Everything changed in that moment. There was no more fear of raising cubs alone while the Silver brothers hibernated. There would be no more loneliness, no more waiting. No more tears, and no more fearing winter.
She laughed thickly as the others lay down in a loose circle and began making clumsy snow angels.
“Vera!” Elyse called. “Get over here!”
She set her precious pictures on the porch and jogged over to fill in the final gap beside Tobias.
Vera waved her arms and legs with the rest of them and reveled in the chorus of happy murmuring from her new family.
Tobias grabbed her hand in his and rested his cheek on the snow as he looked at her. He said so much with his clear, happy eyes. I love you. She could see it there.
From this day forward, there would be no more hating the snow.
No more hating the winter or the bitter cold.
From this moment on, they would face everything together.
With a happy sigh, she squeezed his hand and smiled knowingly. “I love you, too.”
Epilogue
“Okay, wait, wait, wait. Right here.” Tobias pulled Vera to a stop, but didn’t take his hands off her eyes.
She clung to his wrists to keep her balance, her boots crunching in the deep snow. She’d spent a danged hour with her eyes closed, and as much as she liked surprises, she was tired of being in the dark.
“What do you smell?”
She inhaled deeply and frowned. “Sawdust?”
“Good, what else?”
“Well, I smell Lena, Elyse, and your brothers, and I can hear them, too.”
“Other than that,” Tobias said.
She scented the air again, slowly this time, giving her findings to her fox to decipher. “Evergreen sap, snow. Cattle and chickens, but only faintly, like they are far away. And…Miki.” And then it began to dawn on her where she was. “Tobias,” she breathed, hope blooming in her chest.
Her mate pulled his hands away from her face and gripped her shoulders to steady her. It was mid-December and sunny for this time of year. The light bounced off glittering snow that clung to the roof of a sprawling log cabin. It was made of freshly cut cedar logs and had a wraparound front porch.
Vera shook her head in disbelief. “What is this?”
“It’s ours.”
“But we’re on Elyse’s land,” she said, twisting to look at where Lena and Elyse were grinning next to their mates.
“This part is ours,” Tobias said.
“This is our thank you for all you’ve done for us,” Elyse said. “Lena and Jenner live in one of the outbuildings on the other side of the property, and this one was just sitting out here going to ruin. We all fixed it up for you. We even built onto it so you could have your own mad-scientist lab.”
Vera looked from one expectant face to another, chest heaving. Dragging her attention back to the beautiful cabin, she whispered, “This is home?”
“Well, I like that you come with me on deliveries, but this is home, yeah.”
“Can we get a puppy like Miki?” she asked in a hopeful, shaky voice.
Tobias laughed and nodded, wrapping his arms around her. “Whatever you want, Thistle.”
And she could see it now. A wooden plate that read Silver over the front door. Rocking chairs on the porch, Tobias chopping wood in the front yard. Her mate pushing their cubs on a rope swing that would hang from the towering evergreen near the cabin. A garden in the back and family nearby. Always close. It was everything she could’ve dreamed of and more, a far cry from her pitiful life on Perl Island.
As Tobias hugged her from behind and rested his warm cheek against hers, she heard it—the long, haunting, familiar howl of a lone wolf.
Life wasn’t perfect. It was a ride. It was textured with heartache and happiness, but in this moment, as she basked in the shadow of her new home, in the arms of her mate, surrounded by her family, with the fading notes of Link’s song in the distance—life was as perfect as it could be.
Surprise Announcement
This series was originally intended to be a trilogy based on the Silver brothers, but another character has received requests, and wiggled his way into my heart. So…
Lincoln McCall will get his story in
Wolf Fur Hire (Book 4)
Coming January 2016
New Release Newsletter Sign-Up
For new releases, exclusive sneak peeks, and giveaways, sign up for T. S. Joyce’s Bear Shifter Romance Newsletter HERE.
Other Series by T. S. Joyce
Saw Bears
Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)
Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)
Timberman Werebear (Book 3)
Sawman Werebear (Book 4)
Axman Werebear (Book 5)
Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)
Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)
Fire Bears
Bear My Soul (Book 1)
Bear the Burn (Book 2)
Bear the Heat (Book 3)
Gray Back Bears
Gray Back Bad Bear (Book 1)
Gray Back Alpha Bear (Book 2)
Gray Back Ghost Bear (Book 3)
Gray Back Broken Bear (Book 4)
Lowlander Silverback (Book 5)
Last Immortal Dragon (Book 6)
A Very Beastly Christmas (Holiday Novella, Book 7)
Bear Valley Shifters
The Witness and the Bear (Book 1)
Devoted to the Bear (Book 2)
Return to the Bear (Book 3)
Betray the Bear (Book 4)
Redeem the Bear (Book 5)
Bear Valley Valentine (Valentine’s Day Novella)
Hells Canyon Shifters
Call of the Bear (Book 1)
Fealty of the Bear (Book 2)
Avenge the Bear (Book 3)
Claim the Bear (Book 4)
Heart of the Bear (Book 5)
Wolf Brides
Wolf Bride (Book 1)
Red Snow Bride (Book 2)
Dawson Bride (Book 3)
Standalone Shifter Romance
Coveted by the Bear
Amazon
Standalone Contemporary Romance
Shelter Me Home
Amazon
About the Author
T. S. Joyce
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. Experienced at handling an alpha male of her own, she lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.
For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.
Contents
Other Books in This Series
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Surprise Announcement
Newsletter Sign-Up
Other Series by T. S. Joyce
Fire Bears
Gray Back Bears
Bear Valley Shifters
Hells Canyon Shifters
Wolf Brides
> Standalone Shifter Romance
Standalone Contemporary Romance
About the Author
T. S. Joyce, Mate Fur Hire
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