Page 34 of Shielded By My Mate

“You did scream.”

“I was startled.”

“It was the size of my fingernail.”

“It moved fast,” he mutters.

Ben and Maisie giggle.

Ansel leans over to kiss me. His lips brush mine softly at first, then linger. Even after five years, one kiss from him is enough to make my heart race.

“Ew,” Ben groans.

Ansel pulls back to grin at him. “You’d better get used to it. I plan on kissing your mom for the rest of my life.”

My mating mark tingles at the promise. I run my fingers over the matching mark at the base of his neck, and his eyes darken.

A car door slams out front, followed by the sound of someone coming around the side of the house.

“Aunt Ridley!” Ben yells, scrambling to his feet.

Ridley barely has time to open the gate before both children launch themselves at her. She laughs, crouching to catch them. Her mate, Julian, stands over them, watching the scene with a smile on his face and a baby on his hip.

“There are my two favorite monsters!” Ridley says.

“We’re cubs,” Ben corrects her.

“Even better.”

I smile as I watch my best friend hug them.

Ridley came home bruised and furious, but alive. Now she helps run Midnight Haven, spending her days tracking fake job listings and talking to rescued women, making sure no one has to figure out what comes next alone. I work beside her three days a week when I’m not teaching at the elementary school in town.

It wasn’t the overseas adventure we planned, but it matters. Maybe even more.

Ridley joins us on the blanket and hands me a small gift bag. “Happy anniversary.”

“You didn’t have to get us anything,” I protest.

“I know. Open it.”

Inside is a little wooden sign. Five names are painted across it beneath a row of bears: Ansel, Mira, Ben, Maisie, and Baby.

I stare at the last word. “How did you know?”

Ridley gives me a flat look. “You threw up in my trash can yesterday and cried because the coffee maker was too smelly. I put it together.”

Ansel goes completely still beside me. Slowly, I turn toward him.

His eyes are wide, fixed on my stomach. “Baby?”

I bite back a smile. I had a whole plan for telling him tonight after the kids went to sleep. I should’ve known Ridley would ruin it.

“Baby,” I confirm.

His bear roars so loudly inside the bond that I burst out laughing. Ansel lifts me onto his lap, one huge hand spreading protectively over my still-flat stomach.

“Are you sure?” he asks, his voice rough.