Page 73 of Hunny and the Bear

“I wouldn’t blame him if he did,” Murphy muttered, leaning back against the counter by the stove. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring blankly ahead. “His pack was adamant they’d scented her at our border, and now she’s dead in our territory. This is justifiable grounds for war. But to answer your question, no. He was losing his shit in the background of the call, and Ben told me now wasn’t a good time to talk. He’s supposed to get in touch with me in the next few hours.”

“Do you think Jason planned this?” Marcus asked curiously.

“Somebody did,” Tank replied roughly. “I refuse to believe it was a coincidence that Natasha’s body was delivered to ourdoor right after the meeting. Someone was sending Hunny a message.”

“More like a ‘you’re welcome,’” Jasper joked. “We can’t forget that Natasha tried to kill Hunny. Maybe the killer thought this was an act of service.”

Hunny’s mouth dried. “That implies Iknowthe killer.” She held up a hand before anyone could say anything. “I know Jason’s a shitty person, but I can’t imagine why he’d do this, especially since he now knows I’m mated. What would be the point?”

“You didn’t see him at the meeting, though,” Colter remarked. “He looked at Tank like he wanted to kill him. Maybe he wants you back.”

Hunny recoiled at that thought.Ew. That’s a hard pass.

“To be fair, he looked at everyone like that,” Zeke pointed out, scratching the stubble on his chin. “Jason’s a twisted individual, and while he didn’t want to mate Hunny, that doesn’t mean he wants someone else to mate her, either. Regardless, Natasha’s been missing for days, according to him, and Tank and Hunny just mated last night. Do we really think he kidnapped his own mate, hid her in bear territory without any of us knowing, and planned to kill her on the off chance Hunny was claimed? And allaftershe tried to kill Hunny? That’s a stretch to assume.”

Hunny pointed right at Zeke. “Exactly.” Finally, someone else understood where she was coming from. “And it’s not like Jason even knew for sure I was staying with your clan before then, right? He’d only have known from Natasha that she chased me into your territory. For all he knew, I was states away by now.”

“That’s true. We can’t rule anything out at this point though.” Tank looked at Murphy. “We also need to consider that someone might have planned to kill Natasha while Jason was at that meeting. If he’d felt her death while he was with us, he wouldhave lashed out. Her death could be a setup for him as well as for us.”

“To pit us against each other?” Murphy’s brows furrowed. “That’s an interesting thought.”

Jasper nodded. “And it means we’ll need to look at our own enemies as well as those of the Moon Rose pack. See if someone other than Jason could be responsible for this.”

“That makes more sense to me,” Hunny chimed in, though she knew Tank wouldn’t agree.

Just as she suspected, Tank growled lowly. “No one throws a goddamn head onto our porch if it’s not personal, darlin’. We’ll do our due diligence, look into other possibilities, but my money’s on Jason.”

And with that, the males departed, leaving Tank and Hunny alone.

Twenty Nine

“Istill can’t believe you were watching those videos this morning,” Hunny commented, scrunching her nose in distaste as Tank led her into the foyer of Murphy’s home. His brother had contacted him earlier, asking to meet at his place to go over some things that had been overlooked yesterday.

Not wanting Hunny out of his sight for any genuine length of time, Tank had woken her with a firm tongue buried between her sweet thighs, giving her a few orgasms before making her breakfast while she got up and ready for the day.

Tank grunted in response as he closed the door behind them.

“What?” Hunny asked, a slight laugh in her voice as she looked around the large room, her brows rising in surprise before she turned to look at him. “You can’t tell me watching a vagina entrance expand to accommodate a baby’s head isn’t horrifying.”

“It’s not horrifying at all,” he reasoned with a shrug. “A baby has to come out somehow.” Plus, the more he knew about the birthing process now, the more prepared he’d be later. And considering he planned to be up close and personal as Hunnydelivered their kits, he didn’t want to be taken by surprise byanything.

“Well, let’s hope ‘somehow’ is as painless as possible when the time comes.” She grimaced, clutching her belly protectively. Turning back to the main room once more, she let out a low whistle. “Murphy’s place is massive.” The awe in her voice was unmistakable.

Tank crossed his arms over his chest as he studied the room critically. Even though it was a log cabin like Tank’s, there was nothing modest about it. Giant floor-to-ceiling windows covered one wall almost entirely. The oak ceiling itself was vaulted, with a massive chandelier in the center dangling impressively above the living room. Expensive leather furniture filled the space in front of them, completing the sophisticated look.

For a split second, he regretted taking Hunny with him on this little trip. Why didn’t he just have Murphy meet them at the bear den? At least the main house, where the clan gathered together, wasn’t ostentatious like this. What if Hunny decided she wanted to move? He was already building onto their home, but he hated the thought of her finding it lacking, especially compared to the amount of money his brother had funneled into his own luxurious space.

“It’s fine, I guess,” Tank muttered under his breath, earning a snort from his mate. She shook her head at him in dismay before walking over to a leather couch and plopping down onto it.

She shimmied her hips over the cushion before sending him a sweet smile. “I prefer ours. Much comfier.”

Tank dropped his arms to his sides in surprise. “Really?”

“Oh, yeah. This seems super stiff, like no one actually sits on it or anything. Not to mention the view dead ahead.” She pointed toward the windows with exasperation. “What’s the point of all these windows if it doesn’t even face a clearing? I know we’re in the woods, but the view is literally just tree branches. And noTV?” Hunny made a displeased face. “Who doesn’t have a TV nowadays?”

“I fucking love you,” Tank admitted, warmth filling his chest as she let out a small laugh.

Tucking her lavender hair behind her ears, Hunny sent him a heated look, a glimmer of laughter in her eyes that he never grew tired of seeing. “I love you, too, but I’m dead serious. This couch feels terrible.”

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