He reached out, his large palm stroking her forearm in a gentle press. “Theo’s fine. I’ve got people nearby if needed, but honestly he’s learning to use his shifter senses. He won’t be taken easily ever again.”
She nodded. That’s what she told herself every night when she woke up sweating with terror. “I’d still feel better if we were closer to the main fold,” she grumbled.
He jolted, his hand squeezing then lifting off her to hover uncertainly an inch above her arm. “You’d consider that?”
“Of course I’d consider that,” she snapped, annoyed at him for being so thick-headed. “Theo has to learn about his father’s family,” she said. “Sure, he’s already planning on spending the entire summer up there, but I’d be crazy not to consider moving to Gladwin permanently. He says he feels the draw even now and wants to roam around in a forest. As a bear. That isn’t exactly safe in Kalamazoo. So of course I’m thinking about moving. You’ve got to have a sane way of doing that up there.”
“We did. My mom used to organize monthly bear parties. Kind of like big picnics that are managed for everyone’s safety. We ought to do those again.”
She looked at him. That almost sounded like fun. “Yeah, you should.”
“I will. And you and Theo would be welcome. Only a small percentage shift. It’s a time for the whole community to get together. And I’d really like it if you were there.”
She studied his face. He appeared earnest. More than that, she thought she saw a quiet yearning in his eyes. An echo of the desperation she’d once seen in his bear’s eyes. Lonely hunger held back for her sake.
It was the “held back” that pissed her off. Damn it, she was done with sitting on tenterhooks. She was tired of waiting for him to get off his ass. He’d shown her that she could handle herself in front of motorcycle riding killers and mad scientists. She’d be damned if she let one stupid bear alpha make her insane.
“Damn it, Carl, I wish you’d just get to the point. Why are you here?”
His eyes widened and he fumbled on his stool. Not surprising, given that his seat was narrow and half covered in flour. But she hadn’t expected her frustrated question to have him falling onto the floor.
Her first thought was that he was having a spasm. Some sort of carryover from the surgery or maybe lead poisoning from the bullet that had been hanging out inside him. But while she was scrambling for her phone to call 911, he grabbed hold of her wrist and held her in place.
“Becca—” he began, but she talked right over him.
“Take deep breaths. I’m right here with you. You’ll be fine. Stacy, call an ambulance!”
“Don’t call, Stacy. I’m fine!” he shouted as he rearranged himself on the floor. He ended up on one knee while he pulled something out of his suit jacket with one hand. His other hand was firmly gripped around her wrist.
“Where does it hurt?” she asked. “Are they sure they got all the bullets out? Maybe they missed one.”
“I’m fine! Damn it, Becca, shut up!”
She pulled back, but he didn’t let her move far. “What’s going on?”
“I’m trying to tell you why I’m here.”
“But you fell down!”
“I went onto one knee! I’m trying to propose!”
It took her three replays in her brain before the words finally shifted into meaning. It helped that he flipped open a ring box to show her a diamond ring fashioned in an odd setting. It was like a Claddagh, but instead of two hands gripping a heart, one clawed paw and one human hand clasped a heart-shaped diamond beneath a crown of gold.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
“This ring has been worn by all Maximas for generations.”
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured.
He stretched it closer to her. “Becca Weitz, I can’t live without you. I love you. Will you marry me and live in Gladstone with me forever? I know it’s a lot to ask. That’s why I took so long. I wanted you to remember your life here, to know what you’d have to give up. I could stop being Max if you want, but I’d rather not. Not if you think you might be able to stand it out in the country. Or at least give it a try. I want you with me there. I want to wake up beside you every morning. I want our children raised next to the forest I love. I want to be with you when I really am decrepit and have to hand over the leadership to someone I trust. Will do you give it a try, Becca? Will you marry me?”
She stared at him, her eyes misting with tears. Of all the things she’d expected from him, this wasn’t it. A proposal? After he’d been silent for weeks?
“Is that really why you came here today?”
“Yes!”
“So why the suit and briefcase?”
