The Cowbear's Curvy Christmas (Curvy Bear Ranch 2) (8 page)

“Obviously you’re hormonal. When you come to your senses, call me back. Don’t do anything stupid.”

She glared at the phone in disbelief. “I’m not stupid. You’re a jackass, Ben. If you weren’t such an ass—”

The call ended. He’d hung up on her? Seriously? She wanted to throw the phone across the room. What had she ever seen in him? He was a complete asshole. Her mother had set them up, always going on about how she needed to marry within her class, like it was the nineteenth century or something.

She huffed. He was delusional if he thought she’d ever go back to him. She didn’t need a jerk like him in her life. She needed someone more like Mack. Someone who was kind and considerate. They barely knew each other and he’d treated her far better than Ben ever had. If only she’d met someone like Mack before she’d fallen into the abyss of Ben’s obsessive love.

Looking back, she realized how controlling he’d been. He’d chosen the invitations. He’d chosen the restaurants and he’d insisted on choosing her clothes. At the time, she’d thought he was a doting fiancé. How could she have been so naïve?

Chapter 8

Mack fisted his hand and leaned against the wall. He’d only overheard half of the conversation, but he could guess what her ex had been saying on the other end. The bastard was trying to get her back. Mack’s bear roared in anger. If that guy ever showed his face on the ranch, Mack wouldn’t work too hard to control his bear.

A moment of clarity hit him square in the gut. What was he doing? He wasn’t involved with her. She wasn’t his to protect. He’d spent the last thirty-two years of his life single. The ranch was his whole world and he had a responsibility to protect everyone on it. He had enough to do without having to take care of a woman who had her own set of problems. Why was he so worried about her?

His bear answered.
She’s your mate.

Stunned, he backed away from the door. His mate? Could his bear be wrong about that? He’d never declared any other woman his mate, so why now? Could that explain why he’d been so immediately and inexplicably drawn to her? Could that be why he couldn’t get her out of his mind?

He needed time to think, so he hurried downstairs. After whipping up a stir-fry for lunch, he packed a bag and left a note for Madison:

I’ll be out on the ranch most of the day. We’ll talk tonight.

After jogging to the barn, he chose Grayson, a large black stallion. He saddled the horse, then took off toward the back pasture. He had plenty of work to do away from the B&B. The fence alongside old man Wrangler’s property needed to be checked. Normally Jack would take care of his portion of the fence, but since his heart attack, he couldn’t do as much work as he had in the past. Mack didn’t mind. Jack was in his late seventies and had refused help until he’d been forced to rest after his illness.

Mack raised his face toward the sun. It was near freezing, but warmer than it had been in a week. During the winter, he tried to spend as much time as he could out in the sun. The short days and long nights could wear on his psyche if he wasn’t careful.

As he approached the fence, he took in the view of Jack’s property. Hills covered in snow rolled on for miles. In the distance, majestic mountains reflected shimmering snow-heavy trees. He passed a quaking aspen. Nature had decorated the trees with long, clear icicles. Fresh, crisp air blew down from the hills, bringing with it the sweet scent of the natural world.

He couldn’t imagine ever living in a city. A concrete jungle of buildings, cars hacking out deadly chemicals, strangers racing around to their walled-in jobs without a view of the sky. They didn’t call Montana “Big Sky Country” for nothing. The sky stretched up from the snowy landscape to form a dome of robin’s egg blue. A few wispy clouds drifted on the breeze.

Mack’s heart swelled with pride as he turned to survey his family’s property. The ranch had been owned by his family for generations. He frowned. Who would he pass on the legacy to? Brady had his son Jimmy, so he would take over if none of the other brothers had kids.

Worry lines creased his forehead. What if something happened to Jimmy? His surgery had been successful and he was recovering really well, but was one heir enough? He had a legacy to uphold. He needed to make sure that their family would continue to run the ranch for another seven generations.

An image of Madison with a swollen belly popped into his mind. His bear leapt with recognition. He quickly shook it away. She couldn’t possibly be his mate. He’d never really thought about marrying, but if he had, he never would have dreamed that he’d marry a woman who was already carrying another man’s child. His bear had to be wrong.

He shrugged. She’d be on the ranch for a few more weeks. As long as she didn’t leave, he’d have the time he’d need to figure out if his bear was right. He flinched. She couldn’t leave. Based on the conversation he’d overheard, she wasn’t planning on leaving, but things could change. Although, if she did leave, then it wasn’t meant to be.

His bear pawed at his heart and insisted that she was his mate.

“We’ll see about that, buddy.”

After riding the length of the fence, he sat on a log and ate his lunch. He hadn’t been getting much sleep. Even though they hadn’t been sleeping in the same house, he could scent Madison from his bedroom. He’d spent the last two nights tossing and turning, thinking about how her skin felt under his hands. So soft and supple.

A flash of her naked and spread out beneath him brought a rush of warmth to his groin. He shifted uncomfortably as his bear fought for freedom. Maybe he should let him loose and run until the urge to claim Madison passed.

He shook his head. “Down, boy.”

His bear snarled. Mack hadn’t let him out in over a week, which was far too long. Maybe tonight after dinner he’d shift and run through the woods just to let off some steam.

The afternoon sun dipped low on the horizon. His eyes drooped from a lack of sleep. The cold didn’t bother him, so he found a patch of grass under a tree and curled up to take a quick nap. Ten minutes and then he’d head back.

Hours later, bleary eyed and disoriented, Mack woke to complete darkness. He sat up and brushed pine needles from his hair. Overhead, a million stars twinkled against a midnight sky.

Shit. So much for a short nap.

His stallion stood nearby. At least he hadn’t wandered off. The horse had to be cold by now. Guilt brought him to his feet. He’d have to make sure to give him extra carrots.

The ride back to the barn took longer in the dark. Even with good night vision, the chance of hitting a small hole wasn’t worth the risk of moving faster. He’d apologize if he was late for dinner.

As he walked the horse toward the barn, a truck rumbled up the driveway. Odd. He hadn’t been expecting anyone. The front door opened and Logan came out to greet the stranger. The nice thing about having so many brothers was that they shared the work. He didn’t have any illusions about running the ranch himself. He gave credit where credit was due.

Inside the barn, he brushed the horse and wiped him with towels until he was completely dry. He settled a thick blanket over the horse, then walked him into a stall. Three carrots later, he finished petting the horse and stepped out.

Two steps from the entrance to the barn, he heard yelling. As he rushed into the clearing, he spotted the stranger standing toe-to-toe with Madison.

She screamed, “I don’t care what you want. This baby is mine.”

“He’s mine too. You have no right to take him.”

What the hell? How did her ex find her and get to the ranch so quickly? Mack had only been gone six or seven hours. Didn’t he live in Seattle?

“I never should have told you,” Madison snarled.

Mack raced to her side. “What’s going on here?”

“Who the hell is this?” Ben snapped.

“I own the ranch. Who the hell are you?” Mack already knew, but wanted to assert his authority.

“I’m Madison’s fiancé.”

“Ex-fiancé,” she corrected.

As Mack placed his hand on the small of her back, Ben narrowed his eyes. “What the hell is going on here? It hasn’t even been a month since you walked out on me and you’re already fucking someone new? Or were you already cheating on me too?”

“No. I was faithful the whole time we were together.”

“And now you’re with him?”

Before she could respond, Ben held up his hand. “Never mind. If I’d known you were a slut when I met you then I never would have agreed to marry you.”

Mack’s bear snarled. The beast punched against his will in an effort to be unleashed. He struggled to control him. The fierce need to defend his mate reared up and overwhelmed him. He couldn’t hold back his bear.

He fell forward onto his hands and knees. A cracking, ripping, crunching snarl of tangled bones worked beneath his skin. Fur sprouted from his body. His hands and feet formed huge paws. As the transformation neared completion, he threw back his head and roared loud enough to shake the snow from the trees.

***

Madison shrieked as Mack dropped to his knees. What happened next, she couldn’t reconcile. Brown fur sprouted from every inch of his skin. His clothes ripped and shredded as his legs transformed. For a second, she thought she was hallucinating. The ear-splitting roar infused every muscle in her body with adrenaline. Her mind screamed—
run!
—but her feet refused to cooperate. She stood mute with her jaw hanging open as an enormous grizzly bear emerged from a haze of flying snow.

Ben stepped back as the bear approached him. “Wha—?”

The bear stood on his hind legs. Huge black paws tipped with wicked-looking claws raked the air. When he dropped to all fours, the earth trembled.

Madison backed up a few more steps. The grizzly turned and stalked toward her. Her heart pounded in terror. She’d heard of werewolves and had laughed them off as a myth, but bears? No way.

The closer the bear got to her, the more her stomach clenched. Icy fingers of fear scraped down her back. This couldn’t be Mack. But if it wasn’t, then what had she just witnessed?

The grizzly stopped less than three feet from her. Frosted air streamed from its nostrils as it huffed. It cocked its head to one side and regarded her with the same hazel-colored eyes as Mack’s. Was he in there? Did he want to hurt her? Why wasn’t he attacking?

She struggled to remember what to do in the event of a bear attack. In Seattle, she hadn’t ever worried about running into a bear, so she had no idea what to do.

Ben yelled, “Leave her alone, beast.”

The bear whipped around, moving faster than she would have expected. As it stalked toward Ben, it snarled. The second it turned its back to her, her gaze darted around, searching for a place to hide. The bear stood between her and the house. If she tried to run for it, the bear would be on her in seconds.

She chose the only viable option she had and sprinted toward the trees. After ducking behind a tall pine, she pressed her back against the rough bark and listened for the sound of pounding paws. An eerie silence settled over the forest, as if all the other creatures realized there was a predator in their midst.

When she’d finally caught her breath, she turned and held onto the tree with one arm while she leaned out to look back at the bear. Its head twisted toward her. Teeth the size of steak knives with razor-sharp points filled its mouth. She wouldn’t survive a single bite, and neither would Ben.

She spotted Ben inching back toward his truck. Good, at least he wasn’t a complete moron. Fighting the bear would be suicidal. Even though she hated Ben for what he’d done, she didn’t want to see him ripped apart by a monster.

The bear advanced toward Ben. Each step left a huge divot of snow in its wake. Saliva gleamed from its teeth before falling onto its matted fur. She had no doubt about its intent. It wanted to kill Ben.

In a rush of blind fury, it charged Ben. It got within a foot of the cowering man before it skidded to a stop. It leveled its mouth to Ben’s face and roared. Ben quaked as he backed into the truck. With nowhere left to hide, he faced the full brunt of the bear’s fury.

As the bear raised one paw, its claws glistened in the moonlight. One swipe would instantly kill Ben. She couldn’t stomach the idea of watching him die. Sure, he was a complete jackass, but she didn’t want him dead.

“Wait!” She jumped out from behind the tree.

The bear dropped its paw and turned to face her. Even with a space of thirty feet between them, she could see the intelligence in its eyes. Somehow, Mack had to be in there.

As she took another step, the bear matched her stride. At least it was moving away from Ben. If she could distract the bear long enough, Ben could jump into the truck and get away. She’d figure out how to escape the creature later. Right now, she had to save Ben.

“Mack?” she asked, tentatively.

The bear huffed in response.

“Let Ben leave. He knows better than to come back here now.”

“I’m not leaving you here with that thing!” Ben yelled.

“Get in the truck. I don’t have a good place to hide, but you do.”

The soft click of the truck’s door sounded a second before the small light in the cab flicked on. The light and sound distracted the bear for a second.

She yelled, “Wait! Bear! Come over here. Leave him alone.”

The bear looked from her to Ben and back. It snarled in Ben’s direction, which sent him scurrying into the cab. He slammed the door before frantically pressing on the lock. Now that he was safe, she hoped to God he had enough sense to drive away. She had no illusions about the level of human decency he possessed so she didn’t expect him to try to save her.

The truck rattled to life. Headlights cut twin trails through the snow, illuminating the bear. Its fur gleamed in the light as it ambled toward her. She looked past the bear. Why wasn’t Ben leaving?

A second later, the truck lurched forward and spun to the left. It kicked up muddy snow as it turned toward the entrance to the ranch. Bolts of relief flashed through her like lightning. Ben was safe, but what about her?

Using her peripheral vision, she eyed the tree to her left. She’d never climbed a tree before, but she’d sure as hell try it if it meant saving her life.