They did, eventually, make it to the bedroom. After Mason insisted they run back to town for a burger. Now, his soft snores punctuated the stillness of the night.

Emma stared at the ceiling. They had stayed up almost to midnight, talking, kissing, touching. Part of her wanted to roll her eyes at the juvenile nature of it all, but the other part sent her heart reeling faster at the memory of his lips on her neck, his hands on her skin. The way laying against him was kind of like snuggling with a furry… bear.

She rolled onto her side, so she could look at him. They were, mercifully, naked. He looked strange without his glasses, though not any less attractive. And even with his eyes closed, she could still picture the green of his eyes that was just—she didn’t know what it was. But they turned her on.

He choked on a snore and sputtered a breath. Emma sucked in a laugh, not wanting to wake him. Mason would do that on his own if he kept it up. As it was, he rolled over onto his back, hand patting the bed until he found Emma’s arm. He let out a contented hum, smacked his lips, and started snoring again.

She had never slept with a man who snored before. If someone had asked her, she would have sworn up and down it would drive her crazy. With Mason, it was more… comforting. Which was weird. Emma sighed and rolled back over. Mason stirred as her arm pulled away from his touch, and she snaked her own hand back as she settled, letting her fingers fall on top of his.

What she had said to him earlier kept echoing around her mind: I can’t decide if I have made the right decision about my life. That was what kept her awake, not Mason’s snoring. Emma had surprised herself with the admission. Now, it wouldn’t leave her alone. How could she know if she had made the right decision? It hadn’t even been a week since all this had started. Since she had become alpha. How was it something she had been planning for ages didn’t seem real once it had happened?

And Jordan had been right. Emma hadn’t been doing her job. She hadn’t been back to the clan house since the showdown with Cheryl. They had all been there. They saw what happened. What was there to say about it?

Maybe it wasn’t what she needed to say, but what she needed to do. She was their leader, and she had to show them that she was going to protect them and manage the clan affairs and keep them safe and…whatever else needed to be done. If she didn’t, she would be the one challenged out.

Somehow, the idea didn’t put her as on edge as it should have. If a clan loved their alpha, they could thrive for generations. If discord wasn’t handled, a clan could go through challenge after challenge, drawing lines between family and friends, creating enemies. If things got bad enough, people might split off and start their own clans. Which could lead to clan wars.

Emma rolled her eyes. It sounded like a damn movie. In fact, she was pretty sure movies had been made about just that.

Still, in real life, there were real consequences. Emma thought she could deal with some shit, but for some reason, she couldn’t wrap her head around being alpha. The thing was, she knew she wouldn’t be alone either. She had her brothers—well, Brett, since Joe had been kicked out—and Jordan. They would do everything they could to help her not make a complete fool of herself.

Something told her she was already doing that. She rolled her head to the side. She also had Mason. A freaking porcupine. Emma didn’t even want to think about the number of relatives who had rolled over in their graves when she had sex with him for the first time… A porcupine. And a grizzly bear.

Her brother was in love with a padfoot, and she still almost laughed out loud at the idea. At least Mason wasn’t a house cat. Emma sighed and closed her eyes. They were finally starting to feel heavy, and she was glad she didn’t have to get up early. Her only obligation was to spend the afternoon at Troutdale Springs. Two residents had birthdays, and even though she had already made a special treat for Susan, she would do it again tomorrow. Because that was what Emma did. She volunteered. Brightened peoples’ days. Helped people in need. Of all the decisions in her life, she knew that one, at least, was the right one.

The ringer blasted in Emma’s ear and she shot up, lightheaded in a sleep haze. Who in the—?

She pawed at the side table for the phone, her coordination sluggish.

Mason shifted beside her.

Dammit. Her finger found the green answer button and she pressed it before she picked the phone up, just to get it to shut up. Then she swung her legs over the side of the bed and lifted the phone to her ear. “‘lo?” Her voice cracked, thick with sleep.

“Emma, it’s Chuck.”

Her senses snapped back into place like a rubber band. “Hey, Chuck. What’s going on?”

Mason’s hand slid down her back in question.

Great. He was awake.

“Sorry to wake you. Zander was just brought into the station. The Sisterhood is involved. We need you down here.”

Shit. “Okay. I can be there in half an hour. Can you tell me what happened?”

“It’ll be easier if you just come down here.” He hung up the phone without so much as a goodbye.

“Is everything okay?” Mason stroked the bare skin of her back.

“The kid I was telling you about got picked up.” Emma’s heart raced. “The Sisterhood’s involved. I need to get to the station.”

“Is there anything I can do?” He sat up behind her, but Emma bent over, digging around in the dark for her pants.

“No. You should go back to sleep. You have work tomorrow. And the field trip. I’ll be fine.” She found her bra and pulled it onto her shoulders. She started fiddling with the clasp in the back.

Mason stopped her hands. “Let me.”

“Thanks.” Emma shoved her phone into her back pocket and grabbed the hooded sweater off the pile of clean laundry. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

“Let me know if you need anything.”

The drive to the station was fast. She stepped into the Troutdale Police Department and went directly to Tuck’s office in the back, through the maze of other desks. There weren’t a lot of police on duty at this hour, but, then again, Troutdale wasn’t exactly huge.

Tuck looked up when she walked through the door. He was silver-haired and sexy. Not that Emma really thought about him like that, but the man was attractive. “Glad you could get here so quick.”

“Why are we here and not at Red Star.” Which was the paranormal version of the police department.

“They’re… a little busy.” He shook his head and waved her off. “Chuck’s in the back with Zander. You know the way?”

She nodded. “Is he okay?”

Tuck shrugged. “He fell off the wagon hard. That’s never good with addicts.”

The way he said that wasn’t in a judgmental kind of way. It was just acceptance.

She could respect the hell out of that man.

Chuck stood just outside one of the cells.

Emma went to stand next to him.

Inside, Zander lay on the cot, sweaty and muttering to himself. He was coming down from whatever he’d been on and it didn’t look good.

“What happened?” Chuck didn’t mince words.

“I don’t know.” And she didn’t. She could offer to help the kid, but he had to come to her. “He called me. Didn’t say much. Said he was doing okay.”

“He’s not.”

“I see that.”

“Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?”

She really hadn’t. “No.”

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Because you didn’t see anything or because you were distracted?”

She took in a deep breath and released it, vying for patience. “Yes.”

His eyebrows rose and turned toward her. “You’re alpha now.”

She took a step back. “I know.” And she did.

“You have responsibilities, like taking care of this young man. You volunteered.”

“I know and as soon as I got the call, I tried to help him.”

Chuck quirked his lips to the side. “This type of thing happens. What I’m concerned with is the other bear clan.”

What about them? The Elliots had an alpha now, so they should be moving out.

Chuck bowed his head. “The Hatfields are looking for a way in.”

“The Hatfields?” He must have misspoken because… they didn’t really exist, did they?

Chuck gave her a dry look. “They set Zander up and with the precision they used, I’m willing to bet they had help.”

A dark dread washed over her. “Cheryl.”

“That would be my guess.”

What the hell was she supposed to do? “You banished her.”

“It appears banishment wasn’t enough.”

“I tried to end her. You stopped me.”

“Emma, she is still your mother. You could never forgive yourself.”

Emma stared at Zander for a long, hard moment. This was Zander’s Hell. “If I’m responsible…”

“Even without Cheryl, you are.” Chuck faced her squarely. “It’s time for you to realize that being alpha comes with more responsibility than freedom. You can’t blow off your duties or your clan. You need to meet with them and get them under your control.”

She did.

She didn’t want to.

“Because your mother’s only begun, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if she was the one who invited the Hatfields here in the first place.”

Emma blinked, her mind frightfully still.

“This could get a lot uglier before it gets better. They could invade. People could die.” Chuck close his eyes and muttered, “Just ask Dexx.”

Emma had no idea why so many people seemed to be taken with the man or why that seemed to be the only thing people could talk about, but she wasn’t asking Dexx Colt a damned thing.

She was Emma Elliot, alpha of the Elliot Bear Clan.

She didn’t need to ask anyone anything.

“I’ll get it handled.”

Chuck turned and left. “Make sure you do.”