Wicked Bite (Realm Enforcers #5)(85)

Simone chuckled.

"That horse is out of the barn, brother," Nick drawled from behind him.

Bear gagged again. "I had plans to kill you before you got her with child," he said mildly, leading her toward the storage room.

"It's all in the timing, my friend." Nick chuckled.

Wasn't it, though? "I guess it could happen at a later date. You do deserve to see your child," Bear said magnanimously. But there was no need for anybody to get too comfortable around him. People got comfortable and they not only stayed but invited all their friends to drop by. Enough with the guests.

He opened the door to the war room, and Simone brushed in.

Nessa looked up from a pile of papers, and a wide smile brightened her already stunning face. "Simone."

"Hello." Simone shook hands with Boondock and Jasper before hugging Nessa. "I guess we're family."



       
         
       
        

Nessa swayed, her eyes widening. "I guess we are."

In that second, Bear could see the little lost girl searching for a family, the little girl Boondock had tried to describe for him. Apparently, so could Simone, because she hugged Nessa again, this time longer. "Don't worry about Bear. I'll teach you how to handle him," she whispered, loud enough that he could hear.

Nessa smiled and leaned back. "You shouldn't be here, Councilwoman."

Bear crossed his arms. "That's what I said."

"I still lead the Guard," Nessa said gently. "Your safety is priority one. You can't be here, as much as I'd like for you to stay."

Look at his woman getting all businesslike and duty bound, when she obviously wanted nothing more than to bond with Simone. How fucking sweet was that? "You're gonna be an aunt, Nessa," Bear said gently. If she decided to stay with him. Hell, even if she didn't, they were still mated. He still had a say in her life. A big say. In fact, she'd better decide to fucking stay.

Emotion darkened Nessa's eyes, and she glanced down at Simone's barely protruding belly. "I'm greatly looking forward to it." Nessa cleared her throat. "Now we need to get you to a safe location."

Simone smiled. "The Enforcers guarantee the safety of the Coven Nine, sister. The Guard is our police force."

"Aye," Nessa agreed, her chin firming in a way that made Bear want to take a bite. "But the Guard provides backup and military strength. This is not a safe place for you."

Man, it'd be a fun fight to watch between the two of them. Bear cleared his throat. "Ness? We have shifter, witch, demon, and vampire soldiers surrounding us at the moment. Simone is only staying for the night and will return to the safe haven of Realm headquarters tomorrow."

"Demon headquarters," Nick corrected.

Same damn thing. They were located less than a mile from each other on the same Idaho lake. "Whatever," Bear said.

Nessa turned her head toward him. "You've allowed demon and vampire forces into the territory?"

"Just a protection detail for Simone," Bear said hastily, uncrossing his arms. "They leave tomorrow. It's temporary." If he didn't watch his step, he'd be surrounded by witches. Even now, his forces were patrolling in tandem with the witches guarding the perimeter. The walls were starting to close in on him.

"Interesting," Simone said, her eyes absolutely twinkling.

Garrett pushed his way into the room and took up his post at the computers, already talking jargon to Lucas, who'd stayed behind. It was nice those two had bonded. "The search should be about finished," Lucas said, hunching over his keyboard. 

"Where's Logan?" Nick asked.

"Flirting with a bear shifter," Garrett said absently, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

Bear looked around. There were way too many people in his war room. People who shouldn't even know he had a war room.

"Breathe, brother," Nick said quietly. "I've been there."

"It gets better?" Bear asked.

"Actually, no." Nick's lips twitched.

Wonderful. Just damn wonderful.

Lucas straightened. "Hey. I have something."

Thank God. Bear could always trust his friend to come through for him. Maybe somebody was bombing them or something, so he could get away from people and just fight for a while. "What?" Bear asked, blanching at the hope in his voice.

Lucas typed in a series of codes. "Got 'em. Vilks sent over all the intel on rogue gangs, and I traced that one wolf shifter to a group known as Riot-after combining the search with the one on the Slam Bar."