“I have spoken at some length to Ruby and Sapphi. They say they are concerned about a man friend you invited into the house.”
“I am free to have friends,” Roxanne insisted.
“But this friend stays over. A lot.”
“I am a woman, with a woman’s needs,” Roxanne said.
“Roger Humphries. Is that his name?”
“Yes. What of it?” Roxanne’s face turned pink. “I have nothing to hide.”
“And how long have you known Roger Humphries?” Fiona asked.
“Oh, I see, you want to paint me as a scarlet woman.” Roxanne leaned forward, her face close to Fiona’s. “Yes, I knew him before I met Joe. Yes, I had an affair with him. That does not change the fact that Joe was my husband and Ruby and Sapphi are my wards.”
Fiona’s phone beeped, and she took it out of her pocket and read the text that had come through. It was from Brad. They were coming in. “Thank you, Roxanne, for being so candid. I’ll just go and get Ruby and Sapphi for you.”
Fiona got up from her seat and went to the door. Opening it, she came face to face with the sheriff, who nodded once, and slipped into the room to arrest Roxanne, while Fiona walked off down the corridor, a relieved expression on her face.
“What is going on?” Suzie asked, flustered.
“Roxanne is not Roxanne, she is Samantha Campbell. And she was already married when she married Ruby and Sapphire’s father.”
“Good work, Fiona,” a voice said from behind her.
“Thank you, Mrs. Donaldson.” Fiona had only ever spoken to Mrs. Donaldson a few times, and most of those times had been only passing hellos.
“Mrs. Donaldson,” Suzie said. “You were behind this?”
“Brad called me to fill me in on Fiona’s suspicions. I admit I found it hard to believe, but he went over everything that the private investigator Harlan hired had found out, and well… I was shocked. That a woman would be so manipulative.” Mrs. Donaldson’s expression showed her disappointment. “Both before and after Joe Rochester died.”
“Some people will do anything for money, and some people will do anything for love,” Harlan said.
“Very true,” Mrs. Donaldson said. “Anyway, Fiona. I wanted to congratulate you on your engagement and say I will give you my strongest recommendation.”
“Strongest recommendation?” Fiona asked.
“For adopting the girls,” Mrs. Donaldson said. “You are going to adopt them, aren’t you?”
“As soon as we can,” Harlan said.
“Good. Sad business, but let’s all have a happy ending, shall we?” Mrs. Donaldson walked away.
“I don’t think I have ever seen you speechless,” Suzie said to Fiona.
“It does not happen very often,” Harlan agreed.
“How did she know?” Fiona asked.
“Who knows?” Harlan asked. “Hey, here comes Brad.”
They all watched as Roxanne was taken away. The look she cast over Fiona was enough to pierce any but a dragon’s thick skin.
“By the way. Your threat about Muffin? The girls already have him. He’s safe, and so are they.”
Roxanne opened her mouth to speak, but Brad kept her walking.
“Time to go and tell Ruby and Sapphire it’s all OK,” Harlan said.
Fiona slipped her hand into his. “Time to go and claim our happy ever after.”
“I already have mine, right here,” Harlan said.
Fiona laughed. “I wonder how long that romantic streak of yours is going to last, Harlan.”
“Forever, Fiona. Just like my love.”
As they walked out of the building and into the bright morning, Fiona allowed herself to believe in him. After all he was a dragon, and dragons always knew best.
Epilogue
The dragons raced each other out of the clouds that filled the valley. Fiona turned her head imperceptibly to catch a glimpse of the flash of silvery blue that was Harlan, her silver-backed dragon, and next to him, small, but powerful and full of grace was Ruby, her scales shiny and new, her face filled with the pure joy of flight.
“Faster,” Sapphi yelled, leaning forward to be heard above the thrum of wings.
Fiona looked at the horizon. It was tinged with red as the sun set, and the light leached from the sky. She took a deep breath and fire carved a pathway through the cloud. She beat her wings down hard, the sudden burst of speed causing Sapphi to grab hold of Fiona’s dragon’s bony spine, and she ducked down, holding on tight.
The first time Sapphi rode on Fiona’s back, her dragon had been terrified the girl would fall off and die from her wounds. But Sapphi was a natural dragon rider, and over the past few months, they had learned to work as one. Fiona’s heart burst at the thrill of excitement that passed from her young rider through her hard scales and seeped into her veins. It spurred her on.
“We’re in the lead,” Sapphi instructed. “Faster!”
Fiona’s muscles burned from the exertion, but she didn’t care, she had never felt more alive than in these few precious months since she had become part of a family once more. A real family, no matter that they were not of the same blood. She faltered, the news she had to share causing her to lose her concentration.
With a last sudden burst, Ruby shot ahead, her smaller body not hindered by the stiff breeze that buffeted them as they crested the valley.
“One day, I’ll be able to fly like Ruby,” Sapphi said wistfully, not caring that they didn’t win.
The three dragons circled the mountain peak like buzzards, riding the updrafts until the darkness was absolute. Then they glided back down the mountain, hidden from view to all but those who knew what to look for.
“You three are the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” Chrysi said, as the three dragons landed, one at a time, in the small clearing behind Fiona’s cottage that had been extended and improved. However, it still kept the simple charm Fiona had fallen in love with.
Sapphi slipped down off Fiona’s back, and when she was a safe distance away, Fiona shifted back to her human form.
“Wait until this little one is old enough to ride with us,” Harlan said, looking adoringly at his grandson, Peter, who was asleep in Chrysi’s arms. “Then I will show him the world from the back of a dragon.”
“Slow down there, Grandpa,” Chrysi said. “He can’t even walk yet.”
“I have patience,” Harlan looked across to Fiona, and the smile he gave her made her heart squeeze tight, and her breath catch in her throat.
Everything about her life right now, in this moment, was perfect. She had a man, a mate for life, and two children, who she loved. Her pride in them grew each day as they learned to cope with their new lives. The loss of their parents was still acute, but they had moved to a place of acceptance.
A barking heralded the entrance of a certain little dog, who had also healed Fiona's old wounds. She no longer blamed the whole of the dog population for one moment of tragedy.
“Are you OK?” Harlan asked.
“Yes, why shouldn’t I be?” Fiona asked, too sharply.
“You hesitated.” He watched her closely, weighing, judging, and assessing his mate.
“So?” Fiona asked, brushing the comment off.
“You never hesitate.”
“You didn’t let me win, did you?” Ruby asked, offended.
“No, I did not.” Fiona looked around at the people surrounding her. Her family. These people, along with many more in Bear Creek, that she had grown to trust, and love deeply. These were the people she would die to defend.
Harlan’s arm tightened around her. Damn, that man had learned to read her too well. She could no longer conceal her emotions from him. “You can tell us anything.”
“I know,” Fiona said, and Sapphi’s hand slipped into hers, offering her comfort, just as she had offered comfort to her sister when Ruby fell apart. But Fiona was not going to fall apart. She was not.
Her dragon disagreed. She’d become something of
a brooding mother these last couple of weeks. If she were a hen, she would have made a nest to sit on. Do dragon’s need a nest? Her dragon asked in all seriousness.
I don’t think so, Fiona replied. But what did she really know of dragons? When they had been alone, shut off from other dragons for so long.
“Fiona,” Harlan said gently. “What is it?”
Fiona looked at his anxious face, and then at the two girls they had successfully adopted after months of being vetted and assessed. Their treasure was held in trust until Ruby and then Sapphi reached eighteen, at which time they would inherit equally. Although they had been allowed to pick some keepsakes from the hoard. A ruby, a sapphire, an emerald, and a couple of tiaras were all they wanted. Ruby and Sapphi had talked things over and wanted to grow up as normal teenagers.
Well, as normal as possible when you were a fire-breathing dragon.
Fiona sighed nervously. Once these words left her mouth, there was no taking them back. The family dynamics would change.
You can’t hide the truth forever, her dragon said offering her encouragement.
“I want you to know, you are like daughters to me.” Fiona made sure to include Chrysi in this statement. The two women had grown close over the last few months, with Chrysi offering endless support as Harlan and Fiona as they navigated their way through the adoption process.
Her dragon puffed smoke rings at the thought of being weighed, judged, and assessed by strangers.
Fiona had returned the favor by being there through most of Chrysi’s labor. Strong and steadfast, Fiona had morphed into the mother Chrysi had never had, but desperately needed, as impending motherhood loomed. The emotional attachment she had to Chrysi’s baby boy, was stronger than she could believe possible. And as scary as hell.
If Fiona and her dragon could feel such strength of emotion toward children who were not her own, how would she survive parenthood without becoming a shivering wreck?
“I’m going to have a baby,” Fiona spoke quietly, the stunned silence greeting her made her wonder if anyone had heard.
“I’m going to be a dad?” Harlan asked.
“I should have told you when we were alone,” Fiona apologized.
Harlan shook his head. “No, we are a family. All of us. And this baby will be the newest addition.”
“Fiona, I am so pleased for you,” Chrysi said, hugging her. “So very, very, pleased. And you, Dad.”
Ruby and Sapphi hung back, but Harlan held out his arms, and so did Fiona, and the girls joined them. “We love you both. And that will never change.”
“Never.” Fiona burst into tears, her emotions all over the place. She had never felt so loved. Or more human.
Yet she would always be a dragon. Fierce, loyal, and strong. Moving to Bear Creek had been the first step on a journey that had healed her soul. Now she was complete. Yet in some ways, her story, her life, was only just beginning.
See where it all began...
Bear Creek and Bear Bluff Complete Series Box Set
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Hero Mine
Bear my Fate (Hero Mine Prequel Book 0)
Hero Mine - Kurt
Bear Bait (Hero Mine Book 1)
READING ORDER FOR
Bear Creek Clan and Bear Bluff Clan
Complete Box Set
Or available individually
suggested reading order
(each can be read as a standalone
but why not start at the beginning and get to know all of the characters?)
Rescued by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book One)
Finding Her Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Two)
Tamed by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Three)
Snowbound With The Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Four)
Biker Bear Billionaire (Bear Creek Clan Book Five)
Bound To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book One)
Doctor Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book Two)
Stranded With Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Three)
A Bride for the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Six)
Home Or Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Four)
Fated To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Five)
Lonely Bear (Bear Bluff Book Six)
Wolf Valley Raiders
Complete Box Set Out Now!
Or available individually
suggested reading order
Redeem the Wolf
To Catch A Wolf
Reclaim the Wolf
Awakening the Alpha
Biker Bears
Forbidden Bear
Secret Bear
Christmas Bear Brothers
Complete Box Set Now Available
Or available individually
suggested reading order
Santa Paws
Christmas Catastrophe
Bear Humbug
Fated and Mated
Love at First Site
Her Scars To Bear
Her Choice To Bear
Her Russian Bear
Who’s the Daddy?
Complete Box Set Available
Or available individually
suggested reading order
One Bear and a Baby
Her Bear and a Baby
Second Chance Bear and a Baby
Baby Protector Bear
Return to Bear Bluff
Complete Box Set Available
Or available individually
suggested reading order
The Bear is Back in Town
His Bear’s Necessity
Black Bear Down
Who Bears Wins
When Bears Collide
Wish Upon A Bear
Cowboy Brother Bears
Cowboy Bear Blues
Cowboy Bear’s Mate
Cowboy Bear’s Fate
Return to Bear Creek
Daddy Bear
Mountain Bear
Honey Bear
Forever Bear
Storm Bear
Silverback Dragon
Christmas Bears
Sleighed
Claused
Wrapped
Shifters Prime Sleeping Lions
Complete Box Set Now Available
Living a Lion
Freeing a Lion
Fighting a Lion
Chosen by the Karal
Complete Box Set
Or available individually
Deceit
Love
Power
Hunger
Devotion
Warriors of Karal
Stranded
Found
Taken
Hunted
Allies
Sci-Fi Romance
The Princess and her Alien Rogue
The Princess and her Bounty Hunter
Her Dragon's Bane Serial
Soul Of The Dragon
Blood Of The Dragon
Heart Of The Dragon
Love Of The Dragon
Fate Of The Minotaur
Mate Of The Dragon
Bound To The Flame - A Virgin For The Dragon
When the dragon egg hatches for Trinity she becomes the Dragon Princess and must remain pure until the dragon comes back to claim her as his mate on her twenty first birthday.
An Heir For The Flame (D
ragon Fantasy Romance)
The elder dragons have predicted that Trinity will conceive the new dragon child tonight. So she mates with ShanRohit under the full moon.
Waiting For Curves (Curves For Her Wolf) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Curves For Her Wolf Doctor (The Greystone Wolves - BBW Paranormal Erotic Romance)
Mistaken Curves (Her First Time With A Wolf) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Sold To The Wolf (Auctioned Curves For The Werewolf) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Curves For The Lone Wolf (BBW Erotic Romance)
An Auction Of Curves (BBW Erotic Romance)
Anna (Curves in the Family (BBW Erotic Romance))
Heated Curves (Curves For Her Firefighter) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Words Unwritten (Curves For Her Soldier) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Christmas Curves (BBW Erotic Romance)
Winning Her Curves (previously titled Virgin Curves)
Returning For His First Love
For The Love Of The Wolf (Erotic Romance Fairy Tales)
Marianne : Unmarked (His) (Paranormal Shifter Romance)
Bred By The Unicorn (Virgin Paranormal Erotic Romance)
The Escort Box Set
***
The Escort Series
The Escort (The Escort Series Part One)(Free in some regions)
The Escort (The Escort Series Part Two)
The Escort (The Escort Series Part Three)
A Curvy Christmas: Robin's Romance (BBW Romance)
Helen’s story:
His Secretary (Her Second Chance Book One)
His Secretary (Her Second Chance Book Two)
Silverback Dragon (Return to Bear Creek Book 6) Page 12