With Zakari now mated and happy, his other soul, the other piece of his life found, I wanted to be happy for my brother. I wanted to help him celebrate and be joyous that he’d finally found his female. But a part of me, one that was selfish, a bastard, was jealous. And I hated myself for that.
I hated the fact that I couldn’t be one hundred percent happy for a member of my family. We all had waited so long, were still waiting, and so another part of me took this hike every week to help realize that it was okay for me to be a little upset and withdrawn.
It was okay for me to be envious of my brother and what he had, what I might never have.
Although my mate was out there, it wasn’t a guarantee that I’d find her. Some shifters never found their other halves, and fucking hell did that suck. To go through life wanting one essential thing and never having it. But I’d search for her, go to the ends of the earth, keep looking, hoping that I’d find her.
And that’s all I could do. Hope.
But I would fucking find her. I would.
And when I did find her, there was no going back, no stopping me. I’d claim her and I’d do it hard, fast, so she knew that there was no escaping. I wouldn’t let her go. I wouldn’t be easy and gentle. She’d see the full force of what it meant to be mated to a bear shifter, one who’d waited his whole damn life.
My bear stirred, rose up as if an angry wave crashed to the surface. He was ready. He’d been ready.
I felt all that need, all that possession slam into me.
A virgin grizzly shifter, saving himself for his mate, not even able to get hard for another fucking female. And that’s exactly how I wanted it to be. I only wanted her … whoever she was, wherever she was.
And I hoped she was ready for me, for everything I had for her. Because a lifetime of pent-up arousal was one wild fucking thing.
Epilogue
Zakari
Seven years later
I was busy working under the hood of my truck when I heard the children’s laughter. Bracing my hands on the edge, I lifted my head and looked out into the clearing where I saw the triplets, Brody, Willa, and Trevor, all playing.
My children. Two boys and a girl.
The lights of my life, the reason I worked so damn hard, to provide for them.
They were rolling around in the grass, Brody and Trevor so like me and their uncles in their recklessness. And Little Willa, playing in the sandbo
x I’d made her, was the spitting image of Bethany. I had to smile at that, so glad that our little girl looked just like her beautiful mother.
I’d built that play yard as soon as they’d been born, even though they hadn’t been able to use it for years, I’d wanted to have something prepared and ready for when they could run around. And when they got older, they’d used it every day.
I looked over to the side where Bethany was crouched low, picking peas from the garden. She’d built that little patch herself, cleared it out, tilled it, and planted all the vegetables that currently grew in abundance. I was so proud of her, loved her more every day, and I knew my life wouldn’t be complete without her and our children in it. Willa ran toward the swing, laughing at her brothers as they wrestled.
I heard Willa start to cry and snapped my head in her direction. My bear rose up protectively. I saw her on the ground cradling her knee, and I knew she’d fallen off of the swing. I was by her side a second later, scooping her tiny body into my arms and walking over to the picnic table just a few feet away.
Sitting down with her in my lap, I gently pushed her hand away to see her knee, a red and angry scrape covering her peach-colored skin. I kissed the top of her head and whispered that everything would be okay, that Mama would be here soon to help clean her scrape and put a princess bandage on it.
And sure enough, Bethany was by us only moments later, a small first aid kit in her hand as she crouched in front of our daughter. She cleaned up Willa’s knee and had her favorite princess bandage on it only a moment later. And just like that our baby girl was all smiles. She hopped off my lap and ran back to her sandbox.
Bethany stood, but before she could get away I reached out and curled my hand around her hip, pulling her in close so she was now sitting on my lap. I took the first aid kit from her and set it behind me on the table. I cupped her cheek and turned her head, so she was looking right at me.
I leaned in close to kiss her deeply. My heart was full and my life was complete. The sound of our children growling had me chuckling and pulling away. We both looked over at the triplets and saw the boys had already turned into their bears. They were cute little brown grizzly cubs, more like fur balls if I were being honest.
But they were our little fur balls.
I grinned and shook my head, their clothing tattered remains around them as they wrestled and rolled on the ground. They were still learning, not fully having control over when they shifted, but growing bolder the older they got.
As I held my wife and the mother of my children, stared out at the beautiful babies we’d created, I knew that life couldn’t get any better than this.
But then, as the faint scent of something powerful, something intimate, filled my head, I knew life could get even better. I looked over at Bethany, my bear growling in approval. I hadn’t noticed it at first because I’d been occupied with Willa, and also because Bethany was only a few weeks along. Hell, she probably didn’t even realize it.