Chapter One – Joshua
Snow fell in thick flakes from the sky, heralding the White Christmas that the songs on the radio had been singing about for weeks now. Normally Joshua Stewart would have taken a moment to breathe in the deep scent of pines and spruces mingling with the sharp bite of snow, but today was not most days. The Bear Alpha canines lengthened as he stopped his snowmobile. His two seconds, Matt, his beta, and Luke, his gamma, pulled to a stop behind him.
Sure enough, the cabin was exactly where reports said it was. It had clearly been built in a hurry, probably overnight. The logs that made up its walls were rough and still had bark clinging to them in placed. But then, it wasn't meant to be a place for the inhabitants to permanently live in, but rather to make a statement.
Joshua gritted his teeth as he marched up to the door. Normally he would say that the Wolves could do what they wanted and the Bears would do what they wanted, but the Wolf Alpha was clearly provoking him. James Tucker wanted any excuse to reignite the war that had been resolved a hundred years ago. Joshua didn’t know why the old man had such a hatred of Bears, but he knew that was not going to give him any excuse to resume hostilities.
Before the Alpha got to the door, it was flung open. Joshua stopped where he was, eyes narrowing, as Tucker exited the cabin. The Wolf Alpha was lean but wiry, like all Wolves. In a fair fight, he'd stand no chance against the larger Bear.
Actually, a fair fight would be at least a dozen Wolves against one Bear.
But it was quite clear that Tucker was not looking for a fair fight, not with the hunting rifle he hand pointed directly at Joshua's head. The Bear Alpha kept himself relaxed. He wasn't going to let the Wolf intimidate him.
"This is Bear territory, Tucker, as we established with human land surveyors. If you want to live this far from your park, move your cabin ten feet to the north."
"I remember what the surveyors said. But what difference does ten feet make, eh?" Tucker kept his gun trained on Joshua. "The land back there isn't level. We're neighbors, are you going to start a fight over a measly ten feet of land?"
Beside him, Matt growled. Joshua sent him a warning glare, and his beta reluctantly lowered his head. This was not going to end with violence, but Joshua also was not going to just give up his people's claim to this part of the territory to the Wolves. It had once been a burial site for the Bears, although fortunately all the Bears buried in his location had been reburied elsewhere. If they hadn't been, Joshua wouldn't have been able to stop his people from burning down this cabin.
Hell, he would have lit the first match.
"You know what this place means to us Bears, you are deliberately trying to provoke us. Our land agreements have proven this piece of property belongs to us. You will move your cabin or I will sue you and your pack for every cent that you own."
A look of disgust came over Tucker's face. "That's the problem with the world these days. Instead of settling these things like good, honest shifters, weak Alphas like you have to go running to the humans to solve every little problem they're faced with."
Joshua couldn't help but roll his eyes. The deliberate attempt to provoke him was pathetic. He knew what he was, and weak wasn't among his list of attributes.
"You Bears aren't even using this land. It's flat and fertile, I could feed a dozen families with crops grown here."
"This land is ours. Unless you would like us to start building our houses on your burial grounds." Joshua stepped forward, resulting in Tucker cocking the gun. Well, it seemed that talk wasn't going to get through to the Wolf Alpha–at least, not just talk. He turned to Matt and rose a brow. "Are you getting all of this?"
"Getting it?" Tucker repeated.
Matt ignored the Wolf and adjusted the small camera he had attached to the label of his blazer. "Yep."
Tucker stared at the small device. It wasn't completely unnoticeable, but it was small enough that the Wolf clearly hadn't seen it, too engrossed in his attempts to provoke the other Alpha. Joshua grinned as the Wolf bared his teeth and growled. His grip on his gun tightened.
"Filming me? What could you possibly hope to accomplish with that?"
"Just proof, should things become hostile, to show the human justice courts that we did not initiate."
Joshua didn't like to rely on the threat of human intervention to get the Wolves to cooperate, but in times like these, he had to act swiftly and decisively. Humans levied heavy fines against the guilty party whenever fights broke out between the Bears and the Wolves. Given the state of finances under Tucker's leadership, he couldn't afford any more problems with the local human authorities.
As Joshua had expected, Tucker lowered the gun. "Fine. If you want to waste this valuable land and you think ten feet is oh so important, we'll relocate our cabin. My girls' hands are blistered until from building this one, but if you think it's so important—"
"Your daughters are here, then?"
Tucker narrowed his eyes. "Where I go, they go."
"Good. I'll be taking your eldest back with me to be my mate, then." Joshua surprised himself when he spoke. He had been toying with the idea for some time. A connection between the leadership of the two packs would help facilitate peace.
He hadn't expected to make such a blunt demand for it, though.
"My eldest daughter?" Tucker cried. "My flesh and blood, my precious Naomi? The child that will succeed me? I'll sooner see you all dead—"
"Enough, Father." A young woman pushed Tucker aside and marched towards the Bears. Her gaze locked on Joshua. "You're the Alpha?"
He nodded.
"I am Naomi Stewart. I'll mate you."
Joshua's brow rose. Perhaps he wasn't the only one to have thought of this before.
Tucker spluttered. "Naomi! Get back here at once!"
Joshua ignored the Wolf, focusing instead on the woman. Skin the color of pale cedar, eyes gray, hair chestnut brown. She was quite lovely. A little thinner than Joshua would have preferred, but that didn't matter. He felt himself stirring at the thought of mating her.
"You'll be my mate?" he asked her. "Just like that?"
"Yes. I'm a virgin and so you'll have to be patient with me that way, but I'm sure we can work it out."
Joshua inclined his head. Wolves, as far as he knew, only ever had sex with their mates, so that she was a virgin was to be expected. He had the sudden thought that maybe he didn't have enough experience to please her properly, but put that aside as he offered her his hand.
Tucker spluttered. "Naomi Tucker, if you leave with that Bear—"
"Goodbye, Father," she said coldly and put her hand on Joshua's.
***
Joshua opened the door to his house, gesturing for Naomi to enter before him. She walked in, her expression blank, and glanced around. He watched her carefully, wondering what was going through her mind at that moment. Was she regretting her choice?
"This is where we will live?"
"Yes. We won't officially mate until the next full moon—"
"Christmas Eve," Naomi murmured. "Do Bears celebrate Christmas?"
"Some of us do. I usually put up a few decoration this time of year, but I've been too busy this year. Your father had been causing me a lot of problems."
Naomi's gray eyes darkened and she shrugged, turning away from him. There was definitely more going on in her head than she was saying. But considering that she had said all of twenty words since they left her father's cabin, that wasn't very surprising. He couldn’t guess what she was feeling, whether afraid or resigned or bored.
"Do you celebrate Christmas?" he asked.
"We did before my mother died. Haven't since. My father doesn't like it. Says it's human nonsense." Naomi turned back to him. "You said that we won't officially mate until Christmas. But that doesn't mean we'll remain celibate until then, does it?"
Her simple question had a dramatic effect. Joshua's loins tightened, and his gaze traveled down his future mate's body. While on the thinner side, she still had plenty of curves and Joshua couldn’t wait to taste them all. Her lips beckoned him, but he held himself back, trying not to show the effect she had on him.
"If that's what you want, we will," he told her. "I know Wolves are a little different about these things than Bears."
Naomi's own gaze wandered over his form and nodded as though satisfied. The pale cedar color of her cheeks darkened. "I'll have to decide on that. We only decided to become mates a few hours ago, after all."
Joshua smiled, but before he could respond the door slammed open. In strode a woman almost as tall and broad as Joshua himself. Blonde hair, like his, though she was somewhat paler and she never wore makeup.
Susan. He sighed at the anger blazing on her face. Ever since they were children, Susan assumed that they would one day be mates because of her fighting prowess. Joshua himself had assumed the same for a long time, but had already decided against the female Bear. She was a spoiled, entitled brat whose violent temper tantrums got her everything she wanted. There were those in town that liked her, but Joshua wasn't one of them.
"What is this I hear about you taking a Wolf as your mate?" Susan seethed, glaring at Joshua.
"I'm taking a Wolf as my mate."
Susan's eyes landed on Naomi and a growl ripped up her throat. "That little girl? You'll break her in half. Or maybe I will, to show you how weak Wolves are."
Anger flared. Joshua was always proud of the fact that he could control his temper, but as Susan stepped towards Naomi, he found himself grabbing her by the throat and dragging her towards the door. Susan gasped as he tossed her out of his house.
"I am tired of your tantrums, Susan," Joshua said coldly. "You are hereby banished from the bear territory for two months, or until you learn that the world owes you nothing just because you can beat up half the Bears in town. You're a bully, and unless you change, I see a dark future ahead of you."
Susan stared at him in shock, but Joshua merely shut the door. He was done with her. He turned to Naomi, whose eyes were wide, and took a deep breath. Perhaps that wasn't the best time to banish the woman, but he wasn't going to undo it now.
"I'll show you to your room now," he grunted, moving towards the stairs.