Rescued By Her Bear by Felicity Heaton

Chapter 10

The heat of Cameo’s gaze still seared him, the way she had been staring at him stamping her name on his soul, rousing feelings inside him that had startled him when they had come over him. It wasn’t just desire and need her eyes on him had stirred—it had been a powerful need to possess her, a dark need to defend her, and a terrible urge to attack Knox.

Lowe had the feeling it wasn’t just because she was beautiful and he was attracted to her either.

These feelings felt more like instincts to him, mastered him in a way he didn’t like, easily ripping control from him.

He had felt a powerful need to look at her when she had been staring at him, as if her gaze had commanded him, issuing a silent order he hadn’t been able to resist, and his bear side had gone crazy.

Absolutely fucking wild.

The hunger to launch at Knox and take him down, to drive him away from Cameo and ensure the male couldn’t steal her from him had startled him and he hadn’t been able to stop himself from clinging to what his brother had said.

The fact he had called Cameo pretty.

Knox wanted her for himself.

He growled as he slid a look at his brother.

Knox’s fair eyebrows rose high on his forehead as he looked at Lowe. “What’s got you so tetchy?”

Lowe had the feeling he knew the answer to that question, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell Knox about his suspicions. His brother would only think he was reading into things or looking for an excuse to keep Cameo around, or give in to the desire he felt.

When the answer was all of those things and none of them at the same time.

He had the feeling Cameo was his fated mate.

The one female in this world he could have a mate bond with to form the deepest of connections, one that would allow her to live as long as he did.

He needed to be sure though, feared that he was reading into things and seeing what he wanted to see because he was attracted to Cameo, fiercely wanted her and was looking for a reason to give in to that desire. There was no better excuse than a potential mate bond. He could easily blame succumbing to desire on the fact he had thought they were true mates, using the excuse that he had wanted to determine whether they really were fated.

“Something’s up with you.” Knox slid him a hard look this time, one that Lowe didn’t like because it felt as if his brother was trying to peel back his layers, was hunting for the truth and Lowe feared he might find it. “I get that she’s pretty, Lowe, but she’s human, and we all know how that ends.”

Lowe bit back the growl that rumbled up his throat, denying it as the desire to lash out at his brother rode him, compelling him to surrender to it because Knox had called her pretty again. His bear side groaned and battered his will, trying to force a shift, and it was a struggle to hold it back, to stop himself from giving in to it and attacking his brother.

“I know.” He bit out instead.

Knox looked at him out of the corner of his eye again. “For a moment there, I felt sure you’d deny wanting her or feeling anything for her, or some bullshit like it. I can read the room, Lowe. The two of you were panting like horny newly awakened cubs.”

Lowe scowled at him, because when he had hit maturity at a little over a century old and his sexual instincts and desires had awakened, he hadn’t been the one panting and horny, wanting to jump anything that moved.

Knox had.

His steps slowed as he stared at Knox, for the first time really feeling as if he was looking at a darker reflection of himself. Same face. Same blue eyes. Same build. If Cameo looked at him with desire in her eyes, would she look at Knox in the same way? If his brother made a move on her, would she succumb to him?

“I don’t like that look in your eyes.” Knox’s lips flattened, the corners of his mouth turning downwards as his eyebrows knitted hard. “You’ve got aggression rolling off you like crazy and you look ready to kill me… and I’ve done nothing wrong. You might want to remember that.”

Lowe tried to dial it back, but the urge to strike his brother was strong, the need to alter his face so they no longer resembled each other, so Cameo wouldn’t be attracted to him, bringing out his claws.

His brother took a slow step backwards, placing more distance between them, the snow crunching beneath his black boots. “This isn’t like you, Lowe. She’s got you too worked up. Just take a moment to breathe.”

“I can’t.” He pushed those two words out as fear swelled inside him, the thought he might not be strong enough to tamp down and vanquish the urges surging through him making them sound as desperate as he felt. “Knox…”

His brother closed the distance between them as something dawned in his eyes, brightening them a shade, and clutched Lowe’s shoulders, gripping them tightly.

“I’m not interested in the female, Lowe. Whatever crazy ideas are flying around that head of yours, they’re wrong.” Knox palmed his shoulders, his gaze clear and open, honest. “I’m not interested in Cameo. I’m not a threat to her. I’m not a threat to you. You want to get your heart broken, fine. You want me to stay the hell away from her, I’m good with that. Whatever it takes to fix this.”

Lowe stared at his brother, desperately trying to make what he had said sink in. His bear side continued to push for freedom and he continued to fight it, unwilling to surrender to the dark needs running rampant inside him. He didn’t want to hurt Knox. Knox had said he wasn’t interested in Cameo.

What if that didn’t change how Cameo felt about Knox?

“Yeah, I know where this is going.” Knox shook him hard enough to rattle his brain in his skull. “Did that work?”

Lowe glared at him and bit out, “Did what work?”

“Just trying to shake that thought loose.” His brother slowly smiled. “I’d tease you about the fact you know I’m the better looking of the two of us, but I think you’d rip my head off. I don’t like seeing you like this, so I’m going to say a few things and I’m going to say them straight, and you’re probably not going to like them.”

Lowe growled and bared emerging fangs at him. He did want Cameo.

Knox rolled his eyes, as if he had heard that thought. “Number one. I do not, under any circumstances, want that female you have in your cabin. She isn’t my type. She looks like the sort of female who has her whole life planned out right down to the white picket fence and number of kids, and all their damned names. That is not my style.”

Lowe snarled at his brother. He liked that about Cameo. He liked that she was cautious and planned things, didn’t leap before she looked.

Hell, he liked that she struck him as the sort who didn’t leap before she did full recon of the entire area and charted every possible problem, had five contingencies in place, and was fully prepared for anything.

Knox shuddered. “You look like you’re going to drool, so I’m going to move on. Number two. She does not, under any circumstances, want me. She wants you. The way she looks at you, Lowe… a blind man could see she wants you. Apparently, you’re both attracted to the cautious, let’s suck the fun out of life by planning everything type.”

“Hey.” Lowe frowned at him. “I’m not like that.”

His brother scoffed. “Yeah… remind me again who it was I caught writing pages and pages of plans after our parents died?”

“Someone had to step up, Knox. Things at the pride were bad and I knew we had to leave, and we had barely a few dollars to our names. I had to find us a place we could settle that wasn’t near another bear territory, or encroaching on wolves or cougars.” Lowe stepped back, beyond the reach of Knox as regret shone in his blue eyes. “Our parents were dead. We had to leave. Just walking off into the wilderness wasn’t an option. It would’ve gotten us killed.”

Knox squeezed his eyes shut and heaved a sigh, stepped up to him again and pulled him into a tight hug. “I know. I’m sorry. You know me. Always shooting my mouth off, saying shit before I fully think it through. I put a lot of pressure on you back then and I’m sorry. I should’ve been more mature about it. I should’ve been more like you. I’m lucky you were there. I know that. I probably would’ve walked right into the territory of another pride or pack and landed in a heap of trouble if you hadn’t been there.”

Lowe tried to hold on to his anger but it was impossible as he sensed the regret in his brother, laced with pain.

“Mom and Dad dying… I wasn’t equipped to handle that and I made you handle it for both of us… and that was a shitty thing to do.” Knox squeezed him tightly.

Lowe sighed, wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. “It was hard on both of us, but we made it through… together. I wouldn’t have made it without you, Knox. I can make all the plans in the world, but when things go south, you’re the one who steps up and takes care of things.”

“You do suck at hunting.” Knox’s voice warmed and softened, the teasing note in it drawing a smile from Lowe. “Probably would’ve starved without me.”

Things hadn’t been that dire, but Lowe hadn’t been the best at foraging back then, and he certainly hadn’t had enough charm to get free meals from females at bars and diners.

“We good?” Knox pulled back and searched his eyes.

Lowe nodded, but couldn’t stop himself from adding, “You even look at her the wrong way and I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself from fighting you.”

“That doesn’t sound good, Lowe. That sounds a lot like—” Knox cut off as a noise came from Saint’s cabin.

His brother broke into a run for the cabin and had mounted the steps before Lowe could even react. Lowe followed on his heels, took the slippery steps up to the cabin two at a time and reached the open door just as Knox was crouching beside Saint.

A very naked Saint.

At least he had shifted back, but Lowe found it hard to take it as a good sign. His alpha was still out cold on the wooden floorboards, hadn’t really moved from where Lowe had put him yesterday. He looked around, seeking what had made the noise, and huffed as he spotted the fallen fire iron that rested near Saint’s foot. He must have kicked it in his sleep.

“Grab his legs, would you?” Knox glanced at him.

Lowe nodded and moved to Saint’s feet, stepping between him and the log burner. The fire was getting low now. He would take care of it once Saint was in bed, wrapped up warm. He stooped and grabbed him by his ankles, hauling him up as Knox held him under his shoulders. Getting him up the twisting staircase proved difficult, but they managed it without bashing his head against the wooden railings or the wall.

He helped Knox set Saint down on the bed and waited with him while his brother went downstairs. When Knox returned with some bandages, Lowe helped him tend to the worst of Saint’s wounds, binding them with the cream material.

“Had he shifted back when you left him?” He cast a look at Knox as he settled Saint back onto the mattress again.

Knox shook his head as he drew the covers over Saint. “No. He must have done it shortly after I left. I grabbed some sleep before I came to see you, but I was too tired to sleep for long and I knew you’d want to know what had happened after you had left… plus, I wanted to meet this female you’re holding in your cabin.”

“I’m not holding Cameo. She’s not a prisoner. I offered to call her an air ambulance, but she doesn’t want to leave.”

“Why not?” His brother’s eyebrows pinched hard, a dark edge entering his blue eyes, one that reeked of suspicion.

“Nothing nefarious. Just this trouble she’s in. Like I told you, there’s another man on the mountain looking for her and I told her I could protect her if she stayed with me. I want to help her.” Lowe sighed and looked off to his left, out the small window to the white world. “I think part of her is scared of leaving this place and part of her is scared of staying.”

Knox grunted. “Can’t really blame her. If what you told me is true, then she’s been through a lot.”

“You didn’t see the photograph. What they did to her brother—” Lowe growled, couldn’t bring himself to say any more than that. The thought of Cameo ending up like her brother, the fact she feared that would happen to her, roused a darkness inside him that had his bear side roaring for freedom, urging him to head out into the forest and hunt the male down.

Knox clasped his shoulder through his thick winter coat. “We won’t let that happen to her, Lowe. She might be worried about getting us involved, but we’ll stick to our guns. Whatever shit she’s in, it ends here.”

Lowe turned and dragged his brother into a tight hug. “Thanks.”

Knox patted his back and then twisted away from him, jerked his chin towards Saint. “We should probably let him rest. I’ll get washed up and changed, and then I’ll come back and check on him.”

“I’ll get the fire going again.” Lowe glanced at Saint one last time to check on him and then headed back downstairs, crossed the room to the log burner and busied himself with building the fire up.

His brother’s weary sigh filled the silence as he came down the stairs, as he moved to the deck and out into the crisp morning. Lowe glanced at him. He could feel how worried Knox was and he knew it wasn’t only about Saint. Knox was worried about him too, but he didn’t need to be. This thing with Cameo wasn’t going to end the way his brother thought it would.

At least he hoped it wouldn’t.

He closed the door of the log burner, stood and walked to the door of the cabin and out onto the deck. Knox paced back and forth on the compacted snow in front of the steps, the worry Lowe could feel in him only increasing.

His brother stopped just below him, ran a hand over his brow and then tugged his black woollen hat down again. His blue eyes held a flicker of concern as he looked back at the cabin, up at the loft bedroom.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know.” Lowe shoved fingers through his ash-blond hair and walked to the steps. He sighed. “It’s like he’s just given up or something. He shifted back last night and I want to take that as a good sign, but…”

Knox suddenly pivoted on his heel to face the woods.

Lowe had sensed it too.

Scented cougar.

His mood took a dark turn as the female Saint had taken from the Creek stepped out of the woods, her purple woollen hat and scarf brightened by the sunlight. Rather than turning tail and scurrying back to the Creek, she strode forwards, attempting to look brave as she tipped her chin up. It might have worked, but Lowe could scent that she was afraid.

He couldn’t blame her for being nervous. Knox was throwing off aggression so fiercely that she had to be able to feel it despite the hundred feet or so of space between her and his brother.

Lowe dropped from the deck to join Knox as he strode towards her, placing more distance between him and the cabin.

“What the hell do you want?” Knox growled, the aggression that rolled off him seeming to spark the same feeling in the cougar female.

Her grey-green eyes flashed with defiance as she straightened even more, standing taller as she approached them.

“I think I left my coat.” She was treading on dangerous ground sounding so light and sarcastic while Saint was laid up recovering from serious injuries and what Lowe was beginning to suspect was a broken heart. When she glanced at the cabin beyond them though, her bravado faltered and a hint of fear emerged in her eyes. Her voice lowered, losing its bite as she wrapped her arms around herself, her fingers gripping her green woollen sweater. “I came to see Saint.”

“Come to finish him off?” Knox moved into the path of her gaze.

She growled at him, baring short fangs.

“No,” she bit out, anger turning her eyes cougar gold. She wanted to fight his brother. It would be a mistake. Knox wouldn’t pull his punches this time. That spark of fire was quick to die again, leaving her voice sounding hollow as she said, “I just need to know if he’s all right.”

Lowe scowled at her, crossed his arms over his chest and came to stand beside Knox, forming a wall with his brother.

She growled again as she took a step forwards, clearly intending to go around them. Both he and Knox moved as one, countering her, stopping her from getting any closer to their alpha.

She ignored Knox and looked at Lowe. Why? Did she think he was the easier of the two of them to convince? Or was it because he had been the only one who had wanted to speak out when Saint had dragged her into the Ridge?

He hadn’t agreed with what Saint had done, but that didn’t mean he was going to let her get near his alpha again. Saint was hurting and she was responsible for his pain—both the physical and emotional.

She stood in silence, staring at him, a battle raging in her eyes. She wanted to attack him and Knox to reach Saint. He admired her courage and the depth of her desire to see Saint, but starting a fight wasn’t going to convince either him or Knox to allow her near their alpha. He stared her down, waiting to see what she would do, part of him willing her to make the right choice and back down.

If she backed down, if she shrugged off her pride and showed him that she was sorry about what had happened, asked him nicely if she could see Saint and assured him that she wasn’t out to hurt him, then maybe he would convince Knox to let her past.

“Please. I just want to know he’s okay.” Her voice was barely a whisper, held a desperate note that made him feel she honestly cared about Saint, that she needed to know he was going to be all right.

He stared into her grey-green eyes, seeking the truth there, trying to see if she did feel something for Saint.

His heart said that she did.

He thought about what to tell her, worry rolling through him as he thought about Saint’s condition, together with a spark of hope that she might be able to bring the big bear back to them.

He opened his mouth to speak.

Knox beat him to it. “The state of our alpha is none of your concern, cougar.”

She looked between Lowe and Knox, her expression growing defeated, and he could almost read her thoughts. She believed she wouldn’t be able to convince them to talk about Saint with her, and she looked close to giving up. Lowe willed her not to. Knox was stubborn, but if she was honest with him, if she spoke the truth and told him the reason she needed to see Saint, then his brother would back down.

“I know you’re just trying to protect him,” she whispered. “I just need to see him. If you won’t let me see him, then at least tell me he’s all right. I heard you. You said there’s something wrong with him.”

Lowe softened towards her a little more. A glance at Knox told him his brother was nowhere near being convinced though.

She sighed.

“I swear, I don’t want to hurt him.” She looked them both in the eye and Lowe could see in hers that she was hurting, that she was afraid and it wasn’t because she was facing him and Knox. She was afraid for Saint. “I don’t think I could hurt him.”

“Bullshit,” Knox snarled.

Lowe grabbed his arm when he went to step forwards and Knox levelled a glare on him, fire blazing in his blue eyes.

“Give her a chance.” Lowe looked at his brother. “We’re not getting through to Saint, but she might.”

Her brow furrowed and she took a step towards them. “What’s wrong with him?”

Knox gruffly shoved his hands into the pockets of his heavy black winter coat. “His wounds are healing but he refuses to wake.”

“Maybe it’s just the winter—”

Knox cut her off. “This isn’t that. This is something else. Lowe thinks he’s given up.”

“Given up?” She looked at Lowe, paling now.

Lowe nodded and looked behind him at the cabin and then back at her. “I found him in the snow. I think he was there for hours. It was getting late by the time I came across him. I got him inside and patched him up. He shifted back and I thought maybe he would wake, but he won’t.”

The scent of fear rolling off her grew stronger with each word he spoke, a desperate look mounting in her eyes.

She suddenly rushed him and Knox, shoved past them and made a break for the cabin. Knox growled at her and Lowe tightened his grip on his brother’s arm, holding him back. When Knox looked at him, he shook his head.

Turned and watched her running into the cabin.

“Let her see him.” Lowe glanced back at his brother. “If anyone can reach Saint and bring him back, it’s that female.”

Knox glared at him. “You don’t think?”

Lowe nodded.

“She’s his fated one.”

He looked at his own cabin, a feeling stirring inside him again, flooding his chest with warmth and rousing a fierce need to return to Cameo.

He surrendered to that need.

Knox gripped his arm this time, stopping him in his tracks, his voice dark.

“We’re not done talking.”