Chapter Twelve

Nick nearly sprinted to the bathroom, hoping that Jo wouldn’t see the feral state he was in before he got out of view. He locked himself in the bathroom, running the water in an attempt to drown out his bear’s uncontrollable growls and rattles. He had to calm down, or else something really bad was bound to happen.

It was rare that Tom could make Nick this upset, and as much as he wanted to stay angry at his little brother, he knew exactly why he’ been so effective this time.

Tom was absolutely right.

Nick’s spine cracked angrily, and he had to dig his nails into the palms of his hands to keep the bear at bay. It angered him to admit, but everything Tom had said was true. That wasn’t the problem. Nick knew that humans were off limits. They couldn’t mate, they couldn’t comingle, they couldn’t even know about shifters. But the bear didn’t care, and Nick couldn’t help it. It wasn’t something Tom would understand.

After a short tug of war on his sanity, Nick finally fought the bear back down to something controllable, sliding down to the floor with a heavy breath of relief. He knew it wouldn’t last long though. He’d only known Jo for a day, and his attraction to her was only growing. They still had three days. Three days! He wouldn’t be able to keep fighting.

“What am I doing?” he moaned aloud, thumping the floor limply with his fist. He promised her he’d stay here tonight, and she’d even told him nothing had to happen between them tonight. Yeah, right. He’d set himself up for failure before he even began.

With a deep breath, he centered his thoughts. He knew he had to make a decision. Whether he was going to try to make things work with Jo, or he wasn’t. Choosing the first option was dangerous, more dangerous than she could ever know. It would also be filled with lies and deceit, never being able to tell her the true nature of his beast. The bear snarled, but Nick ignored it. It was the price he had to pay.

And then there was walking away—

The bear roared in protest, fighting against Nick’s insides and making him buckle over in agony. “Okay, okay,” he wheezed past the pain. Walking away wasn’t an option. He knew that his own bear would fight tooth and claw to keep her by his side, and if Nick allowed her to walk away, he’d move mountains to bring her home.

With a deep breath, Nick finally spoke the truth. “So she is my mate, huh?” Saying it aloud was terrifying, like it instantly put a target on his back and everyone could see now that he’d accepted it. Human mates weren’t even rare enough to be considered myths. They simply never happened. What if Tom was right? What if he lost control? What if he hurt her—killed her? He remembered the harsh red mark he’d left on her skin only a short while ago. Was it really worth the risk?

“She’s my mate,” he said, voice stronger than he felt. “She’s my mate.” His voice was surer this time. He said it a few more times until it felt natural on his lips.

“Jo barrowman is my mate,” he said, feeling a giddy sort of exhilaration at saying it out loud, “and I will never hurt her.” In that moment, he made his decision. He’d stay the night with her, and he wouldn’t stop whatever happened between them.

He allowed himself a few more moments to compose himself before tentatively leaving the bathroom. The last time she’d likely seen him, he’d been storming upstairs in a rage. He wanted to make sure he didn’t startle her. She was sitting on the sofa, reading a novel from the bookshelf.

She glanced up from the page, and smiled light at him and he descended into the sitting room. “You feel better?” she asked.

“Oh, you saw that, huh?” he asked, clearing his throat in embarrassment. “Uh, yeah. Much better. Tom just really knows how to push my buttons sometimes.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it.” She shrugged. “Only child here.” Shifting in her seat, he saw her eyes pass over his shoulder. “Is the dressing holding up well?”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s fine.” It was painful, of course, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He’d dealt with much worse from Lucas and his crew before.

He flopped down lazily onto the couch next to her, stretching out on the sofa like a lounging cat. “So what are you reading?”

She shrugged again. “Nothing interesting,” Jo replied. He noticed how her eyes traveled up the path of naked skin that bared itself as his shirt rose.

He slid a bit closer to her, feeling more content that he had in a very long time. Accepting her as his mate had answered so many questions he didn’t even know he’d been asking, opened doors he didn’t even know existed, and he felt happy. Giddy, even. It made him want to explore this new path in his life even more. “Can you read to me?”

Jo barked a surprised laugh. “What?” she laughed, her hand brushing his hair away from his forehead. “Are you being serious?”

Nick grinned. “I like the sound of your voice.” Lying down completely, he rested his head on Jo’s lap. His eyes flutters closed and he even felt his bear settle down for the time being.

Jo smiled down at him. “If you really want me to.” Picking up the book, she flipped to the next chapter and started reading.

***

Nick stretched, blinking a few times before he could remember where he was. He had fallen sleep in Jo’s lap to the sound of her voice. She was still here, providing her lap as his pillow. She drifted off still sitting up, her head leaned slightly to the side and her eyes closed. Running a light finger down her cheek and jaw, Nick smiled to himself. She was so beautiful to him. Shifter or not, what he saw in her and what he felt for her transcended that.

With one last yawn, Nick rose from Jo’s lap, careful not to wake her. He walked quietly into the kitchen and put on some coffee, pulling his cell from his pocket.

He tried calling Tom three times before giving up. He figured his brother was just being stubborn and hard headed because of their argument and likely left his phone somewhere out of reach in an attempt to give Nick the cold shoulder. Shrugging, he went back to the coffee maker, his ears picking up light rustling sounds coming from the sitting room.

“Did the smell wake you?” he called.

Jo walked leisurely into the kitchen, still rubbing her sleepy eyes. “Probably. I do really like coffee,” she said with a smile.

He grinned, pulling her into a light embrace, running a hand through her hair to straighten out the kinks. “Perfect,” he murmured, and Jo blushed. “Can I get you a cup?”

“Please,” she answered, sitting down at the dining table. “Did we sleep for a long time?”

“Long enough.” He grinned, handing her a mug. “It’ll be time to eat soon.”

“Anything good to eat around here?” she asked, taking her first sip.

He chuckled, sitting at the table beside her and lifting her legs to rest on his lap. “Small town, remember? There’s not much more than the Chinese place we ate from last night. I suppose I could always try to cook.”

“You cook?” Jo asked, a shocked look peeking over her steaming mug.

Nick winced. “I… try.” If he was being honest, he’d prefer a nice, blue steak, or a fresh kill out in the forest, but he imagined that neither would be very appetizing to Jo.

“Chinese it is, then,” she replied, hiding her smile. “I’ll just order something different this time. Keep things interesting.” She paused, looking up at him. “What about Tom?”

“What about him,” Nick asked, taking a long swig of his coffee.

“Should we order something for him?” she asked, her gaze averting slightly. “I don’t want him to feel left out.”

“You’re too kind, thinking of him,” Nick replied, his voice noncommittal. “But he’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”

Jo squared her shoulders. “I’ll get something for him anyway. If he doesn’t want it, you can eat it tomorrow while you work. We can run by the shop to drop it off on our way back, can’t we?

Nick shrugged. “Sure.” He bristled a bit at the thought of Jo working so hard to play nice, but calmed himself down. She was willing to make the effort because that’s the type of person she was. He just hoped Tom wouldn’t be rude to her this time. If he was really going through with this mate thing, he needed his brother to accept it as much as he did.

He watched Jo chew on her lip. “That fight, Nick… was it about me?” she asked cautiously. “I kind of get the vibe that he doesn’t really like me being around.”

Nick mouth twisted for a moment. He thought of how to work things and keep them vague. His bear huffed. “It’s not that, Jo. To be honest, he’s just concerned about you. It can get pretty dangerous here.” All of that was true, technically, just not for the reasons Jo might think.

“You mean like with the bears?”

“Definitely like with the bears.”

“Why was he so angry with you, then?” she asked.

Nick rubbed her ankle in small circles, averting his gaze, slightly. “I told him that I didn’t think the bears would come near the cabin. I’d insisted you’d be safe.”

“I didn’t get hurt,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, but you should have never been in danger in the first place,” he replied quickly. “That’s on me.”

“Hey, you were only trying to help me out of the kindness of your heart, Nick. I won’t fault you for that,” she assured.

“I am really sorry for that, Jo,” he murmured solemnly.

“Didn’t you just hear me? There will be no more of that. There’s nothing to apologize for.” She smiled. “There was no way for you to know that wild bears were going to rampage your cabin, you know?” She shrugged, her smile growing to a grin. “First my car, and now the cabin. Maybe I’m just a secret bear magnet!”

Nick wanted to laugh with her, but unease flip-flopped in his stomach. All of it had been totally been his fault—both the cabin and her car.

She gave him a shy glance, sipping again on her mug. “You’re still… staying the night, right?” she asked quietly. “Or is Tom…”

“Oh, Tom’s fine with it,” Nick lied quickly. “Really. We got out all our anger, and by tomorrow morning, we’ll be back to our old chummy selves as we work on your car, guaranteed. You have nothing to worry about. I promise.”

“Cool,” she said, an air of relief about her. She stood. “Now let’s go get some Chinese. I’m starving.”