~

 

“Your legs not working?” Rayner asked, teasing her mate because she could feel the reluctance within him to take even one step away from her, and she knew why. He didn’t trust her, or her bear, and he certainly didn’t trust his brother.

“I’ll look after Rayner,” Bowie said, still unable to meet his alpha’s gaze.

“That worked out so well the last time that…” Dane growled.

“We’ll be fine,” Rayner said.

She didn’t need to look at Bowie to know that the man was hurting in his own way. Hell, it wasn’t as if she’d forgiven him yet herself for biting her and giving her the unstable beast within her, but at least she wasn’t rubbing it in every chance that she got. “After all, Bowie’s going to have to help me with Tank…”

“Not alone, he’s not,” Dane growled at the thought of letting his mate out of his sight, especially around Bowie.

He’d done it before. He’d let her go off with Roland to see her boss, and the whole time that she was gone it had eaten him up inside. But Roland was different – he couldn’t trust Bowie.

Rayner noted the way that Bowie’s large hands fisted at his sides. He shifted his weight and peered out from beneath his dark eyebrows that were drawn down in a scowl. He looked – hurt.

“I’m not going to hurt her.” Bowie tried his damnedest to hold onto the growl within him, but it didn’t help.

“Stop growling, you’re annoying my bear,” Rayner growled back, and Bowie snapped off the growl right there and then. Rayner did as well.

“Sorry,” Bowie grumbled, and went to turn away, but Dane wasn’t about to let him go anywhere.

“Hold on,” he said. He hadn’t seen his brother able to control his beast like that in a very long time. Maybe Rayner could reach that part of the man again. Maybe having her around Bowie was good for the man. Or maybe the two of them would hyper each other into a damn frenzy if he wasn’t around to stop it.  “If anything happens to her…” Dane growled.

“It won’t,” Bowie bit back with a fast shake of his head, but his head was still craned forward, and he still couldn’t do more than snatch a look at Dane from under his eyebrows.

“So much as a stubbed toe…”

“I swear,” Bowie promised.

“See, we’re all good,” Rayner said with a shrug and a mischievous grin for her mate.

“Do not test your bear against Bowie’s…” Dane warned her.

“Why would I?” Rayner snorted. “Just go find out what’s going on. I need to hunt down Tank before I’m too old to collect on the next one.”

“One stubbed toe,” Dane warned his brother again.

“Got it, if she gets all antsy then I’ll just sit on her,” Bowie said with a shrug.

“Do not sit on my mate,” Dane growled back over his shoulder as he started away from them.

“I’m so going to sit on you if you start,” Bowie leaned in and whispered, but he wouldn’t, Dane had told him not to.

“You gotta catch me first, slow ass.” Rayner chuckled, and Dane tossed a look back over his shoulder with a questioning frown.

He hoped that he was doing the right thing, but he’d noticed a change in his brother whenever he was around Rayner, and the same with her. They both seemed to be feeding off each other’s need to keep their bears in check. He hoped it stayed that way.

 

~

~

~

 

Roland noted the way that Maggie kept shooting glances in his direction, and he could tell that she was nervous because that feeling was coming from her in waves, but she was also curious, and, he thought, somewhat attracted to him.

 He wasn’t attracted to scardy cat women and shrinking violets. Maybe it was his shifter DNA, but he liked his women with claws and a backbone, a women like Rayner if she hadn’t of been his brother’s mate. Although, a curvier version.

But this little human seemed different. She’d brought out the protector in him, in his bear, and more. A lot more.

Animal attraction, lust, call it whatever the hell you liked, but she had his blood heated like a damn fever, and he kind of hated and loved the idea of why.

There were no two ways around it – his bear was clawing within him to scent her, and he felt that need stirring within his own mind. The only problem was; he hated the thought of finding out that he was a complete idiot and that she was nothing to him. Just lustful thoughts and maybe a little wishful thinking.

He hadn’t really thought much about a mate until Rayner had shown up on their doorstep, but since that moment, hell, it seemed to be all he daydreamed about. Dane was happier than he’d ever seen him, a damn sight crazier too.

Hell, he’d even left Rayner sleeping with his brother guarding the cabin while he went out to see if he could track the vampire and see what the bloodsucker was up to. Stalking a vampire was never a good idea, but Dane was protecting the woman that he loved.

“Sit,” Roland growled because he couldn’t hold it in, and he motioned to the hardback chair that stood back from the kitchen table.

He was house proud in a manly sort of way. He liked everything in its place, and he might not have had fancy things, but everything was as clean as it could be.

He was glad of that now that she was in his home, and he’d noted the way that she’d nosed around as soon as she walked in the door. He wished that his place was nicer, females like nice things, and his stuff was just … functional.

He wasn’t sure if she liked his cabin or not. Rayner was a city girl, and if they’d been neighbor, it meant that Maggie was as well. He guessed they liked fancy things. His home wasn’t fancy, but it was liveable.

“Is that supposed to be an order?” Maggie scowled at him, and he didn’t much like that look on her face, accusing, disbelieving, suspicious, and like he’d slapped her, something he’d never do.

He hadn’t expected her outburst either, and it took him a moment to think on it. Hell, she was female, and he could think on it all he wanted, but he was never going to figure out her mind.

“Why would you think that?” he offered her a curious look.

“Tone of voice.”

“You don’t like my voice?” Roland knew damn well that was one thing he couldn’t change, even for a mate. Not that she was his mate - that was all up in the air until he scented her.

He rebuked himself for sounding so damn bombastic. He wasn’t really used to having a human female around. He hadn’t even had that much time to get used to Rayner being there.

He didn’t have to worry so much about breaking Rayner anymore, and she did like to thump him hard in the bicep if he teased her too much. But Rayner didn’t really get offended – this human? Hell, he had no clue about her.

He feared that Maggie might just break her hand if she thumped him. He wouldn’t want to hurt her, and he didn’t want her to get hurt on account of him.

“I don’t not like your voice,” she offered back with a small wince and saw her own momentary confusion mirrored on his face.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I…” she huffed. She wasn’t entirely sure herself, not anymore.

“Sit,” he said, a little gentler, like he was encouraging her that time, and she sat without thinking.

Maggie didn’t want to think. She didn’t want to do anything that wasn’t completely on auto-pilot.

Her host was … strange. He had ways and mannerisms that seemed to upset the normal rhythm of her mind and body.

She didn’t know if it was just his size or the fact that he was a bear shifter and she was definitely on unfamiliar ground, but he was certainly throwing her off-kilter. It was … confusing, to say the least. Throw in a dash of excitement to that mix, and she was a little sweaty on the palms of her hands, and her heart kept taking off for the finish line every time that he looked in her direction.

And then there was that growl – boy, was that potent? Like as sexy-as-hell was on steroids. The man-mountain certainly had a lot going for him in the bad boy department.

But she couldn’t say the same for her. They were chalk and cheese, or mouse and lion, and she knew that opposites were supposed to attract, but she didn’t think that applied to them.

She’d seen pictures and read stories about the type of women that shifters attracted, shifter groupies who went out of their way to stalk men like him, and there was no way in hell that she couldn’t compete with those women, even if she had a mind to try, which – she didn’t.

Nope, there was no way that a man like Roland would be interested in a woman like her. That made her feel a little sad.

“Rude,” she muttered as she fidgeted on the chair and shot him a sideways glare.

Roland flinched. He wasn’t doing very well in remembering that she was female, and it wasn’t as if he couldn’t tell. It wasn’t as if his whole damn body wasn’t attune to her femininity, hell, his damn cock was twitching like it had a mind of its own to escape his damn jeans and get to her.

His beast wasn’t much better. The bear wanted her scent and was practically sitting just beneath his skin.

If she hadn’t of been human, then his bear might just have burst forward to claim her damn scent itself. His beast growled; it liked that idea.

Roland knew that he’d messed up. Not only was Dane going to be pissed off that he hadn’t run the female off their land, but he’d been second-guessing his decision from the moment that he’d made it.

He wasn’t entirely sure that he could keep his beast at bay either. The bear was pretty damn adamant that it wanted to scent her.

He guessed that whichever way the situation panned out, mate or not, someone was going to come out losing something. It felt like that was always the way of the world.