Wed to the Bear (Denali Den Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Epilogue

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Dear Reader

  About the Author

  Also by Rebecca Thomas

  Wed to the Bear

  Denali Den #2

  Rebecca Thomas

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Dear Reader

  About the Author

  Also by Rebecca Thomas

  Copyright © 2017 by Rebecca Thomas

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Join Rebecca’s Newsletter for updates on new releases and giveaways.

  Other books in the Denali Den series include:

  Beauty and the Bear

  Created with Vellum

  Introduction

  A Marriage of Convenience...with the wrong groom

  Werebear Stryker Vane volunteers to pick up his brother’s soon-to-be-wife at the airport. What he doesn't anticipate is a last-minute phone call telling him the wedding is off. Stryker expects a heartbroken she-bear, but the curvy brunette with intriguing green eyes and spunky attitude is nothing like he imagined.

  A desperate bride... Ava Perello still needs to marry someone fast and she's not picky! When drop-dead, sexy, Stryker offers to come to her rescue and marry her himself, she can’t refuse. His passionate lovemaking and unfailing devotion make her swoon. But she can't fall in love with her husband. Because when he finds out the truth about why she married him, things could get complicated.

  1

  Stryker Vane paced back and forth, checking his cell phone again for the third time. The flight was late, and hanging out at the Fairbanks International airport — where the waiting area consisted of a row of uncomfortable chairs and a view of a taxidermied grizzly bear behind glass — wasn’t exactly enjoyable.

  He wondered again why he had offered to pick up the woman Silas had met online on a werebear/human dating site. They had agreed to meet in person, and they planned to marry. Stryker respected his brother’s privacy, but an arranged marriage was not his idea of finding a True Mate. He fully expected to know when he met his forever mate and he hoped to fall in love. He believed in happily ever after and chemistry, whereas his brother was about being practical. How was Silas supposed to know if this woman, Ava from the Internet, was really from Wyoming? As far as Stryker knew, you could post anything you wanted as a profile on an Internet dating site.

  His cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw it was Silas. Stryker answered after the second ring. “The flight is late, but I’ll call and let you know when I have her in my possession.”

  “She’s not a secret package being passed around.”

  “I was trying to be funny.”

  “You aren’t funny.”

  “Whatever.” Stryker rolled his eyes. His brother could never take a joke. Fine. He wanted serious? He’d give him serious.

  “Listen,” Silas said, “I’ve got to—”

  “You know, what if she’s some wacky stalker type? Did you bother to run a background check on this woman? Just because you’ve talked to her on Skype doesn’t mean much these days. She could have ties to terrorist organizations or something crazy like that. You can never be too careful.”

  “Are you going to listen to me?”

  Stryker figured he was on a roll, so why stop now? “Or worse yet, are you sure this she-bear didn’t give you a false identity? Sure, you’ve seen her face, but you haven’t seen her body. What if she’s skinny? The Vanes don’t do skinny.”

  “Would you shut the hell up and let me talk?”

  “You know I’m giving you shit. You might like skinny, but I don’t. But seriously, did you at least run an Internet search on her?”

  “Are you going to let me say anything or are you going to keep running your mouth?”

  “Fine. What?”

  “There’s been a slight change.”

  “What do you mean? Did she miss her flight?” His brother’s voice didn’t sound right and this was cause for concern.

  “No, I tried to contact her before she left Jackson Hole, but she had already left.”

  “Okay. So I don’t follow. What’s the slight change?”

  “The change is…I’ve found my True Mate.”

  Stryker grasped for understanding. “No, no, no, you don’t mean to tell me you’ve hooked up with that human on a permanent basis, do you?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  Stryker shook his head in disbelief. “Mom and Dad are going to be pissed.”

  “Well, they’re going to have to get used to it, because Blue is going to be part of our family.”

  “Shit.” Stryker couldn’t quit shaking his head. “I never thought we’d be one of those families to bring a human into the fold.”

  “Neither did I, but it’s done. She is my True Mate and the rest of the family is going to have to accept it. I didn’t think it was possible…”

  Silas’ words were drowned out by an announcement over the airport PA system: “Alaska Airlines flight 180 from Seattle is arriving at gate number four. Passengers can be met on the lower level by carousel number two.”

  Silas droned on, “…it’s going to take time, but I’m sure eventually—”

  Stryker admitted a human may not be met with open arms in his family, but in that same vein, he couldn’t deny a werebear his True Mate, human or not. Silas was the most reasonable among them, except when it came to Internet dating. Damn. It suddenly occurred to him—he had a problem—a big problem, as in a Houston: we have a problem problem, and it didn’t have anything to do with a human in the family. “What am I supposed to tell Ava? Her flight just landed.”

  “That’s why I called you.”

  “Really? How courteous of you.” He strode across the floor where he’d been pacing the past half hour and held the phone tighter against his ear. “Do you think maybe you should have called her sooner? After all, she was supposed to be your True Mate—your wife, if I recall.”

  “That’s true, but yeah, I was fighting this thing with Blue. I probably knew in my heart that she—”

  “Would you quit with the hearts and flowers crap? You’re really scaring me. What am I supposed to tell Ava?” He ran a hand through his hair. “Better yet, what are you going to tell her?”

  “I was hoping you’d explain to her, you know, in person…maybe soften the blow a bit. I didn’t plan for this to happen with Blue—it just did and I can’t fight it.”

  Stryker took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. “So let me get this straight. Ava thinks she’s flown all this way to meet you in person…only you’re already taken and you’re not even here to greet her.”

  “That pretty much sums it up, yeah.”

  “What the hell?”

  “I told you I didn’t plan this, it just—”

  “Happened…yeah
, I got that part.” He shoved his hand in the front pocket of his jeans as though searching for an answer he knew he wouldn’t find. “So I’m going to have a heartbroken she-bear on my hands—is that what you’re telling me?”

  “I hardly think she will be heartbroken. We were making a pragmatic business arrangement. You know…I wanted to get married and so did she. ‘Everyone happy’ type of deal.”

  “And what about love? Did you have feelings for her?”

  “How could I feel love for someone I’d only talked to via email and on Skype a couple times?”

  “I think it happens more often than you think.”

  “Please explain to her what happened. Maybe text me after you talk to her, then I’ll call and make whatever arrangements I need to for buying her plane ticket home for whenever she wants it.”

  “Is she going to cry over this? What is she like? All I know about her is the photo you showed me. Oh, and the fact that she was willing to fly all the way to Alaska to marry you—after not even meeting you in person. Yeah, she sounds like a real intelligent bear.”

  “We all have our reasons. I had mine. She has hers.”

  “Yeah, and what were her reasons?” Stryker asked, but when it was apparent his brother wasn’t going to answer him, his imagination wandered. “Maybe she’s psychotic or has a terminal illness. Maybe she’s on medication. Or maybe she only has two months to live.”

  “You’re so dramatic. I doubt it’s anything like that. You’ve been working with teenagers too long—you’re starting to sound like one. Ava seems very reasonable to me. We are a lot alike that way.”

  “Yeah, and you know all this from some emails and a couple of Skype chats.” Stryker couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his tone. His brother was right about one thing—he was being dramatic, maybe he’d been spending too much time with the teenagers at Denali Crossings and they were rubbing off on him.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact. It was supposed to be a business arrangement,” Silas replied.

  “A marriage that is a business arrangement? Ooookay, got it.”

  “Has the flight landed? Should I try to call her?”

  “Yes. It landed. Passengers are coming down the escalator now,” Stryker said.

  “What do you want me to do?” Silas asked. “Do you want me to call her cell right now?”

  Stryker ground his teeth together before he said, “I want you to fix this is what I want you to do.”

  “Okay, I’m hanging up and I’ll call her. I’ll explain—”

  “Wait,” Stryker said, “I think I see her.”

  “I’m sure she’ll have her cell phone on now. I’ll call her,” his brother said.

  Stryker stared at the woman on the escalator, then he sniffed the air. Her ebony hair hung straight and flat all the way to her elbow her eyes peered at him, and even from this distance, he could see they were green. He smelled her pungent bear scent. It was different than Alaskan bears—spicier and tart. He lifted his head to sniff again. “It’s got to be her.”

  “Do you want me to call her, or are you going to talk to her and explain? What do you want me to do?” His brother sounded a little panicked.

  The she-bear stepped off the escalator. Her tall curvy full figure was something beautiful to behold. Stryker’s heart beat harder. His throat went dry. Her scent made his insides feel like jelly. Sweat beaded at his temples.

  “You still there?” Silas asked.

  Stryker cleared his throat. “Ah…yeah, I’m here.”

  “Do you want me to call her?” he asked with finality.

  “No,” Stryker replied. “She’s not skinny.”

  “Okay, fine, but do you want me to call her and explain?”

  “No. I got this.”

  “Are you sure? Because I know I caused this, so I’ll fix it. She might be upset, but—”

  “I said, I got this. I’ll call to you later.” Stryker ended the call and shoved the cell phone into his back pocket. He couldn’t stop staring as she approached him. Her stride was confident and strong. She wouldn’t be heartbroken, she’d be pissed, this much he knew for sure. But regardless, he’d pick up the pieces. He could handle her.

  All he knew was he had to have her. She was perfect. He’d do whatever it took to win her. She was as good as his.

  He had found his True Mate.

  2

  Ava stepped off the escalator and into her new life. She was determined to leave her past behind and make her own decisions about her future—like marrying Silas Vane. However, the hunky guy standing near the baggage carousel staring at her made her heart skip a beat. He looked at her as though he knew her. Though tempted to look behind her to see if he was staring at someone else, she knew otherwise. His gaze was directed at her.

  She sniffed the air and breathed in his musky bear scent. Her belly quivered and she wondered for the first time if she’d made a mistake in agreeing to marry Silas especially when there were guys like this one in Alaska. She needed a mate and she needed one fast. Silas and she had been in agreement on this, so it was a logical business decision. She was determined to stay the course and, although every instinct in her bear said to approach this guy, she purposely turned away from him. No sense in tempting fate.

  “Wait,” he called out to her. “Are you Ava?”

  The hot werebear knew her name? Had she been hearing things? No, because she had better than excellent hearing. She swiveled in his direction and nodded.

  “My brother, Silas, was supposed to meet you, but he’s working. I was in town anyway and offered to pick you up.” He stuck out his very large hand. “I’m Stryker. Stryker Vane. Silas’ younger—by a year—brother.”

  “Oh, he didn’t tell me.” She paused to compose herself because her inner bear was clawing to get out, and Ava was determined to keep her in check. The guy was cute—no doubt—but she had decided Silas was the bear for her. It would be polite to shake his hand, but her gut told her not to. No sense in letting lust mess up her perfectly good marriage of convenience plan. “I mean, he told me he had brothers, but I thought he would pick me up.”

  “Yeah, well…something’s come up.” He put his hand down.

  She felt a tiny bit bad for not being friendlier, but she was here for one reason and one reason only, and that was to get married. The fact that her future groom couldn’t be bothered to pick her up was disconcerting, but not a deal-breaker. “So you’re taking me to Denali Crossings?”

  “Well, I’m not sure.” His deep brown eyebrows furrowed. “That depends on you and what you want to do.”

  “What I want to do about what?” Her inner bear radar went on high alert. Something wasn’t right.

  “Well, the thing is…do you have luggage?” Stryker glanced toward the baggage carousel.

  “Yes, I have one bag.” She raised her eyebrows. Clearly, he was stalling. “You were saying?”

  He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his front pockets. “Well, the problem is…”

  “There’s a problem? Other than he couldn’t pick me up?”

  “Well, yeah, kind of.”

  “You say ‘well’ an awfully lot.”

  He gave her a sideways grin. “Yeah, well, I guess it’s because I’m trying to figure out how to tell you that your arranged marriage, or whatever you call it, with my brother can’t happen.”

  She liked some semblance of order in her life, or at least on the surface, and this news messed up her carefully laid out plans. “Why? Is he sick or something?”

  “No, he’s already found a mate.”

  Her face heated. This wasn’t her plan.

  He held his hands in the air prepared to defend his brother. “He wasn’t looking for one, so don’t be mad at him, it’s just that this human we hired, she got to him and, well…”

  “A human? He married a human?”

  “Well, no, not yet, but I’m sure they will marry.”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it, they won’t.” She marched towar
d the baggage carousel, wanting distance from this bear and the news he’d laid at her feet.

  He strode easily alongside her, taking one stride for every two of hers. “Believe me, when my brother decides something, there is no changing his mind. He’s as stubborn as they come.”

  She didn’t want to talk to him about this. She’d wait to discuss things with Silas himself. Absently, she stared at the bags as they moved past her. Her thoughts swirled in confusion. How could this be happening?

  Stryker stood beside her. His heat radiated across her skin like a toxin. She gave him a quick glance, then inched away from him.

  He held up his hands again. “Listen, don’t shoot the messenger. I know you’re angry.”

  “You don’t know anything about me. You don’t know if I’m angry or not.”

  He shook his head. “I’d be angry, and I can read body language, but here’s the deal. He has a mate. He’s taken.”

  “He was supposed to marry me,” she said quietly. “I need to get married.”

  “Yeah, I know, it’s mating season. Believe me, I get it.”

  “No, I don’t think you do. I can mate with anyone, but what I need is the sanctity of a legal marriage.”

  “Why?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s none of your business.”

  “Yeah, well, my brother said you both had your reasons. I don’t get it.”

  “Yes, I know, because I didn’t tell you my reasons.” She glared at him. “So how could you get it?”

  “I’m not an idiot. I get that it’s mating season, but why get married? No need to make it all legalized if all you want is…” He gave a nonchalant shrug.

  She narrowed her gaze in challenge. “If all I want is what?”

  “If it’s sex you want, you know there are always werebears available. Like, take myself, for example.” He pointed to the planes of his expansive chest. “I’m more than willing to—”

  “Willing to marry me?”