Page 25 of His to Defend

Natalia’s smile dipped a little, but she recovered quickly. “That’s right,” she said. “You must be Nina.”

Must be?

Nina nodded and Natalia grinned. “I thought so.”

It was a strange comment but before Nina could ask her what she meant by that, Natalia was already making her rounds around the room, introducing herself to the other women and making the connection as to who belonged to each of her cousins.

“It really is so good to be here,” Natalia said after she put her own T-shirt on. “And Harper, I am absolutely thrilled for you. I know my brothers may not believe in all of this wedding—”

“Oh, don’t worry about that right now. Besides, I think Ryker might be coming around.” Harper interrupted her quickly before putting her arm around the woman and whispering something into her ear.

Nina was too far away to hear what she said, but she had the distinct feeling it had something to do with her judging by the glance Natalia shot her a moment later.

Probably had something to do with Ryker.

If Natalia was protective of her brother, or thought that Nina had any kind of designs on locking him down into a marriage herself, she was wrong. Very wrong. And Nina would prove it, too. She’d already told Ryker that the hookup was a one-time thing. It was over.

Nina smiled as sweetly as she could manage at Natalia, but for the rest of the day she couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that the other woman was watching her.

After a late lunch and pedicures at the salon down in town, Nina had already helped herself to more than a few glasses of champagne, and by the time they arrived at the Station pub where a local DJ was spinning all the best dancing music, she was more than a little tipsy.

Perfect for getting out on the dance floor.

And after a few more drinks, she might even be able to forget about a certain, very intense, very sexy man who’d managed to occupy her head for the majority of the day.

But it would definitely take a few more drinks.

A day out on the river chucking line and pulling in one beautiful rainbow trout after another was exactly what Ryker had needed.

How long had it been since he’d spent the day with his cousins like that?

Too long.

The fresh air cleared his head. It didn’t hurt that Nina was miles away, down in town. Not near enough to cloud his senses, but still near enough that he could sense her. He’d never before been able to sense a female. Ever.

As recently as the day before, the idea had terrified him. But the longer he spent on the river, reconnecting to nature, the more the idea began to feel natural. Maybe Axel was onto something. Maybe he should quit fighting it so hard and just accept it.

Nina was his mate.

He looked across the water to where Axel stood.

His cousins had all accepted and embraced what Ryker was just starting to figure out. Certainly they weren’t all wrong?

No. They weren’t wrong.

Even a cynical, closed-off man like Ryker could see the love that each of his cousins had for their mates. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Not with his own parents. Not with anyone in the clan.

“Hey,” Axel called over to him. “Are you going to catch a fish, or just stand there?”

Ryker shook his head and once again cast his line but he was no longer interested in catching a fish. A moment later, his line reeled back in, he splashed through the thigh-high water to the other bank, where his cousin was now staring at him with a look of incredulity.

“What the hell, Ryker? You just scared all the fish.”

“How did you know?” Ryker ignored Axel’s protest and jumped straight into what he needed to know.

“Know what?”

“Harper,” he said. “Your mate. How did you know? I mean, she’s not a bear. How did you trust that…well, that she was the one?”