“Sorry for this, but I need you both to come with me. A challenge has been issued,” he said in a serious voice that brooked no argument.
“A challenge? Maya will stay here, I will go, sir,” Tonic placed a hand on the small of Maya’s back that did nothing to stop her nervous trembling.
“Maya, you wait here-”
“No way,” she growled, “I am coming with you.”
She walked away to shrug on her winter boots and wool coat. Determined to meet this new threat head on at her mate’s side. There was simply no other option.
Maya knew without a doubt that this was bad. A life-altering threat. He would need her there if not to calm him, then to ground him. She understood that even if he didn’t and as they got in Tonic’s pickup truck and followed Daniel to the Den, she realized her mate had not said one word to her.
Inside, the Den was much like it was the day she’d gone to the Devlin brothers for help. They’d turned her down once before and the tightening, sick feeling she had in the pit of her stomach told her they would not have good news for either her or her mate.
“Thank you both for coming,” Marcus Devlin, the Barvale Clan Alpha began, “I need you to walk me through what happened last night at Bar None.”
He didn’t beat around the bush and Maya appreciated that. She sat still while Tonic gave his version of events. He was quick, no embellishments, and he did not make any apologies for himself.
“I went to meet Bolder for a drink. I saw three Black Bear Shifters, the same three men I had previously had an altercation with outside of a burger place a few nights ago. They had laid hands on my mate then, and last night I overheard them making disparaging remarks about her-”
“Your mate? You have claimed Maya Osborn?”
“Yes, Alpha. I have claimed her as mine-”
“My father told me what he said to you. This claiming if it was only to help her financially-”
“She is my fated mate,” Tonic interrupted Marcus.
Daniel, Nate, and Taylor, the Alpha’s brothers, all growled at his insolence, and Maya had never felt so scared and proud in all her life. Tonic faced down the four dominant men, then, as was right, he bared his throat to Marcus and averted his gaze.
“I meant no disrespect, but the fact of the matter is Maya Osborn is my fated mate and I will answer any threat that is made against what is mine.”
“So, you attacked three members of the Barvale Clan, currently in good standing, to protect and avenge your mate?” Daniel said and despite his professional tone, Maya knew what he was doing and was grateful for it.
She laid her hand on Tonic’s elbow, leaning into him with her side and offering comfort. She felt his tension and knew he was ready to strike if threatened, but these men were not his enemies. She wanted him to know that.
She reached out with her whispering abilities and felt their Black Bears. Dominance, concern, loyalty, pride, and integrity were the strongest emotions. None of them were projecting anything that even vaguely smelled of deceit or animosity.
They acknowledged him as a valuable and worthy Shifter, but there was a problem. Something was not quite right, and the brothers were upset.
“Tonic, this is news to us, and allow me to congratulate you, but there is something I have to tell you,” Daniel said and looked to Marcus for confirmation.
“Tonic, those three men you confronted are claiming you assaulted them. Since you are a probationary member of this Clan, they are siting an old law and are issuing a challenge,” Marcus stated.
“I can take them,” Tonic said, but Maya squeezed his arm.
This was not an ordinary challenge. The Devlin’s concern worried her.
“Alone? No doubt,” smiled Daniel before his lips settled into a thin line, “but they are claiming they have the right to challenge you three to one under this old rule.”
“Well, that can’t be right,” Maya said and it was Tonic’s turn to calm her with his touch.
“A three to one fight is hardly fair, but I won’t back down from it. I’ve faced worse from my brothers and Bowie,” grunted Tonic.
“They wouldn’t hurt you, and these men want blood,” she said and turned around, “Keeper? Is this true?” she asked Taylor Devlin, the Clan Keeper for confirmation that what she was hearing was legitimate.
“I am afraid it is, Ms. Osborn,” he said and held up an old leather bound book, “I spent the last few days reading after these same men came to me the other day and said they were interested in old Clan law. I had no idea these fuckers were trying to challenge you,” he addressed Tonic.
“It’s okay,” Tonic waved away the man’s concern, but Maya was not so quick to forgive.
“Tonic Nanouk is a good man, a loyal Bear. He has proven his worth and dedication time and again to the Barvale Clan,” she yelled.
“Maya, shh,” he said but she was on a roll now.
“No, I won’t be silent. They did nothing to help me after my father was a loyal member, in good standing,” she added mockingly, “but because he died before it was known that I couldn’t shift he didn’t take the precautions necessary to place me under the Clan’s protection. Still, when you need me to calm a Shifter in transition, I come. No questions asked,” Maya sucked in a breath before continuing to Tonic.
“I have been treated as an outsider looking in all my life, and now, they want to take you away from me because technically they didn’t make your membership official yet? What good is it? What good are any of you if you let this happen?” she raged at them before storming outside.
She heard Tonic’s voice in the background, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. She only knew her heart was going to beat her to death. A three to one fight was nothing to scoff at, and clearly those men would be prepared.
They wouldn’t be drunk or half-assed either. They wanted to hurt him, to kill him even, and if that happened, they might as well kill her too.
She could no longer imagine a life without the man she’d grown to love so fiercely. Her matebond pulsed around her as her throat constricted and stomach turned over. How could they let this happen?
Tonic told her his story. She knew all about the bargain his brothers and cousin had struck to be granted sanctuary in Barvale after being kicked out of the White Bear Clan. He’d moved halfway across the whole world for Bowie, they all had, making the decision to have their cousin’s back rather than defend the pathetic Alpha of the Alaskan Clan and his heir.
Tonic Nanouk was the bravest, most loyal man she knew. Of course, he wanted to protect her. Hell, he was an Enforcer. Even as a probationary member of the Clan, he’d dedicated himself to their security. What more did he have to do to be granted permanent sanctuary in Barvale?
The town had always been her home and she couldn’t see herself living anywhere else, but right then she was ready to just leave. She and Tonic could pack up and go anywhere else.
But she knew, even as she thought it that that was no kind of solution. Even if he would go with her, he would never be able to live with his Bear who would demand he meet the challenge.
“It’s so unfair,” she said and sank down into the snow and let the tears wash over her face as a fresh wave of despair hit her.
She hardly even felt it when, a short while later, Tonic picked her up and hugged her tight to him.