Page 44 of Their UnBearable Destiny

She almost felt bad for her father’s stricken look, almost.

“I will tell the others that the offer has been turned down, if they ask about you and Uberto?”

Emiliana gave her father a genuine smile. “I think it’s safe to say that they won’t have to worry much longer.”

To say that he father was relieved was an understatement. He looked about ready to burst.

“I love you, Emiliana. I haven’t always acted like it, but I did my best for you… for Felisa.”

She stood and stepped into her father’s embrace for the first time in a long time. “I know. I know. I’m just happy we don’t have to fight anymore.”

He gave her a loud kiss on her cheek and released her into the arms of her mate.

“Now go… spend some time together.”

When he left moments later, Emiliana turned to look at Uberto and saw a curious look on his face.

“What is that look, ‘Berto?”

He shrugged and smiled at her.

“I think the two of us need to go for a run.”

Her eyes widened as she took in a gasp of air. “Do you mean it?”

His eyes narrowed at her and she felt a rush of heat push through her veins.

“Now?”

Uberto reached for the buttons on his shirt and she copied his actions. “I’m going to run you ragged.”

He groaned at the challenge in her eyes. “I’m looking forward to it, Ana.”

Once outside,they shed their skin and embraced the wild abandon of their bears, running across the green meadows and under the trees of the forested areas. They raced and chased each other in turn, finding a rare moment of peace together.

He had no real way to tell how long they’d run, but instinct turned them around as they reached the foothills and when he turned to his mate he sent her an image of home through their deepening connection.

He could feel her smile if he couldn’t see it in the expression of her bear. They turned and headed back to the Orsino House, a place that was well and truly as much hers as it was his, but by the time they returned, they were both exhausted.

Emiliana tried to put on a good show. Whether it was for his benefit or done just to prove herself, Uberto moved closer and touched the side of his broad face against her shoulder, nudging her to right herself from where she was listing from exertion just inside of the garden gate.

A long heavy sigh of breath pushed from her mouth and she lifted her head to give him a baleful look. He knew she was hurting and that she was upset. He didn’t care if she took it out on him.

Her eyes were glassy with pain, but she was being stubborn.

He loved her so much.

Uberto wished they could communicate easier as bears, but there was something between them, keeping their bond weaker than it should be. One more time he lowered his head toward the ground hoping that she would understand and lie down to rest.

Ana’s bear curled her lip back and glared at him. He could almost see her stubbornly sink her claws into the ground under her feet.

He wanted to laugh, not at her of course, he didn’t have a death wish, but he needed her to rest so she could heal and then he could as well. Still, Ana didn’t seem to understand what he was trying to say, or rather, she was not going to listen to him.

Her body wavered just enough for him to grind his teeth together. Salvatore had always told him to be a gentleman, the same message that their father had impressed upon them from the start.

Yet, being a gentleman wasn’t going to help at the moment, not when he was faced with the most glorious woman he’d ever known, and she was trying to out-stubborn him, just as she always had.

A twitch in his side turned into a stitch and a small howl of pain passed through his lips as his chest puffed wide open like a bellows. When he pulled in his next breath, he lowered his larger frame and laid his aching body down with a soft huff. Relief flooded through his body, as if fighting gravity by remaining on his paws was more of a struggle than it should have been.

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