Bearly Christmas Read online

  “Show you mine if you show me yours.” She giggled as she fumbled with her shirt. Once they were dressed he led her back into his living room. He wondered what she thought of his place. He had bought the house before he met her. He loved it, but he wasn’t so attached that he’d be upset about moving if she wanted too.

  “I need to go out to my car to get yours. It’s not really wrapped either. I warned you I’m not very domesticated.”

  “That’s okay. It’s not a requirement for my love.” He kissed her before she headed out to get her gift.

  Tye had been so sure of what he got her until now. With her here, and their relationship finally made whole he was a bit nervous. She stomped her feet off, in his kitchen, and shook the cold off of herself. The smile on her face told him no matter what she had hidden behind her he was going to love.

  “Ready, mate of mine.”

  “Yes. On the count of three?”

  “Okay. One. Two. Three.”

  She slid out a giant basket that was filled to the brim with all kinds of Thistle Dew Farm products. There were honey sticks, honey on the comb, of course his honey in a bottle, and anything else anybody could possibly imagine done with honey. His mouth watered just thinking about it. It was the perfect gift for him. He had never known that they even offered all these different products. He had a feeling his monthly order was about to increase significantly.

  “Do you like it? I know you have an affinity for their honey. I’d never seen you try any of these other products though. I figured you could have some options.” She was looking the basket over when she spoke, but he could tell she was a little nervous.

  “This is the best gift I think anybody has ever given me. I love it. Thank you. Perfect timing as well since I just found a new thing I’d like to try my honey on.” He gave her a wink, that caused her to blush.

  He handed Melanie her gift. It was a book that had been in his family for years. It told their story, and each generation had a section so that they could continue the tradition. His mother had written the story of his father, and her. He and Jake would soon fill out their sections. Tye had already titled his section; Tye and Melanie. He also bought her a necklace that had a bear charm hanging off of it as well as a stethoscope. He didn’t realize he had been holding his breath until he saw her eyes fill with tears.

  “I love this so much Tye. I’m so sorry it took me so long to come to terms with this. Thank you for waiting for me, and be patient with me. I can’t wait to read this. I also can’t wait to write our story with you.”

  “I was hoping you would say that.”

  Melanie through herself into Tye’s arms. Tye wrapped her up in one of his bear hugs. His bear was so peaceful it was as if he was asleep. Tye now knew why he had felt pulled towards medical school, and living in the human city. It was all so that he could find Melanie. Everything he had endured, all the awkward falls, and people who showered him in hatred over the years was leading up to this moment. Melanie wrapped in his embrace promising to love him forever.

  “Merry Christmas Melanie.”

  “Merry Christmas Tye.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Melanie

  The wedding was set for Christmas the following year. It wasn’t so much that Melanie and Tye had wanted to wait almost a full year. It was just that Christmas meant so much to both of them that it just seemed right to wait and say their vowels then. Tye pouted a little bit since he was ready for her to be his in all ways, but they had already performed the mate bond with his family. The wedding was just a formal process for her family, and the government.

  Melanie was already using Tye’s last name since they went into practice together just outside of his Haven. Melanie treated humans, while Tye was learning a lot from the local healer so that they could accept Shifters also. Melanie’s dad had finally come around, and had been ecstatic to help them get the office up and running.

  He was no longer demeaning or harsh with Melanie either. Their whole relationship had changed, and Melanie had forgiven him for everything in the past. She wasn’t sure what had finally changed to make her father come around, but she was thankful. She was pretty sure it was Tye and his family. They were so warm and welcoming it was hard not to adapt to their ways. Tye and her father had become fast friends, and regular fishing buddies. Her dad was still trying to talk Tye into fishing in his bear form, but Tye refused.

  Melanie had fallen in love with Tye’s mom. She was so joyful all the time. She was always stopping by their place to chat, and worked over time to help get the office open. She also took great pains to make sure Melanie felt accepted into the Haven. Melanie had been nervous about the move at first, but everyone had welcomed her as Tye’s mate. She could see why Tye was a different person when he was home. This place was such a community.

  There were always kids outside playing, and neighbors always having get gatherings. Everybody came together to help over the least little thing. Ethan was adjusting to his new home as well. He had moved out not long after Melanie moved in to give them space. He had moved in with Tye’s little brother Jake, which made everyone a little nervous since the two were notorious when together.

  “Melanie, are you home?” Tye yelled for her as he threw the front door shut.

  “Yeah I’m in the bedroom.”

  “Right where you should be I see. Waiting for your mate to come home, and satisfy him.” His grinned told her he was joking, but she bristled none the less.

  “Oh is that right? I thought I was just in here putting away my mate’s laundry. I see that I am in need of a lesson.”

  “I would be happy to provide that lesson to you mate.”

  “I can see that.” She whispered as she leaned into his body. He gathered up a handful of her hair, and tugged her head up so that he could capture her lips. Melanie would never tire of desire and affection for her.

  “What really brought you home early today?”

  “I stopped off and got your blood work results from the lab today.”

  Melanie had completely forgot she had her blood drawn last week. She hadn’t been feeling well, and had just chalked it up to all the changes in her life. Tye had insisted she get her blood work sent out though.

  “Thanks. I completely forgot about that. Anything?”

  “Yeah actually. You’re pregnant!”

  “I’m what?” Melanie’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. Never in a million years had she dreamed she’d be pregnant. She definitely wouldn’t have had Tye pick up her blood work. She didn’t even remember asking for a pregnancy test.

  “You’re pregnant. When I told mom you were having blood work done because of you not feeling well she suggested it. It’s positive! We’re having a baby!”

  Tye’s excitement was contagious. Melanie never dreamed that walking into a coffee shop one day would have changed her life forever. Tye picked her up and swung her around.

  “I love you so much Tye!”

  “I love you too Melanie. We’re going to make fantastic parents.”

  “Will our baby be a Shifter I wonder?”

  “According to the research I did, and your father; yes.”

  Melanie’s excitement tripled. She loved Tye’s Shifter clan so much she knew that they would welcome their baby in either way, but to be a Shifter he would always have love and support in abundance. Their baby would never strive to please anybody either. She would make sure of that.

  “Maybe we ought to bump up our Christmas wedding a bit?” Melanie didn’t want to be enormous for her wedding.

  “Well I was thinking a Christmas wedding would probably allow for our little one to be a part of our big day. What do you think about that?”

  “It sounds like the perfect Christmas!”

  FIN

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  Here are the series that follow and what you can expect:

  Rodeo Bears - Can a band of Bear Shifter rodeo stars find love when their world is turned upside down?

  Secret Baby Bears - A group of Bear Shifters donate their semen to a research facility, but it accidentally gets put into the donor supply of a sperm bank. A few years later, these men are on the prowl for the cubs they never knew they had!

  Star Bears - Intergalactic Bear Shifter smugglers cavort around the known universe, causing mayhem and finding love in unexpected ways.

  Grizzly Groomsmen - Five Bear Shifters find themselves on a tropical island to celebrate a wedding, but soon it turns into a nightmare.

  Bear Dating Agency - A matronly grandmother is sick of her Bear Shifter bachelor grandsons laying about their wilderness refuge. With the help of a friend she puts a plan into place to see them all matched up!

  120 Proof Honey - Entrepeneurs. Businessmen. Bear Shifters. These guys know their honey and their moonshine, and they’ll be damned if they let a little competition run them out of town.

  Bearly Saints - The Four Saints are the hottest folk music band in Nashville, and only time will tell if these Bear Shifter musicians will be able to tame The Music City and the passion that burns deep inside them.

  Edward

  Rodeo Bears I

  by

  Becca Fanning

  Chapter One

  The heat hit her first, embracing her like a lover in the dark. Being from the Midwest, Dakota Blair had little experience with the heat, but she wasn’t in the Midwest any longer. She was far from it, a stranger in the arid desert of West Texas, a stranger on the run.

  * * *

  Keeping her head low under the dim lights, Dakota stepped off the bus into a station that was abandoned in the late hour. Attacked by the heat, clumps of her chestnut hair stuck to the back of her neck as she waited for the driver to unload her duffle bag. She was surrounded by a mass of people, fellow travelers weary from the journey. The bus had been full. She was glad. It was easy to hide in a crowd, much more so than standing exposed on her own.

  When she had her bag, Dakota followed the others into the lobby. It was narrow and unwelcoming, designed to keep people moving, deterring the homeless and the broken from sleeping on its benches. Dakota wasn’t broken, but she didn’t see herself going anywhere for the remainder of the night. She had money, and she had ID, but she didn’t want to use it. She didn’t want anyone knowing who she was or why she was here.

  Unless I can find a cheap motel, she thought, moving to a board that listed accommodation in the area. I’m sure West Texas has its share of scandal. There’s got to be a place I can bribe my way into without showing them ID.

  Setting her bag down, she skimmed the board. There were plenty of bad motels, but a notice caught her attention. Printed on bright yellow copy paper, a woman advertised a room for rent in her apartment.

  No drinks. No dealers. No conmen.

  It didn’t say anything about fugitives. Taking out her phone, a burner she had picked up in a remote town in Oklahoma, she dialed the number, but no one answered.

  “No desk is going to pick up this late at night,” an elderly woman in a Hoover Dam T-shirt said. “Better to make your way to the hotel and see if they have a room.”

  “Yes, of course,” Dakota said politely, returning her phone to her bag. Having traveled for so long, she’d forgotten what it was like to be ruled by a clock. On the bus, she’d been gripped with an anxiety that scattered her sleep. Her light brown eyes would shut and open within the same day, constantly searching to make sure she wasn’t followed. She felt safest at night, when the stops were few and the bus was quiet.

  There were only a few hours until sunrise. She wouldn’t bother with a motel. Finding peace in her decision to run to West Texas, she made a bench her bed. It was uncomfortable, but she was free to stretch her long legs out, something she couldn’t do on the bus.

  Dakota didn’t sleep. She stared at the stains on the ceiling, pretending they were stars, and she waited for the sun to bring in a new day, a new life.

  ***

  “This is it,” the woman said, inviting Dakota into her apartment. “It’s li’l enough to make a pig claustrophobic, but the rent is cheap and the bills are low.”

  The apartment wasn’t that small. There was room to move. Dakota liked the way the kitchen blended into the living room, both decorated with a country charm. The glasses looked like jars, the cabinets were painted a pale grey-blue, and the doors were made of refurbished wood. It was simple but alluring.

  The same could be said about the woman, Brianna Jackson. With her sleek auburn hair and jade-green eyes, Brianna was stunning, but she was grounded, almost to the point that she seemed burdened. Likely in her late-twenties, only a few years older than Dakota, she was far too young to carry such heaviness around her, but she was friendly in spite of it.

  Brianna smiled kindly. “What do ya think? Could you stand living here without feeling like a sardine?”

  “Can I see the bedroom?” Dakota asked, much more guarded than Brianna. She didn’t want to be discourteous, but she hadn’t come to West Texas so she could make friends. She’d chosen it because the South was loud and rowdy, a place she could get lost in.

  “Sure. It’s just in here.”

  Brianna opened a barn door at the back of the apartment, next to the kitchen. It revealed a modest room with a double bed pushed under a tiny window. With little light allowed into the room, the walls were haunted by shadows. In the corner, sitting in the shadows, was a dresser.

  “It’s exactly what I’m looking for,” Dakota said. “I’m interested. Is there an application I need to fill out?”

  Brianna laughed, her amusement filled with compassion. “No need, chickling. I’m renting it out myself. No agencies. I don’t really need the money, just the company. I travel a lot, and this town ain’t exactly the safest. I’m looking for a built-in house sitter.”

  “So you own the apartment?”

  “It was handed down to me, but yeah. My name is on the deed.”

  That was good. There would be no paperwork to sign, nothing she needed to falsify to protect herself.

  Dakota returned to the living room and pulled an envelope from her bag. “I can give you cash up front,” she offered, hoping Brianna would accept. The place was perfect. There was nowhere better she could hide, not unless she was willing to risk bed bugs and drunken neighbors.

  Contemplative, Brianna studied her. “That’s an awful big purse you carry around,” she said, meaning the duffle bag.

  “It’s my belongings.”

  “Your only belongings?”

  Dakota looked away, unwilling to share the details of her past. Maybe the apartment wasn’t such a good idea after all. “All that I have on me.”

  “Gotcha. I was going to show the room to a few others over the week then choose from there, but I like what I see. You have your secrets, no doubt about that, but we all have things we keep hidden. As long as you’re not planning to bring no trouble, the room is yours.”

  “No trouble,” she said, uncertain if it was a promise she could keep.

  Brianna took the envelope. “You didn’t steal this, did you?” she asked with clemency.