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5

Ursid

T he cottage was quiet as Bear and Bruin crouched in front of the fire. Bruin added more logs, and Bear tore pieces of jerky in half, eating as he stared into the flames.

I could see them glancing at Goldie. They could not take their minds off her either. She was just too perfect for words, too gorgeous to comprehend.

We’d always had one goal in mind: survival. And although we had each other, we were lonely creatures, wanting—yearning—for a mate.

One we could share.

One we could create a family with.

I growled low as those thoughts filled my head, and I stared at our female.

I thought about her belly big with our cubs. She would look glorious, even fuller, rounder. Her body was already perfect, but she’d be even more so filled with our young… the ones only we would give her.

“Should we be concerned?” Bruin spoke. He moved closer, clearly needing to be near Goldie. He inhaled sharply, grumbling low in pleasure.

“She’ll be fine,” Bear said matter-of-factly. Our eldest brother had his laser-trained focus on her. “She’ll come around soon enough. We shocked her.” He stoked the fire and added a few more logs to the flames. “We need to ensure she’s got enough food and fresh water. Bring extra furs to keep her warm.”

Bear stood, his height towering within the tiny confines of the cottage.

“We should move her to my bed,” Bruin growled.

“No, she should be in mine. It’s the biggest.” Bear was the one to speak.

I narrowed my eyes in annoyance at my brothers, feeling the territorial nature that was already filling our small confines.

Although we would share her gladly, it was inevitable that there would still be a fight for dominance and a touch of jealousy between us.

I rose to stand beside my brothers as the three of us looked down at Goldie. She looked so small amongst the straw-and-fur-covered bench we built for her.

“She’s a tiny thing. She should be in mine.” We were all so massive compared to our little human, but my bed was the smallest, the one she wouldn’t be consumed in.

Bear and Bruin grumbled, and I bared my teeth at them. We all knew, without saying anything else, she wouldn’t be in any of our beds.

With one last look down at our woman, I didn’t stop myself from bending down and dragging my tongue along her cheek. She stirred slightly but otherwise stayed asleep.

A second later, my brothers were leaning in and licking her too. We took in her flavor and left our scent on her.

And it was the most perfect thing in our world.