Chapter 23
Eight hours. Eight fucking hours since he’d last seen Cece, and Briggs was pretty certain his bear was on the cusp of madness.
Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but if his bear didn’t stop growling and whining and demanding he return to their mate, Briggs would lose his fucking mind.
As it was, his entire body ached from holding back his bear’s repeated attempts to take control, and a throbbing headache was starting at the back of his skull.
He needed to eat, but he had no appetite.
He wanted to be with Cece as much as his bear did, but it would do no fucking good to admit that to his bear.
If he did, he’d lose control, his bear would force the shift, and he’d get fucking arrested for running through the city in his goddamn polar bear form.
He took a deep breath before pacing his living room again.
He needed to do something to get his mind off of Cece, but he couldn’t think of a single fucking thing to do.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket, studying the screen.
Why the fuck didn’t he get Cece’s number before he left?
He could at least text her, check in on her, make sure that she was safe, and maybe ask her if she was going as crazy without him as he was without her.
Rosalie will have her number.
He was immediately scrolling through his contacts for Hudson’s number.
Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that? Of course, Rosalie would have Cece’s number.
He would call Hudson and ask Rosalie for the number, and then maybe, just fucking maybe, his polar bear would shut the hell up for a few minutes.
I want my mate, his polar bear grumbled.
He was about to call Hudson when someone knocked on his door. His polar bear growled, and Briggs considered not answering it before heading over and opening it.
“Hudson? What are you doing here?”
“C’mon, we’re going for dinner,” Hudson said.
“What?”
“Dinner. Let’s go,” Hudson said.
He turned and walked away, and Briggs grabbed his keys before locking the door and following Hudson to his truck. Rosalie was in the truck, sitting in the middle, and she smiled at Briggs when he climbed in beside her.
“Hi, Briggs.”
“Hey, Rosalie.”
Hudson slid behind the wheel, started the truck and headed down the street.
“How was your day off?” Rosalie asked.
“Fine,” Briggs said. “Hey, um, you have Cece’s number, right?”
“I do,” Rosalie said.
“Can I get it from you? I need to ask her a question.”
Hudson snorted. “You can’t lie worth shit, Briggs. You want her number so you can make sure she’s safe. You need to have more faith in Tori. You know how tough she is, you’ve seen her in action.”
“I need Cece’s number to ask her a question,” Briggs repeated.
Rosalie glanced at Hudson. “You didn’t tell him.”
“I told him we were going for dinner,” Hudson said. “What else does he need to know?”
Rosalie laughed as Briggs said, “What is happening here?”
“You’ll see,” Hudson said.
Rosalie gave Briggs a cute grin as Hudson rested one big hand on her thigh.
“You want to fill me in here, Rosalie?” Briggs asked.
Her grin widened. “You’ll see.”
Briggs snorted and looked out the window. “We’d better not be going to that new donair place by the office, Hudson. You know I hate donairs.”
“How can you hate donairs?” Rosalie said. “They’re meat-filled wraps of deliciousness.”
“Briggs has an Excel spreadsheet of all the reasons why a person should hate a donair,” Hudson said.
“Are you being serious right now?” Rosalie said before turning to Briggs. “Is he being serious?”
“No,” Briggs said.
“Lies,” Hudson said.
“It’s a Google document, not an Excel spreadsheet,” Briggs said.
Rosalie burst into laughter. “Oh my God, I need to read it.”
“I’ll email it to you,” Briggs said.
Rosalie laughed again as Hudson made a right and Briggs took a good look out the window. His heart cranked it up a notch, and a ridiculous rush of excitement went through him. His polar bear stopped his grumbling as Briggs said, “This is the road to Cece’s place.”
“Is it?” Hudson said with a blandly neutral look.
Rosalie poked him before smiling at Briggs. “We’re having dinner at Cece’s, along with Tori and Judd. Hudson thought you might like to join us.”
Relief and gratitude rushed through Briggs like a waterfall. He gave Hudson a grateful look. “Thanks, man.”
“Anytime.” Hudson’s gaze fell on Rosalie. “I know what it’s like to be going crazy for your mate.”
She kissed his upper arm as Briggs said, “Cece isn’t my mate.”
“Your polar bear thinks she is,” Hudson said.
“How the hell do you know that?”
“Because I’ve been there. I recognize the signs,” Hudson said.
“It’s because of her magic, but I can’t convince my bear of that,” Briggs said.
“Maybe because it isn’t just the magic,” Hudson said.
“It is. It has to be. My bear cannot be convinced that Cece’s his mate when we’ve only known her for less than a month,” Briggs said.
“I knew Rosie was my mate the minute I saw her,” Hudson said.
Rosalie stared at him. “Shut up, you did not.”
He grinned. “I did. I denied it, like Briggs is doing, but my bear knew and deep down so did I.”
“I would never have guessed that you’d be the love at first sight type,” Rosalie said.
Hudson just shrugged. “I wasn’t until I met you.”
She kissed his arm again. “I love you, honey.”
“I love you, too, my mate.”
“I’m happy for you both, but my situation is completely different,” Briggs said.
“Not that different,” Hudson said, turning into Cece’s driveway and parking behind Judd’s SUV.
Briggs didn’t bother to argue, not when he was this close to seeing Cece. He was out of Hudson’s truck and climbing the porch steps before Hudson had even lifted Rosalie out of the truck.
Briggs opened the door, realizing belatedly he should have knocked, and was almost embarrassed by the eagerness in his voice. “Cece? Where are you?”
“Briggs?” Cece peered down the hallway from the kitchen. “Hi!”
“Hey,” he said as Hudson and Rosalie joined them.
Rosalie tried to shut the door, and Cece hurried forward. “Sorry, it sticks.”
Briggs closed it with a shove and a grunt, and Cece’s smile of thanks warmed him like the sun.
She cupped her elbows, studying him like she hadn’t seen him in months. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he said. “Are you?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” Tori asked as she and Judd joined them. Tori nudged Judd and held out her hand.
“Shit,” Judd said, digging into his pocket. He pulled a twenty from his wallet and handed it to the bunny shifter.
Tori stuffed it into her pocket. “Thank you, handsome.”
“What was that about?” Hudson asked.
“I bet Judd twenty bucks that Briggs would show up before the day was over,” Tori said.
Briggs’s cheeks went hot, and Judd grinned. “Aw, he’s blushing.”
“Hudson and I invited him,” Rosalie said quickly. “Because we haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Right,” Tori said.
“Except for when you saw him on Sunday during our dinner,” Judd said.
“And Monday at the office,” Hudson said.
“Hudson.” Rosalie gave him a look, and Tori burst into laughter.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Cece said to Briggs, her dark eyes full of a warmth that made his polar bear chuff to her. His bear had finally calmed the fuck down, and even the headache that had been lurking at the base of his skull had disappeared.
“Me too,” Briggs said. Cece looked so good, and she smelled so damn good, and fuck, he’d missed her. It wouldn’t hurt to give her one kiss.
His polar bear couldn’t have agreed more, and with his bear urging him on, Briggs leaned down.
Surprise registered on Cece’s face before her gaze dropped to his mouth.
He growled softly to her, and those lush pink lips parted.
He growled again when the tip of her tongue slicked along her bottom lip.
Yes, just one small kiss. So the other males in the room would know she belonged to him.
Before he could brush his mouth against hers, his bear made a startled growl when Tori slipped between them. She poked him in the forehead. “Based on what Ronin told me happens when the two of you touch, maybe you should back up, big guy.”
His polar bear growled at her, his hackles rising when Judd’s bear immediately returned his growl, and Judd started toward them.
Tori shook her head. “It’s all good, my bear.”
Judd stopped, but Briggs could sense Judd’s bear just below the surface, ready to fight for his mate. He’d lose, but Briggs was impressed by the absolute lack of fear in Judd’s scent.
Tori tapped him on the chest this time. “You touch her, the conduit thing kicks in, and the next thing you know, her magic’s gone haywire, and the two of you are humping like,” she paused and grinned, “bunnies in front of us. We’re here for dinner, not a live sex show. We don’t want to see that, bud.”
“I mean… I don’t not want to see it,” Judd said.
There was a moment of silence before Rosalie started to laugh. A grin broke out on Hudson’s face, and Judd laughed when a snort escaped Rosalie, and she clapped her hand over her mouth before her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.
Briggs backed up, his face still hot, but Cece looked more amused than embarrassed, and his bear chuffed happily when she began laughing as well.
“Jesus,” he said, “does Ronin keep anything to himself?”
“Not a damn thing. He’s as bad as Willow at keeping secrets.” An amused look on her face, Tori turned to the others. “Let’s crack open some beers and get the steaks grilling. I’m starving.”