Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,192

each other,” she said, eyebrows raised. “That still the plan?” She arched her brow. “Or is your dick more important?”

“I think I hate it when you’re right.” Connor reluctantly stood up and stretched, then leaned down to press a quick kiss to her cheek. “And I think you’re going to be right a lot.”

“Damn straight.” Brooke smiled as Connor finally opened his closet and started getting dressed, admiring the view. The muscles in his back were lovely to look at, almost enough to make her change her mind, stay here instead...

“The best thing to do is to stop this from going any further,” Connor said over his shoulder, startling her from her thoughts. “I’ll talk to my brothers, there’ll be some way for your pack to get the resources they need without impacting the lodge, there has to be. I’ll tell them I’ve spoken to you, and that you’re willing to hear us out.”

Brooke grimaced, unconvinced. There was a reason a truce between predators had never been successful in the past. But the thought of her pack being set up for life, thriving and happy and healthy in the Rockies was a tempting one. “And I’ll go back to my pack and tell them you want to call a truce?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. Connor nodded, pulling on a pair of boxers. “We’ll need a fifty-fifty split, Connor. You may have the lodge, but I have twenty wolves to worry about.” She knew she might be coming off as abrasive, but if anyone was going to understand putting a pack, a family, before anything else, it would be Connor.

“Of course, I want this to be as fair as possible. Your pack is your family, same as my sleuth. I know they come first.”

Brooke sagged with relief, warmth filling her chest at her own words echoed back to her. She’d had faith, but it was nice when reality backed it up. “Thank you, Connor.”

She was still skeptical; Vince was getting bolder, he’d made it clear he didn’t trust the Strauss family and, in light of more recent events, that he didn’t trust her, but the look of confidence on Connor’s face made her want to hope.

Her stomach was in knots when she reached her place. Angela met her at the door, pretty face drawn and anxious.

“Everyone’s inside,” Angela said softly. “They’re not happy.”

Of course they aren’t, Brooke thought, but I’m going to fix that.

Seeing twenty wolf shifters gathered in her tiny front room would have been funny under different circumstances. They were cramped together a little like those old Where's Waldo books Brooke had as a kid. Every surface was occupied with her pack, pushing and shoving, faces angry as she walked in and stepped up onto the kitchen counter so she could face everyone at once.

This was her family, and seeing them upset like this made her heart ache. She needed to fix this; they deserved better.

“I know a lot of you no longer feel that I am fit to run this pack,” she started, forcing herself to keep her head held high. She could own up to her mistakes. “But I have been in conversation with Connor Strauss - the alpha of the bear sleuth who has been fighting with us over the land that we deserve. We have managed to come to an agreement.” Ripples of conversation made its way through the room, like a giant game of Chinese Whispers. For some of her pack, anger melted into interest, but others’ frowns only deepened. Brooke waited a moment for them to settle down before continuing. “He wants us, all of us, to come up to the lodge to meet with him and his sleuth so that we can get everything sorted out once and for all.”

There was silence for all of two seconds before the room erupted into chaos, twenty voices all calling out at once. Brooke tried her best to differentiate one voice from another, but the overlapping shouts were hard to unravel.

“What about the dead bear?” someone asked. Anger flashed through her, the memory of Connor’s face streaked with tears running across her mind, but she quickly fought to get her expression under control.

“Connor Strauss has said that he was willing to let the matter go, for the sake of both our groups.” There was a murmur of surprise. No one had expected the bear to forgive so easily, especially something of that calibre. Brooke privately agreed; he was too kind. Brooke