Free Bear Shifters: Hunt Collection #1 by Ava Hunt

other end of the planet. He couldn't protect her when he didn't even know where she was. He sat down on the clothes-strewn bed and felt something hard beneath him. He pushed the clothes aside. Her notebooks lay open underneath. Jaime picked one up. Jillian Campbell's name and information was scrawled on the open page, the phone number to the mission where she stayed. Shaking, Jaime called her.
     
    The nun who answered the phone in Brazil wasn't Jillian, but another nun in the mission. Jaime explained that he was Jeneva's brother and asked for the address and directions to the mission. The nun gave them gladly.
     
    Jaime let out a whoop of triumph when he ended the call. "Found her!" That was a huge hurdle. He was proud of himself for being persistent. But then triumph turned to fear again.
     
    Jeneva wasn't going to listen to anything he had to say. He could fly there today and she wouldn't go even if he dragged her kicking and screaming. Her determination was admirable but now it was in his way. He stood in the doorway of her bedroom, forming a plan. He'd go to visit Rayner. God knows he didn't want to, and it would be hard to keep himself from smashing his face in when he saw him. But he had to admit to himself that he needed his help now more than ever.
     
    Jaime drove to Rayner's trailer. The truck was gone. He parked outside, nervous, waiting for an angry Rayner to storm outside, tell him to get off his land. Nothing happened. Jaime went inside the trailer - no one locked their doors around here – it was a complete mess. Everything had been destroyed. The bed was torn up. The walls were shredded. Jaime started to understand. Rayner really did care about his sister. Whatever happened wasn't because Rayner hated her. He was hurt.
     
    Jaime headed to The Big Dipper next. Maybe he would find Rayner inside. 
     
    Rayner sat nursing a beer in The Big Dipper. Marcus silently refilled him. Rayner knew Marcus was disappointed in him, not only for his behavior but also for all of the drinking. 
     
    Jaime came in, the last Bear on earth Rayner felt like seeing. He hadn't talked to him since that phone call when Jeneva left. The hair on his neck bristled in anticipation of a brawl.
     
    Jaime sat next to him peacefully and ordered a beer from Marcus, without saying anything to Rayner. When the beer came and Marcus went to help another customer, Jaime said, "She misses you, you know."
     
    Rayner snarled, "How do you know. She didn't want me, and she left to prove it. I doubt she's thinking of me at all."
     
    Jaime looked at Rayner. Rayner's eyes were bloodshot and his mouth a permanent frown. "That's impossible, Rayner. You're her mate. She's thinking of you everyday. She's in agony over you."
     
    "Mating doesn't seem to stop women from leaving you," Rayner said.
     
    "Lorna wasn't a Bear!" Jaime yelled, getting impatient. "Listen, you sorry sack of dung, you can mope around all you want, but my sister is gone because of you, and you're the only one who can do anything about it." Jaime slapped the mission's address and phone number down on the bartop in front of Rayner. "I hope you have the balls to fix the mess you made." He shook his head in disgust. "You know, I should end you," Jaime threatened. Rayner looked up at him almost hopefully.
     
    Jaime sighed. "Instead, I'll just leave you to stew in your own misery." He left Rayner at the bar.
     
    Rayner picked up the slip of paper. He thought about trashing it. But he left it on the bar, unsure what to do with it.
     
    George had become another bar regular, and watched the exchange between Jaime and Rayner. He walked over to Rayner now, looking sympathetic.
     
    "Rayner," George put a hand on his shoulder. "You escaped from Jen, you're lucky. I got to see her true colors myself through this whole thing." Rayner listened quietly to him, wishing George would take his grubby hand off of his shoulder. "I never told you how she confided in me that she wanted to abort your