Page 28 of His Protective Bear

“He’s good.” I actually didn’t mind my parents asking now. “I saw him earlier. I think I’ll probably see him tomorrow.” Hunter and I hadn’t made plans, but the truth was I kind of wanted to see him tonight. Maybe I could text him.

Dad’s arm went around me, and I was startled because I didn’t notice him move. “You don’t have to worry. Things like that don’t happen much in Asheville. Violence like that in our town is rare.”

Huh? What was he talking about? I looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

My dad looked down at me, brow crinkled, and then his eyes widened. “You don’t know?”

My heart started racing, and I pushed away from him, “Know what? What happened?”

“Oh Sage, I thought you knew,” Dad sighed. “Hunter was injured today during a call, but it’s nothing serious,” he added quickly.

“Is he—” I swallowed, “he’s okay, right?”

“Yes, he is.” Dad’s voice was firm.

“I should… I need to go see him,” I said.

“Go, I’m sure he’ll like that.” Dad walked me back to the car, but before letting me get in, he asked, “Are you sure you’re okay to drive? I’ll take you there if you need me to.”

I shook my head and drew in a deep breath. If Dad said Hunter was fine, I believed him. He wouldn’t lie to me about something like that.

* * *

I made it to the ranch in record time, although I could hear Hunter’s voice in my head telling me to be safe. I pressed down on my chest after I pulled up outside his house. “He’s fine. He has to be.”

When I walked up to the door, I could hear a lot of voices inside the house. I almost considered turning back, but I closed my eyes and counted to ten. You can do this. More than that, I needed to see that Hunter was actually fine with my own eyes.

I closed my eyes and drew in a long breath, then let it out slowly before finally raising my hand to knock. “You’ve met them before. They don’t bite,” I muttered to myself.

The man that opened the door was very familiar to me. “Good evening Mr. Hallbjorn.” I cleared my throat because it sounded a little scratchy, “I was just wondering… I came to check on Hunter.”

He was tall and lean but muscular, and his dark hair was side-swept, long on the top, but the sides and back were shaved up to the hairline. It was still thick and full, and the white streaked through it was very attractive.

“Please call me Jonathan.” He pulled me in for a hug. “It’s a pleasure to meet you officially, Sage. Please come in. I know my son is anxious to see you.”

As he led me into the house, I recognized most of the people there. My eyes, however, were firmly set on Hunter, who sat on the couch in the living room. He looked a little paler than usual, but except for that minor issue, he was thankfully in one piece.

Hunter’s younger brother Rhys, who had been a year behind me in school, came up and pulled me in for a hug, “Welcome to the family, Sage. If you ever need any dirt on that guy over there,” he pointed back at Hunter, “I can be bribed.”

I smiled at that. I was thankful for him.

Then Hunter’s oldest brother Gabe came up to me as well. “Welcome to the family, Sage,” he pulled a much shorter man with curly brown hair into his arms, “This is my mate Kian.” When he said his mate's name, the pride and affection in his voice were clear for anyone to hear. “The little guy he’s holding is our son Rhett. His brother is over there with grandpa.” He nodded towards the former head of our den and Hunter’s alpha father, Stefan Hallbjorn.

“Nice to meet you,” Kian smiled sweetly at me.

“Nice to meet you too,” I replied.

I also got introduced to Austin and Nash, although I already knew who they were. They ate at the diner regularly and met up for lunch most days, sometimes with their twins in tow.

Then there was Graham and Cooper and their twins. Wow, this family really had a lot of twins. Would Hunter want that? I tried not to think that far ahead.

I knew Hunter would want that, too, after seeing his brothers and their kids. When he found out I couldn’t… my chest got tight, and it suddenly became stifling in the room. I tried to draw in a breath, but I couldn’t seem to.

“Breathe, Sage, breathe for me.” Hunter’s voice sounded like it was coming from far away, but I focused on it, blocking everything out.

“Keep breathing, baby.” Hunter’s voice managed to pull me back until everything came back into focus. The next thing I knew, I was in his arms, tucked into his side.

“Okay out, everybody out,” Hunter said. “You all have houses. Leave mine.”

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