Emma stared after Mason, trying to sort out what the hell had just happened. Her head ached. No, her entire body ached. Scratch that. Her soul ached. And she was pretty sure Mason had just taken part of her with him.

It served him right, walking up on them like that. What did he expect to see?

Emma shook her head. Not that. She shouldn’t even have asked the question. He couldn’t have known the lookout was her and Jordan’s spot. He had no idea what had happened earlier in the day—that she had suddenly become alpha to a clan of strong-willed bears and nearly killed her best friend.

Mason didn’t know any of that. So, what did she expect? Once the thought had connected in her mind, once she realized what assumption he had made, it had been so obvious. But how was she supposed to explain that her and Jordan were friends, nothing more?

It was probably better he had jumped to conclusions anyway. The last thing she needed was to get involved with someone new. No matter how much she liked the guy. It wouldn’t be fair to him, not with everything that had happened in the last week between her and the clan and Jordan.

Emma raked her hands through her hair. The ends were tangled, and her fingers caught, pulling at her scalp. It would take her an hour to get it straightened out when she got home. No, when she got back to Joe and Ripley’s. She didn’t have a home. Not yet.

So many things had to fall into place. Now that she was alpha, she couldn’t live in Joe and Ripley’s apartment. She certainly couldn’t live with Jordan. And Cheryl? Well. She wasn’t even going to consider it. Emma was already going to have to watch her back. She was fresh meat. If anyone in the clan aspired to be alpha, now was their chance. Whether they had been on her or Cheryl’s side or not.

A low growl rumbled from the bushes off north of the hill, and Emma rolled her eyes. “You were supposed to go home, Jordan.”

A hulking grizzly stalked out of the bushes. He had been listening the whole time. Great. Emma should have known he wasn’t going to leave her there. He had said as much out loud.

Jordan swung his head back and forth, and then rolled back onto his haunches. He let out another growl and shifted back, mostly.

Emma narrowed her eyes. “Really?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but it is chilly tonight. There’s nothing wrong with a little fur.” Jordan shrugged and closed the distance to the top of the hill in three long strides, one foot landing a little gingerly on the last one.

Emma winced.

And noticed, suddenly, that it was indeed chilly out. Goosebumps prickled up her arms and down her back. Grudgingly, she coaxed Mal out, wrapping her shoulders in his thick fur.

As he came out, her senses spiked, and the overwhelming smell of porcupine flared in her nostrils. She couldn’t remember having smelled a porcupine before, but now there was no question. The scent came from the spot that Mason had appeared in the trees. The same place that he’d disappeared.

Jordan stared at the space where Mason had disappeared, his expression dark. “That went well.”

“Shut up.”

“Sorry, Em.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Not your fault. This is how it has to be.”

“If you say so.” He stretched his arms up and arched his back over the rock. The claw marks across his chest glowed in the moonlight, angry red lines where Emma’s blow had landed. She should be the one who was sorry.

Except she wasn’t. She was pissed. Here she was, standing in the middle of the woods with her best friend whom she’d had every reason to attack not even an hour earlier, and the man who made her feel amazing left in a huff.

“Well, it seems you’re moving on rather quickly.”

“Why are you acting like this? I thought we understood one another. I don’t have those kinds of feelings for you.”

Jordan massaged his forehead. “I don’t know.”

Emma pushed Mal back, if for no other reason than to eliminate the lingering porcupine scent. She rolled her fingers in a stretch, trying to relieve some of the tension. “If you had feelings for me, you should have voiced them a long time ago. I need to move on.”

“I… see that.”

She balled her hands into fists.

Jordan held up his hands in retreat. “I’m worried about you.”

Seriously?

“You’ve been through a lot today. Come home with me.” He took a step towards her, reaching for her arm.

What was he playing at? “I can’t go home with you.”

“You can. You’re alpha. You can do whatever you want.”

Emma turned to look at him and sighed, a resigned smile flickering across her lips. “You know, you can’t really go home either.”

Jordan cocked his head to the side, not connecting.

“A pair of bears jumped from our second story window, remember? The Sisterhood is going to be all over the place. In fact, I am surprised they haven’t tracked us down yet.”

Jordan’s shoulders drooped. “Right.” Then he perked up. “Maybe Joe and Rip have room for two?”

Emma groaned, drawing Mal forward. “Not happening. They barely have room for me. Come on, I know a place.” She really wasn’t in the mood to deal with the Shadow Sisterhood on top of everything else.

“Where?”

“The cabin. You know, where Brett and Juliet got married. As far as I know, it’s vacant.”

“Perfect. Lead the way.”

Emma shook her head and shifted, letting Mal lead the way. The cabin was still pretty much the same as they’d left it. It just looked a little less lived in, not that it had been really that lived in before.

Emma and her brothers had abandoned it years ago. It was technically on the Elliot property, but they had been the only ones who spent any time there growing up. When Brett had been infected with rabies and Joe and Ripley were racing to save his life, they’d used the cabin as a place to lay low.

“You should see about moving here,” Jordan said as he shifted back into human shape, stepping up the three wooden steps to the door in his bare feet.

She probably could. Being alpha should make it easy. She didn’t want to move into Cheryl’s house. Even though Chuck had banished her, Emma was certain she wasn’t going far. “Yeah.”

“I’ll help you move in this weekend.” Jordan’s tone was light, but his expression and his body language remained tense.

Emma walked up the steps and stopped beside him. “Are you interested in me?” Best to be plain about it.

He took in a deep breath, looking away. “No.”

“Don’t lie to me.” Because something was going on and she needed to know what it was.

He leaned against the pole supporting the porch. “What if I am?”

This was what she was afraid of. “I told you. I don’t feel for you like that. I thought you felt the same way.”

“I—well, maybe I don’t.”

“Maybe? Wouldn’t you know?”

He turned toward her, his expression grim. “I tried, Em. I did. But you and I got so close so fast and it’s so natural.”

“We’ve been best friends forever.”

“I know, so doesn’t it make sense to marry?”

“And not mate?” Emma didn’t want that. She wanted to be with the man she could give her entire soul to. She didn’t want to be constantly looking, whether she was doing it on purpose or not.

“I…” He closed his eyes and said quietly. “I feel it on my end.”

She shook her head and padded to the other end of the porch. She’d heard of pairs going into a life match like that, where one side felt the mate bond and the other did not. It typically ended disastrously.

“I need you to understand something, Jordan, and get it through your head.”

He pushed off the railing and braced himself.

“I’m not interested in you like that, and if you can’t handle it, you and I can’t be the friends like we used to be.”

He was silent for a long moment. Then, he turned away, heading back toward the forest. “I’ll help you move in the morning.”

Emma closed her eyes, wrapping her arms over her chest. When had things gotten so complicated?