“You didn’t deserve that,” she whispered. “I was angry and frustrated and you’re so easy to argue with-”
“Why thank you.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do, sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry. He was grinning, and when he tugged her to sit in his lap she went willingly. “Do continue,” he said solicitously. She pinched his arm, enjoying the way he squirmed.
“It’s… I’m jealous of you, I guess. I know enough about the Strauss’ to know that you’ve never had to struggle the way I have. You have money and security and that’s all I’ve ever wanted for my pack. They’re my family. I don’t want to let them down.”
She’d tried. For years she’d done nothing but try to help her pack get by. She’d lost count of the jobs she’d taken on, the dates she’d turned down, but something always meant they had to move on. Looking at his immaculate clothes and roaring business, she doubted Connor had ever experienced such problems.
“When he was young, I’m talking just this side of being a cub, Nathan fell in with a bad crowd.” Connor’s voice was still soft and he started drawing circles into Brooke’s hips with strong calloused fingers. “Rawley was a bad guy - I’m talking sow trafficking, blackmail, battery- really terrible shit. I remember watching Nathan slip away from me and not having a goddamn clue what to do about it.”
Brooke had seen Nathan a few times, he always flirted with Elsie whenever she called him about faulty wiring in the shop. He’d always seemed sweet, more like an overgrown puppy than a bear.
“What happened?” She asked. Connor huffed out a laugh.
“He realized what an idiot he was doing and left before he could do something stupid. I didn’t let him leave my sight for months. I only made him the handyman to keep him out of trouble, but he ended up being really good at it and enjoying himself to boot.”
She considered his words, turning them over in her mind like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. She remembered when Lucas had been a teenager - running off to join a gang in LA. She’d nearly tanned his hide when she’d found out. They were fond memories now, but Brooke remembered how stressed she’d been that summer. She looked up at Connor’s serene face and felt like she understood him just a little more. She pressed a kiss to his jaw.
“Tell me more about them?” she asked. He looked at her, surprised.
“About my brothers?” he checked. She nodded. She liked this side of him, the exasperated older brother looking out for his younger siblings, it made him seem softer. She trailed more kisses up the side of his face until she reached his temple and then he turned to capture her lips. It was sweet, almost chaste, and Brooke sighed contentedly.
“I was always pulling Cody out of fights, still am, but he knows how to pick his battles a little better these days. I can’t remember how many times I’d come home from work and find him icing a black eye or bruised knuckles.”
“What did you do?”
“Poked his wounds and made fun of him. Obviously.”
Brooke burst into surprised laughter. “You ass!”
“Maybe, but can you honestly tell me you’ve never made fun of one of your pups when they were being a moron?”
“Of course! But only while the fight was going on, not afterwards when they’re licking their wounds.”
He nodded sagely, like he’d finally confirmed something he’d suspected for a while. “Ah that’s the difference between you and me then.”
“What, I’m not a dick?”
“Exactly.”
“Mm,” Brooke hid a grin, nodding sarcastically in agreement.
“But you like that I’m a dick.”
“Who says?”
“You did, when you rode me into oblivion fifteen minutes ago.” Brooke wanted to kiss the smug smile right off of his face. So she did, grinning into his mouth as he ran his fingers through her hair.
“I was only doing that to shut you up.” The look on Connor’s face made it clear he knew he’d won. When had his humor become so endearing to her? Probably when you rode him into oblivion fifteen minutes ago, she thought dryly, burying her head in his neck to avoid looking at his stupid perfect face.
“What about Eric?” she prompted. His hands resumed their gentle circles on her hips and she melted against him.
“Eric? Eric’s too kind for his own good,” he grumbled. “Everyone he’s ever met that figured it out took advantage of him. His last ex literally tried to kill him, nearly destroying the whole lodge. Second time in a year...” He pushed her up gently to look into her eyes. “I know they’re different circumstances, and I want to tell you, Brooke, that you’re extraordinary. It’s hard to be responsible for people and, from what I’ve seen of your pack, you’ve done a great job.”
“You’ve only seen them in a fight,” Brooke pointed out.
“Exactly, and Eric got a dislocated shoulder for his trouble.”
They lapsed into silence for a while - a comfortable one - and Brooke relished in it, content to look at the sunlight as it filtered through the trees. They’d need to go soon, they both had responsibilities, people to look after, but for now she was happy.
It’s nice - talking to someone who understands. Connor Strauss had morphed from an unattainable stranger to someone she could maybe love. It was exciting and terrifying all at once. Hearing him talk about his sleuth, about Nathan and Cody and Eric, had her wondering what it would be like to meet them.
A wolf joining a sleuth, she thought, wouldn’t that be a sight.
“We should go,” Connor murmured eventually. Brooke opened one eye, grumbling quietly; she’d been about to fall asleep. The air was colder, the sun setting behind them and she shivered.
“You’re right,” she sighed. “I’ve got a pack to discipline.”
“And I’ve got brothers to take care of.”
They smiled wryly at each other. She didn’t want to leave him, but this was important. If they had any hope of seeing where these feelings went, the tension between their groups had to be put to rest.
“Would you like to go for a run later?” Connor asked, pulling on his jeans and looking at her with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Cute.
“I’d love to. I’ll meet you at the lodge’s front entrance?” She zipped up her fly, running her hands through her hair, pulling out leaves and twigs. God, she needed a bath.
Connor nodded. “It’s a date.”
The words made her warm and she smiled shyly, “Sure is.” She closed the gap between them and reached up to kiss him. “Race you,” she whispered playfully and pulled away, turning to sprint into the trees, shifting as she ran. She heard a muffled curse and a black bear gave chase.
70
Vince
Vince cursed as he ran, making his way back down the mountain. He was pretty sure the bears weren’t following, but that wasn’t why he was running. He needed to get back to the rest of the pack before Brooke. Damn her turning up at the last moment. And the look on Connor Strauss’ face when he’d seen her…
The pack members he had convinced to pick a fight followed behind him, most of them injured, but he didn’t stop to let them catch up. In order for his plan to work, he had to get to the rest of the pack before Brooke could tell them what really happened.
Why would she shift? It didn’t make sense, did she think the bears would care if they saw who she was? She was a shop girl, an employee, a stuck up rich boy like Strauss wouldn’t give a shit about that. Not unless they were hooking up - Vince skidded to a halt, a grin stretching across his face, because oh, what an interesting thought that was…
Brooke’s car was still missing when Vince finally stumbled into the parking lot. She could have come back on foot but, no, there’s no way she would have beaten him back.
There were a few cubs playing on the grass and they looked up when he arrived.
“Is Brooke back?” he asked innocently.
“Not yet,” one of the cubs responded, looking up at him with wide eyes. “What happen
ed?”
Vince ignored him, looking around for Carlo. He noticed the other wolf was coming down the stone steps of the apartment block, Angela close behind him. Vince quickly shifted all of his weight onto his left leg, whimpering in pain. One by one, the rest of the pack emerged from behind their doors, crowding around him like vultures to a corpse. Too easy.
Noise behind them made them all turn. Lucas led the injured wolves into the parking lot, a trail of blood following in their wake.
“What happened?” Carlo’s voice was tight with worry. He walked right past Vince to sling an arm around Lucas. Rude.
Angela cast him a suspicious look and scooped up one of the younger injured wolves, carrying her into the nearest apartment without so much as a second glance.
“There was a fight,” Lucas whimpered, looking to Vince who nodded slightly. Little coward.
“There was an ambush,” Vince corrected, fixing each of the wolves with a glare, daring them to say otherwise. “We were out in the forest hunting and, out of nowhere, four bears attacked us.”
One of the crowd asked, “Four? Was it the Strauss brothers?”
“It must have been; they showed us no mercy,” he whined, limping forward, keeping up the little huffs of pain with each step. Every eye was glued to him; this might be the greatest performance of his life. Now for the kicker. He sighed sadly, groping at his ‘injured’ leg. “If only Brooke hadn’t left us, we might have stood a chance.”
A ripple of confusion passed through the pack. Carlo bristled. Oh yes, pretty boy, Vince thought, your precious alpha left her pack to suffer, what do you think of that?
“What do you mean, if Brooke hadn’t left?” Angela asked, reappearing with blood streaked on her clothes.
Vince turned to her, his smile a touch too wide to be completely believable, but he couldn’t help it. “She was there - came in half way through - but she took one look at the bears and ran.” Behind him the injured were being led away to be treated. No one asked him if his leg was okay. The rest of his supporters had the good sense to keep their mouths shut and play along. “We thought she’d run back here for back up but…” he turned back to Carlo, who didn’t look convinced in the slightest. Oh well, can’t win them all. “Obviously not.”
Angela tugged at Carlo’s sleeve before he could retort.
“I need help with Lola. She and the others need patching up ASAP.” She glanced at Vince with a scowl twisting her pretty features. He responded with a loud gasp of pain, propping himself up on the nearest car. She sneered and turned back to Carlo, voice softening with concern. “We should wait for Brooke to get back before we decide what to do.”
Carlo stared Vince down for a few more seconds, but his concern for the injured outweighed his anger and he turned to follow her.
“Okay, I’m coming now.” He hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder. “Vince, are you alright to fill the others in?”
“I’ll manage,” Vince assured him with a hollow smile. “Go on, they need you more than I do.”
Carlo and Angela disappeared into the apartment building to help the injured, a few other pack members joining them with worried mutters and glances at Vince over their shoulders. Good, that’s Brooke’s top supporters distracted.
Vince pushed off the car and rounded on those left in the parking lot. A few eyes went to his leg, supporting him just fine, but everyone stayed silent.
“If you’re still standing here, that means you don’t want to wait for our alpha to make a surprise appearance?” Still no one said anything. Vince beamed, clapping his hands together. “Excellent, then you agree that we’ll never be able to settle this until we can prove to these bastards that we are a force to be reckoned with! Do we really want more attacks like this to dwindle our numbers?” He started pacing, feeling like a general preparing for war. “We were once a proud pack nearly a hundred strong, and then Brooke took charge and look at us now - barely two steps from poverty and still she assures us everything is fine.” He could see doubt creeping into the faces as they listened to his words.
“Brooke is weak. We’ve seen it. We have as much right to this land as anyone else and she rolls over for those bears like a little bitch.”
They couldn’t take their eyes off him, Vince watched as their confusion morphed into anger. And now for the big finish… “We need to strike now, while they think they’ve got us cornered! And we need to be ruthless!”
One of the boys stepped forward, glancing around shiftily. “What do you mean, ruthless?” he asked quietly.
Vince bared his teeth, his grin stretching and contorting into something far more feral. “I want you to kill any bear that crosses your path.”
71
Brooke
When she arrived back at her apartment, Carlo and Angela were waiting for her. Brooke took one look at them, faces drawn and blood all over their clothes and felt her own blood run cold.
“What’s happened? Is everyone okay?” she asked frantically, voice high pitched.
Angela nodded. “Everyone that was injured has been patched up, they’re resting.”
Brooke sagged with relief. Stupid, she thought to herself. I should have been here sooner. She followed them into her apartment.
“Vince said you were there but you ran off.” Carlo said carefully. The pair watched her, eyes wary, and Brooke felt a surge of guilt.
“I was there,” she started, pouring herself a glass of whiskey at the kitchen counter. This whole situation threatened to turn her into an alcoholic. “I’ve been talking to Connor Strauss - thought I could convince him to stop the fighting. I told Vince to take everyone home since he wasn’t injured.”
Angela’s eyes narrowed. “I knew he was faking it. He came back limping and told everyone that you left them to fight alone.”
“I would never do that!”
“And we believe you - so did everyone else, but you need to tell everyone your side of the story.” Angela’s eyes said the apologies her mouth didn’t.
Brooke gulped down half her drink. She was tired and hungry and in desperate need of a shower. “Where are they now?”
“Most of them are out hunting,” Carlo shrugged.
Brooke nodded to herself. Vince was unstable, she knew that now. This needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. “Call me when everyone's back. I need to head back up to the lodge in an hour or so.”
“Do you really think you can trust them?” Angela asked, not unkindly.
A few weeks ago Brooke would have said no, not in a million years, but after everything she’d been through with Connor… she knew he would help them. “I trust Connor Strauss. Give me a chance to talk to him.”
Angela nodded and left. Carlo stepped up to the counter next to Brooke, taking another glass down from the cabinet above and filling both their glasses. Brooke watched him, anxious. Carlo was her cousin, her second in command. He had always trusted her judgement, but she knew this was a big ask.
“If you trust him, that’s good enough for me,” he said simply, lifting his glass.
Brooke smiled, relieved. “Thank you, Carlo.”
“Anytime, cuz,” he said, taking a sip. “Now go shower, you have leaves in your hair.”
She met Connor outside the lodge a few hours later. He wore a pair of scuffed jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt.
“It’s not fair,” she said in lieu of a greeting. “How do you look so good in everything?” Connor grinned in response, shrugging his shoulders.
“It’s a gift,” he said simply. “Ready for a run?”
Her wolf flexed her muscles, itching to let off steam. Brooke rolled her shoulders and smiled a wolfish grin.
“Oh I’m ready,” she said. “Question is, are you?”
“I’m always ready.”
“Oh, really?” Without giving him any more warning, she ran shifting mid-stride and landing on all fours. Scents assaulted her from all sides as she darted between the trees. She could hear Connor lumbering after her, a
playful growl echoing around them.
Eventually he caught up with her, and they thundered through the woods side by side. He was magnificent, his size easily dwarfing her lean form. But, unlike when they fought, now she just saw the sheer restrained power thrumming through his body. His coat was black, and his claws glinted in the weak moonlight, tearing up the ground as he raced by her side. Bears had always appeared slow and sluggish to her, but Connor moved with a sort of grace she’d never truly appreciated before. He was captivating.
They reached a stream side and they ended up in the water, the cold water splashing over her fur. Connor watched her as she dunked her head underwater before rearing back and diving at her, knocking her flat on her back in the river bed. Brooke spluttered, snarling playfully and tackling him onto his back.
She hadn’t played like this since she was a cub, racing her friends through the woods. He could imagine Connor and his brothers playing together like this when they were young. She looked down, huffing a laugh as Connor shook water out of his eyes. She was almost comically small where she lay on his chest. She shifted. Connor cocked his head at her but shifted too, not bothering to toss her off.
“What do you think your brothers would think if me?” She asked, moving his wet hair off of his face. Connor blinked then thought for a moment, and Brooke appreciated his wanting to give her an honest answer.
“I think it would take them some time to get used to the idea,” he said finally. “We were brought up to be wary of other predators…” Brooke nodded sadly. If they could get over their prejudices for other species, maybe they could have had whatever this was much sooner. “But,” he continued, fingers sneaking under the damp fabric of her shirt. “I’m certain you could beat most of them in a fight.”
Brooke preened, leaning in to kiss him. “You’re damn right I could.”
They climbed out of the river, settling down onto the bank to dry off. Connor took her hand in his, playing with her fingers as they looked up at the moon where it peeked through the treetops.
Billionaire Bear Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset Page 44
