What a Bear Wants (6 page)

The snarl that came from her really shouldn’t have made his dick hard but it did.

“Having a nice day, Wilder?” One of the males asked casually enough, taking a few steps towards her along with the man next to him. Both were a bit shorter and thicker. Clearly red wolves, unlike Fallon who was powerfully built and purely arctic.

“I was until I caught sight of your face...which makes me want to maim.” One of her hands came up, claws slowly sliding out. “Now which one of you boys want to volunteer to cure that particular urge?”

The bolder of the two smirked, staring at her with open resentment. “We allowed your two pets to get away with that shit they pulled but don’t think—”

“
Allowed?”
Fallon interrupted, stepping forward. “The scars on your face and neck tell me that my
betas
fucked you up rather nicely. You should be grateful for that, Jericho...because had I been there, I’d still be picking bits of you from between my teeth.”

“Tell me again that she’s not temperamental, I dare you.” Maddox whispered.

“It won’t last for much longer.” The other one sneered, walking just that much closer.

Ransom’s eyes narrowed on that one as he determined exactly how much effort it would take to pop his head off and play putt-putt with it. But before he could move Fallon was doing a double tap on the little bastard’s kidneys and bringing him to his knees before she brought her own knee up, breaking his nose. The sound of cartilage crumbling along with the spray of blood made Ransom pop his jaw.

“I’m sorry, Aaron.” Fallon said with a saccharine sweetness. “Sometimes I’m just a bit clumsy.”

The one she’d called Jericho stepped forward as if to reach for her and Ransom went to snatch her away but Maddox stopped him.

“Do. Not. Get. In. The. Middle.” His brother warned him and he understood why when Fallon spun on the ball of her left foot and used the right one to come down on the male wolf’s thigh, buckling his leg and sending him to his knees along with what Ransom guessed was his pack mate.

She gripped that one by the throat, digging her claws into the still healing flesh. “I
allow
you to live, boy. I allow you to breathe. I overlook the fact that you’re inbred, backwoods trash who has nothing better to do with himself than to scrimp and beg and whine over things that don’t belong to him but please do not
ever
believe that you can publicly disrespect me and there won’t be consequences. I suggest you find new stomping grounds really quickly, Mason Jericho, or
I
am going to break your neck in three distinct places and smile in joy when the light fades from your eyes.” Letting go, she allowed the now
blue
toned wolf to drop to his forearms, gasping for breath.

With a deep inhale, she turned to look at Ransom and Maddox who were silently standing by, trying not to make any sudden moves as her eyes glittered from brown, to amber, to the brightest canine gold and back again. “Occasionally I have a problem with pests. As you can see, I’m capable of dealing with said pests.”

“Unh-hunh.” He and Maddox murmured together.

“That’s not an issue the two of you will have to worry about during your stay though. I’ve made sure of that.”

“Unh-hunh.” They repeated again.

“Hopefully you’ll take full advantage of all the amenities Wilder Lodge has to offer before our meeting, getting a chance to relax.”

“Unh-hunh.”

Fallon gave a curt nod before stepping over the prone, groaning bodies of what had to be her enemies and walking on.

Ransom started to follow and when his brother drew in a breath to speak, he held up a hand, stopping him. “Don’t...just...
don’t...”

Chapter 5

“Get up.” Mason Jericho snarled at his youngest brother, gripping him by the collar of his shirt to pull him off the concrete as he watched the headlights of that Wilder bitch’s vehicle fade.

Rubbing his throat, he tried to tamp down on the urge to chase that truck down and...do what? He had no fucking game plan here, just knew he hated Fallon with everything in him. The cunt walked around like she owned more than just the land her family had stolen from his.

Mason’s fists clenched at his sides. He’d had to scrap and fight for everything he’d gotten and something that didn’t even rightfully belong to her had fallen into her lap—
his
birthright. Long before Jericho land—a fourth of Glenwood springs—had been taken from his pack, his father’s father had been next in line to inherit it and so on. Eventually it would’ve reached him and he would’ve been not only an alpha but an alpha with substantial territory to call his own. Because of her family, because of
her,
The Jerichos were low on the totem pole of superior packs.

He hadn’t gotten his father fatally injured for nothing goddammit! That land was supposed to be his!

As a red wolf his kind was naturally smaller but they had numbers which compensated for the lack of physical stature yet she didn’t seem to be the least bit intimidated that Mason’s pack was almost sixty strong, the males outnumbering the females two to one. It was an insult that she’d not only humiliated him just moments ago but she’d turned her
back on him;
as if he weren’t even threat enough to be concerned about. As if she didn’t think he’d have the gall to attack her. She needed to know that he had more than just the gall! That he wasn’t afraid of her!

“I’m going to kill her...” Mason whispered, eyes staring off at something that only he could see—the visual of Fallon slowly bleeding out on her precious land as he stood over her, jugular hanging from the tips of his claws.

“What?” Aaron questioned, voice nasal due to the fact that his nose had been broken for the third time this month. The last time was attributed to that bitch’s pets. They’d caught him and Aaron sniffing around the lodge, looking for weak spots. Running into her today was unintentional. He and Aaron had a hustle going with tourists. They’d sell them some story about giving them a proper tour, take their cash, and give them some shitty, poetic display of downtown before making their way back to Glenwood Springs.

Their pussy of an older brother Brody thought himself too good for any of this; too good to fight for what was rightfully theirs. The consummate golden pup, that one was. It made Mason’s back teeth ache. He hated that fucker with everything in him but there was something about his brother that always made him back away from the notion of challenging him. Brody was...off. He didn’t seem to give a shit one way or the other. There was no black or white to him, only gray. He was content with what he had and that was a strange quality to find in a wolf. A quality that made Mason question his brother’s ability to think and reason.

“I’m going to kill her.” Mason repeated.

“Kill who?”

He snatched his brother by the scruff of his neck, shaking him. “Fallon Wilder! I’m going to kill Fallon Wilder, dumbass!”

Mason almost blacked out in rage when the fucker snorted in laughter and said, “
You?
Kill
her?”

He slapped Aaron in the face.

“You son of a bitch!”

Grabbing him by his throat, Mason yanked him in closely. “She thinks she’s fucking invincible. I’m going to show her how wrong she really is.”

“She
is
fucking invincible! Did you not see the bears?! I don’t think they were just standing around for their own amusement.”

Mason slapped him again.

“
Motherfucker!”

“I have one goal here!” He shouted in Aaron’s face. “And it’s to bring that bitch down to her knees. No one is going to stop me. Not her fucking pack, not those goddamn bears and
definitely
not her.” Letting his sibling go, he started off, his mind already plotting what he’d do and how he’d do it.

“Where’re you going?” Aaron questioned.

“Just shut the fuck up and follow. I’ve got plans.”

***

          “So,” Maddox suddenly said, cutting into the silence inside Fallon’s truck and causing her and Ransom to snarl agitatedly. “Should we be concerned that we may be called in for questioning down at the Sheriff’s office?”

          Ransom watched Fallon’s hands squeeze the steering wheel before she answered. “Everything in me is saying
not
to ask you why you wanna know that and yet, I still feel the need to.”

          Maddox sat up until his head was between the front seats. “Well you just finished assaulting pedestrians.”

          Her lips twisted. “That wasn’t assault.”

          The other man’s brows inched up towards his hairline. “That wasn’t assault?”

          “No.”

          “Then precisely what do
you
think it was because from where I was standing, it looked like assault.” He turned his gaze to Ransom. “Was that not assault?”

          “It was an act of dominance.” Fallon replied through clenched teeth.

          “
Oh...
an act of...
dominance.”
Maddox repeated slowly.

          “Maddox—” Ransom started but his brother held up a hand.

          “Do these acts of dominance happen often?” The younger bear questioned. “Is this a weekly thing?”

          “It happens when I think it’s necessary.” She answered.

          “Unh-hunh...and when do you think it’s necessary? When you feel like someone’s been...
bad?”

         
Her brows drew downwards and Ransom tucked in his lips to stop from giving the little prick the reaction he was looking for.

          “Bad?” Fallon said. “No. But if I think someone needs to be dealt with then—”

          “You punish them?” Maddox hedged.

          “What?” Confusion was written all over her pretty face. “No. I—”

          “Make them call you Mistress and lick the pair of five inch stilettos that you have hidden in the back of your closet before you finally release them from their harness and start aftercare?”

          Ransom rolled his window down, fully sticking his head out as tears began to stream down his face. His chest hurt and the effort not to snort tickled the inside of his sensitive nose.

          “Oh fuck off!” Fallon barked, apparently catching on to Maddox’s ridiculousness.

          “I’m simply trying to learn more about you. I need to know what lines I can and can’t cross with you. Just like the rest of your subs...who you probably have somewhere right now waiting for permission to come.”

          “Oh. My. God.” She breathed as Ransom curled into himself, one hand gripping the center console. “What is wrong with you?”

          The brothers shared a glance before Maddox beamed and said, “I don’t like tense people. As a grizzly, tenseness makes me nervous. So I use my incredible charm to prevent said tenseness which prevents tragic, unfortunate maiming.” His head tilted a bit. “And look at that, you’re smiling.”

          She was and it caused Ransom to briefly forget how to inhale. Her smile was all bright eyes and lean slashes in her cheeks. For a moment he was envious that it hadn’t been him who put that look on her face. Then he found himself grateful for the fact that it was there to begin with.

         
“You were dropped on your head as a child, weren’t you?” Fallon queried, still smoothly cruising the interstate.

          Maddox gasped in mock surprise. “How did you know? Most people can’t tell until I start talking to the voices in my head.” He gave a sad sigh. “They never wanna be friends with me after that.”

          Her grin only grew. “You’re cute. I think you may just survive this week without me fucking your life up beyond all recognition and repair.”

          Ransom’s sibling only smiled. “Your mercy clearly knows no bounds.”

          She shrugged. “Some would say.”

***

          He was quiet...
too
quiet. But not the relaxing, tranquil silence that most came to Colorado to experience. No, it was the kind of quiet someone had when they were studying something.

          Fallon knew she was that something. And it made her twitchy.

          “Is there a reason you’re staring at me Mr. McKenna?” She questioned as silence enveloped her truck once again.

          “Ransom.” He said.

          Her brows rose. “What?”

          “In the last few months you’ve accused me of knowing Satan on a personal level—”

          “Which he does by the way.” Maddox cheekily interrupted.

          “You’ve threatened to rip my arms off,” Ransom continued, ignoring his brother. “Not to mention I just watched you assault two pedestrians.”

          “They were
not
pedestrians.” Fallon growled. “And it wasn’t assault.”

          “I think you’re allowed to call me by my first name.” He pointed out. “And maybe I’m staring at you because I’m wondering if you’ll suddenly assault me too.”

          Her lip curled. “Don’t tempt me...
Ransom.”

         
She heard the smile in the big bastard’s voice when he teasingly replied, “See? Makes your threats just that much more intimate.”

          Fallon rolled her eyes.

          “So, the two men you assaulted—”

          “I swear to God...”

          “—Any particular reason
why
you beat the fuck out of them?” He questioned, bypassing her warning snarl.

          “Aside from the fact that it obviously gave you joy.” Maddox murmured.

          She took a deep breath. “They want the same thing you do.”

          Maddox once again sat forward. “To call you Mistress?” He reared backwards. “Well
that
hand gesture was uncalled for.”

         
“They want your pack’s land.” Ransom’s softly stated comment made her briefly glance over at him, just to find those eyes on her once again.