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The problem was, Fletch didn’t think he wanted Alaska. What he wanted was a mate, a family. He wanted what had been stolen from both him and Milo when they’d been brought to the Holloways by their mother and left there when their mother had returned to Alaska. Wyoming wasn’t Alaska, though, and unlike the majority of the den, a polar bear wasn’t exactly a normal sighting in the Wyoming wilderness. Even Laramie as an Alaskan Kodiak grizzly didn’t stand out as much as Fletch and Milo did. Fletch would probably head back to Alaska soon either way. For no other reason than to give his bear the freedom they both needed. It wasn’t that he wanted to leave the Holloways, but the need building within him might make it impossible to stay.
Brock pulled the SUV off at the exit they’d been watching for. Once they were parked, everyone hit the doors at once. Most people need to get out and stretch during long road trips, but shifters? They were the worst. None of them enjoyed the prolonged confinement. Fletch’s polar was ready for a run.
“Jemma, stick with me,” Brock ordered the stowaway female bear shifter with them as he headed around the side of the vehicle.
Fletch barely bit back a snort of laughter at the growl that spilled from her lips. The little vixen was turning out to be more than the brothers had expected. She was one of the surviving females who’d been hidden away after the attacks. Only thirteen at the time, she’d spent five years underground, since the elder who’d taken her in had refused to let her out for any reason. Fletch had been the one to find her and bring her to the Holloways. She’d been thin with shadows so dark under her eyes that he had feared she wouldn’t survive. She had, though. She was strong and fierce and already a force to reckon with. To say Brock was pissed she’d somehow managed to rub his scent on her so she could hide in the SUV was putting it politely. Fletch thought it was more than that. He wasn’t sure Brock had figured out what the rest of them had, yet. Or maybe, he was ignoring she was his mate for another reason. Whatever Brock’s thoughts were, Fletch didn’t think Jemma had realized the truth. If she had, Brock’s world would have already been turned upside down by his mate.
Brock joined Fletch, Jemma hot on his heels. When she bumped into his back, he turned to glare at her, a rumble filling his chest. Jemma snarled at him. God, it would be interesting watching those two.
“Put the map on the hood,” Brock ordered, waiting until it was spread out so everyone had a good view before tracing his finger along a route that would take Fletch and Milo past the potential sites they’d marked as places female bears could be hidden. “If you pick up any scents, get back here immediately. Word could have gotten out already that Talbot is dead. They could be moving people. Or killing them. We need to be quick. This might be the female’s only chance of survival.”
Fletch nodded, gaze scouting the area around them as he tried to ignore the fact Jemma was trying to move away. He laughed when Brock reached back and caught her hand, giving it such a fierce tug she crashed into his back again. Another snarl left her lips, and the look Brock gave Fletch made him wonder if the other man realized exactly what was going on, after all. Was he trying to protect her from something he didn’t think she was ready for?
“I’m going to head out now.” Fletch rolled his shoulders, stretching as he fought the urge to shift. “The others should be right behind us.”
“I’m ready,” Milo piped up, and Fletch nodded at his brother.
“Twenty minutes,” Brock reminded them before turning to Jemma and giving her his full attention. “Glue your ass to that door and don’t fucking move. You’ll be lucky if I don’t spank you for this little stunt of yours.”
“Fucking try me, Hollo-dickhead,” Jemma snapped back.
Fletch laughed again before heading into the tree line with Milo right on his heels.
“Do you think they’re here?” Milo asked as soon as they were inside the woods.
“Talbot said they were closer than we knew,” Fletch reminded. “Logistically, this part of the forest makes the most sense.”
Milo nodded. “All we need is to find one cavern the hunters are using, and that could lead us to others. Does it piss you off they might be taking a page from us by building these places in caves? Underground?”
“Everything about hunters pisses me off,” Fletch growled. “We didn’t ask for this. Any of it. To be hunted, killed, with the goal of the total annihilation of every shifter species? These people are sick, twisted fucks. They’re like cockroaches. Eliminate the threat of one, and five more pop up to take that one’s place. We deserve better. Our mates and children and dens deserve better.”
“Mates and children?” Milo asked. “Something you want to tell me, brother?”
“I haven’t met my mate, but I feel a need to find her. It’s as if my bear hears hers crying out for me.” Fletch shook his head with frustration. “That sounds stupid even to me.”
“Not stupid at all. Got to admit, I never saw you for the romantic type.” Milo snickered, bending forward with one hand over his stomach.
“Fuck you,” Fletch groused, reaching out to shove his brother. “Let’s get shifted and head out.”
“Wait. Just…” Milo paused, suddenly looking far too serious. “Just give me a heads up. If you plan to leave. Or whatever.”
“I’ll never just up and leave you, Milo. That’s not who I am. That’s not how we work.”
But Fletch understood the sentiment. Their father had left and been killed by hunters. Then their mother had brought them to the Holloways and left them to head back to Alaska where she’d been killed. Of course, his younger brother would fear Fletch leaving. Not that Milo would ever put it in those terms, but Fletch knew his brother. Anywhere Fletch chose to go, his brother wouldn’t be far behind.
“Where would you go? Where is your bear urging you to search for your mate? In Alaska?”
Fletch shrugged. “I feel the pull to go somewhere we can run without fear of being seen. You can’t say you don’t feel that nudge from your bear, as well.”
“I do. But Alaska? Nothing good happened there.”
Fletch sighed. “Mom and Dad were born there. Same as us. They fell in love there. You can’t let the bad outweigh the good, Milo. Besides, Alaska is huge.”
Milo pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it at his feet.
“I don’t want to go back there, Fletch. Not now. Not yet.”
“Then we won’t. Laramie needs us now, anyway. Any plans I make will be down the road.”
