“What are your parents like?” he asked. “You know about my family.”
“They both died when I was quite young,” she shrugged. She could remember bits and pieces: the way her mother called her name when it was time for dinner, the way her father’s arms felt when they wrapped around her. “We were already part of the pack when they died. Our pack helped me get by when they passed.”
Connor rubbed a hand over her arm. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “Don’t be. It was a long time ago and I have an amazing family to look after me.”
They lay together and Brooke could feel herself drifting off, safe in the circle of his arms, when she felt Connor stiffen under her.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered, unwilling to break the peaceful silence.
“I thought I saw something…” he trailed off, sitting up and tipping her gently off of him. Brooke groaned in protest but sat up as well. She followed his line of sight and saw something shining among the trees a little way away from the stream's edge.
It was a bear, lying in a pool of blood. Brooke could smell it as they neared, the metallic stench making her gag. It’s belly had been ripped out. She didn’t know if it was a shifter or not but, one glance at the look on Connor’s face told her it was. She bent to get a closer look at the wound, gaping and horrid as it was, and recoiled. They were wolf bites. She could tell by the shape of the wounds. Ice shot through her veins. Someone from her pack was responsible for this.
Connor turned away, face ashen, and Brooke hurried to his side, supporting him as he leaned heavily on a tree trunk.
“Connor, I’m-”
“I knew him,” he whispered. “He works security at the lodge.” He looked like he was going to throw up. Brooke didn’t blame him but when he looked up at her she couldn’t hide her guilt. His face hardened and he stood up straighter, hiding his grimace. “It’s okay, I know it wasn’t your fault.” He was trying to be strong for her. Brooke’s heart ached. This man.
Brooke saw red. She was livid; this isn't something she thought her pack was capable of doing… killing an innocent shifter broke every rule they had. There would be hell to pay for this. She vowed it.
She walked with Connor back to the lodge, unsure what else she could do to help him. Connor kept insisting he was fine, but she could see the way his knuckles tensed as they moved. He was definitely not fine. Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute. She checked her phone: no new messages. Hunting, Carlo had said. Yeah, hunting bears, she thought bitterly. Stupid, stupid- how could she not have seen this coming?
As they walked through the lodge’s foyer, Brooke caught sight of the youngest Strauss brother, Eric, standing behind the concierge desk. He looked up as they walked in, customer service smile fading quickly to alarm when he saw his brother. His left arm was held up by a sling and guilt was a sick weight in the pit of her stomach - another casualty of my pack.
Eric rounded the edge of the desk and started to make his way towards them. Brooke stared him down, letting her desperation show on her face, trying to convey how much she needed to fix this herself. Eric stopped short, looking between Brooke and Connor, assessing the situation. Then, he nodded and let them pass. Brooke let out a sigh of relief and walked Connor to the staircase towards his suite.
Connor moved as if on autopilot and Brooke could do nothing but follow behind him, her anxiety growing the longer they went in tense silence. Once he opened the door, he moved directly to the bed, sitting down heavily and burying his face in his hands. Brooke closed the door behind her softly and stood next to him, hands reaching out to lay on his shoulder but stopping just short when he let out a soft noise.
He was crying.
72
Connor
Connor’s head was reeling; he felt sick to his stomach - a cocktail of despair and rage curdling inside him. The repetitive thought kept running through his head: one of his sleuth was dead. Someone he was responsible for had been attacked and gutted less than four miles from his lodge.
He could faintly feel Brooke’s warmth next to him as he walked, trance-like, back towards the lodge, through the foyer and up the stairs. Connor let her guide him while he tried to get his feelings under control. He knew it wasn’t her fault.She’d said herself that the pack was angry and had been lashing out, but to murder one of his sleuth.
He was more than partially to blame for what had happened. He’d heard the guests complaining that they’d had to run wolves off of unclaimed land because they were getting ‘too close for comfort’, leaving the wolves with precious little in the way of hunting grounds. He should have done something, spoken to the alpha of the pack, Brooke or not, the second he knew something wasn’t right. But he hadn’t. And now one of his own was dead.
He didn’t remember arriving at his suite, but when he saw his bed he walked straight to it, sitting down heavily and burying his face in his hands. The door closed softly and Connor’s stomach lurched. He didn’t want to be alone. He’d never felt this fragile, this vulnerable. A pained whimper left his throat, muffled against his palms. They felt wet, and he realized with a start that he was crying. He couldn’t really remember the last time he’d cried.
A hand touched his shoulder.
“Connor?” He jerked his head up at the soft voice, startled to find Brooke kneeling on the floor in front of him, long red hair gathered over one shoulder and lip caught between her teeth as she stared worriedly up at him.
“You didn’t leave,” he whispered. Brooke looked broken hearted for a second, and then rose up onto her knees, hands cupping his face. Connor leaned into the touch.
“Oh, sweetheart, of course I didn’t.” She pulled him towards her, his cheek moving to rest over her heart. “How can I help? How can I make you feel better?”
“Just- just be here, with me. Don’t leave.”
“Never,” Brooke promised, arms tightening around him and fingers running through the hair at the back of Connor’s neck. “We’re in this together.”
He kissed her, moving his hands to circle her slim waist and pulling her impossibly closer. Brooke moaned softly into his mouth and he greedily kissed her lips, a desperation clawing at him. Brooke pushed him back slightly, rising from the floor to settle in his lap. Connor’s hands slid to cradle her hips as she devoured him, those silk-soft lips parting his easily. She was intoxicating. Connor trailed wet kisses down her neck, nuzzling into the soft skin there. He wanted to mark her, make her his. His tongue flicked out, tasting the spot he thought he’d do it, and she shivered.
“Do it,” she whined softly, rocking her hips down onto his lap, making his cock harden in his jeans. “Mark me.”
Connor wasted no time in pulling the collar of her shirt aside and peppering that soft skin with kisses, biting and sucking red marks over her collar bones. When he leaned back he couldn’t hold back the possessive growl that rumbled low in his throat. Brooke looked down at him from her perch on his lap, hair dishevelled, her throat covered in love bites.
“Mine,” he vowed, rocking his hips to meet hers in a way that had them both gasping.
“Yours,” she agreed breathlessly. “Lie back?”
He went easily, pulling Brooke down with him, not wanting her to move, loving seeing her above him, but the second his back touched the mattress she slipped down to once again kneel on the floor, reaching for his shoes. Connor frowned, propping himself up on his elbows to look down at her.
“Brooke? What’re you…”
“Hush. Let me take care of you. Let me make you feel better.” She tossed his shoes to the side and stood up, reaching for the hem of her shirt and pulling it teasingly up and over her head. Her breasts fell free and Connor’s mouth watered.
“Like what you see?” She grazed her hands down to the fly of her jeans, stopping to pinch her nipples between her fingers, arching into her hands. Connor’s cock twitched and he had to physically restrain himself from launching at her. He needed to take her, needed to stake his claim
on his mate-
His mate?
Brooke’s jeans joined the growing pile of clothes on the floor and she crawled her way up the bed - settling herself back over his hips and pulling eagerly at his shirt. Connor always made sure his suite was warm but he still shivered when his shirt went over his head. Brooke pushed him firmly back down and traced a line down his chest to his navel with her tongue, nipping at his hip bones. Her back was arched, giving him the perfect view of her ass framed in lace, and his dick ached.
“Love that wicked little mouth,” he rasped, watching in rapture as Brooke carefully pulled down his jeans and underwear, shimmying out of her panties and rubbing her slick entrance over his cock. Connor nearly came as she sank down onto him without warning, feeling every inch of him slide into her. He gripped her hips tightly when she immediately started to lift herself up, keeping her poised on his dick. “Are you trying to kill me?” he gasped. Brooke giggled and Connor groaned as she tightened around him.
“It’d be a good way to die,” she mused, leaning down to lick into his mouth.
Connor laughed, running a hand through her hair. “You’re such a good girl for me, don’t deserve you. Such a good girl…” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her wrist and then her elbow, making his way to her nipple. He ran his hands down the curve of her waist to her hips and she arched beautifully, hips rocking furiously as she fucked herself down onto him.
“Connor… please I- ah!”
Connor sat up and locked one arm around her waist, pulling her more fully onto his lap as he clutched her tightly to him. They both jolted at the change in angle. Connor took control. His grip tightened on her until he was sure there would be faint bruises left behind. His bear growled at the possibility of physical marks proving his claim. His pace quickened, rolling his hips up roughly into her until they were both panting into each other’s mouths, too lust drunk to kiss.
For a long moment the only sounds that echoed off the walls were grunts and moans and whimpers. And then Brooke seized up in his lap, hands leaving crescent indents on Connor’s shoulder blades as she shuddered through her orgasm. Connor managed two more thrusts before he too came with a shout, burying his head in Brooke’s neck, inhaling her scent.
“I’ve never lost anybody before,” he said a while later. They were still naked, buried under the covers, legs tangled together. Brooke had tucked him under her arm, hands soothing down his curls. “I mean, I lost my grandparents when I was kid, but I can barely remember them. Will was… an old friend. He moved back here when he split up with his partner, he needed a place to stay…” Connor had always been so careful with his people. Everyone at the lodge were loyal, hard workers. They were like family. “You were right. I can’t look after anyone.”
“That’s not true.” Brooke’s arms tightened around him. “All of your brothers are healthy and happy with their mates because you were there to drag their sorry asses out of trouble when they needed it.” She was quiet for a long moment, hands soothing through his hair. “I’m so sorry, Connor, it was my pack that did this. I thought I knew what they were capable of but I was so wrong. I- I’ll understand if you want us to leave…”
No, you can’t go!
“I don’t want you to leave,” he said quickly. He couldn’t bear it if she left now, not when he finally had the feeling he had been craving for so long. You’re my mate. I know it's impossible, but I can feel it. Whatever happened at this point, he knew he couldn’t do it without her. “You said it earlier, we’re in this together.”
“So what do we do?” She looked so tired as she asked him that, lines around her eyes and mouth. He wanted to soothe them away, rubbing his thumb over one as though that would make it disappear. His idea was a long shot - their species had never gotten along, it would be a tentative truce if nothing else - but if he and Brooke both presented the idea…
Connor sighed, running a hand through his hair. “We’re going to have to make them talk to each other.”
Brooke stared up at him incredulously. “You’re joking.”
“Afraid not.”
Brooke’s head hit the pillow with a thump and a groan. “Oh, this is not going to be fun.”
73
Vince
Vince had been sitting in the parking lot of Black Bear Lake Lodge for a few hours now, the morning becoming afternoon. The sunlight was slowly driving him insane as it heated the inside of the car to higher and higher temperatures. He was about to lose his temper; he could feel irritation itching at his skin. Where the fuck was she?
He’d followed Brooke’s scent through the forest, nose wrinkling at how closely it mingled with that of Connor Strauss, and eventually arrived at the lodge, where the scent trail stopped. He’d gone back and borrowed Carlo’s car and returned to wait for Brooke to reappear. He wouldn’t be caught dead in Black Bear Lake Lodge.
He could see Eric Strauss, the youngest brother, just inside the door, rubbing absently at his bandaged arm. That put a smile on Vince’s face. He could still feel the way the flesh had given under his teeth, slotting themselves between muscle and bone and wrenching while his alpha could do nothing but watch.
The happy memory was interrupted by Connor appearing next to Eric at the front entrance, a very dishevelled looking Brooke by his side. They both waved to the doorman before stepping out into the sun. Vince narrowed his eyes, sinking down low in his seat in hopes Brooke wouldn’t spot him.
How she could stand to be so close to these bears was beyond him. Every wolf knew that bears were second rate predators - there was a reason they liked to throw their weight around. It was simply because they knew if they didn’t, they'd be overthrown quicker than pinning a pup in his first fight. The Strauss sleuth had used their brawn to rule the Rockies for nearly two hundred years, which, in Vince’s opinion, was far too long.
He couldn’t hear what the pair were saying to each other as they lingered outside the lodge, but the words weren’t that important. Instead, Vince paid attention to the lodge itself. It was garish, that was for sure, but, Vince supposed there was a certain charm to it. He could easily imagine owning the place, gleefully tossing out every last scrap of the Strauss family’s heirlooms and purging the place of their stench. The name would have to go too, though he could see the town having some problems with it. Maybe if he kept the new name similar enough they’d be more inclined to let it go without a fight. The Grey Wolf Lodge maybe? He shrugged; a better name would come later.
Brooke and Connor finally headed towards where she had parked her car on the other side of the lot. Vince didn’t miss the way Connor stared at her ass as she climbed into her car. Vince’s eyes narrowed as anger and disgust flared through him, mingling with the triumph of catching her out. Bingo.
Vince turned on the engine as nonchalantly as he possibly could, but the two alphas were far too wrapped up in each other to notice him as he pulled out of the parking space. He took one last look through the side mirror and caught Connor leaning through the driver’s window to kiss Brooke. Vince balked, gagging slightly. It really was disgusting to look at. But at least her little rendezvous was distracting her. There was no way she’d make it back to the pack, especially not before him, and the extra canoodling through the window only served to buy him even more time.
He drove back down the mountain with almost childlike glee. He’d known something was up, but for Brooke to betray the pack quite so spectacularly? No wonder she was so okay with the small territory and crappy hunting; she was selling the pack out for sex with another species. She was a traitor; the pack was as good as his.
The car screeched to a halt outside the shithole complex the pack called home. When he took charge, they’d move into that lodge. He would enjoy taking Connor Strauss’ suite from him. Vince could see himself being at home in those large, decked out rooms. All the perks; perfect for an alpha.
A few of the pups playing outside turned dumbstruck faces to him. Vince sneered at them before kicking open the car door and stepp
ing out. He looked around, eyes settling on the hood of the car and clambering up so he could see the entire lot. The cubs continued to stare at him and Vince threw his hands wide.
“And the truth comes out!” He bellowed, revelling in the power his voice exuded. One by one, the shabby front doors were thrown open and the confused, irritable pack stepped out. Constant hunger made their fuses short. They gravitated towards him with the intensity of an angry mob. All Vince needed to do was direct that anger in the right direction. Sweat trickled down his back, the fabric sticking uncomfortably to his skin. Vince licked his lips, eyes roaming the crowd as he carefully planned his next words.
Carlo and Angela were the last to emerge, leaning against their respective doorways with their arms folded. Carlo’s eyes narrowed when he saw Vince standing on his car but Vince simply smiled.
“Your beloved Brooke has abandoned us! The traitorous bitch is living it up at the lodge, gorging herself on Strauss money while the rest of us fight for scraps on land that should belong to us!”
Dissent rippled through the rest of the pack. Carlo and Angela looked uneasy, but their concerns were drowned out by the rage of the other pack members, clamouring forward to hear more. Vince choked back a laugh and raised his voice to shout over them. “It’s true! I saw it with my own eyes. She’s nothing more than a little bitch, rolling over for their alpha now! She doesn’t care about us, only about saving herself.”
He looked out at a sea of angry wolf shifters and smiled, victory welling up within him.
“If we want to save ourselves, we have to get rid of those bears. And if Brooke has decided her loyalty lies with them?” Vince paused, savoring the words. “Then she has to go too.” Several of the pack looked unsure and Vince grit his teeth. “She doesn’t care about you; she’s made that clear. We need space, ample hunting grounds, and somewhere to live that doesn’t smell like cigarettes and mildew! I can make us the most fearsome pack in the whole state, but I have to know you are with me on this. We have strength in numbers! Together we can take on the sleuth and we can win. Are you with me?”
Billionaire Bear Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset Page 45
