Page 35 of Bearnapped at the Altar

“I did no such thing.” Gideon’s face was turning a purplish shade of red under my grip. I could feel his wolf under the surface.

But he hadn’t shifted.

I realized I’d never seen this asshole in his wolf form.

“We have the proof.”

“My wolves will destroy it. And you.” He swallowed hard. “Doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’re outnumbered.”

“And apparently it does take one to call for backup. I’ve got a dozen bears in the parking lot just waiting on my call. So why don’t you shift, and we can settle this like animals?”

He nodded to his pack. “You heard him, gentlemen. Give the bear the fight he thinks he wants, and send him out of here on a stretcher.”

He tried to knee me in the groin, but my bear was faster than his sluggish wolf. I managed to land a punch to the side of his cheek before my bear ripped through my human skin.

Tegan screamed as bones cracked and skin ripped all around her. I didn’t need to tell her to make a break for it. She jumped over an approaching wolf and ran down the hall.

I didn’t like having her out of my sight, but this office was tiny, and with two fully shifted bears, more wolves than I could count, and a painfully human CEO, it was better that way. Tegan was scrappy and innovative, and if it came down to it, she’d be able to hold her own in a fight.

Mate, my bear thought as he clawed at the approaching wolves. These annoying ankle biters didn’t like to quit, but I wouldn’t have any problem making them beg for mercy.

Gideon watched over everything, like he was some sort of deranged wrestling team owner.

“Why don’t you fight?” I asked.

“Don’t have to.” Smug bastard. “I have enough money to pay wolves to do my dirty work for me.”

That was more than a bragging point. I filed it away as a serious clue. Once the dust settled in this fight and we had a chance to look at the documents Tegan stuffed into her bra, I had a feeling he’d give us a major key to breaking this wide open.

Kicking his ass would be just as effective, but not nearly as satisfying if he didn’t shift.

I took a step forward, backing him into the corner. “What’s wrong with your wolf?”

“Absolutely nothing.” His voice was thin. “He refuses to dignify this spectacle with his presence.”

“Or is it because he’s weak, and you need to overcompensate with a bunch of thugs who help you steal land?” I bumped him with my snout, hard.

“Everything in my business is above board. Don’t be fooled by that little slut?—”

He didn’t have to say anything else, and he’d run out of chances—my bear wasn’t letting him talk about my mate like that. Human or wolf, Gideon Silverclaw had made choices, and now he was gonna have to back them up.

Fur broke through his skin as my jaws closed in on his body. He screamed, like the shift was painful. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve pitied him, but he didn’t deserve it.

I closed my jaws, letting my teeth break his skin. His wolf was thin and weak.

“No. Please,” he pleaded. “I’ll cut you in. Make you a partner. You don’t understand what you’re doing.”

“Oh, I understand everything. But I wonder what you’re hiding that you’re so afraid to let go of.”

He scratched and clawed at me, but I barely felt it. Gideon Silverclaw was a weak wolf in so many ways.

“The old pack structure…it doesn’t work anymore. I want to give power…back to the packs.” He stopped every few words to gasp for breath. “New ideas. New life. Don’t you want that?”

“Do you even know who I am?” I pulled away from him enough so he could get a good look at me. “You stole the land from my mate’s clan.”

“Your mate?”

“She’s gone now. Cancer.” I had to focus, and not give him any opportunity to pour salt into my wounds. “Watching her family go through losing everything didn’t help her. You robbed her of the peace that she needed in the end. I’m gonna make you pay.”

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