The Alpha shifted under me, managing to throw my weight off before rolling to his feet and bracing his legs. His eyes glowed amber and his lips were drawn back to bare his teeth as he placed his body between me and Dex, the glare on his face leaving no doubt what he was thinking.
Bring it, asshole.
ChapterTwelve
Dex
“What on earth?” I gasped as I leaped out of the path of the massive bear charging down the hill, snarling and growling.
“Get back!” Stan shouted an instant before the bear hit him with a sickening thud, crushing Stan to the ground beneath its huge form.
“Oh my god,” I whimpered, kicking off my shoes and pulling off my clothes, saying a silent prayer of thanks for the elastic waist of my pregnancy pants. I already completed my shift -not that I believed for a minute I was going to be able to take out the immense animal, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let it kill a man who’d been so nice to me without a fight- when I saw that Stan had also managed to shift. His clothes were hanging in shreds off a good-sized brown bear, and he was standing between me and the other bear, back arched and legs stiff, his deep snarls leaving no doubt he was more than ready to fight.
I hesitated for a minute, trying to decide if I would help or hinder by joining in and that was all it took for a familiar scent to hit me. The bear attacking us was fuckingOtto?What the serious fuck?
My anger burst out of me in a snarling growl so vicious that it even took me by surprise. Both Alphas paused to look at me, but I only had eyes for one of them. Charging around Stan, I leaped at Otto, catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground the same way he tackled Stan only moments before.
Behind me, I heard Stan growl a warning but there was no doubt in my mind that no matter what happened between us, Otto was not going to hurt me. Not physically, anyway.
He proved me right by going slack under my much smaller bear, his deep honey-colored eyes staring up at me in confusion for a long moment before his body shuddered beneath me, shifting back and leaving me standing over his human form. Hisnakedhuman form, of course.
“Dex? Are you okay, baby? We were so worried about you.” Otto didn’t make any move to untangle himself from me and instead scowled at where Stan remained in his bear form, watching us intently for any sign of danger. “Who the hell is this guy?”
I heaved a huge sigh and stepped to the side so Otto could sit up, keeping my body between him and Stan, just in case. I rose up onto my hind legs and slipped into my own shift, forcing back my discomfort at being naked in front of the two of them.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I huffed. “And what do you meanwewere worried? Who is we?”
“Corbin and Taylor came to my place looking for you this morning,” Otto said quickly. “When I didn't know where you were, they said you were missing.”
I felt my brows creeping up and drawing together. “Where are they? And that still doesn’t explain why the hell you’re here.”
“Oh, we split up to look for you when we didn’t find any sign of you at the rental cabin,” Otto explained, skipping right over the question of why he was there. “I need to call them and let them know I found you.”
Scrambling to his feet, Otto cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted “West” at the top of his lungs three times before dropping his hands and shooting another suspicious look at Stan. “Are you going to tell me who that is and why the fuck he was touching you?”
“No,” I snapped back. “You’re not making any damn sense and I don’t owe you any explanations, damn it.”
“What didn’t make sense?” I could tell from the strain on his face that Otto was frustrated, but his voice never rose and his tone stayed gentle.
“I’ve been at the cabin since yesterday morning, for one thing.”
Behind me, Stan’s bear gave a coughing laugh. I turned to look at him and found him shifting back, an amused twinkle in his eyes.
“Dexter, should I assume that thispersondidn’t mean any harm by attacking me out of the blue?”
I sighed. “I’m so sorry, Stan. I have no idea what is going on, but it never occurred to me that I was putting you in danger.”
“I believe you,” Stan said with a gentle smile. “I think maybe I can clear up part of the confusion but it’s a little cold to be outside naked and my clothes are a loss, so maybe we should take this conversation inside?”
I glared at Otto who was still sitting on the ground, seeming oblivious to his nakedness. “Can you not be a dick if we do?”
Otto shrugged. “No promises since I don’t know what’s going on, but I can promise not to attack anybody.”
“Again,”I huffed, leaning over to gather up my clothes and deciding to carry them instead of making Stan wait in the cold longer while I redressed.
“Again,” Otto repeated, clearly smothering a smirk. “Scout’s honor.”
“Like you were ever a fucking scout,” I snapped, rolling my eyes. “Fine. Get your butt up so we can get inside.”
