Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
They fell into a pattern, him and Milo.
They would eat meals together. Milo would hide out for a few hours a day, reading, or pacing, or scribbling in the notebooks Warrick bought him. But when it came time to nap or to sleep at night, they came together in the big den he’d made, and they curled up among the pillows.
At first, he’d had to be wicked careful not to restrain Milo, even by accident. The second time they’d napped together, he’d rolled in his sleep and Milo had sprung up like a frightened cub and made a run for it.
But now, he could wake up with Milo clinging to him like a limpet, his arms around Milo, their cheeks pressed together.
It was making him crazy.
Milo smelled like mate.
But he would never press that suit. No. Milo could come to him, or they wouldn’t be together at all.
He was working out, pushing his body on the treadmill while Milo was upstairs reading, when the door to his gym popped open and his brother Ryder stepped into the room.
He wore gym shorts and a T-shirt along with his sneakers, and he hopped on the exercise bike next to Warrick’s treadmill without a word said.
Warrick broke first, a few minutes later. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to check in with you and see how you were doing.” Rye, who was the middle brother and therefore usually the peacemaker of the family, gave him a faint smile. “My mate is worried about his brother and so is Connal’s.”
He fought not to roll his eyes. Race and Nolan were wonderful, and he had never seen his brothers happier, but they were nosy. That wasn’t really fair, was it? Of course they were worried about their brother, but he had things under control.
“He’s doing better. He’s been coming down to have meals with me, and we’ve been napping in the den.” He slowed the treadmill down so he could more easily talk with Rye.
“And how are you? I see you’re running off your frustrations.”
“Of course I am. I would never push him into anything he doesn’t want.”
“But you still feel as though he’s your mate, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. I know it deep down in my heart and in my gut and other places, too. But he’s had a hard time, and I’m not going to do anything that will scare him.”
“But you said he’s coming down to nap with you in the den. That’s a really good sign, bro.”
“I hope so.” He shrugged, slowing the treadmill some more - to a fast walk. “I just don’t know. Some days he seems so much more adjusted and happy and then he’ll spend two days hiding in his room.”
Rye cranked the tension up on the bike, pedaling faster. “Yeah, but when he first got here he spent every day, all day, hiding in his room so it’s a case of improving day by day.”
“Such a sunny disposition you have.”
“I do. It’s better than yours. It was so damn growly all the time.”
He snorted out a laugh at that because, honestly, he was the worst. He snapped and snarled, and then there was Rye who was kind of grumpy most of the time.
He only teased about the sunshine. If any one of the three of them was of a disposition that resembled good weather, it was Connal.
Con could laugh at anything, no matter what was happening.
Though none of them had been laughing at the rescue mission they had done, which had resulted in Milo coming to live with him.
There had been shifters of all shapes and sizes, with several bears, who had all been kidnapped and were being sold off to collectors and hunters and other horrifying situations.
Now they had broken up that particular arm of whatever organization was funding this.
They still had to figure out who was ultimately behind it.
Their friend, Quinn, who was a werewolf bar owner, and also heavily into rescuing shifters who were down on their luck, had told him to lay low while Quinn and his mate Tiago looked into things, but it was hard.
He and his brothers wanted to be in on the action and make sure they took down whoever had the audacity to try to sell people for a living.
“Are you laughing at me?” Rye asked.
“Nope I’m laughing with you.” Because he knew Rye was making a joke at his own expense.
“Anyway, Nolan and Race want to know when they’re allowed to come over for dinner. They’re feeling a little freaked out because when Milo first came home with you, he sat around and talked with them for hours and then he totally disappeared.”
“I’ll talk to him. He may not be ready.”
“I know.” Rye nodded, his expression going serious. “But that’s why I came over here and didn’t let them just march right in and try to force the issue.”
“That would probably send him running for the hills.” He turned the treadmill off because he really wasn’t feeling it anymore. Talking with Ryder was actually helping out.
“Still, they’re brothers, like we are. If anybody can get him down out of the trees, it would be them.”
He gritted his teeth a little bit because he felt as though he had already done a shit ton of work to get Milo back to trusting real life.
“Don’t glare at me bro. I know you’ve been working hard and that you have feelings for him already, but you can’t just coddle him for much longer. Who knows if those guys are going to come after him. We need him to be ready to at least help defend himself.”
“That fucking sucks, but I know you’re right.
” Maybe that was a line he could take with Milo.
Maybe he and Connal and Rye could teach Milo some self-defense and make him feel empowered.
Hell, they could probably teach everybody some self-defense, except maybe Race, who was a tough little fucker.
He had been on his own for years, looking for shifters who were lost, just like Milo.
Nolan was gentler, sweeter, but eventually he had stood up for himself against the alpha who had taken him away from his family and kept him captive for a very long time.
“I can see the wheels turning in your head,” Rye told him. “And smell smoke. What is it you’re thinking?”
“Self-defense angle might be a good way to get the brothers together if we tell them that we’re going to teach them how to defend themselves against anybody who came after them, just in case…”
“Yeah, maybe. We could do it here at your house so he doesn’t freak out about having to leave.”
“I think it’s a good idea. I’ll approach him about it today, but don’t say anything to Race and Nolan until I get a yes or no from Milo.”
“Deal.” Rye cranked the resistance back down on the bike after several minutes of hard pedaling.
“So, tell me what else is going on.”
Rye chattered at him, and they finished up their workout talking about things like the customers for their next set of custom motorcycles and what color they were going to paint the one they had just finished retrofitting for one of their best clients.
Warrick loved working on bikes, and he knew Nolan did too.
Race was more of a tinkerer. He liked to put things together and take them apart.
He was kind of an engineer that way. It made War wonder what Milo’s talent was.
So far his little bear had simply read a lot and slept to get his energy back.
He really wished Milo would allow himself to shift.
He didn’t think the drugs were still prohibiting Milo from doing it; those had worn off a long time ago. Now it was the mental game.
“Are you even listening to me?” Rye asked.
Shit, he’d lost the thread of their conversation. “No. I was contemplating how to help Milo remember how to shift.”
“Ah.” Ryder nodded, and if anybody understood this situation, it was Rye. Nolan had been able to shift just fine when he’d come to live with them, but he’d been scared and stiff and worried about everything. He was pretty much back to his sunny happy disposition.
Sometimes War wanted to smother him with a pillow.
He just wasn’t a very cheery guy, but that wasn’t Nolan’s fault. Or anyone else’s for that matter.
“Well you’re making great strides in giving him a place where he feels safe and comfortable, so maybe it’ll come sooner rather than later.”
“Yeah, I hope so. I just wish he would see his brothers. I think they could help him. If they all beared out together and had a pile for napping.”
“Have you shifted when he’s around?” He raised an eyebrow waiting for his answer.
“I haven’t wanted to frighten him or intimidate him in any way.”
“Okay, but maybe if you did, his bear would respond.”
“You don’t think it will send him running for the hills?” War knew he was a huge bear. Judging from what Nolan and Race looked like when they shifted, Milo would be a relatively small black bear, and this difference might make him really frightened.
“If you really think Milo is your mate, nothing you do is going to make him run away from you. I mean, there are things you could do, but I know there’s nothing you would do.”
“No. No, I would never hurt him for all the world.” The very thought made him kind of ill.
“I know. You’ll be an amazing mate.” Rye chuckled, the sound so amused. “Just like me and Con.”
“Yeah, yeah. I can do better than you, cub.”
“Bah.” Ryder waved a hand in the air. “I’m not a cub, and I haven’t been for a long time.”
“You’re both cubs to me.” He would always protect his brothers just like he would his mate…
“Thanks, old man.” Ryder climbed off the bike before coming to tug him over for a bear hug. “Shift with him. I bet it makes a huge difference.”
“I hope so.” And he would try it. Because he wanted Milo to be happy. And what bear could be happy if they never got to spend any time in their fur?