Free Laid Bear 2: The Kodiak Clan by Marina Maddix Page B

you will leave Kodiak, whether I’m with you or not. Agreed?”
    Since the thought of sitting in this hotel room held no appeal, she saw no reason to argue. Besides, it wasn’t like she could dawdle — she had to fly home soon or risk having the baby here.  
    The airline had required a letter from her doctor confirming she was fit to fly. Of course Dr. Graves had shaken his head in dismay that her world was so backward they didn’t know she was perfectly fine, but he’d signed the letter.  
    But letter or not, the airline wouldn’t let her fly if she was within a week of her due date. That would give her a few weeks to take care of Veronica, which should be plenty of time. She hoped.
    Still, a tiny part of her wanted to stand up to Max and say, ‘Hey, you can’t tell me what to do,’ but she was a newcomer to the were world so she had to respect his rules. He wasn’t trying to control her, just protect her.  
    “Agreed,” she said.
    Her heart surged at the relief that swept across Max’s face. She’d never felt so loved, so protected and cherished. It had never occurred to her that this kind of love even existed, regardless of what movies and romance novels said. The love she felt was so powerful that she had to look away to hide the tears that were threatening. She didn’t want him to think she was upset when she was really just overcome with emotion.
    “Can we finish breakfast already?” she asked, trying to deflect his intense scrutiny.
    He stared at her a moment longer, then moved to the chair he’d pulled up to the food cart. Grinning, he snatched up the piece of bacon she’d discarded earlier. “Mmm, just the way I like it.”
    Bethany’s stomach flipped in revulsion. “Ugh, I might need to rethink this relationship if you like soft bacon,” she teased.
    Throwing her a wink as he chomped away, he said, “It bodes well for me that you like your meat hard…”  

“I ’m so relieved you called, Bethany.” Veronica had picked up Bethany outside the Kodiak Lodge and they were heading back to her house to prep for her date with Jess. Since sending that email the night before, she’d been second-guessing herself and an outside opinion was just what she needed.
    “I’m sorry I didn’t call last night but it was late. I didn’t want to wake up you or your boys.” Bethany shifted her bulk in the cramped front seat of the 4Runner. Climbing in had been a challenge, but Veronica was downright worried about how her passenger was going to get out gracefully.
    Over the ten minutes it took to get to Veronica’s house, Bethany ran down Max’s list of rules. Veronica was impressed by his concern for his mate, and he clearly had a handle on the Brotherhood situation in town.  
    “Very smart man,” she said, catching the irritated look that flashed across Bethany’s features.
    “So you don’t mind chauffeuring me around?”  
    Veronica laughed. “Not at all. I’m so grateful you actually made the effort to come up here to help me. I mean, what other matchmaking service would do that? ”
    “You mean besides the werebear International Council?”
    Veronica glanced over at her, confused. “What do you mean?”
    “That’s what Max does for a living. He works for the Council matching werebears.”
    “Really? I had no idea they did that. Weird.”
    “Well, I think it’s mainly the higher ups who can’t find suitable mates for their status,” she shrugged.  
    “That explains it, then. I’m just about the lowest man on the totem pole and the inner workings of the Council is a total mystery to folks like me.”  
    The silence that filled the cab made each woman squirm with unanswered questions. Veronica was dying to ask about their unconventional relationship but didn’t feel comfortable getting quite so personal yet. Bethany finally broke the silence.
    “So tell me about Jess.”
    Veronica’s cheeks flushed at his name, and she could see Bethany didn’t fail to notice.