Epilogue
WESTON
I woke to see the sun shining through the shears and bolted out of bed, running to the bassinet to see that Sorenna wasn’t there. My heart was pounding a thousand beats a minute. I hadn’t slept that long since before she was born, and my first reaction was that something was wrong.
Asher walked in, rocking her back and forth in his arms, and I could finally breathe.
“We were just coming to get you for breakfast.”
“I was so scared.” I reached out for her, and he placed her in my arms. “She always wakes me up multiple times, and when she didn’t… Didn’t she fuss at all?”
“You were exhausted. You needed the sleep. I took the overnight shift.”
So far, for the night feedings, we’d been doing a routine where I’d get up and sit in the rocking chair, nursing her back to sleep. It had been working well for us. I hadn’t expected him to take over. I should’ve. He was the most amazing father.
“But I did use all the milk you pumped yesterday.” He looked at me as if I’d be upset, as if I could ever be disappointed that my mate had been a good dad. “And as I was saying before, breakfast is almost ready. Why don’t you give Sorenna back to me, and you can hit the bathroom on your way in?”
I did, and when I came out to eat, there was a huge Belgian waffle on a plate with a lit candle in it.
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Weston, happy birthday to you.”
“You remembered.” I hadn’t. Not until I saw the waffle. People weren’t kidding when they said the first month being a father gave you dad brain. I rarely knew what day it was.
“Of course I did. Now hurry and make your wish before your waffle is covered in wax.”
I leaned over it, closed my eyes, wishing that I could always be as happy as I was right now, and then blew it out.
“Thank you. It smells wonderful. Where did you get it?” There was no place near the den that came close to pretending to make waffles, and it was still warm.
“I ordered a fancy maker for you as one of your gifts.” He pointed to the counter. How had I missed that?
I thought back to all the Christmas reels on social media about the reasons you shouldn’t get your significant other appliances, and they always boiled down to the fact that you were just giving them work.
My mate must have seen them and said, “Bet,” because he’d not only made the waffle in front of me but had a whole bunch of batter to keep them coming.
Breakfast was fabulous. It had already been my best birthday ever when the phone rang. It was Stevenson, video-calling.
“Happy birthday!” he said. He was standing with his Uncle Frank.
“Thanks. It’s been a pretty great one, and it’s not even noon.”
“Good to hear, son.” Uncle Frank had taken to calling me that. We had chatted quite a bit over the months, not about work or about why he wanted me here, but more like he had decided I was another nephew, a true brother to Stevenson. It was nice.
“Now, my nephew here is going to play nice and talk to you about your birthday and what you got for a gift and what the weather’s like, but what he really wants is to see that baby of yours.”
“Fair warning,” I said, just before my mate brought her around and put her in my arms to show the camera, “she’s the most perfect, beautiful, adorable baby in the entire world and will make you want a dozen of your own.”
“I can see that.” Uncle Frank smiled brightly.
Stevenson was oddly quiet. I wondered if he got an “it’s time to settle down” talk from Uncle Frank. He didn’t seem like the type, but families could be weird about stuff like that.
We talked for a few more minutes. My mate and I made Stevenson promise to come see us, and Uncle Frank invited himself along.
I really hoped they came. It would be great to see them and show them my new life, one filled with love, cuteness, and a remote job that used my skills but didn’t suck my life force. It was pretty stinking good.
“We really need to move into our own place if we’re going to have company,” I said. I didn’t mind staying at the den-owned cabin, but bringing humans here felt like breaking a trust.
We never planned on our current location being our forever home.
It was den-owned, and while no one was pushing us out, it wasn’t meant for us to live in forever.
We’d talked about building a cabin, but that was as far as the discussion had gone.
Location hadn’t been decided other than us staying local.
Sure, they could have stayed at the B&B, but it didn’t feel right having family, which they were in the most important ways, staying with strangers.
“And that brings you to your second birthday present. Go get dressed. We’re going for a walk. I’ll change the baby.”
He’d been great about that. Some alphas thought that diaper changes were beneath them, but not my mate. If anything, he did more than his share. When I came out, dressed and ready to go, she was in the baby carrier strapped to his front.
“We’re walking?”
“We are.” I took his offered hand, and we went off in a direction we didn’t often go. Usually, when we were out here, my mate was shifting, and his beast loved the water. We were heading away from it now.
“Before I show you what I want to show you,” he said, “I want to say I still haven’t made up my mind about this whole ‘Alpha of the den’ thing.”
“Okay. You don’t need to decide now. Your dad was very clear on that.”
“I know. I just didn’t want you to see your surprise and think it had anything to do with that.”
“Now you have me really curious.”
It was about a ten-minute walk through the woods before we came to a clearing. In the center was a rectangle marked by stakes.
“So,” he said, “I was thinking, what if we build our cabin here?”
“Don’t you think your bear wants to be closer to the water?”
“Yes, but also no. We want to be far enough away that we don’t have to worry about our kids wandering into the river.”
Best. Dad. Ever.
“Kids? We’re having more than one?”
“I hope so, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, I do.”
He showed me where he’d staked off the house to give me an idea of what the footprint of it would be, big enough for a growing family, but not so ginormous that it would take a lot to keep up. It was a short drive to town, but also felt far away and private.
“You don’t need to upsell me on this.” I reached up and cupped his cheek. “I love it. What do you think, Sorenna? Would you like to live here?”
She was sound asleep.
“It’s not keeping her up?” Asher chuckled.
“What about you?” I asked him. “Will this put too much pressure on you?”
“No. It feels like this is where my bear wants to be. And if we decide later on it’s not, this isn’t a life commitment. This is a house, a place to live.” He put his hand on my chest. “My home is right here.”
“I love you, Asher,” I whispered. “You’re my home, too. You’re my home, too.”
Next in the series…
My flight never wanted me. I wasn’t dragon enough for them.
As the child of a human and a shifter, I teeter between both worlds and don’t fit into either.
When an opportunity to leave my hometown presents itself, it’s an immediate yes from me.
It isn't until I start planning my move that I realize I’m going to be moving to the middle of nowhere.
There’s no turning back now. Besides, one year in a place where no one knows me sounds like bliss.
When I arrive, my rental cabin has one small problem. It’s already occupied by a grumpy ass polar bear shifter who’s barely holding his beast back.
The lease? Fake.
The landlord? Nonexistent.
My deposit? Stolen.
My savings? Gone.
I have nowhere to sleep, a job starting in two days, and an empty bank account. Why does it feel like I’ve finally come home?
Molten Fury is the second book in the highly anticipated new MM Mpreg bears shifter romance series Bramble Woods by the best-selling writing duo, Colbie Dunbar and Lorelei M.
Hart. Molten Fury features a denless alpha polar bear, the dragon shifter who shows up on his doorstep and refuses to leave, the den that becomes their home, small town awesomeness, just one bed, an unexpected offer, true love, fated mates, found family, an unusual alliance, an adorable baby, and a guaranteed happy ever after.