Brock's Bunny (5 page)

“He
said he loves me?”
Hollie
tried to swallow past the
lump in her throat. They hadn’t made the declaration to each other, but Brock had
told her friends.

Did he mean it?

“I
think he meant it,
Hollie
.” Matt answered.

“I did
mean it.”

She
looked up to see Brock standing in the kitchen, surrounded by the two couples.

“We’ll
be in the other room if you need us,” Matt said as they all abandoned her.

Brock
shortened the distance between them by half. He was much closer, but she’d be
able to run if she wanted to.

“
Hollie
, I’m so sorry. I hate that I treated you so badly. I
knew I loved you then, but I felt so angry, betrayed and afraid. When I was
saying the words, I knew they weren’t what I meant, but I couldn’t stop myself.
Pushing you away and watching you leave, so upset and frantic, broke my heart. I
love you. I never want to be apart from you again. Please forgive me?”

She
wanted to trust him, but it was so hard. She didn’t want to get hurt again.

“You
don’t mind the fact that I can shift into an animal?”

“Not at all.
I hope one day you’ll agree to change me and form the mating
bond. I want to share everything with you.”

She
didn’t have to ask how he knew.

“Matt
showed me his wolf and filled me in on shifter basics.”

Matt
and Bull seemed to have left out a few details of their conversation with
Brock. Later she’d make them pay. Right now she needed to hear Brock say the
words.

“You
want to shift into a bunny?”

“Human
or bunny, I want to be with you.
Always.”

Hollie
closed the distance between them, buried her face in his chest and let
the tears fall. Brock was willing to become a shifter, and he wanted to spend
his life with her.

“I love
you, Brock.” Her tears soaked his shirt, but she didn’t hold them back. She was
where she was meant to be, holding everything she always wanted.

“I love
you, too.
So much.
I’ll try hard to prove it to you
every day.”

****

Brock
tightened his arms around
Hollie
. The pain
constricting his heart for the last week finally loosened. He felt whole again
with her in his arms. He held her until her tears no longer fell and her
breathing returned to normal. Brock hated to break the embrace, but they couldn’t
stay silent forever.

“We
need to talk.” He kissed her forehead and pulled away.
Hollie
plastered a smile on her face and steeled her shoulders. It hurt that she
expected the worst, but he knew he deserved it. It would take time to earn back
all of her trust.

Brock grabbed
her hand, pulled her close and called in the others. When everyone returned, he
started, “I got another call from Ronald today…”

“My Ronald?”
Hollie
asked. “Why is he calling
you?”

Too bad
he couldn’t growl like Matt. Instead he glared at her and raised an eyebrow. “He’s
not your Ronald. He’s a jerk you went on a date with.”

She
must not have minded his heated words, because
Hollie
laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. It felt nice just to be with her.

He
looked back at the group and everyone was wearing a big grin, trying not to
laugh at him.
Great.
He couldn’t get too upset about
it though, knowing they’d all been through the same thing.

“Ronald
left a note for me the night he brought
Hollie
to the
restaurant. It said to call him about a business offer. I wasn’t interested and
threw the note away, but he started calling the restaurant every night. I
wasn’t sure it was him… He never leaves a message with the staff, but today he
left a message on the machine. It says he has pictures of my girlfriend that
will make me change my mind about his offer.”

“Pictures?”
Hollie
turned almost as white as
her bunny fur and shook her head frantically. “No! No, I was careful.”

“Did he
say what kind of pictures?” Matt asked.

“No,
but he wants to meet me at the restaurant before we open tonight. He’s
definitely trying to blackmail me into a deal with him.”

“I’m so
sorry, Brock,”
Hollie
whispered.

“It’s
not your fault Ronald is a creep,
Hollie
. I won’t go
into business with him, but I might be able to buy him off. Wave enough money
in front of a man like that and he’ll give in.”

“Either
way, you’re going to need some back up. Matt and I will come with you,” Bull
said.

Brock
was grateful. If Ronald’s pictures were of
Hollie
shifting, they could all be in trouble.

Chapter Nine

Hollie
was afraid.

Everything
they had could be gone in less than ten minutes. Not just her store, but
Brock’s restaurant and possibly the lives her friends had built in this town.
They might all have to run and hide and it was all her fault.

Her
mind replayed Sunday’s events over and over, but she couldn’t remember making a
mistake. The desire to see Brock had been strong, but she hadn’t been careless.
Even when she was so upset after their fight, she hadn’t shifted because she
sensed someone nearby.

The
only error might have been shifting in Brock’s house. Did Ronald take pictures
of her through the window? It could’ve happened, but he wasn’t out there when
Brock caught her, so when did he show up? What did he have pictures of?

Hollie
jumped when Brock hugged her from behind.

“Relax.
Everything is going to be fine.” His whispered words helped, but only slightly.
She probably should have stayed with
Jenn
and
Christina, but she wanted to see the pictures with her own eyes. Brock agreed
to let her come if she let him do the talking.

She’d
reluctantly agreed after the three men threatened to leave her behind.

A flash
of light caught her attention and she looked up to see the door closing behind
Ronald. His smile was both confident and greedy. He walked up to the center of
the bar where the group stood surrounding a high round table. Matt and Bull
stood on one side, Brock and
Hollie
on the other.

“I
thought you’d be alone,” Ronald stated.

“I
never make any business decisions without my advisors.”

“You
don’t have advisors.”

“I’m
disappointed, Ronald. You didn’t do your homework.”

For a
moment, Ronald looked flustered. It was obvious he didn’t expect Brock to bring
witnesses to his scheme. Brock didn’t waste time.

“Let’s
see the pictures.”

Ronald
opened his folder and revealed two eight by ten photos, side-views, of a very
human
Hollie
running through the forest naked. They
were slightly blurry and if it wasn’t for her platinum hair, they could have
been pictures of any woman.

Brock
looked at his friends, and after a few moments he nodded once and returned his
attention to Ronald. They kept their expressions neutral and if an exchange
happened,
Hollie
wasn’t aware of it.

“I
don’t want you to print those pictures.”

Ronald
smiled, sure he was winning.

“Then
you’ll have to give me what I want.
A partnership.
You
give me the start-up money, plus the use of your name for my new restaurant. I
make all the decisions, keep all the profits and these pictures of your
girlfriend will disappear.”

He had
to be out of his mind.
All of that for some blurry naked
photos?
No man, shifter or otherwise, would agree to that deal.

“No.”

Hollie
trusted Brock. She wasn’t surprised by his response.

“No?
Then I’ll get these pictures printed tomorrow.” Ronald’s ridiculous threat was
delivered with malice. It was hard not to laugh.

“Can
you do it on Monday instead? I really could use more business at the beginning
of the week.” She wasn’t supposed to say anything, but that was when they
didn’t know what Ronald was capable of.

Bull
looked down to hide his smile and Matt winked at her. Only Brock kept his
features controlled.

“Believe
me, these won’t help your business, you little slut.”

“You
don’t talk to her.
Ever.
Your meeting was with me and
it’s over. Print the pictures if you chose, but keep in mind that I’ve let the
authorities know about this meeting and this community doesn’t support
harassment of its citizens.”

Something
Brock said scared Ronald, if only briefly. He picked up the folder and left the
restaurant without another word. The guys silently watched him walk to his car through
the windows.

After
Ronald drove away, Brock turned to face her.

“‘Can
you do it on Monday instead?’” Brock repeated, and Bull and Matt burst out
laughing. “What happened to keeping quiet and letting me do the talking?”

“I did
keep quiet…
In the beginning!”

“We’ll
see you tomorrow.
Great job, Brock.”
Matt slapped him
on the back as he and Bull went to leave.

“What’s
happening tomorrow?”
Hollie
asked as she wrapped her
arms around his waist.

“We’re
having a barbeque at our place.”

“Our place?”
Was he asking her to move in with him?

“Yes,
it’s perfect for a couple of wild bunnies and their friends, the wolves and
bears.”

In an
effort to stop the tears welling up in her eyes, she asked, “What’s on the
menu?”

“Let’s
decide together. I only have one stipulation, there has to be at least one
vegetarian option for those
health nuts
.”

She
laughed and a few tears escaped.

Brock
wiped them away and then pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.

“I love
you.”

“I love
you, too.”

Finally,
after nearly a week,
Hollie
felt the pure joy of
finding her mate.

Epilogue

Brock
followed
Hollie’s
white furry bunny tail into the cave.
He could hardly contain his excitement. Every time he saw the forest as a
rabbit felt like the first time.
Exhilarating.

So much
had changed in the past month.

Ronald
never posted the pictures and by the following weekend, he’d moved out of
Chestnut Rock.

Brock
bought the location for the healthy café and broke the news to
Candi
. At first his sister refused, but after encouragement
from both him and
Hollie
, she agreed to take his
offer.

Hollie
moved in the night Ronald threatened them with the pictures. Within a
week, he’d tasted her blood and when they shifted together for the first time,
the mating bond formed. The connection they shared was indescribable. She
brightened his world in a way he never knew existed.

They
fell into a comfortable routine. She’d opened up about how lonely her life was
before they met, but
Hollie
never asked him for
anything. He wanted to give her everything.

When
they were safely inside the cave, they shifted back into their human forms and got
dressed.
Hollie
was unusually quiet.

“I
almost caught you that time.”

“Yeah,
you did,” she said, giving him a half smile.

Racing
was their thing.
Hollie
had the advantage in both
forms, but he was getting used to his animal body. He could almost catch her.

“What’s
wrong?”

“I have
something to tell you, and you might not like it.”

“What
is it?” Why was she so nervous?

“I’m
pregnant.”

“Are
you sure? We used protection every time.”
Pregnant.
Brock held his
breath,
he wanted it to be true.

“I’m
sure. Protection isn’t one hundred percent effective. Besides, we’re rabbits.”
Hollie
shrugged and gave him that half smile again. “I know
we didn’t—”

Brock
grabbed her and hugged her hard, effectively cutting her off.

“I’m so
happy. I want nothing more than to have a baby with you.”

“You
are? You do?” she asked, obviously confused by his response. “We hadn’t talked
about a family. I was so afraid to tell you.”