“Your eyes, dear,” Meredith said as she eased back. “Deep breath. Good girl. Those eyes can’t pass for human right now. You need to settle down. Here,” she said, snatching a wine glass half-full of red from a passing server’s tray. “Sip this.” Meredith had become another type of mentor now. She coached her in blending in with the humans in the city, despite the bear that lived just under her skin.
Brooke downed it like a shot of whiskey and steadied her breathing. Already, she felt more in control. “Better?”
Meredith gave her a smile that crinkled the corners of her blue eyes—eyes the same shade as her son’s. “Much. And look.” She turned Brooke’s shoulders slowly until she faced the door.
Tagan stood there in a suit, hands in his pockets as he watched her.
She couldn’t help the slow grin that took her face or the emotion that stole her heart. Her Tagan. He’d come for her. Even after everything, he’d come.
She’d worn a strapless dress tonight, owning her scars like he’d taught her. No one was ever rude enough to ask her where they’d come from, and she felt empowered to be exposed like this.
His eyes followed the line of her neck, and a smile crooked the side of his lips when he saw the mark he’d left on her shoulder. He blinked slowly, then brought his gaze back to hers.
There he was, her beautiful Tagan. Confident, intense, strong, able.
Brooke took a step forward and nearly rolled her ankle on her high heel. With a low, feral-sounding snarl in her throat, she yanked her shoes off and bolted barefoot toward him.
He jogged toward her and caught her in a back-cracking hug, as if he never wanted to let go. God, she’d lived and breathed for this moment. “I put in the work,” she whispered, as a warm tear slipped down her cheek. “I wanted to make you proud, so I put in the work.”
“You always made me proud, Brooke.”
“I Change.” She eased back and cupped his face—the face that visited her dreams—the face she adored. “I Change a couple of times a week at least. Out in the woods beyond the city. Your mom taught me how.”
Tagan looked at her with such wonder in his eyes. Jerking his gaze to the crowd, who were now clapping quietly, he ducked his head in a greeting to Meredith and set Brooke on her feet. Tugging her hand, he searched the paintings in the alcoves along the wall, then pulled her toward a painting she’d done called Him and Me. It was the one Meredith had put on the last panel on the invitations. In it, Tagan’s bear had his back to hers in the moonlight, but he was looking at her over his shoulder. It was of both of them in their animal forms, up on the landing amongst the felled trees. Out of all the paintings she’d done, the stars were brightest in this one.
Pulling her close, he whispered against her ear, “Tell me more.”
“The nightmares are gone. I only dream of you.”
“Bad dreams?” His eyes were worried as he brushed his thumb across her cheek.
“I don’t dream of when you Turned me. I never did. I guess it wasn’t as scary as what Markus did to me. I dream of your face. Of you sitting in the corner of my room, watching me. And you look so sad, and it makes my heart break with how much I’ve missed you. But I wanted to be strong for you, Tagan. I needed time to fix the ugly places inside of me.”
Her favorite rumbling noise emanated from his chest, and she settled it with her hand.
“You were always strong to me, you beautiful, complicated, sweet woman.” He leaned down and pecked her lips. “If I pay double for this painting, would you deliver it to my house in person?” he asked, his eyes serious.
“Oh.” She frowned at the painting. “Someone already bought this one. It was the first one that sold before the show even began.”
A slow smile spread across his lips, and he kissed her again, longer this time. He brushed his tongue against the closed seam of her lips, and she opened for him, tasting him.
“You bought it, didn’t you?” she asked as he pulled away.
He nodded once. “So will you deliver it in person?”
“Tagan,” she said, clenching the sleeves of his suit in her fists. God she loved him. “I was already coming home.”
A warm chuckle filled his throat as he rested his forehead against hers. “Home,” he repeated.
Relief nearly hummed from his body as he nipped her neck. “Trailer Park Princess is coming home. The boys will lose their shit when they see you. We’ve had a hard time with you away.”
“What about Jed?” she asked, her lingering fear tainting the moment.
The smile faded from his lips. “Jed is banished. I’m alpha now. No one will ever hurt you again.”
A server walked by and offered them wine.
“We should toast,” she suggested, pulling two glasses and giving him one. She looked around at the guests in their tuxedos and formal dresses and lowered her voice. “It’s boxed wine.”
Tagan let out a surprised, booming laugh. “That’s my girl. What are we toasting to?”
“I asked your mother lots of questions about what we are and our traditions. Someday, I’m going to make you my mate.”
Tagan’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what?”
“I’m going to work really hard at being the partner you deserve, and then someday, you’re going to ask me to be your mate,” she said matter-of-factly with a nod of her chin.
An uncertain smile crooked his lips, then disappeared. “Does that mean you forgive me?”
“No.” His face fell, but she lifted his chin until he looked into her eyes. “It means I never had anything to forgive. You saved me. I don’t need to forgive you, Tagan. I need to thank you.”
“Thank me?” He looked utterly baffled now.
“You helped me heal my muse. All of this,” she said, gesturing at the room of people, dressed up and standing in groups, talking in front of her paintings. “All of this started with you and your Ashe Crew. My crew now, too. And then you went one step further and saved me at risk to your own life. You killed one of your own who was trying to hurt me. You went head to head with your alpha, and I understand now how hard that is for a Second to do. You banished him, Tagan, for me. And then you gave me the greatest gift of all.” She placed her hand on her chest. “You gave me her—my bear.”
He touched her cheek softly, just under her eye, which she knew was blazing blue with how emotional she was. She didn’t have much control over her shifting eyes. Not yet.
“I can see her,” he whispered.
“She might be the strongest part about me now. I didn’t think so when I first Turned, but she’s tough. My bear makes me braver. I don’t fear people anymore. I don’t get scared and have panic attacks in stairwells anymore because I know I can defend myself now.”
“Yes, I imagine you can.”
“I love you, Tagan. I want to come home.”
He lifted his chin and looked at her with such fierce adoration in his eyes. “When?” he asked, just like he had those months ago when she’d left him.
Her happiness was so potent she couldn’t contain her grin if she tried. “Today.”
Upcoming Books in the Saw Bears Series
Woodcutter Werebear (Coming March 2015)
Timberman Werebear (Coming April 2015)
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.
Other Books by T. S. Joyce – Available Now
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 Brides (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
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Upcoming Books in the Saw Bears Series
Newsletter Sign-Up
Other Books by T. S. Joyce
Hells Canyon Shifters
Wolf Brides
Standalone Shifter Romance
Standalone Contemporary Romance
About the Author
T. S. Joyce, Lumberjack Werebear
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