Hill Bear Christmas by Ariana Hawkes

Author:Ariana Hawkes [Hawkes, Ariana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Luna Negra Press
Published: 2019-11-19T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Mate.

Grace was his mate.

This single thought penetrated everything—every motion, every chore, every conversation, there was this reality, filling Alec’s mind.

He had closed the door on mates. He’d had a mate, and he’d lost her—and so he’d never thought he’d get a chance to have another one.

But his bear could not be clearer—whenever he pictured Grace’s blue eyes, sparkling with intelligence, her plump lips stretched into that sexy half-smile of hers, her curves, his bear let out a territorial growl.

She was his. And he burned for Grace to know that… He just hadn’t figured out how to tell her yet.

He hadn’t even figured out if he should tell her at all.

She wasn’t a shifter. Maybe she’d be freaked out by the idea of mates. It was an odd thing to explain. Bear shifters had absolutely no control over who they mated with—it was left up entirely to fate.

Joshua had mated with his best friend’s sister. Matthew had mated with a girl that he’d only met once. Will had been lucky enough to mate with a woman he was already crushing on, but everyone knew that such things were uncontrollable.

But how would Alec explain that to Grace?

He pondered this as he got everything ready for today’s big clan meeting. It was going to be held in a clearing just outside all the lodges. Plenty of shifters would prefer to stay standing in the snow, but Alec wanted to make sure there were seats for the elders to sit on. He also dusted the frost off a pine stump and set it near the front—Grace’s seat.

What a wonder, Alec thought as he headed back to the lodges, where he’d agreed to meet Grace. He’d been attracted to Grace even before his bear had chosen her to be his mate. He’d already flirted with her, he’d thought she was gorgeous and clever and delightful to be around—and then his bear had insisted she was his mate.

Alec had never heard of it happening this way. Bear shifters were never lucky enough to fall for their mates first—Alec thought it made the whole situation that much sweeter.

“Everyone ready?” Alec asked as he came into Joshua’s lodge. “Meeting’s starting in five.”

“What’s going on?” Joshua peered at him with suspicion in his eyes. “You’re never this excited about clan meetings.”

“I’m just… anxious to make sure it all goes smoothly.” Alec ran a hand through his hair, then adjusted the collar of his shirt.

Joshua stepped closer to his younger brother, narrowing his eyes. He suddenly inhaled, while holding onto Alec’s shoulders so Alec couldn’t escape. Once he’d gotten a nice whiff, he grinned. “You smell different.”

“Cologne,” Alec muttered, even though he’d never used the stuff in his life—bear shifters had their own natural musk that didn’t interfere with their pheromones the way store-bought fragrances did. “Now if you’ll excuse me—”

“You’ve met someone?” Thankfully, Joshua kept his voice low.

Alec knew he couldn’t hide it—not from his brother. Grace, he would be able to put off telling until it was absolutely necessary—but any other shifter would be able to smell it on him at once.

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