A Very Beastly Christmas (Gray Back Bears Book 7) Read Online Free PDF Page B

“You were scared of telling me, but nothing you could do would make me stop loving you. Nothing. You make sense.”
    You make sense. Oh, she knew what he meant. Beaston hadn’t grown up around people, and their behavior confused him. He tumbled through life mostly animal and trying to figure out why people reacted in such human ways. For Beaston, “you make sense” was just as big as “I love you.” Perhaps bigger.
    Aviana squeezed him tight and smiled against her mate’s warm skin. “You make sense to me, too.”

Chapter Five
     
    In the light before dawn, Beaston lay awake in bed and turned the sprig of dried holly between his fingertips until the tiny red ornament bobbled side-to-side. Try as he might, he couldn’t for the life of him remember Christmases from the before . And suddenly, after the last eye-opening twenty-four hours, he wanted to give Ana more. He wanted to be better as she deserved. She’d always loved the holiday, but like with starting a family, he’d shut the conversation down and drawn into himself, far away from scratching at the memories of Mom and Dad and happier times. And now that he actually did want to remember, the memories weren’t there. They were just…gone.
    His inner bear had protected him too well during the broken years and had killed off most of his humanity when he was living like a wild thing out in those woods. But now, it felt like he was missing something with Ana.
    And even if Creed and Damon had spent the entire ride home yesterday spouting facts about modern-day childbirth and the low risks, there was still a part of him that feared losing his mate to something he had no control over. He could protect her body with his own from outside danger, but getting their child to light was something Ana would have to do on her own.
    Beaston clenched his fist. This big? Well, perhaps a bit smaller since Ana’s hands were small and fine-boned, like her raven people. Still, he imagined the tiny baby all curled up in a ball sleeping warm and safe with Ana protecting it with her own body. He looked over at his mate and saw her in a new light. What a woman he’d found. What a mate. What an incredible person, and Damon had been right. Beaston, too, had noticed Ana’s attention on Rowan, especially when he held or played with her. How could he have not taken her desire for a baby seriously before?
    So many regrets over the past several months, but he would make it right. He would make it up to her, and if, God forbid, something happened to her as it had happened to his mom, Beaston was going to make sure every second of Ana’s life was happy, and that included giving her a good Christmas—whatever that meant.
    Ana sighed sleepily and stretched her toes against him as she always did right before she woke up. He smiled and waited for her to arch her back like some drowsy cat and give him that sleepy sound he found so fucking sexy.
    She was pretty now. Maybe she was the prettiest in the mornings when he was the first to see her for the day, all mussed and vulnerable with those pouty lips and sleepy blue eyes. She was a morning person, like him. He got to see her before the make-up and the curling iron. Before the clothes. Sometime during the night, she’d thrown her leg over the comforter. Ana said he ran hot and she never got cold sleeping in this old trailer with him. His youth spent outdoors had made him that way, and for the chance to get to be her warmth, he’d go through it all again.
    Ana’s raven-black hair fanned the pillow, and she scrunched up her tiny nose as she cracked her eyes open. Her eyes crinkled above her smile, but went round again as her gaze landed on the sprig of holly. “Are you okay?”
    Beaston leaned over and brushed a strand of silky hair out of her face so he could see all of her. “I’m okay. Well…I have questions.”
    Ana snuggled closer to him. He was sitting up, leaning against the headboard, but she wrapped her arms around his bare waist