Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,89

youngest, he was always a little touchy about his brothers being overprotective. He didn’t much like the way Cody was looking at him.

“I found you here,” Cody said. “You looked knocked out and it took a while to wake you up. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Eric muttered, though he was not sure that was true. “I just uh…”

“What?”

“I don’t remember how I got here,” Eric said, scratching his head.

“Well, that doesn’t sound good,” Cody said. “Maybe I should take you to a doctor, dude.”

“No! Jesus…” Eric sniffed, collected himself, and got to his feet.

Everything seemed just fine after all. He was not injured. His head felt funny, as if there was a buzzing noise like a powerline underneath the vague sensation of fuzziness.

He had clearly sat down and fallen into an impromptu nap and afternoon naps could always make a person feel a little disoriented.

“I’m totally fine, Cody,” Eric insisted. “Seriously. I was just going to go get some lunch. I think I was just about to have lunch.”

“Okay,” Cody said, squinting as if still searching for some lost clue. “C’mon. I’ll make you something.”

“Sure.”

Eric dutifully followed Cody all the way back downstairs to the kitchen behind the dining hall.

There was something bothering him and he couldn’t think of what it could be. It was as if a little bug was scratching at the inside of his mind, making a welt that made him want to scratch more. He’d forgotten something, but what was it? Was it important?

He had been looking for someone?

He was starting to feel a little panicked as he smiled tightly and sat down at the kitchen island, watching Cody bustle around to make him a sandwich. He was talking about the good beef they’d just gotten in, how it was the best he’d tasted in months and made for an amazing sandwich with the right aioli…

Eric sat, trying to mentally retrace his steps. What had he been doing? Everything was vague. Even now, he had the feeling of walking in a dream as if everything wasn’t quite real. He stared down at his hands. The last few days in general were fuzzy. He remembered working and…

“Mich...elle…” He just about choked around the word, it almost seemed to be coming from outside of himself. Something was telling him that was very important. Michelle, who he had dumped… He couldn’t remember why exactly?

You idiot, he thought. Why would you dump her?

He couldn’t remember now.

“What was that?” Cody was frowning at him again. “Michelle? Isn’t that the girl you just broke up with? What about her?”

“I...I have to find her,” Eric said, getting up from his seat. “I fucked up. Why did I dump her? That was an awful mistake.”

“Whoa, whoa!” Cody dashed over and stood between him and the door. “I’m not sure about the details here, but I thought you were with Lydia now? Lydia?” He shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Eric.

Lydia…The word didn’t make sense to him. It was like Cody’s voice turned to nonsense when he said it. Eric couldn’t remember what it was supposed to mean. The only thought that didn’t seem confusing just now was Michelle.

He needed to find her and fix this whole thing.

Because…

Because you’re mates, an insistent voice said in his mind. The voice was screaming to be heard over everything else. He had no choice but to listen to it.

“Who? No, I have to go…” He started to shove Cody aside. His own voice sounded strange to his ears, too low and flat. Why was that? Everything was a little baffling just now. He wondered if he was still asleep. “I have to go find Michelle.”

“Wait, wait!” Cody was grabbing him by the arm, holding him back. He was holding him back from seeing Michelle and that screaming, demanding voice insisted that it was bad. He couldn’t let anyone hold him back from finding her. “Eric, you’re acting weird right now-”

“Not acting weird,” Eric said, in that odd flat tone again. “I just have to find Michelle. Get out of my way.”

There was a threat in his voice that he hadn’t even intended. It felt strange coming out of his mouth.

This must be a dream, he thought. Nothing makes sense. I’ll wake up soon.

“Eric, what’s wrong with you?” Cody wouldn’t let go, the grip on Eric’s arm was a vise.

His head throbbed.

FIND MICHELLE NOW.

“Nothing’s wrong with me!” Eric snapped. He shoved Cody hard, so hard that he stumbled back against the stove and knocked over a pot of