Free Vega Brothers: Alexander: BBW Paranormal Romance Reluctant Bride (The Bear Shifters of Vega Ranch Book 3) by Kim Fox Page B

the field to the house. How can I ever leave her?
    If it had been hard before then it would be pure torture now, knowing that Elena was in the world and they had to be apart.
    First things first.
    He walked over to the garage while rubbing the back of his neck, thinking of what he could say but he kept coming up blank. Julius was the talker of the four brothers. He always had too much to say.
    Julius glanced over his shoulder when Alexander walked in. The grizzly bear shifter turned back to his motorcycle, shaking his head. “You know Ava was really looking forward to seeing her sister this week and she only got to spend about fifteen minutes with her.”
    Alexander lowered his eyes and sighed. He hadn’t even thought about that.
    “I’m sorry,” Alexander said. “Just add it to the list of shitty things I’ve done over the past few years.”
    “I would but the thick notebook full of shitty things that Alexander has done is already full.”
    “Look, I know I’ve been an asshole,” Alexander said, feeling a flush creep across his cheeks. “But, what can I do? Come on, Julius. You haven’t exactly been Mr. Perfect either.”
    Julius frowned as he rubbed a smudge off of the motorcycle’s fender. “Does it matter? You’re leaving in two days anyway.”
    Alexander flinched. It always felt like a low blow to be reminded that he had to leave his mate. “It does to me. I want to make it right.”
    An evil grin flashed over Julius’ face and as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. Uh oh .
    “There is something you can do,” Julius said, standing up with a serious look on his face.
    “What is it?” Alexander asked.
    Julius stared at him with his hands on his hips. “Punch yourself in the face.”
    “What?” Alexander said, jerking his head back.
    “Punch yourself in the face,” Julius repeated. “Hard.”
    “That’s stupid,” Alexander said, shaking his head.
    Julius crossed his arms and thrust his chin in the air. “It’s what I want.”
    “You’re an idiot.”
    “Maybe,” Julius replied. “But you’re not going to get this idiot’s forgiveness until you punch yourself in the face.”
    Alexander rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
    Julius smiled as Alexander took a deep breath and looked down at his hand as it curled into a fist. It was huge; cinder block huge. He had seen numerous times the devastating effect that his fists had on chins. It wasn’t pretty.
    Just do it.
    He closed his eyes and swung. Hard.
    It felt like a flash of lighting shooting through his face as his thunderous fist connected. Water flooded his eyes as blood poured out of his nose and his legs went weak. He reached out for something as the room started spinning and his vision went black. He shook the stars out of his head and when the pounding in his ears finally subsided it was replaced with Julius’ howls of laughter.
    He watched his brother bent over laughing as he recovered from the devastating punch.
    “Wait,” Julius said, as he pulled out his cell phone. “Do it again so I can videotape it and put it on YouTube. That was hilarious.”
    “You’re an idiot,” Alexander said, wiping the blood from his nose.
    “Me?” Julius said, shaking with laughter. “You’re the one who just TKO’d himself. I would have settled for a hug.”
    Alexander held out his open palm, trying to bridge the gap that had separated the two brothers for so long. “Brothers?”
    Julius reached out and shook it. “Brothers,” he said, nodding. “Just don’t get all PMS-y on us again or I’ll make you kick yourself in the face next time.”
    Alexander laughed. They still had a long way to go but they had finally taken the first step.
     

     
    “Hey, there they are,” Khan said from the table as Alexander and Julius walked into the kitchen. “Snooty and the beast.”
    Julius snatched a French fry off of Khan’s plate as he walked by. “You pronounced beauty wrong.”
    Khan’s lip curled up in a snarl as Julius hurried away, grinning