Bearly Cooking (Pacific Northwest Werebears #1)

by Moxie North

  “I’m fine mom, Wyatt was just being dramatic,” he explained, turning to pace the hallway.

  “Well who was hurt son?” his dad asked.

  “Our new cook, she was hit by a hydraulic hose. She has some cracked ribs and a concussion, but the doctors say she will be fine. They haven’t let me see her yet, I keep asking,” he said, running an agitated hand through his hair.

  “She?” his mother queried.

  “Yes, Sophie, she passed out in my arms. Why aren’t they telling me I can see her? It’s been hours,” he growled continuing his pacing.

  “Sweetheart, why are you so agitated? Your bear is right at the surface, your eyes are almost yellow. You have to calm down,” his mother whispered. Her concern clear as well as her curiosity.

  Looking from his mom to his dad and back to his mom he let out a sigh. Reigning in his bear he looked at them and said, “She’s mine”

  His mother gasped, clutching her hand to her chest, “Are you sure sweetie?”

  “Of course he’s sure, our son wouldn’t make that statement unless he knew he’d found his mate. Right son?”

  “You were right dad, there is no doubt, she’s my mate. And it’s killing me to not be with her. I hadn’t even met her yet. I was too busy to welcome her yesterday. If I had she wouldn’t have been out walking alone this morning. She wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” he angrily said, flexing his fists and trying to calm his animal.

  “Son, you know that you can’t control everything. You found her now, that’s what’s important. How did she get hit with a hose? How did it even break? Aren’t those checked regularly?”

  “Yes, I have Conner looking into it now. I have a good guess, but I want to have him look it over anyway.”

  “Sabotage?” his mother whispered, leaning closer to him.

  “Don’t know yet, but I will find out who is responsible, mom, trust me.”

  A doctor was walking down the hallway towards them, Cage turned and crossed his arms over his chest. His animal wanted to lash out at the person keeping him from Sophie, but his human side knew to play nice if he wanted to see her.

  “Are you with Sophie Carlton?” the doctor asked.

  “Yes, we’re family, I’m her fiancé,” Cage answered.

  He heard his mother sigh behind him and his dad snort.

  “She’s in a room now, we’ve given her some medication and are keeping her under observation until tomorrow. She’ll need quiet and dark until her concussion heals. No loud sounds and keeping her calm is best. There was a fair size hematoma on the back of her head. Is there anyone that will be taking care of her when she is released?” The doctor asked.

  “We’ll make sure she’s taken care of,” his father responded behind him.

  The doctor nodded and turned down the hall, the Rochon troop followed behind. Stopping at a door, the doctor gestured that they could go in.

  The lights were low inside the room, the blinds drawn against the daylight. Lying in the hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around her head she looked so small to him. Her eyes were closed, an IV dripping liquid into her arm.

  Cage took a step into the room, then another, his animal screaming to get closer to her.

  “Oh, Cage, she’s sooo pretty,” his moms voice came from behind him.

  “She’s beautiful,” he responded not looking away from his mate.

  A soft moan came from the bed, Sophie’s forehead wrinkled in a grimace. Cage rushed to her side, “Shhh, honey, it’s okay,” he crooned to her, brushing the wrinkles from her forehead.

  Sophie heard the deep timber of Cage’s voice and relaxed. Her head felt like there was an elephant sitting on it. It hurt to open her eyes and the shallow breaths she was taking made her dizzy.

  “Cage?” she whispered.

  “I’m here, darlin’, don’t worry. The doctor says you are going to be just fine. Just relax and let the medicine work,” he said cupping her cheek.

  “Don’t go,” she pleaded, pushing her face into his palm. She breathed in his woodsy scent and relaxed.

  “I’m not leaving your side honey, trust me. My mom and dad are here too, I’ll introduce you to them when you are feeling better, okay?”

  “Hmm…okay,” she mumbled, letting herself slip into the dark quiet again

  Chapter 11

  Sitting beside Sophie, Cage was having a quiet discussion with his parents who were sitting on a couch under the window opposite the bed.

  “Son, you know she’s going to be fine. This might have just been an accident,” his dad counseled.

  “If it was a one off I’d agree with you dad, but this has been happening more often. It’s one thing for those environmental terrorists to damage our equipment. But when they start hurting people I lov…” he shook his head not finishing that sentence.

  “It’s okay son, I know that feeling. You do love her, your biology and the fates have assured that. No use fighting it or trying to understand how it works. The getting to know her part will happen eventually. What you feel now is real and true, but you may want to avoid blurting that out to her just yet. Humans tend to run a little scared when a stranger tells them they are fated mates and they are in love with them,” he said chuckling to himself.

  “I want to rip someone’s arms off for hurting her.”

  “I get that, but this is all new to her. She feels the pull to you, she doesn’t understand it and it probably terrifies her. Give her some time, be there for her and she won’t be able to fight the pull. Once you two start making babies, her biology will change and you’ll be able to let her know how old you really are. Don’t want her running away when you tell her you’re in your fifties,” his dad laughed quietly.

  “I’m a little more worried about telling her I’m a bear, dad,” Cage said looking at him wryly.

  “Oh, that’s no problem, dear,” his mom interjected. “You’d be surprised how many women already think their men are animals,” she said tittering.

  Cage just shook his head at them both. Already planning cubs for him and he hadn’t even spent more than a few hours with his mate. Most of those she’d been unconscious.

  Rubbing his hand across his beard, he didn’t want to waste time tracking down who had messed with the hydraulic hoses. His brother Conner had texted him that it looked like it had been tampered with.

  He understood loving the forest and wanting to protect it. But these eco groups didn’t understand they were managing their forests. They never clear cut whole areas. They picked and chose specific locations, leaving surrounding tree coverage and habitat for the animals. They replanted and maintained their lands and the government lands they worked. He was proud of the work they did.

  But now they had hurt someone he cared about. Someone he had been waiting a lifetime for and he was pissed. His bear was none too happy either.

  Reaching for Sophie’s hand, he ran his thumb over the back of her soft skin. Not caring his parents were in the room, he leaned down and placed a kiss on the back of her hand. Breathing in her scent while he was there, appeased his bear. The animal didn’t like the antiseptic smell of the hospital, but he rumbled happily when Sophie’s sweet floral scent tinged with honey broke through that artificial soap.

  Cage heard another contented sigh from his mother. He smiled a small smile, he was glad his mom was happy. He was over the moon himself. He wanted to pull Sophie into his arms, rub his scent all over her, kiss her, make love to her, and protect her always.

  Sitting back in his chair, he let his eyes roam over her. Even beat up and looking miserable, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He couldn’t help but imagine her heavy with his cubs, sitting on the front porch of the cabin he’d built near his parents. The family owned two hundred acres of private land that butted up against government land. His brothers and he had all built cabins hoping to find their mates and keep their families close.

  Cage never thought this day would come. That he may have a family of his own and a mate to lo
ve and protect. Now he just had to convince Sophie that it was okay to trust him with her heart. That he was unsure of how to do. This was new territory for him, he knew he could trust his parent’s advice, but something told him he needed to do this on his own.

  Chapter 12

  Sophie woke up slowly, her head just had a large horse sitting on it now instead of an elephant. She could feel the soreness in the back of her hand where the nurse had come earlier and removed her IV.

  Her other hand was being gently rubbed, soothing and soft.

  Turning her head and trying not to wince at the movement, she saw a tired looking Cage sitting in the chair he’d been in all night. She’d open her eyes a few times during the night and he’d be in that chair, talking to his parents, or just staring at her. She tried to be sneaky about her peeking, but she knew he was aware she was awake. He never called her on it, just kept talking to his parents or would give her a little smile when he saw her eyes.

  Whenever he did that it made her heart feel like it was swelling inside her chest. She felt warm and safe just with him looking at her. She couldn’t explain it. He was so handsome, he took her breath away. And his size made her feel petite.

  She’d managed a peek at his parents when they were leaving to get coffee once. They were both tall and broad, no wonder Cage and his brothers were so big. It was clearly genetic.

  They were a good-looking couple; she had heard them bantering back and forth in whispers one of the times she woke up. They sounded like they were in love. Sophie always envied those couples. Her parents could barely stand each other and made a point to avoid each other. Sophie knew she couldn’t live her life that stayed and unaffected. She wanted passion and romance. She loved reading stories of people falling madly in love, running away together, and living happily ever after. It had to happen in real life sometime she figured. Where else would these writers get the ideas in the first place?

  Looking up at Cage she tried to speak, but realized her mouth was dry. She tried to lick her lips but there was no moisture to do it with. Sensing her need, Cage held a cup with a straw to her lips, “Small sips,” he directed.

  Once the liquid had quenched her thirst, Sophie tried again, “You stayed here all night?”

  “I told you I wouldn’t leave you. You don’t have any family here I know, so it’s my family’s responsibility to look after you. My mother has already adopted you, just so you know,” he said smiling at her.

  “She seems nice, at least from what I heard. My memory seems a bit fuzzy,” she admitted.

  “That’s understandable; the doctor said you had a pretty hard knock to your head. No lasting damage, but I imagine it hurts pretty bad,” he said.

  “Well I was thrown from a horse once as a child when my mother insisted I learn to ride side saddle like a proper lady. This may actually hurt worse,” she admitted.

  “Like a proper lady, huh?” he said chuckling and squeezing her hand.

  “Hmm…” she said looking down at their hands entwined on the bed. Holding hands with your boss, not sure where that fell on the propriety scale. But it didn’t feel weird or wrong, it felt right. But it was still confusing, so Sophie made an attempt to pull her hand from his.

  He tightened his hold. “Please don’t,” he whispered to her, “I don’t know how to explain this to you right now Sophie, but I was very upset when you got hurt and touching you is the only thing keeping me calm right now.”

  “You seem to care a lot about your employees, that’s admirable,” she mumbled.

  “No, Sophie, not my employees, you. I know you can feel it too, the connection between us. It’s strong and scary and all I can do is ask you not to panic. Believe me that whatever you are feeling, I’m feeling one hundred times over. I want to hear all about you, get to know you, what you like what you don’t like. Your favorite music, the movies you hate, everything. Just give me a chance. I told the doctors that my family will look after you once you’re released today. I’d really like it if you would come home with me. You can have your own room, my mom lives close by and can check in on you when I have to go to work. I’d feel better knowing you weren’t alone in the mess hall by yourself. You need peace and quiet to recover from your head injury and the camp site is neither of those two things.”

  Sophie was chewing her lip through his speech, her fuzzy brain trying to keep up. He liked her, she got that. She liked him too even though she didn’t know why. He said he wanted to protect her, which seemed awfully nice too. He wanted to get to know her, she liked that. She’d never met a man that cared about her interests or dreams. But then she’d always went on dates set and approved by her parents. The only time she dated a man outside of her parents narrow view was during school. She met another student with an obsession with wild game and the many ways to cook it. They dated a while and she’d given her virginity to him one night after a class on boiling live lobsters.

  They dated for another six months before amicably breaking it off. She wasn’t a sit in the brush waiting to shoot Bambi type of girl. Which is what he thought was the height of entertainment.

  Her logical mind was telling her that her new boss was showing clear signs of stalker and/or obsessive behavior. But her gut was telling her this man was it, the real deal. Hunky, handsome, and willing to protect her from the unknown. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust her gut she told him, “I’d appreciate recovering at your house, as long as I wouldn’t be in the way,” she finished.

  Smiling a big goofy grin at her, he said “You could never be in the way, and this takes a huge weight off my mind. I’m sure you’ll be comfortable there.”

  “What about work? Who’s going to cook?” she asked thinking she was seriously failing at her new job that she was calling in sick on her second day.

  “We have that covered, don’t worry about a thing,” he said standing, “I’m going to go see when they plan on releasing you so we can get you settled. My parents went home to make sure my house was ready and mom was bringing over some of her famous pies,” he said leaning over her bed.

  Looking deep into her eyes, Sophie blinked back at him. His eyes dropped to her mouth and a moment of indecision passed over his features. Then he brushed his lips over hers. Soft but strong, tiny shocks warmed through Sophie. She sucked in a breath at this sudden change of boundaries.

  Pulling back at her gasp, he stared hard at her and said, “Trust me, Sophie.” Then he gave her another quick kiss on the lips and walked out of the room.

  Sophie brought her hand up to her mouth. She could still feel the heat from his lips. Running her tongue over them, she realized he tasted like honey.

  Chapter 13

  Sitting in the big black pickup truck, Sophie had resigned herself with going with the flow right now. Her head hurt too much whenever she tried to think through what was happening. So she’d decided in the best interest of her health and well being, to just let it happen.

  Once they had said she could be released, Sophie had tried to get out of bed to use the bathroom and take a shower. Cage insisted on carrying her to the restroom and standing outside the door while she showered. Before she could ponder what she was going to wear a knock sounded on the door and a long muscled arm dropped a bag inside the door.

  “My mom stopped by your room and grabbed some clothes for you, I hope you don’t mind,” the muffled voice came through the door.

  “Thank you,” she managed as she tried to dry around the bandage on her head. She had to keep it dry for a few days, they had used some kind of super glue to close the wound. Sophie grabbed her messy hair and pulled it into a bun on top of her head. It was the best she could do without washing it.

  Digging through the bag, she found his mom had packed a set of pajamas, flannel with bacon and eggs on them. And two sets of stretch pants and T-shirts, with the usual undergarments. His mom was smart and knew she was in no mood for dressing up while she felt so wretched.

  Opening the bathroom door, Cage
was there and scooped her back into his arms and walked her to the bed.

  “You are going to throw your back out carrying me around. Put me down, I’m too heavy for you!” she squealed.

  “You’re not too heavy for me, you fit quite nice in my arms. And I can feel some particularly luscious curves pressed against me. I think I like carrying you around.”

  “Cage!” she whispered, mortified. What if one of the nurses heard him!

  Laying her on the bed, Cage leaned down and ran his nose along her neck, soaking in the fresh scent of her skin.

  “Hmm…honeysuckles,” he said tickling her throat.

  “Hospital soap, you mean,” she laughed nervously.

  “Not even that can cover your natural scent, you smell edible,” he growled placing a slightly open mouth kiss on her neck.

  Sophie sucked in a gasp. His hot wet mouth sent shivers straight to her clit. Her neck was ground zero for sexual stimulation with her, and Cage had no idea what he was starting.

  That was what she was thinking when he pulled back and sniffed again. His eyes went dark, from light blue to cobalt and Sophie could have sworn that the edges burned with a yellow ring. He sniffed loudly and a rumble went through his chest.

  Sophie knew that the neck kisses had gotten her wet, but Cage couldn’t possibly know, could he?

  Cage was breathing deep now and he closed his eyes and dropped his head back down into her neck.

  “You’re killing me, honey,”

  “Um..pardon?”

  Pulling back he looked into her eyes, “I can smell you want me, Sophie. It’s making it hard to control myself. Let me kiss you at least, something to appease the beast so to speak.”

  Sophie managed to nod, because she could see he was aroused. She could also feel it against her leg, pulsing through his jeans, and it didn’t help but make her pussy grow damp thinking about it.

  A low growl tore through Cage as his lips came down on hers. She opened her mouth to the onslaught of his kiss. He didn’t hesitate, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, claiming it with a toe curling suction.