Page 3 of Bear with Me

Then she thought of Brock. Pictured his face in her mind. His body. He was strong and fierce and by far the most handsome man she’d ever seen. If death was her next journey, she wanted the memory of him to be the last thing she saw. She would have liked to have kissed him just once, to have felt the tender touch of his hands against her skin, but some things were never meant to be. It seemed she and Brock Holloway were one of them.

Chapter Two

“I’m not having this conversation,” Brock snapped, pushing to his feet and facing Laramie across the desk between them.

“You need to have it with someone, and since you’ve been ignoring your mate, you’ll have it with me,” Laramie thundered.

“I don’t fucking have a mate.” Each word was growled in anger.

“You’ve got to let it go,” Laramie said as he stood and walked around the desk to join Brock.

“Let it go,” Brock mused. “Like you would if Em had hit on one of us? If she’d snuggled up to my chest and rubbed against me, purring about how she could give me anything I needed?”

Laramie growled, fists clenching tight as he glared at Brock.

“Yeah,” Brock agreed. “Let it go, my ass.”

“Maybe, if you’d claimed her from the beginning,” Laramie snarled at him.

“She was only eighteen when she got here. Thirteen when our elders decided the best choice after the attacks on our den was to hide the surviving females. She was hidden away for five years from those who should have been providing protection, and you think the first thing I should have done when she arrived was jump on her? Jesus! Is that what you think of me?”

“I think you make a lot of excuses,” Laramie said. “And if you don’t claim your mate soon, brother, you’re going to lose her.”

Brock shook his head but wasn’t sure which statement he denied. That Jemma was his mate, or that he would lose her.

“Take the time to get to know her,” Laramie pressed. “A mate is a treasure. One you’ll regret losing.”

“She drives me insane,” Brock muttered.

Laramie laughed. “A good mate will. Do you think Em doesn’t drive me insane? In the best ways. Being with her has made me realize what I was missing. She and little bear and the baby on the way… My life means nothing without them, and it’s everything with them. I want that for you. Talk to Jemma, Brock. Claim your mate.”

Brock shook his head. How did he claim a woman, barely nineteen now, who’d done everything she could to seduce his brother? How did he trust her? Without trust, there couldn’t be anything else. Did he want her? Yes. Just the scent of her had his heart racing and his body primed and ready to rut until their scents were one and the same. His bear pressed against his skin, more than ready to put that thought into action. The man wasn’t willing, and it was the man in control.

“I can’t claim her.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Laramie questioned.

“Leave it,” Brock ordered.

“She’s going to leave. Think about that. Think about her out there. Alone.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” Brock snarled.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Laramie murmured.

Brock shook his head, more than done with the conversation. Jemma might threaten, but she wasn’t going anywhere. One, she had nowhere to go. Two, she had no way to get anywhere. Three… Fuck! He couldn’t let her leave the safety of Holloway land. Knowing her, she’d run right into danger the first chance she got. That didn’t mean he’d claim her, though. Chain her ass to the lodge? Yes. Mate her? No. Not happening.

He jerked open the office door and headed toward the front. He’d go check in with one of his other brothers and see if they needed anything. Jensen would. The doctor of the den was always in need of help. With the female shifters who’d been rescued recently, they had numerous cabins set up for both triage and hospital stations. Plus, Jasper, one of his father’s former enforcers had turned up in a recent rescue made by the cat shifter pride in Oklahoma.

When Jensen had flown back with Jasper the day before, Brock had wondered if the other male would even make it through the night. He’d been bad off. So bad, Jensen had stayed with him. Brock would go check in there. If nothing else, he could stay with Jasper while Jensen got some food and rest. Despite Jensen’s actions, he was not invincible. Lately, he’d been running himself ragged, trying to save everyone.

Decision made, Brock left the lodge and headed toward where he knew Jensen would be. With every step he took, Laramie’s warning replayed through his head.

She’s going to leave.

Why did that one thought bother him? He and Jemma couldn’t be within ten feet of each other without one of them growling. If they spent any time alone, he wasn’t sure both of them would survive. Yet, he wanted to get his hands on her. The few times he’d touched her, he’d felt the spark, the burn that went further than skin deep. The one that ignited his soul and made his whole body burn with a need he did his best to ignore. One he pushed deep and pretended didn’t exist. Until he slept. She filled his nights. Hell, he was certain he’d awoken more than once with her name on his lips as his hand pumped his shaft, imagining it was her instead.

“Earth to Brock.”

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