Read Online Phoenix (Bears of Kodiak Book 3) by Selene Charles - Free Book Online Page B

now a mated pair in every sense of the word.
    Uriel squeezed his eyes shut. Her father wasn’t the hothead of the family. For a dragon he was pretty tame. But Madison read his disappointment. As far as son-in-laws went Phoenix was a nightmare come to life for her father. Without saying a word to either of them, he turned on his heel and headed back into their home. Urich followed close on his heels, but not before casting Phoenix one last, long dark look.
    Only Alora remained. The true monster of the pack stood before them looking as lovely and innocent as she absolutely was not. Alora was cold. Ruthless. And deadly. She had no qualms about gutting a traitor—even if she’d known them all her life. Her only weakness in life was her family.
    And it was that weakness that gave her strength to step forward and bridge the gap between them.
    “Your father will come around. He loves you, Madison,” she said, her voice a mix of the lyrical and guttural.
    Madison got her looks from her mother and her coloration from her father, but her temperament, it was just like her mom’s. So she understood just how difficult this was for Alora.
    Keeping her mouth shut, she waited for her mother to say her piece. But Alora surprised her by smiling.
    “Well, we’re stuck with the bear now, aren’t we?” Then she sighed long and loud. “Phoenix Hawthorne, welcome to the family.”
    Stepping up to them, she held out her hand to him.
    Phoenix flicked a nervous glance at Madison, who gave him a subtle nod in return. If mother wanted to kill him, she’d not have needed to trick him to let down his guard to do it.
    Phoenix took her proffered hand. And Alora’s smile grew wide as she shook.
    It was only the strain of lines around his eyes that let Madison know that Alora was no doubt seconds away from pulverizing every bone in that hand. Her mother might have welcomed the grizzly to her home, but she’d not forgiven him completely yet either.
    “Thank you,” Phe gritted out and Madi suffered the urge to giggle.
    Not that her mother was hurting Phoenix—only her mom could dare to do so and not suffer Madi’s wrath—but because Phe must love her enough to let himself suffer the abuse in silence.
    Yanking him in just a little, Alora’s grin looked more like a snarl as she said, “Hurt my daughter, grizzly, and I’ll happily make you lunch.”
    Phoenix cleared his throat. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
    Alora snorted.
    “Okay, mom, I think we’ve measured dicks long enough haven’t we?” Madi said sweetly.
    Alora, at three hundred years of age, didn’t look a day older than her early-thirties. She was a handsome woman with exotic features. But when she smiled, really smiled from deep in her heart, she looked almost like Madi’s younger sister. Her entire face transformed into a thing of hypnotic beauty.
    “Yes, my love, I do believe we have. Now, if you’re decided to keep this bag of fur as yours—”
    “Mom,” Madi drawled.
    Rolling her eyes, Alora wrapped one arm around Madison’s middle, and the other around Phoenix, guiding them both toward the mansion’s front doors.
    “I’m just saying, sweetheart, it’s probably time to consider calling your granddaddy to work his binding charm. Don’t you think?”
    Madison felt Phoenix’s anxious gaze. They’d come to her folks for this reason exactly, but no doubt meeting her parents was a nightmare-inducing headache.
    She might have laughed, except for the fact that her mate looked like he’d just swallowed a hedgehog. Patting his hand, she nodded.
    “Yes. Yes. I do.”

Epilogue
    Phoenix
    A swirl of nerves settled into Phoenix’s gut as he looked around the forest. The winds were gentle, balmy even for early spring in Alaska. The fields had been cut, leaving only a deliberate patchwork of wild flowers to sway in the breeze.
    There were hundreds in attendance today.
    Crows. Dragons. Grizzlies. Sirens. Hell, there were even a few naiads in the river, partying it up. And