Read Brave Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 2) for Free Online

not angry with
me?” Ashley peeked up at him and sniffed. “But...I
ruined her hair...”
    “No, you didn't ruin
anything. In fact, Ne-ma's really excited that she'll be able to get
a new hairstyle. She's going to her hairdresser's now and I just
know that she'll look fantastic!”
    Ashley dried her eyes and put
down the pillow. “I like them,” she said finally.
    “They like you too!”
Jax said sincerely. “We all do.”
    That earned him a big, watery
smile and Jax felt a sharp pang in his heart.
    In that instant, Jax knew
that he would do anything and everything to protect this beautiful,
amazing little girl and her mother. They were already part of his
heart, his life.
    My mate, my cub , his
bear growled possessively.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

    After spending a couple more
minutes telling Ashley and Serena a few jokes about himself, Jax
leaned forward and dropped his voice to a dramatic whisper, “Do
you want to know what you are, Ashley? I'm a bear shifter, and bear
shifters are pretty awesome. But you are something waaayyy more
awesome than a bear shifter.”
    “More awesome than
you?” Ashley sounded dubious but Jax saw the excitement and
hope in her eyes.
    “Uh-huh. You—are
a very, very special kid, Ashley. In fact, I think you're the
coolest kid in Shadow Point.”
    Ashley crawled forward on the
bed and stared at him. “What am I?” she asked
breathlessly.
    Jax glanced at Serena who was
sitting at the edge of the bed and looking worriedly at him. He gave
her a reassuring smile and turned to Ashley, “Are you ready for
this?”
    “Yes!” Ashley
shouted, bouncing on the bed.
    “You—are half
human, half fire demon.”
    Ashley's eyes widened and she
turned to her mother. “What is that? Is that good or bad,
Mummy? I heard some of the kids say that demons are evil. I...I
don't want to be a demon.”
    “Honey, you're not
evil,” Serena said at once. “And it doesn't matter what
you are. It's who you are that's important. You have some very
special powers, Ashley. You used your powers to save me, remember?
You are my hero!” Serena kissed the top of her head. “I'm
so proud of you.”
    Ashley bit her lip and said,
“I don't want the other kids to stop playing with me. I just
want to be normal.”
    “Why would you want to
be normal, when you can be awesome!” Jax said, slapping both
hands over his heart and staring at Ashley with an awestruck, adoring
expression.
    Serena's smile broadened.
“Uncle Jax is right. You are awesome!”
    “The other kids don't
think so,” Ashley said, looking down.
    Jax held Ashley's shoulder
and looked her in the eye. “Listen, Ashley. Would you
consider coming to the Shadow Point kindergarten? Shadow Point has a
great kindergarten. All kinds of kids go there. There are human
kids, shifter kids, fae kids...”
    “Do they have demon
kids?” Ashley asked.
    Jax took a deep breath. “Not
yet.”
    “So they won't like
me,” Ashley mumbled.
    “No. That's not true.
That's not true at all,” Jax said fervently. “Hey,
Ashley. I'm going to tell you something about myself. It's not a
big secret or anything, but it's just something that used to bother
me a lot as a kid.”
    Ashley and Serena both looked
up at him.
    “I can't hear at all
out of this ear,” Jax said, tapping his right ear. “When
I was six, a bad man hit me so hard he damaged my ear permanently.
He was a bear tamer, and he captured Joshua and me after killing our
mother. He trapped us in a cage and forced us to perform in a
circus. He was cruel and brutal, and he tortured and starved us.
Joshua and I would have died but Marcus saved us. Marcus was working
in the circus then and he saw us being beaten savagely. So he freed
us and the three of us ran away.”
    “So Uncle Marcus isn't
really your big brother.” Ashley frowned.
    “Oh he is. He's our
big brother all right. We're family. We care for one another, and
we love and support one another. And you and your mom, you're family
too,” Jax