Page 12 of The Bear's Forever Mat
Grandfather had vanished—probably hightailing it out of sight before Cooper could give him the evil eye.
It wasn’t the best timing, not with the fever so close, but there was no way he wanted Amber to feel awkward when soon enough she would be a part of this family.Soonbeing a relative term.
Cooper wasn’t going to allow his grandfather’s misguided, cheery “you’re part of the gang” attitude to interfere with the eventual wooing of said maiden.
As expected, the rest of the family was thrilled when Cooper and Amber entered the room.
“Amber. Come sit beside me,” Kaylee ordered, hurrying to the kitchen to grab another place setting. She bounced down one chair from where she’d been, opening up a space for her friend. Which meant Amber settled across from Lara with Cooper on her other side.
“Thanks for letting me interrupt your family time,” Amber said as Cooper pushed in her chair.
Grandmother waved off the comment. “It’s not an official family meal. I had a bunch of recipes that needed to be tested, and the next thing I knew, Kaylee and I had cooked enough to feed an army. And my favourite portable army is on speed dial.”
Conversation passed around the table with the heaping platters of food. Comfortable. Easy.
“Hey, Amber. Needed to tell you. One of the pack who’s out on an extended trip said he heard rumours about your brother’s whereabouts. It’s in a village that’s not satellite accessible, so we can’t call them to find out. He’s double-checking before he sends anyone on a wild goose chase.” Lara’s voice was filled with excitement. “But he told me he was pretty sure it was Mason they were talking about.”
“I thought you weren’t going to say anything until you were positive.” Alex’s words were soft but still chiding.
Beside Cooper, Amber snapped upright.
“I need to know, and Iwantto know, even if it’s not one hundred percent sure. Just hearing a little bit gives me hope,” she insisted, staring Alex down intently as if his shifter form weren’t a predator more than twice her size.
His lips twitched, then he tilted his head toward his mate. “You’ve got a fierce protector there, sugar. Nice to know the human in the room has your back.”
“Oneof the humans in the room,” his grandmother noted in passing before smiling at Amber approvingly. “And this human agrees. It’s worth hearing all the threads in the hopes one of them can be tugged to find the right trail.”
“I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as I hear more,” Lara promised. She glanced around the table and shared with a grin, “Other than that, the pack is wild these days while they wait for Christmas. You’d think we had a dozen or more kids in the pack house from the carrying on.”
“What will you do once you have kids?” Amber asked before slapping a hand over her mouth. “Oops. Rude human question. I’m sorry. I wasn’t asking about you and Alex having kids, because that’s totally up to you when you have them. Orifyou have them. I don’t want to presume…” Her face scrunched up before she offered a wan smile. “If I open my mouth wider, I might be able to fit both feet in there.”
Lara laughed. “I know what you were asking in the first place. The logistics of wolf-pack living arrangementsareentertaining. The pack house is for adults, and anyone living there who has kids usually moves into a single-family dwelling nearby. Only as Alphas, Alex and I will stay at the house. We’ll add more rooms to our apartment based on how many kids we end up with.”
James glanced at Kaylee, who smiled as he spoke up. “We want kids, but down the road a bit.”
Alex was nodding his agreement, going shell-shocked when Lara said, “Oh, I’d like them as soon as possible.”
“Kids? Right away?” Alex swallowed then smiled, his expression a little shaky around the edges. “Really?”
“Definitely. If we’re going to have a nice, big family, we’d better get started on it soon. You’ve got three kids in your family, I’ve got five…maybe we should split the difference.”
James grinned evilly as Alex struggled to stay on an even keel. “Or you could go for a record. Six. Or seven would be cool.”
“Seven?” Alex choked on the word, but he forced his lips into a tormented smile. “We can discuss this later, sugar.”
“Of course, sweetie.” Lara winked at Amber then grabbed the bowl in front of her and passed it to one side.
The conversation shifted to other topics as plates were refilled and glasses topped up. Cooper found sitting next to Amber a form of sweet torture. Their legs brushed every now and then, and in spite of the turkey and braised brussels sprouts and roast salmon and everything else at the table, the scent of her was the strongest thing in the room.
Still, it wasn’t until he noticed the wine seemed off that he excused himself from the table. Standing in the bathroom, Cooper flipped quickly through his notes. Sure enough, on the Signs Of Impending Mating Fever page was the kicker:liquor tastes bad.
It was time to take measures.
Cooper opened the booking for the remote wilderness cabin reservation he’d begun a few weeks earlier. He clicked the confirmation then returned to the table with a sense of peace.
Everything was under control.
Or at least it was until he got ready to leave the house and discovered he and Amber were the only ones left. His brothers had been eager to get alone with their mates, and his grandfather had vanished off somewhere.
