7. Cooper

7

COOPER

I wake tangled up in my family's bear skins. I fell asleep in my den, clutching Rowan's pelt. My twin brother was the last of my family, and now I'm the last of my line. Not the last of all bear shifters—it's not quite that dire yet. But it may as well be. Rowan is the reason I never wanted a human mate.

His rejected him and ended up dying before he could get her to change her mind, and then soon after, he followed her to the other side.

I think back to his last days, and my repeated pleas to him fill my mind.

"Rowan, you have to eat something."

"I just can't."

He'd wasted away. Finally, when he was near the end and had made the final shift into his bear form, I begged him one last time to eat… to live. For me. Why couldn't he live for me?

He laid a paw weakly against the side of my face and pressed his thoughts into my mind. Someday you'll understand, little brother.

"I'm only three minutes younger than you!"

He made a chuffing sound that I could swear was a laugh, and then he was gone. I had to perform the rituals on my own. There was no one left. And now all that's left of my tribe is a bunch bear skins... and me.

My brother has been gone for five years but sometimes I still forget. Our team will win a game, and I'll pick up the phone to call him to go out and get drinks to celebrate... and then I remember.

And I'm going to end up just like him if I don't find Rosalie and get her to accept my claim. Humans are far too fucking fragile. I can't risk her dying before the claim is complete. I need to make her strong, like me.