Page 69 of Bear Facts

“It’s defendable, and we’ll be around,” Reid put in. “Freya should be safe.” He sent Shane a reassuring look, but even Reid knew what might happen when Shane and Freya were alone.

“I guess.” Dougal was past his Transition, but he still thought like a cub sometimes.

Shane led the way back to where they’d hidden clothing, Freya remaining in wolf form. She maintained it even when Shane dressed. He bundled up her clothes and strode ahead of her to the cabin.

He unlocked the door in the quietness of dusk, and gestured Freya inside. “Welcome, my love. If you stay wolf, don’t get too much hair on the sofa. Iona will give me one of her disappointed looks, and I don’t want that.”

Freya, after giving him a disdainful wolf stare, strode in, her tail held at an arrogant angle. Shane chuckled and closed the door behind her.

The wolf in the darkness emitted a soft growl. It watched the cabin as lights went on in the windows, first downstairs, then up.

Light, warmth, comfort. Home. Mate.

All the things the wolf had forgotten. All the things it wanted again but had no idea how to find.

A pit of vast loneliness opened inside the wolf, who wanted to let it out in a mournful howl.

Suppressing the instinct, the wolf faded back into the darkness of the woods, settling down to watch and wait.

Chapter Twenty

Shane immediately went to work building a fire. The air in the big living room was crisp and cold, the blaze he’d started a few days ago nothing but ash.

While engaged in this task, he heard Freya take up her bundle of clothes, then wolf claws on the stairs as she ascended.

She’d need to become human to work the doorknobs, Shane thought with some amusement, but only silence floated down from upstairs. Whatever she’d decided to do, she was being quiet about it.

Shane finished with the fire and entered the kitchen to brew coffee. Not until that was done did Freya reappear.

She stood in the kitchen doorway, fully dressed, including a padded jacket, as though she meant to go back out again. “I don’t like hiding indoors while others search,” she said.

Shane unhurriedly poured coffee into two mugs and held one out to her. “It’s better to rest and regain strength. We don’t know what we’ll be facing out there.”

Freya made no move to take the coffee. “You seem certain we’ll succeed.” She let out a sigh. “I’m starting to be very discouraged. About finding Rolf, I mean. I sense him out there, I know it, but it’s like he’s drifting away from me.” She blinked as her eyes moistened.

Shane set down the steaming mugs and went to her. “Dylan is also investigating with his team, as Eric told me. You and I are only part of a larger circle.” Shane gripped her arms through the thick jacket, finding her warmth in spite of the layers of padding. “We’ll discover what’s happened to your brother, sweetheart. I promise.”

“I’m tired, I suppose,” Freya admitted. “But knowing he’s alive and believing I’ll ever see him again are two different things.”

Shane caressed her through the jacket, trying to soothe. “But don’t lose heart, Freya. We’ll find him.”

“I’m so afraid he’s been taken by those men that Althea said are making feral Shifters. Rolf would get in touch with me if he could. Even when we’re mad at each other, we still stay in touch, even if only to continue the argument. Something like this has never happened.”

The fear in Freya’s voice made Shane lose his resolve to keep away from her. He pulled her close, letting himself drop a kiss to her hair. “Let’s hope not, love. But even if he has been taken, we have a secret weapon. We have Zander. He’s cured ferals before.”

“I want to believe everything will be all right. I truly do.” Freya let out a rueful laugh. “Rolf would tease me for being so worried. He could make light of anything.”

“If he’s anything like you, I look forward to meeting him,” Shane rumbled.

Freya pulled away to gaze at him with hungry eyes. “And I’m so distracted by this … this need for you. It’s like I’m burning up from the inside out.”

“I am too.” Shane’s voice went soft, and he cupped her face. “Maybe we shouldn’t resist so much.”

He expected Freya to scoff at him, to accuse him of trying to coerce her into bed with him.

Instead, she slid her arms around him. “Maybe we shouldn’t,” she whispered.

She rose on tiptoes to kiss his lips, and that destroyed everything.

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