chapter 44

Mrs. Wilder pursed her lips. “And the time she spent with you, did you keep seeing her as the little girl you fell in love with or as the woman she is today?”

“No. She’s still just as sweet as she was back then, but all grown up. The time we spent together only showed me new facets to the girl I knew. It reinforced what I concluded when I was fourteen. That she’s the one for me.”

It hit him then. He’d fucked up. Big time. Instead of being honest with Nita from the beginning, telling her who he was and how he’d felt back in high school, he’d withheld the information and she’d found out about it.

Mrs. Wilder watched him like a hawk. “You know, I don’t follow society’s rules. I match people based on my gut and a little extra. I’ll tell you this. I know you two are a good pair.” She picked up a folded piece of paper from the coffee table. “Here. And for Christ’s sake, tell the woman how you feel.”

He nodded and took the paper like she’d given him a sacred document. “I will.”

“Word of advice: cut it with the lies even by omission. Women hate that.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, staring at Nita’s address as if he would magically transport there.

Mrs. Wilder cleared her throat. “So what are you waiting for? Go get your girl!”

He jumped to his feet. Excitement bounced in his chest. “Thank you. Really.”

She smiled and waved at him dismissively. “You can pay me back by sending more clients my way.”

He laughed and marched for the door. “I will. I have two in mind that can use your help.”

“Wonderful,” she said as he ran down the hallway. “Good luck!”

Half an hour later he’d pounded on Nita’s door multiple times. No one answered. He wouldn’t leave until he spoke to her. His phone rang just as he vowed to sit by the door to Nita’s apartment to wait for her.

“Hello?”

“Change of plans bear.” It was Mrs. Wilder. “Your girl is headed to your house. I just heard Tally mention it to her mates. Get your ass in your car and catch up to her. She was very angry when she left,” Mrs. Wilder said. “Try not to make her wait. Might add to her already agitated state and get you into even more trouble.”

“I am on my way now.” He moved toward the building entrance with the phone by his ear. “Do you know why she decided to go to my house?”

“Apparently Tally convinced her to talk to you and hear your side of the story. This is the one for you, bear. We both know it. Fix things with her and you’ll be a happy man.”

“I plan to. I might break some speeding laws to get there but I’ll see her soon.”

He ran out of the building and hopped in his jeep. He’d reach Nita and hopefully get her to listen to him.

* * *

Nita drove like a bat out of hell. She finally slowed down once the visibility turned low in front of her due to the large amounts of rain.

“Stupid big sexy bastard,” she growled. “Does he think he can just lie to me and get away with it?” She gripped the wheel. “Make me fall in love with him and not tell me who he was,” she mumbled, pushing back the urge to cry. “He is so dead.”

She’d finally given up waiting around trying to figure out what the hell possessed Ky to not tell her who he was. Instead, she was going to confront him head on. Only thing was the weather kept slowing her down. Stupid rain. Why did it have to come down in buckets now that she’d decided to go over there and see Ky face to face.

By the time she arrived, it was dark. She shoved the pepper spray in her pocket out of habit and searched for an umbrella. There was none. The lights in his cabin were on, but nobody came out. Growling internally at the lying bear, she hopped out of her car. Pellets of rain slid down her arms and head. She was soaked before she got a foot away from the car. The pretty dress she’d worn in order to tease the bear clung to her like a second skin. The thing had probably turned see-through. Hair plastered on her skull, she skidded through the mud and grass toward the cabin.

Knowing Ky was usually in the back, she ran for the kitchen entrance and found it locked. What the hell?

She knocked repeatedly. Went as far as yelling but nobody seemed to be around. Then she thought of the creek. It was possible he was there. In his bare body, he wouldn’t care about the rain like a woman with frizzy curly hair would. Her hair was like a separate entity with a mind of its own. She didn’t want to think about the hours it would take for her to dry it, then tame the ‘fro into submission. That was what she’d gotten from her ancestors: gorgeous brown skin and a brillo pad for hair that took herculean strength to keep under control.

Squinting against the harsh drops of cool water, she turned toward the creek and slammed into a body.

She glanced up to meet a very angry face. The apology died in her mouth. She took a step back, but the guy grabbed her by the arm.

“Hey!” She tugged but the guy squeezed harder.

“You’re his female. I scent him on you.” The guy’s voice sounded low and angry. “I’ll show him to fuck with me.”

She glanced down where he gripped her arm. His fingers were claws, digging painfully into her flesh. “What the hell are you doing? Let me go!”

“No. He shamed me in front of my guards. I won’t let it go. I’ll teach him a lesson with you and then kill him,” the man growled.

A car approached from a distance. She couldn’t see who it was, but either Ky was finally home, or someone was coming to visit.

She tugged on her arm again. “Let go, you jerk. If he shamed you then you did something to deserve it you asshole!”

Instead the guy pulled her arm harder. She swore he’d torn it out of the socket for a second before he dragged her down the path by the baby cabin.

“You’re coming with me,” the guy yelled. “He beat me in front of my clansmen. I’ll kill you and him.”

What the hell? She glanced over her shoulder, watching another body appear in the distance. She slapped the brute but he didn’t stop.

“Ky!” she screamed his name at the top of her lungs, hoping that it was him who’d just arrived.

The man jerked her harder down the path, pulling her toward the river’s edge. She slipped on the mud, her feet covered in wet earth through her open sandals. Wearing the pretty shoes and dress had been the worse idea she’d had that day.

“Ky!” she hollered as loud as possible.

A massive roar sounded at her back. Then another. Closer. The guy hauling her stopped. He shoved her out of the way and she fell on the mud with a splat. Rain thundered and fell harder.

“I’ll kill you,” the guy yelled at Ky. “I’ll do what my men didn't do when they came to your cabin. I’ll destroy you. Your river will be mine,” he bellowed.

“I let you live last time. I won’t make the same mistake twice,” Ky said through the booming rain.

The moonlight allowed her to make out what was going on. A roar sounded from the stranger and he tore through his clothes with his shift into a big brown bear.

She crawled back and away from him. A glance to her left showed an even bigger black bear running toward them. Ky.

There was no hesitation. He growled and threw himself at the other bear. They tumbled midway down the hill and stood. She got up, rushed to them and watched from a safe distance.

Both men were covered in mud. She only knew Ky by size. He was bigger and louder with his roars. He slapped the other bear hard on the face. She winced at the sound of bone cracking.

The smaller bear bit Ky’s arm and shook his head as if trying to tear a piece of him off. Fear exploded in her chest. She wanted to help Ky. But how? She didn’t have a death wish. She was the dépasse out of the three of them and would most likely die for getting in the way.