How It Is
Page 10
“Come on. I want to show you inside.” He slipped his strong hands around hers and tugged her toward the aviary door. It had two doors to get through, to protect against jailbreaks, which her two pet crows were absolutely capable of.
She opened the second door, made her way to the center of the atrium, and looked up. It was like a jungle in here. Some of her birds were good to house together, but two weren’t, and they had their own areas. There was feed storage, and a new faucet for easy access to water. Even the plants he’d chosen for this place were perfect. He led her to a long bench across the aviary, and she read the plaque. “For Atlas, where all of this began.”
Her heart couldn’t be any more full than it was in this moment.
Krome really loved her. He really cared for her, and coveted her happiness, and to her, that’s what love was. It was that selflessness, that thought that went into making a special moment in someone’s day. It was the little things and the big things all wrapped in one. It was being diligent with showing a person they were safe. It was moments like this, where he couldn’t stop looking at her smile.
“I got you presents, too.”
Krome canted his head like the curious crow he was. “What is it?”
Oh, gosh, she hoped this was okay. She hoped he liked it.
Cora sat down on Atlas’s bench and eased up the hem of her sundress, exposing the tattoo she’d had done this morning. It was of his family crest, right across her thigh where he’d drawn it those months ago.
Krome’s black eyes went wide and he knelt down in front of her, smoothed her dress up farther. He studied it with this wonder in his eyes she’d never seen before. “Is it okay?” she whispered.
Krome traced it lightly with his fingertip and nodded. “You’re mine?”
Cora cupped his cheeks. “Silly bird, you know I am. I was yours from the very beginning.”
And that was that. Simply, she knew right where she belonged. It was easy to build a life here with him, because she felt the way she had all those years ago, when Atlas had given her voice back. She felt safe, and seen, and relaxed, and happy, even in the sometimes-chaotic life as the mate of a shifter.
She would have her birds here.
She would be running her own avian clinic in town.
She had friends here who understood both the hard parts and the joyous parts of her life. The mates of the Bane brothers had become an incredible support system.
And most importantly, she had Krome.
This wasn’t the life she’d expected, but that was okay.
It was so much better than she could’ve ever imagined.
Up Next in this Series
Bron gets his story in
How It Will Be
Coming June 2021
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More Series by this Author
Battle of the Bulls
Two Shots Down (Book 1)
Dead of Winter (Book 2)
Quickdraw Slow Burn (Book 3)
First Time Train Wreck (Book 4)
Tuff Enough (Book 5)
Kaid Ranch Shifters
Steal Her Heart (Book 1)
Make Her New (Book 2)
Lift Her Up (Book 3)
Love Her Better (Book 4)
Keepers of the Swamp
Swim Deeper (Book 1)
Dig Deeper (Book 2)
Bite Deeper (Book 3)
Daughters of Beasts
Novak Grizzly (Book 1)
Beck Bear (Book 2)
Ash Bear (Book 3)
Sons of Beasts
Son of the Cursed Bear (Book 1)
Son of Kong (Book 2)
Son of the Dragon (Book 3)
Red Havoc Panthers
Red Havoc Rogue (Book 1)
Red Havoc Rebel (Book 2)
Red Havoc Bad Cat (Book 3)
Red Havoc Guardian (Book 4)
Red Havoc Bad Bear (Book 5)
Harper’s Mountains
Bloodrunner Dragon (Book 1)
Bloodrunner Bear (Book 2)
Air Ryder (Book 3)
Novak Raven (Book 4)
Blackwing Dragon (Book 5)
Kane’s Mountains
Blackwing Defender (Book 1)
Blackwing Wolf (Book 2)
Blackwing Beast (Book 3)
Bears Fur Hire
Husband Fur Hire (Book 1)
Bear Fur Hire (Book 2)
Mate Fur Hire (Book 3)
Wolf Fur Hire (Book 4)
Dawson Fur Hire (Book 5)
Chance Fur Hire (Book 6)
Saw Bears
Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)
Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)
Timberman Werebear (Book 3)
Sawman Werebear (Book 4)
Axman Werebear (Book 5)
Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)
Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)
Fire Bears
Bear My Soul (Book 1)
Bear the Burn (Book 2)
Bear the Heat (Book 3)
Gray Back Bears
Gray Back Bad Bear (Book 1)
Gray Back Alpha Bear (Book 2)
Gray Back Ghost Bear (Book 3)
Gray Back Broken Bear (Book 4)
Lowlander Silverback (Book 5)
Last Immortal Dragon (Book 6)
For More from this Author
Check out her The Official Reading List of T. S. Joyce
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www.tsjoyce.com
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About the Author
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. 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.
For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.