Elle

“See, this isn’t so bad, is it?”

“What’s not so bad?” He looked over at her, motioning for her to lift her end a little more.

Elle brought the metal bar up. He consulted his level, nodded, and made some marks on the wall on his end, motioning for her to do the same. That done, she stepped down from her little stepstool that he’d built.

“Building a life together here,” she said.

“No, it’s not too bad,” he admitted. “Though I never really envisioned mated life to involve hanging curtains together.”

She laughed. “You said they looked okay though!”

“They do, they do! I wasn’t saying anything about the curtains themselves. I just…I didn’t think that this was something that would form a lasting memory when I first realized how important you are to me. You know?”

“What, decorating our first house together isn’t something you saw yourself doing?”

He shrugged. “I mean, the house I had back home was already decorated.”

“So what did you see us doing?” She glared. “And if you say fucking or screwing or anything like that, you can count out getting any for the rest of the day.”

“Okay.” He punctuated his word with a snort. Braden was pretty positive now that Elle was used to a regular sex life with him that she would be hard-pressed to go half a day without fooling around. Not that he was going to test that theory of course. “I don’t know. I didn’t really think about it, I guess.”

“I see. Are you sure you’re okay with the fact that you sold it all and bought a place here?”

He hesitated, wanting to ensure that the answer he gave was the truth, and not just a placating answer that she wanted to hear.

“I am,” he said. “It’s still…new, like I’m still getting used to it all, and the concept of living outside of Cadia just simply never existed in my brain until I came to Cloud Lake, so it all kind of goes against everything I’ve known. But I’m adjusting, and there’s one thing I do know.”

“What’s that?” she asked, coming up to stand next to him, recognizing that the conversation had turned serious.

“That I would much rather be with you, wherever that might lead us, rather than back in Cadia on my own.”

She leaned in to him, taking his free hand and lifting it so she could kiss the back of it.

“I love you, Braden Fields,” she whispered, resting her chin on his shoulder as she looked up at him.

“And I love you, Elle Mirrine. You are my love, my mate, the other half of my soul. I would do anything for you.”

She smiled and they kissed gently, letting the moment linger on as long as possible.

“Anything?” she asked mischievously.

“What do you mean?”

She laughed and ran into another room, and returned with something in her arms.

“No!” he shouted. “No no no. I said we’re not having any of those in the house.”

Elle pouted. “But I love them! They’re so soft. Look, Gwen likes them.”

She waved the frilly pillows in front of her daughter, who was watching them from her seat in the corner, safely out of the way. She giggled and clapped her hands together excitedly.

“That’s not fair.” He grimaced as she stuck out one of the shaggy-style pillows, the hair-like material hanging from them looking so out of place.

“Ugh, you already bought these didn’t you?”

She nodded. “Yep.”

“They’re hideous,” he complained, feeling the stray fibers that dangled off it, not bothering to hide the disgust on his face.

“They’re fashionable and I like them.”

He frowned. “Which means we’re keeping them, doesn’t it?”

Elle grinned. “You are a quick learner!” She leaned forward and he obliged her with a kiss before shaking his head while she went and distributed them on the couches in their living room.

Their living room. Not his. Not hers. But theirs. Together. It had been a whirlwind two weeks since the dust had settled from the fallout of their fight with Armen and his Intelligence goons. Between helping to fix all the damage done to the town, both near the embassy and at the school, he’d been working nonstop. Today was his first day off, and he’d spent it helping Elle unpack stuff into their new home, which they’d only taken possession of four days earlier. The furniture company had arrived yesterday and unloaded everything, but they were still figuring out just how they liked it all.

Braden hadn’t realized just how thankful he was to have Elle around. She’d spent her days organizing all the planning for their new house, and had helped him liaise with a seller back in Cadia to have someone buy his place there. Braden had thought about keeping it for a while, but in the end he’d realized a sort of profound truth, something his new friends had also concluded: They weren’t going back.

Cadia was still their homeland, where they’d been born and raised. But it was no longer their home. They lived in Cloud Lake now, and they loved it there. It was their home, and they were all making lives for themselves amongst it, thrilled at the new chapter that was starting in their lives.

With the replacement of Armen as head of Cadian Intelligence, the shadows of their little community in northern Cloud Lake had been cast off, and they were all finally free to live their lives the way they wished. King Daxxton had issued a proclamation revoking the law that had prevented them from living outside of Cadia. Now, as long as they obeyed human law, they could live wherever they wished.

The Koche brothers had been preparing for this eventuality it seemed, and they’d offered one of several houses they had prepared to sell to incoming shifters to him and Elle. They’d snatched up their favorite of the four. She was eager to get out of the little unit she currently lived in, while he was just excited to start a life together.

He still got thrills in his chest when he walked in the door and told her that he was home. There weren’t many ways that life could be any better, and Elle had told him that exact same thing in the morning before he left.

Most people would have been happy to hear that. For Braden however, he’d seen it as a challenge. Oh, her life can’t get any better, can it?

We’ll see about that!

His phone buzzed.

Here. Where do you want them?

Backyard, on the porch. Will they sit?

There was a short delay, then he received a picture indicating that they could, indeed, sit on the porch. Excellent.

“Hey, Elle?”

“Yes, my love?” she asked, half-jumping over to him, allowing him to lift her off the ground and into his arms. “Wheee!”

He laughed and planted a big fat wet kiss on her face, causing her to giggle and struggle to get away.

“No slobber!” she laughed.

“No? None at all?’ he asked, carrying her toward the back door.

“Nope. No slobber. I hate it, that’s nasty.”

“Hmmm. Well, that could be an issue.”

She arched her eyebrows. “Is this where I find out you have a drooling problem?”

Braden laughed so hard he nearly dropped her. “No!” he shouted. “Not even close. Not me at least.”

Elle blinked in confusion. “What?”

He held tight with one hand and opened the door outside. “I’m fine. But you might have an issue with these two.”

She slid out from his arms and turned to look where he was facing.

“Oh my God,” she cried out, sliding to her knees as the two collies sat perfectly on either side of Noah, tails wagging almost in sync. “Are they for me?”

“Um. They’re for us,” he corrected, stepping back inside to grab Gwen up into his arms, holding her tightly. It would take a bit for her to acclimate to the dogs, and vice versa. But the test run when he’d snuck her out of the house three days earlier to go see the dogs before buying them had gone over well.

“Come here,” she said, motioning to the dogs. They immediately leapt up from their sitting position and dashed across the seven or so feet to greet her. “Ahhh!” she said happily, going down into a pile of limbs and dogs.

“Thank you,” he said to Noah, adjusting Gwen so into one arm so he could shake his friend’s hand as he walked over, the two of them watching the dogs go crazy from the attention Elle was lavishing on them.

“Not a problem. They’re quite well-behaved.”

“What are their names?” she asked through slobbery kisses and belly rubs.

“Shadow and Midnight,” he told her. “I think you can figure out which one is which.”

One was black, the other gray. It was fairly obvious.

“Oh my God, this day is just so amazing. Fluffy pillows and puppies!”

He grinned. Life was good. Damn good.

“Want a beer?” he asked, stepping over to the mini-fridge that was part of the backyard bar. The Koches thought of everything.

“What kind of question is that?” Noah said with a laugh, reaching down to pick up one of the dogs who came to say hello to him when he started moving. Though they were four months old and starting to grow rapidly, the dog still looked tiny in the shifter’s arms.

Braden watched as he cracked open the beers one at a time, carefully maneuvering the child around in his arms as he did, and then offered one to Noah as he let the dog go back to where Elle would maul it with some more affection.

“Cheers,” they said, raising the bottles up together.

They clinked and each one took a pull.

Yep. Life was good.

 

 

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This concludes Baddest Bear Dad. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Although this story is over, there are more adventures to be had. To get access to my newest stories at the introductory price of just 99c, and for other exclusives, sign up for my newsletter!