Page 50 of Fearless Bond

I squared my shoulders. “To meet a bunch of bear shifters? Not really.”

“They don’t bite.” Barclay grinned, flashing his teeth, and I laughed.

I entered the pub tucked under Barclay’s arm and did a double take.

A few seemingly human patrons sat at tables and idled by the bar, but I barely noticed them. A group of alphas dominated the space, all of them huge like Barclay. The guy leaning on the bar closest to us seemed even bigger—as tall as Barclay but wider in the shoulders with legs and arms like tree trunks. When he moved toward us, he filled my entire field of vision. I tilted my head back to look into his face, and my mouth fell open.

“Mr. Grump is here!” he exclaimed, his voice like thunder.

The man flashed two rows of white teeth, the canines just a bit bigger than what seemed normal, and moved closer, his ginormous paw outstretched in front of him.

“Montgomery Wolf, at your service, dear sir. You can call me Monty.”

He engulfed my hand in his and squeezed firmly but carefully enough not to crush my fingers.

“You must be Calvin. It’s a great pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Beauville.”

He radiated so much warmth I couldn’t help but grin up at him.

“Thank you.”

“My goodness, you’re sweet. Are there more of you wandering about in the woods? Should I go look?”

Barclay growled next to me, but Monty chuckled breezily. If he laughed any harder, he might cause an earthquake.

“You’ll have a difficult time of it with Mr. Grump here, but fear not. We have your back.”

“He’s not that bad,” I piped up.

Another man approached from the side, smaller than Barclay, but still three times my size.

“Now that he has you, he’s not. You probably don’t remember me.” He offered me his hand too. His skin was smooth compared to Barclay’s and Monty’s coarse palms. “Hunter Black.”

“You’re the doctor. I haven’t had the opportunity to thank you.”

Hunter waved dismissively. “Just doing my job. Come and have a drink with us.” He gestured to the bar.

“I can’t drink alcohol,” I said.

Monty guffawed and slapped Barclay’s shoulder. “Damn right, he can’t!”

Barclay gave Monty a withering look and tugged me closer.

I probably shouldn’t start explaining to them that I wasn’t yet twenty-one and hadn’t even considered the pregnancy angle. I kept my mouth shut, but my cheeks heated anyway.

Another alpha, obviously a bear too, stood behind the bar, watching us avidly. He was leaner than the others, but not by much. His black T-shirt hugged his wide torso and mighty arms, which were covered with colorful tattoos of green leaves, flowers, and bugs. He had black tunnels in his earlobes and a thick ring in his nose like a bull. With those black eyebrows, he looked the scariest, but then he gave me a sweet grin.

“That’s Jordy,” Barclay said, nudging me forward.

“Hi, Calvin. Nice to meet you in person. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Fair warning—bears gossip,” Barclay hissed into my ear. “A lot.”

The door opened, and a waft of cold air washed over us from behind.

“Chickie!” Monty exclaimed. “Just on time.”

Barclay and I turned to the newcomer.

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