Chapter Four
The fog of deep, healing sleep faded. In the distance, Quinn yelled at him to let go. What was she doing in his room? She never entered his bedchamber. Why was his alpha chuckling? Then he remembered his mate and the bison.
Something small and determined fought against his paw.
Morgan.
“Brutus, help me,” Quinn declared.
“He isn’t going to attack you. He may, however swipe, at me. And I will not get between a sleeping grizzly and his mate. You, of all people, should understand that.” Humor laced Brutus’s voice.
Grant opened one eye, feeling like he had come out of hibernation too soon, his dry mouth and even dryer eyes could have been used as sandpaper. Fog blocked his brain from full function. Over the head of his mate, who was lying in his furry arms and pushing at his large paw, he could see his beta pulling on his arm. But he couldn’t figure out why.
“Ladies, he’s awake. Perhaps you can simply ask him now.”
His first instinct was to pull Morgan deeper into his protective embrace, but if the females were working together, he needed to find out why. Quinn bopped his shoulder. “Let her go, now.”
“He isn’t a dog. Grant, release your mate, please.” Brutus’s words, although phrased as a request, brooked no argument.
Lifting his paw, he watched Morgan shimmy out of bed.
“Thank god. I have to pee.” She raced from the room.
“You”—Quinn pointed at Grant—“need to take care of the needs of your mate. Starting with getting her a set of stairs for this bed. It’s not dignified for her to have to climb up on a chair. I should know.”
Still not sure what was going on, he stretched and shifted into his human form. The ache in his side took him by surprise for a second, but he reached for the bandage. The wound closed. “Why is everyone in my room?”
Quinn humphed, handing him a large glass of water. “Drink.”
He did, because he wasn’t going to argue with his beta and he was parched. “How long was I out?”
“Sixteen hours. Your poor mate has had to pee for four.”
He paused mid-sip. “She was with me the whole time?”
“Yes. We tried to move your paw, but you are as stubborn as a mule.”
“I was unconscious.”
“I don’t think that’ll float with Quinn. Grant, when I said I was worried about my mate being lonely over the winter, I didn’t think you would bring her a human playmate.” Brutus feigned pain as Morgan slapped his arm before heading to the hallway.
Quinn towed Brutus with her out the door. “Grant is fine.” Her voice carried back to him. “Someone bring some food for him and Morgan, please, and the rest of you get back to your regular day.”
One of the last places their alpha had wanted to be was in one of the bedrooms of his scouts. He had only been there to ensure his beta was safe.
A few minutes later, a young woman deposited a tray of food on the chest of drawers and slipped back out. Morgan ducked through the door, running her fingers through her messy, gorgeous hair.
“Sorry,” Grant said before she could say anything. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I wasn’t frightened, but I was starting to get desperate.” Her cheeks pinked. “I mean…”
“I apologize for that, too,” he hastened to reassure.
“Do you usually sleep in bear form?”
“Depends if you mean bear or in the bare.”
She stared him down the way Quinn did Brutus and the way he was sure women the world over glared at men when they weren’t amused. “Try to be serious.”
“I only take bear form when I’m working, protecting what is mine, healing, or hibernating.”
“Woo, can we go through that list again, slowly and more in depth?”
“Bring the food tray and join me up here for a picnic and I will. Although I am feeling better I am not even at 75 percent yet. I really don’t want to feel the wrath of Shauna for overdoing it.”
She lifted the tray, placed it on the bed then used the chair to climb up. His first honey-do-list item would consist of that step Quinn mentioned. Once she was settled and they each had taken a few bites of the berry salad, he continued. “First, sometimes it’s easier for me to work in the park as a bear. I can get to areas accessible only to wildlife.”
She wiped her mouth with a napkin, though he’d have proffered to lick the berry juice himself. “That makes sense. So, do animals know you are what you are?”
“Yes, they are very aware we are different. They keep a wide berth, but, if they are injured, they will allow us close enough to help. Mundane grizzlies will protect you because you wear my scent and won’t attack under normal situations. But never get between a sow and her cubs. She won’t care who you are.”
“So, basically, still keep my distance with the wildlife. Not a problem.”
“I think protecting what is mine is pretty clear.”
She made an humph sound, taking another bite of salad.
“You doubt me.”
“No. No not at all. None of this is self-explanatory. You say I’m your mate but didn’t shift to protect me when the bison attacked.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I would have thought you would have changed immediately.”
“You didn’t know what I was then and I knew if I could avoid his horns, I would be okay. They have hard heads, and I hoped to diffuse the situation with a few bumps and bruises. I didn’t expect the idiot to come back a third time.”
“Shauna said the bull was attacking me not you.”
“Correct.”
“You should have shifted.”
“Perhaps, but I didn’t want you scared of me.”
“Next time, don’t hesitate.”
“You are taking this far better than I expected.” He bit into a piece of chicken.
Wiping her hands on the napkin, she sighed. “I don’t think so. I’m sure a breakdown is coming. But, would I have preferred to lose you to that bison or have you be some paranormal bear-shifting creature? I’ve also had hours to watch you sleep and come to terms with your furrier side.”
“Fair enough. What was the next issue…oh yeah. You already know I heal better as a bear. And, like most bears, I hibernate.”
“For the whole winter?”
“No, last winter it was two weeks. I have gone as long as three weeks and as short as five days. But after last night, I would suggest you not sleep with me during the hibernation. I have a hard time letting go of you.”
“Why wouldn’t Brutus help me get up? I mean, he looked strong enough.”
“Oh, he is strong enough. But it wouldn’t have been wise. When I am coming out of a deep sleep, my brain isn’t working. That goes for any bear. You were safe, and so was Quinn. I could never swing at my mate or my beta. But my alpha or another man touching my mate? I wouldn’t be thinking. I would be reacting, and one of you could have been hurt in the mayhem. If you were in trouble, he would have intervened. He wasn’t there just to laugh. He was watching and protecting.”
“In your long list of reasons to be a bear, you didn’t mention play or just because you enjoy it? You make it seem like a burden.”
“Not at all.” He paused, thinking of the right words. “I’m not known for a playful side.”
She poked him in the ribs. “We will have to remedy that.”
“I believe my sleuth…”
“Sleuth?”
“It’s the word we use for family. The others living here are hoping my mate will help me relax and be less of a bear to deal with.”
“So we are mates? Is that man and wife in your family? In mine, you have to ask, and I have to accept.”
“Family is a nice way to say species.” He leaned forward and took her lips because her pout was too much for him to take. “We are not mated, but we are mates. What happens next is in your hands. Or perhaps your heart.”
“If I were to decline this offer to be mated, what would happen?”
"Honestly, I have no idea.” He had heard rumors of impotence but had never met a shifter who had come across their mate and walked away. Not bear, wolf, elk, or even bison. “What do you need from me to help you make your decision?”
“Time and space, I suppose. I’m not sure how any of this works. I was still reeling from growing fangs the other night when you were attacked. It’s all going so fast.” She paused to rub the bridge of her nose.
“Headache?”
“Yes.”
He lowered the tray to the side table, propped up against the headboard, and lifted her into his lap. He massaged her temples. “Relax. We can take our time. I’ve waited forever and a day for you. I can wait for you to come to terms with it all.” The question was, could she? He didn’t know anything about humans except what he had learned from Quinn, and one person’s experience did not make a norm. But her need to mark Brutus had been so strong, she had tried to bite him at least one time before the mating. He had overheard her tell an omega the longer she had gone without mating the stronger the urge became until it neared hunger. He hadn’t seen that hunger in Morgan, but did that mean anything?
“Mmmm, every time you touch me, something within me loosens, as if I have been completely tied in knots my entire life.” Her eyes were closed, and she rubbed her cheek against his thigh, dangerously close to the ever-hardening cock separated by a thin sheet. As if hearing his inner voice screaming for her to touch him, she ran a hand up and cupped him.
“As much as it kills me to say this, you need to stop,” he growled.
She traced the length of his cock through his pants then laid a kiss upon his bare stomach, leaving a trail of tiny kisses up to his collarbone. “You keep saying that.”
“If we make love, we will mate, and then I can’t let you go.”
Her hand left him, and he groaned. “I need to take a shower.”
“Is that safe right now?”
“It’s safer for you.”
“You can’t hurt me.”
“Are you ready to mate with me? To be with me and no other for the rest of our lives? In doing so you’ll be saying you need to be here in Yellowstone for much of the year and pledging yourself not just to me but to my alpha as well.”
“I want you.”
The gleam in her eye as she licked her lips warned him he needed to get out of the room now or they would be mated with or without her being ready. “I’m going to let you cool off. You need to make your decision without the haze of lust fogging your brain.”
As he made a move to leave, she moaned. “Please.”
He froze.
“I ache, I am on fire, and only you can put it out. I have never been this—sensitive before.” She ran her hands up her body, cupping her breasts. “Help me.”
Was this the hunger Quinn described? And it concerned Morgan as she flew from coherent to a raging horny houri at a touch of his cock. His desires were pushing hers. He had caused her state.
“I am going to regret this.” He arrived at her side in three large strides, never taking his gaze from her. “Lie back.”
“Kiss me.”
“No. I’m going to help you, but to keep my honor and your freedom intact, you have to listen to me.” He stepped back when she got to her knees and leaned in to get to him again.
She ran her tongue over her teeth.
“Damn the hunger.”
“I want…”
He put a hand up. “I know what you want. I can only give you release tonight.” He took both her hands in one of his. “Tomorrow night, I will give you the moon if you ask for it.”
Fear sparked in her eyes, confirming he’d made the right decision. Her animal urges were overpowering, and he could smell her fear. But with those urges surged desire only he could quench. Leaving her in such a state would help neither of them. “Can I trust you not to touch me?”
She nodded, shaking. Damn, he wished he had talked to Brutus about what to expect. Wished he had talked to Quinn, too. He only hoped he did the right thing. He released his grip, and she put her hands up in surrender. Satisfied she wouldn’t try and touch him again, he released his breath. Fighting a hundred bison was less scary than being alone with his mate who needed him to be strong.
“Lie back and grip the headboard. Don’t let go.”
She nodded, reaching behind her and closing her fingers on the wooden posts. Her breasts heaved, her eyes luminous and fixed on his.
“You’re doing great.”
Swallowing through the lump in his throat was hard, his cock aching with the need to plunge into her and complete the mating bond. He unbuttoned her pants, easing them along with her silk-and-lace panties. For a woman who wore khaki-colored clothes even to bed, she certainly chose delicate feminine undergarments. He’d seen no sign of makeup, and she hid her glorious hair under a hat while braving the dangerous crust over volcanic pools. Yet, underneath, she was all woman, his woman. Right down to her sexy underwear.
His fingers itched to move up and under her shirt, to release her breasts from their confines, but if he did, neither of them would be able to control their baser needs. He would accept her small present tonight and unwrap the bigger gift tomorrow. He climbed onto the bed, kissing her bare hip before maneuvering his large body between the supple curves of her legs. He maneuvered her left knee over his right shoulder followed by her right over his left. In the valley of her thighs, he stared up at her face. Her eyes were closed, her mouth partly open. Her lips would scream his name when he finished, and perhaps she would sleep while he found a tub of ice to sit in.
He needed to take care of her.
Skin soft as silk soothed his inner beast. She smelled of lemons and his favorite thing, honey. He breathed her scent before finally allowing himself to feast, first with a small, tentative lick. His tongue touched her clit, and she bucked beneath him. Placing his hand flat on her belly, he forced her back down on the bed. As his tongue repeated the process, his hand remained firm and strong, holding her in place. Forcing her to take the pleasure he could give her, tonight. Lapping her, he fed like an animal starved. He sucked and plunged his tongue deep inside, drinking from her until he would come himself at any moment. She fractured. Her knees locked around his head as she shook uncontrollably.
“Grant.” Everyone in his pod would have heard her scream. The only thing that would make him more proud would be to wear her mark. But that would wait. Morgan shuddered and went limp. She rested her arm over her eyes and a smile split her lips. “Wow.”
“Wow, indeed,” he agreed easing himself up and off the bed. He smoothed the blanket over her half-naked body. Brushing his lips across hers, he said, “Sleep now.”
“Where are you going?”
“If I thought I needed a cold shower before, I didn’t know anything. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She mumbled something indecipherable as she fell into the sleep of the sated and left him harder than he had ever been in his life. Leaving her resting, he went to ask which chamber he could use for the night. He could not sleep next to her in this state. Placing a hand on his side, he came in contact with the wet stickiness of blood. He had reopened his wound and needed to shift. Knowing she was safe and satisfied would allow him to move into the true healing sleep.
Shauna waited for him down the hall. She led him into an empty room, checked his wound carefully, before indicating the blankets in the corner on the floor. In his bear form, a nest on the floor would offer adequate comfort. Turning out the light, she left him to shift and rest. Tomorrow would bring a great many changes, and he would need all his energy.