The last part had Nessa tapping the floor with her foot again to dilute the nervous tension coursing through her. The last thing she needed was to be near a man quick to anger, especially if he couldn’t control himself when he lost his temper.
“It doesn’t sound like much,” Tank cut in, oblivious to her train of thought. “But if we’re right, and this is the beginning of mating sickness, Murphy will only get worse. Eventually, he’ll resemble more of a rabid animal than himself. The sickness will consume and then kill him.”
The denial in Nessa’s heart caused a physical reaction, and she clutched her chest as pain lanced through it, expecting to find anopen wound. She felt her stomach lurch at the thought of him suffering and dying from something so … awful. “You said you’re not sure if that’s what’s going on here. Could it be something else?”
“You still smell him, don’t you?” Hunny asked suddenly, leaning forward until her baby bump pressed against the table’s rounded edge. She held Nessa’s gaze, studying her intently. “You told me you could scent him the day we were attacked. I think Murphy did imprint on you the first time you met, and I think that’s the reason you could smell him then. A human shouldn’t be able to scent shifters like that.”
Nessa let out a small, trembling breath. “Yeah, I still smell him everywhere.” Mating sickness … Murphy was going to die because of her. Unless … “What can I do to help him? I don’t think I can mate him, not after—”
“Murphy doesn’t want a human mate,” Tank declared gruffly. He cleared his throat with a grimace. “But for whatever reason, he can’t let you go. We’re hoping that if you go to him, if you formally reject him, his bear will accept that, and the imprint will fade shortly after.”
“Reject him? What does that do?”
“It will sever whatever tie there is between your souls. Essentially, the mate bond between you two will cease to exist,” Hunny explained softly.
Nessa should have felt relieved that such an option existed, that she had some semblance of power over her fate. Instead, she felt oddly bereft and nauseous. The very thought of cutting ties with Murphy was abhorrent. And why didn’t he want a human mate? What was wrong with humans?
There were so many conflicting emotions and questions spiraling around her head. Instead, she asked a simpler one. One that was bothering her. “You act like it’s a whole separate person. His bear, I mean.”
“In a way, it is.” Tank shrugged. “The bear is what gives him the urge to mate. It scented you, it wanted you, and it knew Murphy would resist, so it imprinted on you.”
“That’s still just a guess,” Hunny interjected.
“A damned good one,” Tank said with a snort, though his expression lacked any sort of humor. “The point is, Murphy doesn’t want you. His bear does. Reject the bear, and you’ll spare the male from being tormented.”
“I—” Nessa’s throat constricted, and she snapped her mouth closed. Irrationally, she felt hurt by Tank’s remark. She knew Murphy didn’t like her, and apparently he wasn’t fond of humans in general, but hearing that he didn’t wantherspecifically was a blow she hadn’t expected.
Don’t be ridiculous. Just this morning, you were thinking about how much you disliked each other.You should be happy.Still, her nose stung and her eyes watered.
She blinked quickly, willing the sensation away.
Hunny stood from her seat, tucking in her chair and pulling Tank from his. “This is a lot to process, I know, and I’m really sorry we’ve come to you with these problems after everything you’ve been through, Nessa. I just thought you should know what’s going on. Please, think about it all and reach out with any questions.”
Nessa didn’t stand as the couple walked from the room, nor did she offer to help them out. They could unlock the door from the inside anyway.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, staring blankly down at the tabletop as her mind raced. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. It all passed by in a blur until her thoughts came to a grinding halt, settling on one thing.
She needed to see Murphy.
Chapter 3
Murphy Sinclair glared at the receipt logs on his computer, the bright glow from the new monitor practically burning his retinas as he intently studied the screen. He’d just spent twenty minutes meticulously going over each purchase made by every member of his bear clan this past month, aggravated for no genuine reason. Everything looked legit, and he was sure it was.
Unfortunately, that didn’t help his agitation. Did anything nowadays? No.
Murphy huffed out a breath, exhaustion riding him hard as his hand tightened on the computer mouse. He slid the cursor to a small icon on the screen. He clicked on it, and another page of receipts popped up, this one for two hotel rooms out of state.
Although his father, Phillip, and twin brothers, Reece and Gunnar, had been living in an entirely different state for nearlya year now, their lengthy excursion hadn’t even put a dent in the clan’s wealth. Not that it should have. Murphy had made sure that over the last fifteen years of his leadership, whether it was through the stock market or other lucrative investments, his entire clan would be financially set for generations to come.
Providing for the bears under his protection was the least he could do as an Alpha, and although ensuring the continued happiness of his people constantly weighed on his mind, it was a burden he had always been more than willing to bear.
But lately … It seemed those burdens had doubled in sizeandstress, each one settling on his shoulders more heavily than the last. As an Alpha, he was constantly ‘at work,’ even when he was at home, like right now.
It was Friday night, and instead of relaxing from the long week, he was going over finances. He had nothing to offset his responsibilities, no good way to unwind, which usually never bothered him, but lately, he found it left him feeling rather … volatile.
And not justhim.
He felt a stirring in his mind then, his bear rising to the forefront and snarling. The sound was so vocal in his mind, he actually felt his eardrums rattle, as if the bear was roaring angrily in his face. Murphy pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
