Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,115

his mousy brown hair that needed a trim flopping over his forehead.

“I think it’s in the car,” Jessie said gravely.

On the rare occurrence that she had a weekday afternoon off, she sometimes took them for runs in the forest, always staying very close to the cabin and keeping her senses attuned to any new scents that might mean danger. Other times, when the paranoia of their abusive sleuth finding them out was too much, she piled them into her Carolla and took them on drives at night. Chris always insisted on taking a backpack full of his favorite things on drives. He was always worried that something would happen and they wouldn’t be able to go home again.

“Can I have it?” Chris said. He sounded so pitiful and stuck his lip out.

“Okay,” Jessie said, heaving a sigh. He staggered to her feet and left the kids, enchanted by a nature documentary about whales.

Jessie threw open the front door and gasped so dramatically that all the kids’ heads whipped around like alarmed little meerkats.

Cody Strauss stood on the front porch of the cabin. He was covered in mud as if he’d been rolling around in it. He jumped a little when she discovered him, blinking at her, his hands shoved in his pockets.

“Uh... hi,” he said slowly. “So... you have six kids?”

40

Cody

Cody didn’t feel much better after talking to Jessie. The air was cleared and that was nice and all but he couldn’t stop thinking that Jessie had some kind of serious problem she was dealing with and was unwilling to let him in enough to possibly help her. Like his brothers, Cody considered himself a fixer. If someone was in trouble, he was going to jump at the chance to get them out of it... even if he grumbled about it the entire time.

So after work, Cody went for a run.

It had been too long and it felt good to let his bear run free. The winter had seemed so long and biting and the spring had come and gone quickly. But the summer was warm and outside the hustle and bustle of the lodge, the woods had the sleepy feeling of a lazy type of season. But it wasn’t enough to slow Cody down.

He lumbered up into the mountains beyond the lodge, heading deep into the woods to his favorite creek for catching small fish and wading. It was his favorite spot since the Strauss brothers had moved to Black Bear Lake and he’d never taken anyone else. He’d never even mentioned it to his brothers because he liked having his own private spot where no one would bother him.

Because, on his own, Cody liked to be a bit childish as a bear. The mad was thick and wet when he reached the creek and Cody’s tongue wagged as he tossed about in it. His worry over Jessie faded away in the air that smelled like wildflowers, the cool creek water splashing him as he hopped in out of the creek and rolled into a mud puddle. He fooled around for an hour before running further up and impulsively taking a side road into less familiar territory. The woods were wild out beyond the lodge. There were all kinds of places to explore beyond the well-trod hiking trails they kept clear for guests. He’d hardly given himself time to explore.

He almost missed the cabin.

It was dark out by the time he spotted the dim amber lights in windows beyond a cluster of trees. Out of sheer curiosity, he crept closer, wondering who lived this far up the mountain who he didn’t know already.

When he spotted Jessie’s car parked next to the cabin, he stopped short. It took his more primal bear brain a minute to process things. He knew Jessie’s car because they’d chatted in the parking lot before while she was on her way home. He’d noted the bumper sticker on the back of her bright red Camry. The bumper sticker sported a yellow Care Bear and said “Let your fun shine.” He’d thought about that small detail of Jessie’s personality dozens of times since he’d seen it and smiled to himself.

He crept around a tree and squinted into the distance. Yes, there was the yellow Care Bear bumper sticker on the back of the Camry. It upset his bear because it was confusing and his bear hated being confusing. He pawed the ground and growled under his breath.

There were so many bear scents coming from the cabin,