Page 1 of His Omega Bear

Chapter 1

Jaxson

Jaxson: We’re here.

Iwaited for a reply from my buddy from the Marines, who now ran his family moving business. Shep arrived yesterday, even though we left before they did. We’d kept in contact throughout, so I knew he was at the local diner, grabbing food while he waited for me. They hadn’t been able to stay in town. Apparently, the two inns were fully booked. What were the odds?

Who knew never-heard-of-it-ville Montana got so much traffic?

Maybe you won’t spend as much time cursing Lee and Jay for getting you into this.

I blew out a breath and cracked my knuckles before looking back at the sleeping bundle in the car seat. “Guess this place can’t be so bad if a lot of tourists come through, huh?” Of course, I didn’t get a reply.

My phone pinged, stopping the usual train of panic-laced thoughts. That was normal for me now.

Shepherd: Be there in 10.

That was a typical Shep response. The man never used more words than he needed.

Tossing my phone on the passenger seat, I rolled my shoulders before opening the door and getting out of my brand-new, passed-every-safety test SUV. I stretched, letting all my muscles relax. Finally, we were here. We could have arrived sooner if you hadn’t pushed moving day oh ten or so times, a very unhelpful voice pointed out.

Yet another thing I’d gotten good at ignoring.

Instead, I stared at the large house that was to be my… our new home and sighed.

I did my best to ignore the panicked voice, reminding me it wasn’t just me anymore. I was now and forever half of a we.

I wiped my face with my hand and released another breath. “I sure as fuck hope I’m doing the right thing.”

It was probably… definitely, the wrong time to have second thoughts. I snorted. Calling them second thoughts wasn’t quite right… these were more like fiftieth and sixtieth thoughts. Was that even a saying? If it wasn’t, it sure as hell should be.

Even after selling my condo and packing my whole life up the last couple of months for this move, there was a part of me that was certain I was crazy for moving to a whole new town, with absolutely no backup.

“No fucking backup.” I’d have no more babysitters, or kindly neighbors that had known me forever. Or military spouses that took pity on me and dropped off food and took the baby for a couple of hours so I could panic in solitude. It was just me and little bit.

And just like always, that thought had my body breaking out in a cold sweat worse than the time one of my trainees had stepped on an active mine and we’d had to detonate without blowing both of us to kingdom come.

You gave your word buddy, so no going back now. But damn it, there were times I really wanted to. I would rather be knee-deep in a war zone, eating sand than dealing with the responsibility I never asked for. But I had it because my best bud and my sister both died leaving their child to me. The most precious thing to them, and the very one they’d both been fucking ecstatic about.

“Fuck!” I clenched my fist, trying not to punch something. Been there, done that, and it had been a blessing I hadn’t broken anything. Even though the pain certainly felt like I had.

Just like I had more times than I cared to count, I reminded myself to suck it up. Because even though I was a poor substitute for Lee and Jayson, I was all she had.

And she’s all you got!

All the family I had left.

The need to punch something returned at the reminder. Lee and I had always had each other. Then Jayson had come along. I’d met him in the service, brought him home right after basic, and one look at my younger sister and he was a goner. And the fuckers had both left me. I squeezed my eyes shut, no tears McCarthy. I drew in a deep breath and counted to ten. Then another, until the tsunami in my chest that felt like it would rip me apart if I gave into it, reduced to crashing waves before finally letting it out.

Focus on the move. It was what they wanted. Their wills had been very specific.

That’s why you sold the condo. If I’d let myself keep it, it would be an escape hatch and there couldn’t be one. This was my future, at least for the next eighteen years. Asheville Montana.

God, I still wanted to pinch myself, or better yet, give myself a swift kick in the ass whenever I thought about it too much. A new town… in fuckin’ Montana, of all places. I was a Chicago boy through and through. The big city was all I’d ever known, unless I counted my time in the desert on Uncle Sam’s dime. That was what it was. But a vacation it fuckin’ wasn’t.

This isn’t one either. But now wasn’t the time to think about this new life, or what it all meant.

I looked up at the sky and sighed. “This better be the right thing you two.”

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