Page 13 of The Bear's Reluctant Mate

Boy, she hoped this wasn’t just about today.

“I’ll bring some from the garden center,” Alfie offered immediately. “Different varieties. Charlie can pick which ones he likes best.”

“Tomorrow?” Charlie asked hopefully.

Alfie looked at Marion, leaving the decision in her hands. There was nothing pushy in his expression, no assumption that he had the right to insert himself into their lives. Just that patient hope, waiting for her verdict.

“We’ll see,” Marion said, her standard non-answer when she needed time to think.

But this time, instead of disappointment, Charlie just nodded and went back to his stone-picking, humming under his breath. As if he somehow knew that “we’ll see” was already softening into “probably” in Marion’s mind.

“I should get some stakes to help support the tomatoes as they grow,” Alfie said. “And some twine. I’ll just pop back to the garden center to get what we need.”

“You don’t have to…” Marion began.

“I want to,” he said simply. “I mean, Finn did say I was bringing tools. So, I’d better go get them.”

There was something self-deprecating in his smile that made Marion’s heart ache. He was trying so hard, and not in the overwhelming, boundary-pushing way she’d witnessed in her sister’s relationship with Razor. It was as if he was trying to prove himself to her. Even though she had no idea why.

“Okay,” she said with a nod. She wanted to addhurry back, but she didn’t.

As Alfie headed toward the parking lot, Charlie looked up from his work. “He’s nice,” he said matter-of-factly. “Not scary like...” He trailed off, but Marion knew exactly who he meant.

“No,” she agreed, watching Alfie’s retreating figure. “Not scary.”

“Do you think he really knows about butterflies and worms and stuff? Or was he just being nice?”

Marion thought about the way Alfie had moved through the garden center, the reverence in his touch when he’d checked the seedlings, the genuine joy in his voice when he’d talked about plants responding to human attention.

“I think he really knows,” she said. “I think he loves growing things.”

“That’s good,” Charlie decided, adding another stone to his pile. “Maybe he can teach us. We don’t know much about growing things, do we?”

“No,” Marion admitted. “We don’t.”

And she didn’t just mean plants.

Chapter Five – Alfie

Now we’re the ones doing the walking away?Alfie’s bear asked incredulously.

We are.Alfie gritted his teeth as he did just that even though it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done in his life, each step was like torture, as if a part of him were being stripped away. But he could not turn back now. He had to fulfill his promise to go and collect the canes and the tools from the garden center.

He needed to show her he was a man of his word.

I guess they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder,his bear said, as he took some satisfaction at seeing Marion’s expression when he’d promised to return. That tiny flicker of hope, quickly hidden but unmistakably there. It was enough to sustain him through this brief separation.

“Alfie!” The call stopped him just as he reached his truck. He recognized his brother’s voice immediately.

Here we go,his bear said with a roll of his eyes. But there was no denying the gratitude they both felt for Finn. He’d made their lives complete, even if it was by mistake.

Alfie turned to see Finn hurrying across the parking lot with a wide grin on his face. Although there was an undercurrent of apprehension about the way he looked over his shoulder.

He’s probably worried he’s going to get mobbed by every single shifter in town. Once word gets out he’s performed another match-making mix-up.His bear chuckled happily.

Oh, yeah,Alfie said.And I hope with all my heart that he can do the same for all our brothers and cousins, and everyone else. But more importantly, perhaps, himself. He deserves it.

He does,his bear agreed.No words would ever be enough to show his brother how grateful he was.

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