Bearpaw Ridge, four years later

"…and so, it's with pleasure that I hereby announce that the Bearpaw Ridge Medical Center is open for business!" Mayor Manny Ornelas announced, just before ceremonially cutting the wide blue ribbon looped between the handles of the double glass doors leading to the medical center's lobby.

It was a warm June day, and the air was filled with the scent of flowers and the pastries provided by Cinnamon + Sugar, which were arranged on a linen-covered table under a marquee just outside the medical center's doors.

It had been built in downtown Bearpaw Ridge, in the vacant lot that had once announced the prospective Schlumbacher Hotel and Conference Center.

The lot's owner, Andy Schlumbacher, had repeatedly tried and failed to get the city council to approve his project over a period of several years and had finally given up and left town in a huff.

Ash had swooped in and purchased the land when he and Nika had returned to Bearpaw Ridge last year after she completed her residency.

Right now, Nika was trying to locate four-year-old Mitya. He had vanished when her attention shifted away from him for just a moment, and now she worried about a young bear shifter on the loose with such a tantalizing display of pastries within easy reach.

She finally spotted her wayward son sitting on his Uncle Dimitri's shoulders, bouncing up and down and gleefully shouting, "Giddy-up, Uncle D! Giddy-up!" as he tugged on the brim of Dimitri's cowboy hat.

Dimitri was laughing and didn't look in immediate need of rescue, so Nika breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

"Afternoon, Ash, Dr. Swanson," she heard a voice call out, and turned to see Tyler Swanson approaching.

As the owner of the construction company that had built the medical center, Ash's cousin was actually wearing a suit and tie for the occasion.

He had been a frequent visitor to the house over the past few weeks, as the construction project drew to a close, and Nika had come to like Tyler a great deal. He might be a little rough around the edges, but like all the Swansons, his heart was in the right place.

Ash exchanged a handshake with his cousin, then turned back to continue his conversation with Steffi, who stood on his other side. They were deep in a discussion about how to handle a toy deal for Hunter's Blood, and whether they needed to hire someone to concentrate full-time on merchandising Hunter's Blood-branded items.

"Hi, Tyler," Nika said. "The center looks wonderful. Thank you so much for getting everything done on time."

Tyler looked abashed at the compliment. "Hey, having a shifter hospital is long overdue in these parts. Building a nice facility is the least I could do for the folks around here. Can't wait to see you and everyone else at work here."

When Nika had finished her residency at last, the shifters of Bearpaw Ridge had welcomed her back to their town with open arms, and not just because she was Ash's mate. Moving to Ash's house on the ranch had felt like coming home, though she had enjoyed the first few years of her married life in their beautiful Seattle house.

And best of all, her parents had behaved themselves impeccably…once they had finished serving out their sentences for assorted crimes of money laundering, tax evasion, wire fraud and a host of lesser charges. The judge had given them light prison sentences, all things considered, but had imposed heavy fines in addition to demanding restitution for the investors they had defrauded. Their arrest had helped to make Ash and Nika's wedding an event that people in Bearpaw Ridge still talked about.

Mama and Papa had been forced to sell their NYC townhouse and the big Hamptons beach cottage to pay the fines and restitution, and now lived quietly in upstate New York, though Nika suspected that her mother was still scheming to make her way back to the top somehow.

Their visits to Seattle had been infrequent, but Mama and Papa had doted on their grandson when they came, and little Mitya adored his dedulya and babulya. They were planning to visit Bearpaw Ridge later this month, and Papa was already asking whether Ash or someone else could teach him how to ride a horse.

While the medical center had still been under construction, Nika and Ash had recruited shifters working in the medical profession as staff.

As a newly minted doctor, Nika would be working alongside her partners, Dr. Derek Jacobsen and Raymond Chang, who had been successfully wooed away from Steele Memorial in Salmon with a position as the medical center's Nursing Director.

In turn, Derek and Raymond had found other shifter medical personnel to come here, drawn by the prospect of working at the country's first shifter-focused hospital.

Tyler grinned at Nika. "So, Dr. Swanson, are you ready to embark on your next adventure?"

Nika slipped her arm around Ash's waist and felt him kiss her hair. "More than ready," she said. "I've been waiting for this my whole life."

The End

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