Redeeming the Bear (Trapped in Bear Canyon Book 3) Read online

  Their mother’s eyes.

  Their father’s terrible size and strength.

  “People have always said it would be unfair if we entered,” Rock muttered. “How does it make us look?”

  “I don’t really care,” Ryland said truthfully. Other people’s opinions had never greatly factored into his life, and he figured that was a big part of his success.

  “So you plan to win?” Rock asked. “Or you just want to live through getting your ass beat? Because honestly, if you aren’t going to shift, you’re going to get torn apart. And if you do shift, you’re going to be an out-of-control monster.”

  Ryland flinched. Monster. He hated the word, even if he knew it applied.

  Last year, somehow his bear had managed to come to the rescue and communicate slightly with his brothers without wreaking total havoc, but Ryland still didn’t trust him.

  “I told you I’ve been training,” Ryland said.

  “To take on bears with your bare hands?” Riker asked.

  Ryland shrugged. “You’ll see.”

  Riker sighed. “This is so bogus. You could possibly get your ass beat, and at the worst, you might end up killing someone who definitely didn’t sign up for it.”

  “Oh, please,” Ryland said. “No one who signs up for the Brawl is an innocent.”

  “You would do this the year we get an ethics advisor,” Rock muttered, shaking his lowered head.

  “A what?” Ryland asked.

  “Well, when you told us you wouldn’t be able to do the administrative stuff, setting up the match-ups and recording match results, stuff like that, we already knew we needed someone. But then after some of the cheating last year, like with the wolf, we realized we need someone to enforce rules and watch for performance enhancers or other infractions. Something like that. And we found someone eminently qualified.”

  “You’re gonna have a dude babysit us?” he asked, aghast.

  “Not dude. Lady,” Rock said. “The best expert we could find in watching shifter fights is a woman by the name of Lea Atherton. She’s been training shifters for competitions for a long time, and she’s seen every dirty trick in the book from alpha shifters. She is one.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Ryland exploded, trying to keep his shock down while reacting to the sheer stupidity that was his brothers. “You’re bringing a woman up here? An alpha female? While there are dozens of males high on testosterone?”

  A small part of him was glad he would see her again, but a much bigger part knew it would be impossible to focus with her running around up here, unprotected.

  “I’m surprised you’re reacting like this. Do you know her?” Riker asked.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “You’re the one always telling us to hire more people,” Rock said. “We got a medic this year as well. And we thought you’d be happy about new staff, regardless of gender. We have to hire the most qualified person. We trust she can keep fighters in line if needed, and the three of us will also have her back.”

  But she’s my mate.

  Ryland scratched the back of his head. “I can’t believe you did this without consulting me.”

  “We can’t believe you entered. I mean, if any of us did, it should have been me or Rock,” Riker said. “We can control our bears.”

  But Ryland wasn’t going to let them risk their newfound happiness for something that was his job.

  “When is she coming?”

  “Should be here in a couple days,” Rock said.

  “Cutting it a little bit close, isn’t she?” Ryland asked sharply. He was shocked by how impatient he suddenly was to see her. “I’m going out to practice.” He needed to rid himself of stress and get some fresh air high up in the mountains.

  “We aren’t done talking about this,” Riker said. “I want to talk to you about your training. I want to—”

  Ryland put up a slim finger. “Oh, Riker, whatever made you think you had any say in what I do? If I were you, I’d get that idea out of your head completely.” He waved as he jogged backward down the steps. “See ya, big bro.”

  He could just picture his brothers gaping as he ran to his cabin to change into his jogging pants.

  It made him grin.

  Lea coming to Bear Canyon was an unexpected event, but Ryland was nothing if not good at improvising and coming up with plans.

  He’d been able to give his brothers happiness. Maybe Lea coming here would be just the opportunity he needed to give it to himself, too.

  Lea stepped out of the luxury car she’d rented to get her first look at Bear Canyon.

  She’d always been a city wolf, and she had to admit there was something appealing about the rows and rows of trees as far as the eye could see, the mountains rising in the distance, the clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds.

  Even breathing felt easier. Like the air was softer. Invigorating.

  She stretched and looked around the clearing where she’d parked. There were only a few cars, and there was a large cabin with several around it that the directions she’d been given said were the staff quarters.

  She popped open her trunk, grateful it was early evening and almost time to rest after a long trip, and pulled out her suitcase. As she walked up to the small cabin assigned to her, she wondered where Ryland would be. Would he be in the fighter bunks?

  She lifted the woven straw mat that said ‘Welcome’ on it and swiped up a key dangling from a leather tab with the word ‘Brolin’ stamped into the material.

  She turned it over in her hands, wondering at her emotional response just from seeing the name, and went to put it in the door, when she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

  She turned to see Ryland, looking muscular and vital, his skin lightly tanned, his handsome-bordering-on-beautiful-face tensed in concentration. His stormy gray eyes flashed with purpose. His brown hair was mussed from the wind and slightly lightened by sun.

  “Lea,” he said. “Good to see you again.”

  “I guess they told you I was coming,” she said with a shrug, trying to sound casual and feeling as if she were failing. “A job’s a job. Nothing personal.” She turned back to the doorknob and saw his hand land with a hard thud on one side of the doorframe.

  She turned slowly to face him, acting unaffected. “Yes?”

  “Not personal?” he asked, eyeing her from head to toe, heating her up. “How the hell is what we did not personal?”

  “I told you I’m not looking for anything more,” she said, reaching down to open the door behind her, making them both stumble inside the small cabin.

  Ryland recovered quickly, following her as she looked around the living room with folded arms, trying to ignore the fact that her heart was racing like it was trying to win the Indy 500.

  “Here,” he said, bringing in her suitcases and tossing them on a nearby couch as if they weighed nothing.

  Just another thing that was unfair about the Brolins. They were incredibly talented and strong. Disproportionately for their size.

  She wondered why none of them had entered the Brawl before. One entering it now just confirmed everything she thought about them. Privileged. Everything handed to them in life, while they didn’t care about the lives their stupid tournament destroyed.

  This was the last year the Brawl would go on.

  She opened her large suitcase and pulled out a jacket. With the change in weather up here, she would need warmer clothing.

  Ryland watched her, leaning against the doorjamb.

  “What is it?” she asked. “Why are you still here?”

  He pushed off the wall and strode toward her, and she felt a little shiver go up her back. Probably just the approach of an alpha male, an apex predator.

  “You can’t seriously ask me that,” he said, cocking his head.

  “I did, didn’t I?” she asked, pulling her jacket around her. “Say, what’s a girl got to do for food around here?”

  He shrugged out of his jogging jacket and was wearing a loose gray tee and fitted jogging pants underneath. He hung his jacket on a hat tree and walked into the kitchen. “I’ll cook something for you.”

  “You?” she asked with a snort. “A billionaire playboy investor? You like to cook?”

  “I always did it as a kid,” he said nonchalantly. “Why?”

  “It just seems… I thought there would be a chef or something,” she said.

  “We try to involve as few people as possible up here. It’s not exactly safe.” He eyed her as he removed things from the fridge and set them up on the counter. “Speaking of which, I have some things to discuss with you.”

  “Shouldn’t I be talking with one of your brothers?” she asked. “After all, you’re a contestant and I’m an ethics advisor, and we probably shouldn’t be—”

  “Oh, screw what we shouldn’t be doing,” he said, sending her a dark glare as he cracked an egg into a bowl with a little too much oomph. He cursed as he picked out the little shell fragments that fell in and put them on a paper towel on the counter.

  “Can I help?” she asked. “I like to earn my keep.”

  “I’m just being nice because we need to talk,” he said. “Listen, there are a lot of hungry alpha males up here. A lot of them are going to be after you. There aren’t many females, and the ones who are here, like my brother’s mates, are taken. You should think about spending time with them, down off the mountain, in your free time.”

  “It’s important that I’m up around the fighters, though,” she said. “I need to be on the lookout for ethics infractions.”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “You need to be safe.”

  She pulled her hair out of the ponytail and shook it loose over her shoulders, sighing in relief as she sat at the kitchen table. There was a small window looking out of the kitchen at the trees and mountains around them. “It’s beautiful here.”

  He sent her a look, trailing from the top of her head down to her toes. “Yeah. It is. But as I was saying, you need to stay safe. If you need to go out with the other males, you should have an escort. I’m happy to volunteer.”

  “If I hang out with one of the contestants disproportionately, it’s going to make people talk.”

  He gave her a wry, sideways glance. “Then I guess it’s good that I’ve never cared what anyone else had to say.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Just tell the other fighters I’m the sketchiest and you have to keep an eye on me.”

  She sighed. “They’re already going to think that. I mean, what fight administrator enters his own event?”

  “I’m not an administrator this year. And it’s not my event,” Ryland said darkly. “It’s my father’s.”

  She felt her face harden at the mention of John Brolin.

  She’d never met him. If she had, would he have looked anything like Ryland? Would it have been like staring into the eyes of her enemy?

  “Yours, his. Same thing,” she muttered and saw Ryland freeze.

  What was that?

  Then he was back to work, smoothly pouring batter into a pan and sliding it in the oven, as if nothing had ever bothered him.

  You didn’t make it in life as a cold-blooded venture capitalist by letting people see your cards.

  “Regardless, I don’t want you around other males.” He took off the oven mitt he’d been using, set it aside, and came to stand in front of her at the table, uncomfortably close. “You took off before I could explain anything after our… interlude. But I had something to say.”

  She raised her eyes to his and found he was dead serious. “You did?”

  “Of course,” he said. “It was different for me. Did you not feel anything when we were together?”

  “Like what?” she asked, fighting back the flush rushing into her face, grateful for her dark complexion.

  “Something special,” he said, looking at her with frank, honest eyes that he probably rarely showed the world. It was like seeing through the eye of a storm.

  He was right. There had been something between them that day, that sweaty moment when his lips and hands had been all over her, her body brought to heights of pleasure she’d never experienced.

  Something beyond even the physical sensations.

  But that part had felt like a free-fall, and she couldn’t afford to let herself slip.

  She needed to stay cold and rational. “No.” She lied. “Nothing like that.”

  His brows lowered and his lips twitched at the corner. He didn’t believe her, but he knew better than to call her on it. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Fine, then. But I know what I felt, and I’m going to make you see it. At some point.”

  “See what?” she asked, resisting the urge to place her hand over her racing heart.

  “That you’re my mate,” he said simply.

  3

  He saw every tiny move in her expression as she took in his words.

  No matter what he felt, she clearly hadn’t been on the same page with him.

  But it wouldn’t be the first time someone was behind in his plans.

  Seeing her again, here in Bear Canyon, made him only that much more certain. Everything about her made his body react. Her gorgeous dark eyes, that smooth black hair, her full lips.

  Protect. The urge was stronger than ever. Stronger even than the urge to make love to her, which was powerful with her scent in the air.

  Well, he’d made his presence known and could see from the stubborn jut of her jaw that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with her. He’d just have to wait. And watch. And fight.

  He’d been fighting his whole life, whether it was against his dad or the monster inside him or the business world where he wanted to be king.

  He’d made his feelings known, and no matter how she looked at him as if he should take back the words, he had no intention to.

  But he knew when it was time to retreat. And besides, he had a match to prepare for and wanted to get some more practice in before sleep.

  “Those are German pancakes in the oven,” he said, gesturing. “They’ll be done when the timer goes off, and they’ll be good with a little syrup or butter or both.”

  Her eyes widened slightly, and he realized she wasn’t as immune to him leaving as he would have thought.

  “I’m just in the cabin over,” he said. “I’ll be out training, but my cell’s on the fridge. Call for anything.”

  “I won’t need to,” she said quickly.

  He shrugged. “Good night, then.”

  She bit her lower lip, torturing him as she gently pressed down on the fullness there. “Good night, Ryland. And as your trainer, I should tell you good luck tomorrow.”

  “As your mate, I should tell you I don’t need it,” he retorted cockily, liking the effect it had on her as she straightened slightly.

  “Ah,” she said, visibly flustered.

  He fought back a grin as he walked to the door and pulled it open. She wasn’t as unaffected by him as she tried to be. She probably liked him more than she would admit.

  Ryland went out the front door, shutting it behind him.

  He smiled to himself as he walked up the front stairs to his door and then paused as he looked over at her cabin, fighting the sudden urge to go back to her.

  He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He had a purpose here. Something really important. He needed to focus on his fight tomorrow or all his effort would melt away like cotton candy in the rain.

  Besides, he would see her there.

  “Last chance, brother,” Riker said, walking over to where Ryland was warming up, boxing the air in front of him. “You can still pull out. We can make an excuse or something.”

  Ryland shook his head, putting in his mouth guard. “No. I’m in it to win it.”

  Riker sighed. “You think that thing will protect you from a bear?”

  Ryland frowned and pulled it out, then tossed it to the side. “You’re probably right. Habit.” He swung his arms side to side, loosening up. “And I’ll probably need to talk, so thanks for the reminder.”

  “Planning to use your wit as a weapon?”

  “Planning to use everything at my disposal.”

  “Except your bear, of course.”

  “That goes without being stated,” Ryland snapped. “But I have a plan. Don’t worry about it.”

  Riker cocked his head, looking uncertain, but finally sighed and relaxed. “I’ll try not to. I guess after all these years, you’ve never given me a reason not to trust you. But this time is hard, man. I’m telling you.”

  “I know,” Ryland said, growing uncharacteristically serious. “But I’ve got this. You have to trust me.”

  “Okay, little bro,” Riker said, folding his arms over his chest. “Did you meet our new staff member yet?”

  “Lea?” Ryland asked a little too quickly.

  Riker raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Lea.”

  She was on the platform where Rock and Riker would also stand to watch the matches with a safe, bird’s-eye view.

  She looked gorgeous with the sunlight glinting off her dark hair, slicked back in a professional ponytail tied low on her neck. She wore a white blouse with rolled-up sleeves and had a thick wool coat draped over her shoulders, also a pencil skirt and heels.

  He wrinkled his nose. Someone was going to have to get her some more serviceable clothing if she was going to be walking around in the dirt like that.

  And what was she thinking dressing like that on the day of a Brawl? Sure, she was safe up there with the Brolins, but she was also pretty much on display for every hungry male shifter in the area.

  Ryland didn’t like that at all. It made him want to punch something, hard.

  Luckily, he was about to.

  His opponent was a bear shifter with half-alpha blood, blond hair, medium build, and a boy-next-door face. He was currently also looking up at Lea with a dopey expression.

  The look of any male observing an alpha female.

  Ryland cracked his knuckles. He heard the bear in him growl and told it to calm down.

  He had this.

  Rock had a microphone and was announcing things, making poorly received jokes and welcoming the fighters who were gathered in rows around the caged fighting area, which was a large circle with a dirt floor. He was going through the rules, but there was no point. Ryland knew them by heart.