Page 71 of Hunny and the Bear

Tank shook his head, bringing the wet, sudsy cloth to her bare shoulder. He ran it down her skin, eyes locked on his task as he answered, “No one withinourclan would do something like this, Hunny. Maybe we’d take down an intruder, but we wouldn’t defile their corpse. Or deliver them to someone like that.”

“How long do you think she’s been dead?” She ignored the way her nipples pebbled as the cloth slid over her breasts, staring up at his handsome face instead. “Jason had to feel her die. They were fully mated; it would be impossible for him to not feel it.”

Even if they hadn’t bonded fully—emotional connections usually took months or longer to form between chosen mates, and sometimes it took even longer still before they could communicate telepathically—he’d still feel her death. It would be like his soul had split in two.

And if Tank believed him to be crazy and unpredictable before this, what would Jason be like now? He’d essentially accused Murphy of kidnapping Natasha, and now, on the same night, she was dead in bear territory.

“From what I could smell, the blood was fresh. She couldn’t be dead for more than an hour.”

Hunny shivered. Tank frowned, turning the faucet back on and adding more hot water to the tub. She didn’t have the heart to tell him the chill she felt was soul-deep.

“Can you imagine if she’d died while Jason was with you all? He’d have lost his mind. It could have caused a war,” she muttered.

Tank swore under his breath as his head shot up, eyes meeting hers. “Maybe that was the plan. I need to talk to Murphy.”

Twenty Eight

As much as Hunny wanted to hide in bed, tucked away from even the thought of Natasha’s untimely demise, she got dressed after her bath, ignoring Tank’s grumbling as she headed for the stairs. Murphy was out hunting down the killer right now, but she knew he’d be back soon to discuss everything with Tank and Jasper. And when he did, she wanted to be there.

Right before she could grab onto the railing to descend, Tank grasped her wrist, his thumb sliding over her pulse point. “I don’t know if I like the thought of you coming down there and dealing with all this,” he admitted. He scratched at his chin with his free hand, eyes meeting hers. “It can’t be good for the kits that you got sick like that. You should be resting.”

Hunny tilted her head to the side, sending her mate a soft look as she placed a hand on her belly. She loved how much he took her needs into consideration, and despite the attention he had shown her over the last few weeks, it still felt wild to her that someone cared about her enough to do so.

“They’re fine, Henry. But I already feel pathetic enough for getting so sick. Someone could have barged in after Jasper earlier and attacked, and I’d have been too busy puking everywhere to help him. I don’t want to be useless. I don’t want to crawl into bed.”

Okay, yes, shedid—a nap sounded phenomenal—but he didn’t have to know that. The first glimpse her mate caught of her fatigue, he’d have her dressed in one of his T-shirts and tucked under a mountain of blankets in bed.

Tank eyed her like she’d just told him the sun was green. “Taking care of our kits isn’t being useless.”

Ourkits. Hunny preened at the acknowledgement, tugging Tank to her. Pushing up to her tiptoes, she gave him a light, lingering kiss. “I only mean that if there’s a way I can help, then I want to do just that.”

Tank palmed her nape, holding her in place as he kissed her again. He wasn’t chaste as she’d been. He sunk his tongue past her lips, devouring her until her knees went weak. The arm he wrapped around her waist was the only thing holding her up when he eventually moved his mouth from hers, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead before hugging her to him.

“You constantly amaze me, darlin’,” Tank murmured, his chin resting on the top of her head as he held her a little more tightly. “If you want to go downstairs, we will. But if it gets to be too much when Murphy shows up, I’m bringing you right back up here and putting you to bed.”

“But—”

“No buts,” he argued, cutting her off. “My job as your male, as your mate, is to look after you. You come first, always.”

Hunny kissed his chest through his T-shirt. “Fine.” Without warning, Tank grabbed the backs of her thighs and lifted her up, waiting until she wrapped her limbs around his torso before heading downstairs. Despite the stress of the day, she snorted.“You know I can walk, right? Puking my brains out doesn’t make me an invalid.”

“No, but I don’t want you getting dizzy. You need to hydrate and eat something before you move around too much.”

The thought of eating anything had her grimacing into his shirt, but she didn’t argue, knowing he wouldn’t hear a word of it. Instead, she snuggled into his chest, relishing in his warmth and delicious scent as it wafted around her. Luckily, she couldn’t smell any trace of blood or death anymore, otherwise Tank would have to march right back up those stairs to the bathroom.

As soon as they hit the landing, Jasper jumped up from the couch, the TV remote clasped firmly in his hand. He shot Tank a narrow-eyed look before smiling at Hunny. “Feeling better?”

Tank grumbled under his breath and then cut in before Hunny could even answer. “Did you get rid ofit?”

“The—” Jasper cleared his throat. “Yup. Put it outside and sprayed some odor neutralizing spray around the place afterward. It’s practically as good as new in here now.”

Ah, so that’s why she couldn’t smell anything.

Grunting, Tank walked past his younger brother and into the kitchen, keeping a palm on Hunny’s ass as he poured her a glass of water and then began making her a quick meal. She was half tempted to wriggle out of his hold and go sit down on a barstool while he made her some food, but she’d been through a lot the past few hours, and if he wasn’t going to complain about her practically being Velcroed to him, she wouldn’t either.

All too soon, he’d whipped up a small salad, placing the bowl onto the kitchen island before dropping her gently onto a stool. She set her now half-empty glass of water onto the countertop, eyeing the food warily. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel sick anymore. In fact, she was more than a little hungry, snatching up a fork and digging in while Jasper entered the room.

The two males spoke more in depth about the meeting while she ate. It sounded like it went about as terrible as she’d expected, but when Tank mentioned Nessa and Murphy verbally accosting one another, she perked up, more than interested in hearing more.

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