Read Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two) for Free Online Page A

their human form, and Don was tall and broad.  Most bear females were fairly large as well, taller than her own five feet six, and more generously curved than her own curvy body.
    He drew her into his big arms.  She had many fond memories of him from when her parents would take her to visit Don and his den during summer vacations.  Emotion bubbled up inside her and she started to cry.  He held her, turning to Jericho for answers when she was unable to provide them.  Jericho told them what had happened.
    Don snarled angrily and released his hold on her, pushing her gently to the chair.  He looked at Gwen.  “Call Sarah and ask her to bring her bag and come check her wounds.”
    “They’re fine, Uncle Don,” she protested, but he wouldn’t hear it.
    “You don’t heal as well as we do because you can’t shift, honey.  There’s nothing wrong with having a professional look at things.  I don’t have a medical bag with me, and I’m sure you don’t want me looking at your bare leg anyway.  Sarah will handle properly tending to your wounds.”  Turning to Jericho he said, “Your dad is a crazy fuck.  We need to keep him from finding out that you guys are here.  That means no credit cards and no phone calls home. How are you fixed for money?”
    “I have a couple of accounts that he doesn’t know about. I just need a computer.”
    Don nodded.  “Obviously, you’ll stay here as long as you need to.  Gwen can make up the spare room for you two.”  He cleared his throat and looked between them.  “You two are mated, correct?”
    Lachlyn blushed.  “Not officially.  He just asked me.”
    “And you said yes?” Don prodded.
    Lachlyn nodded.
    “Alright then,” Don said.
    Gwen asked, “Do you have clothes of your own, Lachlyn?”
    She shook her head.  Gwen smiled reassuringly, “I have some old things of Sarah’s upstairs, and I’m sure something will fit.  I can take you out shopping in a few days for your own clothes.”
    Breathing in a sigh of relief at Don not batting so much as an eyelash at her troubles, she joined Gwen as she walked upstairs, leaving Jericho to speak with her uncle.
    Gwen opened the closet in the spare bedroom and pulled the string on a light that illuminated the interior.  Clothes were packed tightly from one side to the other.  Gwen began to pull out items, shoving and tugging until a small pile of clothes sat on the bed.  Gwen sorted through what she’d pulled from the closet.  Tucking a strand of graying blonde hair behind her ear, Gwen said, “I remember Jericho from your parents’ funeral.  He was very attentive to you.  I was surprised that you weren’t mated back then.  What happened?”
    Lachlyn sat down on the bed, her heart constricting slightly.  After a brief pause to gather her thoughts, she told her how they’d always seemed to get pulled away from each other.  She’d loved him forever, but her lack of shifting had always made her feel like less of a woman.
    “If he did ever talk about a future between us, I always figured he was just being nice.  He was meant to be king, Aunt Gwen.  I never expected that what we shared would be more than…what it was.”
    She nodded.  “But you wanted it to be more, right?”
    Lachlyn chuckled.  “Of course.  Have you seen him?  He’s sex on a stick.  He knows me better than anyone and still wants to be with me.”  She explained his thought that they were destined to be in a tri-mating.
    “Hmmm,” Gwen said, brushing her knuckles across her cheek in thought.  “I didn’t realize his mom was in a tri-mating.  Do you know anything about tri-matings?”
    Lachlyn shook her head.
    “They’re not all that common among bears.  Bear males can be territorial jackasses when it comes to their females.  Does Jericho have any other brothers or male relatives his age?”
    “No.  His mom has one brother that never mated, and his dad was an only child once he killed his half-brother who mated