Gray Back Broken Bear(39)

She was so damned proud of her brave broken bear.

The Gray Backs still fought like titans and bled each other regularly, but that was unlikely to ever change. It’s just how her crew was, but that didn’t mean they didn’t care about each other. These people, who she’d been so afraid of all her life, would die for each other in a heartbeat. And now she was included in that circle of safety. In the same measure, she would give anything for her people, whom she’d grown to love indescribably much.

Shiny silver bead in her beak, Aviana swooped down to the windowsill where she always dropped his gifts. It was the single window to his workshop, just like the sill she’d dropped that first folded paperclip onto. It had a small split in the wood for balancing round objects, and as she landed on the ledge to drop her treasure there, she drew up short.

There was already something silver and shiny in the crease.

The bead fell from her mouth and rolled to the ground as she realized what it was.

It was a ring.

Glittering diamonds encircled the band, and in the center setting was a gift she would never forget. It was the diamond she’d given him all those years ago—her final present before she’d left.

She scanned the woods, and her gaze landed on Easton, leaning against a tree as if he’d been there all along, arms crossed and eyes glowing in the waning evening light.

Aviana pushed off the window ledge and tucked her crow away into her human skin. “Easton,” she whispered, tears burning her eyes.

Slowly, he approached, eyes never leaving hers. With a slight smile, he plucked the ring from the windowsill and dropped to both knees in the dirt.

“You saved me—”

“I didn’t.” He’d saved himself.

“You did.” His eyebrows lifted as he leveled her with a serious look. “You are patient and caring and understanding, even when I’m confused. You go out of your way to make me feel cared for and appreciated.” He swallowed hard and lifted the ring. “I never want you to leave me again.”

Aviana fell forward and hugged his shoulders up tight. “I would never leave you, Easton. You’re mine.”

He rocked her gently, rubbing her back. “Soft and full of tears,” he whispered.

“It’s too much,” she murmured as she eased back and looked at the ring.

“It’s not. You like shiny things, and I told you, I have the means to take care of you. What do you say, Ana? Will you marry me?”

An emotional smile stretched her face, and she nodded as the first tear slipped to her cheek. “Yes, Easton. I’ll marry you.”

“I’ll make you happy,” he promised as he slipped the ring onto her finger. “I’ll always keep trying to be better for you.”

She shook her head and cupped his cheeks, lifting his wild gaze to hers. “You’re already perfect for me.”





Chapter Seventeen




Nerves fluttered in Aviana’s stomach like butterfly wings. “You look grumpy.”

Easton’s frown deepened as he hooked his arm over the steering wheel of his pickup and gassed it up a steep hill. “I just don’t understand why those assholes couldn’t wait five minutes. I told them I was running late.”

Yeah, he’d been late because she might or might not have hidden all his work jeans in the back of his closet. She’d needed to buy the crew a little bit more time, though, so desperate times and measures and all.

“Are you sure you aren’t going to get bored today?” he asked. “It’s hot, and watching us strip lumber won’t be any fun. And why are you wearing those contraptions?” He looked pointedly at her wedge heels she’d worn to match her pastel pink sundress.

“I want to look pretty for you.”

“Ana, you look pretty in whatever you wear. Those pokey shoes aren’t safe to wear out on the landing. You could break an ankle. And put a hard hat on.” His bear growled a long rattling sound in his chest as he reached into his back seat, then handed her a yellow hat. He dragged his gaze back to the switchback he was maneuvering and added, “Please.”

She was trying her best to hide a smile. Easton was overprotective, no matter how hard he tried not to be. His bear’s instincts got kicked up easily, and she secretly adored that he fussed over her safety.

She did as he asked and settled the hat on her head. It was going to mess up her curls, but that was okay. Pursing her lips, she fiddled with her engagement ring, twisting it back and forth. She couldn’t help but watch him. They were almost there, and all of the secret hard work was about to pay off. She hoped.

Easton shot her a suspicious glance, then pulled his attention back to the last big hill before they reached the landing. When the old Ford crested the top, Easton eased off the gas as his eyes went round.