He nods in understanding and doesn’t say anything else. She kisses his temple softly, and she begins to cry.
Chapter Seventeen
Axel
The worst part about all this was telling his brothers. He thought Raif for sure would storm out after he started explaining, but he sat there with a straight back and fists clenched. They were all so disappointed in him. It was his fault. He’s the one who hired Maury after their old accountant moved. He should have vetted him, looked into the payments and accounts himself. But he felt nothing but friendliness from the old accountant.
And it was hard, really hard, after his dad died. His mom had just lost her mate and was broken. They had a lodge to run, and there were no days off. No time to mourn, no time to research who they were hiring. He just trusted, and it’s his fault that all their money is gone. Three plus million gone. He should have known. He should have checked and double-checked. It seemed like a lot, always seemed like a lot, but he had zero experience with running a business. Maury was a lifesaver, taking on the tax payments and theinvestment. Fuck, he had taken that investment money from their trust fund. Shrunk it down considerably because he thought he was building a safety net. Instead, it’s gone.
He’s miserable. Sad and ashamed. So ashamed. He failed his brothers, his mom, and his family’s legacy. He failed the town, letting the land get sold without him knowing. The police said there’s not a lot that can be done at this point. They would put a detective on it, some guy from the city, since there’s no one in town that could handle it.
Word spread quickly through town when two cruisers pulled up to the lodge. He had barely finished speaking with the officers before he had two phone calls and a text asking why cops were at the lodge and if there had been another accident.
Oh, and Chloe. He can’t bear to face her. He’s humiliated by what she found. She must think he’s an idiot. Just a big dumb man who ran his business into the ground. She’s come looking for him twice, but he’s slipped around the corner both times. He knows it’s wrong to avoid her. She probably wants to comfort him, but he doesn’t deserve comfort.
Axel goes to the woods, to his cave, and shifts into his bear form. Things are easier as a bear. He doesn’t have to think as much. He can eat berries from bushes and sprawl out and sleep in his cave. It’s not till nightfall that someone comes looking for him.
“Knew I’d find you here. Jack said you’d be at the lake, but I knew you’d come to your cave.”
Axel lifts his big bear head and stares at Gunner. He shifts, standing only to pull on pants and a shirt, before slumping back down on the rock.
“How’d you know where I was? I’ve never brought anyone here.”
“I’ve known about this place since I was ten. I know everyone’s spot.” Gunner kicks some rocks with his boots, hands shoved in his pockets. The only light is from the moon, but it doesn’t matter. As bear shifters, they have excellent night vision and have always been able to easily move around the forest regardless of the time.
“When I found your spot, I was going to tell you. Came back to the lodge all excited, beaming like I’d just won the fucking lottery. Mom caught me, asked me what I was up to. She always knew, you know? Always knew when we were up to something. I felt bad and told her. She said a bear's special place was for them to take a mate and no one else. She said if I told you that I’d found it, your bear would be distraught and not know what to do. This is the closest I’ve ever been.”
“Well, don’t come any fucking further,” Axel grumbles out, tossing a rock out into the forest.
Gunner chuckles and then looks up to the sky.
“You should bring Chloe here.”
“She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“She doesn’t, huh? Is that why she’s been pacing the lodge and is now camped out in the sitting room waiting for you to come back? Shit, she cornered Raif and demanded to know where you were. He actually looked scared of her.”
They are both quiet for a moment before Gunner speaks again.
“She cares about you. We all do. This isn’t your fault, Ax. We all fell apart after Dad died. You had it the hardest, though, you had to step up and runeverything. No one blames you for what happened, it wasn’t your fault.”
“Itismy fault!” Axel roars. He’s up and in Gunner’s face in a flash, but Gunner stands relaxed with his hands in his pockets still. Axel can feel his eyes are blazing with anger. Anger at himself, at the world for fucking him over once again. He wants to shift again, to barrel through the trees and live as a bear till winter’s over. Gunner must sense this because he places a warm hand on Axel’s shoulder and squeezes a little.
Axel breaks then. His anger at everything and everyone fades until he’s panting. His shoulders hunch down, and Gunner pulls him into a hug. Gunner wraps him up and hugs him tight, and Axel lets himself be hugged. Arms at his side, breathing in the scent of his brother, of family.
When Axel comes into the lodge bright and early the next day, he’s exhausted. Shifting takes it out of him, and with everything that’s happened, it’s left hisbody and his mind tired. He doesn’t join his brothers in the kitchen for breakfast. Doesn’t look for Danielle or Chloe. He hides in his office and lets Gunner man the front desk.
He hasn’t spoken to Raif or Jack since he told them. He’s not sure that he wants to. It was his responsibility as the oldest to take care of them, to run things, to protect them. And he failed, he doesn’t need to hear it from them, too. Gunner telling him it isn’t his fault is an outlier. He seemed to be telling Axel the truth, but even if Gunner believes that, it’s horseshit, it is all clearly Axel’s fault.
Axel wishes he could get drunk. Shifters burn off the alcohol too quickly, but what he wouldn’t give to be able to take the edge off right now. Fuck. He wonders what his father would think. Would he be disappointed in Axel? Would have fallen for Maury’s schemes the same way Axel did? No, his father was smart. A good businessman. He would have known.
Axel is about to get another cup of coffee when there is suddenly a searing pain in his leg. He reaches down and pulls up his pant leg, but sees nothing. No redness, no swelling, nothing. But the pain is there. Coming from his ankle up his calf. Searing and burning, and fuck that hurts. He can feel panic coming on, but it's not his. It’s...it’s...it’s Chloe’s.
Everything suddenly clicks. Chloe’s in pain, Chloe’s scared, Chloe’s hurt. He’s up and out of his chair in a second. Using his shifter speed to whip around the corner past Gunner at the front desk. He’s barreling through the woods before he knows it. Listening, scenting the air, looking for her. He’s going to find her, he has to.
Chapter Eighteen
Chloe
