Page 8 of Kidnapping Their Third

Pike gave the vampire a warm smile. “You were right. I get to feed Cora next!”

He looked so excited to fix her a meal that Cora found herself smiling as he walked out of the room. Kimble didn’t follow him, instead he nodded his head, indicating he wanted her to go first. Stepping around his kneeling form, Cora followed Pike back to the kitchenette.

Pike had already set a pan on the stove and was busy pulling ingredients from the fridge. “How about an omelet?” he said. “I can make a mushroom cheese one.”

Cora’s mouth started watering. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

She took a seat at the table, expecting Kimble to take the other one. Instead, he assumed the sentry spot in the middle of the living room he’d occupied earlier.

“How much blood should Kimble have?” Cora asked as the vampire’s eyes bounced between her and Pike.

“At least double what I’ve been able to get him,” Pike said as he cracked eggs into a bowl. “I think it's one of the reasons he’s not getting better faster.”

When he opened the fridge for another item, Cora realized he was using everything up except the few condiments he had in there. “Are you skimping on eating too?”

Pike turned to her with a small block of cheese in his hand. “Not really. I get a free meal each shift at one of my jobs, and I can buy discounted meals after I use up my free one. I usually eat there because it’s cheaper and it can be hard to find time for anything but work and Kimble these days.”

“Bar food every day can’t be good for you,” Cora said.

“I’m getting a little tired of it,” Pike confessed. “If I was closer to the wild areas, I could shift into my bear form and forage, but all the good places are too far away.”

“I can help. I’ve got enough money to buy you groceries and some meals for Kimble,” Cora said, surprising herself with the offer.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Pike argued. “We’re not your responsibility.”

Now that it was out there, she warmed to the idea. “Maybe you are, at least a little bit. You risked your life to try to rescue me, and you’ve been killing yourself trying to keep Kimble safe. I’m new to your world, but if it’s one thing I understand, it's doing anything and everything for the important people in your life.”

A painfully hopeful expression blossomed on Pike’s face. “I’ll pay you back, I swear.”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” she said. “First feed me and then we need to figure out what happened to my purse. My keys, wallet, and phone are all there. So basically my life!”

Pike chuckled and went back to cooking. “I’ve got your purse. I found it in the alley behind the club.”

Cora perked up. That was some very good news. “Where is it?”

“Down in my car. Once I finish here, I’ll run down and get it,” he said as he dumped items into the skillet. The smell of cooking food made her forget about her purse. Her hunger was so bad she felt nauseated. If she hadn’t been dealing with hypoglycemia all her life, she’d think she was about to throw up.

Thankfully Pike was soon bringing two steaming plates to the table. There was a fork lying on her plate, so she wasted no time in digging in.

“Oh fuck, this is good,” she moaned, then shoveled more food in. Pike ate more slowly and when she looked up, she found him watching her with a pleased expression. “What?”

“I’ve gotten to feed both my mates today,” he explained. “It makes us happy.”

She was about to ask what he meant by us, then remembered he referred to his bear side as a separate entity. “Is your bear a different personality than you?”

“Not a whole different personality, more like a strong part of my personality,” he answered. “My bear is more about instinct and living in the moment. He doesn’t understand having a job or stuff like that. He’s always pressing me to go someplace remote so we can shift and do bear things.”

Cora was intrigued. “What are bear things?”

“Forage, nap, wander around, and look at stuff. Real bears are naturally curious and problem-solving creatures, so bear shifters share those traits.”

She could almost picture it. “I bet you’re the cutest bear. Can I see you shifted, or is that a really intimate thing?”

Pike fumbled and almost dropped his fork. “I’d love for you to meet my bear. I know he’s desperate to meet you.”

She knew Pike meant that in a teasing way, but she felt slightly worried. “He wouldn’t try to maul or eat me, would he?”

This time Pike did drop his fork. It went skittering off his plate and to the floor. “No! Never! The worse he might do is lick you all over. If you're really afraid, you can watch me from the inside of a running vehicle. You could leave if you're scared, but I promise my bear would only ever be violent to protect you.” He looked crestfallen as he spoke. “You don’t have to meet him.”

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