Heart of the Grizzled Bear (Mate Match #10)
Ciera Knox
Idris
I'm the rock everyone leans on—the steady hand, the leader who buries his grief to carry everyone else's burdens. I lost my mate in the last war, and I buried my heart with her. My story ended long ago. But when Maren storms into my war room with sharp eyes and sharper tactics, and my bear—dormant for three decades—wakes up roaring. She's human. She's relentless. She sees through every wall I've built. The final battle is coming, and I should be focused on survival. Instead, I'm falling for a woman who makes me remember why living matters.
Maren
I've spent twenty years advising on wars that aren't publicly acknowledged. I'm the strategist they call when the enemy doesn't play by human rules. So I'm sent to Cupid's Ridge to prepare for the final battle against an ancient evil, and I expect tactics and fortifications—not a grizzled bear shifter Council leader who makes my carefully ordered world tilt sideways. Idris is infuriating, immovable, and convinced his chance at love died thirty years ago. But I didn't become the best in my field by accepting impossible odds. He thinks he's too old, too broken. I think he's worth fighting for.
Will two old soldiers find love on the eve of war? Or will duty demand one final sacrifice?
Join Idris and Maren in this steamy Valentine's short story as they discover that it's never too late for love—and that some foundations are meant to be shaken!
