Page 33 of His Protective Bear

Hunter chuckled, “I’m a master at turning on the oven.”

“Guess it’s a good thing that your mate’s something of a decent cook.” I tried not to blush, saying mate, but I failed. But it was worth it seeing Hunter smile so wide hearing me say it.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to cook. We can always order in or go over to my parent’s or Kian’s. It’s one of the perks of having everyone so close. And according to my brothers, the babysitter’s next door, that’s also family.”

“That’s like my family, too. My uncle lives like a mile away from our house, and my cousins built their houses close by as well. Even Simon lives there too, and I know he loves having his parents close by when he needs someone to watch the kids.”

“How do you feel about that?” Hunter asked.

“Living close to my parents?”

He shook his head. “Kids… babies, I guess.”

I swallowed and cleared my throat. Damn it, I should have known we would have to have this conversation. A part of me had hoped it wouldn’t come up, but I knew it would.

“I don’t know if I can. Besides, I always worried I might pass on my condition to a child. So I guess it’s a good thing. I don’t want my child to suffer the way I did.” I put my fork down and blew out a breath.

Hunter got up and came over to me. He picked me up and sat down with me in my seat. “Was it terrible growing up?”

I laughed, but even I could hear the bitterness in it. “It wasn’t great.”

“Tell me,” Hunter whispered. “Please.”

“There were a group of boys that were just horrible.” I buried my nose in his chest, “They would do things like crush stink bugs and hide them in my pockets. A couple of times, they offered me spoiled food to see if I noticed. I didn’t always notice, and I would get sick from it. Probably why you thought I was shy. By high school, I just learned to keep to myself.” I closed my eyes, trying to block out the memory of that time.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.” Hunter said, “I should have claimed you sooner. I should have made sure nothing bad could ever come near you. I’m sorry I failed you, baby. I swear I’ll spend every day trying to make it up—”

I leaned back and kissed him to stop the words. Then I held his chin between my hands so he could see me and hear me. “It wasn’t your fault. You were just a kid too. Besides, I don’t hold it against you. I blame myself….”

“What? How can you? You were a kid.” I loved how fierce he was in his defense of me.

“I wish that had been the end of it.” I really didn’t want to talk about this, but I also wanted nothing between us. “It’s worse when you’re taken advantage of as an adult.”

Hunter didn’t speak. He just rubbed my back soothingly, up and down, and I knew if I didn’t want to talk about it, he would respect that.

I exhaled slowly after drawing in a deep breath. “Do you remember when you asked me about what I was up to when I was away?”

“Mmm.” That was all Hunter replied.

“Well, I met someone, but not immediately. I was at college. Some of my Papa’s family live in the city. Right before graduation, I went to visit them and decided to stay.”

Hunter’s arms tightened around me like he was thinking about when I’d left. Or just hearing about me being gone scared him.

“I met him one night when I was out with friends. I can’t really scent if people are shifters or not, you know,” I shrugged. “Anyway, one thing led to another, and we started dating.” I rolled my shoulders, not that it helped with the tension just talking about it caused. “I shared the big secret with him, but I think he kind of figured it out.” I shrugged, “Anyway, he used it against me. He told me he was my alpha, my mate.”

Hunter growled, and it was my turn to soothe him. “I was young and stupid, and I believed him. That’s why when you said it….”

“You thought I was lying,” Hunter finished for me.

“I can’t have two alphas unless it’s a triad mating or Warren’s dead… and he’s not.”

“Too bad,” Hunter spat, and I had to smile.

“Anyway, he became verbally and sometimes physically abusive, and he kept telling me I was broken.”

Hunter growled louder. “I’ll kill him.”

I held him tighter and shook my head, “I kind of like you. It would suck if you ended up in jail. He’s not worth it.”

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