Page 35 of The Bear's Fated Mate
Not the way Alex would’ve done it if he was intent on a woman. If the dudes were so easily discouraged, they obviously didn’t deserve someone like Lara.
The conversation rotated to topics that were a little more neutral.
“How goes the search for your brother?” Alex asked Amber. It was the reason the woman had moved to the north in the first place a couple of years ago—tracking down her only sibling.
She made a face, staring forlornly at the french fry in her fingers. “The last lead faded to nothing. I know he’s here somewhere, but there are so many small communities over the territory that don’t keep in touch on a regular basis. It’s hard to know what to do next.”
“Won’t you let me check with the wolf hotline?” Lara offered. “We’ve always got members taking time off and running wild. They get to just about every village and settlement over the course of the winter.”
Amber glanced at Alex, hopefulness rising in her eyes. “I think—”
Damn. He wondered if his animosity toward Lara earlier in the year had made Amber hesitate to accept the help before this.
No, he hadn’t trusted Lara. Before. But while wolves still made him uncomfortable and there was something big looming, in regard tothis, if she said it might help, she meant it.
He inclined his head in a private message of approval for Amber.
Her eyes lit up and her smile grew wide. She nodded firmly at her friend. “I would appreciate it. I can get you all his details when we’re home tonight.”
Lara nodded then raised a hand momentarily and excused herself from the table. “Sorry, guys. I need to deal with this.”
She made her way to the other side of the room where a pair of wolves were glaring intently at each other. Lara folded her arms over her chest and leaned her head to one side, listening to one comment then the other before speaking quietly in return.
Alex watched as the tension drained away and the two men shook hands instead of flailing fists at each other the way he would’ve expected from their earlier stances.
It took Lara nearly twenty minutes to get back to the table, not just because she dealt with trouble before it could brew, but because the wolves genuinely seem to like her and wanted to talk.
It made no sense at all, but that realization made something inside Alex feel almost…proud. She spoke with people at many of the tables, nodding reassuringly as a few worried glances were tossed toward the bears.
A laugh drifted from her, and their eyes met. She winked, and his sense of amusement grew. As if she was saying it was okay for him to be there in her territory, and what’s more, she liked him there.
Somebody putTeddy Bears’ Picnicon the sound system.
Lara was still watching, the corners of her lips twisted upward as she rolled her eyes momentarily and shrugged her shoulders as if to say it was just wolf hijinks.
Alex leaned forward and interrupted the conversation. “Excuse us, ladies, but I need my brothers to join me for a few moments.”
James kissed Kaylee briefly before sliding out from the table. Cooper eyed Alex curiously, but also stepped forward.
Amber nonchalantly waved a hand in the air, but her eyes widened and her cheeks heated when Alex stripped off his clothes then stacked them neatly on the chair beside her.
James snorted in amusement, but a moment later he was also naked.
Cooper pinched the bridge of his nose, grimacing as he stepped behind Kaylee’s chair, stripped and shifted so quickly he nearly got tangled in his clothing.
Across the room, Lara was outright laughing as Alex turned and offered a salute before joining his brothers in bear form.
The wolves cleared room for him as Alex sauntered forward, meeting Lara on the middle of the dance floor.
“You’re such a goof,” she declared, laughing even harder as he made his way to his hind feet and held out his hands as if waiting to waltz. “No way, sweetheart. All it takes is for you to make one wrong move and I’d end up a pancake.”
But when he went back to four paws, Lara wrapped her arms around his head, dancing on the spot as he shuffled his front paws back and forth. To their right, Kaylee laughed wholeheartedly as James sat on the hardwood and swung his paws in time with the music.
Cooper? He was motionless as Amber stood at his side. The little human was shaking in her boots, but remained protectively alert as if ready to wallop anyone who got too close. Which was really funny considering that when Cooper was in bear form, a single paw was nearly the size of her head. One small swing would send any attacker flying.
Something amazing and happy swirled into Alex’s heart. In that brief moment, he wasn’t the security expert and defender of his family—he was simply Alex. Having fun and relaxing with friends and family.
Yet even as they played in this wholly unexpected way, Alex still knew exactly what was going on and where the danger points were. And the ones he couldn’t see, like the door at his back, Lara was facing. She had it under control.
