Hunter sat weighing Ethan's words in his mind. Maybe it was time. Maybe he’d given her space for long enough, and he should make the first move here, confront her and lay all the cards on the table. He smelled Casey before she'd even stepped inside. His head swung up.
Mate!
He smiled tentatively and stood up as she approached him. His bear was suddenly having a freak-out party. He'd dreamt of her every night since the fire. She hadn’t left his thoughts for a second. Damn, she was even more beautiful in person.
"Hi," Casey smiled shyly. Her cheeks blushed enough to match her hair. She didn't know what was the matter with her. This man had saved her life. She'd made love to him and had given her heart to him without even realizing it at the time. Why did she suddenly feel so shy around him now?
"You’re a sight for sore eyes," Hunter said. "I wasn't sure you’d want to see me again."
Casey stared up at him, her mouth dropping open. "Of course I wanted to see you again."
"It's been a week. I wasn't sure... a lot happened that night."
"You mean the night you saved my life? The night you saved my son's life?" Tears welled in her eyes. She tried to push them away. She hadn't come here to cry on his shoulder. She was on a mission today.
Hunter could feel his brothers' eyes on them. "You wanna step into my office?" he asked her. She nodded and followed him to the back room, the place where they had first made love. The second they were alone, she threw her arms around him. Her lips found his, ready and waiting, and she pressed hard against them. Hunter offered no resistance. He was beyond himself that she’d come back.
They pulled away from each other reluctantly. Hunter kept one arm wrapped around her. The bruises on her face were fading but a touch of yellowish discoloration still remained.
"Tommy and I have a restraining order against Mike and I've filed for divorce," Casey said abruptly, the words rushing out of her mouth in one quick breath. “I didn’t want to come here until I had that in place.”
"How is Tommy?" he asked her.
"He's good. He thinks..." she paused and giggled quietly. "He still thinks you're a superhero. He talks about you non-stop. He adores you.”
“And you?”
“Me? I think of you more as an angel. A guardian angel. A big, guardian angel-bear,” she smiled. That wasn’t exactly what he was asking, but he’d definitely take it; he expelled the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. It had been the question he’d been agonizing over. How she felt about his bear. Would she hate him for what he was? Could she possibly accept him?
"I'm a shifter," he said quietly, expectantly.
"A shifter? As in shapeshifter? Like a werewolf or something?"
"Sort of," Hunter said. "Except that I was born this way. So were my brothers."
"So… this is something that runs in your family?"
“Yes.” He could sense she was holding something back. "What is it? Ask anything you like," he told her, thinking that she was afraid to pose her questions for fear of insulting him. "It's because of you that my abilities returned."
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't been able to shift since Afghanistan. My bear was messed up, broken."
Casey's eyes widened. "But that's over a year."
He nodded. "Yes, I was seriously wondering if I’d ever be whole again. But, my bear had chosen you as a mate before I even realized that I had fallen in love with you. And, shifters, when we find the right woman, are completely devoted. When my bear saw your life in danger, the instinct to protect his mate was stronger than whatever was keeping him dormant. I might have saved you, but you saved me right back. You pulled my bear to the surface. You reunited the two halves of my being and brought me back to life a whole man."
Casey smiled impishly. “Did you just use the ‘L word’?”
Hunter nodded, a huge grin splashing across his rugged features, “Wholeheartedly.” He bent his head and sealed his lips over hers possessively as a desperate need flowed through both of them culminating in shockwaves of desire. His tongue invaded the silky warmth of her mouth and she let out a small whimper of pleasure.
But, suddenly, Casey broke away. “I do have one more question,” she said as she struggled for breath, “This shifter trait, how does it work, is it automatically inherited by offspring? Does it ever skip a generation?"
"It can, but that’s rare, it’s never happened in my family's line. Every child born in the last century has been a shifter."
"So if you had a child, chances are pretty high that the child would be a shifter too?"
Hunter nodded, “It’s almost guaranteed.”
"Well," Casey said. "I guess it's a good thing that you'll be around to teach him or her all about it then," she said as she patted her belly. "Because I'd be lost."
It took a moment for Casey's words to sink in. Casey watched him closely, monitoring his reaction. His lips slowly curved up and his eyes brightened as the realization dawned on him. "You're pregnant?"
Casey nodded, her eyes flooding. Hunter wrapped his strong arms around her, sending heat permeating every part of her. Tears, happy and warm, flowed over her cheeks.
"I have to tell my brothers," he said at once. "I have to meet your parents. We have to get married. My mother would have loved you." Hunter's thoughts raced and flowed out of his mouth without a filter.
Casey laughed and kissed him tenderly. "You take care of the shifter lessons when he's born, I'll handle all the rest."
Hunter smiled and kissed her softly before taking her hand and leading her back out to the gym to share the good news. For the first time since Hunter could remember, his life had meaning. He now had something of value, something to love, care for and protect, something more important than MMA, even more important than the corps- Casey, Tommy, and their soon to be new addition. A family.
THE END
Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoyed it.
Please leave a review on Amazon. It really helps. Thanks!
Check out my Facebook Page HERE
(Or enter https://www.facebook.com/cjayersauthor/ into your browser.)
Like FREE Hot Shifter Romances?
Join my exclusive preferred reader list for more free books.
JOIN MY PREFERRED READER LIST
JOIN NOW TO RECEIVE A FREE PDF Book
(about 110 Kindle pages)
KODIAK ISLAND SHIFTERS:
Sterling Bear Shifters Book 1: COLTON
(This book is a standalone with a Happily Ever After ending. It is the first book in a series you’re going to love about the Sterling Brothers, Grizzly Bear Shifters.)
Colton Sterling- Brilliant business strategist, Ladies man, Adrenaline junky, Self-made billionaire, and a Kodiak grizzly bear shifter.
Colton Never thought he’d settle down. It’s not that he didn’t like the ladies, he LOVED the ladies, and they loved him. In fact, his brothers joked about him having a woman in every port. The thing is, his grizzly had no desire to claim any of them as his mate, none took his breath away.
Until he saw her…
Hannah Cooper- Smart, curvy, bold young doctor way out of her league in the Alaskan wilderness. The thing is, she’s just passing through.
Colton has 24 hours to make her fall in love with him before she’s gone, back to the lower 48.
Can he rise to the challenge?
Check out these other books by Candace Ayers…
RANCHER BEAR SERIES
RANCHER BEAR’S BABY
RANCHER BEAR’S MAIL ORDER MATE
RANCHER BEAR’S SURPRISE PACKAGE
RANCHER BEAR’S SECRET
RANCHER BEAR’S DESIRE
SHIFTER: Marine Bear (MMA Fighter Bears Series Book 1) (Werebear Bear Shapeshifter Fantasy Paranormal Romance) Page 5