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Edward growled. Growled like the grizzly bear he was inside. “We’ll never let anyone hurt her again, that is, if she gives us another chance.”
All of the shit I’d put them through, and they were wondering if I would give them another chance?
I forced my legs to work and made my way down the stairs and headed into the living room. My throat swelled as I tried to make words happen.
“You still want me?” I somehow choked out, though it sounded like a whine and ended with me breaking out into sobs.
Ansel got up from the couch and stopped right in front of me. “You’re breaking my heart, female. Will you let me hold you?”
I nodded and melted into his embrace. He picked me up and held me close before returning to the couch where Edward pulled me onto his lap and brought me to rest against his chest. They let me cry for a while before I sat up and wiped away my tears.
“Look at me, Monroe.” Ansel’s voice tugged at my chest.
I met his gaze. “How can you want me to stay when all I’ve done is push you two away?”
“We don’t see it that way. We see a strong and caring female who feels like she has to protect herself from others because the ones she trusted to love her didn’t take care of her heart. I don’t know half of what you’ve been through with your family and other men, but it’s no wonder you have shut yourself off.”
Edward took my chin in his hand and turned my face toward him. “We’re going to be here as long as it takes for you to learn to trust us. We already love you. I know that’s fast on human terms but it doesn’t make it less true.”
“But I freaked out,” I said.
“So what? We have all freaked out and screamed and said things we didn’t mean along the way. Actually, you were well in control.”
“Sure. If you hadn’t been there to help me, I’d still be there, frozen in place. And since it’s cold up there, probably frozen to the stairs.”
“Everyone has things that scare them. That’s just life. You said a lot of good things too.”
I scoffed. “Like what?”
Ansel took my hand. “You wouldn’t be worried about having your heart broken if you weren’t already invested, Monroe. We have waited a lifetime for you, and we’re never going to do anything to jeopardize that. Will you stay with us? Let us prove ourselves to you.”
“I’m scared,” I admitted, leaning forward to rest against Edward’s chest again. His heartbeat soothed me.
Ansel kissed my temple and then my cheek. “I know. It’s okay to be scared. Sometimes fear is telling us that we’re going in the right direction.”
I shut my eyes tight, letting the last of the tears fall. “Okay,” I whispered.
Ansel and Edward both breathed out sighs of relief. Edward hugged me tightly, and Ansel joined in. I felt safe in their arms. Protected. Secure. All the things I longed for were wrapped up in these two bears.
Chapter Nineteen
Edward
We waited for Monroe to calm down completely and got her some food before deciding it was time for some revelations of our own.
“Would you like to see our bears?” I asked. The grizzly inside me was jonesing to let his mate see him. He’d probably parade his giant self all around her, showing off.
Our mate, still red-eyed and a bit puffy from her crying episodes, nodded. “I didn’t think shifters showed their animals to everyone.”
Ansel rubbed her back. “You’re not everyone, Monroe.”
Her blush gave us the exact response we wanted. She needed to be reassured that she would always be cherished and loved here. Telling the woman we loved that she was everything we wanted was a pleasure.
“I would love to see the bears but…they wouldn’t hurt me? Do I need to stay inside and watch through the windows?”
My bear gave a low growl. Monroe and Ansel were two people he would never hurt. Not in a million years. He’d throw himself off a cliff before hurting her or him. “Our bears would never hurt you, Monroe. I’ll tell you why after we shift. Trust us?”
The three of us walked outside together, past the swimming pool and hot tub and over to the edge of the concrete. “We own forty acres all around our house,” Ansel said. “Plenty of room to run. I’m going to shift but Edward will stay human until you are comfortable and know that neither of us would ever hurt you, even as our bears.”
