Page 62 of Bears Not Included

No, I don't, I think to myself. Everything is too surreal. It feels like a novel or a movie, not my life.

“That domino effect is creating havoc around the world. This man can start a war. Please listen to me. Do not try to escape. Burn those papers and ID Kyla got you. There's no safer place for you than with the Ursid Syndicate. Yenin threatened to wipe out their West Coast operation—it’s their biggest source of income and what makes them have the voting majority at the round table—if they didn’t give you back to him. You know what they told him? To go ahead and wipe out their operation.

“You’re under their protection, you’re their wife, and they’re the only ones who Kirill Yenin can’t seem to get to, even if he tried a million different ways. Those are my father’s words, and I trust him, and you should trust your husbands.

“Again, you’re untouchable as long as you are theirs. As for your father, Livia, he is working for Kirill Yenin. He’s in deep with all of Kirill’s operations. He’s one of his right-hand men. It happened overnight—his rise in rank in Yenin’s organization. The minute you step out of the Ursid shadow, you’re unsafe. Better the devil you know than the one you don’t. Stay where you are, and you’ll be safe, dear friend.”

I’ve never been the type of girl to faint, but suddenly black spots flicker in my vision, making me lightheaded. Demi just confirmed in brutal detail what I suspected about my father. I needed to hear it from someone else, despite Deacon, Callen, and Mason telling me so.

My father is working for the Bratva. He did sell his daughter to a known criminal. No, he deceived me. He led me to believe Kirill Yenin was a lawyer who would be a partner in his firm, and I stupidly believed him. How much more pathetic could I be?

A surge of hurt pride works its way into my veins. It’s fine. I’m stronger than he thinks I am. He would never know how much he hurt me, but he blatantly confirmed that he never really loved me. Never.

With new steely resolve, I take a deep breath and swallow the tears I would have cried for him, then slowly tune back in to what’s happening around me.

Celine and Veronica are deliberating on what jewelry I should wear and how the presence of an Ursid child will bring about an abundance of light.

“As an expert in Ursid traditions, I never thought I would be a part of one as big as this.”

Her words draw me out of my haze completely.

“What do you mean, an expert?” I immediately realized I knew nothing at all about Veronica.

“My ancestors were servants of Bernard, Barrett, and Bruin Ursid. When their sons decided to leave England and come to America over two hundred years ago, my family was their first line of servants. It’s a family tradition that a Harper must always be in the employment of the Ursid masters.”

Does Veronica know about the fairytale?

“Everything about the Ursid traditions has been passed down to me,” she continues. “When I retire, my daughter, who is equally well-schooled, will take my place and be at the humble service of your children. I have no doubt you’ll conceive their first child today, and I’m here to witness it. That it comes at a time when we need some happiness makes it more perfect.” Her eyes glaze over again. I wish I had met Bianca. I’m sure she knows she is fiercely loved.

“You see, it’s been decades upon decades since a trio of Ursid men decided to honor the tradition set by Bernard, Barrett, and Bruin.” Veronica can’t seem to stop talking. “They were bear shifters after all, and Goldenia wanted nothing more than for them to carry out their traditions on her body. That said, it’s an honor for me to serve you, Livia.”

Nothing seems to stick in my brain. The thing about the breeding is too much, and I can’t grasp any of it.

I’m made to take a bath in rose-petal-scented water. Between Celine and Veronica, I’m scrubbed until my skin glows brightly and my hair becomes so silky, and I can do nothing else with it except leave it to hang down my back. Veronica brings out a chiffon gown I hadn’t seen in the closet before, but then I didn’t go looking around it either.

With my skin now glossed with a rich, scented oil, the dress is slipped over my naked body. I’m not allowed to wear underwear. Its absolute sheerness conceals nothing. My nipples are visible, as is the outline of my pussy. They decide the only jewelry I need is my wedding ring.

Celine hugs me tight, and Veronica leads me out. According to Veronica, Celine is not allowed where I’m going.

I manage to get onto an elevator by myself without crumbling to the ground. In a pair of soft satin flats, I step out onto the floor of what can only be the basement, except it is every bit as luxurious as the rest of the house. My quivering comes from my nerves since the whole vast expanse is cozily heated up.

This is where Veronica leaves me.

She gets back onto the elevator, and I’m left alone in the plushly decorated room. Pristine white furniture fills up the place. White chairs, white sofas, white sofas. There’s even a fireplace with mesmerizing flames coming from it. The carpet into which my feet sink is also white.

As I stand there, my chest heaving and my limbs weak, Deacon, Callen, and Mason appear. They’re bare-chested and wearing black drawstring pants, their bodies gleaming with health. The power that emanates from them gives them an aura of immortality.

I remember the first time I saw them in person. I remember the things they made me do that took me down to my basest self, where my pride had no place and my modesty even less.

My breasts ache as I remember them drinking my milk. My clit throbs when I think about how I came for them. From the first moment I saw them, something happened inside me, and I can’t label the feeling—just that I was as enthralled as I was petrified.

Thoughts of how Goldenia must have reacted to finding herself surrounded by three handsome men shuffle through my mind. I think about my mom, who shouldn’t have died when she did. She should have stayed alive so she could see her belief come to life.

It feels as if I have known these three men for a lifetime already. But every time, it feels like I’m setting my eyes on them for the first time. My body responds to them immediately. My nipples pebble and strain the barely-there white chiffon, and my thighs start to feel slick already.

I’m supposed to be thinking of a million other things right now, like my father and the reason I get that queasy feeling when I think about him. He is working for a criminal. And he wanted me to marry one. The papers in the tote bag upstairs may give me back my life, but they might also end it if Kirill Yenin finds me first. But none of those things matter now.

It doesn’t even occur to me that I’m giving my body to three crime lords to impregnate me while trying to keep myself safe from another.

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