Liam's Bride: BBW Werebear Romance (Clan Conroy Brides Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

But… return to equilibrium. She’d put him off balance. His desire to please her, his desire to take her home and chain her to his bed, disturbed him. He couldn’t recall reacting so strongly to a female before, Bear or human. Certainly not human. Norelle had nearly chewed his head off because of his snappish distraction.
    “It seems as if you’ve taken the Circle’s edict seriously,” his mother said. “I was prepared for more… pushback.”
    He scowled. He was no tame Alpha. “I’ve given the Circle’s edict all the consideration it deserves.”
    She sat down on one of the dry steps, patting the spot next to her. He sat next to her reluctantly, but he couldn’t disrespect his mother.
    “You don’t agree with it? The doctors we spoke with were convincing.”
    It wasn’t that he didn’t agree. He’d read the reports along with all the other Alphas. “You know how I feel about humans,” he replied.
    “Yes, I know, and I think it’s a shame you allow one bad seed to cloud your judgment of an entire species.”
    She called the man who’d shot his father a ‘bad seed?’ That scum was a bit worse than bad seed. And if Liam ever saw that man in this town, or any of that man’s sons- if he had any- then he’d make it his duty to see they paid for the sins of the father.
    “Is it so wrong to want to stay with our own kind?”
    “No, not wrong. But we need the Alphas to set a good example. If we don’t introduce fresh genes into our community, we will die out.”
    He understood that. But he thought seeking human brides should be a last resort. There were werebears in the international community they could find mates among. Granted, the politics of that would be… convoluted. And some of the European Bear cultures were a bit weird. But it could be done.
    “I’ll do my duty, mother,” he said, an edge in his tone.
    She sighed. “Tell me about this woman your sister said you met.”
    He shrugged, staring up at the sky. “She runs a program at the YWCA. Gardening for problem kids.”
    “Oh? That sounds promising if she works with children. Is she pretty?”
    Pretty? She was fucking hot. Lush curves and fiery hair. And an attitude under the shyness that turned him on.
    “She’s not ugly.”
    Gwenafar laughed, wincing at the same time. “I hope you have a bit more finesse when trying to woo her.”
    Finesse? He wanted to just toss her over his shoulder and have done with it. But he supposed things weren’t done like that anymore. Especially not with delicate human women. A Bear female would assume that if he staked a claim, his intentions were good. If she allowed him to carry her off, it was tantamount to a commitment. But then, he wouldn’t be carrying off a Bear female unless he was ready to mate her anyway. So was he really prepared to mate this woman? Marry her? His instincts seemed to be pushing him in that direction. Damnit.
    “I see you have some thinking to do.” His mother stood. “I’ll leave you to your busy work. Just remember- this woman isn’t to blame for the bad things in our past, Liam. Don’t take your pain and anger out on her.”
    He kissed her on the cheek before she left. It wasn’t a long walk back to her house- his childhood home.
    His family allowed him another generous thirty minutes of work time before the next volley. Boden bounded up the steps, appearing from the side of the house. He liked to jump fences between yards and cross the alley rather than take the time to walk around the entire block. Lazy. Liam wondered what Meredith would think of the werebear family tendency to live in the same neighborhoods their entire lives. Entire extended families staying within walking distance of each other. It was rare for a member of a Den to leave his or her place of birth and rearing. Which was the problem.
    “Did Ma stay long?”
    His brother could scent that their mother had been by, but he wouldn’t know for how long. “Yes, she did. Were you sent to do your part