“Keep feeding her food, human food. She needs carbs and lots of them. Those protein shakes at every meal, two snacks a day, keep her warm. That’s just the physical side. Her mentality?”
I reached in my pocket for my keys and clicked for the doors to open for my black pickup truck. Inside I already had blankets on the front seat for when I used to get cold.
I no longer needed them.
I set my mate in the passenger seat and wrapped blankets around her. Confusion set on her face. “I’m taking you to my cabin. It’s quiet there.” Nadia looked back at the bar and then at me.
I reached over her, pulling a burner phone from the center console. “We will charge this. It’s yours. We can put Delilah’s phone number in it.”
“And mine,” Bones interrupted.
I rolled my eyes and huffed. “Yes, and if you want his, I guess I can put Bones’ in there too.”
And then Nadia did something I never thought I would hear… a laugh. She put her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound, but it was a goddamn laugh.
I smiled, and she bit her lips to keep herself silent.
“Do you even have enough supplies at your cabin right now?” Bones interrupted our moment.
I pushed Bones back and shut the truck door. “Of course. Anaki filled it with all I needed last night. Food for a week, clothes, blankets, plus all my hibernating shit is up there. We are fine. I’ll call you if we need anything. Otherwise, don’t bother us.”
I rounded the truck, and Bones followed.
“Bear, what about her nightmares? We need to get that taken care of. You can’t just take her away and expect everything to be fine.”
“Everythingwillbe fine,” I argued back. “When I am with her they are gone. I’ll be sure to stay with her always. Once I get her talking, opening up to me, you will get better answers, anyway.” I started up the truck and put my hand on the door. Nadia was staring out the window, looking at the rows and rows of bikes in the garage.
“Call me,” Bones ordered. “If anything changes, we will bring Tajah and Bram up there.”
I saluted Bones and shut the door. I gripped the steering wheel and checked on Nadia again. She had rolled her window down, and Delilah poked her head in. “Bear will take good care of you,” Delilah said softly. “It’s really loud around here. The cabin is really nice and quiet while you recover. Bear has my number, and we can text. Any questions you have, I can answer them, okay?”
All I could see was Nadia nodding, and my shoulders slumped. I just damn hoped I was doing the right thing.
Chapter Ten
Bear
Mymatetriedtostay awake on the ride to my cabin, but her eyes were too heavy, and she fell asleep. Once we turned to the dirt road, I stopped and pulled her to my side so her head wouldn’t hit the window and had her lean on me through the rough terrain up the small mountain up to my home.
For the past few years I’ve widened the path for a vehicle to pass through, knowing one day I would need to bring more supplies, but I never knew I would be so lucky to bring a mate up here so soon.
But I had everything ready for such an occasion. My subconscious must have known. Food, electricity, plumbing, everything she would need while she got better and away from unmated males and wandering eyes that tried to behold her beauty.
My grizzly was getting stronger by the day and my possessiveness of her was getting stronger. I could bear no one looking at her, even Bones, and he was the club’s physician. The warlocks of the club wanting to conduct magical experiments and examining her concerning her levitation and nightmares seemed too much for my grizzly to handle right now. I could not keep him contained, and I worried for their safety, not just because I was being an ass.
The option of leaving her alone with them was not there either.
I just found her. I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight.
Once we arrived at the cabin, Nadia stirred, but her body was plastered to mine. She was wrapped in my warmest blanket, her head nuzzled into my side. I was pleased that she did not fear me in sleep. It meant the bond was working in her subconscious, but while she was awake, I would definitely need to be patient. An attribute that was not my strongest.
I turned off the truck and pulled her into my arms, careful not to jostle her frail body. She was still stick thin, but I hoped to rectify that quickly.
All this time, my grizzly had been in protection mode, and our instincts were working in overdrive to see her to safety and regain her health. Once she woke and he saw she was feeling better, I knew my time was short before he would want to rut her senselessly.
I tried to keep those thoughts locked away. My dick hadn’t been hard in years, and thank fuck, it hadn’t started yet. My grizzly was severely weakened while it hibernated for so long, and he was concentrating on getting well and protecting and serving her.
Now that we were at the cabin and alone with our mate—her strength increasing by the day—I couldn’t guarantee how much longer I would be able to hide my want for her.
