Vega Brothers: Alexander: BBW Paranormal Romance Reluctant Bride (The Bear Shifters of Vega Ranch Book 3) (6 page)

“Come,” he said, standing up and offering his hand. “I’ll bring you to bed.”

Are you going to tuck me in?

She slid her hand into his and followed him to the cabin. “I’ll sleep outside,” he said. “Call me if you need anything.”

Her hand lingered in his as she looked up at him with soft eyes. It was the perfect moment to kiss and she was drawn to his lips in an intense way. She wanted to feel the power behind them, she wanted to feel his strong arms on her body and his muscular legs between hers.

“Okay,” she said, pulling her hand back, taking the moment away with it. “Good night.”

She stepped into the dark, chilly cabin and laid down on the squeaky mattress. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed ever but she couldn’t complain; Alexander was sleeping in the dirt.

She kept picturing him outside, lying on the ground with bugs crawling all over him and she felt bad. Yes, he had done a reckless, impulsive thing to kidnap her and bring her here, but he had offered numerous times to bring her home and she refused. He didn’t deserve to sleep on the forest floor by himself. Even from inside the cabin she could feel the pull to him or coming from him, she couldn’t tell which direction it was coming from. Maybe he was telling the truth when he was talking about the bond between mates. Could she be a bear shifter’s mate? Why not? Ava was Julius’ mate and they both had similar DNA to their siblings. It
could
happen.

A lone wolf howled somewhere in the distance and that was enough to make her sit up. “Alexander,” she called out, feeling a cold chill flow through her.

He was in the cabin at once. “Are you alright?”

“There’s enough room on the bed,” she said, reaching out and taking his hand. She pulled him onto the bed and wrapped his arm around her like a big, strong, comforting blanket. He spooned her as she faced the wall with a smile on her face.

His warm breath was tickling the back of her neck while his strong body warmed her with its heat. The bed felt much better with him in it.

His bear purred, making his chest vibrate against her back. “Good night, bear,” she whispered. “And good night, Alexander.”

“Good night, my mate,” he whispered back as he held her close.

She smiled as she fell asleep, dreaming of him all throughout the night.

six

“Oh shit!” Alexander whispered under his breath. He could hear them a mile away, calling her name: Elena.

It was only a matter of time until his three brothers caught up to them. He had been careful not to touch anything or let Elena touch anything on the way up here to help hide their scents but he did have bear shifter brothers and they were bound to use their noses to find her eventually.

He had been surprised that it had taken them so long. Having mates was making them soft. If he had been in their place, Alexander would have tracked down the guilty party in under an hour.

“Elena!” he heard someone call out. It was Julius. He would be the most pissed. They always had the most issues and it was his sister-in-law after all. It was his guest. Julius was likely to never speak to him again. All three of his brothers might never talk to him again for what he’d done. It might be the last straw that broke the shifter’s back.

Elena was still sleeping in his arms. The voices were still too far away to register in her human ears.

Last night had been the best night of his life. He talked with his mate until the moon was at its highest point and then he spent the whole night with her sleeping in his arms. He bit his tongue every time that he was about to fall asleep. He didn’t want to miss one second of it.

She looked so peaceful lying on his bed with her eyes closed. She took long, soft breaths, making her beautiful breasts rise up and down.

Alexander would be holding on to her until she woke up or until her brothers were kicking down the door, and yanking him off her. He was cherishing every second of it.

She would be going back home in a few days and he would be sent back overseas to fight in the government’s war. It would be possible, even likely, that they never saw each other again. He had to take whatever he could get before he returned to a life with a pissed off bear who wouldn’t understand why Alexander was separating him from his mate.

“There’s a cabin,” Julius called out.

Oh crap.
It was almost over.

Elena had heard his voice and she opened her eyes. “Good morning,” she said with a smile as she saw Alexander. Her eyes were half closed and groggy. She looked phenomenal. Alexander studied her every movement as she stretched out on the bed.

“What’s for breakfast?” she asked as she curled her toes in a long stretch. “Squirrel?”

Alexander’s chest tightened as he heard footsteps approaching.

“Elena?” Julius called out from beside the campfire.

She jumped up into a seated position as her head darted to the open door. “Who is that?” she whispered.

Alexander sighed. “Your brother-in-law.”

“Elena!” Julius said, popping his blond head into the cabin. He took a breath of relief when he saw her but then gritted his teeth with his nostrils flaring when he turned to Alexander. He stormed into the cabin with his fists ready at his sides and the thick vein on his neck popping out. “You fucking cra-”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Elena said, jumping in front of Alexander. “It’s okay, Julius. I came willingly with Alexander.”

Julius pried his hard, narrowed eyes off of his brother and turned to Elena. “What? Ava said you just disappeared into the forest. Alexander’s smell and footprints were all over the place.”

“Yeah,” she said casually. “I was waiting for Ava to finish fixing the tractor when I ran into Alexander.”

“You just ran into him?” he asked, with a blank expression.

“Yup.”

“Nine thousand acre ranch and you two just run into each other?”

“Crazy, right?” she said with a tight smile.

“Yeah,” he said, glaring at her. “It’s crazy.”

“We were just going to head back to the house now,” she said, resting her hand on Julius’ arm. “Come. You can walk back with us.” She stepped out of the cabin but Julius didn’t follow her.

He just stood inside, glaring at his older brother who was standing against the wall. “What the fuck happened, Alexander?” he asked. “And if you lie to me, I’ll shove a grizzly bear paw up your ass.”

Alexander tried to stay calm and control his breathing. He wanted to repair the damage he had done to his relationships with his brothers and getting into a fight was not going to be the way to do it.

“Like she said,” Alexander answered, placing his hands in his pockets, trying to stay as non-threatening as he could.

“That’s bullshit,” Julius snapped, stepping forward and getting into his face. Alexander’s polar bear growled from inside him, stirring and pacing around. He had many epic fights with Julius’ grizzly bear and the scent of his anger was spurring him on.
Not now. Calm down bear.

“You fucking kidnapped her, didn’t you?” Julius hissed. He was flexing his arms and looking for a fight. Alexander could tell that he had been searching the forest all night, they probably all were, and Julius wanted a payoff. He wanted to throw down. “That’s my sister-in-law,” he barked. “You’re going to pay for this!”

Julius stepped into a fighting stance and raised his fists, just as Elena popped her head back into the cabin. “Walk me back home, Julius,” she said. “I’m hungry for breakfast and we can get to know each other a bit more.”

She gently grabbed his arm and tugged him when Julius wouldn’t take his furious eyes off of Alexander.

“Fine,” he said, exhaling violently. “This isn’t finished,” he hissed before storming out of the cabin and walking a few steps ahead of Elena. She turned back and grimaced as she followed him.

Let her go
. He would see her after at the house. It was best to let Julius cool down first. And Alexander didn’t want to fight in front of his mate.

Hannibal and Khan walked into the camp a few minutes later after Julius and Elena were gone.

“What’s this?” Khan asked. “Grandpa’s old hunting cabin?”

“Is this where you always stay when you’re not at home?” Hannibal asked, checking out the roof.

Alexander sighed. “My home away from home.”

“Why was Julius yelling?” Khan asked, sniffing the air. “You didn’t…”

Alexander’s legs weren’t feeling so strong. He plopped down on the log and dropped his head into his hands. “I bonded to her.”

“Oh shit,” Khan said.

“To Elena?” Hannibal asked. “I called dibs on her.”

Alexander shook his head. “What am I going to do? I’m leaving for war in a few days.”

Khan sat down beside him and sighed. “That guy is going to ruin the rest of our lives if we let him.”

“If we let him?” Hannibal asked. “We have to do what he says. You’ve seen first hand what happens to humans and shifters who don’t do as he says.”

Alexander felt his heart pang. He didn’t care what happened to him but he was terrified that something would happen to Elena. And General Samson knew that. His mate would be the first one to suffer if he disobeyed. He didn’t have a choice.

“How can I leave?” Alexander asked. “It will be torture.”

“Then don’t,” Khan said firmly.

The three brothers looked at each other in a tight silence. All of them knew what that could mean although none of them wanted to say it out loud.

“Wait,” Hannibal said, breaking the tension after a while. “Does she actually like you?”

“Hard to believe, right?” Alexander answered with a chuckle. “I know I’ve been a bit of an asshole lately.”

“A bit?” Khan asked.

“Lately?” Hannibal added.

“Okay,” Alexander said, looking from brother to brother. “I’ve been a
huge
asshole for the past few years. It’s no excuse but my bear has been causing a lot of issues from within. Now that he’s finally mated I’m seeing how bad I actually was.”

“You weren’t that bad,” Khan said.

“Really?”

Khan chuckled. “Nah. You were the worst.”

The three brothers laughed and Alexander felt like one weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn’t shared a laugh with his brothers in years.

There was only one missing but after this morning he wasn’t sure if he would ever share another laugh with Julius again.

“Tell me what happened,” Julius demanded for the twentieth time.

Elena threw her hands up in frustration. “Will you stop? I already told you,” she said, exhaling in relief as the main house came into view. They were almost home, thank God. Julius was driving her nuts with his constant interrogation. “I went willingly to the cabin and he was a perfect gentleman.”

“Alexander?” he asked with a furrowed brow. “Did he drug you or something? Let me see your pupils.”

“Get off of me,” she said, pushing him away. “Leave me alone!”

“Elena!” Ava yelled as she rushed out of the house. She ran down the steps and sprinted across the field towards her.

“Stop running,” Elena called out. “I’m fine.”

Ava didn’t stop until she had her sweaty arms wrapped around her sister. “Are you okay?” she whispered into her ear in a panic. “I was so worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Elena said. “I really didn’t mean to put you through that.”

“Alexander had her,” Julius said with a heated voice.

“He didn’t have me,” Elena snapped back. “I was with him.”

Ava thrust her away, keeping her at arm’s length. “Doing what?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Fishing,” she said. It was partly the truth.

“Yeah, right,” Julius said. “She’s not telling the whole story.”

Elena rolled her eyes and turned away from her new brother-in-law who was quickly getting on her nerves. “Can you get rid of him?” she whispered.

“Julius, my love,” Ava said in her sweet, little girl voice. “Can you be a dear and go make us some fresh coffee and French toast for breakfast?”

He held his breath and stared at Ava with his mouth pinched closed. His eyes were narrowed and he looked like he wanted to say something that didn’t involve breakfast.

“Please?” Ava said, batting her eyelashes at him.

He let out his breath and his face softened a bit. “With cinnamon?”

Ava smiled a wide beautiful smile. “Yes please.”

“Hmph,” he grunted as he turned and walked back to the house.

“That’s impressive,” Elena said, watching him walk across the field. He made her breakfast on demand. And not crappy cereal or Pop Tarts. French freaking toast. She was becoming more impressed by her sister every day.

The sister who was glaring at her with black bags under her tired eyes, signaling her lack of sleep. “Spill it,” Ava commanded.

Elena told her everything from Alexander kidnapping her to the nice night that they had shared together. Ava listened with complete disbelief plastered across her face.

“Alexander?” she asked with her mouth hanging open. “The big, mean, burly guy with the bad attitude? Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?”

“He’s sweet,” Elena said. “A little crazy but sweet.”