14. Chapter Thirteen
“What’s wrong with you?”
Ryker groaned at his brother’s question while watching the steadily growing crowd inside Donatelle’s Pub. Fox had talked him into coming for a beer, claiming Lulu and Olive wanted alone time to catch up. The pub usually thinned after the dinner rush, but tonight there was a new band playing in the adjoining room, along with half-priced drinks, and the place was packed.
Luckily, they’d found a table where the noise level was tolerable, and they could talk without having to yell.
“Why do you always think something is wrong with me?”
Fox scoffed. “Do I really have to answer that?”
Ryker lifted his beer bottle to his lips. “Funny.”
“You’re preoccupied.”
He shrugged noncommittally. His mind had been all over the place since finding the troublemakers in the park this morning. It bothered him that Cal had uttered the very words Ryker lived by when he was younger. He’d made a calendar when he was ten that counted down the years and months until he turned eighteen and could leave Estes Park. It had stayed hidden under his bed for nearly a year before his mom found it. She’d put it on his mattress with a stack of folded clothes and never asked him about it, never giving him an opening to talk about why he felt the way that he did.
What about Cal? Would someone encourage him to talk about why he was starting fires, or would the kid be left to simmer in anger and resentment? A little voice in his head suggested that he be the one to encourage Cal to release some steam, but what the hell did he know about helping someone through trauma?
Ryker straightened in his chair. Maybe he should talk to Fox about it. If he did, the conversation would likely lead to the topic of Ryker leaving town, and he didn’t have the headspace to deal with that right now. Something else was taking up his mental real estate. When the hell was he going to get Olive out of his head?
He drummed his fingers on the table. Speaking of which, “Thanks for letting Olive stay with you and Lulu. I’m glad she’s safe at your house.”
“I didn’t realize you and Olive are close enough for you to care.”
“We’re not.”
“Then why do you smell like her?”
A retort died on Ryker’s lips as he glanced down at himself and realized he was wearing the same shirt he had on last night when Olive snuggled up to him. He’d changed everything but the shirt since he didn’t have another that was clean. Not that he minded. The fabric smelled like her rich vanilla perfume.
There wasn’t anything he could say that would shut his brother up, so he didn’t respond.
“Busted,” Fox tossed amusedly. “It was a matter of time before the two of you got together.”
“Whatever—why do you say that?”
He was genuinely curious. Normally, he had a hard time engaging in conversations with Fox that might turn too serious or emotional. Part of that stemmed from the mental load his brother carried during their youth. He’d stepped into the ‘man of the house’ role after their father was arrested for the last time, and he took the responsibility seriously. Ryker never wanted to burden him further, so he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself.
Fox had changed over the last year. He’d opened himself up to love and eased up on his normally reserved, serious nature. He was more outgoing now, quicker to laugh and tease and maybe it was time to start getting his brother’s opinions on things.
“Oh, come on, Ryk. I know that you try to hide how you look at her, but I always see it.”
He scoffed. “Bullshit.”
“You did a good job at making her think you weren’t interested; I’ll give you that. It’s getting too difficult to keep that lie going, isn’t it?”
Ryker picked the label on his beer. “There was always an attraction there, but I didn’t feel it deeply until lately, and now I can’t shut it off.”
“Let me guess. You have the overwhelming need to watch over her and protect her. To make sure she’s comfortable and taken care of. To see her smile. To feed her until she’s literally slapping the food out of your hand to make you stop. I don’t need details on this part, but then there’s the lust that comes out of nowhere and—”
“I haven’t fed her anything.” The words rolled out way too damn quick.
His brother tipped his head skeptically. “Sure you didn’t. What didn’t you try and feed her?”
Ryker tried to ignore him, but the weight of Fox’s stare made his skin itch. Taking a drink, he dropped his voice and looked away. “Burned marshmallows.”
“That’s the best you could come up with?”
Running a hand over his mouth, Ryker scrambled to think of one damn thing that would call bullshit on his brother’s observations, but he had nothing.
“Have you put her into heat yet?”
Ryker spit beer. “What the hell, Fox?”
“I’ll take that as a no. It’ll happen, and trust me, you’ll know when it does.”
“Why the hell would I put her into heat?”
Fox put his elbows on the table and leaned over them. “She’s your mate, idiot. Just like the rest of us, you’re too stubborn to acknowledge it. But your bear will force you to wake the hell up and see what’s right in front of you. Sorry, brother. There’s no turning it off and you will never, ever get her out of your head.”
Ryker tried to brush Fox off with an annoyed sigh. But everything his brother was saying was hitting a little too close to home. “You might have changed your mind about relationships, but I’m not in a position to do that. She’s not my mate, and I don’t want her to be.”
Silence hung between them. Fox pressed his lips into a flat line and tapped a finger on the mouth of his beer bottle. “That’s not how shifter biology works. You know that. Once your bear has found its fated mate, your human side doesn’t stand a chance. Trust me. Everything will change and you’ll end up with something incredible… something you never dreamed you’d have.”
“I don’t care.” Ryker pushed away from the table. Enough of this.
He’d accepted the job in Denver earlier today.
It was too late for any of this to be true. In time, Olive would be a sweet memory that he tucked away while he got on with his life.
Tossing back the rest of his beer, he set the bottle on the table and started to get up.
“Lulu is pregnant.”
Ryker froze. “What?”
A disbelieving smile curved Fox’s lips. “It’s what I wanted to tell you about the other day at the bakery. We’re having a baby. I, ah, I still can’t believe it.”
He heard the words, but full realization was slow on the uptake. Fox was having a baby. Holy. Shit. A whoosh of emotion slammed into Ryker’s chest. Bursting from his chair, he grabbed his brother and pulled him into his arms.
“You’re going to be a dad!”
Fox pulled back, turned his head away, and sniffed. “Yeah.”
Vision blurry, eyes aching, Ryker pressed his fingers to his temples. He was going to be an uncle. Their mom was going to be a grandma for the first time. He flagged down a passing server and ordered two more beers.
“This deserves another round.”
Shifters were dedicated mates and fathers by nature, but having babies wasn’t something either of them had given much consideration to. Fox had been closed off to everyone for so long… until he met his mate.
“Lulu wanted to tell Olive, just the two of them. It’s a woman thing, I guess. That’s why I asked you to meet me here.”
The beers arrived and they clinked them together in celebration.
Ryker sat back, wondering if he should voice the question taking up space in his head. He didn’t want to ruin the moment, but he needed to know.
“Aren’t you worried about being a father?”
The excited glow never left Fox’s eyes and he answered without hesitation. “No. Not at all.”
How could he be so confident after what they’d gone through as kids? “What about… you know…”
Fox leaned low over the table, his expression soft and understanding. “We might have Brand Mitchell’s DNA, but you and I are more like Uncle Rowan than we are him. The only thing our father did for us was give us life. Rowan taught us how to be men. We were lucky to have him as a role model. I’m not saying the shadows and pain from our dad aren’t there. But everything Brand did is small in comparison to what Rowan did for us. If I ever question my ability to be a good father, I know who to turn to… and so do you.”
Their eyes caught. Was Fox seeing right through him?
“Ryker, I know things have been different since dad showed up in December and went after mom. It brought a lot of shit back to the surface, didn’t it?”
Damn him.
“I don’t want to focus on that. Not after your good news.”
“If we’d been there, we would have killed him and we’d be rotting in prison right now, following in his footsteps.”
We would have killed him.
The table rocked suddenly, tipping their beers.
A stocky man in a worn leather jacket and ripped jeans put his palms up in apology.
“Sorry. I’ll replace your drinks.”
“It’s all good.” Ryker put the bottles upright and grabbed napkins from the table next to them to mop the amber liquid.
The man looked between them. He swayed a little and sweat beaded his thinning hairline. The scent of ripe alcohol wafted off him like he’d bathed in it.
“Do you guys know when that fancy store a couple of blocks down is going to be open? I stopped today but it was closed.”
Ryker was immediately on edge. “It’s closed for repairs.”
“Well, shit.” He took a long drink and cradled his beer against his chest with one hand. “What about the lady that works there? Long, curly blonde hair. Dresses like a hippy. Real pretty. You guys know her?”
Ryker and Fox both straightened in their chairs and answered in unison. “No.”
Not reading the room, the interloper took another drink and caught Ryker’s eyes. “You sure you don’t know where I can find her?”
Ryker’s bear awakened with a low growl, urging him to get in this man’s face and make a point, but he controlled himself. Barely. The smug look on the little man’s face was too cocky. He was up to something.
“Who’s asking?”
The man’s face lit. “So, you do know her?”
“Can’t help you.”
With a frustrated sigh, the man walked away. “Whatever.”
Ryker kicked his chair back as he rose. It skidded across the floor and slammed into another table. Fox grabbed him by the back of the shirt before he could go after the man. What the hell did he want with Olive?
“Hang on, little brother. Just let him go, for now.”
“Something’s wrong.”
“Calm down. We’ll figure this out.”
Ryker pushed Fox on the chest, his body heated nearly to the breaking point. “She was kidnapped once! Let go of me before I rip your arm off.”
“Holy shit, what did I just walk into?” Dax Mitchell took a drink from his beer while wandering to their table. His expression went from nonchalant to serious as he looked between them. “Seriously, what’s going on?”
Ryker heard his cousin speaking, but he couldn’t respond. He was coming apart inside trying to hold back his bear.
“Did you see that short guy in the leather jacket? Kind of bald. Stocky.”
Dax shrugged. “Yeah, he just ran into me.”
“He’s asking about Olive and your boy here is about to tear this bar to shreds. Oh, but get this. He says she’s not his mate.”
Dax burst out a laugh. “That’s a good one.”
Enough of this. Ryker twisted from his brother’s grip and slammed his fist on the table. “Nothing better happen to her!”
Draining his beer, Dax handed Fox the empty bottle and thumbed over his shoulder. “I’ll tag along with mystery man for a while. See what he’s up to.”
Fox grabbed Ryker by the shoulder.
“Listen to me. Nothing is going to happen to her. And once you have a grip on yourself, we’re going to revisit this whole ‘she’s not my mate’ bullshit. You’re acting like you’re ready to burn this place down to keep that man away from her.”
“Screw that,” Ryker growled and ripped himself free from his brother’s grip. “I’ll burn the world down if that’s what it takes.”