by Alanea Alder
"It's gone," she said mournfully. Connor rushed to his cot and got a slice of "extra" pie he brought for himself. He handed it to her with a smile.
"You are awesome!" She took the pie and dug in, this time eating a little slower. Connor grinned as Aleks frowned at his brother. "She should only smile like that for me," he grumbled.
"Since I'm here anyway, let me check your chest," Doc said, trying to maneuver around her fork and plate since she did not stop eating. He placed a hand between her breasts and pressed lightly. She winced a bit and continued to eat her pie. Aleks gave a low growl. Dr. Claybourne rolled his eyes.
"Not taking into account that I am a doctor and would never inappropriately touch a patient, I'm also gay. So this really does nothing for me." He took a pen light and had her look up as he checked her pupils. Aleks seemed to relax a fraction.
"You look good. I'm confident you should be able to go home tomorrow. You'll be sore, but overall you're doing well. Now if you'll excuse me, I also have a slice of Ma's pie waiting for me in my room. If you need me, press the nurse call button. It's connected to the room I have here for when patients stay overnight. Goodnight, everyone." He smiled down at Rebecca and nodded to Aleks and Connor then left.
Rebecca stopped eating her pie and looked down at her plate. Where was home now?
"What is the matter, sweetheart?" Aleks asked, taking the pie plate, he placed it to one side, and sat next to her.
"I don't have a home to go home to. Not really. After the fire I didn't buy another house. I took a furnished apartment. After my boss became my ex-boyfriend, it was determined that my position as head librarian was redundant. That jerk put his "assistant" in charge. That ditz undid all the major changes I had made including the Children's Reading Hour and the tutoring program. She turned the lower level into an internet café. I couldn't watch the years of work I dedicated to the library after my father's death be undone, so I packed up what little I owned and started driving. I haven't had a real home since my father died." She twisted her thumbs around each other.
She felt the mattress dip on the other side as Connor sat down, effectively smushing her between the two brothers. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in to kiss the top of her head.
"I'm not sure if Aleks has had the chance to explain this to you, but you are his mate. That is a bond closer than human marriage. That means you not only have a home now, you have family. So tomorrow when Dr. Claybourne checks you out, you come home to the Arkadion ranch where you will have six brothers waiting to spoil you rotten," he said, smiling down at her.
Rebecca looked between Connor then Aleks and then burst into tears.
"Sweetheart, please calm down, it's okay. Shush." Aleks tried soothing her, but she kept hiccupping and couldn't seem to catch her breath.
"I didn't mean to upset her!" Connor exclaimed sounding frazzled.
Rebecca bawled into her hands. "No, not you, I'm just, I never..." Rebecca couldn't seem to get enough air to get any words out. The crying was starting to hurt her bruised chest. The more upset she got, the more she cried, the more she hurt, which made her upset and the cycle seemed to continue.
Unable to watch his mate so upset, Aleks shooed Connor off the bed so that he could lie down on his side next to her. Connor quietly left, closing the door behind him. Aleks pulled her into the curve of his body and kept running his hand over her hair. After a few more minutes, Rebecca calmed down.
"I'm sorry," she said, snuggling as close to him as she could get.
"For what? Having your world change, being stalked and assaulted? You can cry any time you feel like it and I will be right there so you can soak my shoulder," he said, smiling down at her.
"How does Fate pick mates? I can't think of a single thing I did to deserve being with you," she asked quietly. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that Aleks would be it for her. She already couldn't imagine a life without him. He had quickly become her rock, her solid ground. It seemed almost surreal that she had been rootless with no home or family or love, and now she had all three in spades.
"I'm not sure how Fate picks, but if anyone is undeserving of their mate it's me. I pushed you away and hurt you, and yet here you are in my arms. I'm amazed at your capacity for forgiveness." He rubbed his chin over the top of her head. She wrapped his arm around her waist and scooted backward trying to get comfortable. He inhaled sharply as she grazed his groin.
"Aleks?" she started.
"Yes, love?" he asked.
"What about you, your, umm..." She wiggled a bit and felt his semi erect cock spring to life.
He growled. She grinned then wiggled more, loving the feel of his hard flesh against her lower back.
"Go to sleep, Becca." He placed a hand on her back to keep her from wiggling too much.
"You called me Becca. No one has ever called me that before," she said, smiling.
"Good, I'll be the only one. Now go to sleep," he said.
"But..." she started again.
"Sleep," he said. She huffed.
After a few minutes of silence she said, "We are going to eventually have sex right?"
He sighed. "You're goddamn right we are. Just not when you're bruised and after you've had an emotional meltdown," he replied.
"Okay good, because I really want to see if sex is better than Ashby's quadruple death by chocolate sundae," she said.
Aleks made a painful sound that was somewhere between a moan and growl.
"Night, night, Aleks" she said, yawning.
"You. Are. Evil," he whispered, and she just smiled. She knew that for the rest of their lives she would need to keep him just slightly off-balance to keep the upper hand. She silently congratulated herself. From the occasional whimper she heard she knew she had done well.
CHAPTER NINE
Rebecca was moving around gingerly but was reverberating in her seat the next morning as Aleks drove them home. She felt no worse than when she overdid it on the treadmill, but Aleks was taking no chances. He had carried her around all morning after getting checked out of the clinic. They swung by to get her stuff from Liam's. She asked Liam to babysit Sebastian until she was settled at the ranch. She was still wrapping her mind around the word "home," but she liked the idea of it. Home. She kept repeating the word over and over in her mind. She couldn't wait to see where she'd be living.
The drive itself was relaxing. She and Aleks had come a long way in a short amount of time going from rejection to comfortable silence. She looked over to where he sat grinning as he drove, before turning back to look out the window at the dense forest. She decided in the spring when everything was turning green again she would go hiking. Right now the trees were bare and the snow made the forest seem like a winter wonderland.
She still had her face pressed to the window when they drove through an opened gate. The gate itself looked like black wrought iron. The wall that stretched forth on either side of the gate looked to be stones stacked neatly and compactly together. Both stood nearly ten feet high.
As they drove past the gate, Rebecca turned in the passenger seat to look back. The wall extended all the way to the tree line.
"How far does the wall go?" she asked.
Aleks smiled. "It surrounds the entire property."
"That is a pretty big wall," she said.
"It took nearly eight generations of Arkadion men to put up the wall around the property. Each generation after that has chosen some other way to make sure the land is secure. My brothers and I installed motion detectors and a monitoring station in the main house as our contribution. There are six other Arkadia sister sites across the country. After we take over for Ma and Pa, if there is a position open to take care of a town, one of my brothers will go fill it. Otherwise the towns are led by our uncles and cousins. The main house is just ahead," he said, pointing to the huge two story log cabin ahead. It reminded her of the ski lodge she stayed in, her one and only time trying to ski. He maneuvered the car past it.
; "My cabin is off to the right. It's nearby without being underfoot. When my parents retire they will move in here and I will take over the main house. My brothers are spread out on the property. I like knowing that they are close by. None of us like the idea of being separated." He looked over and smiled.
"So there are more than the seven of you?" she asked.
Aleks chuckled. "Counting the first cousins there are, in this generation, twenty of us," he replied and her eyes went wide.
"That's a lot of bears," she said.
"You should see us at Christmas." He winked and she gulped.
"My parents were only children. So I have never had a family like that. I mean you have them everywhere, and I couldn't tell you my grandfather's middle name." She sighed then straightened. "Am I the only human?" she asked.
He looked a little uncomfortable. "Yes, but remember it's not by choice. Fate picks our mates," he said, taking her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles.
"What if they don't like me?" she asked, feeling very small suddenly, which wasn't like her at all.
"You managed to wrap the entire town around your itty-bitty baby finger in less than a day. The rest of my brothers will completely fall in love with you. You already have Ma and Pa under your spell, and they are more than half the battle," he said, laughing, and parked the truck next to a medium-sized two-story home.
"Welcome home," he said, grinning and motioning to the house before them.
Her heart melted. She released her seat belt and leaned over the console and lifted her face to his. Without wasting a second, he closed the gap and took possession of her mouth. His lips were warm, and he expertly demanded her mouth to open.
She sighed softly and wrapped both arms around his neck. He growled then pulled away for a moment before reaching under him to lift the lever that allowed him to push his seat all the way back. She grinned. He easily lifted her over the console and settled her on his lap. His good intentions placed her sitting sidesaddle. However, she was not having that. She turned and straddled his thighs, placing a knee on either side of his legs on the seat, wedging herself between the console on one side and the door on the other. Looking up she met his eyes, and rotated her hips grinding her body against his. Both of them groaned. Without stopping, she kept her body moving, driving them both crazy. He ran his hands under her sweater and pushed her bra up and out of his way. He deliberately traced around her breast, missing what she wanted him to touch the most. Her pace quickened, and he lifted his hips, causing her to bounce up and down.
"Please," she begged.
He grinned, then wrapped his lips around her pebbled nipple. He dipped one hand into the front of her jeans and found her dripping wet. She groaned and reached between their bodies to wrap her hand around his bulge through his denim. There was no way she was flying without him. He grunted and his breathing became more erratic. She moved her hips mindlessly against his hand as his fingers moved furiously against her tightening nub, and right before she flew apart, she reached lower to cup his sac before drawing her nails up his shaft through the denim. He yelled out and bucked against her.
She collapsed against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, both trying to catch their breath. She lifted her head and placed small kisses along his jaw.
"I love you, Becca," he said, burying his face in her neck. She tightened her hold on him.
"I love you too, Aleks. Please don't ever leave me. I don't think I could survive losing someone else," she said.
"I'll never leave you, Becca. You're stuck with your grumpy-ass bear for the rest of our lives." He pulled back to look in her face before giving her another kiss.
"Ready to see your new home?" he asked.
"In a minute, I'm too comfy." She rubbed her face on his chest and snuggled closer.
"Come on, baby girl, we're expected at the main house for dinner, and I don't know about you, but I need to clean up and change my pants." He wiggled his eyebrows at her. She laughed.
"You realize this does not get you off the hook on your promise to cook for me," she said, untangling her body from his. He carefully set her down in the passenger seat.
"I know, I know." He laughed. "How are your bruises?"
"Better today. I'm not as stiff as I was yesterday," she said, smiling.
Aleks grabbed her backpack and suitcase. When he first saw them he had been shocked that she owned so little and promised her a shopping spree.
He unlocked the door then set her bags inside before surprising her by scooping her up and carrying her across the threshold.
She looked around with wide eyes. The design itself was simple, but everything was clean lines and quality material. She felt like she walked into Pottery Barn. He set her down carefully.
"I love it!" she squealed and began to go from room to room. She gasped when she entered the kitchen. She wheeled around to face him when he came up behind her.
"Do you know what I can cook in a kitchen like this? What time are we expected for dinner?" she said, going through his cabinets and pantry.
"Five o'clock. What are you doing?" he asked.
"I want to see if you have what I need to make my famous Honey Bun cake. I want to take something to dinner," she said, placing the ingredients and pans on the island. "You wash up. By the time you're done, the cake will be baking and then I can jump in," she said, before humming happily. She started dumping ingredients in the bowl and measuring out oil and sugar.
"Watching you hum and putter around the kitchen makes this place finally feel like home."
She looked up and saw his eyes shining. "Because I am your home, not these walls. Now scoot."
She saw him swallow hard then nod. "Right. Shower. Love you Becca."
"Love you too."
She paused in her cake making to watch him walk away. Damn if the man didn't have a fine ass. She sighed lustily, now, where was the sour cream?
CHAPTER TEN
Aleks grumbled under his breath as she placed the two cakes in the backseat of his truck. When he got out of the shower he had been bombarded by the amazing aromas coming from their kitchen. He had repeatedly told her that they were keeping the cakes. She had ignored him.
When they got in the truck, he frowned because he could barely reach the steering wheel. Rebecca giggled at his confusion. When he realized why, he leered at her, which caused her to hold her sides and giggle some more.
"We're never getting rid of this truck," he finally said. She smiled. As they got closer to the main house, the more agitated she became. She had nearly worked herself into a panic attack when he reached over and grabbed her hand. She began to calm down.
"Are you sure they'll like me? I'm just a human," she said, looking up at him, worried. He frowned and his chest constricted. He had put that doubt in her eyes and her heart. He would remove it even if it took the rest of their lives together.
"I can't even begin to explain exactly how special you are. Have you ever stopped to think that being the only human in a family of bears is special?" he asked.
"I never thought about it like that," she said, a goofy grin on her face. He smiled back at her, glad to see the shadows were gone from her eyes.
"Come on, let's go meet the horde," he said, and she nodded.
He walked around to her side of the truck and helped her down before reaching in the backseat, grabbing a cake and shutting the door.
"Hem, hem." Rebecca motioned to the door. Sighing he opened the door.
"I brought two cakes, Aleks. Share with your brothers." She pointed to the other cake that he had left in the back seat. He really didn't want to share this amazing-smelling cake with his brothers. But since she was insisting, he grabbed the second cake stacking it on the first.
"They're going to eat it all," he grumbled, and she grinned.
"Good, when the food disappears, that means they like it," she said and took his empty hand. He smiled down at her as they walked hand in hand to the house.
The front door
swung open and Pa stood in the doorway. "Look, it's my baby girl coming to visit. What did you bring me?" he asked, his nose going to the air, smelling the delicious aromas coming from the cake.
Rebecca smiled and hugged the older man. His eyes softened and he wrapped an arm around her and steered in into the house.
"Ma, look what I found," he said, taking her coat. Ma walked into the foyer smiling, she wiped her hands on her waist apron.
"Baby girl, how are you feeling? And what is that?" she asked pointing to the pans Aleks held.
"I'm much better today, the truck ride did me a lot of good," she said, giving Aleks a sidelong glance. He immediately proceeded to cough. Pa gave him a few solid whacks on the back.
"Thanks, Pa," he gasped.
"Anytime, son."
Ma winked at Rebecca.
"I brought some cake, I hope that's okay?" Rebecca asked, sounding unsure if the cakes would be welcome.
"Of course that's okay! Food is a rare commodity around here with all the boys over." Ma reassured her.
They walked toward the back of the house to a large open family room that was connected to a kitchen. Immediately they were surrounded by his brothers.
Pa stepped forward and began the introductions.
"In order, we have Benedict, Connor, Duncan, Emmett, Finnian and Gavin." Pa pointed to the first one in line. "Benedict runs a website design company and likes playing around with women too much."
"Pa!" Benedict protested. Rebecca giggled. Pa ignored him and continued.
"Connor you know works in the diner. What you don't know is he is wasting his doctorate in Psychology by working there." Pa shook his head.
"Now, Pa, you know better than anyone how everyone always comes to the diner to find someone to talk to. I just happen to be educated enough to help. This way they can't complain if they don't like my advice because I'm only responsible for making their dinner." Connor grinned at Rebecca.
