Chapter Sixteen
Rory settled onto the porch swing Cody had erected just for her. She enjoyed reading when the weather was fair or when it was time for the boys in her life to give in to the call of their animal.
After pulling the thick blanket off the back, she stretched the soft material over her lap and curled her legs up under her. With pinks and oranges fading to gray, sunsets here were the most beautiful she’d ever seen with pinks and oranges fading to gray. She’d found so much in Colorado.
Sure, the aftermath of her kidnapping had been hard. She’d been in shock for a couple of days, but a slow feeling of relief had blanketed her as time wore on and no more government agencies came for them. Cody said it was only a matter of time. He and Boone had taken video and pictures of what had been done, of the remote kill switches and incriminating evidence they found in a surveillance van that belonged to Krueger. They’d documented Dade’s horrific neck burns, of which he’d barely survived. Thanks to the capsule being half way out of his throat and in Cody’s hand when Krueger had detonated, the brothers had shared that burden and would don the scars of that awful day for the rest of their lives.
She’d asked Cody if his burned hand bothered him, but he’d just said, “It means my brother is alive. I’d maim the other hand, too, if it got me the same result.”
That’s just how Cody was, though. It’s what made him a good brother and a good mate. Those tough decisions were what made him a great alpha for the Breck Crew.
He had nightmares now. He didn’t talk about them much, but he’d wake with a start, sweating, chest heaving. He always held her close and would press his nose against her skin on nights like that, as if he was using her to anchor him in the present. She couldn’t be certain, but likely the ghosts of the shifters he’d been forced to target were haunting him.
Shayna was in the wind and would hopefully stay that way now that her team was nothing but ashes. Rory had wondered aloud once about what happened to the IESA’s bodies, but Cody had assured her Damon Daye took care of them. Just the thought of the man and all the power he harnessed dumped fear into her and got her heart to pounding. His shifter form was beautiful, but it was equally as deadly. It made her infinitely glad they’d been under his protection and not on the losing side of his wrath.
A couple of days after the battle, Bruiser had gone back to Montana to his beloved Ashe Crew. He’d seemed uncomfortable here and at odds with the Keller men. He’d been practically humming with relief when she’d driven him to the airport. The Breck Crew would be forever in his debt, but praise seemed to make the man fidgety.
He’d told her, “Stop thanking me. That’s just what family does. They’re there for each other.” And when they’d needed him, and it had mattered, he had been.
Good men peppered the Keller lineage, and she was proud that Aaron would have such strong role models to look up to as he grew.
“Mommy?” Aaron asked, hesitating in the doorway.
“What is it, sweet boy?” She held her arms out so he would come snuggle her on the porch swing.
“Cody and I have something we want to give you.”
His blond hair was mussed, and his shirt was nowhere to be found. Jeans clung to his narrow hips in an outfit she recognized as his shifting clothes. Cody wore the same thing when he headed out into the woods, and she smiled at how much Aaron emulated him.
“A present?”
Aaron nodded solemnly as Cody followed behind him, his shirt missing just like his son.
“Go on up in your momma’s lap, boy. I want to ask you both an important question.”
Rory cuddled Aaron up tight and smiled unsurely at Cody. “Fire away.”
Cody knelt down on one knee, the floorboards creaking under his weight. A sharp inhalation of breath took Rory’s throat as she sat up, gripping Aaron. Immediately, her eyes misted over as Cody opened a silver box he drew from his pocket. Inside, a simple gold band lined with tiny sparkling diamonds glinted in the porch light illumination.
“Oh, Cody,” she breathed.
“I know we haven’t talked much about me Turning you, and to be honest, I don’t care if you are shifter or human. But I want my last name on you, and on Aaron. I want you to be mine in more ways than us just being bonded and mated. I want all of you, Rory Dodson. And I have no right to ask for more because you’ve given me something priceless already.” His voice choked up, and he smiled at Aaron and rubbed his head. “You gave me our son, and then you went further and loved me despite all the muck that would’ve sent a lesser woman packing.” Cody leaned forward and swallowed hard. “Aaron, I don’t want you calling me Cody anymore. I’m your dad, and I’d be proud if you’d call me that from here on. Okay?”
Aaron grinned up at Rory, then nodded to Cody.
“And Rory,” Cody murmured, his voice dipping low. “I see you hold our son when he’s sleeping, and I watch your eyes soften when you are around me, and I think, I can’t love her any more than in this moment right now. But then you do something else that astounds me, and I get that same breathless feeling over and over again. I get to fall in love with you every day. I’m already the luckiest man in the world that you’ve chosen me as your mate, but I’d be honored if you’d be my wife, too. Rory, will you marry me?”
She was already sniffling like a crybaby when she nodded and held out her hand for him to slip the ring onto. She laughed thickly as Cody scooped them both off the swing in a bear hug that made her feel safe, warm, and loved, all at once.
How could it be the man she’d met at a bar all those years ago turned out to be the one man in the world strong enough to hold her heart? He was brave, protective, and loyal and could carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and make it seem a light load. He empowered her, encouraged her, loved her with abandon or restraint. He’d taught her it was okay to lean on someone else. And watching him father Aaron had made her fall in love with him even more deeply.
Fate had a funny way of working things out. They had struggled apart and then fought to be together, but it was all worth it for this moment, right here.
A soft growl rattled Aaron’s chest as she pressed kisses all over his face.
With a breathy laugh, she kissed Cody’s lips.
“Yuck,” Aaron groused.
Chuckling, Cody lowered Aaron to the ground, then lifted the boy’s chin. Aaron looked up at him with those muddy gold eyes, a Keller trait he’d inherited from Cody along with his birthmark. “You ready to let your bear out?”
Aaron whooped and jammed his tiny fist in the air, then blasted down the porch stairs toward the yard, chest puffed out. “Bye, mommy!” he called, waving from a patch of swaying wild grass. “Daddy and me have to go do bear stuff now. Oh!” he said, doubling back a few steps. “Can you please make me chicken nuggets when I get back? And apple slices? And milk?”
“Yes, of course, since you asked so politely,” she said, leaning her cheek against Cody’s shoulder as he laughed at his son’s food order.
Cody slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close into his side as they watched Aaron kick out of his jeans and Change into the little bear cub Rory had always protected. His Changes weren’t painful anymore—not like they used to be when he’d fought the animal inside of him.
She wasn’t afraid of him anymore because Cody had given their son a gift greater than any she could’ve ever imagined. He’d taught Aaron to keep his mind when he Changed. There were no more cages or dreading the beast. Aaron was excited and happy to shift. Anyone could see he’d blossomed here in the Colorado mountains under Cody’s careful instruction and abundant adoration.
Rory inhaled deeply as her heart welled with happiness. “Will you come back to me soon?” She always asked this before he took their son to Change in the woods.
Cody smiled at the little cub who was bounding through the grass, chasing a firefly.
Every time his answer was the same.
“Always.”
Dear Saw Bears
Series Readers,
I have a surprise for you, and dang it’s been hard to keep a secret. For all of you who have messaged me on my website, facebook page, through reviews and email, I’ve heard you. I get to do what I love, which is writing stories, and all because of you. I’m you’re biggest fan. So, that being said, this is the official announcement.
Bruiser will get his story in Axman Werebear, Book 5 in the Saw Bears series.
Coming Soon
Bear Shifter Romance Newsletter Sign-Up
For new releases, exclusive sneak peeks, and giveaways, sign up for T. S. Joyce’s Bear Shifter Romance Newsletter HERE.
Coming up next in the Fire Bears series
Bear the Burn (Fire Bears, Book 2)
Coming Soon
Other Books by T. S. Joyce
Saw Bears
Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)
Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)
Timberman Werebear (Book 3)
Sawman Werebear (Book 4)
Axman Werebear – Coming Soon
Bear Valley Shifters
The Witness and the Bear (Book 1)
Devoted to the Bear (Book 2)
Return to the Bear (Book 3)
Betray the Bear (Book 4)
Redeem the Bear (Book 5)
Bear Valley Valentine (Valentine’s Day Novella)
Hells Canyon Shifters
Call of the Bear (Book 1)
Fealty of the Bear (Book 2)
Avenge the Bear (Book 3)
Claim the Bear (Book 4)
Heart of the Bear (Book 5)
Wolf Brides
Wolf Bride (Book 1)
Red Snow Bride (Book 2)
Dawson Bride (Book 3)
Standalone Shifter Romance
Coveted by the Bear
Amazon
Standalone Contemporary Romance
Shelter Me Home
Amazon
About the Author
T. S. Joyce
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. Experienced at handling an alpha male of her own, she lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.
For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.
Contents
BEAR MY SOUL
Other Books in the Fire Bears Series
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Newsletter Sign-Up
Coming up next in the Fire Bears series
Other Books by T. S. Joyce
Bear Valley Shifters
Hells Canyon Shifters
Wolf Brides
Standalone Shifter Romance
Standalone Contemporary Romance
About the Author
T. S. Joyce, Bear My Soul
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