“Perhaps, but Walker will make for a better mate,” Zion insisted. “This is our final word. By your own traditions, the males decide on their maul. Not the female—even if she is Tuk’Mara.”
Zion always kept it classy. But Niska didn’t appreciate being overruled.
Her humble act fell away at his declaration, and she ran out of their cabin crying.
Zion’s eyes slid to the side. While living in the Outer Limits, I’d learned that tell meant a bear was having a mental conversation with one of their maul. Ravik nodded and went after her while Zion stayed behind to reassure me everything would be smoothed out by week’s end and that he was “most committed” to taking me on as their third maul.
Niska was wrong about my older brother being a better fit. Yeah, Erik was cool. Always joking around and taking her for rides on his hog. Way more fun than me. But that was because she’d never seen him in the morning, hungover and stumbling around.
My own mother had died in childbirth, leaving only my father to raise Erik and me. He wasn’t exactly nurturing. Unless nurture was what he was looking for at the bottom of those whisky handles he downed every night. And Erik had learned by his example.
On paper, it looked like Erik was being groomed for leadership, but that was only because my father needed me to manage him and the crew behind the scenes.
I’d liked the idea of being a family guy, instead of the younger son managing two barely functioning alcoholics. Zion and Ravik had chosen the right guy.
But not according to Niska.
And now, here I was, thirty years later, wishing I had someone else to help me figure out this situation with Bell.
She spent the next few days recovering from the last beating that piece of shit would ever give her.
She kept the door closed, only coming out to use the bathroom, shower, and occasionally pull in the bowls of chili and oatmeal I set outside her door with as light a knock as I could manage with my heavy fist.
But mostly, she slept.
Leaving me on duty as the sentry she didn’t want.
Luckily, I had no problem sleeping on any hard surface, even in my human form. I caught my nightly z’s on the floor, as close as I could get to her door without blocking her in and out access.
Sometimes, she came out at night to use the bathroom. She’d always be wearing the shirt I gave her.
The sight and smell of her encased in my scent never failed to claw at my chest. It made me want to gather her small body up in my arms and never let her go.
But she was back to not talking to me. She’d slip into the bathroom to do her business, then retreat right back into her bedroom, like a dream come and gone.
On Day Five of our standoff, I was just about to warm up the chili I’d made the night before when the Canadian nephews called. Again. Apparently, the short email I’d sent them about me having laid eyes on Bell and her ex no longer being a factor wasn’t enough.
I’d been ignoring the calls from the Canada number for days, but that night, I answered with a grunted, “What?”
“Let me get this straight,” Mak said, sounding annoyed. “You laid eyes on her. She’s done with the ex. But she didn’t say whether or not she’d be coming to the Joining Ceremony in July.”
Koda added, “Also, if you talked to her four days ago, why has she still not gotten in contact with Holly and Noelle?”
I tell ya, I’d always been a straight shooter—some would say to a fault. But I was learning how to lie on the fly real good.
First came me lying to Bell about not trying to kiss her that first morning, when she’d looked at me so prettily and released an arousal scent, which, in hindsight, she probably didn’t even realize she’d done.
That morning, I would have done anything, said anything to erase that terrified look from her brown eyes.
And now, I’d do anything, lie about anything, to help her out.
“Tell your mates she’s fine.” I considered this only a partial lie. She wasn’t fine now, but my new mission in life had become making sure she would be at some point in the future. “Yeah, she’ll probably be in touch soon.”
Silence, then Koda bit out, “Uncle Walker, that’s not enough. Holly and Noelle aren’t going to accept ‘the uncle we haven’t seen in years said she’s fine.’”
“Look, I get that you’re in full-tilt Papa Bear mode, but you asked me to check in on her, and that’s what I did.” I jabbed a finger into the stove’s buttons to light up the electric burnerunderneath the pot. “Not going to apologize for not having anything more to tell you.”
“Can you go back?” Mak asked. “Let her know that Noelle’s really worried about?—”
