CHAPTER 23
Eight hours. Eight fucking hours since he’d last seen Cece, and Briggs was pretty certain his bear was on the cusp of madness.
Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but if his bear didn’t stop growling and whining and demanding he return to their mate, Briggs would lose his fucking mind. As it was, his entire body ached from holding back his bear’s repeated attempts to take control, and a throbbing headache was starting at the back of his skull.
He needed to eat, but he had no appetite. He wanted to be with Cece as much as his bear did, but it would do no fucking good to admit that to his bear. If he did, he’d lose control, his bear would force the shift, and he’d get fucking arrested for running through the city in his goddamn polar bear form.
He took a deep breath before pacing his living room again. He needed to do something to get his mind off of Cece, but he couldn’t think of a single fucking thing to do. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, studying the screen. Why the fuck didn’t he get Cece’s number before he left? He could at least text her, check in on her, make sure that she was safe, and maybe ask her if she was going as crazy without him as he was without her.
Rosalie will have her number.
He was immediately scrolling through his contacts for Hudson’s number. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that? Of course, Rosalie would have Cece’s number. He would call Hudson and ask Rosalie for the number, and then maybe, just fucking maybe, his polar bear would shut the hell up for a few minutes.
I want my mate, his polar bear grumbled.
He was about to call Hudson when someone knocked on his door. His polar bear growled, and Briggs considered not answering it before heading over and opening it.
“Hudson? What are you doing here?”
“C’mon, we’re going for dinner,” Hudson said.
“What?”
“Dinner. Let’s go,” Hudson said.
He turned and walked away, and Briggs grabbed his keys before locking the door and following Hudson to his truck. Rosalie was in the truck, sitting in the middle, and she smiled at Briggs when he climbed in beside her.
“Hi, Briggs.”
“Hey, Rosalie.”
Hudson slid behind the wheel, started the truck and headed down the street.
“How was your day off?” Rosalie asked.
“Fine,” Briggs said. “Hey, um, you have Cece’s number, right?”
“I do,” Rosalie said.
“Can I get it from you? I need to ask her a question.”
Hudson snorted. “You can’t lie worth shit, Briggs. You want her number so you can make sure she’s safe. You need to have more faith in Tori. You know how tough she is, you’ve seen her in action.”
“I need Cece’s number to ask her a question,” Briggs repeated.
Rosalie glanced at Hudson. “You didn’t tell him.”
“I told him we were going for dinner,” Hudson said. “What else does he need to know?”
Rosalie laughed as Briggs said, “What is happening here?”
“You’ll see,” Hudson said.
Rosalie gave Briggs a cute grin as Hudson rested one big hand on her thigh.
“You want to fill me in here, Rosalie?” Briggs asked.
Her grin widened. “You’ll see.”
