Fealty Of The Bear (5 page)

Logan’s eyes blazed and he leaned toward her. “Why weren’t you allowed to make decisions? Did someone hurt you?”

“No. It wasn’t anything like that.” And it definitely wasn’t any of Logan’s business.

Muriel parked the car, shouldered her medical bag and escaped as soon as she had the keys pulled from the ignition. Logan followed close on her heels and grabbed her elbow in a steely grip. “You said you were mated before. Was it forced?” Desperation edged his tone, and when she looked into his eyes, they weren’t lined in gold anymore, but shining with the color like a damned star.

As she drew air into her lungs, the scent of animal almost overwhelmed her. He was angry, but for the life of her, she couldn’t fathom why.

“I can’t do this right now.” A stronger woman would’ve yanked her arm away and stomped on his boot. But she liked the warmth that seeped from his body to hers where their skin was only separated by the thin material of her sweater. He seemed angry for her, and it had been so long since anyone tried to understand where she’d fit into the awful situation that was her and Bron’s marriage.

His fiery gaze dipped to her lips and he took a step toward her. “You can tell me,” he breathed.

Right now, she wanted to. His chest heaving like he was controlling a great grizzly within himself, his grip on her arm tightening like he couldn’t let her go, and his eyes—those beautifully inhuman eyes were looking at her lips like he actually wanted her. Like he couldn’t help himself. And dammit, she’d wanted this feeling for so long. She wanted to tell him everything and hope he didn’t see her as a failure like everyone else did. It was so important that this stranger understand why she made the decisions she did.

He leaned closer, and cupped her face as he tore his eyes away from her lips. He looked tortured.

Maybe it hurt to think about kissing her.

Perhaps it hurt to think about not kissing her.

She didn’t know, but she’d never wanted a man to take a chance as much as she did right now. Flaming warmth trickled through her middle as she brushed her fingertips against his taut waist and gripped the material of his shirt. His throat moved as he swallowed, and for just an instant, he looked lost.

As he leaned forward, she held his blazing golden color until the last moment, then closed her eyes.

This kiss would be different from last night’s. It would mean more than just wanting to go to bed with her.

This kiss would prove he cared.

Muriel opened her eyes. Logan hovered so close to her lips she could feel his warmth, but deep trouble pooled in his eyes. With a sharp inhalation of breath, he eased back and released her face. Fists clenching at his sides, he murmured, “You deserve better.”

Heat flared up her neck and landed in the tips of her ears and she dropped her gaze to his boots. Of course he would say that. He didn’t want to be seen with her, and now he didn’t want to kiss her if he didn’t have a shot at getting into her pants. He was being nice enough to put it on her, but she could see exactly what was going on.

She was so sick and tired of feeling unwanted.

The sting of rejection brought burning tears to her eyes, but she blinked them back and shoved past him. The middle stair had always creaked when she lived here, and she stomped it as she passed on her way to the front door.

Logan followed and brushed her lower back with his fingertips, then leaned against her. His lips so close to her ear she could feel his breath on the fine hairs there, he said, “I want you, woman. I just don’t deserve you.” His voice sounded agonized. “I can’t complicate your life like that.”

Every note and inflection of his words rang with such honesty, like he truly believed what he was saying.

The door lock snapped back and she gave Logan her profile. “Maybe I want complicated.”

Bron opened the barrier and she stepped through without looking to gauge Logan’s reaction to her words. He was a baffling man. He’d slept with her last night, and now his morals were keeping him from kissing her? What had changed from last night to now?

“Hey,” Bron greeted her.

“Bron, this is Logan. Logan, Bron.”

Bron’s bright eyes narrowed as his gaze landed on the shifter behind her, but whatever pissing contest those two dominants needed to get out of the way, she wasn’t sticking around to watch.

“Where’s Sam?” she asked.

“In the bedroom.”

She brushed by him and froze at the open doorframe to the bedroom she and Bron used to share. It was so strange to be back in this place that had been home once. She no longer belonged here. Now it was Samantha’s sanctuary.

The new mate of the alpha lay on the bed with her back to Muriel. With a soft knock, Muriel stepped inside sat on the edge of the mattress next to Sam.

A tear tracked down the woman’s face and dampened the dark hair that served as a pillow under her cheek.

Muriel rubbed her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything is so messed up.” Samantha wrapped her thin arms around Muriel’s hips and buried her face into her side. “The clan is revolting. They’re livid about Dodger’s death, and Bron is in the middle of the shit storm, and this is all my fault. I’ve mucked up everything.”

“Shhh, you haven’t. Things are hard now, but it’ll settle. It always does. It was Bron’s right to avenge you after Dodger tried to kill you. The clan will see that sooner or later.”

“It’s not the clan who started the uprising. It’s Dodger’s wife, Trinity, and I can’t even blame her. She lost her husband. Sure, he was a murderous prick, but she lost her mate. I can’t even imagine losing Bron.”

“Bron would never attempt to murder an innocent and put himself in a fight to the death though. Don’t waste your tears on Dodger. He doesn’t deserve them.”

“They’re going to unseat him, Muriel. Everything Bron’s fought for will have been for nothing. And now the shifters won’t have a Cress alpha this generation. What kind of a sign is that for our future?”

Muriel smiled at how quickly Samantha had learned that her future was now tethered to the survival of the bear shifters. She was one of them now, and her tender heart at their plight made Muriel respect her even more. “Stop fretting, you silly bear. Everything will work out. You’ll see.”

“Bron’s having a hard time with it all,” Sam said, beseeching Muriel with wide, dark eyes. “First with Trent’s death and now with Dodger’s betrayal and my injury. He’s changing every couple of hours, like he can’t control the bear anymore.”

Shit. Well, that was bad and Samantha was right to worry.

Donning her best poker face, Muriel lifted Sam’s shirt and studied the angry red scar in her middle. It was still ragged on the edges, and rust colored smudges around the wound told Muriel she was still bleeding from time to time. She’d definitely wanted it to look better than this by now.

Samantha was a new bear though, and perhaps her shifter healing hadn’t kicked in completely yet. Or maybe the injury was just so bad that it had zapped her strength.

“You know,” Muriel said in a soothing voice. “As soon as we get you all better, it will be one less stressor on Bron and he’ll be able to focus on the other stuff. Healing needs to be your concern right now. It’s important for both of you. Bron just got you back, and almost losing you will have shaken his bear badly. He’ll ease up if he isn’t constantly worried about you anymore. If you smell like blood all the time, his bear is going to be like this.”

Muriel reached into her black leather satchel and pulled out a jar of the same poultice she had made for Logan. Slathering a generous layer over Samantha’s injuries on her stomach and back, she set the bottle on the table and gave her instructions to apply it several times a day until she stopped bleeding altogether.

Perhaps the pungent aroma would mask the scent of blood that was likely driving Bron’s bear mad right now as well. Dominant shifters didn’t do well with injured mates. The instinct to protect them tended to consume men like Bron.

Something just on the edge of her senses lifted the hairs on the back of her neck and she massaged it with her hand. From the frown on Samantha’s face, the new shifter likely felt it as well.

“What is that?” Samantha asked.

“Oh, no,” Muriel said, bolting for the door. What was it? That raw electric power that was stirring the air was the warning of two dominant males about to do battle.

“What the fuck is this?” Logan asked in a low snarl. He was standing across the living room from Bron, but that didn’t matter. The men could be locked up in a second if they wanted to be. In his hand he gripped a picture that used to hang from the wall near the office. In it, she and Bron were formally posed as a happy mated pair—a complete farce and all for show.

She rushed to him and snatched the photo from his hand, then tossed it in the wastebasket like she couldn’t get rid of the damning evidence of she and Bron’s fake relationship fast enough.

At least the sound of glass shattering in the bottom of the metal can seemed to pull Logan from the furious stare-down he was having with Bron. “I want to know what that is. Is he the one who forced you into a pairing?”

“No!” She inhaled deeply. She really never planned on explaining this to anyone and now she was doing it in front of her ex and God! Could this get any more awkward? “Bron was my mate, but he didn’t force it. Our alphas did. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“What are you?” Bron asked in a soft, eerie voice. His head was canted and arms crossed, like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

Logan’s eyes couldn’t pass for human at all anymore and were basically glowing.

“What’s going on?” Samantha asked from the mouth of the hallway. “Who are you?”

“This is Logan,” Muriel explained. “He stayed with me last night…well, not stayed with me last night. Just slept with me. Shit. Slept at my house, on my couch, and I’m about to give him a ride to his bike as soon as I’m finished here, and why the fuck do you still have these awful pictures, Bron?” She was panicking and rambling and Bron was staring at her like he’d just realized she was even here.

“I haven’t taken them down yet. I’ve been a little busy, what with the funeral and all.”

“Bullshit. We were separated for years before Trent died. They should’ve been trashed a long time ago.”

“I honestly didn’t think about them, Muriel!” Bron was scary when he yelled. “They’ve been up on the wall since we bought this house and I don’t notice them anymore. I’ve had other shit on my mind.”

A long warning snarl filled Logan’s throat. “Don’t yell at her.”

Samantha retreated to the hallway with an arm slung around her hurt stomach. Slowly, she began removing the pictures from the wall. With a disgusted click of her teeth, Muriel strode in there and helped.

The men were talking too low for her to hear, but they sounded pissed, so maybe it was better this way.

“Is he yours?” Samantha whispered.

“No,” Muriel said, yanking another picture off the wall. “He doesn’t want me.”

“That’s bullshit,” Logan called from the living room. “I do and I told you as much.”

Muriel’s eyes flew wide and a slow grin took Samantha’s face.
He’s fucking hot
, she mouthed.

Yeah, and he was also the most confusing creature on the planet. He was fine with announcing he wanted her in front of mixed company, and he was an eager beaver to get into her panties last night, but he wouldn’t kiss her today, and she was utterly lost on how to decipher male communication.

By the time she and Samantha chucked all the pictures into the office trashcan and made their way back down the hall, both Bron and Logan were seated on couches across from each other.

Seeing Logan made her heart stutter. He’d as much as claimed her without actually claiming her in front of her friends, and now he was sitting on the sofa rubbing his hands vigorously through his hair in a gesture that seemed more agitation than habit.

“I can’t offer you sanctuary now,” Bron said low. “I’ve just taken alpha and my clan is trying to overthrow me. Even if I declared you as an honorary member, you wouldn’t receive any help on my word alone. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Logan rumbled. “I didn’t think you could help, I’m just running out of places to go.”

“Who’s after you?” Bron asked.

Logan shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if you can’t grant me sanctuary here. The less you know, the better.”

Muriel perched on the arm of the couch beside him—a favorite place of hers when she’d lived here. In the last few seconds, she’d learned more about Logan’s reasons for being here than she’d been able to pry from him in the last day. So he was here seeking sanctuary from whomever caused those horrific injuries to him, and he didn’t want any of them knowing who he was running from. But he was running from someone. The thought of someone after him made her bear growl her discontent inside of her.

Logan sighed and slid his big palm over the top of her thigh in a gesture so familiar and comfortable, she sucked her lips into her mouth and froze.

Bron couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from the affection Logan was showing, and he cracked his knuckles loudly. “You mean something to Muriel, or she wouldn’t let you touch her like that. Do I need to worry about the danger you’re putting her in?”

Logan’s nostril’s flared as he inhaled slowly. “I won’t let anything happen to her. I owe her my life.”

Muriel’s heart stuttered with what he was really saying. He was going to leave soon. Whatever was happening in his life was something he didn’t want to burden her with, and she was going to ache with what-could-have-beens when he rode his bike out of town.

Samantha sank into the cushion next to her mate, and Bron dragged her tightly into her side and kissed her forehead. “Muriel, I didn’t only ask you to come for Samantha. I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“Trent?” she asked. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did.

“Yes,” Bron confirmed. “I can’t get close enough to Marsden to ask him outright. I know you aren’t close to your dad, but what are your feelings on him as a suspect?”

Muriel stared at the pines swaying in the breeze out the window. “I don’t know. I keep trying to imagine him killing Trent, or ordering one of his people to do it, but I can’t see it. I went to confront him yesterday to make sure my instincts are right, but I didn’t make it to camp.” She twitched her head at Logan. “Met him on my way and haven’t had a chance to get back out there again. I will though. I want to find Trent’s murderer too.”

Sadness washed over Bron’s face and he nodded once. “I’d appreciate it if you could rule him and his clan out. I have to start narrowing our suspects down. The son of a bitch who did this can’t be allowed to get away with it.”

“I heard about your brother’s death. I’m sorry for your loss,” Logan said. His eyes couldn’t pass for human yet, but at least he was trying. “I’m a good tracker, and from what I’ve heard, his death was recent. I can take a look at where it happened and try and see if I can pick up anything new if you want.”

Bron’s eyes tightened, but he nodded. “Do you have time now?”

Logan looked to Muriel, like she was supposed to grant permission or something. “Fine with me,” she said with a shrug.

Bron’s truck was a two-seater and it was probably best if two dominant bear shifters weren’t shoved into the cab together.

She wasn’t in any hurry to see where Trent had died, but if it would help Bron get any closer to finding out what really happened to his brother, she would play chauffeur.