Yeah, except she didn’tfeellike Murphy’s friend at all. She felt like—
“Nessa? Are you listening?”
Nessa’s eyes snapped up from his stomach and to his face, her cheeks heating when their gazes collided.
Oh, great. Not only was she lusting after him, he’d caught her ogling him like a piece of meat. Fantastic. “Ah, no. Sorry.”
Murphy smirked. “I said that it’s been a long time since someone took the time to cook me a meal.”
“Really? But aren’t shifter families supposed to be really close? I figured family dinners would be a regular thing.” At least, that’s how it seemed in her books. But given that those were romance novels and not works of non-fiction, she wasn’t sure how much to believe.
A lot of it’s been pretty accurate so far, though,she mused. Kind of surprising, really. Maybe shifters had written some of them. She almost smiled at the thought.
“Yes, and bear clans are notorious for their closeness. My mom used to cook dinner for my dad, brothers and I once a week. We’d all gather together at their place and spend some quality time with each other. Go over our week; unwind. But my dad and twin brothers have been away for a while now, and family dinners are scarce.”
“That’s kind of sad,” Nessa replied softly, putting the crust of her pizza back into the box. She grabbed a napkin, cleaning off her hands. “Can I ask where your dad and brothers are?”
“Out of state.” Murphy’s expression turned somber. “They are handling some business for me with another bear clan. Reece, one of the twins, witnessed a human woman being assaulted …” He trailed off, running a hand down his face as if he’d suddenly grown weary.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, Murphy,” Nessa told him gently, her fingers itching to reach out and take his hand. She didn’t want to bring up a distressing topic for him.
He dropped his hand, his eyes softening as they landed on her again. “It’s not that,” he admitted, his voice gruff. “I don’t want to say something that will remind you of your past. I don’t know much about it, but I can read between the lines.”
“Oh.” Nessa’s heart fluttered wildly in her chest, taken aback by his blatant consideration of her feelings. She swallowed thickly, sending him a small, hopefully reassuring smile. “I’d like to hear about your family, even the less flattering parts.”
“Reece has always had a volatile relationship with his bear,” Murphy began, sitting up from his previous lax position. He turned toward her, and his knee brushed against hers. She tried to focus on what he was saying.Get a hold of yourself!“It’s difficult for him to keep his more animalistic instincts at bay, especially during high-stress situations.”
“Like witnessing someone being abused,” Nessa chimed in, shifting until she was facing him, her legs tucked under her. She leaned against the back cushion, studying the details of Murphy’s face. She hadn’t noticed before, but he had small freckles littering his nose, and two more just under his right eye.
“Yes.” Murphy’s palm landed on her thigh, heat at his touch suddenly seeping through her jeans and practically singeing herskin. Her attention wavered from his story as her heart skipped a beat, excitement racing through her at the connection.
It’s not a big deal. Friends touch.
“Reece was going on a jog when he came upon a man hitting a woman. He shifted, ripped the man apart right in front of the woman,” Murphy stated casually.
Nessa blinked at him, having a difficult time correlating his words with his nonchalant demeanor. “Is that … normal?”
Murphy snorted, and some of the somberness left his eyes as they crinkled with humor. “No, Nes. Mauling a human to death is not normal for shifters. There’s a reason we’ve never been discovered. We keep a low profile, stick to ourselves, and we never shift in front of humans.”
“What happened to your brother after that?”
“The human woman agreed to keep his secret and told the police a bear had attacked and killed him. It should have ended there, but Reece’s bear refuses to leave the area; it’s connected itself to the woman, seeing itself as her protector. And since my brother can’t control his baser instincts enough to combat his counterpart, he’s been stalking her.”
“As abear?”
“Not always. At least, I assume he’s in his human form for most of it. It’s a complicated situation, but we’re hoping that eventually his bear will lose its protective urges toward the human and come home.”
“And your dad and other brother are staying with him?”
Murphy nodded. “To keep him safe, yes. I’d hoped I could use my dominance to order him home, but he’s nearly as dominant as I am, and it didn’t work.”
“Wow,” Nessa breathed. “That must be a lot to deal with, on top of everything else.”
“I’ve been responsible for my bear clan for the last fifteen years. I’m used to dealing with anything that gets tossed my way. Hazard of the job.”
“Do you like it? Being an Alpha?”
She loved owning her own store and being responsible for it, but she didn’t think she’d ever enjoy having employees to manage. Luckily, operating her business in a small town made it easy to handle everything herself. Even if she did have a hard time abiding by her own schedule.
