Page 17 of Beary Mated Christmas

Denali’s dad grumbled. “It’s about damned time you two got your heads out of your asses.”

Not the reaction I expected. Not at all.

“What?” Denali choked out. “You’ve never said that before, Dad.” Denali looked more shocked than I was, and that was saying something.

“I believe in Fate, my son. She always finds a way. You two have always shared a bond that couldn’t be broken. You thought running away and going to college could shatter a connection that took eighteen years to build?”

His mom nodded. “I’m so happy for you both. Welcome to the family, Abel. I mean, you always were family but it’s official now. Is it too soon to start asking about grandchildren?”

“Mom! Yes. No. I don’t know. We’ve only been mated a couple of days.”

Denali’s dad shook his head. “It only takes one time, D. Only one.”

“Well, we just called to tell you. We’re going to call Abel’s parents now. Go back to whatever you were doing.”

Denali’s dad waved, and his mom made us promise to come over for dinner once we were back.

After we disconnected, I wanted to call my folks, but first, I had to talk to my alpha about something. Something important. “Denali, we haven’t used protection.”

“Are you worried?” He hugged me to him. “If you aren’t ready to have a family… Goddess, we should’ve talked about this. It all happened so fast.”

“I’m ready. Are you?”

He cocked his head to the side. “I want everything with you, Abel. Everything. But it’s your body who has to go through thecarrying of the baby and birth and then chest feeding. It’s always going to be your choice.”

“I want kids,” I blurted. “With you. I…I hoped that maybe I would get pregnant here. It would make this whole season even more magical.”

“Then we’ll do that. Let nature take its course. I have to admit, I hope you are already as well. I can’t wait to have a little wolf pup running around.”

“Or a bear cub.”

“Or both.”

I laughed and my stomach swirled a bit. Denali would be an incredible father. “Let’s call my parents so we can get back to our vacation.”

My parents didn’t answer, and I left a voice mail without any extra information. They took about an hour to call me back. They were surprised to hear from me. They never did during the holidays.

I told them the whole story and then Denali got into the frame.

Mom beamed. “Denali! It’s so nice to see you. I’m so glad you two caught up.”

“We’re mated,” I announced. “Mated and marked.”

My dad sighed and shook his head. “I already know. I missed your call because I was on the phone with Denali’s dad. That man can’t hold water on his stomach. Called to tell me immediately. I’m happy for you two. We are. We really are. Who cares about the scent thing anyway. You couldn’t smell a strawberry from a watermelon when you were little.”

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah. You don’t remember that? Your sense of smell has always been off. We just thought once you shifted, it would be different.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. We just wanted to tell you.”

“Next Christmas, maybe you can go back to spending your holidays with your family instead of sulking in the woods.”

Denali and I got off the phone and he turned to me. “It seems that everyone knew we would work out but us two.”

“I really expected them to be surprised. It’s like they were waiting for us to get our stuff worked out.”

We went back to reading, and soon it was time for dinner. “Grilled cheese and soup?” I asked from the kitchen.