Free One Last Prowl: BBW Were Mountain Lion Shapeshifter Mail Order Bride Romance (Shifter Grove Brides Book 6) by Anya Nowlan Page A

because she’s trying to find you a new place. Don’t you think that’s hurting her?”
    “I…” Marcus paused, frowning, before continuing on. “I don’t like those schools. They’re…”
    “Suffocating?” Austin offered, knowing full well what it felt like being a shifter, and a lonely shifter, in a school full of humans who didn’t understand him.
    Being at that fragile age and without a father must have been times worse. His heart went out to Marcus and as no surprise to himself, he felt a strong surge of protectiveness for the boy. As much as he was infatuated with Marcus’ mother, Austin also admitted that he had always wanted a family and he would have been more than happy to treat Marcus as his own. In any case, as long as Austin was tied to Dahlia, he would be tied to Marcus as well and they would get no objections from him. No matter how much attitude was flung in his way.
    “Yes,” Marcus agreed, glowering at Austin suspiciously.
    “It comes with the territory,” Austin said with a chuckle. “Teenaged years are supposed to be rough, but nothing like when you’re a shifter. And nothing like when you’re a shifter without someone to guide you.”
    Marcus visibly bristled at that, jumping up. Austin could see the uncertainty in Marcus’ eyes, the desire to believe and share, but also the pride that kept him from doing that. There was a lot there that Austin recognized and remembered from when he was the same age and frankly, he knew all too well how it worked. What he also knew was that if he forced himself on Marcus, the boy would never learn to trust him.
    He was a scared and confused young man, one who had been without his father or any other strong male role model for far too long. Being in Shifter Grove was a step in the right direction and Austin knew that with time, they could come to understand each other. If for no other reason than because they both loved Dahlia, that much was plain to see.
    “I don’t need any handling by you or my mom! You’re not my dad! Just stay out of my life, is that so much to ask!”
    “Marcus!” Austin called, standing up as Marcus ran deeper into the forest, his slim, long legs carrying him further quickly.
    Shaking his head, Austin sighed and turned back towards the house.
    That could have gone better, he thought.
    He could have now made things worse, but he was an old enough man to know that when the skies were at their darkest, the sun was going to come out and be the warmest it had ever been. Sometimes, things just needed to deteriorate a little before they could really get good. He had to believe that.
 

CHAPTER TEN
    Dahlia
     
    Floating on air was pretty close to how Dahlia could describe her current state of mind. There wasn’t a cloud in sight and everything seemed to be bright and cheery, no matter where she went and how late it was. The sunshine in her life had nothing to do with the weather, but with the man beside her.
    She’d spent a week in Shifter Grove now and the only thing that was really wrong was the fact that her flight back was nearing with alarming speed. They’d agreed on two weeks, and one week in it didn’t seem like nearly enough. The last thing that Dahlia wanted to think about was returning home to their drab apartment, where Marcus would blast his music again and actively hate everything, while Dahlia desperately looked for a job.
    In Idaho, none of that seemed like the reality afforded to them. Marcus spent more time outside than in, dashing around the forests like a pup let out to play for the first time. And Dahlia could really breathe for the first time since her husband passed, finding the strength and most of all the desire to greet every day like an opportunity, rather than a chore to get through so she could get back home and wait for the next one.
    Austin had taken both her and Marcus to see all the sights around Shifter Grove and they’d met most of the locals as well. She had yet to meet one she didn’t