Free Grayslake: More than Mated: PAWS & Surrender (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Bear Allegiance Series Book 1) by Josie Walker Page A

much,” Michelle commented.
    “Is… That...What… You… Think?” Mia gasped out a word at a time as she laughed uncontrollably.
    “I don’t get it.”
    “Honey, I have ten children. Why do you think this house is so big? Sophia is my only girl, but in addition to Parker I have eight more boys.”
    “What the…” Michelle wisely slammed her mouth shut before she earned herself any more “restitution.” “Where exactly have you been hiding eight children? Why haven’t I seen them around the house?”
    “They are currently traveling around the country with their grandparents.”
    “Oh!” It was all Michelle could do to keep from grabbing her own vagina in protest. Ten kids. What on earth had the woman been thinking? Ty couldn’t possibly be THAT good in the sack. She was surprised the woman could even walk straight after all the childbearing those poor hips had endured.
    “I’d settle for one or two grandbabies,” Mia said when she noted the look of horror on her face. “And marrying a shifter doesn’t mean you have to have a big family. That’s something every couple decides for themselves. Well I guess I should leave you alone with your thoughts for now. After all it’s a long way to the end of the driveway and you have your restitution to finish.”
    And just like that Mia folded up her chair and walked away. Michelle was left alone by herself to yank out weeds and to try to process the giant bombshell of intel that Mia had just dropped on her. It didn’t make any sense, but the thought that Parker had his own tragic past made her able to relate to him on a deeper level. They’d had more in common than she’d realized.
    Her mind inevitably retreated back to the shocking size of Mia’s family. If anyone thought they were going to knock her up ten times they were crazy! She honestly didn’t know if she would ever want to have kids. In order to do so she would have to know that she was bringing them into a safe environment, and from what she’d seen so far her world was far from secure.



CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    M ia was right, the later it got the more miserable the summer heat became. She’d run back into the house to swap out for her skimpy shorts and a tube top. She was hoping to at least get a nice tan out of all this suffering. She got a few appreciative catcalls from the single shifters as she headed back outside, but the glare she turned on the men kept any of them from approaching her. Before such attention might have made her feel desirable, now it just annoyed her.
    Her stupid body only seemed to care if Parker noticed how nice she looked, and she’d had it with the irrational feelings of desire that cropped up inside of her any time the insufferable man was near. Just thinking about him had her nipples tightening into hard peaks as though they longed for his touch. But she wasn’t interested in what her hormonal body wanted to do, because she knew she’d be the one who wound up being the victim here.
    Eventually the man would lose interest in her; she still didn’t understand what it was he saw in her in the first place. When the fire of his passion died out she knew exactly who would wind up burned and trying to sweep up the charred remains of her broken heart. All she had to do was avoid him long enough to scrape together some money to start over. Then she planned to sneak away.
    Thoughts of fleeing had her looking down the long weed choked driveway, and to the dirt road. She knew that the road would lead to the highway and from there on out was the path to freedom. She was strongly considering starting skipping out right now if only to see how far she would get before someone tried to stop her. It would be a bummer to leave behind all of her nice new clothes, but she was certain she could make a good go of it somewhere else. All she needed was a new job and then everything else would fall into place, right?
    “Need some help?” asked the last person on earth she’d willingly