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“Lucas, what’s wrong?” she asked as soon as he entered the bedroom. “I could sense how upset you were.”
“Got a call from Emily,” he answered, beginning to unbutton his shirt.
As he undressed, he told Malia about the incident with Taylor and Nathan.
“…and I feel like a shitty dad because I’m here right now, having a great time with you. I know I should rush home, but at this point, I’m thinking, ‘done is done.’ Taylor shifted and Nathan saw her. Now he has to deal. I don’t think my presence is going to help things any.” He sighed and sat down on the edge of the mattress.
Malia rolled over and put her arms around his waist. “I don’t want you to leave, either, but if you think Taylor needs you, then do what you need to do. I know that your kids come first.”
“Thing is, Emily just doesn’t like dealing with the girls’ shifter side, so she always wants to push it off on me. And I haven’t had a real vacation in a couple of years, and I don’t want to cut this one short, you know?” He shook his head. “Am I being selfish?”
“If you were selfish, you wouldn’t be worrying about it so much,” she told him. “Come to bed, Lucas. Maybe you just need to sleep on it before you come up with the right answer.”
He turned and scooped her up, then put her on his lap. “Sleeping isn’t my top priority right now.”
“Oh, good.” Malia looped her arms around his neck and drew his face down to hers.
He didn’t deserve a mate like her.
How would she react when she learned the truth about him? Would she be able to love Lucas Concolor as much as Lucas Winter?
* * *
Saturday, August 14
3:30 a.m.
“Good news! If you’re wondering why I kicked you outta bed extra early this morning, I got your bear, Lucas,” Bickham announced when Lucas arrived at their usual meeting place in the club’s parking lot. “It’s chowing down at the site right now.”
He pulled out his phone and showed Lucas the livestream video from the trail cam. A large grizzly was currently occupied in tearing apart a rotten log stuffed with dog food.
“Oh, wow!” Lucas didn’t have to fake his enthusiasm. When Bickham had phoned him around three a.m., he knew that today was going to be the day when he got the evidence he needed.
“Looks like you’re finally gonna get that bearskin rug you’ve been wanting,” Silvers said eagerly.
“That reminds me,” Bickham said, in a too-casual tone as he tucked away his phone. “How would you feel about splitting the kill with me? Say, I get the paws and gallbladder as my finder’s fee?”
“Fine with me,” Lucas said. “As long as I get the head and the pelt.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked Bickham. “Let’s go get that bear before it finishes off all the bait and wanders off.”
Chapter 21
Travis Bickham phoned Lucas at three o’clock in the morning.
The buzz, followed by Lucas’s whispered “Hello?” dragged Malia out of a sound sleep.
“I got what you want,” she heard Bickham say. “How fast can you be at the usual spot?”
She snapped fully alert, but kept her eyes closed and her breathing gentle and regular.
“Fifteen minutes,” whispered Lucas.
She went cold as he slipped out of bed, got dressed in his hunting clothes, and left the bedroom.
Malia rose as soon as the front door closed behind him. She quickly put on her uniform and left the cabin as soon as Lucas’s taillights vanished down the driveway in the pre-dawn dark.
She felt sick with the knowledge that he was once again joining Bickham and Silvers on a hunting foray. And whatever they had planned for today, it was going to happen well before legal hunting hours began at dawn.
