Pacific Northwest Werebears(100)

Whenever they had some kind of wedding planning meeting, or whatever those women did when they all go together, Conner took himself off into the mountains. Letting his bear out was the only thing that gave him any peace. For the first time in his life, he could appreciate his animal shouldering the burden for a while.

His bear would tramp through the forest, fish in the streams. And more often than not, they would spend the night in their cave. Conner content to let his bear have his time, be himself. The shift in his attitude showed in his animal’s communication with him. Bear was quieter, not always trying to get his attention. He urged him now unspoken, providing comfort and reassurance when Conner needed it and quiet when that was best.

But Conner could feel his animal’s longing for Mackenzie. They both had her on the mind most of the time. Wondering what she was doing, who she was with, was she being safe. He’d picked up the phone a dozen times to call her, but never made it to dialing. If she was moving on he didn’t want to remind her of the pain he’d caused. So he let her be.

It was the Wednesday before the Saturday wedding. Conner was dropping into the office to check in with Cage. With his newest planting area scorched, he had time on his hands and was helping out Wyatt.

“Hey big brother, anything new today,” Conner asked, taking his usual seat across from Cage’s desk.

“Nope, where were you last night? I got stuck hot gluing pearls on gift favor bags, you asshole. Could’ve used your help,” Cage growled, examining his fingers like there would still be marks to show him.

“Poor baby, getting married and having to do arts and crafts. So sorry I missed that,” Conner answered with a chuckle. “Spent the night in the cave,” he told his brother.

“Ahh, seems you’ve been up there a lot lately,” Cage queried, giving his brother free rein to talk if he needed.

“Yeah, it’s quiet up there. Peaceful,” he answered, the smile dropping from his face.

“That’s good man, I’m glad to see you are getting to a good place. I bet your bear is happier,” Cage guessed.

“As happy as he can be,” Conner said, looking down to pick at his fingernail.

Hearing his brother sigh, Conner looked up at his brother, his soon-to-be Alpha. “Have you heard from her,” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Talked to Dax a number of times. No sign of Tony, so that’s good. We’ve only talked about her a few times. He’s pretty pissed as you can guess. But he tells me she’s working, keeping busy. But she’s not good. Losing weight, not sleeping, he’s worried about her,” Cage said quietly.

“Fuck,” Conner said, dropping his gaze again.

“Yeah, fuck is right,” Cage agreed. “On that note, I need to talk to you about something.”

Conner kept his gaze down as he said, “Yeah, what?”

“Conner, look at me,” Cage ordered, his voice commanding his attention.

Unable to resist the urge, he pulled his eyes up to his brother’s.

“She’s coming, for the wedding. It would break Sophie’s heart if she didn’t come. They grew close while she was here. I need to know if you can handle this with her being here. I can’t have some giant drama messing up Sophie’s day. Having Kenzi here is what my mate wants and I’ll make damn sure my woman is happy,” Cage said forcefully.

“Mackenzie is coming to the wedding?” Conner was shocked. It hadn’t even occurred to him she would come. But Cage was right, it was best not to say no to Sophie. He was sure Mackenzie was smart enough to figure that one out fast. He really never thought he’d see her again. His bear set up a low whine in his head. Even he was anxious with the idea of seeing her.

Fuck, he missed her. Missed her scent, her laugh, the way she lit up the fucking room. He dreamed about her every night. Every damn night.

“She’ll be here on Friday, she’s leaving Sunday. Now there is no way for you to avoid her and I need you to take these next few days to work out some kind of game plan. I support you even though I think you are a colossal idiot and an asshole to boot. But I know you’re hurting and I don’t want you doing anything rash while she’s here. Think about it, figure out how to cope and then man up and deal with it,” Cage ordered.

Conner knew he was right. He was being a pussy. He’d made the decision, it was one that affected two people and four souls. Conner needed to own it and move forward. He just wasn’t sure how.

* * * * *

Friday came and Conner ensured he was out in the forest all day. At sun up he was waiting for the crew to arrive. He worked himself to exhaustion trying to keep his mind off the fact that Mackenzie was most likely already at his parents’ house.