Free Chasing His Bunny by Golden Angel Page B

do to make his mate
happy and prove to her that he would be a good mate.  His wolf
was already feeling protective of Bailey as an extension of Bethany
anyway, and it approved the patient stalking of their mate and
showing her what a good provider they could be.  
    "Are you sure you don't want me to go
with you?" he couldn't help asking, as he helped Bailey out of the
car.  He'd taken them to the edge of the woods on the far side
of the town; since most people entered the woods right near their
houses (because that's what made the most sense), he doubted anyone
would be nearby.  Still... if he could keep watch over
them...
    "No, please," said Bailey, a hint of
real fear in her eyes, the sharp scent biting at his nose. 
She'd been fairly calm in the car, but now her shaking had
increased and the scent of her fear had his wolf snapping inside
his head... but there was no enemy to fight here.  Nothing
that he could tear apart.  "Just Bethany."
    "Just me," Bethany said sharply,
practically shoving him aside as she grabbed her sister's
hand.  His tiny mate wasn't the least bit intimidated by his
size or strength as she knocked into him, he noted with pleasure,
as he allowed her to push him away.  While part of him wanted
to whine at the perceived rejection, he realized that - in this -
he didn't really understand what the sisters were going
through.  Whatever shifter animals had been awoken in their
genetics by Dr. Montgomery, it wasn't the same as having been born
a shifter.  They wanted privacy and dignity, something they
hadn’t had at the compound, and something which he could give
her.
    It sucked being helpless, but there
was one other thing he could do...
    He could go check in with Eli and find
out if there was any new intel on the whereabouts of Dr. Montgomery
or his backers.  That should make his mate happy.
    "Do you want me to come back here and
pick you up?" he asked, hating the plaintive note in his voice but
unable to keep it out entirely.
    Bethany hesitated, her blue eyes
flashing to him, and his wolf panted happily inside of his
head.  Distantly, he felt her reluctance to let him go, a tiny
speck of an emotion next to the flood of her anxiety about her
sister, but it was enough to salve his ego.  
    "If you don't mind," she said, a bit
uncertainly.  "We should be ready in about an hour..."
 He couldn't tell why she would feel uncertain, but he could
at least reassure her that he absolutely wanted to come back and
pick her and Bailey up. 
    "I'll be here," he said firmly,
stamping down on the urge to lean over and kiss her perfect
lips.  It was driving him a little nuts that he didn't have
her full attention so soon after mating.  His wolf was
agitated that their mate was going on a run without them. 
Although he understood that Bethany was focused on her sister right
now, and he wasn't hurt or anything, his instincts were driving him
to want to solidify the bond.  
    Mouth set in a grim line, he forced
himself to turn and get back into his car.  It felt wrong, so
wrong, to be leaving his mate.  He could sense that she felt
that wrongness as well, even if it was drowned out in panic and a
kind of terror that he would stay, but at least some part of her
wanted him there.  Even if she was denying that part.  It
was going to be a late night.
    ******
    Clinging to her sister, Bethany fought
against the urge to go chasing after Steele.  It was making
her skin crawl to see him driving away, and she had the strangest
sensation that she could actually feel the distance between them
growing.  Pure imagination, but not something she would have
ever expected. 
    "Are you okay?" Bailey
asked, her voice strained but intrigued.  "What was up with
you and Mr. McHottie?"
    "I'll tell you later," Bethany said,
turning and pushing Bailey towards the edge of the woods.  The
parking lot they were standing in was completely empty, to her
relief, and the woods looked thick and dark.  The thing in her
head seemed