Page 86 of Choose the Bears

“There he is!” A diminutive older woman sprang up from her seat and rushed forward, only for Lucas to wrap his arms around her.

“Hi, Nanna, this is?—”

“Your girl?” She spun around to take me in, and my hands fidgeted with the hem of my shirt, trying to smooth out the wrinkles. “Hello, darling. I’m Glenda, this ratbag’s grandmother.”

“Oh, hi, I’m?—”

“Imogen?” A couple of large men with the ruddy faces of men who worked outside all day, their hair various shades of blond, ranging from nearly brown to white, approached. One pushed forward, shooting me a crooked smile I recognised easily, then thrust out his hand. “You look too smart to fall for an idiot like this.” The other hand went to Lucas’ hair, ruffling it before his son pushed his hand away. “You haven’t accepted the bond yet. There’s still time to change your mind.”

“Jesus, Frank…” one of the other men said, nudging the first one in the ribs, but the third just laughed, all of them ignoring this. Lucas smiled along, his mouth stretched into that shape as he went a little pale.

“Enough out of you three,” Fern said, waving them away sternly before turning to me. “Don’t worry about Lucas’ dads. They like to make a joke out of pretty much everything.”

“Except you.” One of the other dads swept her into his arms, dipping her down and then up again in time to plant a kiss on her lips. “Anyway, remember the shit your dad put us through?” A blue eye zeroed in on me. “You haven’t got a scary dad lurking anywhere, do you, love?”

“Ah, no.” I understood why Lucas plastered a smile on his face then. It was like a shield to deflect their intense focus. I’d barely seen my parents in the past few years, and I couldn’t see that pattern changing at any point. “They’re not really a big part of my life.”

“One hurdle you don’t have to jump over,” Frank said with a nod to my guys. “Play things right, and you’ll have your girl mated and yours before the end of the week.”

“No.” Asher was like a stone thrown into a pond, creating ripples by the second, but he managed something. Each one of them went quiet then. His hand took mine, as if sensing my fear, my concern that maybe he’d changed his mind. My focus narrowed down to his thumb, feeling it rub over my knuckles once, twice. “We’re not rushing things with Imogen. She deserves to be courted properly.”

Why the hell did he have to go and say that? My cheeks flushed bright red in front of all these strangers. As if in response to my blush, he pulled me into his side and then marched us forward to where yet another group of strangers waited.

“Asher!” Gail jumped up from where she was sitting with the rest of her family. “Hello, darling. Imogen, still with us? This is promising.” She cast a wary eye over the deck at the back of her house, watching Kyle chat to Lucas’ family while the man himself seemed to hold himself a little apart. Lucas’ eyes met mine across the wooden expanse, and then he mouthed the word ‘help’, forcing me to giggle. “I appreciate it’s a bit of a trial by fire meeting everyone on the first day that you found out about the boys?—”

“Which is why I said it wasn’t a great idea.”

Asher ground that out between clenched teeth.

“Asher…”

“You could’ve given us this one day. Just one, Gail,” he said, shooting her a meaningful look.

“If you’re going to blame anyone, blame me,” I said, looking up at him in time to catch his stare. He frowned slightly. “She asked me if it was OK, and I said yes.” I shrugged. “I admit, I didn’t realise your family was this big.”

“A sleuth finding their mates is a huge thing,” Gail explained. “I meant it to be just immediate family, but word got around.” Her hands rose helplessly.

“Then we’ll stay for a drink and something to eat,” Asher told her in a low growl, “then I’m taking my… Imogen back to headquarters.”

Her gaze softened.

“Of course, darling.” Her hand went to his cheek, giving it a squeeze, something that had me choking back a laugh. “I knew you’d get all growly and protective when you found the other half of your heart.”

“Gail—”

“Mum,” she said, shooting him just as intense a look. “Now, make yourself useful and get your mate a drink.”

Gail hookedher arm through mine and engaged in a whistlestop tour of the entire family. Names, faces, they came and went but nothing stuck. This was like being forced to sit a really important exam without having a chance to prepare for it, and I ended up saying something like that to her, which had her smiling.

“Not at all.” She nodded to the table, everyone moving to sit down now because platters of food were brought out. “This is just the beginning. You’ll have the rest of your life to get to know all of us.” Her hand went to her hip. “Whether you want to or not. As I keep trying to tell Asher, this is your family.”

“My introduction was just as traumatic.” We turned to find him standing there with three drinks in hand. A beer for himand a wine for me and Gail, something we both accepted with a grateful smile. “Come and take a look at the garden, Imogen. I’ll show you where one of my favourite hiding places is.”

Gail protested that there was food on the table, ready to be eaten, but that small smile on Asher’s face? I couldn’t say no to it, so I took his free hand and then let him lead me out. A long, shuddering breath escaped me as the sound of all that chatter fell away, and he noted that with a nod.

“They’re intense.” He was making a statement, not asking a question, so I just took a sip of the wine. Dry, light, but fruity, it rolled around on my tongue as he continued. “But they mean well. There’s a lot of love here.” We got to the end of the garden where a beautiful wrought iron swing was situated and he gestured for me to take a seat. “It was hard for me to comprehend when I first arrived.”

“My family’s not like that at all,” I replied, sinking down into the cushions. “We barely have a civil word to say to each other.” My eyes found his. “So if you’re hoping for some big family get together…”

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