I never thought I’d feel love again.

Boy, was I wrong. I now know that Maximus loves me. I can feel it flowing through my veins, overwhelming me in the best possible way.

It wasn’t just the bond that made him feel this way. I can tell now that he never stopped loving me all through the long years apart. I was just so consumed by my scars, rattled and defeated that I couldn’t look past them. The bonding process has lifted the veil from my eyes and I can see the truth now.

“There they are,” Abigail says as we walk back into the camp holding hands. Her eyes drop to our clasped hands and she smiles.

“Tell them to hurry up,” Lachlan says as he flips over something on the barbecue. “Dinner is ready.”

He looks up from the barbecue, sees us walking in holding hands, and says something under his breath that looks like a little prayer of thanks before smiling at Maximus and then at me.

“What are you cooking?” Maximus asks.

“I figured since it’s our last meal on this ranch, we’d better do something special,” Lachlan answers.

Maximus “And?”

“Hot dogs,” he answers with a grin. “A lot of them.”

He wasn’t kidding. When we finally sit down, the table is loaded with mountains of hot dogs. They’re piled up so high that the top ones roll off onto the table. One rolls off onto the dirt ground and Kneecap picks it up as he walks over. I’m expecting him to toss it into the garbage but he just puts it onto his plate, with a couple dozen more.

My mouth is open in shock as I watch these guys load up their plates. I forgot how much shifters can eat!

Zoe and I share a laugh as we each take one. Meanwhile, the twins beside her have at least fifteen each on their plates.

I feel Maximus let out a deep exhale beside me and as I turn to him, he stands up.

“It’s with a heavy heart that we have to say goodbye to our beloved ranch,” he says to the table of friends. “We’ve been through a lot together in this place.”

Everyone has sad smiles on their faces as they listen. It breaks my heart for two reasons. The first is that I hate to see them lose the home they love so much, and the second is that I wasn’t here with them to share in all those memories.

“It seems like only yesterday when Lachlan, Kneecap—”

“You mean, Gary Halbert!” Tito interrupts.

Kneecap gives him a playful frown as everyone laughs.

“Right,” Maximus goes on. “Lachlan, Gary, and I first walked onto this ranch. That’s the day The Grisly Ranch was born.”

Lachlan laughs. “That was also the day that Kneecap moved into the forest, leaving us to do all the work.”

Kneecap smiles as he looks up at the sky, reminiscing. “Ahhh, the good old days when I didn’t have to talk to any of you on a daily basis.”

Nora laughs as she hugs her man’s huge arm.

“Those were rough days,” Maximus continues. “I had lost the love of my life, Lachlan had lost his best friend, and Kneecap seemed to have lost his mind.”

“I did find it!” he says with a grin.

Tito can’t help himself. “It was a little scuffed up, but he found it.”

Kneecap throws a hot dog at him and Tito catches it, adding it to the mountain in front of him.

“We were three miserable old bears,” Maximus says, smiling as he remembers. He can smile at it now, but I know he wasn’t smiling about it back then. He points at Caleb and grins. “Then we had this young cub come join us and his youthful exuberance started to kick us out of our funk.”

“You’re welcome,” Caleb says with a grin on his face.

“God, you were annoying back then,” Lachlan says, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

“Back then?” Ronin says, tilting his head in confusion. “Even more than now?”

“Yeah,” Maximus says with a laugh. “Even more than now. Always playing his guitar, asking a million questions, bringing home all sorts of girls.”

Caleb coughs loud and we all turn to Abigail who didn’t seem to like that last part.

“Bringing home girls to help him play guitar,” Maximus quickly corrects when he sees the lifeguard turning as red as the bathing suit she wears.

Tito snorts out a laugh. “Yeah, they were helping him play with his instrument, all right.”

“Shut up!” Caleb says. This time he’s the one to throw a hot dog at him.

I laugh as Tito catches it and adds it to his plate. The way he’s going he’ll have all of the hot dogs by the time Max is finished.

“Next we had the twins arrive,” Maximus says. “A two for one deal.”

“We got ripped off,” Kneecap grunts.

“And The Grizzly Ranch was never the same.” Maximus smiles as he remembers. “The quiet, gone. The peacefulness, obliterated. The tranquility—”

“Good riddance,” Ronin interrupts.

“See what I mean?” Maximus says and everyone laughs. “The six of us formed the body of a crew, but it wasn’t until the girls started arriving, that we got the soul.”

“Jessie,” he says, looking at the blushing girl beside Lachlan with the curly hair and the big ears. “You did the impossible. You brought my best friend Lachlan back. Thank you.”

Her cheeks turn even redder as she smiles back at him.

“Then came Abigail,” Maximus continues. “The girl who turned a ladies’ man into a one-woman man. I still can’t believe you did it.”

“Exactly how many girls did you have over?” she says with a heated frown as she turns to Caleb who looks like he’s about to crawl under the table.

Maximus quickly moves on. “Nora,” he says, turning to the other pretty girl with the big ears. “Who knew that it would take a shrink to tame Kneecap?”

“Everybody did!” Tito says and everyone, including Kneecap, laughs.

“Well, you definitely earned your paycheck with that one,” Maximus says, raising his drink.

“Still haven’t gotten paid for it,” Nora says with a smirk on her face.

“I’ll pay you back tonight,” Kneecap says as he drops a huge hand on her thigh. Nora starts blushing wildly as everyone chuckles.

“Sounds like a deal,” she whispers to her big man.

“Zoe,” Maximus says to the cute girl sitting between the twins. “I honestly don’t know how you do it.”

“Hey!” Ronin and Tito say at the same time.

“Poor girl,” Kneecap says, shaking his head.

“It’s not so bad,” Zoe says with a grin as she drapes an arm around her men’s shoulders.

My stomach starts to flip as Maximus looks down at me. He smiles at me and suddenly the nerves disappear. How can I be nervous with him by my side?

“And now the latest member of our crew,” he says, never taking his eyes off me. “The girl I’ve always loved. My Kennedy. My mate.”

Lachlan perks up. “Did you?”

Max nods. “We just bonded.”

The table erupts in cheers and congratulations and before I know what’s happening, I’m swallowed by muscles and boobs and hugs and welcomes as everyone fights to hug me first.

After everyone has their turn and sits back down, my cheeks are burning from smiling so hard.

“You ten,” Maximus continues, “make me so proud to be called alpha.” There’s no more jokes or snide comments. Everyone is watching him and getting choked up, myself included. “I know we’re losing the jobs and businesses we’ve worked hard to get, the land our bears roam in, and the home we love, but we have each other and a loving crew is worth more than any of that.”

“Here, here!” Lachlan shouts as everyone nods in agreement.

“The Grisly Grizzlies will move on,” Maximus says with a confident voice. “And we’ll continue to do what we do best.”

“What’s that?” Caleb asks.

Max grins. “Eating hot dogs.”

The boys lunge onto their plates and start devouring the dogs in front of them while all of the girls watch with confusion, curiosity and a little bit of horror.

Lachlan and Caleb eat their hot dogs in two bites, but that’s nothing compared to Kneecap who eats his in one.

We have a fun last meal full of jokes and stories and teasing each other. I forgot how fun being in a crew really is, and although there’s a hint of sadness since it’s our last night on the ranch, I can’t help but be excited for the future. No more empty apartments and take-out for one. I’ll be doing this every night and I couldn’t be happier.

When the last hot dog is fought over and the boys are finally done, Bryce comes walking into the ranch. “Any hot dogs left?” he asks.

Lachlan frowns as the lion shifter snatches one off the table. “I knew we didn’t cook enough.”

“Want me to check on the files?” Bryce asks, glancing at Maximus’ cabin.

“Go in,” Max says. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Kneecap stands up as Bryce disappears into the cabin. “I have an announcement,” he says, shifting uncomfortably. “I’m not a good talker like Max, but this is important.”

Everyone is looking at him with interest. I’m assuming that he doesn’t do this very often.

“I’m going to be a daddy!” he says, smiling wider than I’ve ever seen him smile.

“What?!?” Jessie shouts as she turns to her sister. “I’m going to be an aunt?!?”

Nora nods as she holds her stomach. “I’m pregnant.”

Everyone jumps up again and rushes to swarm them with hugs and congratulations.

“Easy!” Kneecap says as Tito hugs Nora. He grabs the twin by the collar and throws him a few yards back.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Nora says, frowning at him. “I’m not made of glass.”

“I’ve been waiting for an excuse to do that all night,” Kneecap says with a grin as Tito gets up and dusts himself off.

The two bear shifters laugh as they give each other a hug. “Congrats, big man,” Tito says. He’s barely able to get his arms around the huge shifter. “You’re going to make an excellent father. If you don’t eat your cub first.”

Kneecap grins as he slaps Tito on the back. “You’re good practice to be around since you constantly act like a child.”

Maximus puts his arm around me and holds me close, and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than in this moment. I have my mate that I love by my side and I’m part of an amazing crew. This night couldn’t be more perfect.

“Maximus!” Bryce calls out.

We all turn and see him standing at the door of Max’s cabin looking sick with worry.

My stomach drops when I see his face. The night has been perfect, but I might have spoken too soon.

“What is it?” Max asks. I can feel his body tightening beside me.

“It’s ready.” Bryce swallows hard. “You better come see this.”