Ripe for the Alpha

“Austin!” I call out when I’m done. “Come look at my new boyfriend!”

The bear whips his head around with a stern look in his bright blue eyes. They narrow onto the snowman.

“No!” I say as he starts running over in a huff. “It’s not my boyfriend! Forget that I said tha—No!”

The jealous bear hits him with his big shoulder and my poor snowman doesn’t stand a chance. He crumbles to pieces at my possessive bear’s paws. Oh, well. I guess we were never meant to be…

I giggle as my mate’s bear raises his chin in triumphant. I guess that was my fault for teasing a mated polar bear. I know he gets possessive and jealous about everything, but I didn’t think that applied to snow people as well.

“That wasn’t very nice!” I say as I grab the top hat off the ground. I plop it on his head and start laughing. It starts as a giggle and then turns into a deep belly laugh as the bear just stares at me with a look that says, ‘really?’

“Aren’t you fancy on Christmas,” I say as my eyes start to water, I’m laughing so hard. He looks like the mayor of the town in those Coca-Cola ads with the polar bears.

He keeps it on, letting me have my fun as the four cubs start to fight over the carrot nose.

It’s a crazy scene, but that’s my family, and that’s why I love them.

All the Christmas presents in the world can’t compare to spending one day with them.

I feel like it’s Christmas every day.

Epilogue

Austin

Twenty years later…

“Oh my God, I love her already,” Zoe says as her oldest son Jeremy walks his new mate onto the ranch.

“She’s adorable!” Chloe says as she squeezes her hands together with a high-pitched squeal. “I love her red hair!”

“And her freckles!” Kinsley adds.

The young kid is only eighteen years old and he’s already found his mate. Lucky guy.

I wrap my hand around Ellie’s thick hip and pull her against my side as we watch everyone gather around. There’s a ton of us now in the crew.

Damon and Kinsley had five kids and I love my grandchildren to death. But they’re not the only ones. Everett and Chloe had five as well, and Cash and Zoe had four.

Once I found Ellie, we had four beautiful children together.

We’re all a big family now and every time we get together, which is probably way too often, it’s chaotic, deafening, and always a total blast.

The kids are growing up fast and some of them have already started to find their own mates.

Jeremy is the latest and he’s introducing her with a look of pure pride on his face.

“My boy knows how to pick ‘em,” Cash says with a proud grin as he goes up to his son. “She’s gorgeous.”

“Dad, this is Katie,” he says with his chest puffed up in pride. “My mate.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Ridge,” Katie says with her cheeks blushing.

Cash ignores her outstretched hand and pulls her in for a warm hug. “Welcome to the family,” he says as he squeezes her in a bear hug.

Zoe rushes over next and gives her a hug as soon as Cash lets her go.

This young girl walked into a warm loving family. She doesn’t know yet how lucky she is.

Jeremy does the rounds, introducing her to everyone and by the time they’re done, I can tell that her head is swimming with two dozen names that she’ll never remember.

I smile as I watch her. It won’t take long before she’s one of us. It never does.

Damon and I cook the steaks on the giant barbecue we bought as the girls chat over a bottle of wine, probably talking about the new girl.

The boys are playing a game of football in the field with Cash and Everett as the team captains. I wince when I see Everett lay out Cash from behind.

He gets up and spits out a clump of grass. “I’ll get you back for that,” he promises. “Cash is King, remember?”

“Yeah, well there’s a new emperor in town and his name is Everett,” he shoots back with a laugh.

Damon chuckles as he shakes his head. “Don’t they know they’re getting too old for that?”

“Those two will be hitting each other over the head with their walkers when they’re in the old folks home,” I say as I turn back to the steaks.

I inhale the mouth-watering smell. Elk stakes and they smell amazing. My bear caught the huge buck this morning.

The girls take them from us when they’re ready and set them up on the four picnic tables we use as our dining room table. It’s not much, but it’s all we need. As long as we’re together, we’re happy.

Ellie comes out of nowhere and stops me as I make my way over. She’s got that look in her eyes as she stands on her toes and gazes longingly at my lips.