8. Chapter Eight
This news doesn’t go over the way I expect.
“What?” She pulls out of my embrace, hugging herself against the chill of the night. I want to draw her back into my arms, but she’s holding herself away from me, and I won’t force her.
“You’re my mate,” I repeat, cursing myself for even bringing it up. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d been looking a little sad and lost talking about not quite fitting in with her family, I wouldn’t have felt so strongly about making sure she knew she had support. My support. As her mate. “My bear scented you and recognized you from the start. It’s why I can’t keep my paws off you, why you feel drawn to me. We’re meant to be together.”
“I… I don’t know what to do with that information.” She blinks at me and my heart sinks. “Does that mean we’re—”
“We’re soulmates. Destined. Even if you choose not to have me, and it is your choice, I am bound to you. Yours. Always.”
“This is a lot to take in.” Rae turns and heads down the path toward the cabin—we’re close now—and I chase after her, not sure what’s rolling around in her head.
Pain slices through me. She doesn’t want me. This life, stuck up at the base of the mountains, roughing it in a cabin. Considering the lifestyle she’s used to, maybe this is all too quaint for her.
My bear whimpers.
I’ve royally fucked this up.
“Talk to me, Rae. What are you thinking?”
She whirls around. “Oh, I don’t know, Cole. I’m thinking you said you knew from the start and you didn’t tell me until now. I’m thinking you told me point blank that you didn’t want a mate, but you let me think I could share an intimate moment with you and still be able to walk away.”
“Is that what you want? To walk away?” My hurt gives way to irritation.
“No!” she explodes, then draws a shaky breath. “I don’t know. We’ve just met, Cole. All these feelings, this connection between us is still so new. So intense. But you should’ve told me so I could consider what to do about it for myself.”
Blood running cold, I shake my head and curl my hand into a fist. “You know what? This was a mistake. I should’ve never touched you. I should’ve never told you. I knew it wasn’t worth the risk. Forget I said anything.”
She recoils as if I’d slapped her. “I just… I need time, Cole.”
“Have all the time you want,” I snap. “I’ve got to go.”
“Running away again?” she asks tiredly. “It’s late. Just come in. We’ll figure this out.”
But my beast can’t be held back anymore, and I feel my bones crack. My facial features morph, my teeth lengthen, and my clothes fall to the ground in tattered shreds as my control slips.
Rae’s eyes go wide and her hand slips over her mouth, covering a loud gasp as fur covers my body and the trademark hump forms on my back.
I give my body a stress-relieving shake, lower my head, and turn away from her shocked face. I still when I feel her hand on my hind quarters, ruffling my coarse hair and pressing against the corded muscle underneath.
Standing stock still, I let her stroke my bear, and I let out a pained kind of whimper. Her fingers slide gently over the hairless space where an ugly scar slashes my shoulder, and tears well up in her forest green eyes.
“God, Cole, look at you. Your beast is magnificent.”
Swinging my head back to look at her, my heart hammers in my chest as she twines her arms around my bear’s neck and tucks her head against me. No one’s ever embraced my bear before, apart from Mama, and my bear vocalizes the pleasure he feels at her touch.
But with my emotions still stinging, I can only snuffle and paw at the ground. When she releases me, I head for the tree line and wait in the dark until I see her enter my cabin.
“What crawled up your ass and bit you?” snarls Clayton as he sets the table for family dinner the next night.
I curl my lip, snarling. “None of your business, asshat.”
“You’ve been surlier than usual today. Even worse than after you lost your fight with a car,” Connor quips.
“She was driving too fast in that storm,” I mutter, taking another long pull of my beer. “I got caught out.”
“So you keep saying.” Connor reaches out to swipe more snacks from the cupboard. Quick as a flash, Mama whacks his hand with the back of her wooden spoon with barely a glance.
“I’ve got eyes in the back of my head. Stop eating, you’ll ruin your appetite.”
“I’m hungry, Ma. I can’t exist on salad,” Connor whines, rubbing his sore hand.
“All the same, finish making it and get it on the table.” Melanie Osborne may not look like she’s paying much attention, divided as it is between the phone and the veritable feast she’s got going in three different pots on the stovetop, but nothing gets past her.
Connor sulks back to the chopping board and cuts up all the greens.
“How long do you think you’re going to hide out here?” Clayton thrusts a fistful of utensils my way and waves at me to help.
“I’m not hiding.” I snatch them off him and go around the table, laying them out the way Mama taught us. “I’m healing. Besides, my cabin is currently playing host to a world-class famous writer while she works. You could’ve told me before I went over there and scared the shit out of the woman sleeping in my bed.”
“I didn’t do it.” Clayton raises his hands defensively. “The new girl didn’t realize your cabin is only for peak-time rentals and with prior clearance.”
“And whose fault is that?” I argue. “Yours. You were supposed to train her.”
Clayton’s nostrils flare and he straightens, towering over me by the inch he likes to lord over me. “Watch your tone, little bro. You know I was sick.”
I scoff, shaking my head. Okay, sure. Clay had been laid up in bed with the sniffles, and he’s the worst out of the three of us when ill. Still, someone should’ve told me they’d given up my space.
Connor lays his knife down and glares at me. “When are you back, bro? I’m tired of hauling all those tourists up and down the mountain. The last group of vampires I took up were only interested in cave exploration, the witches and wizards wanted to track down historic pagan worship sites, and the humans were spooked at every turn. It’s exhausting, catering for them all. I’ve had to drag my ass up and down that mountain fifteen times today.”
“Oh, leave your brother alone, Connor,” Mama tuts, pulling the phone from her ear. “Exercise is good for you. And your brother will be back in action when he’s ready. Though I have to say, you are looking much improved.”
She narrows her eyes at me.
“Yes, I’m healing well,” I grunt. “Faster than usual, but obviously my bear’s strong.”
“Mmm.” Mama taps her chin. “There’s something else. Something you’re not telling me.”
I squirm in my seat, not prepared to tell them all I’ve found my mate and I don’t know what the hell to do about that. My bear says one thing, my head says another. And if it wasn’t for the beast inside me, I wouldn’t be having to mess with this mate business at all. It’s tiring, fighting my instincts. And judging by how easily I lose control of myself around her, I’m not sure how long I can hold my bear back from claiming my mate.
But Mom makes more hushed, unintelligible murmurs and disappears down the long hallway. Connor tiptoes across the kitchen floor and opens the snack cupboard a crack before she yells back, “Connor Osborne, you keep those paws to yourself!”
He snatches his hand back like he’s been stung, a curse slipping out under his breath while Clayton and I laugh.
Then the front door opens and shuts and we hear my mother issue a warm hello to whoever’s at the door. A soft female voice replies, and instantly, my brothers and I go on high alert.
We make a mad break for the table. Arms and elbows fly as we push and shove each other aside, battling for our preferred positions around the table. Chairs scrape against the floor, one clattering loudly on its back after Clayton doesn’t catch it. Spying my chance, I bolt past him and sit down.
“Called it!” I shout triumphantly, clutching the chair to my ass like someone—Clay, probably—would knock me out of it sideways.
And then I smell her scent and freeze with that shit-eating grin on my face. I swivel my head around to the hall. No fucking way…
Two seconds later, Mama gestures grandly at the sun-soaked open-plan kitchen and dining room, pointing to each one of us along the way. “And this is the kitchen, where you can most often find my three boys. The big dope picking up the chair he knocked over is Clayton, my eldest. You might’ve spotted him running around the office. He takes care of operations here. Cole, whose cabin you’re in, is there on the end. And Connor, my youngest. Boys, this is Aurelia Golding, our special guest tonight.”
Rae tucks her long golden hair behind her ear, a small smile on her lips. “Just Rae, please. Thanks.”
“Ma, that’s it? That’s all you gotta say about your smartest, most handsome son?” Connor lays one hand on his chest, feigning pain, and extends the other to Rae. “Nice to meet you, Just Rae.”
Rae’s smile is warm and kind as she looks at my brother. I chug the rest of my beer and briefly consider chucking the empty glass at his huge head.
Mama rolls her eyes heavenward, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I knew you’d have more to stay about yourself if I didn’t. Just tried to see if you’d learned to keep that big trap of yours shut yet, is all. I see you’re still as hardheaded as ever.”
Connor waves Mom’s words away as Rae takes his hand, and I bristle watching them touch.
“I run the kitchens on-site but spend most of my time in the fine dining restaurant. It’s currently being refurbished, but when it’s done, you should come by sometime. I’d love to treat you to a dinner you won’t forget.” Connor flashes that signature smile of his and lifts her hand up to his mouth. He relishes in pressing a kiss to her skin, and a rumble starts up low in my chest.
Mmm. Honeysuckle.Connor’s voice rings in my head and I gnash my teeth, curling my hand around the beer bottle.
Fuck. Off. I growl back.
He inclines his head to me slightly. Finders keepers, Cole.
The edges of my vision go fuzzy.
“Rae here writes those books based on our little corner of the world,” Mama says, bustling back in the kitchen. “We’ve been working together on the itinerary for that convention we’re hosting here next year. When she dropped me an email saying she’d made a reservation for the week, I thought it’d be a good idea for her to come by and meet you all.”
“No shit?” Connor’s eyebrows raise up. “You wrote those bear shifter books? The ones they’re going to make into a TV show?”
She nods.
“Sweet! You make sure those Hollywood types don’t perpetuate any nasty, untrue rumors, especially about our gifts and prowess.”
Rae laughs, high and musical. The sound of it grates on me and I glare at Connor.
“Matter of fact, let me know if you need a close-up view of how it all works. You know, the shifting. Call it research. I’d be happy to show you. I’d have to be naked though. For science.” Then he fucking winks at her.
My bear snaps its jaws, huffing. And before I can think better of it, I’m out of my seat and bellowing in my brother’s face.
“Paws off, Con.”
The force of my words vibrates throughout the kitchen. Connor staggers back a step, eyebrows raised in surprise.
Mama whirls around to stare at us both. “What in the world?”
Connor’s gaze darts over to Rae, and I move with him, blocking his view.
Then, a slow, knowing smile tugs at his lips.
Oh, so that’s what’s happening here. Connor’s teasing tone matches the amusement written all over his face. Well, shit. Never thought I’d see the day. Though that does explain why the hell she’s carrying your scent.
I curl my lip and feel another low growl rumble in my chest.
Clay coughs. Calm down. Mama will kill us if we break her table again.
Rae’s delicate fingers tug at my arm. “Don’t be rude, Cole.”
It’s her touch that does it. I finally snap, turning and towering over her. One glance at my face has her stepping back uncertainly, but I grab her hand and tug her closer.
“We need to talk.” The words come out like a snarl as I scoop her up in my arms and ignore her squeak of protest as I cart her right past my mom’s bewildered face and head outside.