Page 4 of The Alpha Grizzly's Mate

Chapter Three

Levi

“Is that my Nixon?” I called out once I saw Sutton emerge from the largest farmhouse I’d ever seen. Sutton had made it sound like a simple house, but this place was massive.

“Nixon? What about me? Shouldn’t you be saying,Is that my brother? I missed him so.”

“Is that my brother? I missed him so.” I stuck out my tongue. “Now, hand me the baby.”

He laughed and passed the sweetie over.

“Look at you,” I cooed to the baby. “You look just as handsome as your uncle.” His bright brown eyes stared at me and then back to Sutton. We looked a lot alike, and the cub couldn’t fail to notice. My bear instantly bonded with him, knowing he was part of our family.

“I’m side-eyeing you, just so you know.” Sutton chuckled but through our brother bond, I knew he was bursting with pride and happiness.

It was so good to see him more like himself. After his stint in the military, it had felt like he was gone. Seeing the spark in his eyes again was amazing.

“Come on in. It’s a pretty great place.”

There were already people painting in the front room. We didn’t disturb them, but I did get a couple of half waves. Little Nixon even opened and closed his hands, with his tongue stuck out, trying his damnedest to mimic our waving. Cutest baby ever. Well, maybe until I had one of my own.

“I’ll give you the tour,” Sutton said. “Then I’ll introduce you to my mate—or the other way around. We’ll see how it works out.”

“I have already met Raven on video chat.”

Sutton chuckled. “Not the same thing.”

He was so giddy, so excited that it had me feeling the same.

We moved from room to room until we found his mate in the kitchen. Nixon no longer wanted to stay with the best uncle ever once Raven was in sight.

As glowing as Sutton had been, his joy amplified the moment he saw his mate. Raven was his world. And I couldn’t have been happier for him.

“I’m going to feed this little one,” Raven said, holding Nixon. “Then I want to get to know you better. I need to hear all about this guy when he was little. I need to know what to expect.”

“I’ve got you.”

Sutton rolled his eyes. “Let’s go. I’ll show you the second floor.”

We went upstairs. The house was nice. It needed work, sure, but I could see why they had chosen it. There were lots of bedrooms, plenty of bathrooms, and so much sunlight.

But when we reached the third floor, my bear started acting weird.

I didn’t get it. It wasn’t like I was tuned into ghosts or whatever might haunt an old house like this, but something had him on edge. He’d never been like this before.

When we walked into the main room on the third floor—a space that looked like it had been repurposed as an office—there was just one piece of furniture in it: an armchair.

I couldn’t help but approach it.

Ours. Ours. Ours.My bear was claiming a chair?

When I bent down and scented the chair, realization hit me.

“My mate,” I whispered.

“What did you just call that old chair? Your mate?” Sutton asked, confused.

“Not the chair,” I said quickly. “But my mate…he was here. I can scent him.”

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