by Golden Angel
Both Bethany and Steele were bossy alphas, which made for fun fireworks on occasion. Doc suspected they bickered as foreplay.
"Can I help with anything?" she asked, hoping Jesse would give her a job so she wouldn't have to go back into the other room and face Brock. Fortunately, Jesse seemed to hear something in her tone and immediately nodded.
"Do you want to take over chopping these veggies for me?" she asked, offering up the knife she was holding.
"Sure!" Doc jumped right in. This wasn't the same as making her own dinner. Besides, a little bit of effort in order to be helpful was just polite. A small price to pay.
And when it was time to eat, she'd just make sure she was on the opposite end of the table to Brock.
Chapter 2
With just a tiny bit of fancy footwork, Brock made sure he snagged the seat next to Doc. She blinked in surprise as he dropped into the chair beside hers, and he got the distinct impression she was thinking about jumping up and trying to grab another one... but it was too late. The startled look she'd given him appealed to his bugaboo, making him feel a bit predatory, but in a fun way.
Like a hunter about to enjoy stalking his prey just for the enjoyment of a chase.
He didn't really have an end goal.
Well, maybe he did. He hadn't liked the way her eyes had skipped over him when she'd seen him in Brady and Jesse's living room. Or the way she'd immediately run to the kitchen. He hadn't missed the look she'd given Hungry Hungry Hippos—he was pretty sure she'd wanted to jump into the game but hadn't. Because of him.
For some reason, that just made him want to get closer to her. Maybe he just liked the shoe being on the other foot or maybe he felt a little guilty about having so thoroughly chased her off at Brady’s mating ceremony, but either way he wanted to sit next to her. By his choice this time.
On Doc's other side, Jesse was sitting down while Brady was at the head of the table. Steele, Bethany, and Bailey were across from them, and Daniel was seated at the foot, to Brock's right. The kid looked at Brock with a good dose of hero worship—which wasn't really anything new.
Only fifteen, he was obsessed with being a soldier when he grew up, so he already idolized all the Bunsons. He'd become especially enamored of Brock after Brock had been injured though, something which still made him uncomfortable. He did his best to emphasize how much it hurt and how much recovery sucked, especially because he knew Jesse worried over Daniel a lot.
Beside him, he could feel that Doc was kind of tense. Which made a nice change from when they were usually near each other and he was the one who was kind of tense. Oddly, he felt almost cheerful.
His bugaboo wasn't unhappy either. It liked the way she smelled.
Don't get used to it, he reminded the creature. They weren't going to be spending much time with her in the future after all.
Everyone was chattering and passing dishes, and Brock just let the noise wash over him as he filled up his own plate and passed anything that was handed to him. Jesse was telling them about a small deer shifter she'd met yesterday when she and Brady had visited Lakewood with some of Steele's pack. Dr. Montgomery, evil bastard that he was, had helped Dr. Tran create some vaccines for smaller shifters and Jesse and Brady had been part of the group collecting the vaccines for Steele's pack in case they ran into any small shifters.
It wasn't likely, being tucked into Cryus Peak the way they were, but Eli was thorough and he wanted Steele to have them on hand just in case. Brock cynically thought he probably wanted to make sure the vaccines weren't all stored in one place. Lakewood had plenty of soldiers on site but it didn't have the Peak's natural defenses.
"How can she be a small shifter if she's a deer?" Bethany asked, more interested in Jesse's description than in the food on her plate.
Doc was leaning in to the conversation as well, although that could be as much because it gave her an excuse to turn away from him as anything else. Reaching for a roll, Brock might have made his reach a little wider than necessary, and he bumped her arm with his. She glanced at him, almost nervously.
Which made him feel both guilty and gleeful.
He really needed to get his shit together.
Maybe if he apologized he'd feel better.
But not in front of everyone.
Maybe he could walk her back to her rooms after dinner.
His bugaboo perked up and Brock could sense the creature's enthusiastic agreement but he was pretty sure they had different reasons for thinking it was a good idea. Whatever was going on with his bugaboo's interest in Doc, it was definitely getting stronger and Brock did not approve. He didn't really know what to do about it though.
"She's a Pudu deer," Jesse explained, although Brock was only half-listening as he was lost in his own thoughts. "They're from South America and they're the smallest deer in the world. I didn't get to see her shift but she's pretty petite as a human."
"Like, my size petite?" Bethany asked. Brock's older sister was the shortest out of the whole Bunson family.
"Woah... they're tiny!" Daniel breathed out and everyone turned to look down the table at him. Blushing a little, he looked up to meet their gazes and sheepishly held up his phone, which he wasn't supposed to have at the dinner table. "Sorry, I just wanted to look."
"Well don't be greedy, pass it around," Bethany demanded, reaching over Bailey as Daniel offered it up. Both women huddled over the phone screen and made cooing noises.
"That's a baby one," Daniel said.
"It's so cute!" Bailey squealed a little.
"Well, let the rest of us see too," Brady said, sounding curious despite himself.
The phone was passed around so everyone could see. When Doc passed Brock the phone, their fingers brushed and he felt an odd little jump in his chest. Peering at the phone he looked at the picture of the small animal.
"Yup, it's a deer," he said, and handed the phone back to Daniel. Still looking a bit sheepish, the teen shoved it in his pocket. Beside Brock, Doc was bristling a little, as were his sisters across the table. He couldn't see what Jesse's reaction was but he just kind of assumed it was probably the same. Steele and Brady both looked amused.
Bethany made an aggravated noise. "It's an adorable, tiny deer, Brock!"
"Yup." He didn't really see what the big deal was. "Doesn't look like more than a mouthful."
Okay, that time he might have been deliberately trying to get under his sister's skin. To his bemusement, he realized Jesse had her napkin over her mouth and was laughing, but Bethany and Bailey immediately started scolding him while Doc was steadfastly glaring at her dinner plate and pretending he didn't exist. While all that was going on, Steele's phone started ringing and he excused himself from the table to answer it.
******
Doc couldn't tell if Brock was either just the grumpiest, most ornery asshole ever or if he was just the world's greatest troll. Maybe both?
If he was trolling his sisters, he did an amazing job of keeping a completely bland expression while he did so. She kept sneaking peeks at him. It was hard not to when he was sitting right next to her, big and broody and taking up space. It also didn't help that her puma kept wanting Doc to turn and rub up against him.
Seriously, her cat's attraction to him was really getting out of hand. Was he spraying himself with pheromones or something?
That would explain all the women willing to jump into bed with him even though he didn't talk.
Although, gossip said he did plenty of other things with his tongue.
Okay, she really needed to cut that out. Also she really needed to get laid, because her dry spell was obviously affecting her mind. And her taste in men.
Steele came striding back into the room, phone still in his hand like it was on, and he immediately caught Doc's eye. She sat up a little straighter.
"Hey Doc, Eli has an assignment for you," Steele said, holding the phone up so she could see Eli's handsome face on the screen.
"Hi Eli," she said, unintentionally starti
ng off a chorus as everyone else said hello too. Well, everyone except the man sitting next to her. As usual, he nodded. Which actually made her feel a little better, because at least now she knew she hadn't been singled out for nonverbal greetings from him.
"Hello everyone," Eli said with a genial smile that made him look more like he should be on a movie-poster than basically running the shifter world. With his blond hair, blue eyes, and chiseled jawline, he was more than a little swoon-worthy. "Sorry to interrupt dinner."
"No problem," Jesse said, smiling back at him in a way that had Brady casually leaning over and slinging his arm around her shoulders. She shot her mate a special smile as well. "What can we do for you?"
"Well, you know that shipment of vaccines you and Brady picked up? I already have a use for them. There's a surfeit of skunks in Utah, about six hours away from you, that contacted me today. They'd like to be vaccinated so they can rejoin society at large. You're the closest pack with the vaccines. I'd ask my uncle to go, but he doesn't travel as well as he used to."
Plus, Dr. Phil (who was Eli's uncle) was mated, whereas Doc wasn't.
"Yeah, I can do that," she said.
"Wait a second," Brock interjected, shifting in his seat beside her. "You're just going to send her alone into an unknown territory with the vaccines?" Doc turned to glare at him. What business of it was his?
"No, Brock, I was going to hopefully send someone with her," Eli said blandly. "Are you volunteering?"
To all of their obvious surprise, Brock shrugged. "Sure."
Doc's mouth dropped open. Bethany and Bailey both looked shocked, and Steele's expression was definitely surprised. Even Eli looked flummoxed. He recovered quickly though.
"All right then, that's settled."
"Hold on! That's not settled with me!" Doc protested. Her puma yowled. It definitely had no problem with Brock coming with them.
Good partner. Stop whining.
Doc ignored her puma’s scolding.
"Why not?" Brock asked, turning to her. "I'm a good choice. I'm not on any of the security details here but I'm trained. I'm almost fully recovered. And you can continue my PT while we're traveling."
It was the most she'd ever heard Brock say at once. But she just didn't get it. Doc narrowed her eyes at him. "You want to spend a twelve-hour round trip car-ride with me? It'll probably be an overnight trip too, because it's going to take some time to do all the vaccinations."
"Sure." Apparently no longer interested in talking, Brock turned his attention back to his dinner. Doc pushed back the urge to reach out and throttle him.
Turning back to Steele and Eli, trying to appeal to them with her eyes... she could see both of them were exchanging glances with Brady. Then they looked at her apologetically. It did make sense after all. Plus, mental-health-wise, it would be a good thing to give Brock a mission.
But did the mission really have to be going out on an overnight trip alone with her?
******
The smug pleasure radiating from Brock’s bugaboo was nearly stifling—and it didn’t help at all that he had his own feeling of smug triumph.
This would be perfect. He could get Doc alone, apologize for being too harsh at Brady and Jesse’s wedding, and maybe figure out why his bugaboo was so obsessed with her. If nothing else, two full days with her overly cheery personality had to give the creature its fill of her, right?
That he was obviously able to make her uncomfortable for once, instead of the other way around, was just a bonus.
Not in a bad way, of course, he didn’t want her to actually feel threatened by him. No, this was the same kind of slight uncomfortableness she'd made him feel whenever she wouldn't stop being so perky, upbeat, and pushing into his life. Only he was doing it by being dour, grumpy, and pushing back into her life.
Turnabout was fair play and all that.
Almost as soon as dinner was over Doc started saying goodbye to everyone with the excuse that she would need to be up early tomorrow to head to Utah.
"We leave at seven," she said to Brock, doing her best to look stern. It would have come off better if she wasn't wearing some kind of a weird mash-up of Disney and Harry Potter shirt. "Don't be late."
"I won't be," he said, feeling oddly cheerful. "I'll walk you back to your room now and we can discuss logistics."
Doc looked almost alarmed at the idea, her eyes going wide, and yet she didn't smell fearful, so he wasn't too worried.
"Nope," said Bethany, snagging his arm. Frowning, he looked down at his older sister as she pulled him back. She wasn't looking at him though, she was focused on Doc. "Bye Doc, Brock will have to see you tomorrow morning, I have a couple things I want to talk to him about before he leaves."
Opening his mouth to protest, he was way too slow; Doc was already out the door. His bugaboo made a huffing noise of disappointment, settling down in his head to sulk as it watched her go.
Dammit.
He scowled down at Bethany, who finally turned to pay attention to him and she scowled right back.
"What are you up to?" she asked—more demanded really. She could be really bossy when she wanted to.
"Yeah, I think we'd all like the answer to that," Bailey added on, coming out of the kitchen where she'd been helping with dishes. The younger Bunsons weren't great at cooking—they'd been too young when they were kidnapped to have learned much—but while they were learning to cook they did their best to help out by cleaning up after meals.
No matter what Bethany was up to, Bailey was usually at her side doing her best to mimic it. Which could be pretty cute when it didn't manifest as two identical scowls directed at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, stomping over to the cushy armchair he'd been sitting in earlier in the evening. If he was going to be nitpicked over by his sisters, he might as well be physically comfortable while they did it. It was a good chair.
To his surprise, Jesse gave him a look, too, as she came and sat down on the couch across from him. Not quite a scowl, but definitely not happy with him either.
"Yes, you do," she said in a tone normally reserved for her younger brother, or Brady when he wasn’t toeing the line with her. "Why did you volunteer to escort Doc to the surfeit? You don't even like her."
Bethany and Bailey plopped down on either side of Jesse, still glaring and making him feel like he was facing a firing squad. It didn’t help when Steele appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, drying off his hands with a towel to watch the action. Behind him, Brady hovered, also obviously listening in and wanting to know what was going through his head. Daniel had already high-tailed it to his room as soon as dinner was over.
Trying to buy himself time to think of a reason the women would accept, Brock shrugged.
"Someone needs to go with her."
"But why you?" Bethany asked suspiciously, narrowing her blue eyes at him like little laser beams. "Jesse is right, you don't like Doc."
"I just need to get out of the Peak for a bit," he said gruffly. It wasn't entirely a lie, which made it plausible. He'd been stuck under the mountain, not even going out on patrols, almost the entire time since he'd injured his shoulder. That was a long time. He'd done a few shifts, of course, because his bugaboo had needed to stretch his legs, but those hadn't been the same.
Even in his bunny-bear form his shoulder still hurt and could be reinjured, so he had to be really careful and he hadn't been in good enough shape to defend himself if there had been an attack. Now he was nearly healed and he could definitely perform guard duty if necessary.
To his relief, all three women paused, their expressions varying somewhat as they thought over his proffered excuse. Jesse looked like she bought it right away and she was now looking at him with sympathy. On either side of her, his sisters were slightly harder cases. Bethany didn't look entirely convinced and Bailey was still studying his expression as if she thought she could figure out whether or not he was lying.
"It must be hard staying inside al
l the time," Jesse said, nodding. "Still... are you sure a road trip with Doc is the best answer?"
Brock shrugged again. "It'll be fine. It's just an overnight."
Now all three of them had the exact same expression on their faces—pure skepticism.
******
"Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-day, my oh my what a wonderful day," Doc sang as she slung her bag into the backseat of her car, her to-go cup of delicious, necessary coffee in her free hand. All of the cars were parked in a special area just off the main entrance to Cryus Peak. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed her little red sedan, which she'd named McQueen, after the main character in Cars. Just seeing the tiny lightning decals she'd put on the front doors made her smile.
"What are you singing?"
The masculine growl behind her prompted her smile to widen to a grin.
Doc had spent the rest of her evening following dinner packing and figuring out how she was going to handle Brock on this little trip. Ultimately, she'd come to the conclusion that she needed to stop tiptoeing around him the way she had been.
Sure, he'd been a jerk at Brady and Jesse's celebration.
Yes, she'd been avoiding him since then.
No, she didn't know why he'd volunteered to come with her.
But might as well make the best of it, right? Maybe it meant he was finally warming up to her. Even if he wasn't, this had to be her chance to make friends with him, didn't it? Obviously avoiding him hadn't made her feel any better.
"Zip-a-dee-doo-dah," she answered, turning around to give him a bright smile, coffee still in hand. He still had his Resting Brock Face thing going on, but at least he didn't look any grumpier than usual.
Grunting, Brock tossed his bag into her backseat, where it landed neatly next to hers. The wary way he was eyeing her made her wonder what exactly he thought was so dangerous about her.
She wasn't wearing her lab coat and she'd put on her most innocuous t-shirt—it didn't have any pictures and all it said was "Heigh-ho, Let's Go!" It had been this one or her "I Can Show You the World" Aladdin one, but since they were only driving for six hours that one hadn't seemed quite as appropriate. Maybe it was her matching Snow White yoga pants, although in order to see the apple with a bite out of it, he would have had to have been looking at her butt.