In yet another dream, he let his bear take over after smelling her delicious aroma. Only, his bear bit her, kickstarting the bonding phase of the mating process. Then of course, she climbed his body like a tree andjumped his bones (after he’d shifted back).
With a soft moan and a shudder, he brought himself to completion, wishing a hookup with Fern was the most advisable option.
It definitely wasn’t.
Rolling from bed, Elliott shuffled into the bathroom, stared at himself in the mirror, and groaned. He was a mess. Looking more bear than man, his snarled hair hung well past his shoulders, and his beard could do with a trim. Not to mention his eyes, they had that glow that only started up when his animal was close to the surface.
With a snort, his grizzly reaffirmed that he wasrightthere, just behind Elliott’s ribcage, scrabbling to get out, ready to find Fern.
“Yes, we’ll go to her today. We’ve got a plan, remember?” Mumbling to himself, but really to his bear, Elliott wandered off in search of his phone.
He had eighty-two missed messages.Mostwere in the enforcer chat, where they were only supposed to discuss pack security. Currently, Olivia and Noa were in a heated debate over what to name the new road when construction wrapped—a hot topic for a town that hadn’t changed in a century.
Clearing out the fight brought him down to seventeen texts. His mom had checked in to ask how his week was. When he hadn’t replied, she’d sent a photo of her with his dad, his sister, her husband, and their two cubs—a clear reminder that they existed.
He shot Mom a quick, “Good,” with a picture from his firing earlier in the week. He’d finished up a number of vases for the first wedding of the season; a pre-season wedding, actually. Olivia and Fern’s friend, Renata, was using the Lodge, and Fitz was handling a portion of the decor, as usual.
He’d also fired a mix of mugs, bowls (not the food kind), and bongs last week—restocking his best sellers. Local sales were nice, but his online store was where his real money was made. Elliott swore he was the only reason the Beckett Falls Post Office stayed in business. Their town was so tiny, they didn’t even have a bank.
Blinking back to the task at hand, he checked the remaining fifteen texts in the friend group chat. Noa was in there,notarguing with Olivia, and instead teaming up with her to demandElliottbring bread tosomething. He scrolled up to figure out what was going on.
Liv
Welcome party for Fern, our house, tonight.
Beck
6ish?
Able
I’ll be there. What can I bring?
Beck
Bring beer
Noa
Can I bring beer too?
I’m coming btw
Liv
No one needs to bring anything. I mean you can
But you don’t have to
Noa
Fitz should bring bread though
Liv
Yes. Elliott, bread please?
Noa
