Page 50 of The Bear's Chosen Mate
Then he motioned them off as if he were chasing an unruly cat from the room—
Oh.Cats.
She tugged on James’s arm as they made their way off the stage, thundering applause echoing after them.“We’re going to need a little help,” she warned him.“You’re not going to believe the reason I was late.”
He pressed his lips to the back of her hand, guiding her toward where his brothers stood.“I know it was a good reason, but even more, I knew you’d come to me.”
Cooper scooped her up and spun her in a circle, squeezing her tight before pressing a brotherly kiss to her forehead as he placed her back on her feet.“Welcome to the family, although you’ve always been like a little sister to me.”
“Slightly annoying, annoying, more than slightly annoying—” Alex said blandly.He made a face.“First, I apologize.James, I was wrong, and I’m glad.”
Kaylee waited as the two brothers shook hands as if something somber had gone down.
Alex turned to her, his serious expression lightening.“Little sister.I’m glad you’re with this jerk, but the next time you need help,ask.If you’ve got a problem,we’vegot a problem, understand?That’s what family does.”
Kaylee’s throat tightened up again.“Thank you.Although you might regret that tomorrow,” she warned, thinking about how all those cats were going to react when three polar bears showed up.
Alex gave her a quick hug, and then James was stealing her away, guiding her down secret back passages and around corners.
The sound of voices and party noise and music faded into the background.Kaylee held on tight to his warm hand and followed where he wanted to lead.
Tomorrow they would have to find places for dozens of wildcats.Tomorrow she’d have to look into getting her beater of a truck repaired, again.And maybe not tomorrow, but sometime in the near future she was going to have a long talk with her parents about what was and wasn’t appropriate for them to ask her to do without a buy-in.
But that was all in the future.
This moment she was going with her mate somewhere secret.Somewhere alone.
Her mate, oh my God, hermate.
They’d just stepped into the open when Kaylee tugged him to a stop.A moment later she’d wrapped herself around him as laughter bubbled up inside.She held on to James as if she were never letting go.
He cupped her face with his hand.“I’m so glad fate finally came to her senses.”
“You really think fate had a chance after James Borealis made a choice?”Kaylee shook her head.
He chuckled.“Maybe fate was out of luck from the moment Giles Borealis laid down the law in the first place.”
“Your grandfather is a wonderful, bossy,interferingman.”She grinned at the fire in James’s eyes.“Although I’m not going to tell him the wonderful part.He doesn’t need to have any more reasons to gloat.”
James nodded decisively.“No matter what, we were meant for each other.There’s no arguing that fact.”As they stood there with the midnight sun shining down on them, a soft breeze brushing through his hair, he leaned in close.“I look forward to spending the rest of my life proving that to you, fate, and the entire world.”
Then he kissed her.
Epilogue
Alex Borealis was tired, grumpy and frustrated.The perfect storm of emotions that would lead a lesser man into making a terrible mistake.
Oh, he knew exactly how he wanted to get rid of the adrenaline in his system, but since he prided himself on having discipline, what he wanted was not going to happen.
No way, no how would he let a pair of sparkling brown eyes with goldish flecks lead him astray.Instead, he used the hard labour of cleaning up the mess from the party to distract himself.
It was well after two a.m.before the final partygoers left the building.Vehicles remained in the parking lot to be picked up the next day.Guests who’d had a little too much to drink had decided against driving home.Instead, they’d shifted, a mass of tipsy bears, cats, and wolves teetering across the asphalt before disappearing into the trees.
Alex watched them go with something close to disapproval.He had no objections to having a little fun, but there was a time and a place for excess, and this wasn’t it.
He came around the corner and jerked to a stop as he met up with a skeleton cleanup crew putting away the last of the tables from the auditorium.“Amber.That thing is three times too big for you to carry,” he scolded as he hurried across the floor.He caught the edge and attempted to tug it away from her with no success.
All he got for his troubles was a glare of annoyance.
