Page 44 of Coveted By The Bear

I exited the Den, which I learned was a nickname for the house where the Alpha lived with his family. It also served as a meeting place for all Clan members in good standing.

All were welcome. And that included me now, too.

“Well?” Miles asked, pushing off the side of his used, but new to him, pickup truck.

Apparently, my mate had some savings and when I asked him about the motorcycle, he just shrugged.

“Can’t haul tools and lumber on a Harley,” was his reply.

“Um, can we sit while I talk?” I asked him, nodding at a wooden bench that sat in front of Lake Ursa some twenty feet away.

“Of course,” Miles replied easily, reaching for my hand.

The monster beneath my skin chuffed happily whenever we touched, and some of that sound reverberated in my chest.

“Come here,” he whispered, kissing me on the mouth before sitting down and tugging me onto his lap.

I grinned. I couldn’t help myself if I tried. Miles was always touching me and holding me. He made me feel tiny, precious, cherished. Like I was important to him.

“You are the most important thing in my life, Baby,” he confirmed, reading my thoughts through ourmatebond—that was like a psychic link true fated mates shared.

“Taylor did some research on my family tree and it seems I have an ancestor, three generations back who was a Shifter.”

“Really?” Miles exclaimed, eyebrows disappearing beneath the lock of thick, dark hair that always seemed to fall across his forehead.

I brushed it back, cupping his face as I nodded and crashed my mouth to his.

“It seems the Shifter gene can go dormant sometimes, and well, that secret was lost until your bite reawakened my furry side,” I whispered, kissing him again.

“Miracle. You’re a miracle, Hope.”

I swooned when he said things like that and I hugged him to me, loving the way he loved me in return.

“But are you okay with it? With having a Bear inside you?” he asked, and I could hear the vulnerability in his tone.

“Oh yes. I mean, it was scary at first, and it’s still so new. But I think maybe it’s good. Better. I mean, I understand so much more now,” I replied.

It wasn’t easy, trying to voice how I felt about my new hyper sensibilities and all the supernatural biological enhancements I was learning to control.

Like added strength and the ability to smell fucking everything.

“Anything you need, I’m here for you. You know that, right?”

“I know,” I said.

“I think it’s time I told you why I left my old Clan,” Miles said, and I scooted off his lap so I could face him without the distraction of his warm, hard body.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

But was I?

Chapter Twenty-One-Miles

Isucked in a breath, trying to collect my thoughts. It wasn’t everyday you told the woman you love you were supposed to mate someone else. I didn’t know how she’d react to the news.

“So, I told you I was a Soldier for the Willow Creek Clan, right?”

She nodded, and I exhaled, trying to relieve some of my tension.

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