He stifled his uncharitable thoughts about her grandmother, and focused on the idea Mandy might go away. Justin's heart fell to somewhere around his feet. "I'm sorry for your loss," he forced out as politely as possible.
Mandy offered him a sad smile. "Thank you, but I said goodbye to her years ago."
Justin laid a hand on her shoulder, needing to touch her. "So. What do you want to do? Do you want to rule?"
"You knew?"
He looked guilty for a moment. "Cole and I just google-fu'd the hell out of Kodiak Island using Danielle's and Susanna's names as an additional reference. Right around when you married Todd, the leadership was up for debate. Your family, and one other. Yours turned out to have the most direct bloodline to the ghost bears who settled the island."
"We knew," she admitted. "Both the potential families knew our line was the one, but then the bear council put my name with Todd's for getting married, and everything changed."
Justin didn't understand. "I assume Todd pulled strings to get himself hitched to you. Why didn't the power-hungry bastard insist you stay on the island so he could take over?"
"Because he bribed the committee to marry me for my title. He had no idea I could potentially rule the entire island."
"Jeez, Mandy."
She shrugged. "Arranged marriages are the norm in bear society, you know that. If Todd had been a decent man, everything would have turned out differently, but at the start, we couldn't be sure."
Justin should've kept his mouth shut, but he simply couldn't. "I don't think much of your family for letting you make that sacrifice."
"It wasn't my sisters' fault." Mandy was quick to defend them. "But Nana … " She sighed before lifting sad eyes to meet his. "I've had moments I think ill of her, but I suppose she did what she thought was best for the people, and didn't question too hard when I chose to stay with Todd."
Mandy was too forgiving. Justin was ready to make heads fly on her behalf. He took a deep breath and shoved his anger aside so he could focus on being a rock for Mandy, here and now.
She was quiet for a long time before she finally spoke. "It's probably selfish and wrong, but I've given up so much of my life. I don't want to be all sacrificial again. I want to go explore the world, sleep in in the morning and read late. I want to get a dog-"
"Seriously? A dog?"
Her lips twitched. "Just making sure you're still listening."
He twisted her to face him fully. "I'm listening with everything in me. I don't think there's anything wrong in what you want."
"Is it selfish?"
"What makes it selfish? Just because you were born into a certain family that doesn't mean it's got to be you."
"If I don't …
"Then someone else will. Danielle's spent the last eight years on the island. Don't you think she might know a little better what's right for your people?
"That's blunt."
"Not that you wouldn't do an amazing job if you decided you wanted to, but, Mandy, that's why I asked the question. What do you want to do? And if it's sleeping late and reading books or traveling all over, you should do it."
"It's not that easy."
"It never is. But no matter what, you can take the time you need. You don't have to decide this moment."
Although he really wanted her to. He knew exactly what he wanted her to pick, but it was up to her. All he knew for certain was whichever road she took, he'd be right there beside her the entire time, no matter what.
From the moment she'd spotted her sister, all of the decisions she'd been putting off seemed to rise up like a tsunami wave, pulling her in a million directions.
Justin thought it was so simple. But Mandy had been gone long enough to barely know what Kodiak Island was like since she'd left.
She'd married Todd all those years earlier because it was how bear shifters did things. Finding out his true colours had meant she'd chosen to sacrifice her happiness to keep her family safe. She'd gone away, making sure that the mean bastard never knew what kind of money or power she could have accessed. Her silence had a huge cost, but it had been worth it.
Could she turn around after all that and deliberately walk back into a world where she wasn't in charge of her own life?
Then Justin was kissing her, lips brushing hers in a way that set her heart pounding and sucked the air from her lungs. Distracted her from the concerns swirling in her brain.
She let him tug her to the nearby lookout bench. "What was that for?" she asked.
"Because you looked as if you needed it. You looked as if you needed a reminder that I'm here, and that I promised to help. Offer still stands."
She stared back at the great big grizzly bear, with his massive arms, and huge torso, and his enormous heart that she swore she saw reflected in his mezmorizing eyes.
The daydreams she'd had about running around the world, and the dreams of exploring fabulous places, mixed with the dreams that she had about lying in bed on lazy mornings-they all were nothing until she imagined him there with her.
And that's when it hit her. She knew what she wanted, deep in her heart, and ultimately it wasn't a place, or a thing, or even a job description.
She looked into his big grey eyes. "Whatever I decide to do, what're you going to do?"
A soft laugh escaped him, and he shook his head slowly. "You're the one who's not listening. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, I'm going with you."
Mandy's heart fluttered. Hope rising. "And this is because?"
He smiled. "Because I'm a bear of many talents and few vices. The only real obsession I've got … is you."
He still wasn't saying it, and she wasn't sure she was brave enough to say it first.
Then, suddenly, she was.
"Justin, can I tell you something?"
One brow rose. "Of course."
She nodded decisively. "Whatever I do, I'm going to need help."
He waited patiently.
"You promised you'd help me with my list. What if the list suddenly had 'become leader of a small, wealthy island' on it?"
His eyes widened. "Is it likely to get added to your list? Is that what you really want?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "But I do know that I simply can't do anything on my list without the bear I love agreeing he's going to stay at my side. It's the one thing I can't-"
"Wait," he interrupted. "The bear you love?"
Mandy nodded. "Yup. Completely and thoroughly."
His smile started slowly then stretched into an all-out grin. "Well, of course it's completely and thoroughly. If you're going to do a thing, you've got to do it right."
Happiness snuck around the corners of the wall she'd put up in case she couldn't have it all. "What about your job?"
Justin shrugged. "I work for Tyler because he's a friend and because it keeps me busy. If you need me, I'm all yours. You're way prettier to look at than him."
Mandy threw herself into his arms and kissed him hard before a sneaking thread of discontentment slipped through the bliss. "Wait-you didn't say it yet."
Justin caught her chin with his fingers and tipped her head back so he could kiss her easier. "Say what?"
She blew a raspberry. He blinked, a laugh rolling from him that started in his chest before rumbling up and sneaking out.
Mandy waited.
He dropped to one knee, tugging her hand to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles. "Lady Mandy, you have stolen something from me, so I now demand you care for it forever."
A soft warmth built inside. "What did I steal?"
He laid a hand on his chest. "My heart. The only reason I'm alive is this mysterious power that's taken its place. A magical power that makes my blood continue to pump, and my soul feel happiness."
She'd never dreamt he was such a poet, and the flowery language made her giggle. "I'm not sure if it's magical that I removed your heart, or shades of necromancy."
He chuckled then stage-whispered, "Go with it, my lady. Nadia's going to ask for all the details, and we may as well set the bar high."
"Like wow kisses for the wolves?"
"As long as it doesn't actually involve my lips near the pack, sure."
She sat on his knee and draped her arms around his shoulders. "I love you, Justin."
He leaned closer until their lips brushed. "I love you with everything in me."
That proclamation was as wow as it needed to be. It was wow-to-the-wowwest degree.
The drive back to Chicken seemed to take place in slow motion, his grip on her hand never loosening as she considered her decision, not coming to any quick solution.
Nadia was still leaning on the wall outside the shop waiting for them.
"You good?" she asked.
"Perfect," Mandy confessed. "Perfectly confused, but perfect."
Nadia grinned. "That's what I like to hear."
The room they entered was strangely quiet, and Mandy turned to Nadia in confusion. "Did Cole and Danielle go somewhere?"
Justin lifted his hand and pointed. "Damn."
Danielle was missing, but Cole was there, trussed up from head to foot, duct-taped to a chair with a piece of tape over his mouth.
Justin slid a knife through the mess holding him in place, but it was Nadia who reached out and ripped the covering from his mouth.