What a Bear Needs (The Wild Side) (17 page)

“—but I’ve put enough people in the position of perpetual hope, not knowing when it may or may not be dashed,” Cree continued. “I can’t do that to him; I won’t
 
do that to him. So until I figure out whatever this”—she motioned to herself—“is. I have to be careful.”

The she-wolf exhaled slowly and replied, “You’re an idiot.”

“Fallon!”

“You are,” her friend persisted. “More of an idiot than I was with Ransom and that is saying a lot about the power of your ability to surpass 
my 
idiocy.”

“I’m going to slap you.”

She raised her hands as if surrendering. “I pride myself on our brutal, and quite abusive, relationship. Your threats will not deter me but seeing as how I’m in a position for you to damage my broodingly sexy looks, I will quiet my opinions on your stupidity.”

“Thank you so much for your willingness to mind your own goddamn business,” Cree dryly retorted.

“You are most welcome.”

She really 
was 
going to slap her around.

“I didn’t come in here just
to discuss Maddox administering sexual therapy to you,” Fallon told her. “I need to talk to you about something.”

Cree noted the seriousness of her tone. “What?”

“Well—”

“Dear diary,” Maddox’s voice cut in from the doorway, drawing the attention of both women, who were still tangled on the floor. “It was a day like any other day. Or so it seemed to my naïve mind and ripened flesh. However, I was soon to find that my life would be forever changed. It would all start with my happening upon the torrid and sensuous exchange occurring between two women who I had often envisioned myself being forced to serve sexually; never mind that I would do so quite happily and with much fervor. I was not prepared to take on such a task right at that moment but I was more than willing to make the sacrifice. What you must know is that—”

“Shut up, Maddox,” they barked simultaneously.

He pouted and looked at the floor. “Okay.”

God. 
This 
was who she was in love with. And Fallon had to ask why she wouldn’t tell him?

Rolling her eyes, Cree pushed off of the floor and lent her alpha a hand, stepping back as she got to her feet.

“Despite the fact that I’m tempted to kick you in your unyieldingly large head, I’m glad you’re here Maddox,” Fallon announced, leaning against the counter as she folded her arms across her chest. “That way I don’t have to repeat this more than once.” She jabbed a finger in Cree’s direction. “You need to determine why your gifts are becoming less manageable.” She swung that finger to Maddox. “And 
you 
need to go with her.”

“Go with me where?” Cree questioned, her brows dipping.

Fallon sighed. “
Athabaskan 
land. You need to go home.”

She took a step back. “I’m sorry?”

Maddox touched her shoulder. “Listen to what she has to—”

Cree held up a hand to silence him and stared at Fallon. Her throat constricted and it was becoming difficult to breathe. “You’re sending me back?”

The she-wolf’s head dipped slightly. “Yes.”

Shit. She could’ve been a little less nonchalant about it. If Fallon were going to put her out, Cree would’ve appreciated more than a nod.

Fallon’s face suddenly registered the look on Cree’s. “Oh fuck dude! Not 
permanently!” 
She tugged the brim of her ball cap over her face. “Jesus Christ, Cree! You really think I’d do that to you?!”

She felt her heart pick up its normal rate again. “You said—”

“No,” her friend growled shaking her head. “Not that; never that.” Her hands opened and closed. “I meant you should go back and talk to someone. Someone who can help you.”

Cree took in a deep breath. She couldn’t explain it exactly but she felt as though all the air had been sucked out of the room for a moment. Leaving on her own terms was one thing, being pushed out again was something else altogether. To have it done by Fallon would’ve quite possibly killed her.

“Sorry,” she murmured, ducking her head. She should’ve known better.

Strong but soft hands cupped her face and lifted it. The eyes gazing at her were full of nothing but understanding. “I’d give up venison first.”

They shared a smile.

Maddox put his arms around both and asked, “When I write this down in my diary later, can I replace the word ‘venison’ with ‘Ransom’s great, big, magical bear co—”

“Shut up, Maddox,” they simultaneously ordered again.

He chuffed and released them both. “Okay.”

Fallon patted her cheek. “You need to go back.”

“
This 
is home now,” Cree told her. “There’s nothing they can offer me there.”

“Except for knowledge,” the she-wolf argued. “They have what we don’t and you need it. For yourself; for the rest of us. Cree, you can’t suppress it so you need to learn how to control it. I don’t want to see you return to the place that broke your spirit but I also don’t want to keep watching you wrestle your nature because you have some ridiculous fear that we’re going to turn our backs on you.”

“And if their reception isn’t as loving and kind as you would hope?” Enli wouldn’t be pleased. That much she knew. Her aunt, nor anyone else, had come looking for her so what, exactly, could Cree expect sixteen years later? A “Welcome Home” party with cake and decorations? She doubted it. They’d been willing to dispose of a
child
they saw as a threat; there was absolutely no telling what they would do to an adult.

Fallon nodded over her shoulder. “This is why Maddox is going with you. I could send the others but my trust in him is different.”

“You’re asking me to do something that could be a catalyst towards what I’m afraid of,” Cree said. “You’re asking me to be vulnerable in front of a people that would twist that to their advantage.”

“I’m 
asking 
you,” Fallon quietly responded. “To believe that I have your best interest at heart. That I wouldn’t be making this suggestion without having mulled it over for days; without having discussed it with Ransom more times than I can count. Vulnerability is a state of being exposed. They can only see what you allow. If you should decide to step foot on that land again and walk through as if you never left, as if you belong, 
that 
is what they’ll see.”

She opened her mouth and Fallon placed a hand over it.

“No arguments. No hesitation. You do what I tell you because 
I 
am your alpha and I love you enough to enforce my commands.”

Cree deflated at the determined gleam in Fallon’s stare. As a canine her obsessive tendencies would not be denied and debating with her now would be completely pointless.

“I’ll go,” she finally said. “Because you asked me to, I’ll go.”

Fallon’s lips curved. “Acquiring a respect for my iron fist?”

“Oh my God!” Maddox suddenly exploded, waving his hands. “You 
have 
to let me put that in my diary! I’m begging you!”

She and Fallon looked at one another then back at him. “Shut up, Maddox.

He tucked his lips in and let out a small growl. His head went back on his shoulders as if he were looking to heaven for patience before he shook it, lifted his hands and simply said, “Okay.”

Twelve

“You're sure that's what she said?”

Enli stopped pacing to glance at her mate. “You think I would be standing here if I were unsure about her words?”

Kuzih stared at her momentarily. “What do we do?”

“If it's true then we proceed with caution. She's not a
packless
child anymore and I'd rather not have that crazy Wilder bitch storming my territory in retribution. I don't doubt our ability to stand toe to toe with her should it be necessary but we've experienced more than enough loss due to this girl.” So many deaths had happened surrounding the turn of Cree’s mother.
Nuna’s
loss of sanity had generated a loss for them all. She had no desire to repeat memories that still plagued her. Losing her brother had been
Enli’s
breaking point with incorporeality. That kind of pain shouldn’t exist amongst worship and modesty. That kind of attack on one’s emotions wasn’t warranted and she’d never forgive the Great Spirit for it.
Hussan
had been the last living relative she’d had left, her last connection to childhood innocence and a tribe life that had once been exuberant. Greed and overinflated senses of self-worth had brought ruin to what the
Athabaskan
had spent so much time building. Those who wanted to hunt them like game, those who wanted to take their land for gain and those who simply got satisfaction out of tormenting a people that wanted no more than to please their maker.

The day she had to bury her brother was the day
Enli
decided her maker was a selfish bastard who cared nothing for his people. He only used them for his amusement, lending a hand after they’d begged long enough for it. There would be no more begging.
Enli
would not sit by and watch it happen again.

“And if the opportunity to permanently rid ourselves of her diseased existence knocks upon arrival?”

Enli held his gaze. “We open the door and invite it in.”

***

For all of the noise around the lodge grounds, for all of the laughter and talk, for all of the roars and howls off in the distance, the silence as Maddox and Cree walked away from the main office was deafening. Had it been anyone else, the quiet wouldn’t have unsettled him, made his bear restless and anxious but he’d come to understand that a quiet Cree was a removed Cree. The less she talked, the more she shrunk into herself until her own doubts and concerns began to swallow her whole. Her acquiescence to Fallon’s order/request had done nothing but make his hackles rise. She would never challenge her alpha but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t disobey at the risk of sacrificing herself in the process; especially if it meant that she could keep the people she loved safe. The question was, how exactly did she plan to make said sacrifice?

She suddenly pulled up short and turned towards Maddox, eyes on the ground, hands stuffed into her back pockets. “Listen,” Cree started in a sotto voice, still not looking directly at him. “About earlier—”

“Oh fuck no,” he interrupted, knowing exactly where she were going. Stepping forward, he caught her by the shoulders. “Eyes up here.”

Her lashes fanned upwards.

Maddox didn’t speak, only yanked her towards him and fastened his mouth onto hers. The second he felt the tension melt from her shoulders as one small hand loosely held his nape, he didn’t restrict the force of his kiss. It went from comforting to 
I-want-to-put-my-hand-down-your-pants.

Cree gasped as he released her.

“Any questions?” he murmured.

She shook her head slowly.

“Good,” Maddox hummed. “Would you like to go and take a walk by yourself now so you can over analyze things and pine for me?”

Her lips twitched. “How do you fit your head through doors?”

He opened his mouth and she slapped a hand over it.

“No.” 

Maddox pouted against her palm.

“I just need to…be
for a bit, alright?”

Leaning down, he brushed a kiss against her temple. “Alright.”

Relief swelled in her gaze. She ran her fingertips along his jaw and he felt so much affection in that simple gesture that he wanted to stop her but he understood her need for solitude. When she walked away, he watched her until she disappeared from his sight and then found himself still standing there, feeling slightly bereft.

“Can’t go without the nipple for at least an hour, little brother?”

Maddox’s eyes narrowed and he turned to look at the other bear who’d managed to slip up beside him. “Well, I didn’t want you to find out this way but Fallon’s nipples are—” he stopped abruptly. “And just you hit me…in the face.” Popping his jaw, he tried to ease the blinding pain there.

“Don’t mock me, boy or I’ll skin you and wear you like Hercules did with the Nemean lion,” Ransom barked.

“But that’s
fiction,”
Maddox retorted slowly.

His sibling gave him a dead pan stare. “You’re standing here telling me you don’t believe in the legend of Hercules?”

“I’m standing here telling you I don’t believe in the legend of—” Once again, his words halted. “And you just popped me in the mouth.”

Ransom rocked back on his heels and shrugged. “Seemed like an appropriate reaction.”

“Really? Impulsive swinging of your porcine hands is appropriate?”

“It is if you call them
porcine
again.”

Maddox opened his mouth and promptly shut it, deciding he’d had enough abuse.

“C’mon, Beavis. I’ll buy you a drink,” Ransom announced, pushing Maddox towards the bar they frequented.

“I’d prefer that you use my stage name
‘
The Great Cornholio.’”

“Oh that one was coming next, believe me.”

He followed his brother, laughing as they headed inside, took up seats and placed their orders.

“So you finally managed to get Cree to do something other than laugh in your face when you talk to her,” Ransom said, settling back into his seat. “How much longer do you think that’ll last?”

“I’d guess about the same amount of time that Fallon will stick around before your love handles grow large and rather lumpy,” Maddox answered. He sort of tilted his head from side to side. “So I’d say about three weeks?”

“We’re in a public establishment so I can’t slap you into attractiveness but I
can
ask how you’re coping with her little revelation.”

He looked from his brother down towards the table. “I love her. Every part of her. Even the ones that abuse me.”

“Physically or sexually?”

Maddox clutched a hand to his chest and affected a violated shudder. “It’s always a bit of both but she holds me afterwards and tells me I’m beautiful so I let it continue.”