T-Rex nodded.

"I caught a lot of ribbing growing up over that ironic fact," Travis said. "But I love who I am and the life that I live. Marcus never told me much about his family, but after we'd come to Bear County, I figured things out. He seemed a little too preoccupied, and damn if you two don't look alike."

T-Rex smiled at the compliment. "We should go in."

Travis glanced at the door. "I'll wait until your parents come out. Family is everything, and Marcus deserves to be with his right now."

Sighing, T-Rex shook his head. "You're just as much family to Marcus as any of us. You've spent the last fifteen years with him."

Something passed behind Travis's dark green eyes. "You know, you could have left me in the dark. You didn't have to call me." The man cleared his throat. "I appreciate you allowing me to be here."

"Family isn't always blood." T-Rex thought about his friends at home and how he considered all of them his brothers. "Sometimes it's the people you surround yourself with, the men who have your back."

"Amen," Travis said before the two stepped into the room.

Chapter Nine.

Shott stood outside the recovery room with Gallagher. He had texted T-Rex a few minutes after noon, when Isaac had lost the baby. So far, T-Rex hadn't responded.

"I'd prefer to talk to Tanner about this," Gallagher said.

"You know I'm gonna find out anyway," Shott reminded the man.

"The only reason I'm disguising this with you is because Isaac said I could," Gallagher said. The man's expression was tight, his lips thinned. "That man suffered severe injuries before he became pregnant. It's even a miracle that he conceived."

Shott had talked to Isaac after the surgery. And Isaac had confessed that after T-Rex had come to his house, Jacob had lost it and had stomped Isaac into the floor before kicking him out. Shott had to convince himself not to go over to the Newtons' and tear Jacob about limb from limb.

"He may never be able to carry a child," Gallagher said. "His bear should have been able to heal the injuries, but with Isaac having to stay in his human form for so long afterward, the damage is permanent."

Shott thanked Gallagher and then walked into Isaac's room to find the man lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Isaac didn't say a word, but Shott could see the large wet spots on the pillow.

"He'll be here," Shott said as he took a seat. Isaac didn't move. "T-Rex will be here for you."

T-Rex was able to spend a little more time with Marcus before his brother took his last breath. He glanced up at the clock to see that it was noon. He couldn't do this. He didn't want to be here any longer.

"I'm leaving," he said softly to his parents.

His mother hugged him, and his father nodded before T-Rex left the hospital. He needed air. T-Rex made it out of the hospital, walked to his motorcycle, and took off. What he needed the most was Isaac. He didn't stop, and he didn't slow down. He drove straight from the hospital to home.

And along the ride, he thought of his brother, of how he had guided T-Rex as they grew up. How Marcus had always been there for him. When T-Rex turned eighteen, his brother had gotten him wasted on a bottle of Thunderbird and a six-pack of Budweiser. They had built their first go-cart together, and when T-Rex had broken his leg doing some stupid stunt, Marcus had hung out in his bedroom with him while T-Rex wore a cast.

He couldn't think of one childhood memory where Marcus hadn't been there. He heard the roar of a motorcycle and looked back to see Travis gaining on him.

T-Rex had just crossed into Bear County when he pulled over. Travis pulled in behind him and pulled his helmet off.

Before T-Rex could ask what the man wanted, Travis gave him a quick man hug. "Sorry for your loss."

"Yours too," T-Rex reminded Travis. "But why are you following me?" He knew he'd taken off without saying a word to the guy, but that wasn't a reason to follow him.

Travis reached into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. "You took off so fast that I didn't have a chance to give you this."

T-Rex took the paper and stared at an address. "I don't get it."

"Her name is Maria. Go see her."

"Why?" T-Rex asked.

"Just do it...for Marcus. Don't wait around, go see her soon." Travis slapped T-Rex on the shoulder before he walked back to his bike. "Don't be a stranger," Travis called out before he mounted and pulled away, driving in the opposite direction.

Shoving the paper into his pocket, T-Rex frowned when he felt his phone vibrating. He pulled it out to see he had twenty missed calls and one single text message.

Sliding his fingers over the face of the phone, he read the message, and his already shattered heart stopped beating.

Isaac in surgery. Get to clinic ASAP.

T-Rex shoved his phone back into his pocket, strapped his helmet on, and hauled ass. He'd had to turn his phone on vibrate when he was at the hospital. It wasn't like he had service in that Podunk town anyway. He had been so busy taking care of Marcus that he hadn't bothered to check his phone.

He pushed his bike past ninety as he drove straight to the clinic. He nearly laid the motorcycle down when he cut into the parking lot. T-Rex threw his helmet aside and rushed inside.

"Where's Isaac?" he asked. "Where's my mate?"

The receptionist took him to the back, and T-Rex's pulse was pounding so hard that it actually hurt. His mind was playing over a thousand different scenarios of why Isaac needed surgery.

Had Jacob found Isaac and hurt him? Did Isaac have some kind of accident? The questions went on and on until he spotted Gallagher heading his way. "Where's my mate?" T-Rex growled the words.

"We need to talk first," Gallagher said.

"No, I want-"

"You need to hear this." Gallagher led him to an office down the hallway and around a corner. T-Rex didn't bother to sit. He was too wound up and wanted to see Isaac.

He stood there and listened to Gallagher tell him that Isaac had internal scars from what Jacob had done. T-Rex hadn't known that. Isaac hadn't told him that his father had stomped him into the floor.

But he knew that wasn't the extent of what was going on. He braced himself as Gallagher continued to speak. "The scar tissue wouldn't allow the fetus to grow. The amniotic sac has to form and-"

Gallagher's voice faded as T-Rex started to get a picture of what had happened. He felt like he was going to be sick. T-Rex grabbed the back of a chair to steady himself as the room spun slightly.

"He lost the cub," Gallagher finished. "And I'm not sure he'll ever be able to carry one full term. The damage is too great. I've tried to discuss birth control with Isaac so this doesn't happen again, but he won't talk to anyone. He hasn't said a word since coming out of surgery."

T-Rex turned and walked out of the office. "Where is he?" For the second time today, T-Rex was fighting not to lose it. He curled his fingers into fists and ground his teeth as he tried to imagine what Isaac was going through right now. They had just suffered a devastating loss, and T-Rex hadn't been there for the man.

The guilt was weighing on him heavily.

"Room eight," Gallagher said.

T-Rex walked down the hallway in a semi-daze until he reached Isaac's room. He placed the palm of his hand on the door and tried his best to compose himself. Isaac needed him. T-Rex couldn't fall apart. After a few more breaths, he opened the door.

Isaac was curled on his side, his back to T-Rex. It felt as if he were walking through sand as he made his way around the bed. Isaac's eyes were closed, but T-Rex could see the tears that still clung to Isaac's thick eyelashes.

Dropping to his knees beside the bed, he brushed his hand over Isaac's hair. Isaac was already small, but the man looked fragile as he lay there. T-Rex was at a loss as to what to say. His dream of having a large family had been snuffed out by a hateful man who couldn't accept Isaac for who he was.

Isaac's eyelids fluttered open, and he stared at T-Rex as if T-Rex were a dream. His mate pulled in a shuddering breath before Isaac burst out crying. T-Rex took a seat on the bed and pulled Isaac into his arms. He rocked his mate back and forth as he held him tightly. His throat was too constricted to speak. But even if he could talk, he had no words to offer.

Isaac clung to him as if T-Rex was the man's lifeline. But that's how T-Rex felt toward his mate. Although he had family and friends, he found solace in Isaac.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you," T-Rex finally said. Isaac didn't respond. His mate curled farther into his arms as if trying to burrow his way inside T-Rex.

He held his mate for hours, consoling Isaac before the man finally fell into an exhausted sleep. T Rex settled Isaac back and then tucked the sheet around his mate before he strode out of the room. He walked out of the clinic and headed toward the back.

Leaning against the building, T-Rex slid until his ass touched the ground. He covered his face with his hands and finally allowed himself to cry.

It had been three weeks since his surgery, and as Isaac sat on the side of his bed, he thought about the children he would never have. T-Rex hadn't left his side since Isaac was brought home from the clinic. But Isaac felt as if a part of him were now missing.

T-Rex strode from the bathroom and then leaned his arm against the doorframe. "I have something I have to take care of."

Isaac only nodded. He couldn't find it in himself to ask where T-Rex was going and how long he would be gone. Isaac knew that he would eventually start to heal and his days would get better. But right now, he felt lifeless.

"And I want you to come with me," T-Rex said. "After I take care of my business, I was thinking about a vacation. Just you and me. Wherever you want to go."

Isaac gave T-Rex a smile he didn't feel. "That sounds nice."

Crossing the room, T-Rex pulled Isaac into his arms. "We'll get through this. I promise."

"I know." Isaac tilted his head back as T-Rex leaned down and gave him a soft kiss.

"Let's go for a ride." T-Rex led him out of the bedroom and then took him downstairs.

Isaac had spent the better part of the last three weeks hiding in his bedroom. He'd barely eaten and could hardly sleep. He hoped that taking a vacation with T-Rex would help. Isaac climbed into the SUV before T-Rex slid in and started the motor.

They drove away and out of Bear County. After an hour, Isaac asked. "Where are we going?"

"Nevada," T-Rex said and then told Isaac about what had taken place while he had been with Marcus. By the time his mate was done, Isaac was in tears.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"You were going through enough already," T-Rex replied.

"But so were you." Isaac reached for his mate's hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry."

T-Rex nodded, concentrating on the road. Isaac could tell the man didn't want to talk about it. He knew how T-Rex felt. Isaac didn't want to talk about losing the baby. He was still living in a detached state half the time. But if he talked about the loss, he'd start crying, and Isaac had already cried enough to last him two lifetimes.

"But Travis gave me an address and asked me to go there." T-Rex reached for Isaac and kissed him on the forehead. "So we're taking a little road trip."

"What about the funeral?" Isaac asked. T-Rex hadn't strayed far from him, which meant he'd missed his own brother's funeral. Guilt tried to give way, but Isaac pushed it back.

"My parents had him cremated. We're going to stop by there. My mom put some of Marcus's ashes in a necklace for me." T-Rex cleared his throat. "She said that way I'll always have a part of him with me."

Isaac fell silent as he watched the scenery around him. Why couldn't his family be that loving and thoughtful? Isaac had never hated anyone in his life, but at that moment, he hated his father. The man had robbed him of having children. He had nearly died from conceiving a child.

They talked on and off through their ride. They'd even stopped twice to get something to eat. Isaac began to wonder why Travis had been so cryptic about who they were going to see. Who was Maria, and why did T-Rex have to go see her?

Isaac roused from sleep when the SUV came to a stop and T-Rex cut the engine. "Are we here?"

He slid up and glanced around. They were sitting in a driveway that had a dilapidated chain-link fence surrounding a single-story house that had seen better days. A dog barked from behind the fence. Isaac wasn't sure what breed it was, but it appeared menacing. There were blue lawn chairs on the concrete porch and plants hanging in a row across the top of the roof that extended from the house.

Isaac got out and joined T-Rex at his side. There were two cars in the driveway, and from the looks of them, neither worked. One had its hood open, but no one was working on it.

An elderly Spanish woman who looked in her sixties called the dog inside before she asked, "May I help you?"

"Are you Maria?" T-Rex asked.

"Si, seor," she replied.

T-Rex approached the fence, and Isaac followed. "Travis sent me."

The dark skin over her eyes furrowed. "I know no Travis."

"Papa Bear," T-Rex supplied. "He told me that I-"

"Are you Marcus's brother?" she asked, and Isaac saw her eyes light up under the fading sun.

"Yes," T-Rex said.

"Come," she said as she waved a hand. "Come inside."

"The dog," Isaac reminded her. He wasn't in the mood to get bitten. That dog had looked lean and fit and ready to tear someone's throat out. Although his bear could take the dog on with no problem, Isaac would prefer to avoid any sort of confrontation.

"Oh, he's harmless," she said. "His bark is to scare anyone away who might think to steal from me. But he is a gentle creature."

Isaac wasn't too sure about that. But when T-Rex unlatched the gate and walked inside, so did Isaac. The grass was half green and half brown with a sprinkler set in the middle. Isaac moved up the concrete path and followed T-Rex into the house. He stopped just inside the door as he gazed at the largest collection of religious items he'd ever seen.

There had to be at least twenty candles lit around the living room. Wasn't Maria afraid of a fire breaking out?

"I cried when I heard about Marcus," Maria said as she waved for them to have a seat on her couch. "I cannot believe he is gone."

"Me either," T-Rex said, and Isaac could tell that his mate was ready to go. T-Rex hadn't taken a seat. He stood there towering over the small woman.