Cooper had dealt with a lot of wounds and pain in his life, so having someone digging around in his back didn’t bother him that much. Except that it was Jada having to do it, and he could hear the stress and worry and fatigue in her voice. He hated that she had to deal with stitches and bullets and God only knew what else. And having Francine there was good for her morale, but a kid her age also shouldn’t have been holding a lamp up to make sure Jada could search for more bullets.

He held onto the bear with his fingertips and forced himself to remain still and silent, even when the growl boiled up in his chest. Cooper even managed to convince Francine to tell him a story to take his mind off the constant poking and prodding and pinching in his back.

She obliged, telling one of those winding slice-of-life stories that made no sense to anyone but her. But it was background noise and didn’t distract Jada, and gave Cooper a chance to work on his breathing. He still blacked in and out, depending on the pain and the strange echo chamber of his thoughts. But even when he woke with the bear almost in charge, Francine’s cheerful story about chasing butterflies in the woods and searching for a particular purple flower that looked nice in her hair and catching little fish in the creek anchored him in the present, not in the beast.

Cooper knew it was over when Jada exhaled in a whoosh, collapsing to sit on the edge of the mattress next to his hip. Francine yawned and rested next to his head, the lamp long since propped against his shoulder, and mumbled in her half-sleep about having a pet.

Jada blinked and rubbed at her eyes after stripping off the bloody gloves she wore, and leaned against the mattress. Her voice strained with fatigue and stress, and Cooper reached for her to try and reassure her as she spoke to Ethan. “I got as much out as I could find. I don’t think there’s much else to do unless you’ve got x-ray vision.”

“Well done, Jada. I’ll save the celebratory high five for when you all reach the ranch.” Ethan also yawned, then his voice grew muffled as he spoke to someone else. Cooper’s thoughts drifted as he wondered what they were doing out at the house, who made dinner and what it was, whether they had cigars and whiskey waiting at the fire. His mind dragged back to the present as Ethan went on. “Is his back healing up better without the bullets in there?”

“Yeah,” Jada said. The soft tickle of her breath against his skin made Cooper want to arch his back and purr like a cat. Her fingers drifted over the scars and lumps from his shoulders to the small of his back. “It looks like they’ve all closed. The scars are red and raised and angry, but he’s not bleeding anymore.”

Cooper could just picture Ethan nodding and twiddling his fingers. “That’s great, Jada. Perfect. Now he needs food and rest, and it sounds like you do, too. Do you have food there?”

She didn’t quite bite back the groan, and Cooper felt like even more of a useless shit. He hadn’t even fed her. But Jada pushed to her feet and staggered toward the door. “No. I can go out and get something.”

“Don’t you dare,” Cooper grumbled. He caught her wrist and hauled her back to the mattress, wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her from walking away. “Ethan, I’m not sending Jada out again. Can you or Simon pull some strings and get something delivered here? We don’t have a kitchen.”

“Already on it, brother.” Ethan cleared his throat, there was more mumbling in the background, and it was clear that his friends were working hard on a solution.

Jada didn’t pull away, instead leaning against his shoulder. “I can go out and find some burgers or something.”

Cooper pushed up on his elbows enough that he could press his lips to hers. “No way. It’s dark and cold outside, we don’t know where the wolves are, and you’re exhausted. You just saved my life. We can work this out. Let Ethan earn his keep for once.”

“Watch yourself, bear,” Ethan said. “Okay. In thirty minutes, you’ll get a delivery—two coolers with grilled steak and chicken, roast veggies, enough bread for sandwiches, juice, fruit salad, regular salad, and a couple of pies. Jada, make sure Cooper eats at least half the steak, okay? There should be more than enough for everyone, but he’ll need the protein and iron. Make sure you eat almost as much as he does.”

She laughed a little, as if she lacked the energy for a real laugh. “I haven’t lost any blood.”

“But you’re exhausted and you had to concentrate for a long time, so your brain needs fuel.” Cooper recognized Ethan’s “I’m a doctor and I mean business” tone, and knew better than to argue. “Feed Francine up as well. Another three boxes will arrive tomorrow morning with breakfast and enough snacks for you to get on the road. Can you drive the truck, Jada? Cooper shouldn’t sit upright for too long, just in case there’s something else wrong with his back.”

Cooper wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him. “I can drive, Ethan.”

“No you don’t,” Jada said. She picked up the phone and walked away from the bed before Cooper could reach for her, and she continued her conversation with Ethan as Cooper ground his teeth. “I can drive. I think I got the hang of it. We had the slowest getaway in the history of the world, according to Francine, but we made it. I just…we don’t really know where we’re going.”

“I’m sending the coordinates to this phone,” Ethan said. “Pull up the app for directions, and that’ll get you right here. Simon and the rest of us are on the way, so we’ll probably all meet somewhere in the middle. Do you have enough ammunition for the shotgun and the rifle?”

Jada leaned against the wall near the bathroom, and Cooper watched her struggle to stay upright. He needed to get her fed and tucked into the wide bed, and to find a place for Francine to rest comfortably. Then he’d damn well drive them all at high speed back to the ranch, so he could build them a den and protect them both. He’d deal with the wolves and then Jada wouldn’t have to worry about anything ever again.

Jada finally disconnected the call, her eyes half-closed, and Cooper rolled to his side so he could reach for her. “Come and sit. Talk to me.”

From the look on her face, she was a heartbeat away from telling him “Not now.” But she trudged over and dropped the phone on the mattress next to Francine’s feet, then slowly crumpled onto the sheets next to him. Cooper closed his eyes and inhaled deeply from her hair, the bear grumbling, and he gently rubbed her back. “Thank you for driving the truck and fixing my back.”

“Thank you for not dying,” she murmured, already mostly asleep.

Cooper kissed her forehead and smoothed the hair back from her face. “Just rest, baby.”

“The food...” She sighed and pressed her face against his arm, and Cooper held her to his side as he waited for the food to be delivered. Her breathing grew deep and even.

When he was sure she slept deeply enough that he wouldn’t wake her, Cooper untangled himself and slid down the length of the bed until he could lower his feet to the floor. He held his breath as he watched Jada and Francine, bracing for one of them to wake up and yell at him, but when they both remained quiet—Francine with a soft little snore that sounded like a puppy—he managed to push himself upright.

It hurt like a son of a bitch, and his head swam from blood loss and fatigue, but he managed to stay upright. The hotel phone looked like it needed to be seriously disinfected or maybe just thrown out and burned, but it reached the front desk on the second ring.

Cooper kept his voice down, hobbling to the window to search for any hints of the food or the wolves. “Do you have a rollaway bed or something? My kid can’t sleep on the floor.”

The dude at the front desk sounded completely stoned. “Uh, sure. But it’ll cost you.”

“I’ve got a fifty dollar bill with your name on it if you make it happen in the next ten minutes and don’t put it on the bill.”

“Done, man.” The line went dead and Cooper rolled his eyes, retrieving his wallet from where Jada left it next to the bags of supplies.

The guy was definitely stoned but he showed up with the rollaway bed in six minutes, along with fresh sheets and a pillow that didn’t stink of mold. Jada and Francine didn’t stir as Cooper moved the bed into the room and unfolded it next to the sad little fridge by the bathroom. The stoned guy didn’t even notice the piles of bloody bandages and medical supplies or the lack of luggage. He wandered out after offering to get Cooper whatever else he might need, and so Cooper added another fifty to remind the guy that he hadn’t seen anything and if anyone showed up asking about Cooper, he’d like a heads-up. The guy grinned and nodded, then wandered back in the general direction of the front desk.

Cooper had almost shut and locked the door when a delivery guy from a pizza restaurant screeched into the parking lot and leapt out of his car, eyes wide. “Are you Cooper?”

Cooper nodded, still eyeing the highway beyond the motel and all the side streets that could have hidden the wolves. “Yeah. You got a delivery for me?”

“Yeah,” the kid said. He hauled an enormous picnic cooler out of his trunk and dragged it to the door, setting it just inside the room before scurrying back to the car for the second cooler. Out of breath, the kid could hardly lift the second box. “Man, I’m glad I got the call before that asshole Alex did. You must really like steak. Is there anything else you need? I can run out and get whatever you want.”

“Leave your phone number and I’ll let you know,” Cooper said. He tried to find a smile for the kid. “Thanks for delivering these. I think we’ve got a few more coming in the morning.”

“Yeah, that’s great. I’m happy to do it.” The teenager practically beamed as he maneuvered both coolers inside the door, not even glancing at the rest of the room, and handed over a scrap of paper with a phone number on it. “This is me. James. Just call if you need anything. Anytime.”

“Thanks, James.” Cooper handed the kid a fifty. “But if anyone asks who hired you or where you delivered this or anything, just forget who I am and what I look like. Okay?”

He didn’t even blink, all of his attention on the bill in his hands. “Got it, man. I never saw any coolers and I sure as hell didn’t go to a motel to deliver anything. Just let me know if you need anything.”

Cooper nodded and even managed to smile as the kid grinned and jogged back to his waiting car. Cooper locked the door and set the chain, and caught Jada waking up as he turned. She blinked sleepily, looking around, then her face flushed as she sat up and nearly fell right off the bed. “You’re not supposed to be up. Cooper, your back!”

He smiled and motioned at her to stay put. “I feel a lot better, I promise. Getting rid of the bullets did the trick. I’m all healed up. I’ll get the food. You stay there.”

She didn’t listen, of course, and instead helped him drag the coolers away from the door. Jada pulled out plates and plastic silverware, spreading one of the coarse towels across the bedspread as a makeshift tablecloth, and helped Cooper pull at least twenty pounds of perfectly grilled steak out of the first cooler. He didn’t bother with utensils, relying on his bare hands, and set about inhaling at least half of it. He’d meant to make Jada or Francine eat first, to start them getting over that whole alpha-eating-first bullshit, but he couldn’t wait.

Cooper only paused to breathe and to load more chicken and steak on Jada’s plate. She laughed quietly but kept chewing, not objecting as he added more and more beyond what the thick paper plates could bear. Francine bolted upright with a sudden gasp, a frightened kind of mewl, that broke Cooper’s heart.

Her wide eyes searched the room, nearly paralyzed with fear, but when she saw him sitting up and Jada up to her elbows in food, Francine exhaled in relief. And promptly burst into tears.

Cooper froze, on the verge of panic. “Francine?”

She launched at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing, and Cooper stared at Jada, looking for guidance. Francine hiccupped and pressed her face against his throat; he could feel her tears dripping onto his skin. He couldn’t decipher anything she said, and finally just hugged her back. She felt so small and fragile compared to him, even half-dead as he was. Cooper wiped the grease off his hands, Francine still clinging to his neck, before rubbing her back and turning his head enough to shush her a little, very gently.

He couldn’t understand a word she said as Francine blubbered something about him being shot and the snow and all kinds of shit, none of it making sense. Cooper grumbled and adjusted how he sat, looking at Jada for help, but she was still facedown in a platter full of chicken and au gratin potatoes and bright veggies.

Cooper managed to untangle Francine from around his neck, brushing the tears off her cheeks. “Start over again, Franny. What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?”

She stared at him like he’d lost his fucking mind. “You almost died. That wasn’t a dream. That happened for real.”

He didn’t dare smile, though his lips twitched. “That’s true. But I’m feeling much better now.”

“Don’t send me away,” she whispered. Her breath hitched and skipped, and her hands clutched as his shoulders. “Please. Your friend Ethan said I could stay. I won’t get in your way, I promise. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll do all the chores and take care of the baby and I won’t even ask for a pet. I promise. I swear. Please.”

Cooper felt like he’d missed at least three other conversations, blinking and trying to decipher the sudden panic. “Hold on, kiddo. Why would I send you away?”

“You got shot.”

“I did get shot.” He leaned back, trying to get a better look at her expression as she tried to hide her face against his shoulder again. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It’s my fault,” she whispered.

Jada frowned. “Honey, I told you...”

“It’s my fault!” Francine wailed. “I wanted to play in the snow. It was my idea. I’m the reason we stopped. If we hadn’t stopped, the wolves wouldn’t have found us and they wouldn’t have shot you and then we wouldn’t be stuck here. It was all my fault and I’m sorry and please don’t send me away. Please. I promise I’ll be good.”

Cooper sighed. He didn’t know how to deal with little kids. It didn’t make any sense. He squeezed her tight and wanted to shake some sense into her at the same time. “Listen to me, Franny.”

“My n-name is F-F-Francine,” she wailed, and Cooper couldn’t help it. He started chuckling, his whole body shaking, and it didn’t help when Francine leaned back and stared at him with an outraged expression.

He clamped his lips together to bite back the laughter, but it didn’t help much. He wanted to roll around on the floor laughing, even if he needed a tetanus shot afterward, because it felt good to be alive.

Jada managed to keep her composure, but only just, and her disapproving expression only made him want to laugh harder. But he figured this was one of those situations where Zoe would tell him he was being an oblivious jackass and needed to pull his head out of his ass and be sensitive. So he gouged his thumbnail into his thigh until he managed to keep a straight face, and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Francine. I apologize. I shouldn’t have laughed.”

She glared at him, her face tearstained and red, and wiped her nose on her arm. “That wasn’t nice.”

“I’m very sorry.” Cooper leaned to retrieve an industrial-strength tissue from the box on the nightstand, and handed it to her to deal with the snotty nose. “Here’s the thing, and I need you to listen very closely to this. It’s not your fault that I got shot. None of this is your fault.”

“But—”

“If I thought it was dangerous, would I have stopped the truck?”

She looked at him, then at Jada, then back at Cooper. “No.”

“Exactly. And if I thought it was dangerous, would I have let you guys shift and roll around in the snow?”

“No,” she whispered.

“That’s right. So I didn’t think there was any reason to be afraid. Which means it’s my fault I got shot. Well, it’s really the fault of the dude with the gun, don’t you think?” He waited for her tentative nod, then Cooper squeezed her tighter. “But I think we can all agree that it’s not your fault, that I’d never send you away, and that you’re so hungry I can hear your stomach growling from here.”

Francine didn’t look completely convinced, but her attention strayed to the plate full of food that Jada held out. The girl’s eyes lit up and she hopped out of Cooper’s lap to seize the plate, making herself comfortable as she gnawed on a steak. Jada didn’t even try to offer her cutlery.

The bear finally exhaled and started to relax; the den wasn’t perfect or anywhere near good enough, but it was warm and safe for the time being. His mate and her cub were both eating and would have their fill, then they would rest. He could guard their sleep and plan what the hell he was going to do to get even with the bastards who shot him.