Read Online Heart of the Bear (Hells Canyon Shifters Book 5) by T. S. Joyce - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: T. S. Joyce
Ads: Link
a grenade without a pin, waiting to annihilate everything he’d recovered about himself. She teetered on the edge of giving him a life he could finally be happy in, or destroying him completely.
Rae wasn’t just some human he was growing to care for.
She was a weapon of mass destruction.
Chapter Six
Rae looked adoringly down at the baby in her arms. Samuel was just perfect.
Her throat threatened to close on her, and she brushed the moisture on her lashes to the sleeve of the blue, cotton T-shirt Muriel had let her borrow.
“This is why I don’t let myself hold the babies,” she whispered, feeling helpless to the emotional avalanche that had fallen the second Samuel gifted her with a tiny smile.
Breshia was squatted down in front of her, hands resting on Rae’s knees, concern pooling in her eyes. The woman was covered in striking, dark freckles, but the alluring color of her eyes was what held Rae now.
“Why don’t you like holding babies?” Breshia asked.
“Because I can’t have them.”
“Oh, honey,” Muriel said from her seat on the couch next to her.
Samantha Cress disappeared down a hallway, then returned with a box of tissues. Reese stroked her hair from her seat on the back of the couch. It should feel strange, being petted by an almost stranger, but the women were all affectionate. Maybe it was part of being a shifter, needing that touch—needing a connection. Reese’s touch comforted her.
Rae didn’t know why she’d admitted her failure to these women. Perhaps it was because she’d probably never see them again after Ethan released her. Or perhaps it was because they’d shared so much with her—the story of Bron’s brother, Trent, and his death. How hard they’d worked to find his murderer. And after Rae had admitted what had happened between her and Jesse last night, they each shared their love story. None had been easy, and each had to work for their happiness. And what made her like them even more was that none of them pretended to be perfect or have it all together. They were each, admittedly, a work in progress.
She pressed her hand against Samuel’s seeking palm. “I wanted a dozen kids when I was growing up. I was an only child, and my mom worked all the time to keep food on the table and the lights on. The loneliness made me swear to have a big family, but when I found someone to settle down with, everything went wrong. Ruptured cysts and scar tissue and surgery, and it’s just not in the cards for me anymore.”
“What about adoption?” Breshia asked.
A single, warm tear fled to Rae’s cheek. “I tried once. A couple backed out of an adoption at the last minute, and the mother was desperate. She hadn’t planned on keeping the baby, and I fell in love with the child. I moved to adopt, but it didn’t go through. I was single and didn’t make enough, and the baby went to a couple from Maryland.” She lifted her shoulder in a shrug and dropped her gaze back to Samuel’s dark hair. “I still think about her, but she wasn’t meant to be mine.”
“That’s exactly right,” Samantha said. “She was meant for someone else, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have a family someday, Rae.”
Reese murmured, “Has Jesse told you about—”
“Reese,” Muriel warned with a frown and a slight shake of her head.
“What about Jesse?” Rae asked. She’d been here all morning, and he hadn’t come back. Logan had promised he would, but it was nearly lunchtime and it was pretty plain and obvious her knight had ditched his shining armor and bolted. Still, her traitorous heart wanted to know every little tidbit about the man she couldn’t stop thinking about.
“Nothing,” Reese murmured. “Hey, you’re coming to my celebration tonight, right? We could use your help setting up before the party.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there. Becoming a ranger seems like a big deal. How long was the training?” Sure, Reese had done an obvious subject change, but Rae was game.
Rae wasn’t just some human he was growing to care for.
She was a weapon of mass destruction.
Chapter Six
Rae looked adoringly down at the baby in her arms. Samuel was just perfect.
Her throat threatened to close on her, and she brushed the moisture on her lashes to the sleeve of the blue, cotton T-shirt Muriel had let her borrow.
“This is why I don’t let myself hold the babies,” she whispered, feeling helpless to the emotional avalanche that had fallen the second Samuel gifted her with a tiny smile.
Breshia was squatted down in front of her, hands resting on Rae’s knees, concern pooling in her eyes. The woman was covered in striking, dark freckles, but the alluring color of her eyes was what held Rae now.
“Why don’t you like holding babies?” Breshia asked.
“Because I can’t have them.”
“Oh, honey,” Muriel said from her seat on the couch next to her.
Samantha Cress disappeared down a hallway, then returned with a box of tissues. Reese stroked her hair from her seat on the back of the couch. It should feel strange, being petted by an almost stranger, but the women were all affectionate. Maybe it was part of being a shifter, needing that touch—needing a connection. Reese’s touch comforted her.
Rae didn’t know why she’d admitted her failure to these women. Perhaps it was because she’d probably never see them again after Ethan released her. Or perhaps it was because they’d shared so much with her—the story of Bron’s brother, Trent, and his death. How hard they’d worked to find his murderer. And after Rae had admitted what had happened between her and Jesse last night, they each shared their love story. None had been easy, and each had to work for their happiness. And what made her like them even more was that none of them pretended to be perfect or have it all together. They were each, admittedly, a work in progress.
She pressed her hand against Samuel’s seeking palm. “I wanted a dozen kids when I was growing up. I was an only child, and my mom worked all the time to keep food on the table and the lights on. The loneliness made me swear to have a big family, but when I found someone to settle down with, everything went wrong. Ruptured cysts and scar tissue and surgery, and it’s just not in the cards for me anymore.”
“What about adoption?” Breshia asked.
A single, warm tear fled to Rae’s cheek. “I tried once. A couple backed out of an adoption at the last minute, and the mother was desperate. She hadn’t planned on keeping the baby, and I fell in love with the child. I moved to adopt, but it didn’t go through. I was single and didn’t make enough, and the baby went to a couple from Maryland.” She lifted her shoulder in a shrug and dropped her gaze back to Samuel’s dark hair. “I still think about her, but she wasn’t meant to be mine.”
“That’s exactly right,” Samantha said. “She was meant for someone else, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have a family someday, Rae.”
Reese murmured, “Has Jesse told you about—”
“Reese,” Muriel warned with a frown and a slight shake of her head.
“What about Jesse?” Rae asked. She’d been here all morning, and he hadn’t come back. Logan had promised he would, but it was nearly lunchtime and it was pretty plain and obvious her knight had ditched his shining armor and bolted. Still, her traitorous heart wanted to know every little tidbit about the man she couldn’t stop thinking about.
“Nothing,” Reese murmured. “Hey, you’re coming to my celebration tonight, right? We could use your help setting up before the party.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there. Becoming a ranger seems like a big deal. How long was the training?” Sure, Reese had done an obvious subject change, but Rae was game.
Similar Books
