“For the last time, she didn’t mean anything to me!” he whined. “I was just sowing my oats before settling down with you.”
“Oh my god.” I let out a bitter scoff. “It doesn’t matter what she meant to you. This is about me, you insufferable narcissist.”
I placed my hands on my hips, letting Mak’s parka open even wider as I glared at him. “And what makes you think I’d ever want to settle down with someone who lied to me—and thenhitme when I called him out?”
Bradford’s expression darkened, but his tone was defensive. “That was a mistake. I was upset, and you wouldn’t stop badgering me about one silly little?—”
“It wasn’t silly to me! My feelings are valid!” My voice cracked with the force of my anger. “That’s why I decided to leave and apply for another job in Vancouver."
I'd been kicking myself for being so insecure, but my voice rang with pride when I realized out loud, "It didn’t even cross my mind to come crawling back to you.”
“You’re going to Vancouver?” Bradford’s face brightened, as if he hadn’t registered a single other thing I’d said. “I’ll come with you. We can work through this rift there. It’s the least you can do after I invested nearly two years into this relationship.”
The audacity. Redirecting everything back to himself, as always. Making himself the victim, like always.
Two years of this. I couldn’t believe I’d put up with him for that long.
It had only taken Ash and Cody two days to show me how much more I deserved.
“No, Bradford,” I said, my voice suddenly calm. “Now that I’ve seen you again, I’ve decided not to go to Vancouver.”
“You have?” His expression flooded with smug relief. “Good. I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. If we get on the road right now, we can?—”
"I’m not going to Vancouver because I’m staying here," I clarified with steel in my voice. Bear steel. "With the men who love me."
"Men?" Bradford’s expression darkened from smug to sneering in an instant. "You’re complaining about me sleeping with someone else, and less than a month after our breakup, you’re up here in the mountains acting like a complete slut. You nasty, stupid bitch!"
He lunged, grabbing my wrist with a grip that felt like iron. “I’m not going to argue with you anymore. Let’s go back to Gemidgee and get you the help you so obviously need.”
“I’m not a bitch!”
Something primal surged inside me, something new and wild and stronger than I’d ever known. I wrenched my arm free with a force that startled us both.
"I’m abear!" I roared, the words erupting from me like thunder as I shoved him backward with all my strength.
Bradford went down hard, sprawling onto the icy ground. His smugness shattered, he stared up at me, mouth agape, clearly unable to comprehend how his "weak ex" had not only stood up to him but had the strength to shove him into the snow.
“I’m not the stupid, desperate girl who thought she was lucky to have you, no matter how badly you treated me,” I explained, looming over him. “These wonderful guys have shown me what it feels like to be valued. Seen. Loved. I am so damn lucky to have crashed into this life—and I’m not going back. Not to Gemidgee. And definitely not to you.”
Bradford scrambled to his feet, his legs unsteady beneath him. “You’re… you’re…!”
He fumbled for words, his mouth twisting with shock. But then his hands steadied.
And he pulled a gun from his coat. “You’re coming with me! Or else!”
Time seemed to slow. The cold, metallic glint of the weapon caught the weak morning light, and suddenly everything made sense.
Bradford hadn’t driven here to save money. He’d brought a gun across the border, intent on forcing me back into his life—or ending me altogether.
My heart thundered in my chest as he leveled the barrel at me.
“Bradford, don’t,” I whispered, my voice trembling.
“Don’t make me!” he snapped, his face contorted with rage.
He gestured wildly with the weapon, spittle flying as he shouted, “You’re coming back to Gemidgee with me! Now! Or I swear toGod, Noelle, I’ll blow your face off! Do not fuck with me! I'm not kid?—”
Before I could react, a blur of white came from the trees, moving so fast it was more shadow than form. The ground shook beneath the impact as the bear—a massive polar bear—slammed into Bradford.
