Page 9 of Bear Your Fate

Camden rose to his feet on the other side of the bed, and I recognized the stubborn look on his face. Leaning against the wall, I settled in to enjoy the conversation since it seemed it was heading in a direction that would serve me well. “I’ll be there to provide all the assistance my mate needs to care for our children.”

Selene rolled her eyes at him and pressed the button to lift the back of her hospital bed. She waited to speak until she in a sitting position. “What my consort meant to say was thank you for the kind offer, but we’ll be okay on our own.”

“But—”

Selene didn’t let Audra continue. “Of course we’ll ask for help if we need it, but what you and Camden seem to be forgetting is that I’m not the usual new mom. I have enough power now to ensure my recovery time is as short as it needs to be.”

“You need to be careful not to use too much too soon,” Audra chided.

“I get it, Mom. I really do. I understand your need to protect me regardless of the fact that I’m not just your little girl anymore, I’m a mom, too. There will never be a day that I won’t want to do the same for them.” Selene’s gaze slid to the two babies sleeping peacefully in their bassinettes, and her pretty green eyes—so like her mother’s—filled with love. “But you’ve taught me well. Both as my mom and high priestess. Trust me to know my limits and to be the kind of mother for them that you were for me.”

“You’re going to make it impossible for me to argue, aren’t you?” Audra sighed.

Since nobody’s attention was on me, I let my lips tilt up in a satisfied smirk at the first sign of her impending capitulation to the living arrangement which made the most sense—the one that ended up with her in my home. It turned into a full-fledged grin when my daughter-in-law maneuvered Audra right where I wanted her to be.

“Besides which, we don’t have a guest room for you anymore. It’s the nursery now. And I’m not going to have my mom sleep on the couch in our living room when there’s a comfortable bed she can use at Carrick’s house. You don’t mind if my mom stays at your place, do you?”

I schooled my face into an innocent expression as all eyes turned my way. “Of course not, sweetheart. She’s welcome to stay as long as she wants.”

If I had my way, it’d be for a hell of a long time, too. Like forever.

“See? Problem solved.”

“And a new one created,” Audra mumbled underneath her breath.

Selene tilted her head as peered up at her mom. “Pardon?”

“I said that I should’ve seen that one,” Audra lied. Alasdair started to correct her, and I jabbed him in the side to keep his mouth shut. Our shifter hearing meant everyone but Selene knew exactly what Audra had said the first time around, but my oldest son was the only one who seemed interested in calling her out for the evasion.

“Your intuition does tend to fail you when it comes to your own fate,” Selene laughed.

Audra’s green gaze, a hint of sadness that had my bear pushing against my skin flashing in them, slid to mine as she replied. “That it does, my dear. That it does.”

I stepped forward, moving until I was close enough to Audra that my arm brushed against hers. “I think it’s time for us to clear out and give the new parents some time alone with the babies.”

Alasdair and Braden, along with their mates, took the hint and said their goodbyes quickly since they had their own children to get back home. Audra seemed in the mood to linger, and I practically had to drag her from the room.

“Don’t worry, Mom. The babies aren’t going to disappear into thin air. Now that you’ll be living in Bear Creek, you’ll have plenty of time to spoil them,” Selene called out to us right before we shut the door to give them their privacy.

Audra walked beside me, her back ramrod straight and her lush lips pressed into a hard line. Now that our family wasn’t surrounding us, she wasn’t bothering to hide her displeasure at the situation she’d found herself in.

“You heard your daughter. Don’t worry so much,” I murmured softly.

“Don’t worry?” she hissed as she shoved at the glass doors and stormed out of the hospital.

She turned to glare at me, and I was once again struck by her beauty. Her pale cheeks were tinged pink, her green eyes were flashing, and her plump tits heaved. My cock stirred at the picture she presented in her anger, but it quickly cooled when a splash of cold water from the fountain in front of the hospital struck me in the face. I’d managed to provoke a reaction out of my witch, but it wasn’t quite the one I’d been hoping for.

6

Audra

When Carrick’s eyes flared with approval instead of irritation, I wanted to kick myself for giving in to my temper. I should have known that the stubborn bear shifter would be impressed with my show of power and not the least bit intimidated. It only made him more appealing—something I didn’t need to notice when I was going to be staying in his home for the foreseeable future. I was so flustered that I marched half-way towards the parking lot before I remembered that I’d taken a cab to the hospital from the airport.

“Problem?” Carrick rumbled from behind me.

I twirled around and bit back a frustrated shriek at his smirk. Instead of drenching him in water like I wanted to do, I forced myself to ask for his help. “I don’t have a car yet. Can you take me to a rental place to grab one?”

“I could.” His dark eyes filled with masculine satisfaction, and I knew I wasn’t going to like the rest of his answer. “But I’m not going to since you won’t need to rent a car while you’re here.”

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