Laid Bear 2: The Kodiak Clan (16 page)

“Let’s do this thing.”

~ * ~ * ~

“Dammit, why is there no cell coverage in this damn town!” Max nearly threw his all-but-useless phone against the wall, the only thing staying his hand was the small hope that it would ring and Bethany would be on the other end.
 

It had taken surprisingly little effort on his part to convince Veronica to go on a brunch date with Yoren the next morning — in fact, she’d brought it up — but a deal was a deal and he’d expected the Brotherhood to release Bethany by now. Or at least send him some word.

Elder Watkins had slyly ushered him out of his tiny office ahead of everyone else, once the details of the big date had been settled, and closed the door before Max could ask him when he’d get Bethany back. No doubt he didn’t want the others overhearing, since kidnapping a
were
’s mate — human or not — would cause other clans to come down hard on Kodiak.

Max had considered contacting other clans for support but thought better of it. If the Brotherhood felt the slightest amount of outside pressure, they might do something drastic just to prove a point. He couldn’t risk it…yet.

By mid-morning, Max’s patience ran out. He hadn’t slept since the night before and the thought of eating had long abandoned him. He should have heard something from them by now.

Now
they
were going to hear from
him.

~ * ~ * ~

“Max!” Bethany’s scream ricocheted in her own head like a ping pong ball on meth. The pain scorched every nerve ending in her body, coursing through her like a wildfire. She’d never known the human body could withstand this much abuse.

Where was Max? Hadn’t they contacted him? If he didn’t get there soon, it would be all over — she couldn’t take much more of this torture.

Through a red haze of anguish, Bethany saw a man enter the room. He wasn’t very tall and he was backlit so she couldn’t see his face, but she could tell instantly that he was a
were
.
 

Oh, fan-freakin-tastic,
she thought in a rare lucid moment.
Max will be so proud that I can finally spot a
were
.
Tears slipped unheeded past eyelids swollen from hours of crying.
 

“Leave her to me.” She barely heard his words above the roar of blood rushing through her veins.

As he drew closer, an eerie calmness washed over her. It would all be over soon. All this pain, all this fear would vanish. When he leaned his face close into hers, Bethany’s eyes widened. She knew those gray eyes. But how?

Red agony consumed her, blocking out all thought. When the blackness of oblivion approached, she welcomed it with a shriek.

V
eronica expected to be nervous while she was getting ready for her brunch date with Yoren, but she couldn’t muster enough energy to care. She felt numb, almost dead inside. Regardless of how she was feeling, though, she didn’t neglect her appearance, choosing a casual floral print summer dress that accentuated her curves and tucking her auburn hair up into a loose knot. Zapping a few tendrils with the curling iron Bethany had left there softened her features and a touch of lip gloss gave her full lips a pouty look.
 

She thought about adding the sweet copper belt she’d worn for her date with Jess but the tickle in her nose and lump in her throat changed her mind. What she didn’t need was any reminder of Jess during her date with Yoren.

She tidied up around the house, but there wasn’t much she could do to make her place meet Yoren’s undoubtedly high standards. It was old and kind of dumpy, especially compared to the new house he’d just had built last summer.
 

Rumor had it that the place was stuffed to the gills with all the latest luxuries. Someone whispered in her ear that it even had a movie theater — not just a TV room, but a big movie-viewing room with a screen that took up one entire wall, plush chairs and a full-size popcorn machine. She’d never get the boys out of there, if things worked out.

Yoren seemed polite enough in Elder Watkins’ office but she’d heard enough gossip to know he’d broken the hearts of nearly every eligible female
were
in the area. Only pressure from the council could induce him to take a mate for life, and even then it would be safe to assume he wouldn’t be faithful.
 

Strangely, the thought of being with an unfaithful mate didn’t bother Veronica as much as she would have thought. Since she didn’t love him, his fidelity didn’t matter to her. This would simply be a business relationship.
 

She had no intention of asking for a thing for herself, since she still had a little of Keith’s life insurance money left. Once the boys were a little older, she’d get a full-time job and pay her own way. As long as he provided for the boys, she’d pretend to be his doting and dutiful mate.
 

Hopefully he can at least be discreet
, she thought as she brought order to the chaos of the boys’ room.
 

Is this what you really want, babe?

She breathed a sigh of exasperation.
Keith, why are you haunting me? I asked you for advice last night and you didn’t give it to me. Now you’re second-guessing me? Sorry to call out a dead man, but what the hell?

She could hear him chuckling inside her skull.
You deserve better than to simply exist in a relationship, Ronnie. You deserve to thrive.

Whatever. Stick a fork in me, I’m done. Done with love, done with relationships, done with males. Yoren can provide for our sons and I’ll provide the illusion he’s settled down so the council will get off his back. Win-win.

Sweetheart…

“Just shut up already and get out of my head!” Veronica was startled by her own shouting. She loved that her subconscious spoke to her in her dead husband’s voice, but enough was enough. It was time for it to stop.

“And don’t come back…” she whispered, her voice cracking, a single tear rolling down her flushed cheek. Her words were met with silence. He was gone for good this time, her heart knew it.

Before she could think about grieving the loss of his voice inside her head, the doorbell bing-bonged. A flutter tickled her tummy — nerves!
Weird
, she thought as she smoothed invisible wrinkles from her dress and opened the door.

Yoren was as handsome as ever, dressed in what had to be a custom-made suit and flashy pointy-tipped shoes. She’d seen some actor on TV wearing ones just like them at an awards show, but never would have guessed someone in rough-and-tumble Kodiak would actually own a pair, much less wear them. Not only were dirt and mud a way of life this time of year — forget about winter — but where in town would they be appropriate? The fish plant? The Caribou Cafe? The pawn shop?

But she had to admit, he did look quite dapper. And his long, slow up-and-down of her figure didn’t go unnoticed either. After Jess’ rejection, this little show of attention boosted her bruised ego. It might not mend her twice-broken heart, but she would take what she could get at this point.

“Hi, Yoren. C’mon in.”

He stepped through the door and stopped in his tracks, sniffing the air. Veronica was suddenly aware of the slightly feral scent in her home. It came with the territory when you were raising two young cubs, but she’d grown so used to it, she didn’t notice it. Now she was embarrassed that he might think she was a terrible housekeeper.

“Ah, the smell of cubs,” he said, smiling at her. “Where are the little rascals?”

Her worry eased a notch. “They’re at their grandmother’s house, but they’ll be home in a bit.”

“Cool. Kids love me.”
 

Relief flooded her. The boys were the big issue here. After everything that had happened, she wasn’t worried about her love life as much as her cubs’ happiness. For this situation with Yoren to play out, he
had
to like her boys, no way around it.
 

“That’s a relief,” she gushed. “Are you hungry?”

He smirked and gave her a salacious glance. “Always.”

Blushing at his attention, Veronica hurried into the kitchen and got busy serving up the salmon and cheddar quiche she’d whipped up. Judging from his clothing, he’d probably have preferred prosciutto and goat cheese but options were limited in Kodiak. The gourmet stuff had to be special-ordered, and then a hefty ‘handling charge’ was tacked on, when it finally arrived by boat or plane. He’d just have to make do.

Despite her assumptions, Yoren tucked into the quiche like he hadn’t eaten in days. He barely came up for air. Her nose wrinkled at his manners, but she’d seen worse. It also made her smile a little that, for all his airs, he was still a rough Kodiak werebear.

“More,” he demanded through a mouthful of egg and cheese. She’d barely touched her piece yet and he was already done.
Okaaay…

“Sure.” She served him another, much larger piece from the pie plate that was between them. Keith would have just served himself, but Yoren seemed to expect to be waited on. She could handle that. It was a small price to pay to have Sam and Jason’s futures secured.
 

“Gotta love a
were
with a big appetite,” she said as she handed the plate back.

He just grunted and mumbled, “Late night.”

The silence between them was awkward. Did he think she’d be bothered by him gallivanting the previous night, after setting a morning date with her? If he did, he was wrong.

About halfway through his second piece of quiche, he looked up at her and asked, once again with a full mouth, “So what do you do, anyway?”

“I’m a stay-at-home mom, for the most part,” she said. “I was blessed that my husband took out a life insurance policy that allowed me to stay home after he died. We have to be very frugal, and I sometimes fill in down at my in-laws’ coffee shop, but…” She shrugged to finish the sentence.

Another grunt. “Bleeding the beast. Gotta love it.”

Her brow furrowed. “Bleeding…what?”

He smirked at her. “Bleeding the beast. Taking advantage of the human world to benefit
weres
. Right on.”

She blinked in confusion. “I…I don’t think we took advantage. We live in a primarily human community, pay taxes, put into the system. I mean, we paid those premiums, just like any human would.”

Why was she so defensive?

“Yeah, no, I get it,” he replied with a wink. “Like I said, right on.”

And now she’d lost her appetite. Great. She took her plate to the sink and dumped the rest of her slice of quiche down the garbage disposal. She flipped the switch just as Yoren managed to say something without food in his mouth.
 

Turning it off again, she said, “Sorry, what?”

“How come we’ve never met?”

Veronica saw a perfect opportunity to mess with him a little. She turned slowly and leaned against the counter, thrusting a hip out and crossing her arms under her abundant breasts, pushing them up and out. A pout completed the picture of an insulted woman.
 

“You don’t remember me?”

His jaw froze mid-chew and he searched her face, trying to recall when they met. “Um…”

“You
seemed
to enjoy yourself,” she pouted. “I know I did.” The wink she gave him made him blink in surprise. It was quickly replaced with dawning recognition.

“Ohhh, yeah…” he said, giving her a wink back. “I remember now. You were…awesome.”

Rolling her eyes at his lame attempt to save face, she turned back to the sink. “I was kidding, Yoren.” She flipped the switch again to drown out any response.

This was silly, this pretending to be on a date thing. It was time they just laid their cards on the table and worked out the details.

“Listen, Yoren. I’m not a fool. I know who you are and that you’ve been put in a situation you’re not happy about. I get that.”

He glanced up at her warily as she sat down across from him.

“You’re well past the age most
weres
take a mate, plus you’re one of the town’s leading businessmen, so the council no doubt is pressuring you to find someone already. This isn’t what I wanted either, but we have an opportunity before us that I think we should discuss. Honestly.”

He continued to look at her from under his brow as he chewed. She took this as a sign to continue.

“I have no doubt you know exactly why I was chosen by the council to be your mate. They found out I was dating a human and didn’t like it. I was taken by surprise myself, but I’d already lost my heart to him. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out with Jess.”

She was trying to contain her emotions. They were so raw and fresh, though, that the tears came unbidden. She sniffed them back and took a deep breath. This wasn’t the time to get mushy about her ex.
 

She was startled by the fierce look in Yoren’s eyes when she met his gaze again. His nostrils were flaring and his upper lip was quivering. Was he jealous? Seemed a bit sudden for that, but she took it as a compliment.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…well, anyway.” She blushed a little as he continued to stare. “What I’m trying to say is that I would be open to becoming your mate, with the understanding that it would be a business partnership. I’ll be the best mate in Kodiak, with one small exception: I won’t have sex with you. But you’re free to take care of your needs wherever and however you want. I get the security of knowing my sons will never go hungry and you get the freedom to live your life as you wish without the interference of the council.”

She searched his face for some sign of agreement, but it was completely blank.

“What do you think?”

At that moment, the front door burst open. Sam and Jason came running into the kitchen and climbed all over Veronica, giggling and tickling her. “Momma, we missed you!”

Pushing back from the table, she gathered her boys in her arms, sniffing each one’s neck in turn and hugging them tight. The pain in her heart was eased by their love. She’d do anything to give them a better life, including binding herself to the increasing tense werebear across from her.

“Boys, I’d like you to meet Momma’s new friend.”