Page 13 of Wooded Bliss

“Just like that,” she confirms with a nod.

No matter how long I study her, she gives nothing away. I fucking hate it. Someone needs to be blamed for this. If it’s the fates, so be it.

“You shouldn’t have put out this call,” I sneer, my voice dripping with disdain. For the witch in our midst. For finding the mate I wasn’t looking for. For how badly I want Birdie but can never have her. “I didn’t ask you to get involved.”

Circe stands at her full height, something hardening in her expression. Her voice is firm but there is a hint of warmth in its depth, “I felt a call and I answered it. Fate asked me to be involved. The Moon Goddess asked me to be involved. There’s no way I could have ignored it; the call would have only gotten more intense and insistent.”

“I didn’t ask for this,” I roar, panic gripping my chest as my heart clenches.

My brothers look startled at my outburst for a moment. Sure, I’ve always been on the quiet side and being broody is my default setting since my parents passed, but I’m usually even keeled.

Ripp is the first one to get his shit together—no surprise there—and he takes a step toward me without a single ounce of hesitation in the movement. We might be pretty equally matched, but he’s still the Alpha. He might not throw around hispower and title, but we know who the leader is when it counts, when it matters.

“Why are you fighting this?” His dark eyes, so much like mine, so much like our dad’s, study me as if he can peel away the layers to show him what the real problem is. “When we were growing up, you always talked about looking forward to finding your mate. You always talked about how much you wanted what Mom and Dad had.”

“And then they were gone,” the words are a whispered croak which barely make it past my lips, but they do.

And then they hang there in the quiet of the room. In the stillness. In the grief, and the devastation.

Understanding crosses Ripp’s face and he falters for a split second.

“They didn’t want to leave us,” Wylie’s soft-spoken words have me slowly turning toward him as tears prick the back of my eyes.

He was young when we lost our parents. He was just on the verge of adulthood, of the change at 18, of becoming the man they were raising him to be. They never got the chance to see it, though. We stood by his side when his bear came forward. We helped him find his stride and his future.

“They wouldn’t want you using their death to stop you from accepting your mate,” Wylie’s voice is filled with conviction. “They would hate the thought.”

My chest feels like it’s caving in as my heart clenches. I know he’s right, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

“You have to let yourself open up to your mate,” Ripp murmurs. “You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

“I need my mate,”my bear practically pleads, and my eyes close.

Resignation fills me, but it’s not the only thing I feel.

Fear. Pure, unadulterated fear.

What if I lose her? What if she loses me? Wouldn’t it be easier to just not allow it to happen?

“It’s too late now,”my bear reminds me.“The mate bond is powerful, and I won’t let you reject or walk away from her. Birdie is mine,”his growl is filled with possession which echoes through my soul.

“She’s ours,”I tell him.

The chuff he lets out is filled with relief.“Don’t fuck it up or I’ll make your life hell.”His words are a vow, one I know he’ll follow through on. Before curling up in a dark corner of my mind he adds on,“If you haven’t already.”

When I open my eyes, I’m glad to find that Circe has gone back to making whatever it is she’s making. My brothers are looking at me warily and my lips thin into something that might be a smile or might be a grimace.

“My bear won’t let this go,” I push the blame off on him and he huffs out a low growl, not bothered at all, “which means I guess I have a mate to court.”

Ripp gives a nod of approval as Grady rubs his hands together like a movie villain and Wylie flashes me a bright smile. I’ve never tried to woo a woman and I’m not sure where to begin. Maybe starting with an apology for my rudeness today is as good a start as any.

“And figure out a way to tell a human about the supernatural world, including what mates are,” Ripp adds with a grimace.

Well, fuck.

“I’ve always wanted a sister,” Grady crows before heading toward Circe and peering into the bowl she’s mixing. “Now, about these cookies,” he uses his most charming voice as he grins at her.

Circe smiles back and shakes her head before swatting his hand as he reaches in for a taste of the batter. “First I need to cook them, then you can have one.” She rolls her eyes and accuses, “You’re like a toddler.”

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