Return To The Bear (Bear Valley Shifters #3)(8)

“Hmm,” Nathan said, sneering. “We have a treaty with Bear Valley, have we not?”

“Yes, and Bear Valley wants to keep that treaty.” Brody seemed to want to say more but stood there stoically instead.

She tried again and failed to determine the color of his eyes. They probably changed with whatever he wore. His throat moved as he swallowed and she wondered what the skin there tasted like.

“Joanna,” Anya whispered.

When she dragged her gaze from Brody, the petit woman shook her head slightly. Right. She was probably staring. Peeking up once more, her gaze crashed into his as Nathan murmured something against his ear.

Brody looked grim, daring to hold her gaze. “I’m not interested in mating with anyone, but I thank you for the offer. You have many beautiful women here but I must be on my way. I’m only interested in finding my alpha’s mate.”

Nathan’s smile as he looked back at Joanna was nothing shy of wicked. “I insist. You see, my new mate, Joanna—”

“I’m not your mate.” The words tumbled from her lips before she could stop them. Those false words uttered in front of the clan were one thing, but it cut her too deeply that Brody would think her a willing participant in what Nathan was doing.

“Quiet!” Nathan roared, slamming his fists against a nearby table. He jabbed his finger at her, his enraged eyes daring her to deny him. “Take it back, mate.”

She couldn’t. Not with Brody staring at her, a frown tugging his dark eyebrows down as if he were confused. The entire room of shifters would hear the false note in her voice anyway if she tried to lie. Instead, she gritted her teeth and looked away.

Nathan heaved breath and the only other sound was the drumming of her heartbeat. No one spoke. No one moved.

“As I was saying,” Nathan gritted out. “My new mate, Joanna, likes to watch.” He swung his cold gaze to Brody. “I’ll forgive your accusations if you choose a female and give Joanna a show.”

“Stop it.” Joanna stood so fast, her chair flew back against the wall. “I’m not going to be a part of whatever game you’re playing here, Nathan. He’s come seeking information about his alpha’s mate and you’ve twisted this into something perverse. I’ll not watch him bed one of your clan members at your whim.”

“As your alpha, I command it, so you will.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me? That’s always the threat, isn’t it? I do what you want or you kill me.” Anger rushed through her like a tidal wave. “Then f*cking kill me!”

Mindlessly, she fled. Her anger shattered her until she couldn’t think, couldn’t control herself. She bolted past Nathan and Brody, past the staring clan members and through the door to the darkness that awaited her outside.

How dare Nathan not give her a choice in her life anymore. She wasn’t just one of his groupies that would bow at his feet, happy to bed him because of his rank in the clan. As her alpha? She’d never pledged fealty to that war mongering monster. She had been mistaken when she thought he was her friend by saving her. He’d had an agenda before he became alpha, of that she was sure. She had just been naive about how cold he really was. That wasn’t a gift, telling Brody to sleep with another woman in front of her. It was more punishment because she’d shown another male favor. He was going to make her watch a man she was intrigued by screw another woman to taint her ideas of love and affection even more.

Nathan was ruining her every chance he got. Training her for something she didn’t understand. Making her cold and distant, just like himself. Perhaps he wanted her heart to turn black to match his own.

Tears threatened to blur her vision, but she fought them as she ran blindly.

She should’ve been in a clan with bears like Brody. Shifters who were normal and civilized and politely declined sex, and cared about the alpha’s mate enough to walk into Nathan’s dinner and ask him outright.

Nathan had lied.

Anya had said something about a strange woman coming here today. It couldn’t be coincidence that she showed up the exact same day Brody was searching for a missing woman. But if Nathan had sent the woman on her way, why was he covering for her?

Because he hadn’t. She was still here somewhere.

She sank against the trunk of a great tree, the bark scratching her back as she slid down. She drew her knees up and rested her chin on them and cursed every tear that dared to moisten her eyes. Brody wouldn’t ever know the truth. Maybe the woman, Hannah, was dead already. The thought dragged her into an ocean of churning sadness. She didn’t know the woman, but the loss of more innocent life was more waste in the disappointing wake of Nathan’s destruction.

“Is she here?” a deep voice asked from above her. Brody stood beside her, hands clasped behind his back and his face a stoic mask of indifference.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered, scanning the woods to make sure they were alone. If Nathan found out about them sharing a conversation, he’d kill Brody. The thought brought on a wave of panic.

“I have to know. Tell me she’s not here and I’ll trust you and move on to another Long Claw Clan.”

“I can’t—”

He knelt in front her, hands on her knees and eyes wide, beseeching. “Please.” Desperation tinged his voice.

“Do you love her?” She’d answer him either way, but it felt important to learn what Hannah meant to him.