Read Online Brash Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 3) by Natalie Kristen - Free Book Online

mother and your
twin is not your fault.”
    “I should have
protected them. I was the elder brother, the older son.”
    “And I'm sure you did
try to protect them. You did your best. But you were just too young
at that time.”
    “My mom and my
brother…”
    “They don't blame you.
And they would be really mad at you for blaming yourself. I'm sure
Jax has fought with you over this many times before. He told you to
stop beating yourself up, didn't he?”
    Josh stared at her, then
nodded once.
    “You're too hard on
yourself,” she said.
    He quirked a lopsided smile
at her. “I thought the same thing about you.”
    “Did you?” She
laughed a little. “I guess we're more alike than we realize.”
    Taking his hand, she said
solemnly, “I promise I'll let got of my self-doubt. But you
have to promise me that you'll let go of your guilt. We'll help each
other and take small steps together. We can do it. I know we can,”
she said firmly.
    Josh squeezed her hand and
yanked her to him. Hugging her, he said, “I'll do everything
to be the mate you deserve, Bella. I promise.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR

    Bella pulled the two apple
pies out of the oven. With a satisfied smile, she set them on the
kitchen table and pulled off her oven gloves. The pies looked and
smelled heavenly.
    She picked up the smaller of
the two pies and went to the door. That larger apple pie was for
Josh and his family. Josh had mentioned that his niece, Ashley,
loved apple pie with ice-cream more than anything in the world.
    Bella walked over to her
neighbor's house and rang the doorbell. “Celia! Celia, are
you home?” she called out as she rapped smartly on the door.
“I brought you a freshly baked apple pie.”
    She shifted her weight from
foot to foot as she waited. A minute ticked by. At the sound of a
birdsong, she glanced behind her. The neighborhood was really quiet
at this time of day. It was a weekday, and most people were at work.
It was her day off, and she'd spent the day cleaning and baking.
Her house looked really homely and lovely now. Housework was
cathartic, and she felt like a new person, seeing her little house so
spic and span.
    Of course, having
mind-blowing sex definitely put a spring in a girl's step as well.
    Bella cleared her throat
noisily, hoping Celia wouldn't see her blush when she opened the
door. Josh had been coming over to her place almost every night for
the whole week. They just couldn't seem to get enough of each other.
    Josh has asked her over for
dinner with his family this evening. She had already met his family
at the wedding, but Josh said that his brothers wanted to welcome her
properly into the family.
    “That's right. We're
your family now,” Josh had chuckled at the look of bewilderment
on her face. “The morning after we mated, Jax and Marcus were
grinning from ear to ear when they saw me at the work site. They
could smell your scent all over me, and—they saw the
shit-eating grin on my face.”
    Bella realized she was
smiling as she rang the doorbell again. She smiled a lot more these
days. She was in love, and she was happy and alive. It was an
amazing feeling.
    She waited for a while more
and her brows began to furrow. Celia was home almost every day. Her
arthritis made it difficult for her to get out of the house and walk
for long. She only went out for her weekly bridge game at the
community club on Saturdays, and her buddies always came round to
pick her up. Celia's best friend, Meredith, would drop by every
Monday and they would go to the shops together to grab some groceries
and have tea at their favorite cafe. Celia liked order and routine
in her life, and her neat, no-nonsense house reflected her
personality. Everything was in its place, and her lawn was
well-maintained. Meredith's son came to mow her lawn every
fortnight.
    Bella knocked on the door
more urgently now. “Celia, are you in there?”
    Had the elderly woman fallen
down and was sprawled helplessly on her bathroom