Seven
Cole
“So…?” Ruby asks, walking into my office Thursday morning. She sits down in the same chair she did a couple weeks ago, and it hits me how different my life is now after such a short amount of time.
I quirk my eyebrow at her, knowing what she wants to ask me, but I’m drawing it out and making her squirm.
“Cole, I already know she’s your mate. Just tell me already.”
“If you know, then why do I have to say it.”
She screams excitedly and jumps up from her seat, doing a cheer around my office. I laugh at my little sister and how goofy she is. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
She claps her hands and then rushes me with a giant hug only she can give. “I’m just so happy for you. It’s even better that I love her already. You’ve got a mate and she just so happens to be my best friend.”
“I’m happy you approve.”
“Well, I am the one who set you two up. The longer I spent with her, the more I just knew Aubree was the one for you, I just needed to get you two in the same room together.” She says sitting back down with a satisfied smirk.
“Speaking of being in the same room, I want to get the family together, so they can get to know Aubree. Gabe figured it out as soon as they met, but Slate is acting like an asshole.”
“Slate is going to have his own trials to get through in the next few months. Give him time.”
It never gets any easier hearing my sister talk about things that haven’t happened yet.
“When are you going to tell her about our bears?”
“I need a little more time with her. She may be human, but she’s still feeling the mating pull, even if she doesn’t understand it. The last thing I want is to scare her off when I just found her. Look what happened the last time I freaked out and went all alpha on her. Imagine what will happen when I say, ‘Hey babe, by the way, I have a bear living inside me.’”
“You need to give her more credit than that. Yeah, she’ll probably freak out a little, but so would anyone. Don’t wait too long to tell her Cole, trust me, it won’t end well.” She says ominously.
None of us ever talk about her ability to just know what she does, but we all know it’s there. If she says not to wait, then I need to figure out the best way to tell Aubree, and soon. “I won’t. So how about Saturday afternoon? I thought we could do a chili night and a game.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll tell the boys. They can’t tell me no.” She winks and walks out of my office.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I already know it’s my mate, telling me she’s done with work. I asked her, instead of told her like Ruby recommended, to call me and let me know when she was done with work. I can’t be with her all hours of the day, but I’ll do what I can to make sure she’s safe. “Hey baby, you done for the day?”
“Kind of.” She says hesitantly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well the shop is closed, and Gram has already left for the night.”
“But…”
“We had a special order come in this afternoon for tomorrow morning. I’m working on it, and when I’m done, I’ll get out of here.”
“What time do you think you’ll be finished?” My bear and I both are growing agitated knowing our mate won’t be home and protected.
“Just a couple of hours.”
I recheck the clock, knowing I won’t be able to make it in time to pick her up since my siblings and I will be finishing a meeting with our financial advisor at the bank.
“How about I meet you there when I’m done, and we can grab dinner, make a date out of it since I’ll be in town.”
“Oh, I don’t want to put you out, Cole. I know your family has that meeting this evening. I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me, I’m a big girl.”
“I’ll always worry about you, Aubree. You’re mine, and it’s my job to take care of you. I wouldn’t be worth a damn as a man if I didn’t check on you and make sure you were safe. Plus, I get to see you, it’s a win.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d love to see you too.”
“Then it’s a date. See you soon love.”
∞∞∞
I ended up calling the meeting short because I couldn’t wait any longer to get to Aubree. I know she’s locked in the kitchen, but I still don’t like her being unprotected and alone. I’ve been uneasy about this whole thing since she told me she was staying late. I’m going to need to get a security system installed, tomorrow, because the not knowing is killing me.
When I pull up into the back parking lot, I notice Aubree’s Jeep is sitting a little funny. Walking over to it, I circle around noticing she has two flat tires in the back. I come up short when I scent something that’s been haunting me for nearly a year. Why the hell would I smell that, here? After Sheriff Cusack released my father’s murder scene, we wasted no time in doing our own investigation. We never believed it was as simple as an accidental animal attack. What we weren’t expecting was to smell wolves, at least six of them. My father was a black bear shifter and an alpha at that. He’s built bigger than most, and there aren’t many things that could maim him the way he had been, but a pack of wolf shifters could have done it. Since then, I haven’t smelled them around here. When my siblings acknowledged me as their new alpha, my first order was for us to go on runs hunting for any trace of that scent.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket I call my brother who was pissed when I cut the meeting short to go and see Aubree.
“Yes?”
“Cut the shit Slate. I just smelled them.”
“Where?” He asks, suddenly very alert.
“I only smelled one of them. They cut the tires on the back of Aubree’s Jeep. Grab Gabe and get out here. See if you can follow the trail anywhere. This is the first lead we’ve had, and I don’t want to lose it.”
“On it Cole. What are you doing?”
“I’m getting Aubree back to my place, where I know she’ll be safe. Give Ruby a call and tell her to stay inside. I don’t want her alone and vulnerable.”
“Will do brother. Hey, be safe tonight.”
“You too. Call me when you find out anything.”
I hang up and pocket my phone. Knocking on the door, I hear her check the peephole before unlocking and opening it.
Aubree jumps into my arms and peppers my face with kisses.
“Someone sure is glad to see me.” I laugh.
“I didn’t get to see you this morning because Ruby stopped by instead. I missed you.”
I walk us into the bakery and close the door, lock it behind me. “I missed you too baby. Come here, let me show you how much.” I growl and stalk her around the kitchen. Backing herself into a corner, she waits for me, her eyes dancing with desire.
I lean in close and place a soft kiss on her waiting lips. Slowly, I kiss up to her ear. “What if we had dinner at my place instead?”
“Please.” She moans.