by T. S. Joyce
“I told you what I was the first day. I said, and I quote, ‘I’m a dragon.’ I think your response was to laugh. It’s not my fault you didn’t believe me.”
“Maybe Tagan will name him Connor,” Brighton rasped through a wicked grin as he plucked soft notes on the fret of an old guitar.
Drew snorted. “If it’s a choice between that dick’s name and Beaver, Tagan’s kid better start growing some buck teeth.”
Haydan cast another worried look at the trailer on the other end of the park. They’d gathered around the bonfire to give Brooke, Tagan, and the shifter midwife he’d tracked down some space. Hospitals were too risky with all of their required newborn tests and bloodwork. The alpha’s son was going to be a true trailer park prince, a fact which had brought Brooke to giggles on multiple occasions.
Diem lifted her bathing suit strap so Everly could reach the damaged skin underneath. Everly bumped her shoulder and smiled. “I know you hate the peeling, but it really does look a lot better than I thought it would.”
Danielle fed Bo a weed. “You know, I know of some plants around here that would take out the itch.”
“I want those,” Diem said, scratching her side just at the mention of itching.
Everly swatted her hand away and slathered another layer of soothing cream across her ribs, the sun casting red hues in her golden-brown hair as she bent to her task. Brighton was watching his mate as if he’d never seen a woman so beautiful, and it drew a smile from Diem’s lips.
Life was almost perfect here. Diem’s relationship with Father was a wash, but she had friends who respected and loved their mates, and she had a safe home. And most importantly, she had Bruiser.
As if he could hear her mushy thoughts, he worked his massaging fingers up her ankles, then leaned forward and kissed her knee. “I think it’s sexy that you shed like a reptile.”
His eyes danced with the tease, and Diem swatted him on the shoulder. “You stop it.” She tried for a severe look, but failed.
“Sexy reptilian,” he murmured.
Denison scrunched up his face, gray eyes questioning. “Are dragons reptiles?”
Diem opened her mouth to drop some science on him, but Tagan whistled from his trailer down the road. Diem shot up and speed-walked toward him, desperate to see the newest member of the Ashe Crew first. Haydan showed up beside her, hips swaying in rhythm with hers as he matched her pace.
Everly, Skyler ,and Kellen showed up on her other side, and she narrowed her eyes in challenge at them. With a breathless laugh, she pushed her legs harder and settled into a trot, then a run, and then she was sprint racing the others to Tagan’s trailer.
“Oooh,” Diem said on a breath as she approached and beheld the tiny babe cradled in Tagan’s arms.
Swaddled in a baby blue blanket, the sweet baby opened his bleary, steely gray eyes.
“Beaver!” Denison said.
Drew jammed his finger at him. “Stop it.”
Tagan chuckled and sat on the step so they could all see his baby better. “His name is Wyatt Andrew James.”
“Aww,” Everly murmured, pressing her pinky against Wyatt’s palm. “It’s perfect. The perfect name for a strong little cub.”
“How’s Brooke?” Diem asked.
“She’s waiting for you ladies inside.”
“Why not us men?” Haydan asked.
“Because she just had a baby, and you’ll annoy the shit out of her,” Drew said, blond brows arched high like he knew everything in the entire world.
“You can’t say shit anymore, Drew,” Denison said with a derisive snort. “We’re raising a baby now.”
“Oh, dear goodness,” Skyler muttered, grabbing Diem’s hand and ducking around the others.
She and the other Ashe Crew women stepped lightly through the bedroom door. Brooke was resting on the bed as the midwife, a quiet woman with deep leathery wrinkles and glasses, bustled around the room.
“Did you see him?” Brooke asked, pale as a sheet but smiling bright enough to light the room.
Diem’s eyes burned with emotion, and she sat on the bed right next to her. The mattress creaked under the weight of the others. “He’s perfect, Brooke. You did amazing.”
“And Tagan looks proud as a rooster,” Danielle murmured, holding Brooke’s hand. “He’s a dandy cub.”
“Did you see his hair?” Brooke asked.
“No, he had his cap on,” Diem said. “What color is it?”
“Dark like his daddy’s. He looks so much like Tagan to me. Except his little nose. That nose is mine.”
Tagan sauntered in, eyes only for his baby boy as he settled him into Brooke’s arms. The rest of the Ashe Crew hovered in the doorway, and Diem looked back to find Bruiser watching her.
He looked sad, and she understood. This moment Brooke and Tagan were having would never happen for them. She’d never watch her mate stare at his son like Tagan was watching Wyatt, and Bruiser would never watch her rock their child to sleep at her breast.
But even if that fate was never meant for them, it was okay. She was going to be the best auntie ever. She’d throw herself into helping with Wyatt and with whichever cubs were born to the Ashe Crew. She’d always be here, a part of this place, and a part of these people’s lives.
Brooke looked up at her with an angelic curve to her lips. She was practically glowing. “Do you want to hold him?”
Diem nodded and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands before she cradled tiny Wyatt against her. He grunted and made a smacking sound. His little fists were clenched, and she pressed one open with her free hand until he grabbed onto her finger with a firm grip.
“He’s a strong one,” she murmured thickly, imagining how she would watch this child grow. First Changes, first steps, first teeth, first words. She was luckier than she had any right to be, just being a bystander in his life.
Bruiser’s strong hand gripped her shoulder as she stared into baby Wyatt’s sleepy eyes, and she rubbed her cheek against his palm, telling him she was okay. And she was.
Better than okay.
She looked around at the smiling faces of her mate and friends—of her crew.
Whatever the future held, she was going to face it with the people she loved.
Chapter Fourteen
“Geez, woman, you’re making it worse,” Diem grumbled as she reached over Wyatt’s car seat to help Brooke free her snarled ponytail from the band she’d used on it this morning. “Why did you use an actual rubber band?”
“Because all of my hair deals have somehow disappeared, and this was all I could find this morning. And really, y’all are lucky I’m even wearing a bra today because it was a tough decision to actually put one on this morning. Ow.”
“There,” Diem said, pulling broken blond hairs from the band. She widened her eyes at Wyatt and cooed, “You’re momma’s gonna ruin that pretty hair of hers, yes she is.”
Wyatt rewarded her with a gummy smile that made her giggle from the pit of her stomach.
“This,” Skyler said matter of factly, “is why you needed to go to town with us today.”
They’d piled into Kellen’s truck first thing this morning and spent the day in Saratoga to celebrate Diem’s birthday. Really, her birthday was just an excuse to get Tagen to let them all off work at the same time to spend a day watching a movie at the theater, eating copious amounts of pasta at a local Italian bistro, and shopping.
“Okay, Diem,” Everly said excitedly as Skyler pulled under the Ashland Mobile Park sign. She twisted in her seat on the passenger’s side and set happy blue eyes on her. “Close your eyes.”
Diem squinted suspiciously. “Why? You aren’t going to stick something gross in my mouth, are you?”
Everly squealed out, “Don’t be weird. Just close them.”
“Okay, they’re closed.”
“No peeking,” Skyler demanded.
Baby Wyatt gurgled from beside her.
“You too?” Diem asked. “Okay, Wy, I swear not
to peek.” She palmed his full belly and felt him kicking his strong little legs.
Kellen’s truck came to a stop, and the engine turned off. Everly told her not to peek about a dozen more times as she helped her out of the car and led her down what felt like the gravel road in the middle of the trailer park. At last, she pulled her to a stop and turned her shoulders.
“Okay, you ready?” Everly asked breathlessly. Her excitement was catching.
“I’m ready.”
“Okay, open your eyes.”
Diem blinked them open and gasped as the Ashe Crew yelled, “Surprise!”
“What on earth?”
Balloons were tied everywhere, to every available nail and corner possible, and in every color of the rainbow. A large sign had been hung over the fire pit that read Happy B-Day, D and had a cartoon dragon breathing flames onto the letters.
The splintered buffet table they used to serve dinner most nights was covered in expensive gourmet trailer park fare. Hotdogs, stuffed jalapenos, and mini-burgers with high-end sauces and fancy condiments. Vegetable and fruit trays brought bright colors to the offerings, and beers with fancy labels she didn’t recognize sat half buried in open ice-filled coolers. Even the napkins were custom-made with tiny green dragons.
“Do you like it?” Bruiser asked from right beside her.
She melted against him, too shocked to say anything. She looked up into his dark, adoration-filled eyes and nodded. “It’s perfect.”
“We have something for you.”
“We?”
“I bought it, but I needed help tracking your birthday present down.”
“Okay,” she said on a breath as she wrapped her hand around the crook of Bruiser’s arm.
Drew and Haydan parted, then Denison and Brighton. Kellen and Tagan stepped apart to reveal Father, who stood there holding the tiniest black and white spotted piglet she’d ever seen.
Diem froze, utterly shocked and unable to move an inch from where she was. Father gave her a small smile, the first she’d seen in a long time.
Forcing her legs, she approached slowly, unsure of what to say.
“I never gave you a birthday party, and you asked for one every year. Do you remember? You wanted to invite friends over, and I never allowed it.”
A sob wrenched from her throat as she nodded. “I remember.”
Father’s gray eyes filled with emotion, and his lip trembled. “I have made so many mistakes with you, Diem. So many. I can’t fix them or take them back, no matter how much I wish I could. All I can do is beg your forgiveness and promise you that I’ll make it up to you, and try to be the father you deserve.”
“No more pushing me to continue our line?”
“I’ll never bring it up again. But if you ever do decide to pursue a human surrogate or adoption, your child would be precious to me, as you are precious to me.”
“I don’t understand, Father. What’s changed?”
He jerked his chin at Bruiser and gripped his shoulder with his free hand. “Your husband is a good man. It seems I needed some sense talked into me.”
“A lot of sense talked into you,” Bruiser said, cocking a dark brow.
Father chuckled out a rich sound and handed Diem the tiny piglet. “What are you going to name my grandpig?”
Diem snorted and wiped her damp lashes. “Did you two buy me a replacement baby?”
“Hell yeah, we did,” Bruiser said. “I told you I would, didn’t I? I said I was gonna buy you one of them pygmy pigs, but don’t call them pygmy pigs to this little one’s breeder because they get real pissed off if you don’t call ’em micro pigs.”
“Petunia,” she breathed, snuggling the tiny critter close. “We’ll call her Petty for short.”
“Pretty Petty,” Brooke crooned as she walked by, scratching her little furry head.
Petty made the most adorable high pitched grunting sounds, just about melting Diem into a puddle right then and there.
“Thank you for her,” she whispered, looking from Father to Bruiser. “Both of you. And I can’t tell you how much it means to have everyone I love here tonight.”
Father cracked another smile, warming her further by revealing glimpses of the soft-hearted man she’d always imagined he could be.
“We have so much to talk about, Diem. I have so much to apologize for, but it can all wait until tomorrow. Tonight, I want to celebrate your birthday with you and your friends.”
“Wait, are you saying we’re not your friends?” Denison called from where he was perusing the desserts table that was lined with cupcakes in every color imaginable. “What?” he asked, frowning at Drew. “You don’t think it would be cool to have two dragon friends?”
“The catered food,” Diem said, looking around at all of the treats that covered every even surface. “Did you bring those?”
Father nodded, a twinkle of pride in his eye. Before she could change her mind, Diem lunged forward and hugged him up tight. For a moment, his arms hung in the air around her, as if he didn’t know what to do with them. But as moments drifted by, he softened and patted her on the back, then hugged her tight and let off a long, relieved exhalation.
She understood how he felt. She’d been holding her breath, too.
“When I asked Drew what I should bring, he called this gathering a potluck and told me to bring food, something called eatin’ pants, and highfalutin booze.”
Diem giggled and eased away, her cheeks heating with happiness.
“Elastic pants and boxed wine,” Drew clarified as he popped the top of one of the fancy beers. He took a swig, and his eyes went wide as he studied the label. “Oh, my God, this is amazing. Damon Daye,” he said, pointing to Father, “I challenge you to horseshoes. Winner buys a dinner.”
Father winked at her and murmured, “Happy birthday, daughter of mine,” then he laid a peck on her cheek. “Oh,” he said, turning. “I’ve missed you to work with, and I’ve realized how very much I hate running the numbers side of my businesses. If you’ll consider it, I’d like to offer you your old job back. Not to work under me, but to work in a partnership.”
Relief flooded her veins, and she nearly sagged with the fuzzy feeling in her legs. “I’d like that very much.”
Father nodded and smiled, showing teeth this time, then followed Drew. “If winner buys dinner, does that mean I get a hamburger if I win, and you’ll get filet mignon?”
“He catches on quick,” Drew called over his shoulder with a cheeky grin.
“Are you happy?” Bruiser asked, lifting her off her feet until she rested above him.
She cradled Petty close and kissed each of Bruiser’s cheeks, then his nose, then his lips. “Happy is an understatement.”
His taste had grown familiar and vital to her over the last few weeks.
Who would’ve known that all she’d had to do was trust fate and take a leap into an arranged marriage that should’ve never worked? Because Bruiser was special, her relationship with her mate had thrived where it should’ve withered. Loyal and hardworking, always placing her happiness above his own, just like she did for him. He admitted when he was wrong and held her accountable when she needed support. He loved her without reservation and was verbal with his adoration.
He’d put all of her insecurities to rest and taught her that she was enough.
And then he’d gone beyond healing her heart. Bruiser had become the safety net under the splintered bridge of her tentative relationship with her father.
It would’ve been so easy for him to push Father out of their lives for good, but that would’ve hurt her. It would’ve left her with a hole that could never be filled.
And as she relaxed into the arms of the man she loved and looked around at her friends, who were more like family now, talking and laughing with her father, everything became so clear. This was the exact moment her life had been building to.
No one could predict what the future would hold, but as she looked down into the loving eyes of her mate, one
thing was for certain.
Here, in this simple existence with the man who held her heart, she’d found a life worth living, and a treasure worth protecting.
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Other Series by T. S. Joyce
Bear Valley Shifters
The Witness and the Bear (Book 1)
Devoted to the Bear (Book 2)
Return to the Bear (Book 3)
Betray the Bear (Book 4)
Redeem the Bear (Book 5)
Bear Valley Valentine (Valentine’s Day Novella)
Hells Canyon Shifters
Call of the Bear (Book 1)
Fealty of the Bear (Book 2)
Avenge the Bear (Book 3)
Claim the Bear (Book 4)
Heart of the Bear (Book 5)
Wolf Brides
Wolf Bride (Book 1)
Red Snow Bride (Book 2)
Dawson Bride (Book 3)
Standalone Shifter Romance
Coveted by the Bear
Amazon
Standalone Contemporary Romance
Shelter Me Home
Amazon
About the Author
T. S. Joyce
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. Experienced at handling an alpha male of her own, she lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.