Taming the Bear Collection (2 page)

      
Finally Rain pulled back as far as she could, Rowan still holding her fist. She charged forward, causing Rowan's eyes to pop wide in astonishment. When she got to him she jumped, planting one foot on his chest and pushing backwards. The plan worked, as Rowan was knocked off balance, releasing her hand in the process. The momentum she had created carried her over backwards, allowing her to backflip away from him. In mid-air she shifted, taking on her sleek, black, dangerous form. She landed in a crouch, a low growl escaping her lips.

      
"What in the hell is your problem, girl?" Rowan bellowed. His amusement had now changed to anger as he balled both of his fists up. The veins in his thick forearms looked like they were going to explode out of his skin as his face turned three shades of red.

      
Rain responded with a snap and snarl, not wanting to back down and relinquish any ground. The other female was standing to the side in the yard, her mouth hanging open and her hands up in defense. Past them was Hawk, the alpha of the Skyvale pack, towering over everyone else with his usual stoic expression. However, he had his hand resting firmly on a strange female's shoulders, one that Rain had never seen before. She was short, with flowing red hair and a thick body.

      
What was it with humans and their curves? Rain would kill to have curves like humans did, but instead she was cursed with her athletic body.

      
It was like Rowan and Hawk were having some kind of wild orgy where they fucked whomever they wanted. It was the only explanation for the scene in front of her. As her eyes travelled past Hawk and his new jezebel they landed on another person, a sweet human face that was twisted in horror.

      
Eva! It was Eva, back from the dead and here to put an end to Rowan's infidelity! No, that wasn't right. Eva was obviously fine. What the hell was happening?

      
Rain's wolf was just as confused as she was, leading her to sit and whine rather than continue her threatening display.

      
"You impulsive child," Rowan said in disgust as he straightened up and unclenched his fists. "What is wrong with you? Get into the house and get dressed this instant."

      
Rain was still feeling defiant, not wanting to give in to his commands until she had answers. Instead she quickly shifted back into human form, eliciting a gasp from the two humans and Hawk. By this point Rowan was used to her lack of modesty, accepting her nudity as a peril of knowing Rain. The strange woman didn't react at all; instead, she remained perfectly still.

      
Her tiny clothes slid on quickly, not covering much more than what everyone had just been treated to.

      
"What is going on out here?" Rain demanded, standing up straight.

      
"I could ask you the same thing," Rowan answered, taking a threatening step towards her.

      
"You were hugging some strange woman I'd never seen before," Rain said. "I thought maybe Eva was hurt or that you'd kicked her to the curb."

      
"Kicked her to the...?" Rowan began, rubbing the stubble on his chin. "You're insane. Why would you even think something like that?"

      
"You know how I am," Rain said, her voice still unwavering and her eyes not leaving Rowan. "Who the hell is she?"

      
"Well, first of all, watch your tone," Rowan said, pointing in her face. "Second of all, I'm still pissed you would think I could just easily dispose of my mate like that. What kind of wolf do you think I am?"

      
"I thought I knew," she said.

      
"You still know!" Rowan yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration. "I give up."

      
"Please, let me," Eva said gently, walking up behind Rowan and kissing him softly on the back of his arm.

      
"She's all yours," Rowan said, shaking his head and walking back over to the strange female. In response the strange female reached up, patting Rowan on the upper arm before rubbing her hand up and down it.

      
Rain couldn't help but let a growl escape her lips, prompting Rowan to shoot her another glare.

      
"It's okay, Rain," Eva said, softly putting her hand under Rain's chin and forcing her gaze back to Eva's own eyes. "There's nothing wrong with Rowan and me."

      
"Who is she?" Rain sniffed.

      
"Rain, meet Leena," Eva said, smiling. "Rowan's sister."

      
"Hello," Leena said warily, still not stepping towards the half-cocked and wild youngster.

      
"You're shitting me," Rain said, feeling her knees growing weak. "Rowan's sister, here?"

      
"All thanks to Hawk," Eva said, glancing back at the alpha wolf.

      
"I couldn't do it alone," Hawk said, patting the human in front of him on the shoulder.

      
Rain felt like she was going to be sick. She had just made a complete ass out of herself for no reason.

      
"I think you'll all need to excuse me," she said, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes.

      
"Oh, Rain, come on," Eva said, reaching for her.

      
"I'll talk to you all later," she said, spinning around and running across the street as fast as she could. She didn't stop until she was in her bedroom with the door safely locked, having a good cry into her pillow. Hormones were a bitch.

      
"So who was that?" Leena asked, pointing across the street at Rain's front door, which had just slammed shut.

      
"My, umm, daughter," Rowan said, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish look on his face.

      
"You're not old enough to have a daughter that age," Leena said. "She's only like ten years younger than you."

      
It was at that point Leena's eyes grew wide and then she began to blink back tears.

      
"Hey, now, calm down," Rowan said, stepping forward and putting his hands on her tiny shoulders. "It's not your fault."

      
Eva could feel a stab of pain in her heart as she watched the scene unfold. It swelled her heart with joy to see Rowan finally reunited with his sister after ten years of heartache and blame, but at the same time it broke her heart to see Leena so torn up over it.

      
Rowan and Aster had helped raise Rain after her parents were killed by the demon-wolf Abaddon and his gang Satan's Angels. But that was before Leena had even joined up with them. How could she blame herself for this?

      
Eva started to walk forward to join them but a hand shot out, catching her wrist in a tight grip. She spun around, wondering who it was and what their purpose was. Hawk stood behind her, a somber look on his face. He shook his head slowly, indicating that she needed to just stay out of this moment. She stepped back, feeling a little bit hurt and put off. It wasn't like Rowan was ignoring her for another woman, but at the same time she wanted to help comfort him and his sister. She was his mate; she should be able to do that without fear of having her head bit off.

      
"I know," Ciara said, as if reading her mind. "I don't understand these pack dynamics either."

      
Eva nodded in silent agreement; this girl had only known about werewolves for three days and even she saw how confusing yet enchanting they could be. It was like Eva was trapped in a wonderful world, like none she could have ever dreamed of, but there was a dark underbelly that she couldn't escape. But each time she looked into Rowan's wonderful honey-brown eyes she knew it was all worth it. Unfortunately those eyes were fixed completely on his sister.

      
She shouldn't be jealous at all; she knew it would all blow over soon and they could return to their lives. Hell, Rowan had finally gone out and bought her that big screen TV she'd wanted and had had the cable hooked up the day before. He was making all kinds of concessions for her.

      
Of course she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Then it dawned on her. She nearly slapped her forehead and screamed at her own stupidity. The strangeness she felt wasn't coming from her at all, it was coming from Rowan.

      
The emotional bond they had formed was strong, but Rowan had learned to mask his emotions from her since they had first established it. Right now he was trying to hide his emotions from her, but they were so strong he couldn't hide them completely, leading to a mixed bag of pain and fear that was making Eva feel completely wrong.

      
This has to be painful for him,
she realized.
I have to let him work through this. He'll come to me when he's ready.

      
"We should go," Hawk said, breaking her train of thought. "I need to take Ciara back to her car and then I need to figure out what we're going to do."

      
Rowan broke away from his sister, looking up at the skinny by comparison alpha wolf. "You're gone after all of this is over, aren't you?"

      
Hawk tried to peel away and not make eye contact with Rowan, but the sly grin on his face gave his intentions away. "I will save the town I love once more, but after that it's in my rearview mirror."

      
"Fair enough," Rowan said.

      
Hawk must not have expected Rowan's answer because his head shot back up, his mouth hanging open.

      
"We've all had a lot of painful memories brought up lately," Rowan said as he put a hand on Hawk's shoulder. "I don't blame anyone for wanting to leave it behind completely. Besides, it looks like you have better things to do than waste your life being someone's watchdog."

      
Ciara giggled as Rowan winked at her, sending another pang of jealousy into Eva's heart. She was going to have to get over these feelings. It had to be Rowan's fucked-up emotions that were doing it to her.

      
"Do not tell Aster of this," Rowan said. "He doesn't need to know about Leena's return yet."

      
"I wholeheartedly agree," Hawk said. "He needs to worry about Forrest right now."

      
Rowan clenched his fist as if he was looking for something, or someone, to put it through. "He's a dead wolf."

      
Eva couldn't take any more of this; she had to separate herself from the situation. Usually she could control her emotions better when she wasn't face to face with Rowan.

      
"I'm going to go check on Rain," she said, heading for the street.

      
"Hey!" Rowan called after her, jogging to catch her just by the edge of the yard. "Are you okay?"

      
"I'm fine," she lied.

      
"Are you sure?"

      
"Yes, mister. Go be with your sister. I'll be back in a little bit."

      
"Okay, then." He leaned in and gave her a long kiss on the forehead before turning back to his guests.

      
Eva glanced at them all one more time before crossing the street to her unlikely best friend's house. When she was first brought to Bucklin, she'd felt like more of a captive than anything else. Rowan had been holding here there for her protection, but he was cold and distant. It was a whirlwind few days as she realized how much he cared for her and how attracted to her he actually was. She returned the feelings and realized she had nothing left at home, especially after an eye-opening conversation with her father where he didn't show any love to her at all. But the thing that made the transition to living amongst wolves the easiest was her immediate friendship with Rain. It had only been a week since she'd ended up in Bucklin, but she felt like the young wolf had been her friend for years.

      
It hurt Eva to see Rain so upset and embarrassed in front of so many important people. She had by all accounts made a complete ass of herself, but at the same time she was just trying to protect Eva.

      
Eva wasn't much older than Rain and she still made impulsive and stupid decisions. It had been ten times worse when she was eighteen, so she understood where Rain was coming from.

      
There was no answer as Eva began to beat on the door. Rain was probably holed up in her room, trying to shut everyone else out.

      
"Come on, Rain!" Eva shouted. "Answer the door!"

      
She glanced back across the street. Everyone was looking at her as if she was on some kind of hidden camera show.

      
"Go back to what you were doing," she muttered, turning back to the door. She reached down and grabbed the doorknob, turning it slightly. It wasn't locked and it swung open with ease.

      
Eva stepped into Rain's front room to immediately be met by the smell of days-old pizza and dirty laundry. It was actually the first time she'd ever entered Rain's home and it was an eye-opening experience.

      
"I was never this much of a slob when I was eighteen," Eva muttered, trying not to inhale as she looked around the house.

      
There were old clothes strewn about the living room, haphazardly lying wherever they had been thrown when Rain took them off. Beside the couch was a stack of old pizza boxes with flies buzzing close by.

      
"Maybe it's not such a good thing wolves have tried human life," Eva said.

      
She wasn't sure how a wolf's digestive system could handle that much pizza. In the wild they wouldn't have to worry about clothes or cleaning up after themselves, but Rain had lived within a city her entire life. She was part of a new generation of wolf, one who had never felt the kiss of the night air or the taste of a fresh kill as you sunk your teeth into it. At least that's how Rowan had put it to her, despite the fact that he had grown up in Bucklin himself. But his parents had spent a good bit of his childhood teaching him to respect his roots and taking him on hunts. That was slowly being phased out as the wolves became more and more domesticated. Eva wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She had warned Rowan about denying his inner wolf, afraid the beast would eventually take control. She felt that way for all the wolves; without the call of the wild they were basically just large humans who could transform into a wolf if they felt like it.