The Grizzly's Hermit Bear

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

Milo bothered him.

Warrick Price didn’t mean the guy annoyed him.

No, it was more that he was worried about Milo.

He understood why the black bear shifter was shut down.

Being kidnapped and chained in some rundown, gross warehouse for a good chunk of one’s life and being given drugs so that one couldn’t shift was enough to give anybody some psychological scars as well as physical ones.

But Milo didn’t seem to be bouncing back. Shifters were pretty resilient. Of course, it took a long time to recover from things that were awful, like Milo had experienced, but at the same time their kind tended to nap it off.

Warrick’s brother-in-law and Milo’s brother, Nolan, had done exactly that, hooking up with Warrick’s brother Ryder and settling in and making a home for them.

Even Milo and Nolan’s other brother, Race, had finally fallen victim to Warrick’s middle brother Connal’s charms. And he had been a mess of guilt and unhappiness for a lot of years.

So the fact that it had been a couple of months since he and his brothers had rescued Milo from the terrible situation he had been in, and Milo did very little besides stay in his room and take the food they shoved through the door on occasion made him worried.

He knew the guy napped, but he could also hear him pacing as if he was so used to being in a small, confined space that he did everything there, including exercise. Or maybe it was anxiety. He didn’t know for sure, but Milo bothered him.

So, finally, Warrick just decided he was going to go get Milo out of his room and make the guy come down and eat dinner with him.

He understood the whole psychology of having been held prisoner and thus feeling safe in a small space, at least academically.

But he also knew shifters were more resilient than many other creatures, and that Milo could heal if he just let himself.

So, he marched up to his bedroom, stomp, stomp, stomp, putting his weight down so Milo could hear him coming. One thing he didn’t want to do was shock the guy or surprise him. He didn’t want to end up getting attacked because Milo thought he was being kidnapped again.

He knocked gently on the door, trying to be respectful, wanting to just tear the door off the edges and grab the guy and haul him downstairs over one shoulder. He was not willing to let Milo hide like this anymore.

The door cracked open, one dark brown eye appearing in the gap. “What is it?”

Warrick fought the growl that tried to come out of him. “It’s time for you to come down to dinner.”

“Oh. No thanks.” Milo tried to shut the door again, but Warrick stuck his foot in there, thankful he still had his Frye boots on and not his bare feet or slippers.

“Milo.” He made his tone soft but stern as he would have when his brothers were younger. “I need you to try.”

The door opened all the way as Milo stepped back, standing at least four feet away from him, out of arm’s reach. “What if I don’t want to?”

“I understand if you don’t, but it’s important. Your brothers, they need you. They were so happy when you first got here, and you were sitting and talking to them, and then you just disappeared.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what I do. I just disappear.” Milo had put a little weight on. He could see that when he studied the man, so he was eating the food they gave him, at least.

“Stop that.” He waved a hand. “No one thinks you did that on purpose, and your brothers have enough guilt about it as it is. Do you need therapy? Do I need to get you an online appointment?”

That got him a reaction, Milo glaring at him, dark eyes snapping with anger, his pretty mouth all pursed up. “I don’t need you making fun of me.”

Warrick crossed his arms over his chest. “I'm not making fun of you.

I'm serious. If you need help, I'll get it for you. But honestly at the risk of sounding like some crackpot internet guru, I think you need to get out of this room. I think you need to see your family even if the relationship there is complicated. I think you need to eat with other people. I think you need to lie in the sun out on the deck and nap.”

“If my family wants to see me they can come here. I can have tea with them in my room.” That upper lip curled up as if Milo was smelling something bad, and Warrick wanted to snatch it and pull it down.

There was something about Milo that really got under his skin, and he didn't like that.

He was the calm brother. He was the one who planned things.

He was the one who was always ready for any situation.

But somehow he wasn't ready for Milo.

“At some point I will come up here and I will carry you downstairs.” His hands flexed over and over and over again with the urge to do just that, in fact.

He had carried Milo out to the truck when they’d rescued him from the situation he'd been in, kidnapped and held hostage in a warehouse where he was given anti-shifting medication.

The kidnappers had used him to help keep the other shifters they brought in on a trafficking situation calm.

It had to have been a mind fuck, and he understood that, but this was out of control. If Milo allowed himself to hide in this room much longer, he would never come back out and that wouldn't work.

“But not today?” Milo's eyebrows went up, but that sarcastic tone never changed.

“Today I want to give you the chance to come down with me and eat dinner. I have some great stew and some homemade bread.”

Milo's nose twitched as if he was trying to smell what Warrick had been cooking for dinner. Bears had the best scent of smell of any creature in the animal kingdom so there was a faint waft of it on the air even up here. Milo’s eyes widened, his pupils blowing out a little bit.

“Smells good, doesn't it?”

“Everything you fed me has been very tasty.” Now that tone went prim, Milo looking at the floor. Honestly, he was so mercurial. Warrick had a bit of a hard time keeping up.

“Well I could feed you more. If you come downstairs, you can have all the helpings you want instead of just having a bowl and a chunk of bread.

And there's honey for the bread.” He hoped that gambit did some good.

It worked on his brothers when they were depressed or being dramatic.

Nobody wanted to downplay what had happened to Milo, not in any way.

He knew this was not just some sort of a temper tantrum.

Warrick also believed that healing had to start with that first brave step.

He was the oldest brother. He had more trauma than his younger two sibs, even if they didn't really know about it.

So, he knew from healing.

Milo just stood there, cheeks red, staring at the floor, shifting from foot to foot as if he didn't know whether he was going to run or attack Warrick or what.

War could feel his tension, just like fine tremors running through his whole body.

It was as if they were connected somehow a little bit and the electricity in Milo's body was resonating in War’s.

Which also bothered him. In fact, it made him a little crazy because he walked around after every encounter with Milo half-hard, and that fact made him feel both guilty and aroused.

Finally, Warrick just held out his hand and waited.

Maybe Milo simply needed to feel safer. Maybe he needed a little bit of protection, but it had to be his choice.

As much as Warrick threatened to throw him over one shoulder and take off with him, he probably wouldn't do that unless the place was on fire or something.

When Milo took his hand, electricity shot through him and it felt like the biggest victory he'd had in his entire life.

The satisfaction that filled his chest shocked him, in fact, and he had to tamp down on everything because he felt a little too alpha for a minute.

As in this Omega was his. Milo didn't need that kind of energy.

“You going to come downstairs with me and eat?” he asked, squeezing Milo's hand gently.

“I'm going to try.” Milo gave him a tiny smile, the barest curl of lips, but it was the first smile he had seen on Milo's face since he'd gone upstairs and locked himself in. There had been plenty of them for his brothers, but really that was about it.

“Okay, we'll take it slow. I don't want to rush you. I just want you to be able to do things.” He hoped that was what Milo wanted too.

“I need to get out of this room. You're right.” Milo was shaking and could feel it, and it made him want to enfold the man in a huge bear hug.

His instincts were probably right on the money as far as kindness was concerned, but War knew they weren't necessarily what Milo needed. Consent was too important in every case, but especially in this one.

So, he simply took a step back out of the doorway, not pulling, but letting Milo walk with him.

Milo came along one step after another, his hand still shaking, sweat beading on his upper lip, but he did it and Warrick was so proud he could bust.

“You're doing really well," he said softly, not wanting to make it weird.

“Thanks. I'm freaking out a little bit.”

“I can tell, but you're going to do this. I know you are. See, we're already at the top of the stairs.”

Milo looked around, his breathing shallow but not panicked. It didn't look like he was going to have an attack of any kind or turn tail and run. “We are. All right, let me hold on to you with one hand and the banister with the other one?”

“Of course.” Warrick had exceptional balance. He could even back down the stairs if Milo needed him to.

“Cool. Thanks.”

They eased down the first step. Milo, not near as confident as War was, but working it. He clung to Warrick's hand tightly and rested his other one lightly on the banister.

They went one step at a time, easy did it, and finally they were at the bottom, Milo grinning a little wider, his body a little looser. “I'm down at the bottom.”

“You are. Do you need to stop and breathe for a minute?”

“No, let's go to the kitchen so I can sit down on one of the bar stools and then I will breathe.” The set of Milo's shoulders and jaw went determined. Completely brave and wonderful.

Warrick was glad he'd picked the right day and time to try to pry Milo out of that room. And now he would feed him something wonderful for lunch.