Lord of the Bears (Wild Ridge Bears Book 1) (5 page)

That should have ended it. Under any other circumstances, it might
have. But, as Simon and I sat side by side and let our bears quiet within us,
he turned toward me and the wind shifted. It was stupid of me. So stupid. Simon’s
bear eyes grew wide again, and he quaked with the effort of stopping the shift.
Then, he moved toward me, nostrils flaring.

“Where is she?” he said, his voice a low growl.

I stood up slowly and put distance between us. My heart thundered
inside of me.

Simon advanced and put a hand down on my shoulder, digging his
fingertips into me. It took everything in me not to rip his face off.

“Can’t you smell it?” Simon said, calling to the others. It got their
attention. Even Cullen came forward. They formed a circle around me.

“She’s none of your business,” I said, though I knew even admitting to
that much could cause trouble. I shouldn’t have come back to the mines today. I
should have stayed asleep for another week or two, when I could have been sure
all traces of Nora were gone.

“What the hell, Jax?” Cullen said. He’d stepped into the circle and got
between Simon and me. He had my back, but he also had the same question.

“She’s nobody,” I said. “Just some girl who got lost. I chased her
off.”

“Then how the hell did she get close enough to leave a scent like that
all over you?” Simon asked, his tone filled with menace. I could lie to myself,
but I couldn’t lie to the others. Nora was different. She wasn’t just some
girl. And now, the rest of them knew about her too.

Chapter Five

Nora

“Dammit, Aaron! You had no right!”

I stood over his shoulder as he loaded my SIM card into the computer.
He’d taken my camera out of my messenger bag without asking me. Now he was
clicking through all of the pictures I’d taken out at Wild Ridge the other day.
He had boundary issues, to say the least. As much as it pained me to admit it,
this working relationship wasn’t working.

I don’t know why it bothered me so much. Yes, I didn’t like him pawing
through my bag without my permission. Plus, the camera was my property, not the
Foundation’s. But, the pictures I’d taken were supposed to be for the calendar
and therefore technically belonged to Aaron’s father, Damon. I’d planned to put
everything together in a proposal for him. It would have been organized,
professional. That way, all he’d have to do was thumbs up or down the
suggestions I made.

“Relax, babe,” Aaron said, and I bristled. I had made it clear to him
numerous times I wasn’t his babe and this couldn’t go on. Dammit, I liked my
job. If this kept up I’d have to leave it. I don’t care what anyone tells you,
it is never…
never
…a good idea to date somebody from work. “You’ve got
some great stuff here. Dad’s going to love it.”

Despite my indignation, that made me happy. The photo credit on the
calendar was no small thing. Not to mention if I needed to make a clean break
from Vista, it would help me land something better. Hopefully.

“Holy shit,” Aaron muttered. He leaned in, bringing his nose no more
than an inch from the computer monitor. I went stiff, and my heart raced. He’d
found the pictures of the pioneer cabin. Although I had every intention of
bringing them to Damon on my own, something made my anger flare again.

Jax.

My lips still burned with the memory of that kiss. It was silly,
really. He was nobody. Just a stranger who’d had the decency to help me when I
got lost. But, now that Aaron saw the cabin as I did, I knew exactly what he’d
think. It was the same thing I’d thought the moment I stumbled upon it.

“Is that what I think it is?” Aaron asked. He whirled around and pushed
the wheeled office chair backward. Lifting a hand, he ran it through his dark
hair. I used to think he was nerd sexy. He wore round glasses that always slid
off his beakish nose. But, Aaron had kind eyes and a devilish smile that warmed
most people over instantly on first impression. It took a while to realize what
an insecure asshole he could be.

“I don’t know what you think it is. It was just some old house I
stumbled upon. I thought it might make an interesting backdrop. But, it’s too
run down and shabby. It just looks drab and dreary. I got a lot better stuff
closer to the ridge. Here, let me show you.”

“I want to see it,” Aaron said. He caught my wrist as I leaned over and
tried to pull the SIM card out of the drive.

The air went out of my lungs. I swallowed the urge to yell “no” at him.
God, I don’t know why I was so touchy about the cabin. I was acting the exact
same way Jax had when I’d asked him these very questions. Nothing had changed.
The cabin was a real find and probably old enough to warrant protection as a
landmark. If left unrepaired for another season or two, the place might fall in
on itself. And yet, the desire to protect it…to protect Jax flared hot within me.
I couldn’t explain it.

“It’s nothing,” I said. “Just an old hunter’s shack. I told you. It
doesn’t even make for a good backdrop.”

“Dad agrees with me,” Aaron said. “I showed him the pictures this
morning before you got here.”

“What do you mean? Without even bringing me in on it first? Aaron, this
isn’t cool. You know that, right? First you rifle through my things without
asking. Then you take my work to
my
boss before I’ve had a chance to put
a cohesive presentation together. We’ve talked about this. You need to give me
professional space
and
personal space.”

Aaron was already on his feet. He grabbed his car keys from the desk
and headed for the door. “Up to you,” he said. “But I’m going back out there. I
want to see that cabin with my own eyes. I’ve got more expertise than you do
about older structures like that. I know what I’m looking at. You don’t. You
can call my father yourself, but he’s expecting more pictures by the time he
gets back from Lansing this afternoon. Plus, you didn’t find a single shred of
evidence we can use against Wild Ridge Mining Company. Did you forget you had two
jobs out there, not just one? That tells me you didn’t know where to look. So,
let’s go back out there and see if you can redeem yourself. I’d hate to have my
father assign the calendar to someone else. But, if you’re not serious enough
to do this job thoroughly, I’m going to have to recommend we contract it out.”

For the briefest of seconds, I wished I had the power to rip Aaron’s
eyes out just by looking at him. Yeah. As soon as this calendar was a thing, I
needed to seriously rethink my current career path. For once I’d like to learn
something the easy way instead of making a ton of mistakes first. I tried to grab
the SIM card out of the computer, but Aaron got to it first.

“That’s company property, babe.” He slipped it in his pocket and
motioned toward the front doors. Glaring at him, I pulled my camera strap
across my shoulder and followed him out into the parking lot.

I was still seething the whole way back up to the ridge. Aaron made
annoying chit chat which I refused to answer. I kept my commentary to little
more than pointing out directions. The idea of going back out there and
bringing Aaron to the cabin made me feel almost physically ill. I was
overreacting. He’d just pissed me off so badly. Except each minute as we drew
nearer, a sick feeling came over me that felt like betrayal.

“You know, Nora, I’m starting to wonder if you lack a certain maturity
required to move ahead in this field.”

I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from saying what I really thought.
“Aaron, can we not do this? Let’s just get the pictures you want before it gets
dark again.” I resisted the urge to tell him about the bear I saw the last
time. I probably should have. But, in broad daylight and hiking together, I
wasn’t really worried about running into him again.

Instead, as Aaron parked the car on the shoulder and we headed for the
marked trail, my heart started to race. It wasn’t a conscious decision. Not
really, but as we headed west I knew I wasn’t going to willingly lead Aaron or
anyone else to that pioneer cabin. I wanted to talk to Jax about it again
first. He hadn’t completely admitted the place belonged to him, but he was protective
of it for some reason. I couldn’t explain it, but that mattered to me.

The woods grew denser. Aaron broke off from the trail. He’d found a
large fallen branch that he was now using as a walking stick. He cleared the
path ahead of us as much as he could. I stopped frequently to snap more
pictures. Aaron got impatient.

“Will you hurry up? You already got a ton of leaves and shit. I want to
find that cabin.”

“Well, then you’re headed in the wrong direction,” I lied. The instant
I said it, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Breath went out of my
lungs. I moved to a nearby tree and trailed my fingers along the rough bark. I
had the distinct impression someone or something was watching us.

“Do you even remember for sure where it was?” Aaron sighed as he turned
toward me.

“Um, not exactly. I was kind of lost when I found it the first time.”

“Fucking typical. Well, I’m here now so I’ll figure it out for you. Do
you at least know what direction you were walking?”

“Uh. Northeast I think.” Another lie. If we kept going that way, we’d
end up at the ridge overlooking Lake Superior…right where Jax had first found
me.

Aaron laughed and backtracked toward me. “You’re such a girl, Nora.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I blew a breath to move the hair out of
my eyes. The comedy of all of this was Aaron. He was the least outdoorsy guy I
knew. He was only in the U.P. for the Vista Foundation. The Spence family lived
mainly down in Rochester Hills. Given the choice, Aaron was more the urban
jungle kind of guy.

“Oh, don’t get all indignant,” Aaron said as he saw the expression on
my face.
“I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I just think I probably should have come out
here with you the other day in the first place. But, if I’m being honest, I’m
glad we’re out here together now.”

“Why?”

Aaron’s whole posture changed. He cocked his head to the side and
smiled. Resting a hand on the tree bark right above my head, he looked down at
me and winked. “It’s nice. That’s all. We don’t have much of a chance to be
alone anymore. I miss you.”

“Aaron, please.” Now I just wanted to get back to the damn car.

Aaron traced a circle with his thumb on my upper arm. I wore a purple
tank top with my hoodie tied around my waist. He slid his finger right under my
shoulder strap as his eyes blazed.

“Don’t,” I said. “Aaron. Stop it.”

“Look, I know you’re mad at me, I just don’t get why. I haven’t done
anything wrong.”

I sighed. “I think you got the wrong idea when I agreed to take you
back here. I’m here for the calendar. That’s all. This wasn’t some ruse on my
part to have a little adventure with you, Aaron. Why don’t we just head on back
now? I really don’t think I’m going to be able to find that cabin. The trees
all look the same, and I only remember roughly how to get to the ridge.”

He moved so fast I didn’t expect it. Aaron leaned down and tried to
press his lips to mine. Alarm bells went off through my whole body. The other
day, when Jax kissed me, everything went warm. Now, under Aaron’s touch, I
swear it felt like my blood had curdled. My heart jumped, and I pushed him hard
with my palms against his chest. Aaron staggered backward, but the smile hadn’t
left his face.

“Aaron, I’m not kidding. I don’t want you to kiss me. This isn’t some
game.”

“Yeah?” He threw his hands up. “Then why the hell are you still hanging
around, Nora? Jesus. You’re a tease.”

“That’s not true. Your father hired me to do a job. A good one. I want
to finish it. That’s all.”

“Right. You really think my father gives two shits about a stupid
calendar? I set that up for you.”

“You what?”

“Yeah. That’s right. This little job of yours is just busy work I
convinced him to give you. How about a little gratitude?”

“Aaron, you know what? I’m done.”

He put his other hand against the tree, caging me between his arms. His
breath blew hot in my face. I ducked under his arms and turned on him. “Let’s
just go, okay?”

“Nora, come on. We’re good together.”

I let out a sigh. Aaron had selective memory. The few dates we’d had,
he’d taken me to Foundation dinners and a fundraising gala. He’d spent the
entire time talking down to me and pawing at me in front of other men he wanted
to impress. Like it or not though, I was going to need to find a way to end
this and keep it from getting as messy as possible. He could make it hard for
me to find another job if he wanted to.

“We’ll talk about it later, okay? I just want to go home right now.”

He moved toward me, smiling. He took my wrist in his hand, pulling me
toward him. It wasn’t forceful or hard, but again, he got in my personal space
a little. I stiffened, wanting to pull my wrist away.

A blur of motion moved to the side. Something came roaring through the
trees. I stumbled backward, my eyes locked on Aaron’s face. The color drained
from his cheeks as a hand closed around his neck and jerked him away from me,
lifting him off the ground.

Jax.

He came from nowhere with the speed and force of an avalanche. He held Aaron
up against the tree; Aaron’s legs flailed and he gasped, trying to tear Jax’s
death grip away from his throat.

Jax turned toward me. Only the tiny ripple of a vein near his temple
belied the sheer strength it took for him to hold Aaron in place like that.
With an even but menacingly deep tone he said, “Are you all right?”

“What? I…uh. Yes. God. Yes. I think you can put him down.”

Jax didn’t. Instead, he turned back toward Aaron with that same calm,
fluid movement. He tightened his grip around Aaron’s throat. “I think the lady
was trying to tell you to back off. Did you not get that?”

Aaron made a gurgling sound and tried to nod.

“You don’t touch her. You don’t touch any woman unless she wants you to
and is damn clear about it. Somebody forget to teach you that?”

Aaron’s lips started to turn blue, but he kept his eyes locked with
Jax’s and managed to jerk his chin down to indicate his understanding. Jax
bared his teeth and let out a hiss of air in the back of his throat that
sounded more animal than human. He pressed Aaron hard against the tree once
more. Then, Jax let him go. Aaron fell to the ground, clutching his neck.

Jax turned and stood over Aaron, his fists coiled for a fight. But
Aaron was no threat. He choked out a sob then took an awkward side step and
started to run.