Page 21 of Coveted By The Bear (When Worlds Collide #1)

A week later…

I had just finished my shift at Lance’s Auto and had a meeting with the Barvale Clan’s Keeper, and what I learned blew my mind. I couldn’t wait to tell Miles.

He was off from work today, having taken a part-time job with Maverick Development.

My nerves were on edge. I didn’t know what to make of any of this, and the fact I needed to keep it a secret from Honor and Mom was kind of killing me.

I closed my eyes and took a moment for myself, breathing in the smell of fallen leaves and cool, wet earth. October was here, and the cold was coming fast.

I could almost smell the chill behind the still temperate breezes. Soon, it would be winter. The idea of running beside my mate in my fur took hold of my mind, and I smiled.

I was still learning to control my Bear, but the changes were getting quicker now. Less painful, too.

And it was all because of him. My mate was the best man I knew. Standing by my side every time I had a meltdown or when it all got to be a little much.

Admittedly, my hormones were all over the place. I apologized once for bringing all this extra mess into Miles’ life, but that conversation had ended when the big, sexy man tackled me to the ground and loved on me so hard I saw stars.

“Never apologize. You’re perfect exactly as you are, Pretty Girl.”

I might not think I was perfect. But he sure did, and it warmed me to my marrow.

I never imagined I could belong to someone like this. That he would feel the same about me. He called me his miracle once, but I thought maybe he had it backwards.

He was definitely my Mr. Right.

Before Miles, I’d always felt like I had to try to change myself to make others like me. But not with him. He liked me just the way I was. Mess and all.

Maybe he was right. Maybe we were perfect together.

“Thank you so much for coming in today, Hope,” Taylor Devlin said with a smile as he exited the office behind me.

“Thank you for your help,” I replied, biting my lip when a growl slipped out.

“Anytime,” he said again, dipping his chin.

Thoughts of my mate filled me as I walked towards the door, and I adjusted my purse on my shoulder. Miles was a good man. A great mate.

He was starting his own company, doing repairs and building sheds and decks, custom grills and playgrounds. He wanted to work on smaller jobs like that. Projects that would keep him close to home, which was a move I firmly supported especially after he’d finished our beautiful deck and grill.

I exited the Den, which I learned was a nickname for the house where the Alpha lived with his family. It also served as a meeting place for all Clan members in good standing.

All were welcome. And that included me now, too.

“Well?” Miles asked, pushing off the side of his used, but new to him, pickup truck.

Apparently, my mate had some savings and when I asked him about the motorcycle, he just shrugged.

“Can’t haul tools and lumber on a Harley,” was his reply.

“Um, can we sit while I talk?” I asked him, nodding at a wooden bench that sat in front of Lake Ursa some twenty feet away.

“Of course,” Miles replied easily, reaching for my hand.

The monster beneath my skin chuffed happily whenever we touched, and some of that sound reverberated in my chest.

“Come here,” he whispered, kissing me on the mouth before sitting down and tugging me onto his lap.

I grinned. I couldn’t help myself if I tried. Miles was always touching me and holding me. He made me feel tiny, precious, cherished. Like I was important to him.

“You are the most important thing in my life, Baby,” he confirmed, reading my thoughts through our matebond —that was like a psychic link true fated mates shared.

“Taylor did some research on my family tree and it seems I have an ancestor, three generations back who was a Shifter.”

“Really?” Miles exclaimed, eyebrows disappearing beneath the lock of thick, dark hair that always seemed to fall across his forehead.

I brushed it back, cupping his face as I nodded and crashed my mouth to his.

“It seems the Shifter gene can go dormant sometimes, and well, that secret was lost until your bite reawakened my furry side,” I whispered, kissing him again.

“Miracle. You’re a miracle, Hope.”

I swooned when he said things like that and I hugged him to me, loving the way he loved me in return.

“But are you okay with it? With having a Bear inside you?” he asked, and I could hear the vulnerability in his tone.

“Oh yes. I mean, it was scary at first, and it’s still so new. But I think maybe it’s good. Better. I mean, I understand so much more now,” I replied.

It wasn’t easy, trying to voice how I felt about my new hyper sensibilities and all the supernatural biological enhancements I was learning to control.

Like added strength and the ability to smell fucking everything.

“Anything you need, I’m here for you. You know that, right?”

“I know,” I said.

“I think it’s time I told you why I left my old Clan,” Miles said, and I scooted off his lap so I could face him without the distraction of his warm, hard body.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

But was I?