Chapter 28
“H ey, Coopy.” I’d been stretched out at his side for hours, keeping careful watch over him. I didn’t know why he was here or how he’d found me, but hopefully those answers would be forthcoming now that his eyelids were flickering.
The pack had checked him over for injuries and frostbite, hanging his clothing to warm by the fire and leaving him in his underlayers beneath a blanket near the fire.
He startled, staring at me like he was looking at a ghost. “Morgan?”
“The one and only.”
He launched over, dragging me into a crushing hug. “You’re alive . Fuck.”
His voice was ragged, worse than mine had been when I arrived.
Cooper descended into a bone-jarring, wracking sob, clutching me so tightly I could barely breathe. I held him back, cupping his head and staying quiet while he cried. I had seen him shed a tear twice in my whole life—when Mom died and when his high school sweetheart, Riley, had left town.
The pack were all nearby but out of the way so Cooper wouldn’t feel crowded. I felt their eyes on me, ready to intervene or assist as needed, and Bear was warmly curious in the bond, his steady presence helping me stay calm.
“I’m alive,” I said softly. “What made you think I wasn’t?”
I hadn’t told him I was going camping with Brandon so he’d have had no reason to know I was missing. It took him a bunch more tears before he was able to answer, not letting me go in the slightest. “They—they called off the search days ago.”
A search? It hadn’t even occurred to me that anyone would look for me. I’d figured Brandon would keep quiet about everything, maybe say I’d canceled last minute and gone out on my own.
“I couldn’t stop,” Cooper croaked. “I couldn’t handle the thought of you out there all alone.”
My eyes watered and I curled against him.
He sucked in a shaky breath. His alpha scent of aged oak and autumn leaves was charred with panic. “All I could think about was your face when you were little and you got locked in the shed. You were so scared when I found you. I had to find you again.” He broke off, drawing in a gasping breath. “I never expected to find you alive. I’d already made myself sick thinking about how I was going to have to lay you down next to Mom in the graveyard, but that wasn’t as bad as thinking about you in the woods all by yourself.”
I absorbed every word, tears making my throat thick and my cheeks burn. “You came after me.”
“Of course I did. The Harris babies have to stick together.” He choked off again, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
Cooper was the only brother I loved. He was the youngest boy and I was the only girl, the youngest of the whole batch, so we were both constantly shit on by our multitude of brothers. Cooper had designated himself my protector since I was a baby, and he had delayed college by a year, staying nearby until I’d turned eighteen and was able to sign my own leases to get away.
“Here’s some water,” Kit said, offering Cooper a glass.
His whole body tensed as if he’d just noticed the other alphas for the first time. He took the water, sipping it slowly as I helped him sit up.
“Morgan,” Cooper whispered, “are you safe?”
“Yes. They’ve been taking care of me. Bear found me in the woods and saved my life.”
Cooper melted, sitting up a little straighter and clutching the glass with both hands as he finished it off. “Thank you for taking care of my sister.”
“It was our pleasure,” Kit assured him. “What do you say to a good meal and some tea?”
“I’d say you’re a fucking godsend.” Cooper cringed, pressing his fingertips to his throat.
“You need to rest,” I insisted.
“I can, now that I know you’re okay.”
The alphas brought him tea and stew they’d made on the fire, and Cooper inhaled it like he was starving. He probably was.
“Good news is that you’re not going to lose any toes,” Maverick said, filling his own bowl after serving everyone else. “We gave you a quick check-over to make sure you weren’t going to perish.”
I cuddled between Bear and Cooper, nursing my food. “How long were you looking for me? How did you find out I was missing?”
“Four, maybe five days,” Cooper replied, slurping more tea. “You were all over the news.”
“The news? ”
“Where’s my coat?” Cooper asked.
Ryder grabbed it where it was hanging off the back of a chair at their dining room table, passing it within reach.
Cooper fished around in his pockets before bringing out his phone. “Fuck, it’s dead. Charger?”
Kit got it plugged into an extension cord that looped outside to the generator. “We don’t have Internet right now. A tree took out our satellite.”
Cooper nodded, already falling asleep as he ate. I took his bowl before he could spill it all over himself, his body slumping down to take a much-needed nap.
I made sure he was bundled up, smoothing down his hair the same shade of red as mine. He took his role as my protector seriously no matter how many times I had insisted he didn’t need to. When he was in better condition I would ask my questions, but they would have to wait for now.
“You okay, firecracker?” Ryder cupped my head, leaning down to kiss my hair.
“Maybe? I hate that he got hurt because of me.” I couldn’t even begin to think about losing Cooper. Of anyone in the world, he had been the closest to understanding me, but he had moved a couple of hours north with his pack a few years ago to start their ranch, so although we talked regularly, this was the first I had physically seen him in months.
“He got hurt because of that fucker Brandon,” Maverick corrected. “Cooper wouldn’t have had to go look for you if Brandon hadn’t left you.”
Bear tucked me onto his lap, his proximity soothing the sharpest edges of my anxiety.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“He’s in a similar condition to you when Bear brought you in,” Kit replied. “The road will be cleared soon and we can take him into town for a doctor. Until then, we’ll keep him fed, hydrated, and resting.”
“I’ll get the fire going in the bunk rooms,” said Ryder. “He’ll still be close by, but won’t have to lie at the door of your nest. Quieter for him, too.”
“Sure, that sounds okay.” I wedged my head under Bear’s chin and wiggled until he had both arms wrapped securely around me. “We’ll have to figure out how to let his pack know he’s here. They’re probably worried sick.”
Had they looked for me too or had Cooper gone out alone? Both seemed equally probable. Cooper was stubborn as a mule and didn’t always listen to sense. If not for his good heart, he and I probably would’ve gotten into a lot of fights as kids. The whole Harris clan possessed a stubborn streak a mile wide, which didn’t work very well when everyone was forced into close proximity. Wayne was the oldest and therefore had the most experience managing the stubbornness of our fathers and figuring out how to control the siblings. He was a mean son of a bitch and the main reason I never went home.
Once the bunk room was warm, the pack moved Cooper onto one of the beds in there. Having someone to care for seemed to activate them. They bustled like little ants around me and Bear, already preparing food for later, stripping down the top layers of the nest to get them washing while the generator powered the basics in the lodge.
I felt squirmy and useless, watching them all go about their tasks. I hated sitting still while others did things, but Bear had a firm grip on me, and I wasn’t nearly as recovered from my heat as I would like to be.
Falling asleep against Bear hadn’t been my intention, but apparently I was more exhausted than I was willing to acknowledge.
Cooper stumbled out of the bunk room some time later, eyes wild. “I have to find her.”
Kit went to check on him and Cooper clutched his arms with a desperation I had never seen on his face.
“ Please . Have you seen my sister?”
“Coopy, I’m right here.” I climbed out of Bear’s lap and Cooper pulled me close like it was the first time he had seen me. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”
His sobs took over him like before, Cooper pouring out every ounce of anguish he felt over believing me dead. “I thought finding you was a dream.”
“Close, but it’s real.”
He squeezed me until I let out a squeak, and then Bear was gently extracting me from my brother’s embrace.
“I’m sorry,” Cooper gasped out. “My brain feels scrambled.”
“You’re okay, man.” Ryder put a comforting hand on Cooper’s shoulder. “Take a breath.”
The roar of snowmobiles came through the windows and Maverick startled, moving over to check it out. “We’re popular today.”
The machines pulled to a stop in the yard. What on earth? They hadn’t had a single visitor and now suddenly they were getting multiple in the same day?
I got Cooper settled onto the couch while the others—minus Bear, who stayed with us—went to check things out.
A couple of minutes later, a familiar voice was shouting through the lodge. “Cooper, you selfish motherfucker. What the hell is wrong with you?” His packmate Cash came marching in like a disgruntled mother hen, stopping short when he saw both of us. “Holy fucking shit.” Cash bounded over, throwing himself at us so he could hug both of us at once.
“Good to see you too, Cash.”
“Jesus Christ, Morgan. We all thought you were dead.”
Cooper shrank down next to me.
“This dingus slipped away into the fucking night while we were asleep to keep searching for you after everything was called off. We’ve been following you for fucking days, Coop.” Cash flicked Cooper in the forehead, my brother flinching back.
“I had to keep going.”
“You could’ve kept going with us .” I turned to see their other two packmates, Levi and Dakota. Levi scooped me up, squeezing me tightly. “Thank god.”
Dakota took me next, trading off from hugging Cooper. “We’ve been so worried.”
“How did you find me?” Cooper croaked out.
“We followed you as long as your phone was charged,” said Levi, “and then struggled for a while just with your trail. We gave up yesterday, hoping your stubbornness would keep you alive until we could get another fucking search and rescue going. Your location pinged back on a couple of hours ago and we came straight here.”
Cash, Levi, and Dakota formed a protective wall around Cooper and me on the couch.
“Are you ready to leave, Morgan?” Cash asked.
“Leave? I just finished a heat. I can barely stand for more than five minutes.”
My brother and his pack all stiffened, gazes darting toward the alphas who had cared for me, turning as one to the nest tent as if they hadn’t noticed it before.
“ Morgan ,” Cooper hissed. “You had a heat? You hate those.”
“Little hard to avoid when Brandon took every fucking thing of use, including my suppressants, when he abandoned me in the woods.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Cash. “What the fuck are you talking about? Brandon was crying all over the fucking TV about how he lost you in the storm.”
I rolled my eyes. “Lost me on purpose, maybe.”
“I have to sit down.” Cash sank onto his ass, looking both dazed and pissed. “We saw him at the start of the search. That’s it. I need to kill him.”