~

 

“Why’d you growl?” Rayner asked, tipping her head to one side like a curious beast.

“Oh, that was a good growl — it meant he liked it,” Roland chuckled, and Dane shot him a glare.

“I can speak for myself,” Dane growled.

“Oh.” Rayner frowned.

She guessed that she’d have to learn the difference between the growls as well as bear speak. Was there no end to her learning about her new life?

Rayner felt another rush of anger within her and lifted her booted foot and kicked him in the shin. Dane yelped, reached for his shin and rubbed it furiously, as he eyed her with disbelief.

“What was that for?” Dane growled.

“Hell, I just wanted to hear the difference in your growling.” Rayner shrugged.

The sound of Roland’s chuckling grew louder and annoyed the hell out of Dane. He turned a glare on his brother.

“Don’t you have something else to do?” Dane growled again.

“Nope.” Roland chuckled.

True to his word, Roland folded his arms across his chest, eased his stance, and eyed the mates with curiosity. Dane grunted in annoyance.

“I think you’ve got a mean streak.” Dane turned his attention back to his mate.

“You could call it that — others call it; repressed anger — my boss calls it productivity — I like to think of it as stress relief.” Rayner yanked her wrist free of his hand and tossed her hands on her hips.

“He might be your mate — but, I still wouldn’t challenge the alpha if I were you,” Roland warned her with a small shake of his head, and another chuckle to boot.

“You’re not me — and why do you think I was challenging him?” Rayner looked confused. “Am I challenging you?” She shot a look at Roland. “Is this challenging?”

“You – know,” Dane started slowly to bring her attention back toward him. “It’s customary to wait for an answer when you’ve asked a question,” he offered back with an easy smile that kept her mesmerized on him for the longest moment — then her mind spun once more.

“Where’s your brother?” Rayner demanded. She scanned the area for a sign of Bowie.

“Can you say the attention span of a goldfish?” Roland chuckled, and Dane offered him a warning growl.

“It’s not funny,” Dane grumbled.

“I never said it was,” Roland held his hands up to his chest and gave a small shake of his head, but he couldn’t stop the chuckle rolling through his chest.

“Bowie isn’t here,” Dane assured her.

Rayner looked kind of disappointed with his answer. He had the feeling that she was gunning for his brother — and he couldn’t blame her.

“Then what the hell is the point of being a bear shifter when you can’t let your bear out and chew on someone?” Rayner demanded.

“You know what?” Dane gave a slow nod of his head before he turned his gaze on Roland. The man snapped to attention. “Have at him.”

“Seriously?” Rayner kind of liked that idea.

“He’s joking,” Roland said as he growled a warning at his brother. But the smirk that spread across Dane’s face went from ear to ear and told him otherwise.

“I guess you’re going to have to sharpen your claws at some point,” Dane chuckled.

Roland shook his head in disbelief and grumbled something under his breath.

“Go on, take one for the team,” Dane chuckled. “You did say anything I need.”

“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Roland grumbled another growl as he reached up and yanked his shirt over his head. “Well, she’s gonna have to catch me first.” His eyes lit up with amusement.

He might not have been the alpha, but his bear was pretty damn speedy as bears went, and he’d run her ragged over the land before she caught up to him. He’d appreciate not having his backside chewed on.

 

~

~

~

 

“I fixed your cabin door to keep the weather out,” Roland informed Bowie as he settled his back against a withered tree that was clinging onto the crumbling land at the drop off where the man had taken root.

“I don’t remember biting her,” Bowie growled in mumbled tones.

His head was down on his neck, and his shoulders were hunched against the wind and rain, and the disgust that he felt within him over what had happened hung heavy.

“Shit happens, get over it.”

“I’ve been waiting for Dane,” Bowie said.

He knew that whatever his brother did to him, he deserved it. He didn’t even hope for a quick death – he deserved a slow painful end to his days; it was only right.

The female would have to live with the curse of her bear for all of her days, and she should have been able to choose that fate. He’d taken that from her.

“He’s busy.”

Bowie couldn’t imagine what the female was going through. He’d been born to it, and still, his bear tormented him something fierce. He hated that he’d cursed her.

“Is she …?” Bowie didn’t know what to ask.

Did she go crazy bear?

Did she hurt anyone?

Did she hurt herself?

Did she … cry? He hated to see a female cry.

“She’s doing pretty good for a bitten,” Roland said with a certain amount of pride in his new sister. “Dane hasn’t wooed her yet, but he’s always been a slow ass.”

“She wants to leave though?”

“She’s not mentioned it, yet. Not when her bear was chasing mine all over the land today to take a bite of my rather fine ass.”

Bowie almost shot a look at his brother back over one hunched shoulder, but he never quite made it. The thought of looking Roland in the eye wasn’t something he relished.

He had to live with his shame; he didn’t want to see it reflected in the looks of his kin.

“If she wants her vengeance – I won’t lift a paw to stop her,” Bowie growled.

Even his beast didn’t rally to the fighting spirit on that one. His bear knew shame as well, shared it, and embraced the thought of being punished for what they’d done in turning the female.

“Damn right you won’t,” Roland growled as he pushed away from the tree and started back up over the rocky outcrop.

In Roland’s mind, Bowie’s suffering was self-inflicted. For too many years the man had been one large furry epitome of a bad mood bear.

He never used to be that way, and Roland didn’t know what had changed within him, but, he kind of missed the man that Bowie used to be. Whatever Dane decided to do about his brother’s transgressions, Bowie was at last understanding the consequences of his actions.