once over. “Everything okay?”

Veronica closed her eyes, her hand drifting up to cover them.
 

“Mmm hmm,” she nodded. “Just need an Advil or ten.”

“Rough day, huh? You want me to take them for the night?”
 

“God, I love you, Gretchen. You walk in and see me in this state and
don’t
give me a hard time. Bless you.”

Gretchen wrapped her arms around her daughter-in-law and held her close without squeezing too hard. Veronica sank into the comfort and love she felt there.

“Darlin’, you’ve dealt with more than any woman should. You’re allowed to cut loose now and again.”

The ringing phone drew a pained groan from Veronica and, before she could move to answer it, Sam pulled the receiver from the cradle. “Hewwo, Mewer wesidence.”

Gretchen gave her a gentle squeeze and released her. They both were smiling like idiots at how absolutely adorable her cubs were.

“Momma!” he hollered. “It’s f’you!”

“So much for his impeccable manners,” she mumbled, her mother-in-law chuckling behind a hand.
 

“Hello?” She couldn’t help smiling as the boys ran circles in the living room, climbing all over the sofa like it was a fallen log. The smile slid away when she heard the caller’s voice.
 

“Oh, hello, Elder Watkins. To what do I owe the pleasure— Um, yes. Uh huh.” She nodded, not daring to look at Gretchen. “Of course. I’ll be there. Thank you.”

It seemed like her hand moved for an eternity before setting the phone back in its cradle. Her mind was whirling. Why did Elder Watkins want to see her and why did it have to be right now? Had he heard about Jess already? Was she going to be banished? What about her boys?
 

Of course it could be nothing.
Don’t count on it, babe,
Keith’s voice rang through her head.
The head elder of the Kodiak clan doesn’t call you to his office for coffee and crumpets.

Summoning every ounce of courage she had, she dared to meet her mother-in-law’s eyes but she was running after the boys, trying to get them to pack an overnight bag. The headache that had been threatening her sanity moments before was replaced by the same dreadful fear she’d experienced when she opened her front door one late night to find the sheriff on her front step, his hat in his hands and a mournful look on his face.

She had no idea what was coming but she braced herself for anything.

~ * ~ * ~

Veronica shook the nerves from her hand before knocking gently on Elder Watkins’ office door. She sucked in a couple of deep breaths while she waited for a response, but they did little to calm her. Acid churned in her empty stomach and her skin was flush. Her bear was all kinds of antsy, which didn’t help matters at all.

The door whooshed open. “Mrs. Muir! Please come in.” The elder ushered her into the small room with a wide grin.
 

The two of them in the room would have been cozy but the other three people crowded around a card table made it positively cramped. The two men stood when she entered, but the woman stayed seated with her back to Veronica. Her gut clenched when she recognized Max.

“Please, let me make introductions,” said Elder Watkins. “Veronica Muir, this is Max Pearce. Brother Max consults for clans all over the world, and he’s here to help ours stay strong.”

It was possible the elder didn’t know about her connection to Max, but her bear’s hackles were raised. No, he knew, and that little comment about the clan was a dig at her for even thinking about straying outside their species.

“And this, as I’m sure you’re well aware, is Yoren Brand, one of our community’s most prominent businessmen…and most eligible bachelor.”
 

Pride nearly dripped from Watkins’ beaming round face. He held his hands behind his back and was bouncing back and forth on his toes, clearly pleased with himself for some reason.

“And I believe you’re quite close with our last guest…”

The woman swiveled in her seat and glanced sheepishly up at Veronica. Grace!

“Ms. Harnig has joined us to help you see the wisdom of the council’s decision.”
 

Watkins’ words were nearly lost from the buzzing in Veronica’s brain. Not only was she still suffering from the after-effects of Grace’s disgusting cocktails, but things were happening much to fast for her to process them. But his last two words finally sank in.

“Decision? What decision?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? Here, have a seat.” He pointed to an empty plastic lawn chair — one that had most definitely seen better days — and moved around the card table to his own seat, an old oak office chair that would have probably fetched a pretty penny at an antique store, if it wasn’t so beat up.

Grace’s refusal to meet her pointed stare ramped up Veronica’s unease at this whole situation. Max was paler than she’d ever seen him. He looked extremely stressed out. Yoren just looked bored.

She’d seen him around town but they didn’t run in the same circles so they’d never met. All the females of her clan lusted after him, even the happily mated ones, but he’d never done much for her. Sure, he was a fine specimen — tall, rugged, bulky from working out and eating the finest foods, and he did have those unusual blue eyes — but the arrogant air he carried around always put her off. She never understood why Grace was always trying to match them up…

No!
She whipped her head around to Grace, who was on the other side of Yoren, still refusing to look at her.
This is a set-up!

It all added up. Max was hired by the Kodiak Clan council to find a mate for Yoren. Grace had suggested a number of times that she date Yoren. Yoren was sitting here, smug as ever. And the council had gotten wind of her relationship with Jess.

Fury built inside Veronica but she kept it in check. How dare they dictate who she should be with? How dare they push her to mate with Yoren? Who the hell did they think the were?!

They’re the clan’s leaders, that’s who.
Keith’s voice was sympathetic but firm.
Besides, weren’t you the one who thought that mating without love was a good idea?

Who’s side are you on, anyway?
 

Yours, sweetheart. I’m always on your side, but don’t act surprised that the clan isn’t keen on you falling in love with a human. You knew what was at stake and you gave it your all. I’m proud of you for that. But Jess has made his decision, and now you have consequences to deal with.
 

What should I do? Tell me!
She hated how whiny she sounded, even though the conversation was in her own head.
 

Why don’t we find out what they want first?

Smartass.

Love you forever!

A tingle at the bridge of her nose warned her tears were on the verge of falling. She missed Keith fiercely, and now her heart was breaking all over again from losing Jess. She tried to bring her bear forward to give her some strength, but she was off whimpering in a corner.
Big baby!

Maybe Grace was right. Maybe she should forget about love altogether when choosing her mate. Mating with a
were
like Yoren would make her life so much easier. Not only would the boys never want for anything, but her heart could never be broken because she doubted she could ever love someone like him.
 

Most
weres
developed a deep and unbreakable bond after mating, but she knew of several ‘matings of convenience’ — where the couple didn’t have that bond — in her clan alone. They seemed happy enough. And it was always possible that some kind of affection might develop over time. Weirder things had happened.

Swallowing her anger and fear, Veronica took a deep breath.