Pacific Northwest Werebears(97)

Resisting the call of his mate’s delectable body was not something he was looking forward to. But he owed it to her and his bear to try.

“Okay, let’s date like celibate humans,” he said sarcastically.

Raising her coffee cup, she offered a toast, “Here’s to doing it the human way.”

Conner reluctantly clinked his mug to hers. He was so screwed.





Chapter 13




The next few days seemed to go smoothly, if not forced. Kenzi spent some time with each family member getting to know them better.

Connie and Edward were easy to spend time with. It helped that she’d moved back into their house. That motel was not the quietest or safest place for a weary traveler to rest their head.

Although the wedding plans were in full swing and Kenzi helped out where she could, it was harder than she’d thought. Seeing someone so blissfully mated and planning a big celebration to proclaim that bond to their family and friends was hard on her.

Conner talked to her, they usually had breakfast and dinner together. Always at his parents’. It was like he was making sure they had chaperones. His parents would excuse themselves after dinner and they would sit and talk for a while. But each night that talk grew shorter. The sexual tension between them was palpable. The minute Conner walked through the door, Kenzi got wet just seeing his muscled body under his fitted clothes.

More embarrassingly, when Conner knew her state, that meant his parents did too. They were cool about it, again it was a fact of shifter life. Honestly, it seemed to make his mom happy. Like she was thinking everything with them was as it should be. They decided to not let the family in on their little agreement.

They knew they hadn’t bonded, but didn’t ask about it. But the curiosity was there.

During the daytime hours, Kenzi managed to spend a few days in the office with Cage. She learned how the boys’ uncles ran their lumber mill, while they did the timber. It truly was a family affair with the Rochons. It was fascinating to her how much went into the legality of cutting timber.

Permits, approvals, reviews, and inspections. She’d never given much thought to a resource she used every day. She was even able to go out with Wyatt to see how they actually cut the trees. They had a machine that would drive up to the tree, grab it, saw it, and keep it upright. Then it would lay the tree down where it wanted it. Crazy!

What she really enjoyed seeing was the steep cutting. Granted it was more dangerous, but to see men with giant chainsaws felling timber, watching it crash down a mountain side was exhilarating.

Conner hadn’t offered to take her out to see his work. She knew he’d been working with the local officials on the burned area that Tony had started. The entire site was burned down to charcoal. Luckily, the fire break and the fact that they had a water truck on site and crew to keep the flames back, kept it from spreading. A wildfire, when they hadn’t had their normal amount of rain, could have been catastrophic.

After a week of stilted conversations and unfulfilled sexual needs, Kenzi was at her wit’s end.

Her cat was unhappy, Conner seemed unhappy and the family was quietly watching it all. After a few days, Dax decided that he should head back to California to check in on business. Mackenzie had assured him that things were going well with Conner and it would be fine for him to go.

Now she wished he’d have stayed. She needed her brother, her family around her. Conner’s family tried so hard to make her feel welcome and included that it was suffocating. They meant well, she knew that. But it shown a spotlight on what was wrong with her pseudo-relationship with Conner.

As dusk fell a week after their breakfast agreement, Mackenzie knew she couldn’t keep doing this. After dinner, she asked Conner out to the front porch. Normally they sat on the couch inside, again so his parents were just down the hall, hearing every word.

It was warm out, and Mackenzie pulled in a deep breath. Gathering her courage, she sat on the top step of the porch and waited for him to join her.

“Conner?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you care about me at all,” she whispered, looking straight ahead. She was no sissy, but if she took one look at him, her big girly side would let loose an avalanche of tears and probably snot all over him. She was an ugly crier, always had been.

“Kenzi…” he said in an anguished moan.

“Answer me, honestly.”

“Of course I care about you. I want you safe, I want you happy,” he admitted. He knew that much. It was the things he and his bear could agree on.

“And if I told you I wasn’t happy, then what,” she kept on.

“Why aren’t you happy? Has someone been mean to you? Made you feel not welcome,” he asked. He’d kick whoever’s butt needed kicking if they were being mean to her.