~

 

Dane had barely slept. He’d spent most of the time in bed with his mate in his arms thinking about Bowie and the fight with Colt. If things went wrong Rayner would blame herself, Mitzi would be mateless, and Joshua would be without a father.

He couldn’t see a way around that fight taking place. There were rules to a challenge, and that challenge had been issued to Bowie.

He wished that he was the one who would be facing Colt, but he wasn’t.

Finally, Dane had given up all pretences of sleeping as he’d watched the sun come up through the cracks around the curtains, and had left Rayner to her sleep because she’d been tossing and turning most of the night as well.

When Dane pulled open the front door and strolled out onto the porch, coffee in hand to begrudgingly greet another day, he saw Roland standing outside his own cabin. From the look on his brother’s face, he knew that the man had very little sleep as well.

It didn’t take long for Roland to cover the distance between them, coffee in hand, Roland climbed the steps and stood beside him on the porch, and they stared out at the land in silence.

“And nobody thought to ask if it was a fight to the death?” Roland said and his brother grunted in annoyance.

“I guess we won’t have long of a wait until we find out,” Dane offered back.

“I don’t like it,” Roland grumbled a low growl within his chest.

Bowie was a pain in the ass, a thorn in their side for so long with his damn crazy bear, and it was true to say that he’d considered killing his brother a time or two in the past. But now that the man had found his mate things could have been different.

“It’s Bowie,” Dane offered back.

“His bear is crazier than a truck full of wildcats,” Roland said.

“We’ve both fought his bear.”

“It’s a mean one,” Roland agreed.

“He just needs to fight with his brain as well as his beast,” Dane said, shifting his weight on his feet, and lifting the mug of steaming coffee to his lips, but he didn’t drink.

“But, it’s Bowie,” Roland offered back.

Both men looked at each other, and a small grimace appeared on Dane’s face before he made it vanish. Roland grunted. Dane grunted back as he turned to look out at the land again.

“He’ll be fine,” Dane sounded reassuring, even if he didn’t feel that way inside.

“As long as he can control his temper,” Roland said.

“He has something to fight for now,” Dane shrugged.

“But, it’s Bowie. Will he see it that way?”

“He doesn’t have a lot of choice.”

Roland grunted again. He bit down on a curse, nodded once, and started off for his cabin again.

“Nice — chat,” Roland tossed back over his shoulder.

Dane offered one last grunt before he turned on his heels and walked back into his cabin.

Bowie pressed off from the cabin wall where he’d been standing listening to his kin, and walked back the way that he’d come. He’d heard his brothers conversation, and for a moment he was tempted to join them — but he knew that talking about it wouldn’t do anyone any good.

His brothers were right — he needed to fight with his brain and his beast. He couldn’t lose control of the bear, not if he wanted to beat his opponent, and he really wanted to beat his opponent.

 

~

~

~

 

There was a big part of Rayner that just wanted Bowie to take off and never show his face again. Damn the money. Damn Bute. She’d find a way to pay the man back, even if she had to take every crap job on his books.

Her bear was agitated within her, no real surprise there; it was reacting to her emotions. Rayner breathed out hard, took in a slow, deep breath, and tried to steady her beast.

“How you doing?” Bowie asked, coming up behind her and scaring the hell out of her.

She’d been so intent on calming her bear, on her breathing, that she hadn’t heard the man approaching.

“Don’t do that!” Rayner growled out as she turned toward Bowie and resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

“I can feel your bear just below the surface,” Bowie said.

“There’s a coincidence — I can feel yours,” Rayner shot back, offering him the stink eye, and folding her arms one way and then the other. No matter what she did she couldn’t seem to settle her beast.

“My bear is ready for a fight, what’s your excuse?” Bowie berated her.

“Oh no, you do not get to have a go at me when you’re the one preparing for a fight with Colt,” Rayner growled. “Butthead.” She lifted her chin in defiance.

“Butthead? There’s a new one,” Bowie chuckled.

Rayner realised that for the first time in a long time Bowie was looking her straight in the eye. He’d done it once or twice since he’d bitten her, but he usually looked away fast. Now the man held her gaze.

“Well, it’s fitting, don’t you think?”

“I think you need to rein in your bear,” Bowie said, and he still hadn’t looked away.

“I think you need to shut your yapping,” Rayner tossed back. “I think I might prefer it when you just grunt, growl, or ignore me.”

“And yet, all this time you’ve been trying to get me to speak to you — female,” Bowie chuckled.

“Who shoved a feather duster up your backside and tickled your…?” Rayner stopped talking. Her eyes widened, her jaw went slack, and she stared at him with disbelief.

“What?” Bowie looked around him.

“You!” Rayner lifted an accusing finger and pointed it right at his broad chest.

“What about me?” Bowie asked, confused.

“You’ve claimed your mate!” Rayner bit out with glee.