Free Chance: Mating Fever (Bears of Kodiak Book 1) by Selene Charles Page A

Annalida snatched it out of his hand, broke the thick, woodsy wedge into four pieces, and dropped it—dirt and all—into the pot of heated water.
    Immediately, it turned a murky, brownish-green color. After ladeling the tea into a small bowl, she turned and held the rim of it to her daughter’s mouth. “Drink, my love. This will help ease the cub’s journey and give you rest.”
    Bronwyn was weak as she cupped her mother’s hand with her own and tipped the bowl up to her mouth.
    Chance nodded at her when her eyes found his. Her gaze was weak with fatigue, and his heart clenched. He wondered if they’d done wrong after all. What would it matter, any of this, if he lost her in the end?
    How could he take care of a child on his own? The answer was, he would never want to. He’d done all of this for Bronwyn alone, not some mysterious-faced infant that meant nothing at all to him, at least not in the way its mother did.
    Once Bronwyn finished drinking all of the tea, she released a heavy sigh. The effects of the root were immediate. Her shoulders relaxed, and she almost fell back onto the bed unconscious.
    He jumped for her, grabbing hold of her shoulders and settling her gently back down onto the pillows. “What have you done?” he snapped, fearing the worst.
    But Annalida hissed, “You stole my daughter from me so you think me capable of such cruelty. But Bronwyn is the very
    beat of my heart. I would never harm her or the child. This tea does exactly as I claimed it would.”
    Ashamed of his reaction, but still needing the reassurance that Bron would survive, Chance wiggled himself back in behind her body, gripping her tightly. She was dead weight in his arms, but her breathing was even, and the bloody sweat appeared to be slowing down.
    The sense of pending doom slowly gave way to a heightened anticipation of what was still to come. He brushed his fingers through her hair. The silence of the room was deafening as he glanced over at Annalida, who was looking right back at him.
    “She must truly love you to have chosen as she has,” she finally said with grim acceptance in her words. As she spoke, she gently massaged Bron’s belly as though manipulating the child’s position from the outside. “Treat her well, grizzly, or I shall descend upon you with a murder of crows so deadly, they’ll make the devil himself look benevolent by comparison.”
    He wasn’t sure what she was saying, but he dared not hope too strongly. “You won’t try to take her from me?”
    Annalida shrugged and shook her head. “Were it still in my power, I would certainly try. But this child is not one of our own. I could take Bronwyn back, but we could never accept her offspring within our nest.”
    He hugged his woman tightly, shaking his head. “She would never leave our child.”
    She nodded. “Aye. This, I know. No, her choice has been made. And all I can do now is accept their fate.”
    “Then why come at all?” he asked. “If you knew where we were, why not come sooner?”
    He suspected the timing of her arrival hadn’t been coincidental at all. The queen had known all along where to find them, so why wait until there was no hope of altering Bron’s choice?
    She sighed, staring at her daughter lovingly. “Because once, long ago, if I had the option, I’d have done the same. I’m no monster, grizzly. I’m a queen, and as such, I have duties to fulfill as do my princesses, but Bron was in a position I never was. She has a sister, a sister who does not mind the mantleship of nobility the way Bronwyn always has. I only wish her well. And the child.”
    There was suddenly a loud cry, and every cell in Chance’s body froze as he looked down at the wee child that had suddenly appeared.
    Annalida’s smile was effervescent with joy. “It’s a girl, bear. You’ve given me a granddaughter.”
    Her eyes closed, and in that moment, Chance felt something odd yet magical click inside of him. Much as it had when the mating ritual