Page 21 of Cowboy Bear’s Hope (Motley Crewd Shifters #3)

H ow had this happened?

“Dante,” I managed to say his name, fear tightening my throat and choking off the rest of my words.

My hands gripped the wheel, trying to focus on driving his massive truck down the snowy road. Every second felt like an eternity, my mind spinning in a thousand directions at once.

“Look at me, Honey.” His voice was steady, calm, even though I could hear the strain beneath it.

I glanced at him in the rearview mirror. His black eyes locked onto mine, unwavering, grounding me in the chaos.

“I got her. And I got you. This will all be okay.”

I nodded, tears streaming down my face, unchecked and relentless. I couldn’t stop them, didn’t even try.

My chest felt too tight, like my ribs might crack under the pressure of everything I was feeling.

Then, with trembling hands, I pulled the truck over to the side of the road. The ranch was only about eight minutes away, but I couldn’t keep going. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.

The truck barely came to a stop before I jumped out of the driver’s seat. Snow crunched beneath my boots as I yanked open the back door, my voice breaking as I murmured, “Oh my God.”

I stumbled back, my eyes widening in shock at the sight in front of me.

Dante was a big man. Broad, powerful, and intimidating to anyone who didn’t know him.

But I did.

I knew his strength was tempered by a gentleness so profound it made my heart ache. I had never ever worried about him with Rosie.

Not for a second.

But now, blood was dripping from him. Thick, crimson streaks seeping from deep gashes across his face, neck, chest, and arms.

It painted him, staining his skin, his torn clothes, the snow beneath him.

I muffled my cry with trembling hands, watching in horror as he tumbled out of the truck with Rosie in his arms.

My Rosie.

But it wasn’t her.

The child I had carried in my womb, the sweet little girl I loved more than anything in the world, no longer looked human.

She was a mass of fur, snapping and snarling, her small body twisting and writhing as if fighting an invisible enemy.

“Rosie?” I whispered, my voice breaking.

Her head snapped toward me, and that’s when I saw them.

Her eyes.

Only they weren’t hers anymore.

The bright brown eyes I knew so well had been replaced by something darker, something feral. They gleamed in the low light, piercing through me like a predator sizing up prey.

I froze.

Fear gripped me, paralyzing me as my baby growled low in her throat.

Then she charged.

Instinct took over, and I held my arms out, trembling, ready to catch her even as my mind screamed in terror.

I didn’t know what she’d do. I didn’t know if she’d bite or claw or hurt me. But I couldn’t stop myself from reaching for her.

I just wanted to soothe her.

To calm her.

Before Rosie could reach me, Dante was on it.

He jumped in front of me, his body shielding mine, and let out a roar so loud it shook the earth beneath my feet.

The sound was primal, deafening, and every hair on my body stood on end.

And then it happened.

His clothes shredded as his body exploded outward, skin giving way to fur in a blur of motion.

The change was violent, a transformation that turned the man I loved into something monstrous.

And the sounds of it? The sounds were horrifying.

Bones snapping, muscles tearing, sinew ripping and rearranging itself in ways no human body was meant to endure. It was over in seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

Was it painful?

Did Rosie feel that, too?

And where had this come from?

Was it her biological father who had passed this on to her?

Or had it been hidden, dormant, all along?

The questions hit me like a tidal wave, one after another, until I couldn’t keep up.

My sobs broke free. I felt raw as they poured from me like a river.

Because the truth was right in front of me, undeniable and terrifying.

Rosie was like Dante.

Exactly like him.

A smaller version of his enormous Grizzly form. She stood there on all fours, her fur bristling, claws digging into the ground, fangs bared.

My sweet little girl was something I couldn’t begin to understand.

She was a Shifter.

And in that moment, in my most shameful, weakest moment, I was scared I would never get her back.

As if she sensed my distress, Rosie whined and chuffed, trying to get past the bigger Bear, but Dante was immovable.

Snapping his teeth and grunting, he pushed her with his snout towards the forest that lined the private road we were on that led to the ranch.

Bear Shifter. My baby is a Shifter.

I closed my eyes and sucked in a frigid breath, the icy air burning my lungs as it filled me.

I held it there for a moment, letting the cold cut through the chaos swirling inside my head.

With that breath, I gathered everything—every fear, every worry, every unanswered question.

I let the weight of it all press down on me. And damn, it was heavy.

But I didn’t shy away from it this time.

I stared it down, letting myself feel every jagged edge of my terror and uncertainty.

Then, with a deliberate exhale, I pushed it all away.

Out of my chest, out of my head, out of the space where it had taken root and festered.

And as I opened my eyes, I made a choice.

It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be either.

It was just a choice.

A decision that came with clarity so sharp it felt like it had been waiting for me all along.

I was a human in a family of Shifters.

And that was okay.

Rosie and Dante were different. Special in ways I couldn’t fully understand, ways I might never fully relate to.

But none of that changed what they were to me.

They were my family.

My heart

My home.

Even Penny, despite our current rift, was part of that truth.

The second I let myself acknowledge it, something shifted inside me. It wasn’t small or subtle. More like a giant switch being flipped, flooding my mind with light after so much darkness.

Every ounce of confusion, fear, and doubt that had been holding me captive was suddenly gone.

Because the truth was simple.

I had nothing to be afraid of.

Rosie was my daughter. She had always been my daughter. And she always would be.

It didn’t matter what she was, or what she could become, or how her world had changed. She was mine, and I was hers, and nothing—*nothing*—could ever take that away.

The love I felt for her, the fierce, unshakable bond we shared, was bigger than fear.

Bigger than biology. Bigger than anything I’d ever imagined before this moment.

And Dante?

Well, Dante was right. He was right about everything.

Sure, he still had some explaining to do. Like how he didn’t seem surprised by Rosie’s shift. But I understood why he would’ve been hesitant to approach me with it.

I knew it was going to hurt once I thought about it, but I didn’t have time for that right now.

He was out there, in the woods, taking care of our girl. And that mattered more than anything.

Thank you for bringing him into my life.

I said the prayer before I even knew what I was doing. But I meant it all the same.

From the beginning, I’d been drawn to him like no other man. He had all my attention.

Maybe it was because he fit me so well. I mean, being with him was easy as breathing.

He made everything better. Rosie sure loved him.

And so did I.

Dante was the type of man I’d always dreamed of finding. He was kind and gentle, but strong and dominant. A sweetheart with my baby. A dynamo in bed.

I mean, we lit fires between the sheets, he and I.

God, I love him.

Loving him was as natural and simple as anything.

We were going to be okay. I just knew it.

Because this was my family.

Shifter or not, Rosie and Dante were mine.

And I was theirs.

And that was all that mattered.