Bear With Me (2 page)

The first light of a rare sun-filled day peeked through a break in the curtains, hitting Conner smack in the face. He’d forgotten to pull the blackout shades when he’d stumbled in last night. Now he was getting a rude wake up call.

He rolled over away from the offending light and felt the pounding in his head. Shifter metabolism or not, he’d drank more than his fair share last night. His bear only gave him a quiet chuff in his head to announce his displeasure.

“Piss off,” Conner growled back out loud. Damn he hated talking to himself. He usually only did it when he was alone, but it still annoyed him. It made him feel like he was crazy, and maybe he was. He was probably the only person in his family that ever wondered if there was such a thing as a bear-ectomy.

Knowing he’d have to get moving, he rolled off the bed and hit the floor with a thump. Goddamn, he felt like shit, he thought.

Getting up to hit the bathroom he cranked the shower on cold, stripped down, and stepped in swearing a blue streak as he did. If there was one thing he was good at, it was self-punishment.

Letting the icy water pour over him he thought about his day. He needed to slap on a happy face. Charm his sisters-in-law, if he saw them. If he didn’t, his brothers would kick his ass, jointly or take turns doing so. He really did like them, Sophie was an amazing cook and her English accent always had him laughing. Jinger was so stinking sweet, she was always screwing up words from a head injury she’d sustained a few months back.

Both of his brothers’ women had been injured in the last few months by one person. Conner’s foul mood and hangover increased as he thought of the asshole targeting his family.

They had been experiencing mysterious breakdowns in equipment. Delays that were more annoying than dangerous. Figuring it was an environmental group, Cage had Conner seek out his contacts at the local groups to see if anyone would claim responsibility for the problems. Conner actually talked to most of the groups, they wanted to be heard and keeping lines of communication open with the timber industry was the only way they had an in. They wanted people to stop cutting down trees, and the industry was unwilling to comply. It was a battle that had been going on for years.

No one came forward regarding the problems. Deciding they really were accidents or a lone agent there wasn’t much they could do about it. Then Sophie got hurt when a hose broke and hit her. She spent a night in the hospital and luckily recovered. Thinking that was the worst that could have happened, the brothers called in the police. No leads came up until Wyatt’s mate Jinger took his truck one night and the brakes failed.

Poor Jinger was left in a coma which almost drove his brother insane. She spent weeks recovering and although she was getting better every day, there was still a chance the side effects would linger. The second Wyatt found Jinger as his mate, she was family. That meant she was Conner’s responsibility as well. And no matter how disgruntled he was with his life, no one hurt his family.

They got their first break when someone had the balls to spray paint the side of Wyatt’s house. The person’s message indicated that they knew the Rochon families were shifters and that’s why they were targets.

Turning off the shower, Conner toweled off and threw his clothes back on knowing he’d have to change at home. He needed to check in with his brothers and see what was on the schedule.

Walking out into the bright sunlight, he headed towards his Jeep. His brothers drove huge trucks around, they were big guys, he figured they needed the space. His ride was an army green 1979 CJ-7, rugged, no frills, big tires, and could take the rough logging roads they cut into the forests.

Pulling out and hitting the highway, Conner let his brain turn off as he enjoyed the trees passing by. His bear was still quiet and his pounding head appreciated it.

Turning into the lot of their base camp, he parked in front of the work trailer marked ‘Office’. Jumping out, he headed in and stopped short as he saw his brother Cage sitting at his desk, with his soon to be wife Sophie in his lap. He was feeding her what appeared to be donut holes.

“Oh, sorry man, didn’t know you were, uh, occupied,” Conner threw out, turning to leave.

“No, Conner don’t leave!” Sophie squealed jumping out of Cage’s lap. Cage didn’t even attempt to keep her seated as he never denied his mate anything.

Conner prepared himself for the huge hug he knew was coming. Sophie launched herself into his arms and gave him a smacking kiss on his cheek.

“Morning, Sophie,” he murmured squeezing her back. He really did like her, and boy could she cook.

“Have you ever had a donut hole?”

“Yes, I’ve had donut holes,” he answered, shaking his head at his brother who was smiling indulgently at his soon to be wife.

“They are bloody brilliant! I could eat them all day! Jinger dropped them off on her way to work. Who would have thought of cooking the middle of a donut? You Americans are crafty, that’s for sure,” she giggled, retaking her seat on Cage’s lap.

Cage without a word resumed feeding her donut holes.

Conner raised his eyebrow at him and received a “What? She likes them, and whatever the mother of my cub wants, she gets,” Cage answered, placing a growling kiss on her neck. Sophie squealed in response but didn’t stop chewing.

They had announced the pregnancy last week, which had the boys’ mother in a tizzy as the wedding was two months away and she was worried at the rate Sophie was going, she wouldn’t fit into her wedding dress. Conner wasn’t about to guess if it was the growing cub or the penchant for donut holes that was the concern.

Conner knew Sophie was pregnant the minute she walked through the door at dinner last week. Wyatt and he exchanged glances and Cage had shaken his head, warning them not to spoil the surprise. She smelled pregnant and it was unmistakable. Her natural scent mixed with shifter DNA had changed her on a level only other shifters would notice.

They let Sophie make the grand announcement and even his parents played along, although his mother was fighting happy tears the entire time trying to not give it away. She told Sophie she had allergies.

The family was overjoyed. Conner couldn’t even be grumpy about it. He was happy for his brother, he even was happy for his parents. His personal feelings towards the cub were unclear, he would wait until he met the little monster before he formed an opinion.

Watching his brother and soon to be sister had a tiny microscopic part of Conner craving his own little family. He quickly squashed it when he remembered this was not the life he wanted. He didn’t want his bear picking a mate and forcing him to bite her to bond with her for life. He also didn’t want his decisions dictated by a large furry, bossy animal that liked to rub his butt on trees.

“Well I would give her what she wanted too, I heard pregnant women will scratch your eyes out,” he scoffed, dropping into the seat across from Cage.

“Smart man,” Sophie replied turning her open mouth to Cage to accept another donut hole.

“Anything new I need to know about,” Conner asked.

“Nope, quiet on the home front. Wyatt is still keeping a close eye on Jinger now that she is back to work. Her doctors have cleared her, no more appointments. She’s still losing words, but she has decided it makes her quirky,” he offered with a chuckle.

“Yeah, it is pretty funny. Yesterday she got mad because she couldn’t find her keys to the turkey to get back to work after lunch. Running around yelling that she couldn’t start the turkey without them. That’s funny shit,” Conner laughed.

“Oh, you guys are so mean, and I was the one that found the poor woman’s keys to the
truck,
thank you very much,” Sophie sniffed.

“Well, that’s because you are sweet and kind and make us better men. We are lucky to have you and Jinger in the family,” Cage said, giving her another noisy kiss on her neck.

Conner shook his head at them both, they seemed happy.

“So, what’s on the schedule?” Conner broke into their canoodling.

“New cut needs another week before you can head in to start surveying. Dax is coming in tonight from California. Hopefully he can recognize someone’s scent so we can start hunting down this fucker that’s out for us,” Cage growled.

This caused a giggle from Sophie.

“Baby, it wasn’t that kind of growl,” Cage replied exasperated. Clearly his mate was enjoying her spot on his lap.

“Still liked it,” she said saucily, shooting a smile and wink at Conner.

Conner cringed at the intimacy of his brother’s current situation. He wasn’t comfortable around mates, not that he’d had any experience before. But they seemed very touchy-feely. And when they started cuddling his bear started complaining.

“Well I’m happy to do the airport run, got nothin’ better to do,” Conner said, standing and heading to the door. Thinking of having a cougar so close to his family made his skin crawl. But the Rochon family had played nice with the Hayes family, a cougar clan for many a decade. The Hayes family had been experiencing their own sabotage problems up until recently and were more than happy to offer a hand to catch the bastard since it seemed to be adding up to the same person.

“Later,” he called as he hit the door and went out into the now drizzling overcast day. Don’t like the weather? Just wait a few minutes.

Not having a game plan for the day, Conner swung by his house to change into work clothes. Made a pit stop at his mom’s house and managed to get fed a full breakfast. Sophie may be the new chef in residence, but his momma’s cooking was always the best. She knew how to feed a growing boy.

“My baby,” Connie said, squeezing him tight before pushing him out the door to work.

Conner drove through their latest planting. Everything looked well, tiny seedlings dotting the hillside. In a few years they would be knee-high and you wouldn’t be able to see the ragged stumps left from the logging.

He made sure to hit the site of the current cut too. It was still being worked, men sawing and large semi trucks idling, waiting to be loaded with logs. Seeing the foreman Jake, Conner made his way over to him to get an update.

“Hey, Jake, how goes it?” Conner called, walking up to him.

“Conner, fancy seeing you here. It’s going good, no delays and the weather…well, it is what it is,” he said with a laugh.

Nodding, Conner asked, “No issues with equipment?”

Still on constant watch for more sabotage, he didn’t want to let his guard down. Logging was dangerous work on its own without some assclown purposely trying to hurt them.

“Day’s still young. I’ve got guys double checking everything before they use it. I can’t say that it’s perfect, but everyone is at least aware of the situation,” Jake assured.

Surveying the area, Conner watched a semi receive its last tree and the driver start lashing down the logs. The trees sat inside two giant forked prongs for transport. They couldn’t roll off the truck sideways, but there was always a possibility of them shifting front to back. That’s why the cables were used as backup.

Still watching the driver ratcheting down the load, his ears picked up on a whining noise. Looking around he tried to figure out where it was coming from. It wasn’t the usual noise of engines, saws, and cable rigging. It was something else, like metal grating against metal.

Hearing the noise grow louder, his bear got more agitated. Something wasn’t right and the humans around him didn’t appear to hear it.

Conner started walking towards the semi-truck and the noise got louder. As he was almost to the back of the truck, he heard a ping and loud snap.

“Fuck!”

“Heads up!”

Voices yelled at the same time as the back cable strap on the truck exploded over the top of the logs, ricocheting across the wood, scoring them deep as the cable came down the other side hitting a work truck parked next to the trailer, breaking out the window from the impact.

“Everyone all right?” Conner called out, rounding the end of the trailer to see his driver Matt, holding his arm, blood dripping down his fingers.

“Just a cut, boss,” Matt called. There was a lot of blood, but he seemed to still have all his fingers. In this business that was a good sign.

“Get the medical kit,” he called to the other man standing next to him. Conner grabbed Matt’s arm and put pressure above the long deep gash on his arm.

“What happened,” he said, seeing the wound was deep, but appeared to be only in the fleshy part of his arm.

“I swear boss, that was a new cable. No way it should have busted,” he answered.

“I believe you, let’s get you patched up and Jake will run you down to the hospital,” he said as the med kit arrived and he worked up a makeshift bandage and sling.

“Come on ya big sissy,” Jake called, out walking to a passenger van parked by the entrance. “Hmphf, in my day we’d wrap some moss and duct tape around it and keep working. Loggers, getting soft, needin’ stitches, and pain killers. Bunch of pansies,” he mumbled, getting into the truck.

Conner slapped Matt on the back and gave him a smirk, “Good luck.”

“Hah, thanks, boss,” Matt said, walking to the van.

Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, Conner called Cage and Wyatt and filled them in. As he was talking to them, he inspected the cable. Matt was right, it was new, but it had that faint dirty smell that they’d noticed at the other accident sites. The edge was frayed, but clearly had cut marks along the spiraled cable. It probably wasn’t very deep, but the tension caused it to eventually split.

Cage and Wyatt both showed up within thirty minutes. Flying down the dirt road, kicking up dust and coming to a screeching halt.

They stood around and contemplated the broken cable.

“This shit has got to stop,” Wyatt growled.

“Agreed, my bear has had more than enough,” Cage replied.

Conner stayed quiet. His bear was loud enough in his head, he didn’t want to give him a voice too. Realizing his brothers were waiting for him to chime in, he mentally warned his bear to back off before he spoke.

“Dax’s plane doesn’t get in too late, but by the time I get him back to mom and dad’s it’s gonna be dark. I’ll run him by your house first thing, then hit the scrap yard to give a once over to your truck. I’ll pull this cable and take it with me. Hopefully something still carries this asshole’s smell so we know who to kill,” Conner said with a growl.