A Lamb for the Bear's Appetite by Unknown Page B

Luke will be able to help though.”
    For the rest of the trip they were silent, but Liam refused to loosen his hold on his mate. She had stopped shivering an hour ago, and although he sensed how exhausted she was, she forced herself to stay awake.
    Once they reached his father’s house he kept her in his arms. Maverick carried her brother because he was unconscious, and they all made their way toward the back of the house. Trace unlocked the basement door, and they entered the lowest part of the house. It was a fully finished basement, with two separate bedrooms, one and a half baths, and a full-sized kitchen. In essence it was a whole other house right below his father’s. He wished they’d had this setup when Liam had been growing up, but over the past year Trace had completed this, and still planned on expanding more of the house.
    “I’ll put him in one of the bedrooms.” Trace was already on the phone with Luke, Sweet Water’s cougar shifting physician. Luke may take care of the majority of the town, but he also worked behind the scenes, helping out his father and Maverick, and several other shifters that were injured and didn’t want a paper trail left because of it.
    Trace ended the call a few minutes later, stuck his phone in his front pocket, and looked at Liam. “He’ll be here in twenty minutes.”
    Liam nodded and curled his fingers around Olive’s thighs. She clung to him, and as much as he loved the fact she wanted him to hold her, he didn’t like why she wanted his touch so badly. He would have taken her into the other bedroom, but he knew she would want to be with her brother, at least until he was on the mend. Once inside the room where Holden was, he set her gently on the floor, having to force himself to actually let her go. She moved almost hesitantly to where her brother was, as if she was frightened of getting near him. But Liam smelled her nervousness and worry for Holden, and he wished he could take it away.
    “Oh, God, Holden.” She sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand. “We’re free now. Everything will be okay now. When you’re all better we will go to the beach, see the ocean, and everything will work out just like we always talked about.” Her brother didn’t respond when she started brushing his hair off his forehead. The scent of her salty tears reminded Liam of the ocean she talked about.
    For the next twenty or so minutes he stood in the corner, not able to leave her side, but knowing she needed this time to be with her brother. Once things were settled, and, he hoped, Luke could help heal Holden, he could work on making his mate better, and finding out what in the hell all of that was back there at the compound. It was only a matter of time before Trace and Maverick grilled him on details, but he didn’t have any. As if his thoughts manifested Luke, he walked through the open doorway and immediately started working on Holden.
    Olive wouldn’t leave her brother’s side, but Liam walked over to her, got down on his knees so he was eye level with her, and said, “Baby, let him fix your brother.” She looked over at him, and there was a distant look in her eyes. “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.” She allowed him to help her off the bed and lead her out of the room. Trace and Maverick were in the kitchen, talking softly, but stopped when they heard them exit the room. “Are you thirsty, Olive? Hungry?”
    She shook her head and wiped the tears from under her eyes. He looked at both males, told them without speaking that he needed a little time with his mate, and turned for the other bedroom before they could say anything.
    The rooms in the basement were just as a large as the ones upstairs, and the one they were currently in was equivalent to the master bedroom his father shared with Candace. The large bed in the center of the room was the main focal point. There were two end tables with matching lamps on then on either side of that, and hanging on the