Bearly Cooking (Pacific Northwest Werebears #1) (8 page)

The next day, much to Cage’s dismay, Sophie insisted getting up early and heading in to camp to make sure the men had something warm in their stomachs to start the day.

Cage met with Conner and Wyatt to go over what they had found out about the sabotage to the hydraulic hose. Conner was sure it wasn’t the environmental groups and Wyatt agreed that it wasn’t their style. That left only one option that Cage wasn’t ready to face. One of their own was wreaking havoc on their business.

Pondering this, trying to figure who would do such a thing, and why? His brothers were arguing about something and the sound was grating on his nerves

“Hey, you too fuckers need to shut your traps or take it outside. I was a pretty damn happy camper before coming to work today. And you know I didn’t want to be here, I had better things to do.” Cage growled.

“So we smell, bro,” Wyatt snarked.

“Clearly, our Alpha spent the evening with his mate. The question is whether he claimed her or not,” Conner plied.

“I can’t hide from either of you who I’ve been with. But no, I didn’t claim her. She has no idea who we are and I need to figure out how to tell her before we can take the next step.”

“How about, hey baby, I’m a bear, rawr,” Wyatt offered, making claws with his fingers.

“Or how about, hey honey, sometimes I get hairy and like to rub my big butt on trees to scratch an itch?” Conner offered bending over laughing at his hilarity.

“Either both of you find something to do or I’m telling mom your interfering in my courtship,” Cage threatened.

“Geez man, we were just kidding!” Wyatt said looking horrified at the prospect of their mother coming down on them for getting in the way of her plan of grand-cubs.

Conner was already heading out the door, not willing to face his mother’s wrath. Wyatt was quick on his heels, nobody wanted an Alpha or an Alpha’s momma mad at them.

Sighing, Cage tried to get back to his work, but his mind kept straying to Sophie. Then his eyes would wander to the window towards the mess hall. He wanted to go see her, even though he knew she was working. He was going to have to figure out how to break it to her that he was going to be hiring another cook. He didn’t want her sun up til sundown in that mess hall slaving away over a hot stove.

He figured she wouldn’t mind spending her time just sitting her luscious ass on his lap all day while he was working. She would be fine with that wouldn’t she?

Sophie was just finishing cleaning up from breakfast and was starting to prep for dinner. Her beef stew and soda bread dinner with triple chocolate brownies just required a lot of chopping. The stew would simmer for a number of hours.

She was trying to keep busy, keep her mind off the amazing night in Cage’s arms. They had made love twice more last night, barely getting any sleep. But Sophie woke up energized and blissfully in love. Not that she could tell Cage that, he’d think she was insane. Nobody fell in love in just a week. It was statistically impossible, or at least that’s what her mother would have said, a woman that didn’t even believe in love she admitted.

Sophie wanted to see him, smell him, touch his skin. She felt like a junkie, looking for a fix. One night together and she totally addicted to him. She craved him, her cells calling out to him.

The door to the kitchen opened and he was there, like he’d heard her call.

“Sophie, I’m sorry to bother you, honey, I just needed to see you,” he said looking sheepish.

Sophie took a running leap into his arms and rained kisses over his face. “I was just thinking about you too,” she admitted, burying her nose in his neck and breathing him in.

Cage did the same, scenting along her neck, swiping the path with his tongue. The sweet taste of her skin, calming his bear.

“I don’t like being away from you,” she whispered to him.

Bringing his mouth down to hers in bruising kiss, Cage tasted the sweet chocolate she’d been cutting and sampling. “I don’t like it either, honey. That’s why we need to talk,” he said setting her down on her feet.

Just then his stomach growled announcing he’d skipped breakfast. Laughing Sophie plated up some left over biscuits from breakfast and slathered them in butter and honey and set them on the counter.

Cage picked her up and set her ass down next to the plate. He grabbed a biscuit and shoved the entire thing into this mouth. Sophie’s eyes got huge and she started to laugh. He looked like a greedy chipmunk with his cheeks stuffed full of biscuit.

Smiling back Cage gave her a sticky kiss and finished chewing and swallowing.

“Ok, what do we need to talk about?” Sophie asked, distracted by the strong muscles in his jaw as he chewed, her eyes trailing down his throat as he swallowed. For some reason it made her hot.

Sniffing, Cage groaned, “We don’t have time for that, darlin’, we do need to talk.”

Sophie dragged her eyes from his amazing throat and met his gaze. “About what?”

“I’m fairly confident that you are as interested in me as I am in you. What we have is rare and I’m not willing to pussyfoot around and play games with you. I’m yours and you’re mine, our rules, our lives. I want you closer, as close as I can keep you. Which means I don’t want you spending eighteen hours a day in this kitchen.”

“Cage, I love to cook! That’s the whole reason I moved here. I didn’t plan on meeting you, but it’s still my dream to be that chef, to cook and feed people. Are you firing me?” she asked it dawning on her this was not what she had expected they were going to discuss.

“Of course not darlin’, I’m asking for a compromise. I want to hire another cook so you can split the time here and we can spend more time together. I know its fast, but I want you to move in with me. I work long hours and I want any free time I have to be with you. You can cook here or at home. We can build a life here, you and I. If that is something you want, that is,” he finished looking worried for the first time.

“Of course, Cage. I wouldn’t have stormed into your office last night and demanded we have sex if I wasn’t sure I wanted to be with you. I do want to keep cooking, but I admit, if I keep getting distracted thinking of you, I’ll end up burning this place down eventually,” she said laughing.

“You can’t imagine how much that means to me, honey. That you would be willing to share your kitchen and give up a little bit of your dream to spend more time with me,” he said kissing the tip of her nose.

“I’m not giving up all of my dreams, Cage. You are a dream come true that I didn’t know I had until now,” she said quietly, opening herself up to him.

“Ahh, baby,” he said wrapping her in his arms, “You are more precious to me than I can say.”

Sitting there for a moment, soaking each other in, Sophie broke the silence, “So what now?”

Sighing, Cage pulled back and with a very serious face said, “Tonight, dinner with the family.”

Dinner with Cage’s family was less of a trauma then one might suspect. After Cage announced his family was coming over, Sophie went into panic mode and called out her emergency troops, namely Amos and managed to throw everything together for the dinner. Amos just had to watch the timers and pull out everything when it was done.

She then rushed to Cage’s house and raided his pantry trying to figure out what to cook. Trying to assure her that this wasn’t a formal gathering, Cage told her to pick something simple because they were more interested in meeting her then her cooking. Sophie tried not to take offense at that, but as most people knew, chefs were sensitive about their art.

Deciding on heaping pots of chicken cacciatore with fresh greens and herbed rolls, after Cage assured Sophie his mother would be bringing at least three pies for dessert.

“Three? What do we need three for?” she asked aghast.

“Easy, half for me and half dad, same for Conner and Wyatt, and you and mom can share the last one,” he explained like this was simple math.

“You guys eat like horses,” she muttered.

“Not quite,” he said laughing back at her.

Dinner actually went off rather well. Giant hugs and kisses on the cheeks that Sophie suffered through after meeting his mom and dad. Both of his brothers opted to pick her up and swing her around. Wyatt they liked to call runt at six foot two, but he still managed to spin her after giving her a loud noisy kiss. This had a clearly annoyed Cage dragging his brother off his girl.

Throughout the meal, Cage’s mom kept up a happy banter, telling stories about the boys getting into mischief. She could tell they were a handful, but their parents adored them. She mentioned she was surprised that they were all still single.

“Oh, my boys aren’t ones to treat a girl lightly. They are all waiting for The One,” his father assured her. Looking over at his wife with stars in his eyes, he gave the back of her hand a loud kiss.

Sighing at this declaration of love, Sophie wasn’t surprised when Cage took her hand and repeated the gesture.

Once the boys had stopped tormenting each other with embarrassing stories, Sophie got up to start clearing the table. Cage jumped up and smacked both of his brothers as a hint to help clean up. “You cooked, darlin’, we got this.”

Sophie sat with his mom and talked quietly, while the boys made a ruckus in the kitchen.

“Sweetheart, I know it’s not my place,” Cage’s mom started, she grabbed Sophie’s hand in hers and squeezed it, “My boy is one hundred percent head over heels for you. Don’t worry about how long you’ve known each other, or someone else’s rules on dating. Trust your heart, because I can see in your eyes, he already has your heart in his hand. My boy is a good one, believe me. He’ll never do you wrong and he will cherish you until the day he dies if you let him,” she finished tears gleaming in her eyes.

“I do care about him, I can barely breathe when he isn’t around. It’s scary though, feeling this much so fast,” she admitted.

“I know, pretty girl, but trust in love. Trust in him and it will all work out,” she said giving her hand a final pat.

The men came back from the kitchen with dessert and Cage’s eyes scanned between his mother’s teary eyes and Sophie’s. Sophie gave him a small smile letting him know it was all okay.

Cage was right, the boys all ate half a pie each. It was amazing to watch them put away that much food after they had stuffed themselves with her dinner.

Sitting around the living room, the evening winding down, Cage’s dad had lit a fire in the big fireplace and Sophie was feeling sleeping and happy.

Cage’s parents excused themselves and walked back to their house. Wyatt started harassing his brothers about going out for a late night swim in the lake, which unknown to Sophie, was code for the brothers to head out into the woods and let their bears run and stretch.

“I don’t mind Cage, really. I think you’re crazy swimming in a freezing lake, but to each their own,” she said laughing.

“Come on, bro, your old lady says you can go play,” Wyatt teased.

Growling at his brother, Cage leaned down and gave Sophie a kiss that left her breathless and blushing in front of his brothers. “You sure you’ll be okay?” he asked, clearly wanting to spend some time with his brothers.

“I’m sure. Go. Swim. Freeze,” she commanded.

Another quick kiss and the boys headed out the door whooping and hollering. Sophie was comfy on the couch, so she laid back and stared at the fire until she fell asleep, content and happy.

Sophie woke to a noise. The fire was still burning, but it was small and needed to be stoked. Listening, she tried to figure out where the noise had come from. Clearly Cage wasn’t back yet since she was still on the couch, he would have moved her to bed she was sure.

The sound came again this time causing Sophie to whip her head toward the dark windows on the front of the house. She couldn’t tell if the door was locked or not and she was afraid to get up and check. The noise sounded closer and she realized it was footsteps squeaking along the porch. Slowly, the steps came closer to the door.

Sophie couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t any of the family, they wouldn’t need to sneak. It was too loud to be an animal. Who would be this far out in the woods this late at night? Bile was rising in her throat, looking around for something she could use as a weapon, the handle on the front door turned and rattled, finding it locked the person on the other side gave it a harder twist.

Barely awake and terrified, Sophie did the only thing her body would allow at the moment. She let out a blood-curdling scream.

Cage’s animal was enjoying the cool night air. His brothers had quickly stripped out of their clothes and raced each other into the woods. It had been too long since his animal was given reign. He let his bear come forward in a shower of sparks. The huge brown Kodiak bear roared and chuffed, scenting the air and reveling in being free.

His brother’s bears, both large grizzlies were pawing around near him. Each shifters bear spirit came to them when they were young. The universe pairing the bear spirit with the right soul on earth. Cage knew the day he saw his Kodiak in a dream that he was destined to be an Alpha, to become the leader and protector of his clan. His uncle on his father’s side still acted as Alpha for his family. Once Cage claimed his mate, the honor would switch to him. His uncle had been waiting to retire for quite a while. He was sure he got the call from the hospital from his mother after she found out about Sophie.

Cage let his bear take back over his thought process and instincts flared. Taking off at a lumber, Wyatt and Conner’s bears followed.

A few hours later the boys were heading back to the cabins. They had fished and tramped through the forest. Sharpening their claws on the trees, rolling in the pine needles, and generally enjoying the joys of being bears.

As they neared the houses, Cage’s bear picked up an unfamiliar smell. It wasn’t family, that was for sure. It smelled of grease and dirt. Not the dirt on the ground, but of unwashed bodies and something else. Someone was near their homes that didn’t belong.

Taking off at a run, Cage urged his bear faster. He needed to check on Sophie.

As they came into the clearing, Cage heard the piercing, terrified scream of the woman he loved. His bear roared its anger and he took off towards his house.

Inside the cabin, Sophie’s scream had the intruder rushing off the porch. Jumping up and grabbing the fireplace poker, she ran to the door, unlocked it and swung it open ready to pummel whoever was on the other side. She wasn’t going down without a fight now that her initial fear left to be replaced with pissed off woman..

What she saw instead was a man in a black ski mask facing off with the biggest bear Sophie had ever seen. She didn’t know bears got that big! This animal was mad, the head was dropped and he was making a huffing sound. Out of the brush behind him, two more bears came running into the clearing, smaller than the first but still incredibly big.

The man and bear were at a standoff and Sophie was glued to the porch. The huge bear took a moment and swung his head toward her, yellow eyes glinting in the porch light that had tripped on as the intruder ran down the steps.

The bear was looking at her, like he was assessing. Those eyes looked familiar but Sophie was too scared to ponder it for long.

As the bear swung back to the intruder, no one was prepared for the man to pull a small handgun from his jacket and wildly fire a shot at the big bear. The bear roared and rose up on his hind legs, he must have been nine feet tall.

The intruder turned and ran for the woods. One of the smaller bears took off after him while the smallest bear trotted up to the giant and growled. The big bear had dropped back to the ground and Sophie could see blood dripping from his upper shoulder.

The smaller bear started to shimmer and right before Sophie’s eyes, a very naked, very human Wyatt kneeled by the bear.

“Man, are you okay? Talk to me, can you shift?” he asked urgently to the large bear.

The bear on the ground started to shimmer, then stopped. It started again and this time, lying on the cold hard ground was Cage, bleeding from his upper arm.

Wyatt pushed a hand over the wound and Cage didn’t even flinch. His eyes were on Sophie. He wanted to take off after the man and tear him apart, but his need to see to Sophie overrode his instincts for revenge. The shot in his arm was nothing compared to the horror on his woman’s face.

Sophie was staring back at the man she loved, who seconds before was a very large, very angry bear. Her brain couldn’t even begin to process what she was seeing. She realized she was still holding the fireplace poker. Letting it drop with a clatter to the wood of the deck, Sophie took a step back.

“Sophie, please, honey, let me explain,” Cage pleaded trying to get up. He shook his brother off his arm and stood.

“No, don’t,” Sophie whispered, stepping back until her back hit the door frame. “I don’t understand I don’t…” she trailed off shaking her head back and forth. Tears had started streaming down her face.

“I understand your confused, just let me hold you, it will be all right,” he said quietly, stepping towards her like she was a skittish colt.

“No, no, this isn’t real. This doesn’t happen!,” she cried, starting to sob. Her breath catching as the tears poured down her face. Turning, she ran into the house and into the bedroom she’d first slept in, slamming and locking the door.

Cage made to go after her but his brother’s hand on his arm stopped him. Cage turned and growled menacingly at his brother. “Let me go,” he said pouring his Alpha timber into the command.

Wyatt immediately let go, but said, “Think, man, she’s freaked. Rushing in there now, bloody and naked is not going to help you make your case. Give her a little time. Get cleaned up then try to talk to her.”

“What if she leaves me?” Cage asked, despair causing his bear to whimper inside.

“She won’t, she just needs time to think this through. She loves you man, we can all see that. But you need to take this carefully. Go slow, let her settle then go to her.”

Knowing his brother was right, and his arm starting to hurt like a bitch, he nodded. They both went into the house to clean up. Conner returned to tell them he’d lost the guy in the woods. He’d had a dirt bike stashed and rode off. Conner was pissed he didn’t get a chance to take a chunk out of him.

Once his arm was bandaged by Conner, who assured him it was hardly a flesh wound and he was a big sissy for bleeding so much, they both took off back to their own homes.

Before they left his brothers each gave him a manly hug. Wyatt gave him a look that told him to go slow and Cage nodded. Message received.