Page 31 of Laid Bear

Chapter Ten

The next couple weeks flew by so fast, Logan wondered where the time had gone. He’d always looked forward to his month-long sojourns with his cousins and every year he was reluctant to leave the peace and quiet of their little piece of the world. It was a place where he could be himself, shift if he wanted to, walk around naked if he wanted and not answer to a goddamn person.

This year, the impending return to his outside life filled him with a greater reluctance, because now he would have to share Zora with the rest of the world. If he had his way, it would just be the four of them out here in their wooded paradise forever.

On one of the last few days of their vacation, besides making love and being around Zora, he spent time foraging outside in his bear form. Logan thought better in this form. Though the last several days had been bliss, something wasn’t quite right. In the beginning when Zora had agreed to stay for the remainder of their time at the cabin, she’d been shy and hesitant in her interaction with them. But after the night when the four of them came together, they’d become a unit.

With Zora, he’d never laughed as loud, teased as much or let his guard down enough to not take things so seriously. He liked that he could talk to her about any topic from the profound to the mundane. He knew his cousins found joy in their time spent with Zora as well. It went beyond making love even though that was always a highlight. The woman oozed sex when she walked into a room. Just the scent of her freshly cleaned skin was enough to make his cock rock hard. Everything seemed so much better with Zora around.

But in their final days at the cabin, something wasn’t right. He could feel her pulling away from them again, closing herself off as if she intended to go her separate way when they left here. He didn’t like it one little bit. He’d be damned if he let her walk away from them after they’d waited so long for her to come into their lives. Something was wrong and he intended to find out what it was.

He headed back to the cabin and shifted into his two-legged form. Logan walked inside to see his cousins in a deep conversation. Zora was not in sight. “Where’s Zora?”

“Taking a nap. She had a busy morning.” Heath’s tone was even but his expression said it all.

“You two rode her hard, huh? No matter. I’ll get my time with her later. What were you two talking about?” He asked, grabbing the pair of jeans he had thrown over the couch.

“Actually, we were talking about Zora. Not sure if you’ve noticed it, but she’s seemed a little distant these last couple days.”

Logan nodded. “Guess we’re all on the same page, because I was just thinking about the same thing and for the life of me, I can’t figure what that’s all about.”

“Yeah, she seemed happy to be here with us, but now it feels like she’s holding a part of herself away from us. It’s like she’s shut down,” Heath added.

Gavin nodded. “That’s pretty much what I noticed too. The only time she actually lets down her guard is when we’re intimate, and even then there’s a slight disconnect that wasn’t there before. Maybe she thinks this is simply a vacation fling?”

Logan raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. “How the hell could she possibly think that when we’ve explained to her how much she means to us?”

“It could have something to do with someone from her past. I know we agreed we wouldn’t intrude on her thoughts without permission, but like you guys, I’ve felt her pull away in the last few days. It’s frustrating as hell.” Heath pounded his fist into his palm.

“So are you going to tell us what you found out or leave us guessing?” Logan demanded.

“I didn’t delve too deeply, but I believe she’s frightened. Someone from her past has hurt her and she still carries the pain with her.”

“Maybe it’s her parents. She’s estranged from them. So maybe she still has some unresolved issues there,” Gavin theorized.

Heath shook his head. “No, that’s not it. I think she’s at peace with the idea of her parents’ lack of affection. It’s something else. A man. Someone she may have been in a relationship with. I believe he hurt her.”

Logan’s blood boiled at the thought that someone could hurt their woman to the point where she would still carry the woundsGood point. Consider deleting “years later” and it’ll work. . If he found the fucker responsible, he’d rip him apart and eat his entrails. “Who was it?” he bit out between clenched teeth.

“I’m not sure. But I intend to find out,” Heath answered.

Logan had no desire to pussyfoot around the issue. He wanted to know now. “So do I.” He pushed away from the table and strode out of the room.

“Where are you going?” Gavin was on his feet in an instant.

“To get answers.”

“Let her rest,” Gavin and Heath said at the same time.

Logan wasn’t going to be put off. “She can rest later.”

His cousins stood up as well, but they all stopped in their tracks once they caught a familiar scent. Leaning against the doorframe was Zora.

“No point in coming to get me, I couldn’t sleep. I heard the tail end of your conversation.” She seemed a bit distracted, worried even, and Logan’s protective instinct kicked in.

He closed the short distance between them and pulled her into his arms. He loved the way she melted against his body, the perfect fit. Dropping a kiss on the crown of her head, Logan whispered, “Babe, you’ve got to tell us what’s going on with you. You’ve been shutting yourself off from us and I don’t like it one bit. We don’t like it. Whatever problem you have is also ours.”

She raised her head to look up at him, the worry in that deep brown gaze evident. “It’s… Never mind. It’s nothing really.”

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