Free His to Bear by Lacey Thorn Page B

animal side, merging completely,
    becoming the beast. Only female bear shifters can give birth to bear shifter offspring.
    We can take humans and even mate with them if the desire exists, but any children
    will be wholly human.”
    “Yet, you’ve allowed Jaeda to mate with me, a human.”
    “It’s not the same for our women as it is for our men. A female bear shifter will
    always have shifter children, no matter her mate. A male bear will only have shifter
    children if he mates a female bear. It’s another way the female holds control. It’s her
    choice that allows a man’s heritage to live on in another generation. She may submit,
    but she holds all the power that truly counts.”
    Laramie stopped and leaned forward, balancing his elbows on his knees as he
    stared at Holt.
    “Understand this. Female bears seek only the strongest and fittest as mates. They
    look for strength and keen intelligence, all the characteristics they wish passed on to
    their children. There are seven bears here, yet Jaeda chose you immediately and
    without doubt. That’s why I welcome you so easily, why I grant you a clemency I
    might not others. It’s also why I hold my brother back.”
    Holt sighed. “Is Koby going to cause problems?”
    “I sense no malice in him, only confusion. For whatever reason, he has the
    impression Jaeda could be his. I don’t completely understand it. I’m betting he
    doesn’t, either. I’m hoping with your acceptance of her, whatever Koby is feeling will
    disappear. I’ll tell you this. Koby is the eldest after me. He’s always been my right
    hand, my voice of reason when rage consumes me and I wish to react instead of think.
    This is not like him at all. I’ve never seen him this way.”
    “Thank you for telling me that,” Holt acknowledged. “Everything. It’s a lot to
    take in. What little I thought I knew about mating is irrelevant here. I appreciate your faith in me.”
    “It’s not my faith you need,” Laramie corrected. “It’s your mate’s.”
    Holt nodded. “I think it’s time Jaeda and I talked.”
    Laramie shook his head. “After everything I’ve shared with you, you still plan to
    wait to claim her?”
    “If anything, you’ve made the desire to know her, everything about her, even
    stronger in me. I can’t truly appreciate what I don’t know. Before I know her body, I
    need to understand her mind, her heart, her very soul. How can I be responsible for
    someone I don’t know and understand? Give me the week. That’s all I ask. A little
    more time for the two of us.”
    “You have the week. I have other things to keep me busy. I should tell you that
    I’ll be requesting your friends Murphy and Finn head back to their home. I can’t have
    them here, now.”
    “When will you send them?” Holt asked.
    “I’ll give them a few more days. That way they can see you’ve accepted your
    new role,” Laramie stated, no doubt in his voice that Holt would accept.
    “There’s something else I’m curious about?” Holt admitted.
    Laramie just stared at him, spreading his hands and lifting his fingers up in
    question.
    “If you need the female shifters to mate the male bears in order for them to
    breed more of your kind, why did the elders hide them? Why not force the women to
    choose mates among them? Invoke the same law you plan to?”
    “My guess is they feel more paternal. Our elders are past their prime. Most have
    mates already or have been left widowed. They probably have children older than the
    women they’re protecting. Plus, an elder’s first duty is to protect the pack. Period. I’m not happy they kept something of this magnitude from me, but they did their job by
    taking the surviving females and hiding them.”
    “Are you planning to punish the elders for hiding the females? Or just to ensure
    the safety of the remaining women by bringing them here?”
    Laramie did that hard stare again, and Holt realized it for what it was. Not anger,
    but deep