Page 24 of Grizzly's Bear

“No one else is crazy enough to vie for the position,” Ariel assured her.

“Their loss.”

Ariel grinned. “I thought you might want to hang out for a bit later. Talk privately.”

“I’d like that,” Rissa agreed.

“Good. Now, let’s head in,” Slade said as he pressed his hand against her lower back and urged her forward. “I’m hungry.”

Rissa laughed as Ariel led them the rest of the way inside and took them straight to the kitchen. Heavenly smells filled the air.

“You’re in luck,” Ariel said. “Logan made breakfast this morning. Let me tell you, that man can cook. Out of everyone here, he’s the best, though Zane holds a close second.”

“Ariel’s a fantastic cook herself.” This comment was thrown out by a tall blond, with laughing brown eyes. “It’s good to meet you all. I’m Logan. I’m guessing you’re Rissa, and that makes you Slade. Jensen, good to see you again. Have a seat at the table in the dining room. We’ve got stuff set up buffet style. Makes it easier with people coming in and out. Tah, Abby, and some of the others are still there.”

“Follow me,” Ariel said and led them again, going around the corner and into a large dining room. It was nothing like the dining area at the Holloways’ where there were dozens of tables spread across the room and one big table for the family in the kitchen. This was a long table that extended the length of the room, easily seating at least thirty people. And there were currently a lot of faces, trying not to stare at them.

“Jensen,” Tah said as he came to his feet with Abby. “I think you’ve met everyone here. Rissa, Slade, welcome. Are you feeling better today?”

Rissa nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed that she’d caused such commotion when they’d first arrived. It wasn’t how she’d planned to meet the pride’s alpha and his mate. She hoped they wouldn’t think her weak.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she remembered her manners enough to reply. “I hope I didn’t cause too much of a disturbance.”

“Our only concern was for you,” Abby assured her, stepping around her husband to face them. “You were put through hell when you and Ariel were attacked. I’d imagine suddenly remembering everything was like living it all over again.”

Rissa nodded, realizing Jensen must have shared what she was dealing with. Abby was right, though. The emerging memories were pure hell.

“We’ll talk after you eat,” Abby said then pointed toward where she and Tah had been sitting. “We saved seats for all of you.” She paused, glancing around them. “Where’s your brother, Rissa?”

“Off somewhere with Tony and Aleksy,” Jensen said with a smile, and Rissa didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. “Everything smells delicious. My mouth is watering, and my stomach is craving a taste of every dish.”

Jensen took the seat closest to Tah. Rissa sat beside him, and Slade sat on her other side. She doubted it was by accident that she was shielded by a Holloway on either side. Even among friends, they would watch over her.

Slade filled her plate and his, and chatter resumed around the table. Zane, a panther shifter, and his mate Diane, the main doctor for the pride, sat across from them. Next to them were Kenzie, the brunette Talbot had really wanted, and her mate Gabriel, the liger who’d brought the body of the Holloways’ father back to them. She’d met both of them when she’d met Ariel and Daniel. She sensed guilt in Kenzie’s gaze and knew she’d have to make sure the other woman didn’t think she was in any way responsible for Rissa being taken. Then again, the other woman was also newly pregnant, and Rissa had heard shifter pregnancy hormones could be hell.

Next to Slade was a shifter named Finn, who Slade apparently already knew. Next to Finn was his mate Laura, who was also pregnant. Beside Laura were Ariel and Daniel. Rissa wished they’d been seated closer to her and Slade. Past that, Rissa wasn’t sure who everyone else was except for the woman and man at the far end of the table. Tah’s second in command sat at the opposite end from Tah. From the conversation, she gathered his name was Reno Esponetti. Next to him was his mate, Amia. Rissa had heard of her. She knew the woman was the only child of Marcus Blaine, one of the most ruthless hunters alive. There were many who wanted to kill him and would probably take pleasure in killing his daughter, as well, but Rissa wasn’t one of them. She’d heard how the other woman had risked her life over and over again to sneak captured shifters to safety. She hoped the seating arrangement wasn’t because anyone present thought she might feel otherwise.

Several people left while Slade and Rissa ate, until only a handful remained at the table. Tah and Abby, Ariel and Daniel, Reno and Amia, Kenzie and Gabriel, and Jensen, Slade and Rissa. She knew what they were waiting for and instead of forcing someone to take the lead, she took it herself.

“I lost my memory.” She briefly closed her eyes as she felt the weight of every gaze in the room on her.

Ariel stood and moved so she sat directly across from Rissa. Daniel followed, and Ariel spoke as soon as they were seated.

“We were laughing and joking in the clearing,” Ariel said. “I was reaching for the hem of my shirt, ready to strip and shift, when the first dart hit me. You were already on the ground. I saw three darts. They hit you all at once as if they were afraid of you.”

Rissa blew out a breath as she processed that, letting the memory come and not fighting it. “They tossed us in the truck. I passed out at some point. When I came to, they were dragging me into a room. My head…” She reached up to cup the back of her head, though the pain there was nothing but phantom now. “It kept banging on the floor as we went down the hall.” Her gaze went to Ariel. “One of them was carrying you over his shoulder. He was in charge. I remember him giving the order for us to be tossed in the truck.”

Daniel growled, and Ariel leaned into her mate, rubbing her hand over his chest. Rissa understood. Her hand rested on Slade’s thigh under the table. A thigh that was rock-hard with tension.

“He’s dead,” Daniel snapped.

“Good.” Rissa had no concern for the lives of the men who’d taken her and Ariel. “They separated us. You were put in one room, and I was dragged into another. My memories aren’t all back yet. I have images. Snippets of things.”

“I don’t remember arriving there,” Ariel offered. “When I came to, I was alone. I think they were all with you. I… I heard you scream. Then Talbot told someone to shut you up. I heard…” She stopped, shaking her head as Daniel wrapped her tighter against him. “You stopped mid-scream. One minute, I heard you, then there was silence.”

“They hit me with a metal club. One of the hunters said he’d been wanting to try it out.”

“When we got her back, they’d broken her thigh in two places. She had several ribs that were pretty much shattered and her skull was collapsed on the right side.” Jensen’s voice was rife with anger as he spoke, and every male shifter at the table growled.

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