Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,183

wounds and made fun of him. Obviously.”

Brooke burst into surprised laughter. “You ass!”

“Maybe, but can you honestly tell me you’ve never made fun of one of your pups when they were being a moron?”

“Of course! But only while the fight was going on, not afterwards when they’re licking their wounds.”

He nodded sagely, like he’d finally confirmed something he’d suspected for a while. “Ah that’s the difference between you and me then.”

“What, I’m not a dick?”

“Exactly.”

“Mm,” Brooke hid a grin, nodding sarcastically in agreement.

“But you like that I’m a dick.”

“Who says?”

“You did, when you rode me into oblivion fifteen minutes ago.” Brooke wanted to kiss the smug smile right off of his face. So she did, grinning into his mouth as he ran his fingers through her hair.

“I was only doing that to shut you up.” The look on Connor’s face made it clear he knew he’d won. When had his humor become so endearing to her? Probably when you rode him into oblivion fifteen minutes ago, she thought dryly, burying her head in his neck to avoid looking at his stupid perfect face.

“What about Eric?” she prompted. His hands resumed their gentle circles on her hips and she melted against him.

“Eric? Eric’s too kind for his own good,” he grumbled. “Everyone he’s ever met that figured it out took advantage of him. His last ex literally tried to kill him, nearly destroying the whole lodge. Second time in a year...” He pushed her up gently to look into her eyes. “I know they’re different circumstances, and I want to tell you, Brooke, that you’re extraordinary. It’s hard to be responsible for people and, from what I’ve seen of your pack, you’ve done a great job.”

“You’ve only seen them in a fight,” Brooke pointed out.

“Exactly, and Eric got a dislocated shoulder for his trouble.”

They lapsed into silence for a while - a comfortable one - and Brooke relished in it, content to look at the sunlight as it filtered through the trees. They’d need to go soon, they both had responsibilities, people to look after, but for now she was happy.

It’s nice - talking to someone who understands. Connor Strauss had morphed from an unattainable stranger to someone she could maybe love. It was exciting and terrifying all at once. Hearing him talk about his sleuth, about Nathan and Cody and Eric, had her wondering what it would be like to meet them.

A wolf joining a sleuth, she thought, wouldn’t that be a sight.

“We should go,” Connor murmured eventually. Brooke opened one eye, grumbling quietly; she’d been about to fall asleep. The air was colder, the sun setting behind them and she shivered.

“You’re right,” she sighed. “I’ve got a pack to discipline.”

“And I’ve got brothers to take care of.”

They smiled wryly at each other. She didn’t want to leave him, but this was important. If they had any hope of seeing where these feelings went, the tension between their groups had to be put to rest.

“Would you like to go for a run later?” Connor asked, pulling on his jeans and looking at her with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Cute.

“I’d love to. I’ll meet you at the lodge’s front entrance?” She zipped up her fly, running her hands through her hair, pulling out leaves and twigs. God, she needed a bath.

Connor nodded. “It’s a date.”

The words made her warm and she smiled shyly, “Sure is.” She closed the gap between them and reached up to kiss him. “Race you,” she whispered playfully and pulled away, turning to sprint into the trees, shifting as she ran. She heard a muffled curse and a black bear gave chase.

70

Vince

Vince cursed as he ran, making his way back down the mountain. He was pretty sure the bears weren’t following, but that wasn’t why he was running. He needed to get back to the rest of the pack before Brooke. Damn her turning up at the last moment. And the look on Connor Strauss’ face when he’d seen her…

The pack members he had convinced to pick a fight followed behind him, most of them injured, but he didn’t stop to let them catch up. In order for his plan to work, he had to get to the rest of the pack before Brooke could tell them what really happened.

Why would she shift? It didn’t make sense, did she think the bears would care if they saw who she was? She was a shop girl, an employee, a stuck up rich boy like Strauss wouldn’t