Return To The Bear Read Free

The man had probably never heard the word before he conquered her people and took her in.
    Blake led her down a hallway, past a large office and then up a flight of stairs. The top story was a s ingle room with blackout curtains, incense, a king sized bed and pillows set up in front of a fireplace. The elaborate fabrics in the room were dyed in deep gold and burgundy. This was the room Nathan…let off steam.
    There was no door, so as soon as she climbed to the top of the stairs, her gaze collided with Nathan’s.
    Be strong.
    His eyes were mossy green under thick golden eyebrows. His blond hair was cut short on the sides, and tousled longer on top. The man was tall and lithe when he moved, more like a panther than the gigantic bear that slept inside of him. There wasn’t an ounce of body fat on him. How did she know this? Because he was sitting completely naked on a wooden throne with one knee drawn up comfortably and his hand resting over his mouth. His eyes sparked with temper and she wanted to run.
    “Leave us,” he said in a deep, firm voice. “Wait,” he said as Blake turned to retreat down the stairs. His gaze still hadn’t strayed from hers. “Bring me Anya.”
    Shit. She suddenly would’ve given a femur bone for some clothes , but the best she could do was cover her thighs with her hands and hope her burning blush didn’t offend him more. His eyes raked down her body slowly, then he gestured her closer with a flick of his fingers.
    When she stood a few feet away from the foot of his throne, she bit her bottom lip to try and stifle the tremble that had taken her breath. Everyone seemed to enjoy being in heat around here but her. She wasn’t new to it at twenty-four, and when she’d lived with the Blood Den Clan, she’d had men she trusted with relieving the pressure of her cycle. Men she liked, who weren’t possessive. Men who didn’t ask her to give them anything in return, only a night. It was the same here. Casual, but for some reason, over the past year, something in her had changed. Or maybe broken was a better word. She didn’t want to have sex with just anyone anymore. She wanted it to mean something.
    “Why,” Nathan said in a deep and commanding voice, “do you run from me?”
    He’d hear a lie so what was the point in trying? “Because I don’t want to be here.”
    “Do I not take care of you? Do I not give you enough status in the clan? For chrissakes, Joanna. You are one of the highest ranking females, above even my mates. So why the fuck,” he bellowed, standing, “do you keep trying to escape like you are some prisoner?”
    “Because you treat me like one! I’m not here by choice, Nathan. I’m here because you waged war against my people and spared my life.”
    “And you waste the gift I gave you?”
    “You’ve never lived un der someone else’s thumb, so you don’t know how it is. I can’t imagine you’d sit idly by while the man who destroyed your people laid down rule after rule for you to follow.”
    He shrugged like her words didn’t matter. “That’s war, Joanna. If you don’t like it, you can join Blood Den in their graves.”
    “You’d do that? You’d kill me after everything?” He’d been kind once. The last alpha was the one who’d decreed the Long Claws wage war with Blood Den. Nathan had been second then, and had won the battle for his alpha. And now he was leader and his heart had gone cold. He’d begged his alpha for her life on the edge of that blood-soaked battlefield, and now he would toss her body in the dirt?
    Leani ng forward, his eyes narrowed like a big cat’s before it tackled its prey. “Don’t test me. I’ve been patient with you and still you deny me. I want you as my mate, it’s no secret. Everyone knows it. I’ve been clear with my intentions from day one—”
    “No , you didn’t. You pretended to be my friend. Can’t you see I’m not happy here?” Her voice dipped to a whisper. “Just let me go.”
    He’d frozen inches