A Baby for the Bear (Wylde Brothers 1)

“Is it awkward for you, Melissa?” Ary took a drink of her lemonade.

“What?” Melissa handed the pictures to Candace and looked up at her. “Awkward about what?”

Ary tilted her head toward where the guys were at. Melissa waved her question off.

“Just because we almost slept together but I ended up going home with someone else isn’t a big deal, Ary. We parted ways on good terms. In fact, I saw him leaving with some redhead, so it’s all good.” She smiled. “Besides, I had a nice time with Nick.” She wagged her eyebrows, and they all started laughing.

This had all three of them laughing so loud the guys stopped their conversation and looked over at them curiously. They smiled innocently, which had all three guys narrowing their eyes suspiciously but going back to their conversations nonetheless.

“So, things are good with you two?” Candace asked her.

A flurry of butterflies started in February’s belly, and she felt her cheeks heat when Melissa and Candace’s matching grins met hers. “More than okay.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “He told me he loved me, and I said it in return.”

For once, Melissa was speechless.

“Oh my God, Ary.” Candace clasped her hands together and covered her mouth.

“Dammit, why can’t I find a hot bear shifter and have everything fall into place?” Melissa whined teasingly, but Ary could tell there was no heat behind her words.

“So you’re seeing that lion shifter again? Not really your style, Melissa.” Candace grinned, and both Ary and Melissa glanced over at their normally quiet friend. Candace had a little bit of bite in her tonight, and Ary decided it suited her quite well.

“You bitch.” Melissa poked Candace in the ribs and smirked. “Yeah, it isn’t my style. I’m kind of the love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of girl, but hey, it isn’t like I have anything better to do. Besides, he said he wanted to take me to dinner and go dancing this weekend. And also, he’s a manly man, you know, the kind who can crush an opponent with his hands.” She squeezed her hand as if to emphasize her point.

That brought back the memory of Frank and Charlie getting into it at the store. If February never had to witness something like that again, she would die a happy woman. She certainly didn’t want to have Frank’s vileness seeping into her current life, and she didn’t want Charlie involved in any of that. Frank was part of her past, and that was where she wanted him to stay.

Charlie could hear the females laughing in the next room, and the sound of Ary’s happiness made him smile.

“Man, you got it bad for your girl.” Bram’s words were filled with brotherly love. Charlie looked up at him, saw the fresh split lip and slightly swollen right eye, and sighed out loud.

“Bram, when are you going to chill on the fighting?”

His youngest brother cracked his knuckles and smirked. “Listen, it helps me with all this extra energy that builds and builds inside me until I feel like I’m going to explode. Besides, I like breaking a few noses. It’s fun.”

Charlie rolled his eyes, and Ford grunted in amusement. Out of the three of them, Bram had always been far more bear than human, and Charlie knew he took after their father in that regard.

“Anyway, enough about this and his need to kick some ass, and more about you and your girl.” Ford made a low, annoyed sound when Bram play-punched him in the arm.

“Dick.”

Charlie chuckled at his brothers’ banter.

“I never thought I’d see the day when you’d get pussy whipped,” Ford said absently. His attention was on his cell that was on the table in front of him. His brow was puckered, and a look of concentration was written across his face. When Charlie looked over at Bram, he saw a worried expression on his brother’s face.

He didn’t need to ask Bram what was wrong, because when his brother mouthed the word Mina, Charlie knew Ford was slowly going down a slippery slope of anger and pain. Ford had never discussed what really happened with him and Mina. One day, they were together, and the next, she was moving out of Sweet Water.

Ford would most likely be out tonight, drinking to numb everything he was feeling, and Charlie would be there picking him up and most likely stopping an all-out brawl that Ford started.

Yeah, he could see it all playing out in his head now and knew it was going to be one hell of a night.

17

The sound of a phone going off woke Ary, and she blinked her eyes open. She turned in bed and looked at Charlie fumbling with his cell.

“Yeah?” The sound of a male voice coming from the receiver could be heard, but it was too muffled, so she couldn’t understand what was said or who it was. “Fucking hell, Bram.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and sat up in bed. “We both knew this was going to happen, so chill the fuck out. You shouldn’t have let him get to that point.” A beat of silence passed. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there in ten.” He ended the call and set it on the table. “I’m sorry, baby. Ford is piss-ass drunk and starting shit down at Slater’s.”