Page 8 of Chased Bear

“I do?”

He squinted at me, and I couldn’t tell if he was perturbed or amused.

“Yes! You got sprayed by a skunk, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I said. “I was sprayed by a skunk. A very, very angry shifter skunk.”

“Oh my goodness.” He shook his head. “Do I even want to know?”

“You know you don’t.”

That had him laughing.

“Can I still see Willow? Can I hold her?” I hadn’t meant to ask. It put him in a pretty crappy position, but his warm smile when I did told me he wasn’t irked. That was something.

“Yes,” Corey said, “but oh my goodness, how did you get sprayed by a skunk? I didn’t even know that was possible.”

“It is, trust me.” Gods, how I wished it wasn’t. “And I 0/10 do not recommend discovering it firsthand.” Or second, for that matter.

“Oh my... How are things going? Are you settling in okay?” He sat on the ground again, patting the space beside him. I joined him.

“I’ve only been here for a little bit. I’m doing all right. Your brother’s not half as bad as I thought he was.” He was a little gruff at first, but I’d have been too considering how bad I stank. And when he let his guard down, he could be sweet-ish. He was smoking hot, also, but that shouldn’t play into any of this because I wasn’t supposed to think those things about my bestie’s brother slash my new den’s Alpha.

Corey snorted. “See? I’ve been telling you for years, you don’t even know him.”

“Well, trust me, I didn’t make the best first impression.” Or second or third. If it could be botched up, I managed to do so.

“I’m so glad you’re here, but I really don’t want to hug you again.”

I laughed. “I don’t blame you. If I could avoid being near me, trust me, I’d be long gone.”

“Tell me how you were sprayed by a skunk and why the stench is not going away?” He wasn’t really asking. Corey could be just as bossy as his brother, only when he was like that, I didn’t mind.

“Okay, I’ll tell you the whole story, but you have to promise not to tell your brother.”

He gave me a questioning look.

“I told him with the least detail possible.”

He waved his fingers toward himself to indicate I needed to get on with it already.

“Nope. Not until you promise.”

“I promise. Scout’s honor,” Corey said. To my knowledge he’d never been a scout, but I was really wanting to share the storywith someone, so I let that little detail go. “But first, how about I introduce you?” That was so much better.

Corey lifted up his baby. The four-month-old babbled incoherently and smiled her toothy little grin. She had two teeth popped out already—one on the top and one on the bottom. Drool ran from her mouth. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

Instead of telling Corey all about that night, I directed it to the adorable cub who’d already won my heart using my best talking-to-babies voice. Corey would chuckle, gasp, or shake his head as he listened to my bad decisions one after another, and the cub? She looked up at me as if I was telling her the most amazing things.

And if amazing things included how her Uncle Jayce got so stinky, I was nailing my delivery.

Chapter 6

Aydan

We were late, and I hated that. I was nothing if not punctual and reliable. Lateness told people that I was rude and didn’t value their time. I couldn’t stand being late.

I tried to usher Jayce along, but he insisted that he needed his baked goods to be plated “just so,” categorized and personalized for each person we were going to visit. Never mind he spent an exorbitant amount of time chatting it up with my brother. That part I didn’t mind, not really. Sure, it made him late, but it also made my brother ridiculously happy.

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