Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 3) (13 page)

***

“So, you here for some food?” she asked conversationally as they walked across the street from the parking lot to the café.

“No,” he rumbled. “I’m meeting Emma here.”

She waited for him to say more, but he didn’t seem to be overly forthcoming with his information, so she was forced to ask. “Oh, about what? Is Emma in trouble?”

Gabriel’s mouth twitched in what she thought might have been a smile. “No, nothing of the sort. She’s also a liaison for the Consortium,” he reminded her, though he didn’t elaborate as to why that mattered.

“Right. I keep forgetting that,” she said, tilting her head in thanks as Gabriel hauled the door open and held it for her.

“I’d recommend you staying away from the northwest part of town in the future. The Windglades are not the friendliest of crews.”

With that, he was gone, heading off to the left to sit at a table. Across from Emma, she noticed belatedly, as her friend waved at her in greeting, though made no move to get up.

“Weird,” she muttered to herself, before going to find a table in another part of the café.

“Hey Gwen!” Trestin said excitedly, coming over with a glass of water and to take her order.

“Trestin! I was hoping you were working today.”

“You know it. Most days nine until three you can find me here! Not this weekend though,” she said with a grin.

“What’s this weekend?”

“The wedding silly!” Trestin reminded her, finishing filling the glass.

“Oh my goodness, I had totally forgotten,” Gwen laughed. “Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. Should be a great way to hopefully meet a bunch of people here in town.”

“You know, from what I’d heard, you’ve already
met
someone,” Trestin teased.

“I didn’t mean it
that
way!” she yelped, cheeks flushing at the subtle mention of Russell.

“By the way, Trestin,” she said as the waitress jotted down her order in between her comments about Gwen’s sex life.

“Yes?”

“You can’t tell anyone about that.”

“About what?” Trestin frowned, looking down at her paper. “About your order? I kind of have to…”

“No, not that. About Russell and me. You can’t say anything yet, promise me,” she pleaded.

“Okay. I can keep my mouth shut. Though you had better tell me why,” Trestin said, sitting down across from her.

“Russell asked me if we could keep it a secret for a little bit. He’s worried that if he starts dating me, because I’m Emma’s close friend, that it might upset the balance of the crew and make Evan do something bad.”

“Ah. And you’re okay with that?” she asked.

“I told him I’m not happy about it, but his reasoning isn’t completely invalid. He said not for long, but just while he figures out what Evan’s up to.”

“You’re a special woman, Gwen,” Trestin told her. “I don’t know if I could have done that for Cole.”

“Special, or another ‘S’ word,” she muttered. “Stupid,” she supplied after Trestin made a noise indicating she didn’t understand.

“It’ll work out okay,” Trestin told her. “It always does with mates.”

“How do you know we’re mates?” Gwen asked in alarm, sitting up straight. Russell hadn’t discussed that with her. Was he talking to anyone else about it?

“It’s obvious by the way you talk about him. Also, Emma told me she saw it in you two when you were together at Ferro’s.”

“If it’s that clear to you, then why hasn’t he said it to me?” she asked. Russell had never given her any reason to doubt that he was interested in her. But their connection went far beyond anything she had ever experienced with a human before, especially in such a short timeframe. She felt complete around him, in a way that was almost undefinable in its absoluteness. Yet he had never brought up the fact that he thought she might be his mate. Gwen knew she had certainly contemplated that fact the more she learned about shifters. Was it possible the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind somehow?

“Now Gwen, you listen to me, and listen to me good. They may be shifters, these miners of ours, and ‘not human’ as they like to remind us, but they’re still men!” Trestin proclaimed, sending the two of them into a fit of laughter.

Gwen took a deep, relaxing breath as she calmed down. “Thank you, I needed that.”

“You’re welcome. Any friend of Emma’s is a friend of mine.”

“Speaking of which,” Trestin said, then glanced over her shoulder. “Any idea of why she’s meeting with this guy so much? They were supposed to meet at Ferro’s the day of the fight. Then they meet here? Is that weird to me just because I’m new?”

“No,” Trestin said, her eyes flicking over Gwen’s head to the table where the two of them were sitting. “No, it’s weird to me too. But Emma won’t talk about it.”

“I hope everything’s okay,” Gwen said uneasily. “Emma is usually okay telling me everything, but she hasn’t made any mention whatsoever of this Gabriel guy and why she’s meeting with him.”

“I don’t like it either,” Trestin said, frowning. “But right now all I can do is get your food out real quick. We can pester Emma for information later.”

Gwen nodded, but she couldn’t shake it. Something was going on. Something serious.

Russell

“What is it?” Gwen asked, staring back at him from the passenger seat of his truck as they sat in the parking lot in front of the venue for the wedding and reception.

Garrett had wanted to hold it at the Ridgeback Lodge, but Emma had convinced him that that was a
bad
idea. There were going to be a lot of people at that wedding, at least as far as gatherings in Origin went. She had invited family from out of town, and a number of bear shifters were going to be in attendance as well. So she had said firmly and without any room for argument that they were going to hold it at the Lionshead Mining Consortium head office downtown. There was a banquet hall there for corporate events that would hold the number of people they had coming. In addition, the clear reminder to the shifters of how close they were to LMC would hopefully keep them all in line. None of which did anything to distract Russell from the woman across from him.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look?” he asked.

“About a half a dozen times or so.” Gwen blushed. “But one more wouldn’t hurt.”

“Just stunning,” he said, blindly reaching out with his hand to open the door. “The most beautiful woman here,” he said firmly, then added, “though I’ll never tell Emma that.”

Gwen closed her eyes as she laughed softly. “That’s probably for the best.” Then she went for her own door handle.

“No! Wait,” Russell said in a rush, then ran around to the other side of the vehicle.

“Let me,” he said suavely as he opened the door for her and extended an arm to help balance her as she emerged. Gwen didn’t need it, but he wanted to treat her well.

“What are you doing?” she asked him as she got her feet on the ground.

“I thought I was being chivalrous,” he said, confused. What had he done wrong? “Was I wrong in thinking so?”

“No, you were, you big dummy,” she said, laughing at him. “I just meant, why? People can see what you’re doing. They’re going to know about you and me,” she said, pointedly looking down at the way he had purposefully placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.

“Good,” he rumbled, anger at anyone who might say anything bad about that entering his voice. “Let them all see that I’m with the woman I care for deeply.”

Her head rested gently on his side for a moment. She kissed his shoulder lightly, looking up at him after with a smile. “I really like you too,” she told him, interpreting his comment correctly.

His heart skipped a beat at the depth of emotion behind her words. She was so utterly perfect for him it almost hurt.

“You’re sure that this won’t cause a scene though?” she asked after a moment.

“I think even Evan knows better than that,” he said. “Besides, you’re my girl, and that’s that. I was stupid to even consider hiding that fact. Evan is a grown adult, and if he makes stupid decisions, well... I’ve bailed him out of the fire enough times. Perhaps he needs to get burned once as a wakeup call. I know it’s rude, but I have my own life to live and things I need to be focusing on instead of him.”

Gwen looked up at him. “Thank you,” she said, reaching up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

He growled contentedly. “I like when you do that,” he told her in a moment of emotion.

“You’re going to like what I do in a bit even more.” She was practically purring in his ear by the time she finished speaking.

He tried to turn and look at her, but she pulled away from him with a smirk and walked energetically toward the doors, tugging him along after. “Come on! We can’t be late.”

“We’re half an hour early and fifty feet from our seats,” he grumbled good-naturedly, keeping pace with her as they walked.

Gwen just laughed at him. God he loved that woman.

You should tell her that,
his inner voice said, speaking up. Russell nodded mentally.

He planned on it.

Darren and Joel were waiting outside the building as they approached. The two shifters were attending solo, not having bothered to find dates. As he approached, Gwen still at his side, Russell braced for the reaction.

“Hey hey! Look at this. Who’s the beautiful girl in blue, Russ?” Darren said with a grin, sticking his hand out in greeting.

“Darren, Joel, I think you both know Gwen, but just in case, this is Gwen.” Introductions and handshakes went around, with the other two shifters giving Gwen a quick hug.

“You’re the girl from Ferro’s that never talks to anyone but Russell, right?” Darren teased.

“He was the only one with the courage to come and talk to me,” she shot right back.

Russell stared at her in shock for a moment before letting out a quick, sharp bark of laughter and pulling her in tight as he smiled broadly at his crewmates.

“Right. Something like that at least,” Joel snickered. “Well, it’s good to see you two finally out in the open.”

“What do you mean?” Gwen asked.

Russell wondered if perhaps their efforts at concealment hadn’t been completely successful. They had tried hard, but after having sex for the first time, Russell had found himself sneaking off every day between then and the wedding. Although it had only been four days, his absence had to have been noted he thought. He hadn’t realized they would know where he had been, however.

“Russell couldn’t keep his eyes off of you every time we’ve been at Ferro’s working,” Darren supplied as the quartet moved inside for the ceremony.

“You don’t say,” she said, looking up at the large, normally stoic man at her side, who just may have been blushing a little bit. “How interesting to know.”

Now he was definitely blushing.

“Well, let’s take our seats, shall we?” she said. Corey, who was acting as one of the ushers, pointed them toward the groom’s side.

Gwen hesitated, unsure.

“What is it?” Russell asked, sensing her unease.

“Nothing serious, but I just feel like I should be sitting on Emma’s side. I mean, it’s not a big deal, but—”

Russell cut her off. “Yes, it is.” He turned and guided her toward a row of seats on the bride’s side. “There are plenty of seats for everyone. You’re her best friend. No arguments.”

“Okay,” she said meekly, giving his hand a squeeze as they sat down and waited for the ceremony to start.

Russell didn’t respond. He was staring over her head.

“Russell?” she prompted. When he still didn’t acknowledge her, she poked him in the chest.

“Hmm? Yes?” he said distractedly.

“What was that all about?” she asked lightly.

“Oh, sorry,” he mumbled, still trying to focus back on her. “Evan is here, and he’s been staring angrily at me ever since he noticed you by my side.”

He knew Gwen would want to turn around and stare, so it pleasantly surprised him when she didn’t. Her next move, he realized quickly, was cold and calculating, telling Evan to fuck off without ever having made eye contact. With Russell’s left arm outstretched on the back of her chair, she had an open path to him. Gwen took it, snuggling in tight against his chest and shoulder, planting a kiss on his neck before sitting still. At which point he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close, while he continued to meet Evan’s anger-filled eyes.

Oh she was good. Really, really good. Russell wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but that would have to wait until they were somewhere private. He didn’t want to cause a scene that might upstage Emma. It may be a low-key wedding, but he was smarter than that.

A sigh of contentment slipped from Gwen’s mouth just as the first few bars of music began to play over the speakers. The two of them turned in their chairs—they weren’t in a church, so everyone was seated in folding chairs—to watch the wedding. Down the aisle came Ajax, dressed in a rather dashing gray suit complete with black bowtie. He was paired with Trestin, who wore a simple dark blue off-the-shoulder dress that hung down just past her knees. It was gorgeous without being a centerpiece.

It was a small wedding, as Emma had explained to him, and those were the only people up there to stand with them. He knew that Gwen should have been up there next to Emma, but after not being in contact for months as she dealt with the double blow of losing both her parents, planning for it had been impossible. Next, he watched as Garrett strode down the aisle, long, confident strides bringing him up to Ajax. The two shook hands firmly. Then, before turning around, she noticed Garrett’s shoulders rise and fall rapidly twice.

“You should be up there,” Gwen whispered into his ear, so softly no one else would hear.

“It would help. He’s nervous,”
Russell said softly, a chuckle in his voice to disguise the stab of pain. His brother was nervous. He focused on that, and not the other feelings.

His brother.

It was nice to finally begin to think in those terms once again. After having forced himself to live a lie for almost four months, it was going to be so nice to share everything with him again. He knew Garrett might not remember, but at least he would know that he had someone who cared for him close by.

“Spending your life with someone is a big commitment,” she replied.

“Perhaps,” he agreed, then gave her hand a squeeze. “But it sure makes it easier having the right person by your side.”

Squeeze.

She looked up at him sharply, but Russell focused his gaze at the back of the hall, where Emma was just emerging from a set of double doors as her wedding song began to play over the speakers, announcing her arrival to everyone. Although he didn’t recognize it, he thanked Emma for not choosing Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” that seemed to be played all the time.

Emma looked beautiful, he had to admit. Like the rest of the ceremony, it was a very simple white dress which had lace here and there and hung down to the floor, without having a massive train to it. The lack of over-the-top styling seemed to agree with her, because Russell could have sworn that she was practically glowing as she walked down the aisle. Or, it could have been the fact that awaiting her was Garrett, in a black suit with white dress shirt and a richly colored green tie, representing his crew. The same tie that Russell, Corey, and all the rest of the Ridgebacks were wearing.

Family, he thought. Hell, even Evan was wearing one.

Their ceremony passed quickly. Neither Garrett nor Emma wanted anything big or ostentatious, but they had wanted a formal ceremony to celebrate. Mostly, as Emma had told him at one point during the planning, “they wanted to party with our friends.”

“That was really nice,” Russell said as they stood up to exit the hall where the ceremony was held. The adjoining room would host the reception so that they didn’t have to wait in between ceremony and food.

“It was,” she agreed, still holding his hand in front of everyone, and loving it.

They stood at the doors, allowing others to enter first.

“What?” he asked as Gwen suddenly tugged at his hand.

“Come on,” she said urgently, her black dress swishing as her legs pumped, carrying her away from the reception hall.

“Where are we going?” he asked, confused.

“Emma’s office,” she stated, like he should have known.

“Okay?”

“She said we could, um, use it,” Gwen said, her cheeks blushing red quickly and rather violently.

Russell’s steps lengthened immediately, pulling him alongside her. “You asked your friend if we could fuck in her office?” he hissed in astonishment at her forthrightness. They turned a corner, leaving the wedding guests behind as they descended further into the Mining Consortium offices that were empty and dark on the weekend.

“Well, maybe not in so many words,” Gwen admitted, “But close enough!”

“Holy shit,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re perfect. I love you.”

He had expected her to stop and be astonished, possibly get somewhat emotional while telling him she loved him too, and then kiss him.

Russell could not have been more wrong.

“I love you too, you giant piece of perfection. Now,” she said, looking back over at him with a grin, “Come show me
just
how much you love me.” She twisted the handle of the door in front of her and led them in to the office labeled
Ms. Labelle - Liaison
, Emma’s maiden name penciled in white on it.

“Yes ma’am,” he said, closing the door behind him.

He hadn’t even locked it before he felt her hands snake around his broad chest, quickly making their way south, grabbing onto his rapidly hardening cock as best she could through his pants.

“You need to lose these. Now,” she commanded.

He finished turning and looked at her. “Now listen here you minx, if I’m going to be getting naked, so are you,” he told her.

“Too much effort to put it back on, sorry buster,” she laughed, though she hiked up her dress and sat back onto the desk in the room. “Think you can manage me like this?”

Russell growled, his hands swiftly undoing his pants, showing her the evidence that he thought he could.

Stepping forward awkwardly with his pants around his ankles, he grabbed her chin and pulled her close. “You aren’t getting away without kissing me,” he told her firmly.