Stolen By Her Bear by Felicity Heaton

Chapter 3

The urge to follow the cougar female was strong, had Saint rising to his feet, taking a step in the direction she had gone. A branch snapped beneath his boot and he cursed as she broke into a run, found the strength to deny the instinct she ignited in him—an urge to chase down his prey and not let it escape.

Saint huffed, his breath fogging in the air, and forced himself to turn away instead. No good would come from scaring the female. He was too tired for a fight with the cougars, just wanted to sleep. He knew what the noise was now, so he didn’t need to start a war.

He just needed to crawl back into bed.

He reached the edge of the woods, grumbled under his breath as he started wading through the snow, back towards the heart of Black Ridge. The sight of smoke drifting into the air from the firepit in the centre of the clearing was a welcome one, had him veering away from his cabin and heading towards it instead.

Knox and Lowe sat on the thick logs they had uncovered, ones set around the large firepit, a ridge of snow surrounding them to create a circular clearing around twenty feet across. Two entrances had been cut into the wall of snow, one leading to a path the twins had cleared to his cabin and one to their own homes. Branching off from that path was another one that led to the outbuilding that stood between his cabin and those of the twins.

Knox grunted as Saint sank onto the log opposite him, jerked his chin slightly and went back to prodding the fire with an iron, a sour look on his face. He was dressed more appropriately now, had donned the same warm protective gear as his brother wore, and both males had pulled thick black knitted hats on, covering their blond hair. Firelight flickered in his blue eyes as he stared at the flames, sitting hunched forwards with his elbows resting on his knees and his back to his cabin.

Beside him, Lowe sat upright, stifling another yawn. Two shovels had been propped against the other end of the log he sat on, and Lowe had removed his gloves. He leaned forwards, warming his hands on the fire, and looked over the flames at Saint.

“Cougars?” His deep voice was a rumbling growl, laced with fatigue.

Saint nodded. “They seem to be overwintering at the Creek this year.”

Knox muttered something beneath his breath and Saint could feel his mood degenerating, turning blacker.

He pinned his blue eyes on Saint. “Why? What the hell are they doing there? They know we’re sleeping here.”

Lowe just looked at his brother and placed his hand on his back. He had never been the talkative one out of the twins. Knox said enough for both of them.

“There’s some kind of celebration going on. I heard Rath ask Cobalt about a certificate, and the male said something about being ordained.” Saint rested his elbows on his knees and stretched his hands out towards the fire, almost moaned as the heat of it chased the icy numbness from his bones.

Knox grunted, “Sounds like a wedding.”

“Makes sense.” Saint rubbed his hands together, warming them further. “Two of their mates are human. They probably wanted a traditional wedding ceremony to go with their mating.”

“We still owe Storm and Flint,” Lowe growled, and the cougars must have really pissed him off by waking him up because it really wasn’t like Lowe to be out for blood.

“Believe me, I know that.” Saint remembered all too well what those two brothers had done to him, but getting into a war with them wasn’t going to change the past.

Although, it would probably improve his mood.

His bear side had been restless since Flint had rolled into the Ridge to pick a fight, wanted a rematch with the cougar.

He tried not to listen to that tempting voice inside him that said he could have revenge, and in the process teach the cougars a lesson for waking him and his kin from their winter sleep. His bear side had a tendency to make bad decisions if he let it take the helm, ones that usually got him into a lot of trouble and landed him with a whole heap of regrets.

“Saw a female in the woods too.” Saint lifted his head and debated whether to say much more than that, some part of him growling at the thought of sharing her with Knox and Lowe, making him want to clam up and keep her to himself. He managed to shake off that urge as Knox sat up, giving him the whole of his attention. “Black hair. Petite. Grey eyes like the rest of them. Definitely cougar.”

“Black hair?” Knox rubbed his blond beard. “Sounds like Cobalt’s mate. I saw them from the other side of the river in summer.”

Acid scoured Saint’s insides as he thought about the fact the female belonged to Cobalt. It was what he had thought, but for some reason hearing Knox confirm that she was mated to another had Saint on the verge of shifting, made him want to roar and unleash his fury on everything in his path.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Rubbed it. He was just tired and cranky. Just wanted to sleep.

“Did she cross into our territory?” Knox’s voice held a dark note, one that warned Saint his thoughts were treading dangerous paths. “We could get some payback. The cougars messed with us. We mess with the cougars.”

Tempting, but he tamped down his desire to let anger steal control of him, pulled back on the reins and cleared his head, refusing to let his bear side rule his actions. He wanted a fight right now, and it would be all too easy to let that part of him take the helm. Maintaining the peace between his pride and the cougars was more important than revenge.

Especially when only three of them were here and there were four cougar males at the Creek.

While he, Knox and Lowe would have the advantage of brute strength, the cougars were quicker, worked well as a team, and they were cunning too.

He dropped his head into his palm. And he really just wanted to sleep.

“I’ll get some food on.” Lowe stood, grabbed the shovels and went back to his cabin, taking a detour via the small outbuilding they used as a larder and storage room.

Knox continued to poke at the fire, showering sparks into the cold air, his expression slowly darkening. Saint could practically feel his mood taking a nosedive as the seconds ticked by, as they rolled into minutes and then close to an hour.

Evening was beginning to fall as Lowe emerged from his cabin, three bowls in one hand and an old cast iron pot in the other.

Saint’s mouth watered at the smell of the food as Lowe sat on the log, set the pot down and pulled the lid off. Lowe filled a bowl with the hearty bean and beef stew, and held it out to Saint.

“Thanks.” Saint was quick to take it, to grab the spoon and dig in. He groaned at the taste of it, threw Lowe an appreciative look.

“That good, huh?” Knox grabbed the next bowl from Lowe and scooped up a mouthful, ate it and was quick to nod. “Damn, that is good.”

Lowe looked as if he might blush.

It was probably just hunger talking, making the stew taste like the most amazing thing on the planet, but then again, it probably wasn’t. Lowe was a demon in the kitchen, always kept everyone well fed.

Saint polished off a second bowl and set it down on top of Lowe’s one inside the empty pot. He stretched and yawned, tilted his head back and stared at the Milky Way that arched above the moonlit mountains. That was beautiful. Not the snow. Seeing the heavens so clearly because of the cold, still air almost made being awake in winter worth it.

Almost.

“I’m hitting the sack.” He patted his full stomach. “Got enough fuel to see me through to spring now. Don’t stay up too late.”

Lowe nodded.

Knox snarled as a rowdy cheer went up to the south of the Ridge, followed by a round of laughter.

Saint glared in that direction, fisted his hands and fought to leash his mood as it blackened again, as he realised getting sleep wasn’t going to be as easy as it had sounded just a moment ago.

Knox stood when another peal of laughter drifted through the trees.

Saint held his right hand out towards him, stopping him from moving, and Knox scowled at him but obeyed his silent order to remain where he was.

“I’ll handle this. I’ll speak to Rath, convince him to keep the noise down.” Saint zipped up his coat again, the thought of having to head back out through the snow, in the dark this time, when it was even colder now, turning his mood pitch-black.

He had thought they would all be able to sleep now they knew who was causing the noise, but the look on Knox’s face said the male wasn’t thinking about hitting the sack. He was thinking about starting a war. No way Saint could sleep knowing that Knox was probably plotting ways to force the cougars to be quiet, liable to go off half-cocked to bloody some noses and ruin the fragile peace between Cougar Creek and Black Ridge.

He wanted to growl, his bear instincts coming to the fore as sleep was snatched from him again. He should have talked to Rath earlier, but he had wanted to avoid a conflict. Now he had the feeling that wasn’t possible.

Either he told the cougars to turn down the volume of their celebration or Knox was going to tear through Cougar Creek on a rampage.

Saint followed the path he had cut through the snow to reach the fire when he had returned from Cougar Creek, his anger rising with each step that brought him closer to the cougars’ territory. He was careful as he reached the woods, silently picking his way through the trees, moving with stealth so the felines wouldn’t sense him until he had located Rath.

He lifted his head and scented the air, picked up the cougar alpha’s familiar smell, together with the faint aroma of sweet berries. He growled at that scent, at the need to shift that swept through him in response to it, his thoughts treading dark paths of revenge again. Saint reined in that urge, put a lid on it and focused on his mission.

Talking to Rath.

The male was reasonable ninety percent of the time. If Saint asked nicely, explained the situation without a bite in his tone, then the male would probably agree to keep it down.

He tracked Rath’s scent and frowned when it led him towards the mountains, not towards the clearing. Laughter rang through the trees in the direction of that clearing, voices there filling the night air, drawing his focus to them. Was the female there? Ember. Knox had said that was her name.

And that she belonged to Cobalt.

Saint’s bear side growled at that again and he put it down to an urge to have revenge on that male for the part he had played in a fight that had ended with Saint gaining a scar that cut across his left eye, from his forehead to the start of his beard, as well as deep scars on his right shoulder.

He stalked through the trees, ditching moving stealthily when he sensed three males ahead of him. When he rounded a bend in the path, he spotted a cabin on the right hand side of it, and the three cougars on the deck of it. He recognised both Cobalt and Storm as the two with Rath.

While Rath had dark hair, his two younger brothers were closer to blond, with Storm’s short hair a sandy brown colour and Cobalt’s nearer to platinum. Storm was the biggest of the three by far, his broad build unmistakable as he stood halfway up a ladder Cobalt was holding, stringing up coloured lights on the front of the cabin.

Rath stilled at the same time as his brothers, his grey eyes swinging towards Saint as he prowled towards them, emerging from the shadows. The big cougar male slowly set the box he had been picking through down near a lamp on the deck and stepped off it, onto the path.

“Saint.” Rath nodded, a frown etched on his face as he moved to stand a few feet in front of the cabin, placing himself between Saint and his brothers.

Always the alpha. Always taking care of his pride and keeping them safe. Rath was a good male. He would do the right thing, or Saint would convince him to do it.

Saint flicked a glance at Cobalt as he turned to face him and Storm as the male dropped to his booted feet beside him, and then set his gaze back on Rath.

“You mind keeping it down a little? Some of us are trying to have our winter sleep.” Saint held Rath’s gaze, ignoring the two younger cougars as they moved as one, coming to the edge of the deck.

Attempting to intimidate him.

The more rational part of him—the more human part—ignored their threat, uninterested in starting a fight with them and sure Rath wouldn’t let it get that far. He would keep control of his brothers and keep the peace.

The side of him that was ruled by his bear instincts growled, had him gearing up for a fight, assessing the brothers to decide which to deal with first.

“Sorry—” Rath started.

“Not sorry,” Storm snarled and jerked his chin towards Saint. “Fuck this guy. I got to remind you that he tried to kidnap Gabi?”

Rath looked over his shoulder at his younger brother and Saint could almost see him changing his mind, knew in that instant that the alpha was going to side with his brothers when he had looked ready to agree to keep the noise down before Storm had spoken.

As much as Saint hated admitting he had been wrong, as bitter as it tasted on his tongue, he lined up an apology about what he had done with Gabi, intending to explain the reason he had been in such a bad mood and that he had never intended to do anything to hurt her, had only meant to scare her a little to make her talk and confess whether she was a hunter or not.

He didn’t get a chance to issue that apology or explanation.

Cobalt growled and stared Saint down, a flicker of gold emerging in his grey eyes. “You know you almost killed Flint. He would’ve been dead if it wasn’t for Yasmin. You deserve fuck all from us.”

Guilt gnawed at Saint’s gut upon hearing that, the regret that had flared inside him upon thinking about his actions with Gabi increasing tenfold as he thought about his fight with the cougar male. He hadn’t realised Flint had been injured that badly. He amended his apology, adding one about Flint too, and opened his mouth to let it tumble from his lips, sure it would be enough to convince Rath and his kin to be a little more considerate about the noise.

Storm spat on the ground near Saint’s boots and glared at him.

Saint’s bear side roared to the fore, wrenched control from him in a heartbeat as anger surged through him, had a growl rolling up his throat and fur rippling over his skin.

“Your brother came to Black Ridge to pick a fight. He got what he deserved.” Those words came out as a vicious snarl, heavy with the rage that curled through him as he thought about that fight, as he thought about how the cougar had violated his territory—and his balls.

And now he and his brothers were violating the sanctity of his winter sleep.

“Yeah, and now you’re getting what you deserve.” Cobalt dropped off the edge of the deck and squared up to him, and the temptation to put the cougar in his place was strong, had Saint close to slamming a right hook into his pretty face.

Saint looked at Rath, sure he would have something to say.

Sure he would be the reasonable one out of the three and do what was right.

Rath just looked at his brothers.

Saint roared at him as he said nothing, as he turned to face him again and stared at him in the same way his brothers were, silently giving him his answer.

He wasn’t going to order his pride to keep the noise down.

He wasn’t going to be reasonable.

Saint forced himself to turn away, the jibes Storm and Cobalt threw at his back rousing his anger to new heights, until his blood thundered in his veins and his bear side overruled the human part of him, clouding his thoughts and pushing them down a single path.

If the cougars weren’t going to be reasonable, then he wouldn’t be reasonable either.

He strode through the forest, picking up speed as his mind churned and he seethed with a need to make the cougars pay. Fur rippled over his skin again beneath his clothes, his bones aching as his muscles coiled tight.

If they wouldn’t let him sleep, then he wasn’t going to let their celebration take place. He would find a way to ruin it somehow. His thoughts blurred, a mash of ideas that tangled together as he growled, as his fangs elongated and a need to shift ran through him. Pleasing images of turning back and fighting the three males filled his mind, had him losing awareness of the world as he sank into them.

He snarled as the hairs on his nape rose and his senses sharpened, yanking him back to the present.

He looked around himself, expecting to find himself back at the Ridge.

Stared at the raised cabin at the top of a small clearing.

A noise off to his left had him shrinking back into the shadows. His heart drummed harder, blood pumping faster and hotter as a familiar figure exited the trees just a short distance from him, humming to herself.

She looked up as the first flakes of snow began to fall, lowered her head and tugged her hood up as she wandered towards the cabin, heading straight past Saint.

Oblivious to him.

Deep brown fur rippled over his skin as he smelled her.

Sweet berries.

Laced with Cobalt’s scent.

Instincts roared to life inside him, stole control of him before he could yank back on the reins.

Saint launched from his hiding place.

And snatched her from behind.