AllFreeNovel
Share Us
You better get used to sharing if you plan to claim a mate,my bear snickered.
“Yes! It will be so much fun.” Bibi clapped her hands together. “Marissa will be staying with me in my spare boudoir. And if Suzanne decides she wants to rough it and come into either of the villages, she will come face-to-face with wolves who don’t take kindly to intruders.”
* * *
“Make yourself at home.” Hugo had been at work when I arrived the night before. His place was small but neat and comfortable. A true man lair. It was interesting to be in his space. I already knew he wasn’t the type of guy who indulged in luxury, which made him a strange mate for Bibi le Bonnet. “You find everything okay?”
“Yeah. Don’t know exactly what to do with myself when we’re not filming.”
Hugo shook his head. He was no stranger to dealing with overachievers. “Relax. You deserve it. You reality show people think you need to be working twenty-four-seven.”
“Nature of the business. You should know by now reality doesn’t work on a schedule.”
“Don’t I know it.” He chuckled. “I’ve got all the streaming services, surround sound, pretty good gaming system if you’re into that.”
“Didn’t think of you as an indulgent type of guy.” Hugo was full of surprises, after all.
He shrugged. “I was alone for a long time. Wasn’t gonna punish myself. Enjoy while you’re here, but I think you’ll be in the thick of things soon. Bibi wants to get this episode started ASAP. She’s another one. Won’t give herself time to breathe. I was hoping to take her on a getaway to Vegas for the weekend, but when you and Marissa…anyways, the trip is on hold.”
“She’s keeping you at arm’s length, huh?” Not that I had any advice for him. We’d both chosen mates who required a difficulty level of ten to tame.
“Someone broke her heart, and it doesn’t matter how many sequins she covers it in. She can’t hide it.”
Tires crunched on the gravel outside, and as if on cue, Bibi showed up at the perfect time. Or not so perfect if your name was Hugo, because once again, he would take a backseat toThe Mating Game.
But one of these days, he’d claim his mate.
“If it isn’t my two favorite big, gorgeous beasts.” Bibi sauntered into Hugo’s cabin. Tonight she was wearing a spangly camouflage jumpsuit and a platinum blonde wig. She gave us both air cheek kisses, not to mess up her fire engine red lipstick, before taking a seat in the brown corduroy recliner. “My apologies for arriving early. Tina and Stephanie are working with Marissa to make sure she’ll be one hundred percent ready for this date. In the meantime, I thought we could use this opportunity to chat.”
I groaned. “This isn’t about that stupid civil suit, I hope.”
Bibi waved her hand. “I’m operating as if that’s already been thrown out of court. I want to talk about your pack.”
A weight lifted off my shoulders. “Okay.”
“You told me about what they lost, but tell me what things were like before you had to leave your village.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. It wasn’t hard to take myself back to that place. “We had a village right where the mountains met the ocean. It was paradise. We spent our days fishing, hunting, building our community. Bears are pretty quiet—”
“Unless someone pokes you,” Bibi interjected.
“Exactly.” I let her words sink in. She was probably trying to be cute, but they had a double meaning. “Should I be fighting this lawsuit?”
She gave me a knowing smile. “You’re about to claim Suzanne Marlowe’s daughter. I think that’s a pretty big flex. Enough about her, we’re talking about you and your pack. You’d said that the mountains here reminded you of home. What do you think would make the perfect place for a pack of bears?”
“I’ll know it when I see it.”
She nodded. “Usually, our lady contestant gets the makeover portion of the show, which Marissa will, but I’d really like to help you find a place to call home because I think that will be important to both of you to have something to call your own.”
“I’d like that.” It would be amazing to be able to bring my pack here. But that meant absolutely nothing could go wrong with this episode. I had to make it work, no matter what Suzanne threw at me, because I had a feeling the lawsuit wouldn’t be the last thing Suzanne had to say about the situation, especially if Bibi planned to keep her away from her daughter.
There was a knock at the door. Bibi floated over and waved Stephanie in. Marissa was behind her. It was amazing how tiny she looked, totally out of her element.
Vulnerable.
I took a moment to drink her in. She was wearing a short puffy coat, jeans, and lace-up boots that came to her knee. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, and her hair was pushed back from her face with fuzzy earmuffs.
My bear groaned inside me, urging me to tell everyone to leave, so I could take her into Hugo’s spare bedroom and rip her clothes off. My bear talked to me all the time, but I hadn’t let myself feel him in a long time. I hadn’t shifted much since I’d come to Colorado, self-conscious about my white fur. I didn’t like to stand out or draw attention to myself.
