“Absolutely. There’s no time to sit idle.”
Kane looked at the doctor. “I’d like to begin by testing my own blood.”
* * * * *
“Dammit.” Kane dropped the report in his hand and strode to the windows. The lab looked out over the forest, the Medve stretching for miles from this vantage point.
The beauty of the world he lived in was marred by yet another faulty test. But even deeper than that was the fact that he’d just spent six solid days on his testing and so far had failed every time.
Failed all the shifters he meant to help by doing this.
Failed Bennett.
He pushed out a rough exhale and cursed under his breath again. Maybe he needed to get out of here for a while. Breathe the fresh air.
He’d been holed up in here far too long. Actually, he didn’t know the last time he hadn’t taken a meal here or slept for a few hours on the small sofa in the other room, only to get up and start all over again.
Maybe the cool air—and a shift—would help clear his mind.
It could present him with some new ideas, which would be welcome since he’d pretty much exhausted his theories.
He started to turn from the window when he caught movement from the corner of his eye.
The back of the man was so familiar.
Kane’s heart gave a trill. He rushed to the door and ran into the hall. Bennett’s back was retreating.
“Bennett!” he called out.
The shifter slowed to a stop, not turning to look at him.
Kane caught up, chest pounding with the thumping of his heart. What was he doing here? Looking for Dr. Dreyer or… for him?
“Bennett,” he said more quietly as he approached, aware the shifter could still be suffering the worst of the withdrawals—and feeling terrible that he didn’t know for himself. He hadn’t visited him in days.
He moved to face him. Bennett kept his eyes downcast.
“Are you all right?” Kane asked.
He gave a jerky nod.
“Are you looking for me?”
“No. I was just exploring.”
Kane studied his face. A smile spread across his own. “That’s fabulous news. If you’re out of your room…”
Bennett’s gaze shot to his. So much anger still burned in the depths of the shifter’s eyes that Kane winced.
“I apologize for not visiting you recently. I’ve been… I’m trying to find a resolution to this thing that’s plaguing so many. To help you,” he finished quietly.
Bennett didn’t move or speak. Then he pushed past Kane and walked away.
“Hell,” Kane grated out as he watched his retreating back. The relations between them were strained at best, and he couldn’t read the shifter at all at the moment.
He felt the first prickle of hair on his neck, indicating his bear was trying to force a shift.
Kane had put his trust in that knowledge and would allow his bear to bring him.
He made it to the exit and stepped outside. The second step he took, a paw hit the earth. Then he was on all fours, running.
As he stretched his legs and threw his head back with a roar, his mind went blank, only letting in the things his senses gathered—grass, wind, the tang of pine. He hit the trail that circled the Sanctuary. Suddenly, his brain flooded with images of Bennett and he felt the sting of that angry stare all over again.
With the clarity of being in his bear form, everything fell into place.
He loved him. Bennett was his mate. If he could stop being another man’s mate, that was.
He crested a hill and came to an abrupt stop, staring over the hillside. His own pain lived deep within him, an aching need to claim the shifter as his own and another deeper, more sickening pain that he could not.
Not unless Bennett was whole.
The wind blew harder across his face, ruffling his fur. He closed his eyes and let his mind work through the past few days. Testing. Pricking himself so many times for samples of his own blood he was probably anemic by now. Reports that told him nothing.
He had to find another way. There must be—
His eyes popped open as all the pieces fell into place, and he realized with a jolt what he must do to make the test work properly. To glean the information he needed.
But what he found only managed to sink him into a deep well of despair.
* * * * *
Dirk lowered the report he’d been staring at for what felt like a solid minute.
“You’re certain?” he asked Kane.
He nodded. “I’ve checked it three times and received the same information each time. There’s a chromosome that is altered by… something. And I carry it.”
Dirk tossed down the paper and rolled up his sleeve with jerky movements. “Test me.”
Kane stared at him a long moment. “You might not want to know, Dirk.”
“No, I do. Test me.” He held out his arm, snaking with veins that he expected Kane to open and take his blood for testing—testing which might show that he too carried an altered chromosome.
“If this is what I think… Dirk, you and Ryan…”
“I don’t believe it will affect us.”
“How can you know? It could mean you carry the gene to break your bond too.”
“No,” he said with more force.
Kane arched a brow at him, needles and syringe in hand. “Then why test yourself at all?”
“Just do it.” Dirk sounded as miserable as Kane had been feeling since making the discovery. “You haven’t tested enough subjects yet to make a good conclusion. For all we know, it’s a trait passed down through clans and nothing at all to do with breaking bonds.”
Kane wasn’t so certain. He’d managed to isolate genes and study them individually. He’d been holed up here for weeks now, with little food or sleep. He was too engrossed in his work and the drive had overtaken his sanity.
Now something else was threatening to drive him mad. The idea that he could take Bennett only to later toss him away like garbage…
He swallowed the lump that rose immediately to his throat.
After drawing Dirk’s blood, he set about running tests on it. While he waited, Dirk got up and began to pace. Each footfall grated on Kane’s nerves but he didn’t say anything. When he had testing underway, he turned to face his friend and colleague.
Arms folded, they stared at each other.
“How long will it take?” Dirk grated out.
“Five minutes.”
Dirk spun to look out the windows and did not move again. The seconds ticked by, and one thing became clear to Kane.
He could not risk claiming Bennett. If he had isolated the chromosome that was the reason for mates breaking ties, then he couldn’t do that to Bennett a second time. It was a wonder he’d survived the first. The second would surely kill him.
Which meant Kane had to leave the Medve, run far and fast to escape. He could take up his work again in a new land while helping those around him.
The timer dinged, and Dirk’s shoulders stiffened. He didn’t turn to look at Kane when he said, “Go on and look.”
With trembling hands, Kane pulled the fresh report off the printer and stared at the data.
When he glanced up, Dirk was standing feet in front of him. Dirk’s throat worked. “Well?”
“You don’t have it.” Kane held out the paper to him.
Dirk snatched it up and scanned it. His shoulders slumped with relief.
“If you didn’t believe the data reveals what I believe, why do you look so relieved?” Kane smirked.
Dirk’s gaze shot to his. “It still might not mean that. You need more test subjects. I’ll send in my assistant and anybody else I can round up.”
Kane nodded. “I’d appreciate it.”
“Good. And Kane?”
He met his friend’s gaze.
“You need to get out of the lab more. It’s not good to obsess like this.”
-Chapter Six-
Bennett had been here too damn long. It was time to move on—hell, it had been for weeks. Yet he was frozen.
Terrified of striking out on his own, that some innate need inside him would make him circle back to the Niedz to find Raphael.
He was stronger, yes, yet he had so far to go.
Yes, he had to remain here at the Sanctuary. But…
Something else was eating at him, had been for weeks.
Kane, the man who’d come into the cave and demanded he leave, who’d given Bennett hope, had abandoned him too.
He twisted from the window and stared at his rumpled bed. The tray of food that had gone uneaten and was now congealed.
Anger flared inside him, and he couldn’t harbor it any longer.
He was going to find Kane and demand—
What?
Attention? He wasn’t a child.
Answers? Kane had never promised any.
Still, Bennett couldn’t remain in this room another second. He strode out the door, slamming it behind him, and turned at the corner of the corridor that would lead him to Dr. Dreyer’s quarters and laboratory.
He’d gone wandering and found it.
Though he did not want to admit how he’d known Kane was there.
He’d… he’d smelled him.
Shoving that thought down, he made his way down the corridor. It was lined with windows—so many windows in this place—and buttery light fell across the floor. He walked over the rectangles.
Suddenly, the scent hit him hard. Bennett stumbled back a step, reaching out to palm the wall for support.
Kane. He was close. He was afraid.
Oh God, how do I know this?
He stopped in his tracks. He should turn back.
Then he heard a muffled noise like a cry.
He placed his hand on the door of the lab he’d entered one time before. A single look at Kane had sent his heart pounding and he’d been so afraid, he’d turned back around.
Afraid.
Could Kane be as afraid of Bennett as he was of his own emotions?
Another sound and he pushed open the door. Kane’s back was to him, his hands braced on the counter and his head hanging low between his shoulders.
At the sound of Bennett’s steps, he whirled. Eyes wide, square jaw dropped. His broad chest gave a heave.
“Are you all right?” His gritty voice grated across Bennett’s senses, and a desire to comfort him filled him. Why?
He nodded. “What are you doing?” He pointed to the setup along the counter. Vial after vial of blood along with a stack of paper and some colored dyes.
Kane’s gaze raked over him, leaving him feeling exposed. “You look improved. Your color’s better. Your wounds?”
“Nearly healed,” he responded.
They stared at each other.
“Oh this.” Kane waved to the lab supplies. “I’m running tests.”
“Blood tests.”
He nodded.
“And what have you found?” He drifted farther into the room.
When he drew near Kane, the man took a deep breath. Bennett stopped before the blood samples. He zeroed in on one—totally aware of who it belonged to.
His gaze shot to Kane. “You’re testing yourself.” He looked at his arm, the crease of his elbow poked time and again and bruised from it.
He nodded. “I’ve been trying to find the reason—”
“Mates are rejecting each other,” he completed. “You told me before.”
“Yes.”
“And are you finding anything?”
He nodded again. “I think so. I’ve isolated a chromosome and I’ve been testing other shifters for it.”
He raised a brow. “What are your finds?”
“About thirty percent have the altered chromosome.”
He thrust out an arm. “Test me.”
He was shaking his head before the words were completely out. “I can’t.”
“You can. I’m here to be examined, and you’re not being thorough enough unless you check me too.”
He swallowed hard and after a long minute, gave a hard nod. “Sit down,” he said to Bennett.
He took a chair and watched Kane’s gestures as he gathered supplies. He turned to him, long fingers hovering over his arm. “You’re sure about this?”
Bennett nodded. “I’m Niedz. I don’t back down from anything.”
Kane nodded and set about drawing blood. At the small prick of the needle, he apologized for hurting him. Bennett grunted. “I’ve endured much worse than that.”
Their gazes connected. “I know.”
He set aside the blood and looked at him.
“You’re not going to test it now?”
Kane shook his head. “I’ll do it later. Why don’t we sit and talk?”
“Talk?” He shot a look at the surface of a desk where a card game was laid out. “Is that what you do to pass the time while you’re waiting on your test results?”
Kane followed his gaze and smiled, and it broke the craggy fatigue on his face. “Helps me think. Want to play?”
* * * * *
Kane held the deck of cards. As Bennett looked on, he shuffled them into his other hand, letting them slide like a waterfall. “You do look better.”
“I am.” He hated to admit the nausea of withdrawal was leaving him because it meant Raphael was farther away too. But it was true—he was gaining strength.
Kane raised his chin. “How’s the thigh wound really?”
The puckered red wound his mate had given him was healing well enough—it was the anguish left by it in his soul that really continued to torment him. When he lifted his gaze to Kane’s, he saw something dark and intense there. Awareness was a warm finger tracing down Bennett’s spine.
Perhaps he wasn’t disgusting to everyone.
The cards ruffled. “Feeling like a game of war?” Kane asked.
Bennett jerked his gaze to Kane’s.
“You up for it?” Kane’s tone was low.
A heartbeat stretched between them.
Bennett shivered at the memory of wearing Kane’s shirt. Before his collapse, he’d acknowledged the body heat seeping from the cotton.
Kane flipped his chair backward and straddled it, his long, muscular legs drawing Bennett’s attention.
If he didn’t long for Raphael to the pit of his soul…
Kane’s dark coloring was perfectly framed by the backdrop of colors found in nature. Sandy walls and oak woods with some greens and blues.
Bennett rested his elbows on the bamboo wood table, and Kane began to deal. When he glanced at his face, Bennett did a double-take. Until that moment he hadn’t realized Kane was chewing on a toothpick. The end projected from the corner of his mouth, accentuating his hard yet sensual lips.
“You know how to play war?”
Bennett didn’t believe for a minute they were only talking about the game. He nodded and gathered the cards as Kane flipped them toward him. “I know war.”
Kane nodded, eyes downcast, his dark lashes sweeping his tanned cheeks. “As a Niedz, you would. So you know how to fight, but do you know how to play?”
Leaning back a bit, Bennett assessed his companion. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Besides my duties as apprentice to Dr. Dreyer, I’m also the activities director for the Sanctuary.”
Bennett cocked a brow and fanned his cards in his hand. “Like shuffleboard?”
Kane released a growl that was wholly masculine. The hair on Bennett’s forearms stood up. “This isn’t the Love Boat. I’m talking tackle football, basketball, martial arts competitions. Do you play any sports?”
When Kane slapped a card face-up on the table, Bennett covered it with his first card. Six of clubs versus two of diamonds.
“You win,” Kane said, voice pitched low.
Bennett drew the cards toward him. Kane dropped another. He topped it and won again.
“Where I come from there isn’t a lot of opportunity
for games.”
“Ah yes, always training for war,” Kane said, taking the third pile with a cocky curl of his lip.
Bennett considered his point of view. Their clan warred—it was what they did. And as a result, they were mostly serious people. Death came too soon to most, and those who let down their guards enough to joke often found themselves toes-up.
Kane won the next two piles. Bennett grew mesmerized by the way his hands moved and the snap of cards striking the table. Finally Kane leaned forward, sending warm, mint-scented breath across Bennett’s face. “If you were going to try a sport, what would it be?”
“Basketball,” Bennett said without thought. He slapped an ace of hearts on top of Kane’s king of hearts.
Kane’s gaze caught his and held. He plucked the toothpick from his mouth, lower lip gleaming with moisture. “You got me on that round of hearts.”
Bennett’s pulse drummed, and something unraveled in him, deep, where no one had ever looked before. He reached for the pile, but Kane rested his hand atop Bennett’s.
The dark flash of Kane’s eyes made his heart beat harder. “After I kick your ass at war, meet me on the court.”
Bennett pulled his hand out from under Kane’s, drawing the cards into his pile. “Okay,” he said quietly. “But don’t be so sure you’re going to kick my ass.”
* * * * *
Kane let the basketball glide off his fingertips and drop to the court. He threw out an arm and assumed a crouch as he dribbled toward the hoop. He did a layup and sank the ball. Nothing but net.
His enhanced hearing detected Bennett’s step before he appeared around the corner. The outdoor court was laid out between a stand of pines and a screen of maple trees. In fall it was impossible to play because leaves covered the court, but the leaves still clung to the branches, happy for another few months.
Bennett’s expression made Kane look at him hard. While he was improving, he was far from healed. He might not suffer from such debilitating shakes as he had weeks ago, but it might take months for him to be able to function well.
Losing a mate was a devastating thing, and a phenomenon that scared the hell out of Kane, especially now that he knew he carried that chromosome.
But it might not mean anything, like Dr. Dreyer said.
Trusting the Bear Shifter: A MM Shifter Bonding Alpha Mates Romance (Primal Roar Series Book 2) Page 5