Page 34 of Bearly Mated

That would take time.

More time than I had, if they were already engaged.

That was the shit I had to work through, as I barreled through the forest in my fur.

After a while, I missed Callie too much to stay in the forest alone. So, I headed back home.

Back to her.

Back where I belonged.

twelve

CALLIE

The sun had set completely,turning on the gorgeous lights strung across the porch, when Hudson returned.

He shifted as he reached the stairs, picking me up wordlessly and holding me to his chest with an iron grip as he carried me inside.

I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him as he headed for the shower.

He washed us both, kissing my neck as his hands moved over my bare body.

And kissing the mark on my shoulder as he made love to me with water falling over our skin.

It was the most beautiful night of my life.

When morning came around, he woke me with his face between my thighs. We didn’t get out of bed until noon—and wandered back soon enough.

On the way to my dad’s place to pick up my things, I grinned as I read messages from Wren about Reed showing up—and refusing to leave, much like Hudson had.

It would take time for her to forgive him, but I was pretty sure she would. She’d been in love with him for years.

We moved my stuff into Hudson’s place, and asked one of the town’s realtors to put my dad’s house on the market.

Then, we spent the next two weeks getting to know each other again, both physically and mentally. The only time we left was to pick up groceries or visit Wren, Reed, and Parker at the bookstore for an hour or two.

The day we were supposed to go to the office for the pregnancy test, I woke up too nervous for sex. The appointment was early, so we just showered, then got in Hudson’s truck.

Instead of taking the turn that would lead into town, he turned away.

“Where are we going?” I asked him.

He flashed me a grin. “I rescheduled the appointment.”

“Youwhat?”

He put his hand on my thigh. “We’re not together for the sake of breeding, Callie. We’ve got things to settle before we find out whether or not the baby’s coming.”

“I’d like to know what’s going on in my body, actually,” I shot back.

“You will. After we do this.”

“After we dowhat?”

“You’ll see. Patience, Cal.”

“Neither of us have any of that, as you damn well know.” I leaned back in my seat, huffing. “I can’t believe you rescheduled the appointment.”

---