Redeem the Bear (Bear Valley Shifters #5)(30)

He was all right, and here with her, and all of the horrible things she’d imagined were happening to him dissipated into a fog of relief.

“Mine,” she whispered against his neck, and he squeezed her until her tender back screamed from the treatment. She didn’t care though. She wanted to feel him.

Her eyes burned with tears and she buried her face against his neck, burrowing into him as he lifted her feet off the ground.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as he set her down.

Easing back, he wiped a pair of tears away from her cheeks and shook his head like a part of him had thought he would never see her again. His dark eyebrows were knitted as if he were in pain. “Corin, I want you to meet my council.” Turning her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her back against his chest.

Six Long Claws intermingled with Chase, Juan, Brody and Cameron.

“Nice to meet you,” she breathed, wholly intimidated by the sheer size of the strangers. They were probably all grizzly bears.

One by one they approached and offered their names, then shook her hand. When the last, the woman who had smiled at her, introduced herself as Bethany Miller, Corin said, “I thought the Long Claw alphas didn’t have councils.”

The woman nodded. “Brooks is trying to bring about a more promising future for our clan.”

“But on the phone, I heard fighting.”

Bethany smiled sadly at Brooks over her shoulder. “The fighting ended yesterday. Your clan took out the last of the resistance early this morning.”

“Mace?” Corin’s voice came out a squeak. Last she’d heard, Chase and the others had gone after him, but she had spent most of the night imagining Brooks’ second sneaking into her window and snapping her neck in her sleep. She shouldn’t be, but she was glad the boys found him, and even gladder he was dead.

“We’re here to sign a permanent alliance with Bear Valley,” Brooks whispered against her ear.

Her stomach danced and pooled with warmth that spread to her limbs at his nearness. He gripped her shoulders as her knees grew weak, like he had known she would go down like a felled log without his support.

Turning her head, she whispered, “How long are you here for?”

His eyes darkened and he glanced up. “Riker, will you excuse me? Now that the papers are signed, I have something I need to take care of.”

A slow, knowing smile spread across Riker’s chiseled jaw. “We’ll show your new council to their sleeping quarters. If you find yourself so disposed, I’d like to invite you for dinner here at six. Corin, you’re invited to join us as well.”

An invite to a fancy alpha party with all of the big shifters of Bear Valley and the Long Claws? Hell yes, she was coming.

Hannah stood with her hands clasped in front of her mouth like she was hiding a balmy grin as Brooks steered Corin out the front door.

His hand brushed the small of her back and she repressed a shudder under his seductive touch.

“I was worried about you,” she admitted. “I was on my way up here to ask Riker if there was anything I could do to help you.” Sliding her hands around his waist, she snuggled against his side, but he winced.

“How far away is your place?” he asked, sounding distracted.

“Half a mile. Are you okay? You smell like blood.”

“Fine. I just need to sit down for a little while.”

He walked with perfect posture, and not so much as a limp, but a muscle twitched in his jaw, and he was clenching his teeth.

Baffled, she waved at Shane as he passed on his way home after working at the barns.

Brooks didn’t look hurt at all, but he smelled off. She had scented it when she’d hugged him in Riker’s house. No amount of cologne could cover the smell of blood. Not when it was this thick.

Easing away from him so she wouldn’t hurt him more, she slipped her hand in his like when they were children and asked, “Will you talk to me now?”

He cast her a dark warning glance and grabbed a black duffle bag out of the front seat of a black SUV, then slung it over his shoulder.

“Brooks, please let me in. Tell me what has been going on so I don’t have to fabricate all of these horrible things in my mind. My imaginings are always worse than the truth.”

He ran a quick hand over the designer scruff on his jaw. “Take me to your place and I’ll talk on the way.” His look was so far away as he walked beside her, and he seemed to struggle to find words. Finally, he said, “The day I stopped the battle, it wasn’t easy. I saw you—your bear—and I remembered you. Not everything, just enough that the past and present clashed and made me feel unsteady. It was hard to stay in the moment when I looked at you. A cream colored black bear.” He huffed a quiet laugh. “How could I not remember you?”

“I was fighting confused, blinded by worry for you, and I saw Riker through the masses, fighting for his life, for his people. He had been right to try and stop the war. I was wrong. I changed into my human skin, and yelled for my people to stop, but they couldn’t hear me. Or maybe they couldn’t understand me in the throes of bloodlust, I don’t know. Every time a bear got too close, I changed back and fought, and when I had a moment again, I tried to stop it. I kept yelling for Riker to stop his people, every chance I got to turn human, and he seemed to understand. We changed back and forth, man and beast, trying to survive the thick of it long enough to stop the slaughter. Eventually others tried to help, and just when we were making progress, I saw you streak toward the woods after Merit. I couldn’t get to you fast enough. My people still needed me and there were so many still fighting, and I couldn’t get through them.”