Bear Unbound: A BBW Bear-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 1) (15 page)
Read Bear Unbound: A BBW Bear-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 1) Online
Authors: Cara Wylde
ONE YEAR LATER
Ava stepped into the white hospital room, unsure of what to expect. The past year hadn’t been the best of her life. However, she had turned 9 just a few weeks before, and she kept repeating herself that she was a big girl now. She had to stop being afraid of her own shadow. The second the thought took shape in her mind, she felt angry at herself. She wasn’t afraid. She had never been afraid of anything. Confused? Maybe. Disappointed? Yes. But not afraid. Never afraid.
Tyler was behind her, his hand hovering just above her shoulder. He didn’t dare touch her. He knew how jumpy she could be when she was nervous and insecure. Ava liked him. Sure she did. But that didn’t mean she would just start calling him “dad”. She had made it clear a year ago, when her mother had given her the news that she and Tyler were getting married. As she was stepping closer to the only bed in the hospital room, she remembered how shocked she had been then. Would she be just as shocked now? She didn’t want to have the same reaction. She had to control herself. This was different. Yes, it was still the unknown, but it was different.
Amber was waiting for them. She had a big smile on her lips, and her blue eyes were shining with joy. So much joy that she had cried just a few minutes before. She looked at her beautiful daughter, then her eyes traveled up to her handsome husband. They were the most important people in her life. The only ones she would die for. Well, now there was someone else she was ready to die for if needed: the little bundle she was cradling in her arms. Her son. Her and Tyler’s son, Ava’s little brother.
Ava stopped at the foot of the bed. She started playing with the hem of her blouse, while her eyes were fixed on the tiny creature her mother was holding. She couldn’t see much, as the baby was wrapped in a white, soft blanket. Everything was so white in this room.
“Come here, honey. Say ‘hello’ to your brother.”
Ava’s heart started beating faster, and her palms suddenly became clammy with sweat. “Brother”. Such a weird word. She had always wanted a brother or a sister. Well, she had wanted a sister, actually. But a brother was good, too. She felt Tyler’s big hands on her shoulders, and she tensed for a second. The baby made a soft noise, and her muscles relaxed. It was okay. This was okay. She could enjoy this moment without feeling guilty. Or abandoned. Because that was what she had felt a year ago, when her mother had told her about the divorce. Her father had abandoned them. Then, Amber tried to explain as best as she could that it had been her choice. She had wanted to break up with him. But that hadn’t been all. Oh no. The next blow had been even worse. Her father had been in a terrible accident and died. It had taken a couple of minutes for the information to sink in, but when it did, Ava had burst into tears. Heavy, horrible tears that wouldn’t stop falling. Stephan had never spent time with her, had never paid attention to her. There had been days when he wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence, and she had always hated him for that. But still, he had been her father. The thought that she would never see him again had broken her heart forever. Tyler had tried to mend it later, but it had been no use. He was a great friend, an amazing husband to her mother, but he wasn’t and would never be her father.
“Let’s go closer,” Tyler encouraged her.
His voice was a gentle whisper. Ava loved that about him. He was always so kind and loving. There were days when the word was hanging on the tip of her tongue. “Dad”. “Daddy”. Still, what came out of her mouth was “Tyler”. She let him guide her to her mother’s side. Finally, she could see the baby’s cute face, his tiny fingers, the few strands of raven black hair covering his round head. He was perfect.
“May I hold him?” she asked.
Amber nodded and motioned for Tyler to help her. Together, they placed the baby into Ava’s arms.
Ava’s whole body was tense with fear and excitement. What if she dropped the baby? What if she didn’t hold her brother’s head at the right angle and something bad happened? She swallowed heavily and tried to get a hold of herself. She was a big girl. She could do this. In fact, she was a big sister now.
“It’s okay, honey. You’re doing great,” said Amber.
While he had been in Amber’s arms, the baby had kept his eyes closed. Now, he opened them and looked straight at Ava. His tiny lips parted and he let out a cute noise which made the girl smile.
“He’s got such big, brown eyes,” Ava said.
Amber looked up at Tyler. It was clear he was so happy and proud that his bulky chest was about to explode. Of course, the boy had his eyes. Also, they were both pretty sure he was a bear-shifter. They would find out later. Usually, baby shifters started shifting around the time they learned to walk. Tyler had already told Amber all he knew about born shifters. If the parents were both shape-shifters, then their children would be shifters as well. But they were pretty sure Amber had been pregnant before Tyler turned her, and they couldn’t know how that had affected the baby. But something told Tyler his boy would shift when the time came. He had a feeling.
Ava cradled the baby in her arms. She had become a bit more confident. She started humming softly, and the baby smiled up at her.
Amber couldn’t take her eyes off her beautiful children. Now she knew what heaven felt like. Of course, she had yet to tell Ava about the supernatural side of the world. Her daughter didn’t know Tyler and Amber were bear-shifters, much less that her brother was likely to be one as well. She didn’t know her father had been a member of an Assassins’ Guild, either. Amber sighed. As a family, they still had a long way to go, but she knew they would get there one day. After all, Ava was only 9. She and Tyler would tell her the entire truth. They had already agreed on that. But for now, they would let her enjoy her childhood. There had been enough drama in their lives in the past year. They all needed a break.
“What’s his name?” asked Ava.
“Oh, we haven’t decided yet,” said Amber.
Tyler knelt so he could be on Ava’s eye level.
“Actually, your mother and I were thinking you should choose his name. After all, he is your brother.”
The girl’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Really?!”
She looked from her mother to Tyler, and from Tyler back to her mother, just to make sure they weren’t kidding.
“Oh my! I don’t know… I’ll have to think about it.”
Tyler ruffled her long, curly hair.
“No rush, princess. We have all the time in the world.”
THE END
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Shift Your Fate – Reading Order
Carpathian Wolf (SYF #0.5) – BBW Wolf-Shifter Romance
Rebecca Gilbert is a sexy, curvy, and confident woman who knows what she wants. She’s a successful and respected chartered accountant in New York and seems to have her life figured out. The only problem is she can’t find the right guy to share it with.
Sick and tired of the dating scene, stressed because of her demanding job, Rebecca needs a new perspective. That’s why she takes her friend’s advice and goes to see Kassandra, who is well-known for her abilities as an…empath. The old woman doesn’t only feel what Rebecca feels, but also knows exactly how to help her. However, when she tells her to pack her bags and board a plane to Europe first thing in the morning, Becca thinks she’s insane. On the other hand, she does need a vacation.
A new country, a strange language, a small medieval fortified city in the heart of the mountains… It’s safe to say Rebecca is forced to step out of her comfort zone. The empath told her she’d find her destiny here. She doesn’t know much about destiny, but she knows the tourist guide, Emil Severin, is one of the hottest men she’s ever seen. Green eyes, dirty blond hair, a wicked smile, and an adorable, panty-melting accent–yes, he’s exactly what she needs. Emil seems to want her too. In fact, he can’t keep his hands off her. Then why is he holding back? There’s something he doesn’t want to tell her, something that prevents him from taking her hard and fast. Well, tough luck, because Becca is determined to find out what it is. If Emil is, indeed, her destiny, then she’s not letting him go without a fight.
Bonus!
Subscribe to Cara Wylde’s Newsletter to get a free copy of the first guide to the world and mythology of Shift Your Fate:
Visit Segesvar with Rebecca and Emil
Bear Unbound (SYF #1) – BBW Bear-Shifter Romance
Beautiful, curvy Amber is ready to reclaim her freedom. She's had enough of her husband's lies and she's done with his family's weird rules. She's getting a divorce, and she's taking her 8-year-old daughter with her. Oh, and she's determined to stay away from men. For now at least. But her best friend, Rebecca, has other things in mind. She takes her to the one place where Amber can find what she's truly looking for: Shift Your Fate. Instead of advising her to leave her past behind, the empath Kassandra reminds her there was someone else before her ex-husband, someone who could have made her happy, if only she had given him a chance.
Tyler Atwood lost contact with Amber ten years ago, when she married Stephan Castell. He had a choice to make then: tell her the truth about her husband, or step aside and leave them be. He chose the latter. Amber wouldn't have believed him anyway. Bear-shifters? An Assassins' Guild hunting supernatural people? On second thought, it was better if she never knew. Now, Amber is back into his life. Being with her puts both of them in danger, but how could he resist? She's always been the only woman who could tame his bear.
Secret Baby Lion (SYF #2) – BBW Lion-Shifter Romance
Coming soon…
A BBW Wolf-Shifter Romance
This Complete Edition contains all 6 books and NO cliffhangers. Get it now at half the price of the individual installments. If you have Kindle Unlimited, then read it for free.
This complete edition contains all 6 books of Sold to the Alpha. It’s the full story of sexy, curvaceous Avelyn and her hot Alpha, Max Blackmane. No cliffhangers!
Avelyn is a shifter bride, which means she has been raised and educated to become the wife of a shape-shifter and bear his children. The problem is that she doesn’t want to accept this fate. She will do everything in her power to gain her freedom and build a new life far away from shape-shifters and what society expects of her.
Alpha werewolf Max Blackmane is in search of a bride. When he comes to Alma Venus Boarding School, one of the best schools for shifter brides in the world, he is determined to buy a young woman who would bring him political advantages. However, when he sees Avelyn, his plans are turned upside down. He can’t imagine his life without her.
Avelyn uses every trick to convince Max to buy another bride. It doesn’t matter that his perfect body and smooth voice make her weak in the knees. She has a dream, and her dream does not include a wolf-shifter who thinks he can simply own her because the peace treaty between humans and shape-shifters says so.