Free Lord of the Bears (Wild Ridge Bears Book 1) by Kimber White Page B

thought he’d end up sticking
around when you went off. And really, nobody believed he’d step off to
make way for you after your sister disobeyed him.”
    I picked at the label on my beer bottle. “You know, my dad can be as
stubborn as they come, but he just wants Olivia and me to be happy. He finally
figured out life’s too short to work yourself into the ground if you don’t have
to. So, he wanted to reconnect with some of our Yukon distant cousins.”
    Cullen laughed. “Yeah. That sounds good, but you’re full of shit. Caleb
was just sick of justifying every damn decision he made. And don’t get me
wrong, I don’t blame him a bit. But anyway, it’s good. I’m happy for you.
You’re gonna do great things once you get your crew built back up, and that’s
only a matter of time. Doesn’t mean my crew still won’t kick your ass.”
    I shook my head and downed the last of my beer. Reaching back into the
cooler, I grabbed two more and set one in front of Cullen. He thanked me and
leaned back hard in his chair. We were alone. The crews had gone home for the
day, and it felt like he and I had the world to ourselves. When we were kids we
used to pretend we did. Some of our hunting excursions had been legendary and
landed us in serious trouble with our dads. Once we’d hiked all the way to the
Yukon and back.
    “So, are you going to just sit there and pretend I don’t have you
figured out?”
    I snapped my eyes open. I twisted the cap of my beer and took another
swig before answering him. “Why don’t you just come out and ask?”
    “All right, I will. What about this girl?”
    My heart flipped in my chest. I’d been foolish to think I could hide
Nora’s scent on me a second time. It had been a couple of days since I last saw
her, but I’d kissed her then. Again. I might have been able to hide that fact
from the others, but not Cullen. He knew me too well.
    “She’s nobody,” I said, not sure why. “It’s like I told Simon. She was
just lost and I helped her find her car.”
    Cullen leaned forward and rested his weight on his forearms across the
table. He cocked his head to the side to meet my gaze. “Come on, man. This is
me you’re talking to. At first I figured you were just kind of distant from
being asleep for so long. It’s to be expected. Hell, we all remember how Caleb
was after your mom died. Half of us didn’t think he’d wake up again. None of us
would have blamed him. But even he wasn’t so damn guarded when he came
out of it. You’ve been avoiding really talking to anyone, and this is the first
time we’ve talked one on one since you came back. So what’s going on?
You know I can still smell her on you.”
    Shrugging, I put my beer down. It was in me to give him some other
excuse to leave. But, that would have been a chickenshit move. Cullen wasn’t
saying it, but I knew what was on his mind. Sure, taking care of my place and
my crew was no less than I would have one for him, but it didn’t mean I didn’t
still owe him. For now, he was just asking for the truth.
    “I don’t know,” I said, and it was as close to the truth as I could
come up with. “She could be someone, she could be no one. But yeah, she’s been
on my mind.”
    “So why haven’t you told me or any of the others about it? You know how
on edge everybody is since the clans had to tangle with wolves on your behalf.
They’ve closed ranks. Having a stranger out here now is just about the worst
thing you need right now. So what gives? Why aren’t you talking?”
    I shook my head. “Because it really isn’t any of your business.”
    Cullen slammed the front legs of his chair down. “Come on, man. You
know it is. You start bringing a girl onto the ridge, you know it doesn’t just
impact you. It would be one thing if she really was just some girl.
Maybe she is, but you’re not acting like it. You’re acting…well…secretive. And
I wouldn’t say anything, but your sister ran off with a damn wolf, Jax.