Page 61 of Fearless Bond

“I know enough. He’s shown me more love and kindness in a few days than my father has in my entire life.”

I hated to see my mate upset, but I wouldn’t interrupt him. I put my arm around him instead, trying to show him I was there if he needed me. Calvin grabbed my hand where it rested on his waist and squeezed.

Laurel shot daggers at me. “Don’t get excited, bear man,” he hissed. “That’s a low bar to pass.”

Calvin let out an incredulous laugh. “Stop being mean to him.”

“What am I supposed to do? My best friend ever finally breaks up with his piece-of-shit alpha, only to get impregnated by a grizzly shifter. You’d be worried too if it were me!”

“We’re bonded, Laure. I’m reallyreallyhappy with Barclay. I’m in love with him.”

“It’s been days.”

“Yes. In the shifter world, that’s enough. I know in my bones that I belong with Barclay. Can you trust me just this one time?”

He’d struck a nerve because Laurel huffed and looked at his boots. He kicked a lump of snow.

“I can’t believe you’re just going to move to the mountains for good.”

Oh.Of course, Laurel felt like he was losing a friend. I hadn’t considered that angle before.

Calvin sighed and stepped forward to put his hand on Laurel’s shoulder.

“It doesn’t change anything between you and me. You’re on tour all the time anyway. But you can come visit me here, and once things with Father are in order, I’ll come to see you…”

“You’ll have a baby in nine months, Cal.”

“Babies can travel too.”

Laurel gave Calvin a long, frowning look. Then he grimaced and threw his hands in the air. “I didn’t expect this. That’s all.”

“Nobody did. But you always say you want me to be happy.”

Shaking his head, Laurel shifted from foot to foot. It looked like he’d run out of arguments.

“You gonna invite me in, or what?” he asked me. “It’s cold out here.”

“Sure. Welcome, Mr. Riley. Come on up. Do you drink coffee?”

Before I could blab about my lack of oat milk, an engine roaring made Laurel and his team spin around. The alphas spread out, and one of them immediately stepped in front of Laurel.

Two snowmobiles burst into my yard, creating a wall between us and our guests.

The cavalry had arrived.

Monty was the first to step off his machine and stand before the main guy. Jordy stayed behind, straddling his snowmobile. The bodyguard sneaked his hand under his jacket in a telltale move. He was ready to pull out his gun.

This could go wrong really fast.

“You don’t mess with one of ours!” Monty roared, undeterred.

Wide-eyed, Calvin stared as the other two alphas from Laurel’s security team grabbed Laurel and ushered him toward the car.

“Monty, stop!” I called. “That’s not…”

Before I could finish, a third snowmobile came from behind my shed and skidded to a halt behind Monty. At the sight of the sheriff’s uniform, the security team hesitated. The leader thankfully retracted his hand.

“Which one is the ex?” Monty asked over the rumble of the engine.

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