Page 8 of His to Defend

“Oh, that’s been changed.” Nina turned to see Chloe, Luke’s girlfriend, walk into the kitchen. She sat next to Nina and accepted a cup of coffee from Kade. “We’re all going down to Bree’s Knees tomorrow instead so you have the day free to explore and take in some of the activities. Is there something you wanted to check out?”

There was something she wanted to check out, all right. Nina almost choked on the piece of bread she’d just put in her mouth.

“Are you okay, Nina?”

It took her a moment, but Nina composed herself and looked to Chloe, who grinned wickedly.

“I’m fine,” she managed.

“I’m sure you are.” Chloe winked at her. “Maybe you’d like to go for a bit of a hike today?”

Nina looked down at her skinny jeans and sneakers. It wasn’t that she wasn’t completely unprepared for a hike, but…

“Or a mountain bike?” It was Kade who suggested it and the idea appealed at once.

“It’s been years since I was on a bike.”

“Well,” Kade said with a grin. “Fortunately for you, it’s just like riding a bike.” He burst out into laughter, clearly pleased with his attempt at humor and Nina couldn’t help but laugh along. Ella only rolled her eyes. “I’ll send Luke a message,” Kade said when he pulled himself together. “I think he’s up at the adventure center anyway. Why don’t you finish up and head out there for a ride?”

“It really is quite the setup you guys have up here.” Having woken up early, Ryker had taken his bear for a run along the ridge, just the way Axel had suggested. It’ll wear off some of that pent-up energy. His cousin had said it with an annoying grin on his face, but he’d been onto something. Ryker definitely had some energy to wear off.

Sexual energy.

That woman had somehow gotten under his skin and more than anything, he wanted to taste her. And he would have, too, if she hadn’t taken off last night before he could go looking for her.

Even an hour-long run in the sunrise hadn’t managed to clear his head, which was why Ryker was now at the adventure center. Maybe Luke would lend him a bike or a kayak or something and he could burn off some more steam.

“You like it?” Luke looked up from the bike he was servicing. He had it up on a rack of some sort and was dropping grease on the chain. “What am I saying? Of course you like it.” He laughed. “It’s amazing up here and so much better—never mind.”

“What?” Ryker challenged him. “What were you going to say?” He crossed his thick arms over his chest. “You were going to say it was better than the valley.”

It wasn’t a question, because Ryker already knew the answer to that question. He hadn’t even been at the ridge twenty-four hours and he already thought it was better than Jackson Valley. The energy was better. Not so oppressed, maybe. That was it. There was no heavy iron fist rule at the ridge. Everyone seemed genuinely happy.

His cousins seemed happy.

“It is,” Ryker admitted. “I mean…”

“Don’t worry.” Luke glanced at him. “I won’t tell Grandfather you said so. Besides, you haven’t even had a chance to see what we really have to offer here. Wait until you see what the ladies have planned for the wedding.”

The wedding.

The sharp reminder of why he was actually there hit him hard.

“What do you actually think of this wedding?” Ryker knew he was taking a risk by asking Luke directly. But he was the only one of his cousins who was even remotely mated to a suitable candidate. A black bear…still not ideal. But better than a bear from a completely different continent, a half breed, or for God’s sake, a wolf. Although after talking with Kira the night before, Ryker had to admit, his cousin was completely in love with her mate and Nash didn’t seem all that bad. For a dog. They were happy.

There was that word again. Happy.

Luke shrugged, pulling his attention back to the conversation at hand. “Honestly?” Ryker nodded. “At first I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, they’re mated. They have a cub. Why the pomp and circumstance? It’s such a human tradition.”

“Exactly.”

“But then…” Luke shrugged again. “I don’t know, I see how excited Harper is about it all and frankly, it’s getting all of the women excited. The way Chloe explained it to me is like a celebration of love. So yes, they’re mated, but this is celebrating that.”

Ryker shook his head. “Except you can’t say mated.”

“Nope.” Luke laughed. “Too many humans around.” He grew momentarily serious. “And no shifting where they might see you. That’s a hard rule, Ryker.”

“I know. I know. I’ve spent most of the last few years traveling around humans, remember? I got it.”