Bear My Baby (Shifter Squad Six 1) by Anya Nowlan

response.
    “Ain’t gonna find out unless you go and ask her, lieutenant.”
    “Look at you. A regular old advice columnist. Didn’t know you had it in you, Grim,” Connor said, smirking.
    “Gotta pick up that skill with all the bitching and moaning you girls do,” Grim said with a crooked grin.
    Connor chuckled, shaking his head. Sweat dripped down his neck and back.
    I gotta make this work, he thought, letting that particular fact roll over him.
    He would never forgive himself if he didn’t try. Grim was right about that. He couldn’t know how things would work out if he didn’t give it all he got. If he couldn’t convince Cassie that he wasn’t the creep he’d so carefully built himself up as, maybe there was a hope for him at least being a part of Monroe’s life. However small of a chance that was.
    A few generations ago, the reasonable thing for an Alpha to do would have been to barge in and take the child if the mother didn’t see reason. But that was a darker time, a less civilized one. Even bears had to behave. Sometimes. Although Connor certainly wasn’t above kicking a few asses and forgetting about the questions in the name of the safety and wellbeing of his woman and his cub, he knew for a fact that he wouldn’t take another step if it would hurt Cassie.
    She deserved better.
    But she was going to have to make do with him.
     

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    Cassie
     
    Cassie walked right past the notebook with Connor’s name and number in it, ignoring it with all her might as she had since he stepped out through that door. It was still open on the page where he had scribbled his contacts—big, looping letters and numbers that took up most of the space available. He was that kind of guy, grandiose in everything.
    The doorbell buzzed again as she was pulling on the knob and a delivery guy stared back at her expectantly, his dirty hair flattened under his cap. With boredom raging in his eyes, he reached over with a pad before bothering to speak a word.
    “Package for an Ellie Burnbaugh. Please sign on the dotted line,” he said in perfect monotone, holding a box under his arm.
    Frowning, Cassie signed where indicated and the delivery guy handed her over the package. When she moved to close the door, she thought she saw life behind those cold dead eyes, the kind of spark that made her skin crawl in that uncomfortable, chilly way it sometimes did ever since she was released from her mystery benefactor’s careful attention. Just in case, she slipped on the chain and made sure the bolt lock was on too before taking the package into the living room.
    Monroe was studying a book with a serious look on his face, trying to find out where a lamb was hiding on a picture of bushes and trees and other animals. It was no surprise that he kept getting distracted by the image of a big, cuddly looking grizzly bear off to one side of the picture.
    Cassie sat down on the couch and put the package down in front of her, pushing her laptop and notebook aside. She was nose-deep in researching some kind of new LCD screens used by one of her more prominent clients. The Word document open on the screen resembled a jumbled mess more than a coherent set of words and thoughts. The mug of chamomile tea that was throwing wisps of steam up called to her.
    “Mama, box!” Monroe commented smartly, pointing at the package now.
    Cassie grinned, nodding. “Yes, baby, that is a small brown box,” she said.
    Monroe seemed happy with that confirmation and turned back to his very important toddler business. The way his forehead crinkled a bit as he focused immediately reminded her of Connor. A lump formed in the back of her throat again and she cleared it, trying her damndest to ignore the feeling of irritation that came over her when she thought about how she handled the situation.
    Definitely not one of her proudest moments. Not by a long shot.
    What the hell is it about you that you manage to screw all of those situations up? Cassie asked