Free All About the Bear (Grizzly Cove Book 1) by Bianca D'Arc

know.” She sounded both worried and amused.
    He liked the little designs she was tracing over his arm with her finger, absenting petting him in a way he knew he would love getting used to over the next several decades. He looked over at her to find her staring at the art he’d painted on his bedroom wall last winter. It was a mural of a grizzly being followed by two cubs. It had been a hopeful bit of whimsy on his part, a dream of what he hoped someday might be in his future. And now, with Nell in his life, he finally had a chance at a family, if the Goddess so blessed them.
    “I’m trying to think how to tell them without scaring them,” Nell went on, oblivious to his deeper thoughts. That was okay. There was plenty of time to discuss both of their hopes and dreams for the future.
    “I’ll have to clear it with the Alpha first,” Brody said, drawing her attention. “I’ll talk to Big John first thing tomorrow.”
    “Do you think he’ll object?” Nell bit her lip, looking adorably worried. Brody leaned over to kiss her, then relented once he felt her tension dissolve.
    “I’ll convince him,” he promised her as he drew back to look at her. “You’ve been here long enough for him to get to know you and your family. I know you can all be trusted, and my counsel counts for a lot with the Alpha. I’m one of his top lieutenants. Which means you’ll have a pretty high rank just by virtue of being my mate. Plus, everybody already knows you’re a total badass, which means you’ve already earned some clout of your own.” He winked at her, and she frowned.
    “Where in the world did you get that idea? I’m no badass .”
    “Are you kidding? That was a direct quote from Lyn after you threw Sig out of your store for coming in stinking of fish guts. You put the fear of Nell into him, and I can tell you Sig doesn’t scare easy.” Brody was laughing as he remembered the incident. “Sig’s a Kodiak when he shifts, which means he’s one big-assed bear. Nobody throws him out of anywhere if he doesn’t agree. Frankly, we were all pretty glad you told him off because most of us wouldn’t have dared tell him to take a shower before he walks around town after one of his week-long fishing trips.”
    She chuckled, and he laughed with her. It was so easy to be with her. They just…fit.
    The Goddess really knew what she was doing when She sent Brody his perfect mate. He had never expected his mate to be human, but he couldn’t argue with the Mother of All’s wisdom. Nell was perfect for him, and he would do all in his power to be the perfect mate for her.
     
     
     

CHAPTER TEN
     
    Brody talked to John the next morning, and as he’d thought, John had only slight reservations about letting the other Baker girls in on their secret. The Alpha was more than pleased by the news that Brody had taken a mate. A big celebration was being planned to commemorate the mating, which John said he hoped was the first of many in their new community.
    But first, Brody had agreed to invite Nell’s sisters to dinner at his home, to break the news of their engagement and talk to them privately about his ability to shapeshift. Brody figured a demonstration would be necessary, but he didn’t mind putting on a little show for his sisters-in-law, if it would help them accept the truth. He was a little nervous about how they would react, frankly, and he knew Nell was even more worried.
    He’d given her a key to his home and knew she was spending her afternoon, after her shift at the bakery ended, up at their house. She was getting things ready for their family dinner that night, and Brody loved the way she was making herself at home in the den he had built with his future mate in mind. That she liked the place made something inside him stretch with pride. He’d built a house, and now, the Goddess had blessed him with a mate to make it a home.
    Everything was going along great until that stupid koala got drunk and started waving a gun