Mischief in a Fur Coat (10 page)

Drew watched his friends’ faces carefully as he stepped into the doorway of the cabin. They had just come out of the forest into the clearing, and were talking and laughing loudly as they walked toward the building. He stood, patiently, with Hope by his side, waiting for someone to notice him.

Mia was the first. Her eyes widened as she looked over at him, and then a huge smile spread across her face. “Drew!” she shouted, and then started running toward him. The rest of the clan looked over at her in confusion, and then looked in the direction of where she was running.

When they saw Drew, they all started running too. Less than a minute later, Drew found himself in a giant bear hug, with a group of eight shifters surrounding him and all vying for the closest spot.

“You made it!” Calum shouted. “You really made it.”

Storm and Silver were both screaming unintelligibly, which was making their respective mates, Grant and Jack, laugh hysterically. Bash was telling Silver, his sister, to move out of the way and stop acting like an emotional girl so that he could see Drew. But Bash’s own eyes were welling up a bit, so he couldn’t really tease his sister too much about being emotional.

Drew himself was overcome with emotion, realizing how much the clan had missed him and how happy they were to have him back. He reached for Hope’s hand in the middle of the chaos and squeezed it. She looked over at him happily, tears of joy streaming unashamedly down her face.

Juno was the last one to manage to break through the group and get to Drew. She was grinning from ear to ear, and she pulled him into a big hug.

“It actually worked!” she said. “I was so worried the procedure would make everything worse and shut your body down completely, but it actually worked.”

“Yup, it worked. I’m alive and kicking, and now I’ve officially got shifter blood in my veins. I owe you my life, Juno. And Jack, too. Without you guys I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

“It was nothing,” Jack said. “A simple medical procedure. Hope had the hard part of actually giving blood.”

Drew glanced over at Hope, who blushed at Jack’s praise and looked away.

“I owe all of you a lot,” Drew said. “You could have kicked me out when I first got sick, not even allowing me into the building for fear of catching the flu yourself. But you didn’t. You stood by me, and you figured out a way to save my life. I think it goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: I’m forever grateful.”

A chorus of whoops and cheers sounded off, and Drew grinned again.

“Hey!” Calum said. “I know we don’t have a ton of supplies right now, but I think this calls for a celebratory barbeque of sorts. Grant caught a deer the other day. What do you say we roast it over the fire pit and have a celebration? We can stay warm by the fire, and have a feast.”

Everyone cheered, and several of the clan members started moving toward the fire pit to get the flames going. Drew’s heart felt full. Tonight was going to be a good night. Perhaps one of the best of his life.

A few hours later, he was sitting around the firepit with his closest friends, full from a good meal and warm from the flames. Everyone was talking, laughing, and occasionally teasing each other, as shifters loved to do. Drew looked around, then looked over at Hope and smiled. She was talking to Silver, who was sitting on her right. But her left hand was holding Drew’s, their fingers laced together. Drew squeezed her hand slightly, marveling at how strong and delicate she was all at once. She was beautiful, she was his, and she had saved his life with her very own blood.

Drew let out a long sigh as he looked around once more. He loved this crew, and he honestly couldn’t imagine ever living alone again. If the flu situation died down, and the war on shifters came to an end, Drew knew that the shifters would probably all be moving on and leaving the forests of Michigan behind. And he knew now that he’d be coming with them. They were his clan now. He could never leave them, and he especially could never leave Hope.

He’d been given a second chance at life, and he was going to spend every day of that life with this group of amazing bears. He felt like the luckiest man alive.

As the fire crackled, he leaned over and kissed Hope on the cheek, just because he could.

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There are bears walking among us. Sloane Meyers is devoted to telling their stories.

Sloane thinks we could all use a little escape in our lives. And what better way to shake up the ordinary than to transport yourself to the mysterious world of those who have an animal within them, roaring to be let out. Sloane brings you hot shifter males, and spunky, spirited heroines—with NO cliffhangers! Each book can be read as a standalone.

When she’s not busy crafting bear tales, Sloane enjoys a good glass of wine, preferably shared with good friends. She loves reading (duh!) and spending time in the great outdoors.

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