Page 15 of The Bear's Reluctant Mate

Finn swallowed hard and nodded, then sniffed loudly. “Well, you’d better get those stakes. Don’t want to keep your mate waiting.”

Mate.

The word sent a thrill through Alfie every time he heard it. Mate. After all these years of waiting, wondering, watching his brothers and cousins find their other halves, it was finally his turn.

As he climbed into his truck and started the engine, Alfie thought of the journey ahead. Marion clearly carried wounds, and Charlie did, too. Gaining their trust wouldn’t be easy orquick. But if planting seeds and watching them grow had taught him anything, it was patience.

And Marion was worth waiting for. Worth fighting for. Worth whatever time it took to show her that he was nothing like the shadows in her past.

We’ll take it day by day,he told his bear as Alfie pulled out of the parking lot.Starting with tomato stakes and marigolds.

His bear rumbled in agreement, settling into a contented hum that vibrated through Alfie’s chest. They’d found their mate. Everything else was just details.

We’ll take it slow,his bear agreed as Alfie drove back to the garden center, the familiar mountain roads barely registering in his consciousness. His mind was consumed with images of Marion, how her rare smiles lit up her face, the fierce protectiveness in her eyes when she looked at Charlie. And the thrill of her touch.

And Charlie, so bright and curious, who’d been so delighted by butterflies and worms, who seemed to be carrying a weight no child should have to bear. Already Alfie felt a deep, primal need to protect him, to see him laugh more often, to help him feel safe.

A family. His family. The thought was overwhelming in its rightness, even as questions tumbled through his mind. What had happened to Charlie’s parents? Why was Marion his guardian? What shadows lurked in their past that made Marion so wary, so ready to expect the worst?

Alfie gripped the steering wheel tighter. Whatever it was, he would help them heal from it. But first, he needed to earn their trust.

Before he knew it, he was pulling into the garden center’s back entrance. Saturday’s crowd had arrived in full force. Cars filled the parking lot, and he could see customers wanderingbetween the rows of plants, employees answering questions, and carrying purchases to vehicles.

All working like clockwork, just as Daisy had promised.

He parked and headed straight for the greenhouse, mentally cataloging what he needed: tomato stakes, twine, perhaps some organic fertilizer, and definitely those marigolds he’d promised Charlie. The bright orange and yellow flowers would be perfect companions for the tomatoes, both practical and beautiful.

As he entered the greenhouse, the humid air welcomed him, as always. The scent of damp soil and green growing things was as familiar to him as his own heartbeat, but today it seemed somehow sweeter, more vibrant, as if meeting Marion had heightened all his senses.

“You’re back so soon,” Daisy said, turning up at his side.

“I am,” Alfie replied, moving purposefully along the rows of seedlings until he found what he was looking for, a tray of bright, healthy marigolds, their foliage lush and green, buds just beginning to unfurl into blooms.

Just as our love is unfurling and blooming,his bear said with a happy sigh.

“Don’t tell me you never found her,” Daisy said, following close behind him.

“I found her,” Alfie confirmed, carefully lifting the tray of marigolds. The weight of it was satisfying in his hands, solid, real, just like the connection he’d felt with Marion.

“So, how did it go?” Daisy asked, a note of exasperation creeping into her voice at his brevity.

“It was good...” Alfie began, then paused, remembering the wariness in Marion’s eyes. “Apart from the fact that she thought I was stalking her.”

“Stalking?” Daisy’s voice rose in shock, her eyes widening.

“Yeah, because I turned up at the project,” Alfie explained, moving toward the section where they kept the gardening supplies. “Finn tried to cover for me by saying he’d texted me to bring some tools over, but she saw through that.”

“The lack of tools would have been a clue,” Daisy remarked dryly.

“Exactly,” Alfie agreed, selecting several sturdy tomato stakes. “But I told her that I was there to check up on them because I wanted them to fit in.”

“And she believed it,” Daisy said, her expression softening as she reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Because it is the truth. You want the best for them.”

“I do,” Alfie said, his voice rough with emotion. “I want the world for them.”

“And you’ll give it to them,” Daisy assured him, her eyes crinkling with warmth. “One plant at a time, if that’s what it takes.”

Alfie nodded, gathering twine and a bag of organic fertilizer. “Charlie seemed to really take to gardening. You should have seen his face when he found a worm.”

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