Page 97 of Cross To Bear

“Oh!”

Bjorn surged forward, catching Maddie as I was forced to relinquish hold of her, a roar building in my chest, what was left of me the only thing that stopped him from declaring his triumph to the whole neighbourhood. I reared up, up, up, watching her eyes go wide. She saw me, all of me, everything she’d chosen to tie herself to and rather than shrink away in fear, Maddie smiled and held out a hand.

Chapter 55

A big wet nose snuffled at my fingers and I… I just laughed. Hawk was a massive grizzly bear, because of course he was. But rather than surrender to the very sensible part of myself that screamed bloody murder in the back of my head, I smiled up at him, pushing free of Bjorn’s grip, then grabbing the crutches Razor handed me, before hobbling forward.

“Hello, boy.” Was that the correct term to use with a bear shifter when in fur? I didn’t know, but he didn’t seem to be upset by it. Instead, Hawk bear lumbered closer, shoving his head into my hand.

“Careful, brother,” Bjorn said. “Maddie’s pretty damn fragile right now. You don’t want to hurt her.”

The bear jerked back comically, making me laugh, but not before I gestured him forward.

“So I’ve always wanted to touch a bear’s ears and…” I sighed at the first touch. Hawk’s fur on the rest of his body was relatively coarse, but on his ears it was soft as a kitten’s belly. “Oh my god, these feel so soft.”

“Not as soft as a polar bear’s,” Crash said stiffly, then shrugged. “I mean, I guess. I don’t touch my ears usually when I’m in fur—”

“Shut up,” Razor told him. “Just shut up. This is Hawk’s moment.” He gazed at his brother, staring into those golden eyes. “And what a fucking moment it is. You have everything you need now, that’s why you came out. You didn’t trust your human self not to fuck it up, even though he never does anything wrong. And you wanted to meet the other half of your heart.”

Hawk bear rocked back and forth on his front paws, then chuffed out something, before bunting me again gently.

“More pats?” I said. “Oh, I don’t mind if I do.”

My balance was precarious, my body fighting to keep the crutches tucked under my armpits as I leaned slowly forward. Hawk bear made a sound of disquiet, shifting very carefully closer so that I could throw myself forward and into him. He was so big and warm and furry, I wanted to bury my face in his pelt and just go to sleep like this.

“I just want to snuggle you forever,” I mumbled.

“Maybe not forever, but for this evening?” Razor said. “Yeah, I think we can wrangle that. Fellas, let’s get the fire pit going.”

The other three went to work, putting kindling and firewood in the metal pit set up in the middle of the backyard. The soil had been dug out to create a grass covered depression, trapping the warmth in. It was also a perfect spot to snuggle into the side of a reclining bear. The others helped me hobble over then lowered me down onto Hawk’s side. As I settled I gazed up at the sky, counting the stars as they appeared.

“So…” Crash said, settling down beside me. Hawk bear gave a warning snuffle, but he just jabbed the bear in the guts with his elbow. “You doing something special for all of us? Like not Raze. He’s already mated you.”

“Shut. And I say this in all seriousness. The fuck up,” his brother replied, as he sat down next to us.

“Maybe,” I said dreamily. My leg throbbed and so did my neck, but strangely I felt weightless, which kind of made sense. At the very start of all of this, the guys said they’d take the mental load from me, so maybe that’s why I felt so free.

“What will you do for me?” Crash asked with an impish smile.

“Shove his head down a toilet?” Bjorn suggested, sitting down in front of us and smoothing his hand up my good leg. “I’d love to help with that.”

“Strip him naked and blindfold him, thinking he’s got some kinky time coming, and then we tie him to the power pole out the front of the garage,” Razor said.

“OK, I’ve changed my mind.” Crash eyed me warily. “I don’t want anything, please and thank you.”

“You will.” I rolled my head sideways to meet his eyes, rubbing my face into Hawk bear’s side before smiling. “When it’s your turn, you’ll want it a whole lot.”

“I do right now, so…” Crash took in the new bite mark on my neck with hungry eyes, staring for far too long then flushing when he realised what he was doing. “But I can wait until you’re ready.” Something intent rose in his eyes then. “It’ll be soon, I just know it.” He moved in to kiss me, but Hawk bear grumbled, shifting restlessly until Crash pulled back. “Furry little cock blocker.”

“Soon,” Razor agreed with a sly smile. “Soon we’ll be a proper sleuth and you won’t be going anywhere but here. We’ll grab all your shit, move you into your room, and then you’ll never get away from us.”

“Promise?” I grinned when I saw the dangerous light in his eyes.

But he didn’t rise to the bait. We sat there for some time, listening to the wood crackle as it burned, before I asked the other guys to get us the dessert that I’d prepped from the fridge. It was just fruit salad with ice cream, nothing real fancy, but it hit the spot. Bjorn even brought Hawk bear out a big mixing bowl with some in it and the bear moved very gently to take a sniff as I held the bowl.

His golden eyes burned into mine as he ate the lot, making me wonder what he was thinking, but not too hard. We finished off our meal, the other guys went and took care of the dishes, and I… I let a long, long breath out, and another, and another, my eyelids getting heavier and heavier, until I snuggled into Hawk bear’s side and fell asleep.

At some point I was conscious of the fact that I was being carried inside, down the hall, and past the lot of them.

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