Free Bear Mine for Christmas: BBW Holiday Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Christmas Bear Shifter Romance Book 2) by Ariana Hawkes Page A

“We’re going to have a wonderful Christmas together. Sophia and Abbey are going to be so excited!”
    “Thank you so much for the invite, Elsbeth,” Brock said, bending down and kissing her on the cheek. “And you’re happy not to open the store today, Uncle Grayson?” Grayson snorted.
    “If anyone’s fool enough not to have bought their tree yet, they can come get the key to the yard from me, and pick one up themselves,” he said.
    Just then, Madison came downstairs in a black knitted dress and dark green woolen pantyhose. Brock’s bear scratched at his insides and snuffled. He was having an increasingly hard time keeping it under control. Her hair was damp from the shower, and his stomach flipped at seeing her like that, before she was prepared for the outside world.
    “Good morning!” Grayson called. He was in his element cooking for everyone, an apron tied around his waist. Brock suspected Karen might have some competition when she prepared the Christmas dinner tomorrow.
    “Good morning,” Madison replied, lips curving in amusement.
    “Please sit,” he said to everyone, and served up bacon, eggs and toast.
    They chatted constantly as they ate, Brock studiously avoiding looking at Madison. She was right next to him, and from time to time, as she talked animatedly, her foot swung out and brushed against his leg. She seemed to be unconscious that she was doing it, but it was setting him on fire, his desire for her thrumming in his veins.
    “What do you all usually do on Christmas eve?” Grayson said, when they’d finished eating.
    “We often take the kids to play in the snow. Apart from that, there’s usually some last minute gift wrapping to do, and preparation for the dinner the next day,” Elsbeth said. “And we used to go out on the street at midnight and wish Merry Christmas to our neighbors. We haven’t done that for a few years though, as the snow’s been too much. And it looks like it won’t happen this year either.”
    “I don’t know. I feel like there’s not going to be any more today,” Grayson said, craning his head to see out of the window. “The sky’s clear.” And it was – it was a perfect, wintry pale blue. He got to his feet and started clearing the plates off the table.
    “If it’s okay with you, we guys need to go run a couple of chores this morning. But after that, we’ll be back to help you out.”
    “Absolutely,” Madison said. “But I’ll clear up here.” She wrestled the plates from him and stacked them in the dishwasher.
     
    A few minutes later Brock and Grayson buttoned up their coats and left the house, heading to Karen’s place to collect Riley. He came out grinning.
    “So, we going hunting?” he said.
    “I want to, but I don’t know how that’s going to work, since we don’t have anywhere to prepare the meat,” Brock replied.
    “Karen says we can use the garage, as long as we don’t bring back anything big.”
    “She did, huh?” Brock bumped his cousin with his shoulder. “And what else did she say?” Riley didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Bears didn’t talk about their feelings much, but it was obvious that Riley was smitten with her.
    At Grayson’s suggestion, the bears headed to the shack where they’d found Sophia and the other teens the night before. There were no signs that anyone had been living there for a while, but the kitchen was still stocked with utensils. There were a couple of sharp knives, and outside there was a big stone slab that would be perfect for preparing meat.
    “I think we can actually do all the prep up here,” Riley said.
    “Excellent news. In that case, we can probably catch a deer as well,” Grayson said.
    They went inside and shifted, leaving their clothes piled up in a corner.
    After a couple of hours, they came back with four rabbits and a small deer. They prepared the meat with an expert hand, bagged it and carried it down the mountain to Karen’s place.

Chapter Seven
     
    Madison