Bhric wandered down Main Street toward Sienna's bakery where everyone had congregated to celebrate and were waiting his arrival. Apparently a lot had happened while he'd been away. A new human had moved in and Calder took her as his mate. That had definitely come out of left field.
That lone ass bear had gotten attached to Niki early on and Bhric had it half in his head that the attachment might cause them all trouble down the road. He was relieved that wouldn't be the case.
Then there was Greer. That little shit up and walked away from a mission to find a missing shifter when he found his woman down in South Carolina. They'd gone off on an extended honeymoon and had just finally returned to Deals Gap. Not that he really minded him not pursuing the other shifter all that much. The search for the missing woman had been half hearted at best on his part back then and he didn't disagree with Greer's position that the shifter deserved the life she wanted without his interference.
Unlike the elders that ran the nearby wolf and cougar clans, and technically controlled the neutral zone, Bhric silently refused to succumb to all of their rules and regulations. Oh sure on the outside, it kind of looked like they were following along. They took their marks that identified them as hybrids, and he kept his eye on them in case there was trouble.
But the reality of it was that they were not under clan control. He ran this town as he saw fit. With a lot of help from his guys.
He shoved his hands in his pocket and frowned. He'd been away a lot lately and his crew was beginning to notice. Tensions were running unusually high between the clans and the outlying rogue packs. His guys had questions he didn't want to answer. Not yet.
The beast crawled under his skin and Bhric growled a low warning. His plan to stay in total control of the animal was not an easy feat and seemed to grow harder and harder with each passing day.
Hell, who was he kidding? He did not have as much control as he thought and the more he tried to deny his beast the harder this mental bout got.
Fucker.
He stopped in front of the Sweet Retreat window and tried to refocus on what was right in front of him instead of things he couldn't have yet. Sienna kept a mouth-watering assortment of cookies, cupcakes and her now famous bear claws on display at all times. Fur pushed at his skin as his other half balked at him.
"I know. I know. We don't give a shit about baked goods. There's only one sweet treat you want and she lives on the other side of the mountains where she happens to be safe from our bullshit." At least that's what he told himself to sleep at night.
Until he fixed some of these shifter problems, he had to leave her be. "I don't think it will be too much longer." He spoke the words out loud to make them more forceful and in the hopes he would believe them more. "We've got to finish what we started with the Blackwood pack first."
The untimely death of the rogue pack's alpha at the hands of Calder had complicated matters. Not that the bear wasn't justified. Any man or beast who goes after a mate deserves whatever he gets.
Justified or not, the act came with consequences. Now instead of focusing on Simon's undercover research in their midst, they had much larger problems to contend with. Namely, who would win control of the pack.
Luke was about the only one he could tolerate and that was only on a good day. They were all pains in his ass. The full bloods all thought they deserved to be in charge.
But a couple of the wolves making moves were beyond dangerous. They were reckless and stupid as well. That combination alone could land them all in a war they weren't ready for.
With the peace treaty between the wolves and cougars tenuous at best, it wouldn't take much to push the tension to a breaking point. The elder council continued to hold onto tradition and antiquated beliefs with a chokehold and there were plenty of hybrids willing and able to take up a battle against their bullshit.
Bhric turned away from the window of the bakery and headed back down Main Street in the direction of Dark Moon, the bar he'd turned into a home.
His guys were happy right now. Dean, Gage, Greer and Calder had all taken mates. That left him the pissed off asshole still living in denial. They could wait a while longer before he spoiled their fun with the reality of what was coming and his foul mood.
Minutes later he was closed in his office and unscrewing the cap from a bottle of whiskey he'd pilfered from the bar downstairs on his way in. If nothing else, he could drink his beast into submission. That got him a vicious growl in his head that made his temples pound.
"Shut the fuck up."
Before he could get too far with the booze and his internal fight, his phone buzzed. He reached into his pocket and fished it out. The screen read Calder.
Probably calling to find out where he was. Bhric debated not answering and then pictured the entire gaggle of his extended family invading his office instead.
Fuck that.
Instead of declining the call he pressed answer and growled into the phone, "What?"
Yep, he was surly and that was Calder's problem not his. He had a bottle of whiskey waiting for him and he didn't like being interrupted.
"You need to get over to Sienna's place. We've got a problem."
Bhric rubbed his temples, not ready to deal with more problems. But the serious edge in the bear's voice made his body go rigid. He wasn't going to like this. At all.
"On my way." He didn't bother asking for details. It would only take him a few minutes to return to the bakery and he got the impression that getting there was more important than talking about it. At least it gave him something to do to take his mind off of one sweet nurse with a body made for sin. Cliché or not, it was the fucking truth.
Since meeting the little saucy woman who helped birth Niki's cub, his sexual desires had gone through the roof. And he'd been pretty voracious before then. The difference being that now he only had his hand to relieve the pressure.
Until he could claim her, there would be no one else. Nothing but a mate could soothe the beast from a mating call...
