Page 62 of Caught Bear Handed
It doesn’t have to be goodbye, my bear reminded me.
But as we joined my coworkers inside the cabin, I was at a total loss for ways we could make things work between us.I’d just been offered my dream job, and Kayla would be headed back to hers.
You’ll find a way,my bear insisted.
I wanted nothing more than to be alone with Kayla, to kiss her and make all the things that happened today go away.But I was grateful that the Sawtooth Security guys found us.Even though it had felt very much like we’d been fighting alone, we weren’t.
“Thanks for all the hard work you did on this case,” I said once we got inside the cabin.“I’m sure things could’ve gotten much worse today if we didn’t have an eye on these guys.”
“We won’t stay long,” Barrett said, like he could read my mind.“But we figured you’d want to know what we learned about the crypto ring.”
“How bad was it?”Kayla asked as she settled on the couch.I took the seat beside her, and Gigi pushed her way between us.
“Worse than we thought,” Bellamy said.“Turns out, Mark Peters was no lovesick superfan that got mixed up in a bad crowd.He was the mastermind behind the whole ring.He was using the proceeds from the crypto money to do experiments on humans, injecting them with shifter genes to create hybrid creatures with certain abilities.”
Kayla gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth.
“Fuck,” I said under my breath.
Bellamy nodded.“As you can imagine, this practice went horribly wrong more than it went right.But apparently there was a market for the successful hybrids.Buyers were treating the hybrids as pets, or like their own personal blow-up dolls.”
“That’s so horrifying.”Kayla shuddered.“Even more that they kept trying to abduct me for moon knows what.”
“Your DNA would be very valuable on the black market,” Bellamy said.“More valuable than your money.Which is probably why they were so focused on you.”
“We’ve been in contact with the local authorities,” Barrett added.“We’ve been helping them gather intel where these things have been happening.They were waiting for us to wrap up this part of the case before they made any public moves.”
“So it’s over?”Kayla asked, her voice heavy with emotion.
“Yeah, the threat is gone,” Barrett said.“I’ve also spoken to an attorney general who is interested in building a case to recover funds for the victims.”
“That would be amazing,” she said.
I reached over and squeezed her hand.We weren’t sure how this case would come to an end.It was so much bigger than us, and I was so proud to be part of a team that shut the whole damn operation down.
“It was a pleasure to work with you, Kayla,” Bellamy said as he rose from the chair.“Since this case is considered closed, you’re a free woman—I hope you never need our help again, but at the same time, I hope to be seeing a lot more of you in Sawtooth Forest.”
“Agreed,” Barrett added.“We know you have a demanding shooting schedule, but we’d love a chance to properly introduce you to the rest of the pack.But for now, we’ll give the two of you some time to recover from your ordeal.”
Once my coworkers closed the door behind them, we were alone.
“Kinda feels like the first night they left us here,” I said.
“How so?”Kayla asked.Her gaze met mine, and my body warmed.All the aches from the day, the shift, and the fight faded away.
“I have no idea what happens next.”
“I have a pretty good idea.”She leaned forward and cupped my face in her hands.“You’re gonna kiss me, and then we’ll get a little carried away.Gigi will get annoyed with us and take off in a huff, but we’ll make it up to her with lots of treats and cuddles later.After we give each other lots of treats and cuddles.”
Gigi got the hint without us having to coax her off the couch.
“Is that what we’re calling it now?”I teased.I’d had something very different in mind, but I was on board with this idea.
As long as it wasn’t goodbye.
Kayla ran her hand over my forehead.“The wound looks much better,” she said softly.“I think I’ll need to check the rest of you.”
“Dr.Kayla at my service?”I chuckled.