“You stupid fuck!” he screams as he’s forced to let Logan go. He grabs Oliver by the neck and slams him into the ground.
It’s not much of an assault from Oliver, but it gives Logan the time he needs to recover and turn around. His grizzly bear lunges and this time, he goes for the kill.
I wince as his jaws sink into Rhys’ throat. His cruel green eyes go wide as he desperately tries to pry the bear’s jaw open.
I turn away and squeeze my eyes shut as he falls to the ground, his body limp.
When the other tigers see their master fall, they quickly flee to the trucks, phase into their human forms, and jump in. It wasn’t going well for them anyway, and this is as good an excuse as any to bail on the fight.
Adrian, Julian, and Cameron phase back into their human forms and watch as the trucks speed off their ranch.
I rush over to Logan to make sure he’s okay. His bear releases Rhys’ throat and looks at me.
I’m expecting a flood of fear from being this close to a grizzly bear, but all I feel is a pleasant comforting warmth when I see the protective way he’s watching me.
I walk over as Oliver’s tiger gets up and he phases back into his human form. My eyes are fixated on the bear. His mouth is dripping with Rhys’ blood and his huge body is heaving in exhaustion as I run my hand down his furry cheek.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “Thank you so much for having my back.”
I wrap my arms around him and sink my cheek into his long fur, finally realizing that I’m home. This is the place where I belong. This is my new family.
He lets out a low contented groan and then his body starts to shake. I step back as Logan bursts out of him. Without hesitation, my mate wraps his arms around me and pulls me in for a loving bear hug.
“Logan,” Julian says as the three of them walk over. “Is this your mate?”
He pulls away from me and I smile at them, trying to keep my gaze at their eye-level, which is hard considering there’s rock hard muscle everywhere I look.
“Yes!” Logan says proudly. “This is Brooklyn. She’s my mate and this is her brother Oliver.”
“So nice to meet you guys,” Julian says with a wide smile. “We’re not normally so… naked.”
I laugh as I look back at my man who doesn’t seem too pleased over having a bunch of naked men around me.
“We’ll go get dressed,” Cameron says in his deep voice. “And then we’ll welcome you to the family properly.”
My heart is strumming in my chest as I watch them go.
“Did he just call me family?” I whisper to Logan.
“You are family,” he says as he grabs my arms and turns me. His gaze is full of love and the serene easy feeling of being in the place you love the most. “And this is your home now.”
I smile as happy tears flood my eyes.
Home. It’s a word I haven’t felt in a long time, but I’m feeling it now.
I’m finally here.
Epilogue
Brooklyn
One Year Later…
“Let me buy it for you,” Mom says when we reach the cash.
“No, Mom. It’s too much.”
“I insist,” she says with a big smile on her face. Man, I’ve missed seeing that smile. “I got paid for the first time in a long time and I really really want to. Come on, Brooklyn. This is going to be my first grandchild. Let me buy the crib. Please.”
The cashier is waiting patiently as my mother digs into her purse and pulls out a wad of cash.
“Whoa, Mom! What did you rob a liquor store or something?”
She shakes her head. “A bank.”
“She’s kidding,” I say to the cashier. I think…
“I’m paying,” Mom says as she slaps the money onto the counter. “And that’s final. Ring it up please.”
I’m shaking my head with a smile on my face as she proudly pays for my child’s crib. We’ve all come a long way in the past year. Mom has a new career that she loves as a real estate agent and she just sold her first house.
When Rhys died, she came out of her fog. It was like the veil of sadness and depression was lifted from her eyes and she became our mother again. I’ve forgiven her for all of it. I know she was just trying to do what she thought was best for all of us. Especially for Oliver. It might have worked out too if Rhys hadn’t turned out to be a murderous gun-running asshole.
Logan and his brothers saved me and my family when they ended his life. He’s buried somewhere in the mountains where even the wolves can’t find him.
When we went back to Rhys’ ranch to get our stuff, we found where he kept his large stash of cash. Let’s just say it was enough to buy me a new car, a new truck for Cameron, a nice house for Mom and Oliver in town, and most importantly, enough for Logan to buy back his father’s ranch.
It was important for him to own it again but we both really wanted to stay on the Bowen Ranch with his brothers and their mates. It’s where our home is. So, he leased it to a crew of Kodiak bear shifters who moved down from Alaska. They’re called the Dixon boys and they’ve been creating quite a stir among the local single female population of Belgrade Springs. I haven’t seen them yet, but apparently, they’re very hot.
Not that I care. I’m head over heels in love with my man and even if I wasn’t, my belly is sticking out so much that I can’t even see my feet. I doubt they would look my way.
I give the cashier all the information she needs for the delivery and we grab our bags full of new pillows, decorations, clothes, and baby toys, and head for the car.
“I’m so huge,” I whine as I struggle to get into the passenger’s seat. “Shifter babies are enormous!”
“Tell me about it,” my mother says as she starts the car. “I was walking bowlegged for a year after I had Oliver.”
We start driving through the adorable town and just as we pass the cupcake shop, my legs suddenly feel all wet.
“I got another listing today!” my mother goes on as I stare at my wet pants in shock. “I was waiting to tell you. Look it’s right up here on the left. The owner has been living there forever but she died last week. Isn’t that great news!”
“Mom…” I say as we pass the house with the for sale sign on the front yard. My mother’s picture is waving at me.
“Oh, I know it was tragic and all, but come on, she was like ninety-seven!”
“No, Mom. My water broke.”
She slams on the brakes and the car behind us honks as he swerves out of the way. She’s never been the best driver.
“Your water broke?”
“My water broke!”
Oh my god, saying it out loud makes it that much scarier. I’m having a baby. I’m having a freaking baby!!
There are more honks as she turns around and starts heading toward the hospital. “Sorry!” she shouts out the window at all of the frustrated drivers. “We’re having a baby over here!”
I grab my phone out of my purse and call Logan as we speed away.
Seven long painful hours later and I’m holding my beautiful baby boy in my arms. Logan is standing beside me, unable to take his eyes off his sleeping face.
“You’re sure?” I ask him for the tenth time.
Logan leans in close to the baby’s head and inhales his scent. “Yeah, I’m sure. He’s a tiger shifter all right.”
I grin as I picture an adorable little tiger cub hiding inside him.
“I know you were hoping for a grizzly bear shifter,” I say to Logan. “But I really like that he’s got a part of my family in him.”
“Are you kidding?” he says as he tears his eyes away from our boy and looks at me in awe. “I’m so happy right now. He’s perfect. Shifter, human, bear, tiger, cockroach. I don’t care. I love him just like this.”
“What are you thinking for a name?” I ask after we stare at him for another long moment.
“I’d like to honor my father,” he says as he fidgets nervously with the baby’s blanket. “But I understand if
you don’t want to.”
“Robert,” I say, testing it out. “I like it.”
He perks up. “Really?”
“Yeah. We can call him Robbie when he’s a kid. It’s cute. Robert Crawford. It sounds distinguished. Important. It’s done.”
He kisses me softly on the lips and then kisses Robbie’s forehead.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
“No, thank you,” I tell him. “For everything. For giving me this. For making it possible. I don’t want to know where I’d be without you.”
“There is no without you,” he says softly. “You and me… we’re fate. We’re destiny.”
“We’re home.”
He smiles. “Exactly.”
His big comforting arm wraps around me and we watch our little cub until we’re too tired to keep our eyes open.
And then, we watch him a little more.
Epilogue
Brooklyn
Eleven Years Later…
I wake up to the sound of yelling and laughing.
“What is that?” I mumble as I get out of bed and look out the window. There’s a massive snowball fight happening in our yard.
Courtney and her kids are hiding behind Adrian’s huge bear as Cameron’s family launches snowballs at them. They all hit Adrian, but he doesn’t move. These bears are the best. They’re so protective of their mates and little cubs.
“We gotta go!” our oldest, Robbie, shouts as he runs down the hall in a panic. “Wake up! Wake up! Snowball FIGHT!!!”
My three other kids burst out of their rooms in a frenzy as Logan groans on the bed and buries his face in the pillow.
“Julian and his crew are out too,” I say as I glance out the window. Julian and Madison are scooping up snowballs and tossing them at Cameron and Adrian’s family. “We need you, Logan.”
“For what?”
“To hide behind,” I say as I throw a sweater on.
He rolls on the bed, looking at me as the sheets get pulled down, showing off his hard sculpted abs. This man is in his mid-forties now and his body is as hard and sexy as ever.
“You want me to go out of this nice warm bed to go out there in the middle of a snowball fight so I can take all the hits while you guys hide behind me?”
“Yes,” I say with a nod. “That’s exactly what I want.”
“Alright then,” he says with a grin. “Let’s go!”
We race to the front of the house where there’s an explosion of gloves, hats, coats, and scarves. The kids are frantic as they get dressed, not wanting to miss a thing.
The door opens and the cold air blasts me as the four of them rush out, screaming as the attention (and snowballs) are turned on them.
“You’re going out there like that?” I ask as I quickly put my snow pants and jacket on. He’s wearing nothing but a tight pair of blue boxer briefs.
“Nope,” he says as he walks out the open door, his bare feet sinking in the snow. “I’m going like this.”
His body starts shaking violently as he walks down the steps. I pull on my gloves and hat as his grizzly bear explodes out of him.
I rush out of the house and close the door as Willow and her kids spot me. Snowballs start slamming into the outer wooden walls behind me as I flee down the steps with a squeal. With my heart racing, I hide behind Logan’s huge bear as I grab some snow and start making some ammo.
My kids run over, screaming with smiles on their faces as they hide behind their big protective papa bear too.
I love this place.
I love my family and this ranch. It’s truly amazing.
Logan and I have had an amazing few years with these little guys. In the end, we had two tiger and two bear shifter cubs. A perfect mix.
I launch a snowball at Madison and her kids who are hiding behind Julian’s bear. Julian’s grizzly catches it in his mouth—snatching it right out of the air—and eats it while everyone laughs.
“We should run out and rush them!” Robbie says as he gathers a bunch of snowballs in his arms. “Catch them by surprise.”
“I like it,” I say. “What do you guys think?”
My other three—Lauren, Lyla, and Jonah—are all nodding their heads with excitement in their eyes.
“All right,” I say as we all spring up. “Let’s go!”
We rush out and so does everyone else, laughing, screaming, throwing snowballs, and being the amazing family we are.
All while our protective bears watch on with loving eyes.
The End!
Don’t be shy. Come Follow Me…
I won’t bite unless you ask me to
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Forbidden Alpha (The Alpha's Obsession Book 4) Page 7
