Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Twelve
Dex
“What on earth?” I gasped as I leaped out of the path of the massive bear charging down the hill, snarling and growling.
“Get back!” Stan shouted an instant before the bear hit him with a sickening thud, crushing Stan to the ground beneath its huge form.
“Oh my god,” I whimpered, kicking off my shoes and pulling off my clothes, saying a silent prayer of thanks for the elastic waist of my pregnancy pants.
I already completed my shift -not that I believed for a minute I was going to be able to take out the immense animal, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let it kill a man who’d been so nice to me without a fight- when I saw that Stan had also managed to shift.
His clothes were hanging in shreds off a good-sized brown bear, and he was standing between me and the other bear, back arched and legs stiff, his deep snarls leaving no doubt he was more than ready to fight.
I hesitated for a minute, trying to decide if I would help or hinder by joining in and that was all it took for a familiar scent to hit me. The bear attacking us was fucking Otto? What the serious fuck?
My anger burst out of me in a snarling growl so vicious that it even took me by surprise.
Both Alphas paused to look at me, but I only had eyes for one of them.
Charging around Stan, I leaped at Otto, catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground the same way he tackled Stan only moments before.
Behind me, I heard Stan growl a warning but there was no doubt in my mind that no matter what happened between us, Otto was not going to hurt me. Not physically, anyway.
He proved me right by going slack under my much smaller bear, his deep honey-colored eyes staring up at me in confusion for a long moment before his body shuddered beneath me, shifting back and leaving me standing over his human form. His naked human form, of course.
“Dex? Are you okay, baby? We were so worried about you.” Otto didn’t make any move to untangle himself from me and instead scowled at where Stan remained in his bear form, watching us intently for any sign of danger. “Who the hell is this guy?”
I heaved a huge sigh and stepped to the side so Otto could sit up, keeping my body between him and Stan, just in case. I rose up onto my hind legs and slipped into my own shift, forcing back my discomfort at being naked in front of the two of them.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I huffed. “And what do you mean we were worried? Who is we?”
“Corbin and Taylor came to my place looking for you this morning,” Otto said quickly. “When I didn't know where you were, they said you were missing.”
I felt my brows creeping up and drawing together. “Where are they? And that still doesn’t explain why the hell you’re here.”
“Oh, we split up to look for you when we didn’t find any sign of you at the rental cabin,” Otto explained, skipping right over the question of why he was there. “I need to call them and let them know I found you.”
Scrambling to his feet, Otto cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted “West” at the top of his lungs three times before dropping his hands and shooting another suspicious look at Stan. “Are you going to tell me who that is and why the fuck he was touching you?”
“No,” I snapped back. “You’re not making any damn sense and I don’t owe you any explanations, damn it.”
“What didn’t make sense?” I could tell from the strain on his face that Otto was frustrated, but his voice never rose and his tone stayed gentle.
“I’ve been at the cabin since yesterday morning, for one thing.”
Behind me, Stan’s bear gave a coughing laugh. I turned to look at him and found him shifting back, an amused twinkle in his eyes.
“Dexter, should I assume that this person didn’t mean any harm by attacking me out of the blue?”
I sighed. “I’m so sorry, Stan. I have no idea what is going on, but it never occurred to me that I was putting you in danger.”
“I believe you,” Stan said with a gentle smile. “I think maybe I can clear up part of the confusion but it’s a little cold to be outside naked and my clothes are a loss, so maybe we should take this conversation inside?”
I glared at Otto who was still sitting on the ground, seeming oblivious to his nakedness. “Can you not be a dick if we do?”
Otto shrugged. “No promises since I don’t know what’s going on, but I can promise not to attack anybody.”
“Again,” I huffed, leaning over to gather up my clothes and deciding to carry them instead of making Stan wait in the cold longer while I redressed.
“Again,” Otto repeated, clearly smothering a smirk. “Scout’s honor.”
“Like you were ever a fucking scout,” I snapped, rolling my eyes. “Fine. Get your butt up so we can get inside.”
~*~
Otto
Dex huffed and sniped at me as I followed him and the stranger up the trail to a veritable mansion perched on the mountainside. Once inside, I accepted the track pants and t-shirt our, ahem, host offered me and settled onto the loveseat Dex gestured me to.
I waited until Dex returned from the other room in a pair of fleece pants covered in dancing ice cream cones and a long-sleeved flannel shirt in shades of purple that matched one of the pictures.
Keeping my tone as calm and unthreatening as I could, I asked, “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”
“You mean the friend you attacked for no good reason?”
Since Dex wasn’t done sniping at me, I just nodded. “Yes. That friend.”
Across from me, the Alpha in question coughed and I would have bet real money he was hiding a laugh.
Dex glared at me but relented. “Otto, this is Stan. He manages the rental and is kind of a live-in cook and caretaker. Stan, this is my sometimes stalker, Otto, and I have no idea why he’s here.”
I quirked a brow at Stan. “Nice to meet you. You must have your hands full going back and forth between the properties.”
Stan gave up on hiding his smirk and laughed out loud.
“What are you talking about?” Dex asked with a huff, curling up on the couch and pulling a blanket from the back over him.
“Remember when I said I could clear a few things up?” Stan asked, sending a gentle smile in Dex’s direction. “This isn’t a vacation rental and I’m not a chef slash concierge.” He winked at Dex. “This is just my house.”
“What?” Dex was staring at him in confusion. “I don’t understand. Then why am I here?”
Stan laughed and walked over to squeeze Dex’s shoulder lightly.
“Well, I came home from the grocery store the other day and found a strange Omega napping on my loveseat.” He shrugged.
“You didn’t seem very threatening and I wasn’t really sure what was going on, so I just went with your assumptions.
Once I figured out what happened, you seemed really happy to have company and I enjoyed spending time with you, so I didn’t see any reason to correct it.
Besides,” he teased lightly, “I was afraid you might starve in the other cabin if they didn't deliver groceries, and I couldn’t be responsible for that!”
The only part of Stan’s confession that stuck with me was that he enjoyed spending time with my Omega and a small growl slipped free.
“Oh, step back, cowboy,” he huffed in amusement. “I didn’t mean anything untoward by it. Dexter and I just had a nice companionable time, that’s all. There was nothing even remotely inappropriate happening.”
Dex was still staring at Stan in horror. “You made my bed. And made me eggs. After I broke into your house? I am so, so sorry!”
“No need to be,” Stan assured him. “And I don’t think it actually counts as a break-in if I leave the door unlocked.
” He brought a couple of water bottles over, handing one to each of us.
“I had no idea anyone thought you were missing, though.” He sent me a sincere look.
“If I’d known anyone was worried about him, I would have let you know. ”
I up nodded Stan, acknowledging his apology before cracking my water bottle and taking a deep drink.
“You might have more company,” I commented, glancing up at the clock sitting on the fireplace mantle.
“The other two friends should be headed this way, but I don’t know how long it will take them to get here. ”
“Other,” Dex sniped under his breath. “Right.”
Ouch. Those barbs were starting to sting a bit.
“We probably ought to get you moved to the other cabin,” I suggested without responding. “I mean, unless you’re staying here?”
Dex sighed and sent Stan another apologetic look. “It will only take me a few minutes to get my stuff together.”
“No rush, Dexter,” Stan assured him. “In fact, it’s time for your snack, anyway. Why don’t you both stay for that and when you’re ready, I’ll drive you over to the cabin you meant to be at? Assuming you have the right address?”
“I have it,” I assured him quickly. “The house number was right, but it is on Bramblebush road instead of Berrybush road.”
“Easy mistake,” Stan said cheerfully. “So, you’ll stay for a snack before you leave me?”
Dex nodded gratefully. “With serious pleasure, Stan. With serious pleasure.”
Chapter Thirteen
Dex
By the time my bag had been repacked and we devoured a plate of brisket nachos, there was still no sign of Taylor or Corbin, and I was starting to worry.
Stan seemed to pick up on it because when Otto stepped out onto the porch to call out for my missing friends, he caught my eye and gestured me to the hallway away from the patio door.
“You really don’t have to go, Dexter,” he said gently.
“I know you feel awkward about how you ended up here, but you don’t seem very comfortable around Otto.
If you don’t want to stay here, I can run you back to your apartment, instead?
You don’t have to go with him.” He patted my shoulder in the comforting way he had.
“I feel terrible if something happened to you.”
“It’s okay,” I said with a sigh. “I’m not in any danger from Otto. It’s complicated.”
Stan raised a brow. “Complicated how?”