Page 3 of Bear Haven
“Beck went off to see his father at their hunting cabin and Luke took off a few hours ago, presumably headed to the same place.”
“A loose cannon, that one.”
Gus couldn’t agree more. “We should get indoors. I don’t know who crawls these woods at night, but I don’t want to be out here when they show up.”
“How did y’all find this place?”
“Beck brought us here. He said he used to explore the area when he was growing up.”
“How far is his father’s cabin?”
“On foot, about three hours. There’s an overgrown trail not far from here that leads straight to it, he said, but in his physical condition, he couldn’t handle the terrain, so he took the car.”
“Do you trust him?”
“I have to trust him. Bex does.”
“Could he be playing her? Setting her up? Setting all of you up?”
“I hope to hell not. I’d hate to have to kill him. Bad enough someone is going to end up taking out his father.”
“You think the wolf is okay?”
“Yeah. He’s too stubborn to be anything else.”
“He seems to have turned into more trouble than he might be worth.”
Gus understood the uncertainty about Luke, and he’d never admit it to anyone, but Luke had kind of grown on him. He had a healthy respect for the wolf and what he’d been trying to accomplish for his pack. He was willing to put himself in danger to ensure Gus and his family lived up to the deal they’d all made in exchange for the information Luke brought them about Bex’s past.
It turned out to be bigger than any of them ever imagined, and for every answer they found, another half dozen questions followed.
“He’ll do right by us. I trust him.”
“You’ve changed.”
Gus nodded. “Yes.”
The first time he looked into Bex’s eyes on Main Street in Bryson City, he’d been lost and found and changing ever since. She was the home he swore he’d never find. He’d been happy enough traveling and wandering the country, attending tattoo shows, working on bikes, coming and going whenever the urge struck him.
After meeting her, all he wanted was to be wherever she was.
“Does Mom know you’re here?”
“She does not. No more than Bex knows you are”
“So,” Bryan queried, “What I’m hearing is that both of you will get a good ass chewing when they find out?”
“Something like that.”
Gus chuckled low. He still held to the thought Bex was going to either rip him to shreds or, fuck the hell out of him, then rip him to shreds. He hadn’t lied to her before and it left a sour taste in his mouth that he’d lied to her now.
And that he let Beck out of his sight? Yeah, that wasn’t going to go over well. Beck had insisted that the Mayor wouldn’t harm him, and Gus had reluctantly given in. Bex was going to kill him for that, too.
“Beck is due back by sunrise tomorrow. I have to trust that everything is okay.”
“And if he’s not?”
“Then I take the trail he told us about and hope that I find Luke.” He turned to Bryan. “Pardon me if this seems rude, but other than being a friend to my family, what are you doing here? I’d think most would want to stay far away from all of this. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the help, I just don’t understand why you’d put yourself and your family at risk when you don’t have to.”
