Eventide of the Bear (The Wild Hunt Legacy #3) (30 page)

“Aw, c’mon. You’re really pretty. How about—”

“How about you move away?” Ryder suggested in an edged voice.

The male sniffed the air, and his lip curled up. “You got no say over what she does. She obviously didn’t want to mate you.”

The scent of aggression rose into the air.

“Back off, asshole,” Ryder growled.

“Please,” Emma whispered, putting her hand on his arm. “Don’t. This isn’t the place. This is never the time.”

“Yeah, you dumb fuck, listen to the female,” the male said. He grabbed Emma’s hand, his grip hurting on her scraped palm.

She sucked in a breath from the pain and saw his eyes light. And he squeezed harder. She felt a trickle of blood.

Ryder’s powerful hand closed on Chad’s wrist, and as he bore down, the tendons stood out on his wrist. “Let her go.”

“Fuck, asshole!” Chad dropped her hand.

Ryder pushed him. “You hurt her.” Ryder gave him another shove, and Chad staggered back again. “Deliberately.”

Emma started to shake. Angry males. Loud voices. Then there would be blood and—

Chad charged, ramming his head into Ryder’s stomach so violently that Ryder hit a tree with his back.

Oh no. Dread seeped into her blood. Fighting. No. She ran to Ben. “Ben—stop them. Please.”

Joe looked up. “Stupid dog needs a lesson. Let ’em fight.”

“Please…”

With a blustering noise, Ben sauntered toward the males.

Ryder had Chad
on the ground, straddling him, and was enjoying the hell out of each blow he landed. By the God, he could smell Emma’s blood on the wolf’s hand. Heard again the soft sound of pain she’d made. The asshole had hurt her while she was under Ryder’s care.

Oh, this fucker was going to pay.

Before Ryder could move, Ben grabbed his shirt and yanked him up. “Stop it. This is a Gathering, not a war.”

“Fuck. You.” He drove his fist into his littermate’s gut—it was like hitting a rock wall—and his next followed to the jaw. “You’re always butting into my fun.”

After staggering back, Ben regained his footing and lunged forward. He slammed a huge fist into Ryder’s belly, grabbed his shoulders, and threw him across the clearing.

People scrambled out of the way like fleeing mice. Landing painfully hard, Ryder rolled up onto hands and knees. He shook his head, feeling the hum of the full moon, revving into battle-fever, which would be followed by a good mating.

His blood churned in his veins. He needed to hit something. And nothing was as fun as pounding on the grizzly. Hell, it’d been years since they had a good brawl.

He gave a shake as if to settle his fur and shoved to his feet, charging the grizzly with a happy growl.

“No!”
Emma screamed
a protest as Ryder rammed his shoulder into his brother.

Ben backpedaled and punched Ryder again, knocking him away—then attacked.

Fighting.
Her world was fragmenting, fracturing, tearing itself apart with loud, discordant notes. The smack of fist on flesh. Grunting. Snarling. Swearing. Tears blurred her eyes.

They loved each other. Were hurting each other. Because of her. “Stop. Stop, please,
stop
!”

Never, never again.

“No!” With a soul-stricken cry, Emma threw herself between them. Ben’s mammoth body hit her like a falling oak tree and knocked her sideways into Ryder. His fist smashed into her stomach.

Pain. So much pain.

Two shouts made her ears ring as she fell to her knees, arms wrapped over the agony in her middle. Knives stabbed her leg as she dropped onto the stony earth. Everything hurt and she couldn’t…couldn’t
breathe
.

An arm supported her. “By the God,” Ben growled. “Shhh, darlin’. Don’t move.”

“Herne’s balls. Little bear, I didn’t want…” Ryder dropped down beside her and massaged her paralyzed abdominal muscles.

Interminable seconds passed. The buzzing in her ears grew. Then her gut relaxed, and her lungs expanded. One breath. A miracle.

She gasped for more air and found her voice. “Don’t fight.” She grabbed Ben’s shirt, Ryder’s wrist. “Don’t fight.”

“By the God, I knew you wouldn’t change your ways.” The furious roar came from Emma’s nightmares. Cedrick, the Cosantir from her former territory, stalked across the clearing. Gray streaked his hair now; lines were deeper in his face.

A blast of hatred came from him. Her mouth opened, and nothing came out.

“Just like your mother. Boosting your overblown ego by making males fight over you.”

Cedrick was here.

Here
.

“What’s your problem?” Ryder paused, undoubtedly seeing the power of the God emanating from the Mt. Hood Cosantir.

A smothering wave of silence filled the clearing.

Cedrick pointed at her. “She was banished from my territory after she goaded two young males into attacking each other. Their battle was so vicious they both died.”

Gasps sounded around the area.

Roaring filled Emma’s ears and red seared the edges of her vision.

Not again. No, please, Mother of All, not again.

“What?” Ryder stared down at her. “No…”

His voice disappeared in the roaring in her ears. Someone took her hand…said something…but above it all, she heard Cedrick’s snarls. “She…”

His tortured snarls carried her down, down, until memories were a fire of agony riding her bloodstream, burning her heart to ashes. Her sight blurred into a shroud of gray, her ears tuned to the song of tragedy where all she could hear were the sounds of two males fighting, savaging each other, growling, and roaring.

Her screams echoed down the hallway. Blood covered the walls, the floor, filling her vision with red. “I’ll leave. I’ll leave. Don’t fight—oh,
please
, don’t fight.”

Tears burned her abraded cheeks as she grabbed Ryder’s arm and shook it. “I’ll leave. He loves you. Don’t fight.”

The arm tightened around her.

Everywhere she looked was red, blood everywhere; the unspeakable stench of death filled the air. Her ears heard only the gasping last breaths—and still fighting. Fighting. Grunts and thumps, growling and roaring. Why wouldn’t they
stop
?

“No more!” She tried to put her hands over her ears and couldn’t move. “Stop fighting. I don’t want you to fight! I’ll take you both. Don’t hurt each other.” Her fingers curled around an arm, and she shook it. Tried to pull him away from the fight. “Don’t hit him. You don’t need to hit him—I’ll do anything.”

“What the fuck?” Voices sounded around her. The battle filled her head. Andre’s swearing. Shrieks of agony. “Please…no, please, please.”

Cedrick’s furious voice broke through. “See how she makes the males fight? Damn you, you—” A blow—and pain burst in her cheek.

More roaring sounded. Her body shook. The world itself was falling apart. She wrapped her arms around herself, unable to look. There would be blood everywhere. Her men—dead, her heart with them.

“You got her wrong, you fucking asshole. Cosantir or not, you’re an idiot.”

Was that Ryder? Was he still alive? More snarls drowned out the voices. She was drowning in blood.

“Emma.” The rough, deep voice filled with the power of the God sliced through the snarling and cries of pain. “Tell me who’s fighting.”

“Andre. Gary. Stop, stop, stop.” She struggled against the arms restraining her. She had to stop them. Ice filled her center—she knew what would happen.

“Easy, little bear.” A familiar, smoky voice was gentle…for her. “You don’t have to—”

“I do believe she does. It is time to get to the heart of this.” The clipped voice reverberated with so much power that every instinct in her cried for her to find a dark cave far, far, far from anyone.
Run. Hide.

“Not your business, Calum. It’s between me and this female.” The angry voice made shivers start up inside her.

In her lap, a hand clasped hers. She stared at it, blinking as her vision cleared. Lean fingers, reddened knuckles, the wrist bones strong. Dark hair lightly furred a leanly muscled forearm. Ryder. He was pressed cat-close against her left side, his other arm around her waist.

A powerful arm crossed her thighs, and a big hand curved around her hip, holding her in place. Ben. He was on her right, his left arm behind her shoulders.

She pulled in a careful breath. She was pinned between the brothers. They weren’t fighting. She’d stopped them before…before…

But they were surrounded by shifters staring down at her. At the forefront, Cedrick stood, hands fisted, radiating hatred. When his hand opened into claws, she’d be condemned again. Sent away from love and hope and home.

Banished.

But her males were alive. They mustn’t fight—not with a Cosantir.

She closed her eyes. “I’ll go,” she whispered. “Just let me go.”

A feminine growl came from her right. Vicki stood on the other side of Ben. Her tight expression held not anger, but concern. For Emma. Catching Emma’s gaze, Vicki straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin.
Get a spine, bear.

“Yes, ma’am,” Emma whispered and saw the twitch of her friend’s lip.

Next to Vicki, Angie gave Emma a firm nod—one a mama bear might administer to a loved cub in danger.

Behind Cedrick was Bree. Only Shay’s arm around her waist kept her from joining Emma. She was openly crying.

Crying for me? Emma blinked back her own tears and pulled in a small breath. Then a bigger one. She wasn’t alone. She had…friends. The miracle edged into her heart, and the fear receded slightly.

She’d planned to return and face down Gawain, the male from Pine Knoll, before telling Ben and Ryder about her past. This was just…a bit…more than she’d anticipated. She needed more courage.
Dig deeper.
She realized the warmth seeping into her came from Ben and Ryder.

“Bard.”

At the title of respect, she looked up. Calum—
her
Cosantir—stood in front of her. The shimmer of power increased as his eyes darkened to black with the presence of the God. Her judgment was at hand.

“Tell me why the males in the other territory fought,” his British-accented voice demanded, brooking no refusal.

“They fought over me.” Misery swept over her. “I flirted with them. My fault.”

“By the God, all females flirt at a Gathering,” said a gruff older male.

The arms around her didn’t relax at her confession. Ryder’s hand actually tightened around hers.

“Females flirt.” The Cosantir repeated, “Tell me why the males fought.”

Ben pulled her closer to his massive frame. His huffing growl wasn’t directed at her, but at the Cosantir.

The Cosantir didn’t even flinch. His black gaze burned, drawing out her memories the way she would gather the strands of a song.

“I was going to mate with Gary, but Andre followed us,” she whispered, unable to look away from Calum’s depthless eyes. “Andre was angry; he’d wanted Phoebe, but she’d chosen Gary instead. Andre said I should go with him since he was bigger.”

A snort. “Young males.” Alec’s voice.

“And then…” She started to shake. If she could have run, she would have. Would have fled. She yearned for the safe, quiet…empty…forest. No one to judge.

Ben squeezed her shoulder, holding her in place, holding her in the present. “Darlin’, did you mate with Gary?”

She pulled in a shuddering breath and felt Ryder rub his shoulder against hers in feline support.
Courage.
“No,” she whispered. “At the mating-room door, Andre stopped us. Gary told him to leave, only Andre ran his hand down my face. And I…I could smell him and hear him, and…”

The hideous cry broke out of her. “Andre kissed me, and I kissed him, and Gary shoved us apart, and they started fighting, and it was all my fault!”

The first sob wrenched at her, tearing apart her ribs, clawing her heart. The ones following were even more painful.

“Hell.” Ben pulled her into his lap, surrounding her with his arms, his size, his strength.

So much blood. So much death. Guilt crushed her under an implacable paw. “Let me go.” She struggled against the bear’s hold. “I did it. Why did I do that? I was with Gary. I shouldn’t—”

“By the God.” A callused hand caught her chin, forcing her to meet Ryder’s harsh gaze. “You’re not exactly old, so when did this happen? How many Gatherings had you been to, Emma?”

“Three years ago. It was my first Gathering. The only one I’ve ever been to.” She wrenched away from Ben and spat at Calum, “I don’t know what I did that night, but I’ll never again be the reason anyone dies. Banish me again. Here…” She leaned forward and tilted her face so he could claw her. “Do it. I’ll go away and—”

Ben yanked her back.

Ryder’s hand closed over her mouth, muffling her. “Uh-uh, little bear.”

She strained against the two males, just wanting to run, and then all the energy drained out of her. She sagged in Ben’s arms.

Ryder took his hand away and stroked her hair away from her face.

After a second, she opened her eyes.

The Daonain silently stared at her, brows furrowed, shaking their heads. Yes, she’d disappointed them all. Horrified them.

“That’s not how it happened,” Cedrick growled. “She’s—”

“That was exactly how it happened.” Gawain gently moved Angie to one side as he stepped out of the crowd with Owen at his back. He scowled at the Cosantir of his territory. “I told you so then and there.”

Cedrick’s color heightened. “Watch it, cat, or you’ll find yourself out of—”

“Ssssst.” Hissing, the cahir Owen stepped in front of Gawain.

“Well,” Alec interrupted, “I think my mate would call your Gathering a clusterfuck.” His voice was easy. Smooth. “It seems odd the God would banish a female for merely being a battle prize.”

“Odd indeed.” With a frown, Calum bent and ran his fingertips over the scars on Emma’s cheek. Did it again. His fingers were hotter than normal skin temperature and left tingling in their wake. “Emma, why did you say you were banished?”

“Because I-I was….” She was shaking so hard it was impossible to breathe.

“Easy, little bear,” Ryder murmured. His hands closed around hers.

“I banished her. Rightfully so.” When the Mt. Hood Cosantir curved his fingers into claws, Emma shuddered.