Free Bear with Me (Half-breed Shifter Series) by Miranda Stowe

and clapped her hands. “Okay, who
totally loved her first mating heat?”
    All three females lifted
their hands. “Holy hell,” Ari raved, fanning herself. “Dane was so—”
    “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Brynn and
Rhea waved their hands to stop her from continuing. “We really don’t want
details about our brother like that.”
    Ari frowned and let out a
small huff of disappointment. “That’s not fair. You guys can dish all the
details, but I can’t?”
    “Basically? Yeah,” Rhea said.
Then she put her hands over her abdomen. “Who else thinks she’s pregnant after
her mating heat?”
    As Ari lifted her hand,
looking excited, Brynn bounced on the balls of her feet. “I already know I am.
Gannon, my super sniffer, can already smell it on me.”
    “Ooh, could he smell me too?”
Both Rhea and Ari pleaded together.
    Brynn rolled her eyes. “Well,
sure.”
    They talked for another ten
minutes, giggling like a pair of teenagers, and Rhea felt as carefree as a
teenager. She had the love of her life and she could find out if she was
carrying Brick’s young. Tonight! No one cared a whit about a possible Hunter
coming to the house. They’d dealt with Hunters before.
    “That’s it. I can’t wait,”
Ari finally said, mirroring Rhea’s thoughts. “I want to know if I’m pregnant
right now.”
    “Well, let’s go maul my man
for news, then, shall we?” Brynn led them back out of their old room and down
the stairs where everyone was still waiting for the Hunter to arrive.
    Even though he was immersed
in a conversation with Dane, Brick’s gaze immediately sought Rhea when she
entered the room. She glowed under his sexy inspection. But he must’ve known
she was up to something because he narrowed his eyes suspiciously as she
followed Brynn and Ari to Gannon’s side.
    Gannon was discussing
something wolfly with Knox but paused when his mate approached. Brynn didn’t
even have to say anything. The pair merely looked at each other, she made a few
motions with her eyes, and Gannon leaned into toward Ari, his nostrils flaring,
before he moved his head closer to Rhea. When he pulled back, he returned his
gaze to Brynn and nodded. She let out a squeal and turned to her sister and
sister-in-law.
    Realizing this meant they
were all three going to have babies together, Rhea started squealing too.
    Suddenly Brick wrapped his
arms around her waist from behind. “What are you three up to?” he demanded, his
voice husky and amused in her ear.
    Rhea spun to face him. She
gave him a long lingering kiss before she could announce—
    The doorbell rang,
interrupting them.
    The Hunter was here.
    With a gulp, she decided to
keep her news quiet for a few minutes longer. Brick might get a little
overprotective if he knew his mate was carrying his babe, and if things went
south—well, she’d just tell him later.

 
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Brick couldn’t stop staring
as Shaw showed Clem Riker, the Hunter, into the dining room where the rest of
the family had gathered to formally receive him...or possibly kill him if he
tried to turn on them.
    But, gah, why did this guy
seem so damn familiar?
    When Riker glanced over and
caught his gaze right in the middle of Shaw introducing him to Knox and Jaycee,
something pierced Brick with a deep, binding awareness.
    He blurted out, “Why does it
feel like I should know you?” He was positive he’d never seen Riker before in
his life.
    Riker’s lips twitched with
pleasure. “Because I’m you’re father,” he answered simply.
    Just like that.
    Out of the total freaking
blue.
    “What?!” Rhea shrieked while
everyone else gaped back and forth between Brick and Riker.
    Brick’s mouth fell open.
“But...” What?
    “Wait a second.” Confusion
marring his face, Shaw leaned in to point at Brick. “If you’re his father ,
then that would make you—”
    “A shape-shifter as well.”
Riker nodded, confirming their suspicions.
    “A bear/jaguar mix,” Gannon
confirmed after