Chapter 4
Braxton
“What are you doing here?” Kip asked.
He stared up at me with his wide eyes. He didn’t have to look up very far.
He was one of the few people who could meet my gaze almost eye to eye.
Kip was just an inch or two shorter than me.
Whereas I had tons of muscle, Kip was more lean.
In his bear form, though, I was massive, and he was smaller.
Sometimes I wondered if his height intimidated other alphas, while it did the opposite for me. His height turned me on like no other.
He wore a pair of gray sweatpants and his old t-shirt from when he was on the basketball team in high school. I still remembered watching his games. I hadn’t known then that he was mine. At the time, I thought I was appreciating his talent on the court. I saw it through a different lens now.
“What are you doing here, Braxton?” he asked again.
Apparently just standing here staring at him wasn’t helpful.
“Please don’t tell me my parents sent you to watch over me.
Oh, this is ridiculous. They never trust me to do anything.
” Kip threw his hands in the air and tipped his head back in annoyance, making him look even younger than his twenty-three years.
He stepped aside, and I walked in, carrying my hastily packed suitcase with me.
“Don’t you dare put that down. You’re going to have to go someplace else.
I’m not here for any sort of babysitting.
And how do you think you… Who is going to work for the pack?
We can’t have two of us off this whole time.
Did anyone think that through? I requested this time off over six months ago. ”
As cute as an exasperated Kip was, I needed him to relax. “Kip. Kip, calm down,” I said. “I’m here to find my mate. Just like you.”
How it was that my mate was standing right in front of me and didn’t even notice absolutely killed me.
He was mine. I knew that he was mine. I knew it in the depths of my very soul, yet he looked at me like I was just another alpha.
His scent was so intoxicating to me that I dreamt of it at night and couldn’t focus on anything except for him whenever he was in my presence.
Yet he looked at me the same way he looked at everyone else.
“Oh,” he said, and then broke out into a grin.
The worry melted from his body and was replaced by the endless enthusiasm he usually had.
“Well, that’s great! You can be my wingman.
I’ll be your wingman. We’ll be co-wingmen.
” He reached a hand out and slapped playfully at my chest. The movement caused his shirt to ride up and expose the skin of his stomach.
His gray sweatpants rode low on his hips.
There was no way he was wearing underwear.
The thick outline of the monster cock I knew was shielded by the offending gray material beckoned me.
My stomach twisted, and I forced myself to keep my gaze up. Also keep my tongue in my mouth. I hadn’t lied to him. I had come here to find my mate—only my mate was standing right in front of me.
“Do you have a cabin here? How did you know where I was?”
“About that…” I said. “I talked to that Branson fellow at the front desk, and it seems there was a weird mix-up.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that there were a lot of overbookings and issues with check-ins today. I was lucky, though, my cabin wasn’t overbooked.”
I grinned. “It is now.”
Kip let out a laugh. “You’re kidding, right?
How are we supposed to find our mates if we can’t bring them back here?
There’s only one bed, Brax.” He gestured toward the open door where there was a huge bed.
Once again, I was fighting my attraction to my mate so that I didn’t come off like a huge perv.
I growled. The idea that Kip would bring anyone back here who wasn’t me and that he would allow anyone to touch him that wasn’t me made my bear bristle.
“No worries, man. We’ll figure something out,” Kip said with a shrug. He settled on the couch, and I took the chair on the other side. “Hey, who’s covering the enforcer duties, though? If both of us are out, that’s a lot of work for my dad and the other enforcers.”
“It’s the holidays. There’s not a whole ton to do.
My brother stepped in to help, and we dragged old Fred out of retirement.
” I didn’t tell him that I hadn’t given the Alpha or his dad much of a choice.
I called them both while driving to the airport.
I was prepared to lose my job and face serious consequences from the Alpha by leaving like I did.
I would risk it all if only Kip would notice me.
“Well, that’s a good idea. He gets a little lonely this time of year anyway.”
“Yeah, he does.”
“So what’s the plan? What do you want to do?
” Kip leaned back on the couch, and once again, his shirt rode up, exposing his skin.
He crossed one leg over the other and placed his arm on the back of the couch.
He couldn’t have looked more relaxed if he tried.
My scent did nothing for him. Meanwhile, arousal was coursing through my veins like I was drunk on him.
Fuck. I hoped this wasn’t a huge mistake. If this all turned out to be one-sided, I’d be happy to have the Alpha kick me out of the den.
“I took a look at the schedule already. There’s a lot going on.
I was going to just chill for tonight, though.
Traveling always makes me tired. Not that I do it very often.
Tomorrow there’s a midday speed-dating event.
I’m already signed up. We can get you signed up too.
The lodge has an app, so everything is easy. ”
“Perfect,” I said through gritted teeth. “Just perfect.”
I reached a hand out like I was going to touch him, but I was too far away. Sometimes I just couldn’t help myself. I didn’t ever want to stop touching him, and until he gave me some indication that he didn’t like the random touches, I’d keep doing it.
His gaze toward me didn’t waver. His scent didn’t change. No arousal, no flared nostrils, no anything, just the same Kip looking at me the way he always had.
“This is going to be a lot of fun, right?” he said. “As much as I want to do all this on my own like Westley did, I was always more of the team-sport type. If you’re looking for your mate, just like I am, we can help each other out!”
“Right.” I swallowed. “That sounds perfect.”
Perfectly miserable.