CHAPTER 6

Connor woke to the chill of the cabin air. The fire now dead and the heat dissipated, he braved the cold to start their fire anew. From behind he heard Tess rolling beneath the sheets.

“Morning,” he whispered.

Tess rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“Morning,” she replied, “You know, I thought you wanted to come here so you could talk.”

Connor got the fire lit and closed the small cast iron door to the stove. He joined her in the bed and she did her best to warm him by snuggling against him.

“Can’t we just relax a while longer,” he asked. Connor sighed and lied on his back. His arm wrapped around Tess who covered his exposed chest.

“If you have nothing to say, then I’ll talk,” she said, “I probably should have told you sooner but … I can’t shift.”

Connor lifted his head to see her expression. She had to be joking, yet her face read serious.

“How,” Connor wondered as he pushed himself up to his elbows and leaned against the headboard, “Why?”

“I’ve been talking to the resident doctor,” she said, rolling to her side, “he said it’s rare but it sometimes happens to pregnant shifters.”

“So you’re stuck like this until you give birth?” he asked.

“I don’t have a choice. If I force a shift then I might lose the baby,” she said.

Connor was stunned. This must have been incredibly rare because he’d never heard of such a thing before. There was nothing he could do about it but he still cursed under his breath.

“I don’t know what to say,” Connor said in frustration.

“It sucks,” Tess barked, “I’ve wanted to go for run for the last month and it took me this long to gather up the courage to tell you. I thought you would have noticed by now.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t notice, it was more that he was so busy he couldn’t have noticed. Being the leader of the pack was more responsibility than he understood.

“I’m glad you were able to tell me,” he replied, “It’s not so bad.”

“Are you kidding!?” she shouted, “It’s the worst!”

Connor laughed and Tess slapped him on the shoulder for being so cavalier about something she found frustrating.

“I’m glad I made you happy,” she said, scrunching up her face.

Connor squeezed her close in hopes that she’d just forget everything he just said. She eased up but her eyes stared daggers nonetheless.

“Okay, I shared my news,” she said, “are you going to share yours?”

“Where do I begin? We have a bear captive at the den and I have no idea what to do with her. Every time I look at her I just want to sink my teeth into her neck and end it, but she came peacefully. Apparently we have your brother to thank for that,” Connor growled. “His girlfriend just showed up and dumped her into my lap. I couldn’t stand the thought of talking to one of those things.”

Tess held him around the chest and kissed him on the neck.

“Is Alex watching her right now?” she asked.

“Alex isn’t even part of the pack anymore,” Connor replied. He was trying his hardest to stay calm while talking but recent events with Alex just made him upset.

“What?” Tess asked with a look of dread on her face. “How could you have kicked him out of the pack like that? He’s my brother for fuck’s sake.”

“I got in a fight with him. It wasn’t terrible. We didn’t exchange punches or anything. I was pissed off after watching so many of my brothers die; proud warriors willing to give their life for the good of the pack. Here he was, playing nice with our enemy. My blood was boiling and I lost my temper when I talked to him.” Connor clenched his fists without realizing. His body was reacting before his mind. If Alex were here right now he wouldn’t have made it out with just a few angry words. He inhaled deeply and exhaled to calm himself before continuing. “It was his decision, and I wasn’t about to beg him to stay. So, he got on his motorcycle with his girlfriend and they left.”

“You’re going to find him, right?” she asked after a time. It seemed to take her a while to process what she’d heard.

Connor exhaled deeply. He wondered if he should tell her about the hunter that was looking for Alex, but thought it best not to make Tess more upset.

“I’m not sure he’d want me to,” he said, thinking back to the fight. “What should I do?”

“I guess if Alex left on his own terms we’ll have to wait for him to return by himself,” she said in defeat. “What about that bear, couldn’t you try talking to her? Alex is passionate, not stupid. He wouldn’t trust a bear, let alone trust a bear near Cynthia if he wasn’t absolutely sure it was safe.”

“I suppose you’re right. I’m just not sure I can talk to her after what I’d done,” he said after contemplating the thought.

“Of course I’m right, dummy. This is why we make a good team. Look, I’m going to come back with you and we can talk to her together,” Tess stated. “Or maybe I’ll just talk to her alone.”

“No, you should stay here,” he said, “who knows when the bears are going to attack next, especially since we’re weakened and have one of their own.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, “I’ve made up my mind.”

Connor wanted to warn her against it, but he knew that when she got an idea in her mind, she would follow through to the end. He rubbed at his forehead with the edge of his hand.

“Fine,” he said, “But if we get in any sort of trouble you have to follow everything that I say without fail, deal?”

“Deal,” she said.

She perked from the bed and started dressing herself. Connor watched her tug on her simple underwear and he could already feel himself getting hard under the covers. He would have run across the entire continent for that sight and he counted himself lucky that he had it right now.

“We should leave as soon as we can,” she said turning around while pulling her bra on. “After we talk to this woman, we’re finding my brother. He has some explaining that he has to do.”

Connor nodded and curled his tongue back into his mouth. He was too entertained by the eyeful he had in front of him. Eventually he began to dress himself as well.

“Trust me,” Connor said, “when I find your brother I’ll make sure he answers all our questions.”

She smiled at him and he wondered how lucky he was to find a girl like Tess. Would he have had the courage to be alpha if it weren’t for her? He didn’t think so.