Mountain Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Bear Haven Book 1) (8 page)

She nodded. “That makes sense. I guess I have one other request.”

“Yes?”

“That I’m free to visit home when I want to and I get to choose whatever occupation I want here on the ranch… and you won’t get controlling about it.”

“Honey, I’ll be so grateful you’re staying I’ll let you do whatever you want. Of course, you know I’ll always be overprotective. It’s in my nature. But you can beat it into me when I’m being stiff-necked.”

She laughed. “I have Harmony for that. At least for now.”

Shane nodded. “I’m glad your friends seem to like the place.”

She rested her head against me. “Me too.”

“So tomorrow we make it official?” he asked.

“Right,” she said. “Tomorrow we make it official.”

“Good,” he said. “I can’t wait.”

Then he kissed her under the stars as a snowy owl hooted in the distance.

S
hane and Ruby
were eating an early breakfast when a bloodcurdling scream rent the air.

Shane stood, hands on the table, and listened closely. A moment later, the door to his cabin was kicked open, and he saw Jesse look inside before taking off at a dead run for the lodge.

“Wait here,” Shane said, running after him, but Ruby shook her head and grabbed her jacket and followed, trying to keep up.

“Like hell,” she said. “Those are my friends.”

Shane took long strides for the main lodge, and Ruby marveled at the speed at which her mate could travel. For once, she hated her short, stubby legs. When they got to the lodge, she saw Bonnie waiting in the front lobby, hands on her knees, gasping as she looked at them with wide eyes.

“They’ve… taken Harmony,” she gasped out.

Jesse ran over and helped her sit. “Who did? Bonnie, take deep breaths. We need to know what’s happened.”

“There was a knock on the door. We thought it was Ruby… We opened up.” Bonnie’s voice was raspy, harsh as she fought to breathe and speak at the same time. “He was trying to get to me. Harmony blocked him. Tried to push him out. He was wild. He didn’t seem human.” Bonnie was shaking, and Ruby sat next to her, putting an arm around her.

“It’s okay,” Ruby said, though she didn’t feel that way, dread running through her.

“Where’s Maverick?” Shane asked. “He’s the best tracker.”

“He went on an early ride up the mountain,” Jesse said. “It’s just us.”

The two brothers shared a dark look she couldn’t interpret and then turned back to the matter at hand.

“Do you know anyone who could have done this? Anyone the two of you met in town who would want to take Harmony?” Shane asked.

Bonnie thought hard. “The only one I could think of is maybe that awful Wyatt person from the other ranch. He skeeved me out.” She stood. “But we have to find Harmony. Please. It’s my fault she was taken. I was trying to go after them, but I was knocked back and hit my head on the dresser. Lights out.” She choked back a sob. “They could have been gone for hours. Anything could have happened.”

Jesse jogged outside the cabin and then came back in. “I found tracks. Fresh, but they disappear past the barn, in Wyatt’s direction. Maybe a half hour ago, I’m guessing, since the ones from the ranch hands are older.” 

“But how?” Bonnie howled. “How did he get her out of here without anyone seeing?”

“That’s the real question,” Jesse said. “Did you see which way he went after taking her? Was she conscious?”

“No,” Bonnie said. “He used something on her, something to knock her out.”

“All he’d have to do is take a back entrance, make sure no one was around,” Jesse said. “Damn.”

“Damn is right,” Shane said, scratching the back of his head. “Well, we’d better head to Wyatt’s ranch. My guess is if he did it, he wouldn’t harm her. We’ll just have to hope that’s the case.”

“Okay,” Ruby said. “We’re coming with.”

Jesse and Shane looked uncertain, but Bonnie folded her arms and shook her head, sending red hair flying. “We can’t stay here. Not while our friend is in trouble.”

Jesse gave a curt nod. “We’ll take a Jeep. That’ll be fastest.”

“Get the keys and pull it up front,” Shane said. “I’ll make sure the girls have what they need.”

“I’m ready,” Bonnie said.

“Me too,” Ruby agreed.

In what felt like seconds, a red Jeep pulled up into the main courtyard in front of the building where Bonnie and Harmony had slept. Shane helped his mate and her friend up into the backseat, then jumped into the passenger seat just as Jesse peeled out.

Instead of heading down the mountain toward the town, Jesse made a hard right, heading along an old, unpaved dirt road that looked like it was rarely used.

“This will take us straight to their ranch a short distance from here,” Jesse said, not taking his eyes off the road.

While Jesse drove at what seemed the fastest speed possible along the winding dirt tracks, Ruby marveled at the untamed wilderness surrounding them. Rugged, harsh, beautiful. Much like the men that inhabited this place. 

Whoever it was that had done this, she was confident Shane and Jesse would be able to sort things out. She just hoped it would be less violent than some of the confrontations she'd seen in the short time she'd been here.

She had to think Harmony would be okay. She had to.

A few minutes later, they came down a hill that opened out into a small valley overlooking what Ruby assumed was Wyatt's ranch.

The ranch was much different from Shane’s. Everything looked newer and was painted in modern colors but entirely lacked the rustic warmth the McAllister ranch held. The fences were picket instead of log and the barns were tall and gaudy-looking and from the looks of it, appealed more to dudes looking for a prefabricated “ranch experience” than actually functioning as a place where ranchers worked.

All in all, Ruby didn’t think she was missing out much on having not come here earlier. 

Jesse put the Jeep in gear and drove down the hillside, pulling in front of what looked like the main building. The morning was still early, and the sun was only barely beginning to peak over the mountains in the distance, an altogether beautiful sight, if not for the fact that one of Ruby’s friends was potentially in danger at this very moment. 

Before Jesse had even killed the engine, a familiar-looking figure appeared at the doorway to the lodge, grey eyes peering at them while he wiped his hands on a rag and stuck it in his back pocket.

“Shane McAllister. I haven’t seen you around these parts in a long time,” Wyatt said sarcastically, walking toward them while Shane and Jesse both jumped out and helped Ruby and Bonnie out of the vehicle.

“Where is she?” Shane asked forcefully, approaching the other man intimidatingly.

“Where is who?” Wyatt responded, looking unconcerned. “Someone run off on you?”

“Harmony,” Ruby said. “One of my friends.” She walked forward, ready to go after the other man, but Shane put out a hand to stop her.

“I’ll handle this,” he said.

“Interesting,” Wyatt drawled, leaning to the side and touching the tip of his cowboy hat. “So you need all three of the only women to come through in years. But you can’t keep them all.”

“Like hell we can’t,” Jesse said, stepping forward.

“Oh yeah?” Wyatt said, tossing his hat to the side, baring his blond hair, which swayed in the wind rushing through the courtyard. “What are you going to do about it?”

Shane stepped in front of Jesse. “Wait.” He looked at Wyatt. “You aren’t getting the ranch. I know you want it. If you took Harmony for that purpose, then just know it won’t get you what you want. She wasn’t promised to anyone.”

Ruby felt confusion waft through her. What did he mean? What did this have to do with the ranch?

“Right,” Wyatt sneered, pinning her with his cold, gray eyes. “You already found your mate, so you’ve got another few months, haven’t you?”

Her heart pounded. “Shane, what does he mean?”

Shane turned to her with cold green eyes, eyes that held some kind of apology she didn’t want to hear. “I told you there were things we needed to talk about,” he said quietly. “My father’s will. If I don’t find a mate by a certain date, it goes up for auction.”

She put her hand over her mouth. “Wait. That’s why the ad?” She took a step back.

Wyatt seemed vaguely amused by the whole situation. “I tried to tell you,” he said. “Ulterior motives. At least he told you before things were final, right?” 

“Jesse, get Bonnie where she can’t see,” Shane snarled. “I’m going to have to shift.”

“Shane,” Jesse said but then obeyed and took Bonnie by the arm, leading her back to the Jeep and turning her away from the scene.

“Ah, going to fight me, then?” Wyatt asked, rolling up his sleeves. “I don’t mind.” He looked at Ruby. “Winner takes the female. You know the rules.”

“No, you give her back, either way,” Shane said coldly.

“What’s in it for me, then?” Wyatt asked.

“Me,” Ruby said. 

Wyatt tilted his head, and she saw his eyes flash. She was almost certain that for a moment, they'd changed to a brighter gold. “Deal,” he said.

Shane growled. “You can’t do that,” he said. 

“Why not?” she asked. “If I’m just going to be up for a piece of property, then why does it matter who gets me?”

“It’s not because of the property,” Shane snarled. “I can’t explain it right now. I have to get your friend back.”

“Oh, I get it. You needed
any
wife to keep your precious land, and you didn’t tell me because you knew I’d run. When were you planning to tell me? When we were already hitched?”

“No,” Shane said. “I just—”

But just at that moment, Wyatt lunged at Shane. But when Ruby looked again, it wasn’t Wyatt anymore, but instead a huge mountain lion that was several times larger than any she'd ever seen.

Shane turned toward the leaping cat, and in an instant, what was once Shane became a gigantic grizzly bear, which let out a loud roar as the mountain lion collided with it, sending both to the ground.

Ruby backed away in shock. She looked around her, feeling like she was going crazy, but it was still early and the courtyard around them was silent and empty. What she was seeing was like something out of a fantasy or a fevered dream, but it was all so real.

The grizzly bear, which she could only assume was somehow Shane, swiped at the cougar, but it leapt backward, snarling and hissing as it circled the bear. The bear stood up on its hind legs, intimidating and frighteningly tall, and roared again.

There were a lot of things Ruby had seen out here that they didn’t have back in New York City. This certainly topped all of them by a landslide.

Wyatt leapt at Shane again (or at least the animals that had appeared in place of the two men she'd seen only seconds ago), knocking him over. The mountain lion was fast, and it bit furiously, trying to get ahold of the bear’s neck. But Shane was surprisingly quick, despite being an enormous, lumbering bear, and he knocked Wyatt off with one wide swipe of his paw, sending the cat flying several feet into the air and rolling onto the dusty ground. 

“Give up, Wyatt.” Ruby heard Shane’s voice come from the bear, speaking clearly.

“For a chance at a mate like this? Never,” Wyatt snarled. 

Great. Now the animals were talking. Ruby felt like she could pass out at any second, but she took deep breaths and backed up a few more feet to give the raging beasts more room.

Whatever happened, Shane had a hell of a lot of explaining to do. 

Wyatt came at Shane again, making long swipes with his razor-sharp claws and backing up, keeping his distance. The larger but slower bear growled and charged, swinging back and making long arcs.

In the early morning light, Ruby could see the light glisten on the long black tips of Shane’s paws, and it both terrified and excited her to see Shane fighting so fiercely on her behalf, regardless of what Wyatt had mentioned a minute ago about the ranch and everything.

The cougar lashed forward and caught the side of the bear’s face with its claws, and Ruby saw blood, bright and crimson in the morning light, glistening on Shane’s face and on the ground. All of a sudden, everything felt so real. Would these two men actually die fighting for her? That would be crazy, right?

Shane seemed unaffected by the blow and threw an equally ferocious strike that slashed into Wyatt’s side. The mountain lion hissed in pain, then lunged again at Shane.

This time Shane rose on his rear legs, and both of them stood and wrestled with the other, clawing and biting and trying to push the other down. In one motion, Shane wrenched Wyatt onto the ground, and Wyatt pulled him down with him.

Both animals struggled and clawed at each other, pushing up dust around them that swirled in the light breeze. For a moment, Ruby couldn’t make out either of them clearly, but instead saw a mass of oversized animals writhing and roaring and fighting with a primal intensity she could never comprehend.

After a moment, the movement stopped, and Ruby strained her eyes to see. But at this point, the dust was everywhere, and she moved closer to see if she could determine who had come out the victor.

The wind picked up, and from the dust, she saw Shane on top of Wyatt. Both were bloodied and panting for breath, but she could see the grizzly’s huge paw positioned right over the neck of the cougar, the other paw pinning him down at the chest. 

The fight was all but over.

“Don’t make me kill you,” Shane said with a growl, hand poised to deliver the final blow at any moment.

“Honorable to the finish. A true McAllister. Any other man would have done me in without hesitation,” Wyatt replied, angry but clearly beaten. 

“Now give us Harmony,” Shane said. “Or I might not be so honorable after all.”

“What? I told you I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Wyatt spat.

“You said we were fighting over a female,” Shane growled.

Wyatt jerked his head at Ruby. He was still in his cougar form. “Yeah, her.”

Shane paused. “That doesn’t make sense. She was what you got if you won.”

“Yeah, the way you worded it didn’t make a lot of sense, but I thought that was your problem. But wait, someone's really missing?”

Shane removed his paw so Wyatt could stand in cat form. Then he changed and walked to the Jeep to get clothing from the back. On the other side, Jesse was holding Bonnie, his hands over her eyes.

Ruby watched her naked hero pull on jeans and a tee and stride back around front. He pointed a finger at Wyatt.

“Don’t you dare shift your naked ass in front of my mate,” he said.

“I won’t,” Wyatt said. “But I don’t get it. You know me, McAllister. I want your ranch, yes. But I wouldn’t resort to kidnapping to get it.”

Shane nodded slowly.

“And now that I get that she’s your mate, which she’d have to be for you to fight like that, I’m giving up on her too.” He pawed the ground thoughtfully. “Wait, stay here one sec.” Then he galloped off in cat form, tossing up dust in his wake.

“Wait,” Ruby said, feeling a sob forming in her throat from the stress of it. “Then where is my friend?”