Betray the Bear (Bear Valley Shifters #4)(2)

His hands slid over her backside and gripped her hard. “Then I shall have to punish you, mate.”

Well, that sounded delicious.

His eyes grew serious, and he traced the length of one of the cuts he’d made across her chest the day she’d escaped the Long Claws. “Remember who you are. You’re Bear Valley now. Don’t let him make you feel less than.”

She smiled and grabbed his hand, kissed it and let her lips linger. “I won’t ever forget. Riker’s waiting,” she said, dipping to retrieve her panties from the floor.

He swatted her ass, then turned and leaned back against the dresser until his triceps flexed. Just the sight of him made her stomach do flip-flops.

“Tell Nathan I say hi.”

“Right,” she said, arching her eyebrow as she redressed. She turned for the door and shook her head. Brody had almost killed him five weeks ago. Nathan wouldn’t appreciate a salutations from her mate.

A short hike and the gravel parking lot came into view. Riker stood against his giant black Ford pickup with his arms crossed over his chest like he’d been waiting a while. Oops.

“Sorry,” she muttered as she climbed the railroad tie stairs.

His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed as she passed and climbed into the passenger seat, but if she smelled like fresh Brody lovin’, he didn’t mention it.

“Blaine is already at the diner,” the alpha said in a deep, careful voice as he slid behind the wheel. “He’ll be sitting up at the bar top with a small arsenal behind the counter in case Nathan tries anything.”

“Do you think he’ll try to take me?”

“He’ll die if he does,” Riker said quickly, like he was itching for him to try. “You’re my clan member now, and you are mate to one of my best friends.” His lightened gaze found her as he started the engine. “I’ll cut him down if I even sense he’s up to something.”

Riker’s claim did make her feel better. She’d seen his bear on several occasions. He was even bigger than Brody. Hell, he was bigger than Bear Valley’s lead fight trainer, Chase, and that man was a mountain of an animal. She sighed and pulled her seatbelt over her lap as he pulled onto the worn dirt road that led out of clan territory.

The thirty mile ride to the small Montana town of Sheridan was quiet. Riker didn’t seem to want to talk, and that was fine by her because she was growing more nervous with every passing mile. She had lived with Nathan for two years after the Long Claws had destroyed her clan. He’d spared her life in battle, had even been kind to her once. That was all before he had become alpha and his bear got the taste of unchecked power. He had turned cold as winter and the life had died from his eyes. He pursued her even as he collected his three mates, Anya, Greta and April. She’d kept her distance for two years, and every day he grew more desperate to possess her. And now she’d see him again—sit in a tiny diner in Sheridan, and eat lunch like they were old friends instead of bitter enemies. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Why did he obsess over her rejection of him? He had three mates to satisfy him. Four now if he’d made a deal with that horrible woman, Merit.

Why couldn’t he just let her go?

The sight of the diner at the end of Main Street washed a new wave of panic over her. Riker shot her a fierce look, and she tried to steady her breathing. All she was doing was getting his bear riled up and ready to fight.

Everything was going to be okay. She could do this. The fate of Bear Valley rested on her ability to have a civil lunch with a psychopath, but it was fine. No pressure.

She shut the door to Riker’s truck a little too soundly as the nervous flutters spread to her shaking hands. She closed her eyes and took a long, steadying breath, imagined the smile Brody had given her when he saw her at their mating ceremony, and it helped. Riker watched her with something akin to pity in his eyes, and he followed her up the creaking metal stairs to the diner.

She thought she’d been prepared to see Nathan, but when her gaze drifted to the table in the corner where he sat watching her, she had to remind herself to breathe. With his head canted and those cold, predatory eyes that had only grown emptier since she’d left his clan, he looked otherworldly, like a nightmare come to life.

Riker’s hand on the small of her back made her jump like a startled rabbit, and he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “We’re right here if you need us.” His narrowed gaze stayed focused on Nathan, who watched their exchange with hard, dead eyes.

Checkered tile floors sat under cracked plastic tables in differing shades of red, depending on where they were situated under the direct window light. Squeaky spinning bar stools housed two humans sitting on the opposite wall, talking quietly amongst themselves and casting suspicious glances over their shoulders at Riker. Blaine was leaned against the counter, clad in his police uniform and nursing a fragrant coffee. His hand rested on the pistol in a holster at his waist. He nodded a greeting to her, but his eyes were on Nathan.

They were wise to be suspicious of the cunning alpha. He was a bigger danger than anyone could understand. She’d watched his mind slip over her time with his clan. She knew the havoc that followed him. He was a destroyer, annihilating all in his wake.

He blinked once, and she took slow steps toward the table. Nothing in her wanted to do this. As she drew closer and he turned his head, she stifled a gasp. Nathan’s eyes were still the blue of summer skies, and his hair still blond and messy on top. He still had that chiseled jaw that had the females of his clan clambering over themselves to spend time with him. His green stretch cotton shirt was unbuttoned on top and accented the angles of tense muscled that stretched across his chest. But long jagged scars, still red and angry looking, dove down his neck and disappeared under the collar of his shirt.