Page 74 of Cowboy Bear's Hope

Not yet anyway.

Chapter Twenty-Two-Dante

My shoulders sagged as I watched my mate turn and walk away from me, our cub tucked safely in her arms.

I knew she had her. Knew she didn’t need anybody to help her with her precious cargo. But fuck, I needed her to look at me. To see me after everything that had happened today.

To know I was on her side. That I was sorry I’d kept my suspicions about Rosie from her.

Goddammit. I fucked up.

I should have told her before that I smelled fur on her baby’s skin. That I was sure Rosie had supernatural blood.

No, I hadn’t known she was a Bear exactly. After all, she wasn’t a Grizzly.

Yes, I had smelled the scent of other, but she could have just as easily had been a Wolf or some other large predator.

God, but she was a beautiful little Black Bear Shifter.

Rosie would be just fine now. The Motley Crewd Ranch was the perfect place to raise a cub and the rest of the guys, and their mates would look out for her, and help her learn to control her animal.

I only hoped Avery wouldn’t leave me for not telling her sooner. Fuck, if she sent me away, I didn’t think I would make it.

I needed her. Wanted her. Loved her with every inch of my soul.

Desperation scratched at me. Fear made me quake. And urgency had me almost tripping over my own feet, trying to stand to follow her.

“Not yet,” Max growled, using his Alpha voice to freeze me in my tracks.

“Avery,” I muttered, trying to fight against his control.

“Hold,” he grunted, and I gritted my teeth, trying to move.

Sweat poured down my body, trickling in rivulets along my skin as every muscle in me strained against the invisible bands of power holding me in place.

I grunted with the effort. My teeth were clenched so tightly I thought my jaw might crack. But it was no use.

No matter how hard I fought, Max’s command held firm.

When he shifted, the power of his Alpha status amplified, wrapping around me like steel chains I couldn’t break.

Pressure from his decree pressed down on me, forcing my Bear to submit, no matter how much we hated it.

I growled low in my throat, frustration clawing at me as the Bear roared against the confinement in the depths of my mind.

The Jersey Devil was a creature of legend, and for good reason. His power wasn’t just physical. It was inescapable, all-encompassing.

Any other time, I would have been in awe, ready and willing to obey my Alpha’s decree, no questions asked.

But this wasn’t any other time.

This was my family.

Please still be my family.

Fear that this was it. This was the one time I’d fucked up too much to be forgiven scratched at me.

It made me so fucking scared.

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