Authors: Anya Nowlan
Her warm, affectionate revelry was suddenly broken by a peculiar sound. A low whir started in the distance, moving closer and closer with each second. Tess frowned to herself, wondering what the noise was. It got louder causing Jackson to stir, sleep-riddled eyes glancing around him as he was forcefully torn from his dreams. Instinctively, he squeezed Tess tighter against him and laid a kiss on her forehead and then her lips. She grinned to herself. His protective streak made her stomach fill with butterflies.
“What is that?” he asked, voice gruff with sleep.
“I don’t know, honey,” she admitted, sitting up in the bed along with Jackson. He frowned and listened intently, the noise growing to be more than a mere annoyance now. A moment later, it seemed to be almost on top of them. It was then that Jackson’s expression changed, the sleep as if brushed away from him. He looked at Tess, who arched her brows in mild surprise. Jackson kissed her deeply, Tess falling happily into the unexpected but heated exchange. When he tore his lips from her mouth, Tess was almost breathless.
“Remember. I love you. And you shouldn’t let him reflect poorly on me. Sometimes I think we must have come from different parents.” With that, Jackson flung himself from the bed and dragged on his jeans and boots.
“Wha… Jackson?”
“Just come with me, you’ll see,” he said, tossing her a bundle of clothes. Tess bit the inside of her mouth, more than a little confused. She gave a small shrug as she dragged on her clothes, stealing a glance at Jackson’s muscled back as he headed out of their bedroom.
It’s not like this is the weirdest thing that has happened here. God, I love that man,
she thought, slipping into her jeans and rushing after him. Her life had been more than exciting ever since she met him, and as much as she adored the quiet moments they shared, she would have been lying if she had claimed that the constant threat of imminent danger didn’t make the quiet and serenity that more delightful.
She caught up with him on the porch, the man standing shirtless with his arms crossed on his chest. Tess stepped next to him and their arms went around each other, Tess staring with wide-eyed surprise at the cause of the commotion. A small helicopter was just in the middle of dipping down in front of the house, dangerously close to Jackson’s pick-up. Tess looked up at Jackson, who shook his head slightly, half-amused and half-flustered. When the door to the helicopter opened up and two suitcases were thrown out, followed closely by a tall, blonde man with eyes as dark and deep as Jackson, all the pieces fell into place.
The man managed a wide smile as he walked over to Jackson, the helicopter tearing up and off the ground just as he stepped on the porch.
“Jackson! It’s been too long,” he said, a sly, almost childish spark burning in his eyes as he dragged Jackson into a big hug. Tess took a step to the side, barely managing to keep from breaking out in giggles. The way that Jackson resigned himself to the embrace, and the muddled expression he wore, told her all she needed to know.
“Julian,” Jackson said, giving his brother a quick once-over. The younger Arder brother was dressed in an impeccable suit, the garment tailored to perfection. His hair was slicked back and everything about him screamed wealth and success. As far as looks went, he was Jackson’s polar opposite, but they both carried themselves with the assurance that comes from knowing exactly who they are and what they can do. As different as they were, they were incredibly similar.
Jackson pulled Tess to him and she stepped closer to the duo of werebears.
“Julian, this is Tess, my…”
“His mate,” Tess finished with a smile. “I’ve heard almost nothing about you, Julian!” she said, hugging the Arder brother. Julian’s laugh was deep and from the chest, his suit and tie making him look incredibly out of place next to his bare-chested brother in worn jeans.
“Well, Jackson doesn’t like talking about me too much.”
“I have my reasons,” Jackson noted with a small smirk. Julian shrugged good-naturedly.
“Let’s not get into that right now. So, I hear we have a bit of a bear infestation in the Cabinet Mountains. Do tell,” he said, flinging an arm around both Tess’s and Jackson’s shoulders and walking them back into the house. Tess couldn’t hold it back anymore and giggled brightly.
Never a dull moment in Montana.
W
ANTING
H
ER
B
EAR
M
ONTANA
W
ILD
B
EARS
B
OOK 2
BY
A
NYA
N
OWLAN
CHAPTER ONE
Julian grinned widely as he sprawled himself on the comfortable leather couch in his brother’s living room. He propped his feet on the table, taking a trifle of a moment to admire the fine Italian leather. Hiking up a brow, he waited as Jackson trudged into the living room after him and sat down on his favorite leather recliner, the leather patched and worn. Julian’s gaze lingered on it a moment too long, feeling an uncomfortable twinge go through his heart.
I wish I were anywhere else right now…
„Brother! You don’t know how glad I am to be back! Tell me everything!“ he said, spreading his arms jovially. Tess shuffled past the couch and Julian’s gaze attached to her shapely ass. He pursed his lips in a mild sign of appreciation, before a low growl shook him from his revelry just when Tess disappeared behind the kitchen counter.
„Sorry!“ Julian grinned widely, raising his hands in mock surrender. „If anything, you should take it as a compliment.“ Jackson didn’t quite seem to agree with him. Julian was glad that Tess was in the house. He knew he was in for a decent earful from Jackson for not calling, writing or generally letting anyone know that he was still alive. It was only thanks to the occasional piece in
Fortune
or
New York Post
that the Cabinet Mountains clan knew that he was still alive and mostly well. Well off, anyway.
„Julian, no screwing around. Tess is
mine
and you can be sure that I won’t show you any mercy just because we’re brothers,“ Jackson said, the thinnest veil of a threat in his voice. Julian just shrugged at that, feeling his bear stir somewhere very deep within him. Any other werebear would have at least felt the need to voice their indignation at being treated like that by another, but his was under much tighter of a reign than most bears.
„No worries, Jackson. I know my place.“ Julian loosened his silk tie a little and unbuttoned the top button on his shirt.
Besides, I know at least one ass that looks better than hers. I wonder…
The air was far too clean and the sun way too bright for his particular liking. He had left Montana for a reason and it was no small feat to get him to come back. „So, what’s this tragedy that needed me to come back as soon as possible?“ he asked nonchalantly, barely able to resist the urge to check his smartphone. There were stocks to go over and memos to approve, and every moment in the middle of pines and mountains was another million lost. But, family came first.
Jackson seemed more morose than usual, which was saying something about the eldest Arder brother. Julian had never known him to be particularly easygoing, but he had always felt that he managed to bring out the worst in Jackson with his own rather lighthearted approach to things. Of course, it hadn’t always been like that, but life had a weird way of making things happen. While Jackson was in Montana, protecting their clan and making sure there was a place to come back to, Julian was off in the world, scraping together billions and living it up in a most unwerebearlike fashion.
“Ryder’s back,” Jackson said, pausing to give Julian a long look. Julian’s happy grin dropped a little, but only at the corners of his mouth. He pulled a hand through his thick blonde hair and sighed.
Guess I better cancel the weekend Hawaii plans. Great.
“Julian, do you want coffee?” Tess called from the kitchen, her voice light and airy. Julian’s fading grin perked up again. Nothing better than a nice cup of coffee to help ignore problems.
“Sure thing, Tess. Two sugars, please, sugar!” he hollered towards the kitchen, promptly ignoring the scathing glare he got from Jackson. “Alright. Ryder’s back. I assume he came to ‘claim the lands’ again, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t have called me back.” His tone became slightly more cautious, seeking a reaction from Jackson. Julian hadn’t been very close with either of his brothers since he hit his teenage years. He preferred to not think about the reason behind his estrangement, but what he lacked in familial ties he made up for with the drive to succeed and the brains and determination to see things through. While Jackson and Jonah had been looking for mates and settling into a life close to nature, Julian had been travelling the world, arguing in boardrooms and, more often than not, winning. He was a city kind of guy and rarely missed being back home. Though, being surrounded by his parents’ old stuff that Jackson had moved to his cottage did bring back more than one memory – as many bad as good, unfortunately.
Tess returned to the living room, carrying a small tray with three coffees. Julian accepted his and watched her hand another steaming mug to Jackson. The look of love and shared understanding that passed between them made the man in him gag, but his bear take notice. He didn’t think of himself as a one woman kind of guy, even if that was the werebear way. However, Tess seemed like a tasty morsel, and anyone that could make Jackson loosen up even a little was okay in his book.
“Yes, he wants the lands. I assume you heard what happened between him and the Kadin pack in Bitterroot?” Jackson asked, receiving a quick nod. As little as Julian tried to keep up with shifter news, there were still some things that reached even him through the grapevine. “Well, now he wants Cabinet. Or, rather, demands Cabinet. He jumped me with two of his cronies some time ago, and they weren’t playing around. They’ve kept threatening the others, but I think they’re not at full force yet to outright try and take anything. That, or not all of Ryder’s clan agrees with his methods.”
“Did you get payback?” Julian asked, though he already knew the answer – the Arder boys weren’t brought up that way. Violence bred violence, and there was barely any werebear blood left in the world. Every drop spilled was a drop too many.
“You could say that. I figured out that they were getting their money through logging and mining operations in Bitterroot, so we cut them off.” Julian quirked a brow at Jackson, but the older brother merely gave a dismissive shrug. “I can play the sly game if I have to. I think he’s trying to set up shop here now, but nowhere obvious. Must be using someone without them knowing, having his people get cozy with the locals. Some of his clan used to live around here. If you remember, we went to school with a bunch of them when the clans still got along. So the town’s people know a lot of them as good kids and I have no basis to say that they aren’t. A few have outright told us that they wouldn’t join in any offensive, but blood is thicker than friendship. Derek wanted to go beat them up when I got jumped, and I almost agreed, but Keely and Tess talked us down.” Jackson shrugged wearily, looking strikingly similar to their lost father.
Julian brushed the thought aside. He was an Alpha as well and the pain of his kin bit him as painfully as it did Jackson. He’d tried to ignore the call to come back home for a few weeks until it had gnawed on him during every waking moment. It became impossible to work, and he kept finding himself staring out of his New York corner office, thinking about what could be happening to his clan while he sat in plush luxury, out of harm’s way. He wasn’t sure what exactly he could do to help, but he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he hadn’t come.
“So, what do you want me to do? Or, to be more precise, what do you need from me so we could wrap this up quick?” he asked. Julian didn’t pay any heed to the slight twitch that he saw in Jackson’s jaw. His older brother was disappointed in him and he had had to live with that knowledge since one fateful day fifteen years ago. But, he’d done enough dwelling on that, and he didn’t have time for it now. Julian was a man with more things to do than time on his hands and if things didn’t move along at his desired pace, well, he’d just have to make them move faster.
“Honestly, the only thing you can do is
be
here. A lot of the clan have come back – let them know you’re back as well. I know they’ll be happy to see you. Ryder’s out for blood and everything we own, though I don’t know why yet. Something’s changed in him. Something’s got a lot darker. We need to get our numbers up before we can try and settle this, peacefully or not.”
The small murmur that came from Tess made Julian glance at her, smirking at her sweet face as it crinkled in a frown. The redhead was just the right kind of woman for a werebear – there was plenty to enjoy and grab hold of, and he could sense her spirit from a mile away. She was not someone that could be easily hassled, and Julian liked that. Hell, all grizzlies did – nothing better than a strong-willed woman to keep a bear in check. Looking at her almost made him sad that he didn’t have someone to share his life with. Almost. At the end of the day, his heart had been given away a long time ago and she had yet to give it back. His stomach dropped at the thought.