Our mate’s name turned out to be Holly. Not that it mattered. To paraphrase the greatest poet of our time, Mariah Carey, she wouldalways be my baby.
Either way, I liked the new understanding she radiated over her maul bite as she recapped what we’d explained. “Not only did Koda bite me, but he bit both of you, too. Then you two bit me, which means all three of you can read my mind, and Koda can read your minds, but I don’t have access to your thoughts at all.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Leif answered, guilt rippling down his bond.
I just tugged down the neck of my t-shirt, baring the spot between my throat and collarbone where female bears usually make their claim. “If you want to bite us, so you can hear what we’re thinking, here’s my neck.”
Ursa, I’d spent so many nights in jail dreaming of this—a maul, a mate, a connection. Just imagining Holly claiming me like that turned my dick to steel.
But she threw up shields, her thoughts carefully blanking out as she said, “You don’t have to do that. I’m new to all this bear stuff,but I’m aware we’re in some kind of mental thrall because of this… extreme ovulation I’m going through.”
Leif frowned. “Extreme ovulation?”
“That’s what she’s calling estrus,” I explained to him with full authority, even though she was doing a surprisingly good job of blocking us out.
Holly cleared her throat. “Point being, I’m sure you only bit me because of that, so I think we can all agree not to make decisions like reciprocal bond bites until whatever… this… is passes.”
“Wecouldagree,” I said. “But Leif and I don’t. We’re bears, baby. We see what we want, and we bite it. No questions asked. So, what’s it gonna be?” I tilted my head toward her nest.
“You gonna invite us in so your third can finally make his claim, or are you gonna force him to wait until your bear does it for you?”
“Don’t push her,” Leif said, leaping to her defense like a big, yellow guard dog. “She’s been through enough.”
“She sure has,” I agreed. “And I’d like to start making up for that shitastic ex of hers. But hey…” I raised my hands in mock surrender. “No pressure. You’re calling the shots here—at least until your bear takes over. That’s why we’re asking now, before you go back intothrall, as you called it. So, what will it be?”
I could feel Leif’s need to claim her thrumming inside him. We both felt her bear staring at him from inside her. But for all his puppy-dog eagerness, Leif waited patiently for her answer.
“I don’t like this,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Even if I say no, my bear’s going to make me say yes, isn’t she?”
I tilted my head. “Free will is a bedtime story humans tell themselves, like children trying to ignore the monsters they know live under their beds.”
She blinked…then smiled, pleasant surprise lighting up her pretty face, “Clara Quinn. She’s one of my favorite writers.”
“Mine, too.” I grinned, then sobered to bring her my point. “The choice isn’t really ours. But if you let us in, I promise you this, baby, you won’t regret it.”
Beside me. Leif swallowed in full agreement, his heart hammering over our maul bite. “So…?” he asked, voice cracking. “Will you let us in?”
15/
good boy
leif
Holly shifted, her gaze flicking between me and Hawk. Inside, I was practically panting, desperate for her to choose me before her bear did.
She was quiet for so long, I started to lose hope. But then her eyes locked on mine, and she said, “Okay, you can both come into my nest.”
The words barely left her lips before the air around us perfumed with chocolate and caramel, despite the blanket she’d clutched around herself. Her estrus came through as if the bear inside of her had been waiting for her human to decide.
My chest tightened at her invitation. She’d chosen me! She wanted me! But just as quickly, the high gave way to a crashing wave of doubt.
Wait…what do I do now?Could I handle this? Could I handleher?
Old fears from my all-human past crept in like mountain fog, chilling the heat that had flared inside me. My anticipation flagged, along with another part of me I’d need to… claim her.
“You’re overthinking it, puppy.”Hawk’s voice shoved its way into my mind, sharp and commanding, before he growled aloud, “Lie down, Leif. Now. On your back.”
I scrambled into position, grateful for the direction even if I was kind of embarrassed by how easily he’d read me.
