Bruins Peak Bears- Complete Series, page 187
part #1 of Bruins Peak Bears Series
The whole group meandered into the house. Briar fell in at Natalie’s side. “You were great at the funeral. Silas is lucky to have a mate like you.”
“I’m lucky to have a mate like him,” Natalie replied.
Briar stopped to regard her. “Are you okay? You look tired.”
“It’s all this funeral planning. I won’t be sorry when all these people go home and we have our own house to ourselves.” Natalie’s eyes flew open. “Oh, that sounded horrid! I’m sorry Briar. I didn’t mean to imply anything about you and Riskin and Grace.”
Briar placed her hand on Natalie’s arm. “I know exactly what you meant, and Riskin and I will take Grace home as soon as this funeral is over. You and Silas deserve to have your own space back after everything you’ve just been through. I’ll be glad to get back to my own house, too.”
The sisters-in-law hugged each other, and Natalie waved Briar ahead of her going into the house. She brought up the rear of the line of women on their way to the buffet tables. Natalie passed down the hall when her eye happened to fall on a window overlooking the side yard. She stopped dead in her tracks, and the rest of the women went on ahead without noticing she was gone.
People milled around all over MacAllister Homestead, but no one could mistake this figure striding out of the trees. He fixed his smoldering eyes on the house. He flexed his shoulders and knotted his fingers into fists. He made for the front porch on an unerring line.
Natalie’s heart froze in her chest. Rhys came back. He intended to interrupt the funeral by picking another fight with Silas. Whatever else Rhys was to her, she couldn’t let this happen—not now, not ever.
She ducked back down the hall and out into the fresh air. She barely breathed darting around the house. Rhys stood taller and stronger and grander than ever in person, but he didn’t notice her. He kept his gaze locked on the place where he would confront his enemy.
Natalie barreled in front of him so fast he collided with her. She bounced off his muscled chest. “Rhys!”
He took a second to register what happened. “Natalie!” He stared over her head, his eyes still trained on the house.
She grasped both his arms, but she couldn’t stop him taking a few more steps. She danced backward in a desperate effort to keep pace with him. “Rhys! Rhys, look at me.”
He pushed her aside. “Get out of my way. You know what I have to do. Don’t try to stop me.”
Natalie panted for breath. “Every Alpha on the mountain is in there. You’ll never get near Silas. Do you realize that? Do you know what they’ll do to you? They won’t be anywhere near as merciful to you as Riskin was. They’ll rip you to pieces. Do you want to die? Do you want to get yourself killed and leave me in pieces? Is that what you’re trying to do, by making me watch them tear you apart?”
He took hold of her shoulders and moved her out of his path. “You won’t be too broken up. You’ve got your new mate to take care of you. You don’t need me.”
She raced to catch up with him. “I do need you, Rhys. I need you more than ever. I need you happy and peaceful and working with Riskin to make our tribe great.”
He shook his head, but didn’t answer. Murderous hatred burned in his eyes. Nothing she said touched him. Panic seized her. She couldn’t let this happen. She couldn’t let him fight Silas.
All at once, her fear turned to blood-red rage. This demon wasn’t her brother anymore. This was her worst enemy. He wanted to kill her mate. He wanted to destroy her dream and devastate her family.
She intercepted him in one wild leap. He tried to charge ahead, but some forgotten strength took hold of her. She slammed her hands on his chest and stopped him. “Hold it right there, Rhys.”
He frowned. “Get out of my way, Natalie. I’m going through. I’m going to find Silas.”
Natalie kept her voice low. She didn’t even have to try to remain calm. No one could disturb the icy center of her being. “You’re not going anywhere near Silas.”
He took a few menacing steps toward her. “I mean it, Natalie. I won’t let you stop me.”
“You’re not going anywhere near Silas.” Natalie’s voice boomed in her ears. Was she really saying those words? “If you want to get anywhere near Silas, you’ll have to fight me first.”
Ever so slowly, his eyes swiveled around to lock on her face. He stared at her in dumbfounded shock. “What?”
“You heard me,” she thundered. “You want Silas? You’ll have to go through me first. Silas is my mate. Do you really want to take on a raving she-bear protecting her mate? Is that your idea of proving how strong and smart you are, Rhys?”
“Natalie…” he stammered.
She cut him off, “If you fight me, I’ll kill you. I won’t nip you and send you running for cover the way Riskin did. I’ll leave you rotting out here as a warning to anyone who messes with the MacAllisters. Even if by some miracle you survive what I plan to do to you, Riskin will tackle you when I get finished with you—whatever’s left of you. Are you understanding the words that are coming out of my mouth, Rhys, or is this all too complicated to penetrate your tiny brain? The Alphas will come out of that house. They’ll fight you one after the other until there’s not enough of you left to identify. After them, the seconds will take their turns, staring with Shaw. Boyd and Aiken and Austin and Dax and all the rest of the Bruins will fight you. You’ll be dead long before Silas finishes his mint chocolate cake. Do you get that?”
He stared at her. He opened his mouth, and a frown covered his face. Whether her words made any dent in his old grudge, she couldn’t tell.
All at once, his face fell, his shoulders rounded, and he looked down at his twisted hands. He worked his fingers out and in to release them.
Natalie hauled herself out of her black rage. A shuddering breath passed down her skin to her feet. “For the love of God, Rhys, please listen to me. This grudge of yours will only get you killed. You won’t touch Silas. Do yourself and the rest of Bruins’ Peak a favor and make peace with him. Do it for yourself as much as everyone else.”
He raised his head. He glanced at her once, met her eyes, and looked down at the ground again. At long last, she dared put out her hand to touch him. He gave a quiver. “I don’t want to fight you, little sister.”
She threw her arms around him. “I don’t want to fight you, either, Rhys. I don’t want you fighting anybody. Silas is your brother-in-law. You could be close to him. You could benefit from him, just like all the other Alphas.”
“I’m not an Alpha,” he grumbled.
“No, you’re not. You’re something else. That doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from him. Aiken is in there talking to Silas. So is Austin, and so is Boyd. None of them are Alphas, either.”
“They’re seconds.”
“And you’re Riskin’s second. When are you gonna understand what he’s done for you?”
He looked around. No one saw them. No one understood his private battle. He could save face around the side of the house instead of everyone seeing him defeated and humiliated.
“I love you, Rhys,” she breathed. “I love you so much. I only want you to be happy. Why can’t you be happy for me? I want us to be family, just like we always have been. We can’t be if you don’t make your peace with Silas.”
He shrugged and looked away. “I love you, too. I love you more than all the rest of the family put together. I want you to be happy. I never wanted anything else. I guess…I guess I can let it go if it means keeping you in my life.”
She collapsed against his chest. “Oh, Rhys! Thank you. That’s the best gift anyone could give me.”
He pressed his lips to her hair. “I never want to lose you.”
She clamped her eyes shut against his shirt. “I never wanted to lose you, either.”
A low chuckle interrupted her emotion. “And I sure as the dickens never want to fight you. Phew! You scared the pants off me just now.”
Natalie’s head shot up. When she caught him grinning, she burst out laughing. She snatched his hand. “Come on. Let me take you inside where you can talk to him.”
She towed him toward the door, but Rhys dragged his feet. “Aw, come on. Do we have to do this right now?”
“No time like the present,” she chirped.
She hauled him up the steps by brute strength. He struggled the whole way, but he didn’t put up much of a fight. He let her push him through the front door. The instant he crossed the threshold, the bubble of conversation died in the living room. The whole circle of Alphas and seconds turned around to stare at him.
Riskin took a step forward. “How dare you come in here, on this day of all days? Don’t worry, Silas. I’ll handle this.”
Riskin menaced his brother, but Natalie moved between them. She held up her hand to Riskin. “Rhys is here to make peace with Silas. He’s here to bury the hatchet, and to offer his condolences and his congratulations to the new Alpha.”
No one moved a muscle. Riskin’s face hardened.
Natalie half-turned to her brother. “Isn’t that right, Rhys?”
Rhys didn’t say anything, either. Daggers flew back and forth between him and Silas.
Natalie turned all the way around. She raised her voice ever so slightly. “Isn’t that right, Rhys?”
He couldn’t look at her. He lowered his gaze and nodded down at the carpet. Natalie turned back around to face Riskin. She took Rhys’s hand. “He’s ready. We just talked about it outside. He’s putting the past behind him, and he’s come to congratulate Silas on his marriage”
Riskin cocked his head. “Are you sure about this, Rhys? I need to hear it straight from you before I let you walk through that door.”
“I’m sure about it.” Natalie steered him forward to stand in front of Silas. Rhys shifted from one foot to the other. He still glanced right and left, but he got the words out in the end. “I’m happy for you. I don’t want anything but for my little sister to be happy in her new home. I hope we can…you know…bury the hatchet and all that. I hope we can make this marriage a good thing for both our families.”
The whole circle watched for Silas’s response. Even Natalie hung on his every facial expression. What would he do? Would he accept Rhys? Would he throw his new brother-in-law out on his ear?
Natalie hoped against hope that Silas would look at her. She had to show him, by the expression in her eyes, how much this meant to her. He had to accept Rhys. He had to do it for her. She couldn’t go through with this if it meant Rhys getting left out in the cold.
Silas didn’t look at her, though. He kept his eyes on Rhys. He measured and weighed everything Rhys said. He sensed, with the intuitive understanding innate in any Alpha, the truth and sincerity of Rhys’s words. Would it be enough?
All at once, Silas thrust out his hand. “I don’t want anything but for your sister to be happy, too. I’m glad to have you in my family. We can do great things together, you and me.”
Rhys frowned down at Silas's hand. Would he take it? Would he rekindle the old hatred all over again? How serious could he be when he said he wanted to bury the hatchet? He used Natalie’s words, not his own.
He shrugged his shoulders. That simple movement sloughed off the last of his stiffness. He grasped Silas’s hand and shook it.
In an instant, the talking erupted all over again. Riskin hugged Rhys. “I was hoping you would show up. We’re just talking about the Farrells’ timber operation. You know that part of the Peak. Maybe you can advise us.”
He drew Rhys into the circle along with the other seconds. In the blink of an eye, all the tension faded from the room. The conversation turned back to business. No one ever mentioned Rhys hating Silas again.
Natalie retreated to the kitchen where she could watch these men from a neutral distance. Those were her men over there—her mate, her brothers, her neighbors and friends. She knew each and every one of them. She loved them and cared for them. She would fight and die to make any of them happy.
Her love extended far beyond this room, all over Bruins’ Peak, to the very last corner of every house. That widening circle of care and concern spread to every child and infant, every aging couple, and every awkward teenager.
She was their mother, their protector, their she-bear. Nothing in the world came close to her belief in them. She called up hidden reserves from somewhere unknown to herself. Bruins’ Peak fed her and made her strong so she could care for these people. She could succor them and carry them through to the next generation.
*******The End.
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Shadow Claw (Volume I)
Wolf Mountain Peak (Complete Series)
Dragons of Umora (Volume I)
Dragons of Umora (Volume II)
Exiled Dragons I
Exiled Dragons II
Exiled Dragons III
Exiled Dragons IV
Bruins Peak Bears I
Bruins Peak Bears II
Bruins Peak Bears III
Stratham Shifters (Books 1-9)
Rose Mountain Bears (Complete Series)
The Aberrants (Complete Series)
New World (Complete Series)
Wolves of West Valley (Complete Series)
The Vampire Touch (Complete Series)
Shifter's Heart (Complete Series)
Shifter Wars (Complete Series)
Sarah J Stone, Bruins Peak Bears- Complete Series
