All of the pictures she would’ve died to post on social media to get back at her ex, but now? They were the most important personal pictures she had ever seen.
In one, Aux had taken a selfie of himself with her as she cracked open a beer at the bonfire. She was in the middle of talking and had this easy smile on her face she hadn’t seen in years. He wasn’t grinning, but his silver eyes looked happy enough.
She ran her fingertip down the side of his face in that photo and felt so desperately hollow. Handsome bear.
The next was of Samson, only Samson wasn’t the same little runt she’d been feeding. He was sitting by Aux’s work boot near the dining table. He had a round little potbelly and his little snout was up in the air.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispered as she stared at the growing piglet. He was still inside the cabin with Aux.
On the back of that picture, Aux had written, I’m taking care of him for you. Couldn’t bring myself to put him back out in the pen, so now I have a fuckin’ house pig. I’ve taught him how to sit for treats and when he’s in trouble I call him Samson Gwendamir Bane. This is all your fault.
She laughed for the first time in what felt like ages.
Had her heart ever felt so deeply? Had it ever felt so much?
Next was a picture of Willamena sitting in a nesting box next looking freaking adorable with her feathers all ruffled up.
She unfolded the notebook paper and read it to herself.
Gwen,
I hope you don’t mind, but I tracked down your address. Figured you would want your things back, and I didn’t know if you would ever come back to my neck of the woods to get them.
I know you were scared when you left, and I’m sorry for it.
I waited. I waited for you to tell the world what I was, but you didn’t. Thank you for that. It’s only me and my brothers left, and we’re doing our best to keep it that way. I never wanted anyone to find out, but you did, and I can’t stop thinking about you. I don’t regret that you know me. I mean know both sides of me. It’s nice to have someone out there in the universe know I exist. I never realized what a weight it was to carry the secret until I met you. Anyway, me and the animals are good. It’s too quiet around here now though. Go be the girl you want to be, Gwen. Somewhere out in the Montana mountains, there is a man who thinks you can do anything.
Aux
He’d put his phone number at the bottom of the page.
Gwen inhaled deeply, then exhaled a shaking breath as she held the letter against her chest.
What was she doing here?
Existing?
Tabby had said that was no way to live a life.
And Tabby was right.
Gwen copied his number from the letter into her phone and texted Aux, Hello, Bear Man.
A minute ticked by before her phone lit up with a response. Hey, pretty human.
You’re alive. Send.
Her phone lit up almost instantly. A little banged up, but the scars are worth it. Her phone rang with a request for a video call from Aux.
She panicked a little, yanked her hair out of her ponytail holder, pinched her cheeks so they looked rosier, then accepted the call.
He didn’t say anything at first. He didn’t need to. His eyes were full of emotion as he studied her face, and she understood. She was drinking him in, too. Up until a few minutes ago she thought she would never get the chance to see him again and now here he was, out on some snowy road somewhere, bundled up, those shining silver eyes just as striking as she remembered.
“I’ve missed you,” she said.
His lips twitched into an uncertain smile that faded as he murmured, “Good.”
She could breathe for the first time since she’d left him. Since she’d abandoned his truck on Main Street in his hometown in hopes he would find it later. Since she’d began to cope with her feelings on her life and where she was headed, and about what Aux was.
A bear shifter.
She’d been scared at first, but now? Looking into his hope-filled eyes and feeling the same magnetism she’d felt for him at his cabin?
She didn’t know what those crows had been thinking, leading Aux to her, but she was sure grateful they did.
“You protected me from your brother.”
He nodded, and sat on the back of his tow truck with a grunt. “And I would do it again.”
“I know.” She uttered that with confidence because she knew in her heart it was true. Bear or man, he would protect her. “I didn’t tell anyone what you are because I wanted to protect you back,” she murmured.
“I suspected as much.”
“I didn’t know you took all these pictures of me,” she said, holding up the stack of photos he’d sent.
“You said you wanted pictures.”
“You listened.”
“To every word,” he said low.
God, she’d missed his growly voice, and now it made sense because he had an animal inside of him. That had to be such a consuming thing, but he still took time to listen to her. She was a woman who appreciated effort. That was her love language, and he was a damn natural at effort.
As he started telling her about the road he was clearing, she settled into the easy cadence of his voice and the comfort she already had with him. Relief flooded her as she got lost in his smile.
No more just existing.
Now this…tearing down her walls and reveling in the voice of the man who had stolen her heart…this was a good way to live a life.
Epilogue
Aux’s mountain looked so different without the piled high snow. Now, there were just tufts of it here and there. It was muddy, but her new car could handle it.
She bounced and bumped her way up the road and did her best not to flash back to the day she’d left this place a few weeks ago.
The vision of Brick’s bear barreling toward her was too scary for her mind to hold on to. Today, fear had no hold here.
Nervously, she gripped the steering wheel harder as she hit the gas and gathered some speed to get over a hill.
She should’ve told him she was coming. She should’ve given him some warning. He’d explained that his bear was territorial. What if he was territorial against her?
What if he had just wanted to talk all day every day like they had been, but didn’t want a physical connection? She’d gone and missed his touch too much and just showed up at his place uninvited.
What if she was messing this all up?
When she topped the hill and the cabin came into view, all her worries were put to rest.
Aux was standing in front of a tractor surrounded by a bunch of tools. He was looking at her through the window with the biggest grin on his face. He huffed a frozen breath, shook his head at the ground, then yanked his work gloves off and tossed them onto his tool set. He strode for her, then ran. With a squeal, Gwen put her new car in park and shoved the door open. He caught her before her feet even hit the slushy ground, and his lips were there, right on hers like he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him.
Everything was all right.
There was no cawing of crows, or roaring of bears, or howling of wind. It was just Aux and her in a quiet moment that made all her jagged pieces feel whole.
Aux was laughing and growling, laughing and growling, at war with the animal like he always would be, but he was hugging her tight. He kissed across her cheek to her neck, back to her cheek, then buried his face against her throat. The man carried her like she was weightless.