Free Catching the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 3) by Meredith Clarke, Ashlee Sinn Page B

unrecognizable passed over Calvin’s face. “And what if that doesn’t happen?”
    Kenzie looked up at me with hope in her big blue eyes. “Then I promise you that it will stay in my family.”
    Calvin bowed his head and Kenzie wiped a tear away. I stood still, dumbfounded by her statement. Did that mean she wanted to start a family with me? That thought would have frightened me enough to move to another country just a few days ago. But now, after just one night, I couldn’t help but imagine how wonderful it would be to raise a family with Kenzie. She is your mate , my bear said. There is no other .
    There is no other.
    I felt an unfamiliar wave of emotions burning in my chest. Happiness, sadness, hope. I wouldn’t be alone. And my mate was so much more than I would have ever imagined I could catch. Kenzie was mine.
    Kenzie was mine.
    Calvin broke my thoughts when he held out his hand. “Bo?” he asked, waiting for me to grab it. “Let Major and the ISC know that I will have my people support their proposal.”
    “Your people?” Kenzie asked. “I mean, I know your people. But how?”
    Calvin gave her a grin like he’d just eaten the canary. “I have my ways.”
    Without an organized pride, the mountain lions had a different way of doing things. But I had no doubt Calvin would fulfill his promise. He was the unofficial leader of the mountain lion shifters for this part of the world. I shook his hand and smiled. “Thank you.” Then, turning to Kenzie, I had an idea. Or two. “Why don’t you go over the book with Calvin while I pack us up and make arrangements for tonight.”
    “Okay,” she smiled up at me.
    I bent forward and kissed her. An intimate kiss that probably made Calvin uncomfortable, but I didn’t care. Let him see that I’d claimed my mate.
    Let him know that Bo Callaghan had finally settled down.
     
     

 
    “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep.”
    After we left Calvin’s, Bo told me that we had at least an eight-hour drive until we’d be in coyote territory. Using the shifting spell had zapped all of my energy and the last thing I remembered after we got back onto a main road was lying in Bo’s lap and enjoying the way his fingers ran through my hair.
    “Not a problem.” His large hands rubbed my arm.
    I sat up, looking around and taking notice at how much flatter everything seemed. “Where are we?”
    “Almost to Nenana,” he said. “But I thought we could spend the night in Anderson.” Bo glanced my way with those dimples I was starting to love. “There’s a small bed and breakfast there.”
    “Sounds perfect.” And I meant it. My neck was sore from sleeping on Bo’s lap and the rest of my body ached from shifting into a much smaller creature today. Rubbing my neck, Bo suddenly grabbed my arm.
    “Are you okay?” The concern in his voice melted my heart.
    “Just stiff. From the change.”
    “Why do you do it if it hurts so much?”
    I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes. I had an answer but also had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it. “Because I’ve always been envious of shifters.”
    Bo sucked in a breath and squeezed my hand. “Why?”
    Shrugging, I thought about his question. “I don’t know. I guess maybe because I grew up knowing about them and watching my parents help protect them, yet I felt robbed that I was forever stuck in this body.” I turned in my seat to face him. “Stupid, I know.”
    “Not stupid,” he reassured me. “I’m just not sure if I totally understand. I mean, your body is perfect.”
    Giggling at his characteristic flirtation, I had to shake my head. “You just know exactly what to say all of the time, don’t you?” The dimples were back even though his stubble tried to hide it. That manly stubble on my sexy grizzly that I couldn’t get enough of. His insufferable good looks had sealed the deal for me the first time I laid eyes on him, if I was being true to myself.
    His smile grew. “I