"Of course." She was the head of one of the most powerful police forces in the immortal world. In any world. "But you started it."
His chin lowered. "Excuse me?"
"You told them I was dead. I'm their leader." She tried to use reason when all she wanted to do was run for the forest. His anger, although completely hidden, still choked her. Even with her soldiers around her minutes ago, she'd felt a vulnerability that had shocked her, all because of the male now standing in her space. "They did what your people would've done in the same situation."
"The grizzly nation is ten thousand strong," he said quietly, snow falling on his hair to melt instantly. "The wolf nation another ten, and the feline nation twenty."
She swallowed, her nose turning cold. Perhaps hiding her true calling from Bear had been a bad idea. She hadn't realized how bad until right this second. "Aye."
"Add in the dragons, and you've just declared war on a nation large enough to blow Ireland off the world map. You get that, right?" He cocked his head to the side and looked at her as if trying to drill inside her head with his question. "I say the word and we're at war. One word."
"You don't want that any more than I do," she whispered. "We just found peace."
"You could've kept it, too," he said quietly, retreating from her in a way she couldn't explain, even though he remained standing in place. "Instead, you lied and kept secrets. For no reason."
She had plenty of reasons-some even she couldn't avoid. "I understand your anger, but I have to fix this mess."
"Think so?" he asked silkily.
Her stomach dropped. "Aye. Come on, Bear. You just gave orders for me to use your command center-your very safe and protected command center-to do my job. You don't want anybody to harm me." If that's where they needed to start, then she'd do it.
"You're right. I don't want anybody else to harm you," he said, standing so tall and dangerous in the light snow.
She blinked. Twice. "Anybody else?"
"Aye," he said, mimicking her brogue. "I want to kill you myself. Mate."
Chapter 22
Bear didn't blink as he made the most ridiculous threat of his life.
Nessa gasped and then smiled. Oh, she tried to hide the smile, but she failed miserably. "You're not going to kill me."
"Of course not." He grabbed her arm and started walking toward the main building, though he was incredibly tempted to wrap his hands around her slim neck. "Right now, we have to focus."
She stumbled, and he righted her. "Focus?"
"Yes." He yanked open the door, adrenaline flooding his system. "You're right. Forces around the world just went into Def-con Delta, and we have to diffuse the situation." He thought of the last war and the friends he'd lost. His stomach ached. Determination quickened his stride. "The only way to do that is with a united front. For now."
She looked at him, surprise and then admiration in her eyes. "Right."
The surprise slapped his ego a little bit. "I didn't become alpha of the grizzly nation because of my roar," he muttered. He understood strategy better than most. He just didn't like it. The direct approach was best.
"Wh-what about us?" she asked, her voice wavering.
He steeled himself against her tone. "There is no us." Betrayal had gripped his chest and ripped out anything inside, leaving him completely empty. Even now that he was thinking straight and planning, he felt like he'd been kicked in the balls. Multiple times. "Our people are what matter. We don't."
"Bear-"
They reached the storage room and the keypad, where he paused, turning to her. "We're done, Nessa." He meant every word, even though they sliced through him like a sharpened blade. The woman hadn't just lied. She'd kept herself distant from him and hadn't even given them a chance. More important, she'd put his people in danger. All people in danger if another war had just started. It could've been avoided if she'd just told the truth. Witches kept secrets, and witches lied. It's who they were. "Let's stick to business."
Her eyes widened, and hurt swirled for a moment.
The look slammed him in the gut, and he steeled his body, wanting to comfort her. Fuck, it was way too late for that. He needed to get this business done, and now.
"We're mated, Bear," she reminded him, spunk filling her eyes.
"I know." Hell, did he know. "We can look at options after we deal with this crisis." What they might be, he had no clue. There was a virus that might negate mating bonds, but it could be dangerous and not worth the risk. Right now, he had enough to worry about. His code opened the door.