Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,116

it was almost overwhelming only because he had not expected it at all. He made out Jessie’s unique scent right away and the others were oddly sweet and sharp... Cubs. They were all very young bears. The scent of bear cub shifters was sharp so as to catch their parents’ attention over other scents. All of them at once was a lot if you weren’t used to it. He shook his big head and blinked.

Some part of Cody’s human brain though: This is dumb.

He shifted into human form. His jeans and arms were muddy, from rolling around in the woods and he grimaced, dusting off the chunkier bits before he crept closer to the cabin.

He was too curious not to sneak around and see what he could see. He felt a little bit like a stalker as he snuck over to the cabin on quiet feet. The curtain wasn't quite closed in the windows and it was dark out and light inside, giving him the advantage.

Cody crept around the car and climbed up a trellis to the porch, staying quiet. He didn’t want to risk anyone seeing him in the window.

He was overstepping some boundaries by a long shot. He knew that... except that something was wrong with Jessie. If she was in real trouble and afraid to tell him, he couldn’t stand ignoring it. It had also occurred to him more than once that two of his brothers had recently been in similar situations. Strauss boys were just bad at not helping, he supposed.

Cody crouched down and peeked through the window. He saw what his nose had led him to expect.

There were a whole bunch of bear cubs plus Jessie hanging around in a shabby living room that had obviously been spruced up recently with a lot of effort and very little money. Cody counted six kids, most of them crowded together with Jessie on the couch. They were all watching cartoons on an ancient-looking little television and Jessie looked like she was about to fall asleep. One of the children, a little boy with floppy brown hair in his eyes said something to Jessie and she rubbed her eyes and finally nodded before staggering to her feet.

Cody remained on the porch, frozen with indecision. He saw Jessie headed toward the door.

Shit...

He had several endless seconds during which he could have hopped off the porch and possibly escaped her notice.

But he didn’t want to...

Jessie had six children? Or she was taking care of six children at least. He wondered if they were siblings. It simply didn’t seem possible that they could all belong to her. She was so young. She had told him she was twenty-four. It wasn’t impossible, but still...

Cody walked up to the door and grit his teeth and when it opened, he took a deep breath and blinked at Jessie who gaped at him in shock.

“Uh... hi. So... you have six kids?”

“Cody!” Jessie’s mouth dropped open and she stepped out onto the woods plank porch, shutting the door behind her with a glance over her shoulder. She crossed her arms and faced him, her mouth an irritated grimace. “How are you... What are you? Oh, God.” Abruptly, she turned from annoyed to upset and sank her head in her hands. “Oh God, you’ve found us now everyone’s going to find us. I can’t let them go back there, I can’t... ”

“Whoa whoa!” Cody stepped forward. He didn’t embrace Jessie but he rested his hands on her arms. It was just a gentle touch to let her know he was there. “Hey, please. It’s alright. I didn’t mean to... “ He sighed, rolling his eyes and slid his hands up and down her arms as she sniffled into her palms. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to be here. I didn’t follow you here or anything like that. I was just out for a run and I saw the lights and then I saw your car and I got curious. That’s all. But... Jesus, Jessie are you okay? No wonder you’re exhausted! Single... mom? With all these kids?”

She barked a laugh, dropping her hands. Her eyebrows shot up. “Cody, they’re not my kids! I mean... they are now. I suppose. Yeah. But, I didn’t... I’m not their real mom. I mean I liked to keep busy but no, I have not given birth to six children.”

“Oh.” He flushed, feeling a little stupid, and rubbed the back of his neck. “But you’re taking care of them. Who are