Authors: Anya Nowlan
Though Ryder and Jackson had not finished what they started, there seemed to be a consensus between the clans that Ryder had no interest in continuing with the conflict. Even if he did, the longer he waited, the stronger the Alpha triad grew. Even more now that Jackie was back. The more Arder blood there was in the area, the more powerful Jackson and his kin became. It would be a hard fight, trying to match him again with his family so close to him. And Callie couldn’t be happier – she wanted peace and though she was curious to know what had put all of the hardships into motion, she preferred to put it behind her if given the chance. It wasn’t hard to do, now that she could finally enjoy her time with Jonah again. They had been mostly cut off from everyone because of the snowstorms, and that was just how they preferred it.
Callie snuggled against him, ignoring the dampness that was creeping into her clothes. It had been snowing for a week straight now, and Callie appreciated the serenity that came with mountains being covered with snow.
“I’d like a winter wedding,” she said wistfully, watching a snowflake melt on Jonah’s sleeve.
“We can have one right now, you know!” Jonah quipped back, kissing her forehead. Callie was just about to start lecturing him on the many facets of proper wedding planning when she felt a familiar aura. Both Callie and Jonah looked over their shoulder at the same time, and Jonah was up before Callie could gasp. Jonah stood squarely in front of Callie, crossing his arms on his chest.
“What do you want, Ryder?” Jonah snarled, his voice ripe with caution. The wounds, though healed, were not just skin deep, and a week was not quite long enough to forget what had happened.
Callie brushed herself off and gave Ryder a long look. The aura she felt now was not the deep crimson and black of an angered beast that she had felt before. It was tinted with an almost indefinable sadness that struck Callie to the core. She knew that sadness. It was the feeling of hopelessness that had come over her when she had thought she had lost Jonah forever. Ryder stood mutely, his shoulders slumped. His eyes were red. Callie slipped past Jonah and stepped towards Ryder before he could stop her.
“Callie…”
“It’s okay, Jonah. Ryder, why are you here?” she asked, her steps cautious as she moved closer to him. The proud soul of an Alpha was clear in his presence, but it was masked under a thick coating of what Callie could only describe as anguish. Ryder exhaled deeply and straightened his shoulders.
“I need your help. I couldn’t think of anyone else to turn to,” Ryder said, a roughness to his voice that came from sleepless nights and perhaps one too many empty bottles.
“With what?” Callie asked, stopping a few feet in front of him. Jonah’s hand slipped around her waist as he stepped behind her. She could feel Jonah glaring at Ryder without even needing to look at him.
“With getting Jackie back.” The way he said it thrust a knife-edge right into Callie’s heart. She heard all the pain he must have been feeling in his scant words, and what he didn’t say was obvious in the way he carried himself – a man without his other half.
How didn’t I see it before? It was Jackie all along…
Callie looked up at Jonah, and though his posture was rigid and she could see the distrust in his eyes, he nodded slightly. She turned back to Ryder.
“Okay. I think you need to tell us the whole story. Come in, Ryder.”
I can’t leave him alone with this. We found our happiness, we have to help them find theirs, if we can…
N
EEDING
H
ER
B
EAR
M
ONTANA
W
ILD
B
EARS
B
OOK 4
BY
A
NYA
N
OWLAN
CHAPTER ONE
Ryder’s jaw squared as he walked past Jonah and headed into the cabin after Callie. He saw the look the younger man gave him, and there was no love lost between them. The scar from the swipe Ryder had landed on Jonah’s cheek hadn’t even fully healed yet. Ryder was mildly surprised that Jonah had even let him talk to Callie for more than two words. He had to wonder if he’d come to Callie and Jonah partially hoping to get into a fight or whether he was truly naïve enough to think that there was still a chance.
There hasn’t been a chance for more than a year now,
Ryder reminded himself glumly. And yet, there he was, literally begging for help from a man whose family he had tried so hard to destroy over the last couple of months and a woman who had all but betrayed him.
The lengths she makes me go to.
He sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace, and Callie and Jonah both took seats on leather chairs, banking him on either side. All of a sudden, he felt incredibly exhausted. It took all the effort in the world to keep his shoulders from slouching lower.
“I must look like shit,” Ryder murmured conversationally, pulling a hand through his dirty blonde hair. The look on Callie’s face confirmed his suspicions. Then again, spending a week in the bottom of a whiskey bottle did that to a man. His ribs still ached from the beating he had taken from Jonah and Jackson, and he had a nasty gash on his leg that would not heal. He’d made the conscious decision to keep away from the clan since Jackie had shown up like the flames of hell on a sunny day. As much as he knew, it was a good idea to not pile his frustration on his people immediately – it came with the uncomfortable side effect of not healing quite as well. Werebear magic was always strongest when they were together, which was rather uncomfortable for a group of shifters who couldn’t stand being in close quarters for too long.
“What’s this about?” Jonah asked impatiently. Ryder caught the tail end of the disapproving glare that Callie tossed in Jonah’s direction and the indignant shrug that the man gave in return. It only took one glance at Jonah for Ryder to know that he wasn’t welcome there. And why would he, after all he’d done?
“It’s about Jackie. I… we… I’ve been trying to talk to her for more than a year. Ever since Bitterroot, ever since… well. Let’s say that I’ve really needed to talk to her, and she hasn’t been very forthcoming with her time.” Ryder could feel Jonah getting tenser by the moment. At any other time, his bear would be bristling with rage and they’d be at each other’s faces already. But he didn’t have the fight left in him anymore, nor did his bear. Instead of reacting, he took Jonah’s anger with stoic indifference.
Would it even matter if he killed me? Would she give a shit?
Ryder shook his head. He’d tried hard to control the morose thoughts that had been swimming in his head since Jackie had given him and Jackson the earful of a lifetime, and he’d promptly gone and drowned himself in a bottle. But merely trying real hard didn’t seem to be doing the trick at the moment.
The battle was still fresh in his mind, though it was overshadowed by Jackie’s return. Just seeing her there, in the midst of the bloody fight, had made Ryder suddenly lose all his composure. It had come as much of a shock to Jackson as it had to him, Ryder thought. While it had stopped them both from doing something they would have ultimately (perhaps) regretted, a twinge of resentment boiled somewhere beneath Ryder’s longing. He’d done everything he could think of to get in touch with her, and only when he was about to kill or be killed by her older brother did she see it fit to show up and grace him with her presence?
But isn’t that what you were trying to accomplish?
“I think you’re going to have to tell us everything, Ryder. From the start,” Callie urged. Before she could finish, he shook his head resolutely. He looked at her, her brown eyes flooded with guilt and compassion. Wasn’t he playing on exactly that? That Callie would feel bad enough for betraying the clan to help him even if he didn’t deserve it? Truthfully, he knew he should have been thanking her for what she did, but that was just one in a long line of truths he had got exceptionally good at ignoring lately.
“I can’t tell you everything. But it’s because Jackie has wanted it that way.” Jonah started to stand from the chair, clearly ready to show Ryder the door. Ryder stopped him with a raise of his hand, his palms grimy from not having seen running water in a while. “But I’ll tell you what I can. And probably more than I should. Hell, knowing your sister, probably even I don’t know everything. But maybe it’ll answer some of the questions you might be having. That you should be having,” Ryder said, looking at Jonah. The younger werebear fell back into the chair with a huff, far from pleased with how things were playing out. Ryder settled back to eyeing the half-burnt logs in the fireplace. The words wanted to choke him. Even thinking about her made him want to break something, and talking about it wasn’t going to be an easy feat.
CHAPTER TWO
In Bitterroot, far too long ago…
He breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell of the mountains filling his lungs. The sun had peeked out from behind the taller peaks a while ago, and Ryder had been up for hours. Spring had been kind to Bitterroot. The ground had thawed out quickly, and life had returned to its pre-winter normal. Instead of the painful bite of cold, the sun was slowly bringing everything to life. He could feel it in his bones. Shifting became easier with each passing day. Just like their wild cousins, werebears preferred to sleep through the winter, though it wasn’t quite as all-encompassing. They hunkered down in their homes, sure, but instead of tiny insulated caves, werebears had cozy lodges and plenty of amenities to keep things pleasant during their time of rest. And Ryder had kept the best company over the previous winter.
He grinned to himself, hearing soft footsteps behind him. He kept staring out at the lazy morning, pretending as if he didn’t hear her behind him, until she was just a few steps away. Before she could jump back, Ryder had whirled around with impressive speed and scooped the small, curvy treat up in his arms.
“Ryder! No!” Jackie squealed as Ryder hugged her against him and kissed her on her cheek and neck. “Your beard tickles!” she squealed, batting at his biceps half-heartedly and trying to lean away from him.
“Oh no you don’t,” he growled, cupping her delicious ass with both hands and picking her up.
She straddled his hips and fell into a long, passionate kiss that made every nerve in Ryder’s body stand up in anticipation. His tongue dipped into her mouth, and she tasted like the sweetest honey. Her delicate fingers raked through his hair and gripped his shoulders, clinging to him as if he were a life raft on a stormy sea. His heart pounded out of his chest. They’d been hidden away in the cabin for more than three months, and he still couldn’t get enough of her. Every time he got his hands on her, everything came flooding back again. She was like a drug he couldn’t get enough of. A precious gem he wanted to keep all for himself.
“Ryder, you need to go,” she whispered, pulling away from the kiss with obvious difficulty. He muttered something in agreement, squeezing her ass and nibbling at her earlobe. She smelled like an intoxicating mix of jasmine and pine. It drove him wild.
“No, Ryder, I’m serious,” Jackie protested as he walked her back to the cabin, slamming the door shut behind him with a kick of the foot.
“I know you are, babe,” Ryder agreed, setting her to sit on the edge of the dining table. She was dressed only in one of his old Montana Grizzlies tees and a pair of red panties that looked ripe for peeling off of her. He gripped her by the hips and pulled her against him, letting her feel exactly what she was doing to him. Ryder caught her in mid-objection, which swiftly turned into a trembling moan. Her nails were running down the length of his arms, and he kissed her again, hard. Every fiber of his being wanted nothing more than to get her naked and adore every piece of her right there on the table. His hands slipped under the soft cotton and felt the gentle curve of her back and the tapering of her waist. She was soft and yielding under his touch, a stark contrast to the hardness of his muscles and the coiling lengths that bound together to form his strength.
Jackie reacted to his kisses, her breath growing quicker, and her thighs clenching around his waist as he trailed his fingertips along her skin and over the small of her back, just the way she liked it. His hand slipped between her legs, and he pressed his fingers against the fabric of her panties, feeling the hotness of her sex. He growled through gritted teeth, parting the folds and rubbing over her clit in slow, luxuriating motions. When he went to pull off the shirt, she stopped him by gripping his wrists.
“Jackie, don’t make me play rough with you,” he said, exhaling deeply. Jackie’s teeth grazed over her plush pink lower lip, and her blue eyes shimmered with lust. She groaned loudly, unwrapping her legs from around his waist and planting her palms firmly on the table. She didn’t move away from his hand quite as quickly, though, and it didn’t go unnoticed by him.
She’s so fucking hot even when she’s pouting.
“I’d like nothing better. But you need to go. You promised. You’ve been postponing this all winter. Your whole clan knows I’m hidden away here with you, but you need to tell them point blank, to make it official.” Ryder hung his head, squaring his jaw. It was going to take more than simple will power to force his excitement down. He hated when she was right, and she was right more and more often the longer they were together.