Free Claimed by the Grizzly by Lacey Thorn

agreement with a brief smile then turned to his brothers. “Slade, Matheus, I’ll need you to begin daily checks on all the in-house security measures. I want nothing left to chance.”
    “Let me know if you need me to head out and meet any of the enforcers to offer assistance,” Slade said.
    “Same,” Matheus offered.
    “I need you both here more,” Laramie said. “One more thing before we disperse. I want everyone moved downstairs. There’s room. It’ll be easier to protect Jaeda and Sidia if we’re all together.”
    “Where do you plan to put the other women who show up?” Sidia asked. “They need to be protected, too.”
    “We have a safe room for them. Declan and Brock made sure it was fully supplied before they left. No one will get to the others once they’re under our protection,” Laramie stated. “Koby, Holt. I need to speak with the two of you. Go over a few more things.”
    Koby shifted behind her, grasping her hips and lifting her from his lap before standing.
    “Why don’t you start moving us?” Holt told Jaeda as they came to their feet. He turned his gaze toward her. “You and Sidia could look at the rooms and see which one you like best.”
    “Sounds good,” Koby agreed, patting Sidia softly on the ass. “Stay together. We’ll join you as soon as we can.”
    Sidia reached up and cupped Koby’s face, rising on tiptoe to kiss him. He dropped his hands to her ass and pulled her in closer against him. It would be so easy to lose her head and give in to the need to rub against him, but it wasn’t the time or the place. Though she’d inadvertently given her sister a show earlier, it wasn’t her intention to allow others to see what she and her mate shared. She stepped back from him when the kiss broke, enjoying the flare of his nostrils as he breathed her in.
    No words were spoken as their gazes held. She knew he’d return to her as soon as he could. She knew beyond a doubt he would see to her safety personally. He might trust his brothers, but she was his. He’d already killed for her.
    “Let’s go grab your stuff,” Sidia said as she turned toward her sister. She watched as Holt dropped a kiss on Jaeda’s upturned lips, gave her hand a squeeze then stepped away as he moved toward Laramie and Koby.
    Jaeda took her hand, and they headed out of the room.
    “You really don’t have a problem with animal law?” Jaeda demanded as soon as they started up the main staircase.
    “No, I don’t,” Sidia said.
    “Think of Xandra, forced to mate with someone because she survived and needs to help create a stronger next generation.”
    “I am thinking of her and all the others who might be out there,” Sidia countered. “She’ll be much safer with a strong mate at her side than she would be alone.”
    “What about the chance to find a true mate? To find love?” Jaeda argued.
    “We both know not everyone holds out for a true mating. That doesn’t mean they don’t grow to love the one they end up with.” Sidia turned to face her sister. “You act like it’s only the females giving up that chance. What about the men? Do you think they don’t care about love? That all they want is a warm body to fuck and breed?”
    “That’s not what I’m saying,” Jaeda snapped.
    “It’s conveyed nonetheless,” Sidia stated. “This isn’t easy for anyone. You and I are lucky. We found the men we were always meant to be with. There’s nothing to say Xandra or any others won’t also. Either way, we have to band together for the sake of our pack, the very future of which lies within us.”
    “You’re right,” Jaeda admitted with a sigh. “I just… I don’t know. It’s hard for me to accept.”
    “I wonder how much of your worry is yours and how much is Emmett’s,” Sidia suggested.
    “He drilled into me, again and again, that I had to stay hidden or I’d be used as a broodmare for the next generation of Holloways. It was funny really. All I heard was how lucky I was not to