Blake, Abby - Suddenly Bear (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

“Okay,” she said softly. As much as she wanted to be mad at them she couldn’t hold on to her anger. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t told her. In some ways it just proved how well Jayden knew her. If they’d told her sooner, she might even have fought against the idea of loving three men—stubborn woman that she was. But their motives had been pure. And she’d done exactly what they’d hoped—she’d fallen in love with them all as men long before she’d learned of their shifter status.

She’d never believed in fate, yet there had certainly been an awful lot of coincidences to bring them to this point. Yet, she supposed in the end, whatever had brought them together was inconsequential. What was important was that they loved each other.

“It’s okay, Jayden,” she reiterated when he still looked concerned. “I understand why you didn’t tell me earlier.” She laughed quietly. “It just proves how well you do know me.”

“We love you, baby girl,” Brandon said as he pulled her into his arms and held on tight.

As the future that she’d always dreamed of suddenly opened out in front of her, Violet sighed her contentment. Loving and being loved by three wonderful men was everything she’d ever wanted and more than she’d ever hoped.

Nothing could be better than that.

“I love all three of you,” she said happily, and then grinned mischievously as her men breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Now, who’s going to teach me to be a badass, freaking bear?”

Epilogue

“I think you should stay out of the restaurant this week. Violet needs her space.” His mother’s words were so unexpected that Declan wasn’t quite sure how to react. His father had taken some time to come around to liking Violet. Of course, actually meeting her had changed their stubborn, cranky-bear father’s mind pretty quickly, but his mother had loved and accepted Violet from her first day at the lodge.

“Why?” he asked, having absolutely no clue as to why his mother would advise staying away from the woman he loved. He always dropped in during the day. It was one of the perks of working in the office.

“Because, my very-intelligent-but-dumb-ass-when-it-comes-to-women son, it’s mating season.”

Declan tried to hide his grin. Yeah, he knew it was mating season—oh, wow did he know it was mating season—but that wasn’t exactly something he wanted to discuss with his mom.

“So?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

“So,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Sows tend to get a little cranky this time of year.”

“Oh,” he said, still not understanding his mother’s reasoning. Violet had been cranky before. It wasn’t like she was going to rip someone’s arms off. She’d practiced all spring to control her bear side. But then he heard the loud crash of plates and a low growl come from the kitchen, and he wondered if his mother was right.

“Thanks, Mom,” he said as he rushed past her and into the disaster zone. He met Jayden—who’d managed to wrangle two weeks off from the hospital—and Brandon on the way through the door. Plates and cutlery were scattered everywhere.

Violet glanced up from her position on the floor, and scowled at all three of them. “What do you want?”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay,” she said in a grumpy voice.

And then, as if a lightbulb suddenly switched on in his brain, the meaning of his mother’s words came to him.

“Are you pregnant?”

“Of course I am,” she said with just as much grumpiness. “What else did you expect during mating season?”

“You’re having our cubs?” Brandon grinned as she nodded shyly. “Baby girl,” he said in a voice so filled with emotion that Declan might have been embarrassed to witness it if he hadn’t felt exactly the same way. Brandon leaned over the mess, grabbed their mate by her hips, and moved her to stand in the middle of them.

“You’re happy?” she asked all three of them, and Declan nodded enthusiastically. His brothers did the same. Between the four of them they’d decided to let nature take its course, so it wasn’t like they hadn’t planned it. “Really?” she asked, sounding excited now. “I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”

“Violet,” Jayden said, pressing a kiss to her lips. “I can’t think of anything we want more than to have children together and spend the rest of our lives loving you and our cubs.”

She smiled then, and Declan felt his worry melt away.

He had a wife who loved him, brothers he respected, a family who cared, and now cubs on the way.

Life simply couldn’t be more perfect than that.

THE END

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