Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
I nodded and leaned in to kiss him softly. “Very on board. You’re my principal, Zane. Where you go, I go. It’s as simple as that.”
EPILOGUE
ZANE
Bears may wander far and wide, but they always find their way to a home that feels just right. Black bears, for instance, are known to settle down in cozy dens for winter, often returning to the same spot year after year. Once they find a good place—a safe, warm, familiar haven—they stay. It’s a little happily-ever-after of their own, where they can rest, feel safe, and simply be. And maybe that’s the real bear dream: to find the place where they’re fully accepted, totally at ease, and perfectly at home with their honey by their side.
—Bear Facts for Insomniacs, Episode 143
There was nothing like Christmas in Majestic.
“Waylon, so help me god, if you ask for me to pose for another picture, I’m going to withhold se…” Silas stopped as he remembered Lellie was in the room. “Celestial viewing opportunities.”
Way, who hadn’t been paying attention to Silas or Lellie, turned to him with furrowed eyebrows. “I don’t need your permission to look at the night sky, husband. And you’ll pose for whatever pictures I ask you to, or else you won’t get oral…” He noticed Lellie playing with blocks on the rug. “Hygiene tips. Motherfucker. We suck at this.”
Dev shot Way a glare. “I admit it takes some getting used to, but I’ll remind you the f-word is also on the naughty list.”
“Fuck that,” Tully said, plopping a Santa hat on Dev’s head before smacking his cheek with a kiss and going to sit by Lellie. “We talked about this, remember? I’m incapable of filtering out the f-word, so we agreed to teach her it was for adults only.”
“That’s not how toddlers work,” Way said with a snicker. “Wait till you get that first letter home from Mrs. Hamrick in kindergarten. Fair warning, she doesn’t hold back. Foster said the f-word one day after spending the weekend following a plumber around their house, and Aunt Blake never heard the end of it.”
Tully’s eyes nearly bugged out. “Kindergarten? That’s not for years. We’re not…” He put his arm around Lellie’s little shoulders and looked at Dev. “We’re not sending her there for years, right? Not for many, many years.”
I felt the warm slide of a hand in mine as Bear took a seat next to me on one of the big sofas. The deep rumble of his laugh helped me release the last of the stress that was still gathered in my shoulders. Earlier this morning, Bear had received a formal apology from King Gerhard, along with an offer of an obscenely large amount of money as compensation for Bear’s troubles after everything that had happened with Kasper. Bear had politely refused the money. “I’d like you to donate it to the ‘Equality for Ventdestinians Now’ campaign,” he’d told the king without an ounce of hesitation.
“You know I can’t do that officially, Ryan,” the king had replied. After a pause, though, he’d added, “But I can promise you the donation will get there under a different name.”
This hadn’t been exactly what I wanted. I wanted things to change in Ventdestine, and I knew Bear did, too. Ultimately, though, I knew you couldn’t force something to change simply because you willed it—just look at what Kasper had attempted to do—and it was more important for the money to get to the organization that needed it so that change could happen soon.
I’d given Bear a nod, and he’d told the king, “And you’re okay with that?”
The king had sighed. “It’s a small price to pay for what you’ve been through. I had no idea about Kasper, or I would have stopped him. As much as I’ve wanted you back on the royal guard, I never wanted you or anyone you care about to feel threatened.”
Bear had let out a breath. “I appreciate that, Your Highness.”
When the call had ended, I hadn’t been able to help myself. “Why didn’t you take the money? You could have quit your job!”
Bear had shot me an uncharacteristically large grin. “Who says I didn’t already quit my job anyway? You may not know this, but I have a billionaire boyfriend.”
And now, it was finally over. Kasper had given us both formal apologies and seemingly sincere ones. The king had revoked Kasper’s passport for the foreseeable future and had assured us he wouldn’t bother us again. Since Kasper’s plan had centered around convincing Bear and Violet that Bear was ineffectual, and Kasper had never been motivated to physically harm Bear or me—he had no history of violence against anyone—I felt confident the threat was over.
And now, I had Bear all to myself.
“I’m torn,” I said, moving closer to him to snuggle against his side. There was a large fire in the fireplace, and the lights on the giant Christmas tree twinkled, reflecting off the large wall of windows behind it. Christmas music played softly from hidden speakers while our friends and family chatted and celebrated around us.