Page 8 of The Bear's Reluctant Mate

“No.” He shook his head, and his grin faded. “She left.”

“She left?” Daisy’s expression shifted from joy to disbelief to something that looked suspiciously like exasperation. The unspoken accusation hung heavily between them:You met your mate and then you let her go?

“Marion came to collect the plants for the garden project,” Alfie explained, needing Daisy to understand it wasn’t that simple. But then, he sensed that nothing about Marion was simple. Not the wariness in her eyes, not the protective way she watched over her nephew, not the way she’d tensed when their hands touched.

“Instead of Mary-Ann?” Daisy’s voice climbed an octave. “What are the chances?”

Tell her the rest,his bear huffed with amusement, finally finding humor in the situation.

“Finn asked her to come collect them,” Alfie admitted.

“Hedid?” Interest sparked in Daisy’s eyes, replacing the disbelief.

“By mistake,” Alfie added, and saying it out loud made the cosmic joke of it all impossible to ignore.

Daisy’s hand went to her mouth again, but this time she was trying to hold back laughter. Her shoulders shook with the effort, and then it burst free and her laughter rang out across the garden center.

You have to admit, it is funny,his bear said.

Oh, yeah!Alfie agreed as the absurdity of it all hit him.

The weeks of teasing Finn about his matchmaking mix-ups, the desperate hope that maybe it would happen for him, too, and then it had, exactly as his bear had wished that very morning. His own laughter joined hers, deep and rumbling, as tears misted his eyes.

But they were happy tears. Joyful tears.

When they finally stopped, both wiping tears from their eyes, Daisy gave him a tap on the arm that was equal parts affection and reproach.

“So what are you doing still here?”

“What am I doing still here?” he echoed Daisy’s question.

She’s right,his bear said.Whatarewe doing still here?

“I should go after her,” Alfie said, bewildered that the thought had not occurred to him before.

“I think that is a fine idea.” Daisy grinned, her eyes bright with amusement. “Not a moment to waste.”

“I’m going,” Alfie said, already backing away from her. Then he stopped, his brow furrowing. “But wait…the garden center…”

“Will still be standing when you get back,” Daisy finished for him, making a shooing motion with her free hand. “I’ve lived and breathed this place for more years than I care to recall. So, I think I can handle a Saturday morning. Don’t you, Alfie Thornberg?”

His bear was practically clawing at him now.Go, go, GO!

“Call if there’s any…”

“Alfie!” Daisy’s voice took on that no-nonsense tone she reserved for particularly stubborn customers. “Go find your mate. That’s an order.”

The word ‘mate’ sent a thrill through him.

Our mate,his bear said with satisfaction.

“You’re sure…”

“I’ve worked with shifters long enough to know you will be no use to anyone until you have found her again,” she said. “The way you looked at her car driving away was...well, let’s just say I’ve seen that look before. Now stop wasting time!”

Alfie didn’t need to be told a third time. He darted around to the greenhouse, grabbed his keys from the hook in the back office, and practically leaped into his truck. The engine roared to life, and he pulled out of the garden center parking lot with more speed than caution.

The community garden was on the outskirts of town, next to a warehouse complex that had been converted into craft studios, one of Finn and Mary-Ann’s previous projects. But their vision for the garden project was more ambitious. They weren’t going to stop at just vegetable plots, no, they planned to create a gathering place for the whole town, with benches and pathways and spaces for children to explore and play. To connect with the natural world around them.

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