Page 57 of His Determined Bear

“That’s better. And of course, it was in good hands,” Rhys said, “But leaving with no notice, without putting anything in place? Wasn’t like you, Gray, and you owe me big time. Like maybe my favorite sheet birthday cake with raspberry and cream cheese.”

“It’s not your birthday,” I pointed out.

“And you weren’t supposed to up and leave,” he retorted.

“Birthday cake, you said. Done.”

Rhys grinned. Then walked over to me, pulling me in for a hug. “Missed you,” he said.

I nodded. “I know and missed all of you too. I’m sorry for leaving you in the lurch like that. Forgive me. Cooper and I needed time. We needed to figure things out. I owed it to myself, and I owed it to him.”

Rhys shrugged and waved me off like he hadn’t just been bitching about it. “Of course you did. What kind of alpha would you be if you hadn’t. Besides, I had it handled like you knew I would because I’m awesome and everything.”

I chuckled, “That you are.”

A part of me couldn’t imagine not having my brothers around all the time, but I knew when it came down to it, I would leave here if Cooper decided LA was where he needed to be. And I also knew my family would support me. Maybe Cooper and I could find our own ranch out in California. And I could build their own house for them on it so that my family could visit whenever they wanted.

“So, things are good between you? You’re a couple now?” Rhys asked.

I nodded. “We are, and we’re having a baby.”

“Yeah, I heard something along those lines. I’m happy for you, Graham. You deserve it.” I heard the tinge of sadness in my brother's voice, and I completely understood it. Before Cooper came into my life, I’d wondered if I would ever find him.

“I can’t wait to meet him,” Rhys smiled, “I bet he’s amazing. He would have to be for Great Urs to believe he deserves my favorite big brother.”

I chuckled and raised a brow, “What did Gabe do now?” I teased.

Rhys sighed dramatically before he started filling me in on what had happened the last week.

I smiled as I listened. I’d missed this, and I was happy to be back. I loved my brothers. They were my best friends. But we were home. The ranch had always been wonderful, I knew. It couldn’t be perfect until I had Cooper right next to me, curled up in my arms. But soon…it would all happen soon. Even if it was just when we came to visit.

Chapter 24

Cooper

The line was long at the car rental kiosk as I tried to patiently wait for my turn. But I was too impatient. Finally, I was in Montana, and I would see my mate in three hours.

Twenty days away from him had sucked.

When it was finally my turn, the woman looked up and greeted me. I smiled at her because I wasn’t a complete dick. “I’ll need to rent a car, please. Not sure of the return date.” I could have driven from California, but my bladder was not what it used to be.

“What size of vehicle do you need, sir?”

I shrugged. “No preference.” She worked her magic on her computer, and fifteen minutes later, she was handing over the keys and pointing me in the direction of where I could find my car. “Thank you!” I called and hurried to where I’d been directed.

I stepped out of the airport and took in a breath of fresh Montana air. I was here sooner than we had planned, but I’d gotten everything wrapped up early just for this reason.

Facetime was great, but I wanted to feel his arms around me. I looked forward to seeing Graham. It was our first Christmas together, and there was no way I was going to miss it. One scary moment was when the airline thought travel would be shut down in Montana because of the snow. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

The moment there were flights available, I’d rushed to the airport just in case something changed again. Graham wasn’t expecting me yet, but when I’d seen there was a flight today instead of tomorrow, I jumped at it, and I couldn’t wait to surprise him.

Although before I surprised my mate, there was one stop that I needed to make first. I touched my stomach as I loaded my suitcase into the back of the vehicle. “Your grandma is going to be so surprised.”

I just hoped she wouldn’t be upset that I had kept the secret from her. I completely understood what she meant now when she said she wanted to keep her Aaron just for herself for a while. I loved the time Graham and I had enjoyed each other and savored that I was expecting our child.

Even though his whole family knew, I guess that was what you got when the love of your life was a shifter.

The drive took longer than expected because I knew better than to rush on ice even though the road had been plowed. It was almost five in the evening when I pulled into Aaron’s driveway. Thankfully mom’s car was parked out front. One of Aaron’s former students had stopped by to pick it up a few weeks ago.

---