by Alexa Riley
I shake my head. There’s no way I’m not going to kill this bear for daring to touch my mate.
In the blink of an eye, and before I can react, Winnie is out of his arm and shifting right in front of me. Her ability to change into her bear so fast is shocking, and no one moves.
She’s so beautiful, with her chocolate fur and glowing golden eyes. I go to take a step forward, and she lets out a roar that makes my ears ring.
Winnie moves between me and the male behind her, as if protecting him. I shake my head again, and she plants her paws firmly into the ground. She’s prepared to defend him, and it makes my heart ache. I’m her mate. I don’t know what’s happening.
I want to plead with her, but I won’t shift to human form. I can’t be vulnerable in case he shifts.
Suddenly, the male puts his hands up and walks closer to Winnie. “Please. Just listen to me. I’m her brother, Koda. I don’t mean anyone any harm. I was just trying to get Winnie alone so I could talk to her.”
I look between Koda and Winnie in her beautiful bear form, and suddenly, pain is rolling through me. Will she leave me now that her family has come for her? Maybe mating isn’t the same for bears. It was so hard for her to come to terms with being mated to me, and it hasn’t been that long. Will she leave me so easily and rip my heart in two?
Chapter 15
Winnie
Stone runs his hands over my body, working the soap all over me before washing it away. He hasn’t said much since we got home. I thought we’d sit down and talk with everyone, but no. We’re in the shower while everyone waits for us downstairs.
After Koda spoke, I shifted back. I was scared I wouldn’t know how to do it again, but Stone was there, so I knew I could do it, and I just did it. Once I was back in human form, Stone hurried me back into the bakery and got my clothes from the upstairs apartment. Then he told everyone to come back to our house to sit down and talk. Other than that, he hasn’t really said much. Every time I’ve tried to talk since we’ve been alone, he’s just kissed me. The hard, sad look on his face has put a giant knot in my stomach.
He doesn’t seem too happy that my brother is here. It’s starting to freak me out a little. Shouldn’t he be happy for me? That I finally found out where I came from? All the memories came back in a flash. It was so weird to feel like I knew my brother, but I didn’t. It had been years, but he still looked the same.
I can see why Stone was worried when he saw me with Koda. He’s a freaking giant, but I remember everything about him, and he’s just a big teddy bear. Unless provoked. I can’t even begin to think about how life has been for him without me. It’s always just been him and me.
Stone’s hands work over my breasts, then up to my neck where he starts to rub. Leaning down, he kisses my mating mark, then just stares at it.
I reach up and cup his face, running my fingers into his beard, which is a little longer than normal. “Are you okay?”
“I just love you so damn much. I can’t live without you. You know that, right? If you leave me, I’ll be nothing. I can’t go back to living how I was. I need your sweetness. It balances me. Makes me feel whole. I just—”
“Stone,” I say, hearing my voice break at the one word. I can’t get anything else out or the floodgates might break.
“I know it’s fucked up, but I can’t let you leave. I won’t let you leave. I thought for a second I could be a better man and let you pick. It’s selfish, but I don’t care. You’re mine. Mine.”
He says the last word with such force and possessiveness, I feel a delicious chill run down my spine. I would never leave him, but he keeps talking without giving me a chance to tell him. And to be honest, I don’t want to stop him.
“I can’t leave the pack. They need us,” he says, going on as he tries to make his point. Like I’d ever leave him. My heart warms that he said ‘us.’ That the pack needs us. “You’re already making me a better alpha.” His hands come around my neck, his thumbs stroking my jaw. “I need you. They need you.”
“I’d never leave you,” I finally say. I love hearing him talk about how much he needs me after all these years thinking he wanted nothing to do with me. But I don’t want him to think that I’d ever leave him. We’ve waited so long to be together. Nothing will ever keep us apart again.
He growls, picking me up. Our naked, wet bodies are flush against each other as he raises me a little. I have to look down in order to look into his eyes. My hands rest on his shoulders as the warm water runs between us.
“Because you can’t,” he responds.
“However you want to cut it is fine with me, Alpha. I can’t leave because you won’t let me, or I won’t leave because I never want to be without you.”
He smiles up at me, and I lean down, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He tries to deepen it, but I pull back.
“Guest downstairs.”
He grunts a response.
“My brother is here.” My eyes fill with tears again.
“You remember,” he says.
I just nod my head, a smile pulling at my lips.
“And you love him. He was good to you?” he asks, his hold tightening on me, wanting to know if what I remember was good.
“The best,” I say instantly, because it’s true, and Stone’s hold releases a little. My brother was everything I could have asked for. He raised me after our parents passed. They had us late in life. My mother told me that it can be hard for bears to conceive sometimes. Even rarer for them to have a girl. She always told me I was special.
“Let’s get down there then.”
He places me back on the floor, and we both make quick work of drying off and dressing before heading downstairs.
When I enter the room, Gwen is sitting on X’s lap in a corner chair of the living room while he rubs her belly. My brother comes to his feet, and I pull away from Stone to go to him. Stone reluctantly releases my hand as I run to my brother and hug him. He wraps me in his arms, holding me close.
When we finally loosen our hold, I lean back to look up at him.
“I don’t think you even grew an inch,” he says, smiling back at me. I can see it doesn’t reach his eyes or light up his whole face like it used to.
“You stole them all,” I tease. We always used to joke about our height difference. He ruffles my hair, and I want to cry at the action because it was something he used to do a lot.
I feel Stone behind me and he pulls me a little from Koda. I roll my eyes. Koda just smiles, seeming to like how possessive Stone is with me.
“Did they get you, too?” The question has been sitting there since everything came flooding back. I remember coming home from school. Two men taking me and shooting me full of tranquilizer darts. When I finally came to in the back of a truck, I managed to escape. I’d shifted and run for what felt like hours and hours, or maybe even days. Until the Gray Ridge pack found me. The trauma and drugs must have made everything in my memory go black.
“Yeah, they got me.” His words are filled with pain. “But you got away. Gwen told me they found you. That you couldn’t remember.” He motions to Gwen, who is watching us. X just keeps his attention on Gwen.
Gwen can talk for hours. I’m sure she filled him in on a lot when I was in the shower with Stone.
“You didn’t, though?” I hold my breath. I have no idea why those men came for us. What their plans might have been.
“No, Winnie, I didn’t. I just got free about six months ago. I’ve been looking for you ever since. I had no idea what happened to you. Or which direction you went in.”
“What did they do to you? They had you this whole time. Oh, my God.” My questions fire out. I feel like the floor has dropped out from beneath me. Here I’ve spent years thinking I was just some forgotten cub whose family didn’t want them. In reality, I had a brother who was fighting God-knows-what.
“That story is for another time. I’m just glad I found you. It’s been killing me not knowing if you were okay. I’d learned you g
ot away but nothing else.”
He reaches out and touches my face.
“You’ll stay, right? Here with our pack?” I plead. I don’t want him to go. Before it was just him and me, but we can have a life here. I look up at Stone, who is looking at Koda.
“You’re welcome into our pack. I know it would make my Winnie happy if you stayed. You’re family now.”
Koda’s hand drops from my face, and he starts to smile.
“I’m not shocked you mated to an alpha. You might have been shy, but you could always make anyone smile and want your attention.”
Stone growls behind me, making my body shake and Koda’s smile bigger.
“I don’t want anyone else’s attention,” I say, not looking back at Stone.
“Damn, this family just can’t stop growing. I love it,” Gwen says, breaking into the conversation. “How about we make something to eat? I’m starving.”
“You’re hungry? Why didn’t you say something?” X speaks for the first time. Irritation is clear in his voice. His mate should never go wanting.
“I’m saying something now. We’ll cook something, then we can all get to know each other a little better.”
“I like the sound of that,” I say, smiling from ear to ear.
Chapter 16
Stone
I stand in the middle of the room, surrounded by the entire pack, waiting for my mate to walk in. Winnie has no idea I’ve set this all up, but hopefully, if Gwen has done her job, they’ll be walking in at any moment.
I’m dressed in a suit, and it feels so strange, but I wanted this night to be extra special for my Winnie. Looking around, I see our entire pack dressed up for the occasion, including Winnie’s stepsisters and stepmother. Even Koda is looking sharp, standing off to the side with Xavier.
After the past week, we’ve been basically locked in our home together, just enjoying our new life and new love. But I wanted to do something to present Winnie to the pack and to show everyone how proud I am of her.
When I see the front door open, I feel a rush of excitement in my chest. I smell my mate before I see her, and I wait as first Gwen enters the room, taking her place at Xavier’s side, and Winnie follows behind her.
She’s got her brown curls pinned back, and her soft blue dress clings to her every curve. The neckline dips low enough that my mate mark shows, and it makes possessive pride swell in my chest. My eyes travel down her body to see that she’s got on what looks like clear shoes. They sparkle in the light just like her dress, and she looks as if she’s covered in diamonds.
“Am I like a fucking fairy godmother or what?” Gwen whispers from behind me.
I can’t take my eyes off Winnie as I hold out my hand, and she blushes a deep red as she walks towards me. When she gets to where I’m standing, she reaches out, taking my hand and coming to my side.
“What’s going on, Stone?” she whispers, as she looks around at everyone in the pack.
“I wanted to invite everyone here tonight to see your beautiful pictures, as well as show off my new mate. I wanted to officially announce you as mine and let everyone meet you.”
Her eyes go wide as they travel around the room, seeing her photographs displayed on every wall of the town art gallery. “Oh, Stone. You didn’t.”
“I most certainly did. Your pictures are beautiful and deserve to be seen. Just like you.”
Her eyes come back to mine, and I see unshed tears there. Kissing her cheeks, I hold her to me and breathe in her scent. Someone plays some soft music, and we start to sway to the music. We don’t really move much, or dance around the room, but I close my eyes, and it feels as if we’re the only people here. And it’s the most wonderful night.
I close the bedroom door behind me and stalk slowly towards Winnie. She’s standing beside the bed, removing her dress, keeping her eyes locked with mine.
I unbutton my shirt and take off my shoes and slacks. When I’m undressed, she looks at my naked body, licking her lips as she stares at my cock.
“Later, little cub. I need to be inside you. The need for you is painful after so many hours of holding you.”
“You could have let me go.” She gives me a wicked smile and raises an eyebrow, daring me to say that I would have.
“Never,” I growl, and take another step towards her.
She climbs onto the bed, and I follow her, but I don’t touch her. I just mirror her moves, like I’m hunting her.
“Didn’t think so.” She lies back on the bed, wearing nothing but the shoes that look like they’re covered in little diamonds.
I gently raise her feet and kiss her ankles as I put one, and then the other, over my shoulder. I hover over her body and press my hard cock to her wet opening.
“I told you, little cub. I’m never letting you go.” Thrusting inside her warmth, my cock is squeezed tight but slips inside easily. Her sticky honey coats my cock as I dip in and out of her. “It’s too good,” I moan, keeping up the strong rhythm.
“More, Stone. Harder.”
I’ll never deny my mate what she wants. I grip her thighs as they press against my body. Her feet are dangling behind me, and I hear one of her shoes hit the floor.
“Looks like you lost a slipper, Cinderella.”
“Cinderella wishes she had it this good.” Winnie smiles and raises her hips, allowing me to go deeper.
As she clenches around me and finds her pleasure, I follow her over the edge into the same sweet oblivion.
Our perfect fairy tale is complete.
Epilogue
Winnie
I rub my big swollen belly, smiling down at it. I think it’s a bear, only because of how long I’ve been pregnant. Most wolf shifters are pregnant for three months, but bears take longer. I’m almost seven months gone, so Stone is convinced. He’s over the moon about it, actually. He said from the beginning he wanted a little bear cub. I think he secretly wants a boy bear so he can be an alpha one day.
I’ve just gotten out of a long soak in our tub, and I wrapped a robe around me, collapsing on the bed. I just smile and lie back as I think about how perfect my life is.
Everything has gotten so much better since my brother, Koda, showed up and my memories came back. Having him stay in Gray Ridge and become a part of our pack has been amazing. I feel like I’ve finally found myself and found my place in life, a place I’ve been missing for so long.
“Why are you smiling so big?” Stone’s voice makes me look up at him as he walks into the bedroom and sits on the edge of the bed.
“Just thinking about how much I love you,” I say, putting my hand on his scruffy jaw. The whiskers are prickly, but I love how they feel.
He holds my hand, kissing my palm, and smiles back at me. “You did too much today.” His tone is stern, but I know he just means well.
“I’m fine. Today was great, and I was happy to help.” Ruby finally had her triplets months back, and I helped her out today by going to the bakery and working a little. Gwen had her twin girls shortly after, so the two of them have been busy with babies, but luckily, people from the pack have joined in and helped out, so neither of them has been without extra sets of hands.
“Besides, I don’t know how much longer I can contribute with as big as I’m getting, and I wanted to help out as much as I could.”
“Koda has been an asset to the pack. I’m really glad he decided to stay and help with Dominic’s duties while he spends more time at home with the boys and his mate.”
I nod my head, proud of my brother and his ability to bring strength to our pack. “I’m also really proud of the twins for stepping up and volunteering to watch the kids for Gwen and Ruby. I’ve seen a lot of initiative in them these past few months.”
“I noticed that, too. They seem to be taking on more pack responsibility, and I think I have you to thank for that.”
Smiling at Stone, I don’t confirm or deny his suspicion. After my talk with the twins, I think some of what I said resonated with them, and they
seemed to understand what they were doing wasn’t right. I don’t think that all of their inner bitch will ever be gone, but from what I’ve seen and seeing how they’ve treated me since that day, it’s been a good transition.
Stone leans down, kissing my belly before pushing my robe off me and kissing my naked breasts. I hum with desire as he licks my nipples, sending pleasure through me. I grip the long hair on the top of his head, pulling him to me and silently asking for more.
“You know I have to be gentle,” he whispers against the soft underside of my breast.
“Please, Stone. Just this once. Be rough with me. I need it.” There’s a slight whine to my voice, but I don’t care. He’s been so sweet and tender the past few months, and I need my hard fierce lover to come back to me.
Letting out a sigh, he stands up, stripping off his clothes and standing naked before me. His hard cock juts out and points right at me, as if it knows what I want.
I let out a little squeal as Stone grabs my ankles and pulls me to the side of the bed. He pulls my legs up, throwing them over his shoulder as he stands on the side of the bed and pushes his cock into me. His thickness stretches me so deliciously, and his first hard thrust makes me moan loudly. In this position, he gets to stand and doesn’t have to lean over my big belly. And this way, I can lie back and enjoy the ride while he pounds into me.
I look up at him and see him grit his teeth, fighting his wolf for dominance. My own animal comes forward. My bear is always with me now. She loves when Stone’s wolf comes out, the strong female needing his alpha wolf to tame her.
It doesn’t take many strokes before I’m clenching around Stone’s cock, my body always attuned to him. And as he whispers dirty words of love, I find myself climaxing again before he reaches his own peak.
He stays inside me, just enjoying the feel of my warmth wrapped around him while I enjoy his hardness. Neither of us want to separate from our intimate embrace.