Alpha’s Claim (Bad Boy Bears #1)

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

P aloma

The shower is amazing, in more ways than one, but even better is the sense that Darius and I have connected on a new, deeper level.

He’s more than the insanely hot Viking warrior. More, even, than a man who can change at will into a bear.

He’s human. Or at least, my definition of human–a man with a heart that hurts.

As I put on another one of Darius’ flannels, a knock sounds at the door. “Yoo hoo! Darius? Paloma?” a female voice calls from the front of the cabin.

“That will be Lana.” Darius pulls on a pair of jeans and heads, shirtless, to answer the door. I follow in nothing but his shirt.

A curvy woman with smooth, dark skin and long, pink-tipped braids throws her arms around Darius’ neck. Behind her, Teddy stands awkwardly holding two large shopping bags.

“Darius! How dare you come to the mountain and not come to say hello,” Lana mock punches him, making her braids swing. Her hair is the same soft pink as her jumpsuit.

“We were coming to say hello,” Darius grumbles, receiving her hug with a warm embrace, “but your mate decided to knock down a tree and challenge me to a fight in front of Paloma.”

“Yes, I heard about that.” Lana pulls away and glances affectionately over her shoulder at Teddy. “He’s very protective of the cub.” She turns her attention to me, reaching for both my hands instead of shaking one. “And you must be Paloma. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m so thrilled to have a sister-in-law. How are you feeling? I heard about the poison–how horrifying!”

“Um, better, thanks.”

Lana is a lot to take in, but I instantly love her. I’ve been lonely as hell for far too long, especially missing my sister, so I don’t mind that she’s already adopted me as her new kin.

“Good. Matthias can heal anyone–even of poison. Here, I brought some clothes for you.” She turns and takes the shopping bags out of Teddy’s hands. “I didn’t know your size, so if you like anything here, and it doesn’t fit, we can run to my clothing outlet in town.”

Teddy still hasn’t said a word to Darius yet–the two just glower at each other behind our backs.

I take the shopping bags she thrusts at me and peek inside.

“Come on, I’ll show you what I brought.” Lana guides me toward the bedroom. “We’ll see if the two grumps can bear-hug and make up.”

I flash her a grin. “I see what you did there.”

Her smile back is dazzling. “Bear jokes have to be your jam when your mate’s name is Teddy.”

“Teddy!” I laugh as we enter the bedroom and shut the door. “ Teddy bear . I don’t know why I hadn’t put that together yet!”

“It’s adorbs, right? And all the cabins have this Goldilocks and the Three Bears vibe going. I love it, but we built something bigger, so we could start a family.” She puts her hand on her round belly.

“Yes, I heard. Congratulations.” I dump the contents of both shopping bags out on the bed. “How far along are you?”

“Fourteen weeks.” Lana sorts through the clothes, unfolding and holding them up with a narrowed eye like she’s gauging my size. “Thank you. Teddy was already super protective, but now he’s going insane with it. I’m sorry if he made you feel unwelcome.” She tosses a three-pack of panties at me. I rip them open and pull on a pair under the long shirt.

“That’s definitely not the case. I think he was just goading Darius to find out if you’re his fated mate. But now that he knows you are, he’ll protect you like family. You are family.”

Part of me wants to reject all this insta-family stuff. I have a family–Wren. And I have to get to her before Thom does something horrible. But it also feels easy. Comfortable.

So different from being trapped in the gray stone tower of Lockepoint.

Out in the cabin, I hear Darius’ voice, but it sounds like he’s on the phone, rather than working things out with his brother.

Lana thrusts a pair of black stretchy yoga pants with wide legs. “These might work. They can double as dress pants with a pair of heels. Deep pockets. Very versatile. Good for travel. ”

“Sold.” I tug them on. They are high-waisted with a wide band that controls and flatters my tummy.

“They look best with a crop top. Here, I think this will fit you.” She hands me a bright melon sports bra with fancy straps that converge in a ring in the center of the back, extending out like spokes. “This is my most comfortable sports bra line, and then you can layer over this midriff jogger.” She gives me a long-sleeved teal crop top with a wide neck and thumb-holes on the sleeves.

Everything fits perfectly and feels like it’s made of the highest-quality fabric and construction.

“I love this, thank you.”

“Oh good. At least you have something to wear until you can shop for yourself. We can head down to my outlet shop in town if you want to look for some other things.”

The sound of the front door opening and heavy boots clomping into the cabin interrupts our conversation.

“That will be…everyone.” Lana flicks her brows at me with a grin. “Now that you’re firmly in the category of fated mate, the whole family is going to want to get to know you.”

“I really can’t stay.” The underlying anxiety about getting to Wren is growing louder. My gut says I’m running out of time. “I need to get back to the East Coast and get my sister.”

Lana’s expression turns to concern. “I understand. Let’s go see if they’ve found anything out about where she is.”

When we emerge from the bedroom, all of Darius’ brothers are present. They’re all so giant, they can’t all fit in the living room. Axel and Bern stick their heads in from the window. A bear–the same one they called their ‘pet’–lurks outside the open front door.

Darius extends an arm to me, and I go to his side. Already we’re a couple. Part of me wants to resist it because it seems so fantastical, so impossible, but it also feels exactly right.

He tucks me against him and kisses the top of my head. My resistance melts even more.

“Paloma, you’ve met Matthias, Axel, Canyon, Bern, and Hutch. This asshole is my brother, Theodore. He lifts his chin at Teddy. “You weren’t formally introduced since Teddy was busy making you feel unwelcome.”

“Sorry about that, Paloma.” Teddy speaks in the same deep rumble as Darius. “You are more than welcome. You’re family—marked or not.”

“That’s Everest there.” Darius indicates the bear.

I wave nervously at the giant animal, trying to imagine what he might look like in man-form.

“Paloma is anxious to get back to the East Coast to find her sister,” Lana offers.

I send her a grateful look. She definitely has my back, and I appreciate that.

“Yes, have you heard anything?”

“That’s why I called everyone here,” Darius says. “We located her. The choir tour is on their final leg in New York. We found out the hotel they’re in, and we have friends en route to get her out. They should be there within the hour. Even though they block internet access, Kylie was able to hack into her school laptop and link her to a satellite. As soon as she opens it, we can connect you through my phone, so you can let her know what’s going on.”

I let out an exhale in an audible gust. “Thank God! Thank God.” Tears smart my eyes. “I’m so glad you found her.”

“We will leave immediately to rendezvous with her. Brothers…” Darius breaks off as if it’s hard for hi m to ask for help.

“We’ll go if you need us,” Matthias says.

Darius lets out his own exhale. “Thank you. I trust the wolves, but I would rather have my brothers there.”

“Bear power.” Bern pumps his fist in the air.

Darius’ phone beeps, and he whips it out of his pocket to look at the screen. “This is it.” The tautness in his voice tells me what it’s about.

I grab his wrist to bring the face of the phone closer to me.

On it, a young woman in her early thirties appears. She doesn’t take time to introduce herself, she just speaks as she clacks keys on her keyboard. “Wren is online. I’m patching you through right now.” The screen goes black, and I hold my breath for one second. Two. Four and five. Then suddenly a video comes on.

Wren stares at the screen. She looks surprised. “What’s this? Oh– Paloma !” Her face breaks in to a giant grin. “Oh my God! How did you connect us? I missed you on Sunday. What happened? Where have you been?”

“Listen, Wren. There’s no time to talk. Thom wants to kill you.”

I hate to scare her this way. I spent years trying to shield her from Thom’s evil, but I have to arm her with knowledge now. “He murdered our parents, and he’s been poisoning me for years to make me think I was sick.”

“What?” Wren’s face drains of color.

“He’s been holding your safety over my head to make me work for him, but I got away. We have friends on the way to get you out of there within the hour. Pack a bag now, so you’re ready when they show up.”

Just then, the door behind Wren bursts open. Wren screams. So do I .

Men dressed head to toe in black and carrying assault rifles spill into the hotel room.

“Please tell me these are your friends?” Wren asks with wide eyes.

I look to Darius, unsure, but the answer becomes clear when Thom leisurely walks in behind the group chomping on a cigar and carrying some kind of baton.

“Hello, Wren.”

I want to smack the smug smile right from his face. “Ah, perfect—there’s your lovely sister. And Darius, my poorly–behaved guest. Just the people I hoped to find.”

His men grab Wren and wrestle her away from the screen.

“Stop it!” I scream. “Get them off her.”

“Now, now,” Thom mock-soothes me. He points the baton at Wren and some kind of taser shock issues from it.

“No!” I scream as my sister slumps to the floor.

“Quiet, Paloma. You can’t throw a tantrum when I clearly warned you what would happen if you tried to run away again.”

I scream at Darius’s phone. “Let her go!”

Of course, he won’t let her go. I’m being irrational. I need to get my wits back, so I can outsmart this maniac.

I suck in a deep breath and then another, but there’s no room to let in more air. Oh yeah, I forgot to exhale. I blow my breath out, slowly.

Thom settles into Wren’s chair and surveys me with a satisfied smirk.

I’m going to kill him.

“Now, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to return to Lockepoint with your new friend Darius, or Wren won’t live through the night. ”

“I’ll come,” I say in a hurry. “I’ll come–just leave Darius out of this.”

Thom’s smile broadens. “No, no, my dear. Darius is a part of it now. The only thing that will save Wren’s life is both of you coming together. I want you there by midnight.”

Darius takes the phone from me and holds it up to his face. His eyes glow amber with rage. “We can’t make it by midnight,” he snarls. “We’re on the other side of the country. But I can get us there by morning—six a.m.”

“That will be too late.” Thom laughs, as if he will delight in murdering a young girl. He probably will.

“Four a.m.,” Darius bargains. “That’s the best we can do. Even with a private jet, the flight will take almost five hours.”

“Drop a pin to your location to prove to me where you are.”

“No!” Teddy roars.

Thom–the sick bastard–smiles enough to show teeth. It’s disgusting. “Who is there with you, Darius? Family members?”

Darius growls, “If you want Paloma, you’ll have to wait till four a.m.” He ends the call before Thom can reply.

“What if he doesn’t?” Fear crawls up my throat.

“He’ll wait. If he hurts Wren, he loses his leverage over you, and you’re far too valuable an asset for him to give up.”

Teddy growls. His eyes are the same shade of amber as his brother’s.

I look around and realize all eight of the brothers’ eyes glow. The entire room hums with low bear growls.

“Let’s move.” Matthias stands.

“What?” I ask. I’m shaking, still in shock over seeing Thom tase Wren. “Where are you going? ”

“We’re going to help you,” Teddy says. His voice is deep and thick, more bear than human.

I rub my face. I have to think, to figure out what to do about Wren, but my thoughts are spiraling. Darius puts his hand on my back, and the weight steadies me. “You can’t…I can’t ask you to do that.” I know they said they’d help get Wren, but now they’ll be facing off with Thom and all his guards. “It’s going to be dangerous.”

“We love danger,” the triplets chorus.

“You’re with Darius,” Matthias says. “That makes you family.”

I don't know what to say. I can only gaze at them all, emotion clogging my throat.

The big bear pokes his head through the door and grunts. It would be scary, except I know he’s Darius’ brother, and the expression on the furry face is so earnest.

“He says ‘don’t worry,’” Axel interprets.

I have the strongest urge to pet the bear’s head, but I’m not sure if that’s polite. So I nod, swiping my angry tears.

“We’re going to get Wren back,” Darius says. He wraps me in his powerful arms, and I let myself sink into his hug.

“That’s right,” Hutch says as Darius’ brothers crowd around me, offering their comfort. “They’re about to find out that you don’t mess with the bears.”