Forbidden Bear (Bear Creek Biker Bears #1)(15)

They all laughed. “If it helps your pride, we’ll agree. But damn, I have never seen anyone like it. All gooey eyes and rapidly beating heart.”

“You could not hear my heart beating.”


“It was loud enough for us all to hear.” Ethan placed his hands over his heart and moved them in and out like the beat of a heart, whilst he rolled his eyes in a swoon.

“The question is, Joel, why keep it to yourself?” Will asked. “You know we would support you.”

“It’s Mia. Having a bear as her mate is going to cause trouble. She asked me not to tell. And I’m asking you to keep it yourselves. Until we have time to sort it out.”

“If that’s what you need, then we will be there for you,” Ion said, and they all nodded in agreement.

“Now that’s settled.” Will came and sat down. “When do we get to meet her?”

“Yeah, Joel, we are dying to meet your mate. Apart from Will, none of us have found our mate. We are happy for you. But you have to let us meet her so we can give her our seal of approval.”

“Seal of approval? Show me up, more like it. I remember when Ion brought a girl here; you dropped ice cubes down her dress and offered to get them out. Then pretended you had a few fingers missing.”

Ion laughed. “I had forgotten that. Yeah, Will, you lost me a cute lay that night.”

“Ahh, but that was different. She wasn’t Ion’s mate. Now, Mia, we will all be on our best behaviour for. You are our brother in arms, Joel. And always will be.”

“I’ll ask her, but don’t hold your breath. She wants this to remain a secret. Her gang have already given her a hard time. We took their merchandise, remember. So she got into a fight.”

“A fight? You mean, someone hit her?”

“Yes, although she beat him. The bruises, though.” Joel shook his head. “Made it damn hard not to go right over there and beat the crap out of him.”

“You mean you didn’t?” Will asked.

“She asked me not to. Because she already had.”

“That sounds like my kinda lady,” Ethan said, getting up from the table. “So are we sticking to coffee or is it late enough in the morning to have a cold beer and toast our brother here?”

“Beer. Never too early for beer,” Kris said.

“She is going to love you all,” Joel said, although he didn’t know how long it would take him to persuade Mia that they could be open about their relationship.





Chapter Fifteen – Mia


“I’m nervous,” Mia said, looking up at the building that towered up high in front of her.

“Don’t be. It’s really nice inside.” Her mom pushed the door open, and took Mia’s hand, as if she were a child who would run off given half the chance. A wise decision from her mom, because that was exactly what she wanted to do.

They walked inside, and went to the reception desk. “Hi, here to see Kurt?” the young woman seated behind a computer screen asked.

“Yes, Lucy. This is my daughter, Mia.”

“Hi, Mia, nice to see you. Are you in town visiting? We haven’t seen you here before.”

“No. I’m just really busy,” she lied, feeling a guilty heat creep up her face.

“Well, sign in, you know the way.” Lucy smiled at them both, but addressed Mia’s mom.

Her mom nodded, and they both signed in and then walked off down a long corridor to an elevator. Pressing the call button, her mom stood back and waited calmly for the elevator doors to open. Mia stood shifting her weight from foot to foot and wondering how quickly she could sprint out of there.

“Stand still, Mia, you are making me nervous.”

“What if he doesn’t want to see me?” she asked. Until they walked in here, she hadn’t thought how Kurt might be upset or offended that his sister hadn’t bothered to come and see him for months.

“He will be fine. He’s different now.”

“In what way? Because of the drugs?”

“No. In all honesty, I thought he had met his mate when I came in after he had changed back from his wolf. But he said not. Anyway, he kind of has this inner peace.”

Mia snorted. “Does he have to prove something to the doctors before he leaves? Because one thing Kurt has never had is inner peace.”

“No. He’s free to leave. It’s not an act, if that’s what you mean.” The doors opened and they got in. Her mom pressed the button to take them to the third floor. “It’s got a nice view of the mountain, his room, very nice view.”

“Great.” Mia leaned back against the side of the elevator, feeling rather conspicuous now in her dress. It was a long time since she had worn anything remotely feminine, but meeting Joel, and becoming his mate had made her want to be a woman, not a tomboy.

“You look perfect, Mia.”


“Are you a mind reader now?”

“Only where you are concerned, and only because you’ve changed. I’d like to meet this mate of yours. He’s taught you to let your defences down. That’s a good sign.”

“Not around the Wolf Valley MC, it’s not.”

They reached their floor, but before they exited into the corridor, her mom turned to her and said, “Then dump them. Leave them to get into their own mischief while you go and live a decent life.”