Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,159

Jeep crawled through the traffic of the twisty road that led them from the lodge to the cheaper side of town out to the renovated motel where she lived with the rest of her wolf pack.The motel had been turned into basic apartments.

Brooke said, “Just be-”

“Careful,” Carlo said, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I know, cuz.”

“I’m serious,” Brooke said gravely. “Don’t cross into their territory. Stay in the neutral areas. If you see anything, smell anything...”

“Brooke, we live here now, too,” Carlo said tightly. She saw him clench his fists from the corner of her eye. “At some point, it’s our home too, right?”

“Right,” Brooke said softly. “Just...be careful.”

59

Connor

Connor’s brother, Cody, had been going on runs more often than ever before. But these weren’t like the runs he’d used to go on with his brothers. Now Cody had six little cubs to look after. He spent more time babysitting in the woods than fishing or hunting, and though Connor knew his brother was very happy with his life, he also seemed like a guy who needed to let off some steam.

Connor cleared it with Cody’s mate, Jess, first. As the older, alpha brother, Connor was always careful about overstepping into mates’ territory. When he was thoughtful about such things, the mates always noticed. They were fond of Connor and appreciated that he looked after each of their families as well. Connor considered it very important that his brothers’ mates like him.

At eight pm, Cody came to find Connor out beyond the lodge, having driven up from the big old house where he now raised his brood. He was wearing a big blue parka and he grinned at Connor as he came running through the snow to the edge of the woods.

“Hey! Jess informed me that I’m going on a run with you,” Cody said, laughing. “I’m always the last to know these days.”

“I thought you could use an old fashioned run without cubs,” Connor said.

“You’re right,” Cody said, slinging his arm round Connor’s shoulders. “Man, I love those kids more than life itself, but goddamn they are exhausting.”

Connor chuckled under his breath. He’d had Jess send Cody to one of their favorite spots - the foot of the mountain behind the lodge around the east side, up the road where the woods were thick. The road was snowy and difficult to drive but they weren’t very far up and it was still early winter yet.

They chatted about Cody’s family life, and business at the lodge, and even a crime show they were both watching, which they loved to argue over with each other. They hiked into the forest and when they hit an icy creek, they finally cast each other a silent nod and shifted into their bear forms.

It had been days for Connor since he’d had the chance to go on a run and it felt good to be in his bear body, especially in the bracing chill of a new winter. For a while, they just played, pouncing at each other in the snow and wrestling. When Connor waded into the creek, nosing around for fish, he knew that there would be a competition. He had a trout half in his mouth when Cody barrelled into him with the full weight of his huge body. Connor was bigger, but taken by surprise he was easily shoved into the icy water, soaking his thick coat. He staggered to his feet and roared at his younger brother, but it was playful, his tongue lolling out as he rammed Cody back. They didn’t end up catching any fish, but it was a lot of fun anyway.

Then the wolves showed up. Connor was thrown off, not least because he could only smell one of them, and even that was faint. It was harder to pick out the unfamiliar scent, especially when the air was so cold.

There were three of them in total. Connor caught the scent of one of them and he stopped cold in the woods. He’d been sniffing around something interesting under a log - a frozen over honeycomb. He could tell when Cody caught the scent because he bumped into Connor and then tensed, looking around, his ears perked up.

Regular wolves they wouldn’t have been worried about. But other shifters could be tricky. And more than that, they were in bear shifter territory. They couldn’t have missed the markings, or the scent of so many bear shifters all in one place. It was hard to believe it was a mistake.

Yet,