Gray Back Ghost Bear(30)
“For helping Jason.”
He took the bag and pulled out the small branding iron inside. It had a capital E with a circle around it.
“It’s so you can put your signature on the tree houses you build. You can heat it in a fire and it’ll burn the E into the wood. It took me a little while, but I figured out it was you who built the ranger tower I’ve been living in. You’re very good.”
“I’m not good,” he said softly with a shake of his head.
“You are.”
His startled eyes lifted from the iron he held reverently in his hands. Slowly, as if he didn’t want to startle her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her. A soft, “Awww,” sounded from behind her, and a moment later, Willa threw her arms around them. Easton rested his head against Willa’s and smiled, and Gia, sniffling and emotional, hugged them from the other side.
Georgia already felt at home in this place, but this right here shifted something deep inside of her. She’d found Jason and felt like the luckiest woman in the world, but here, in this old trailer park in the middle of nowhere, she’d somehow found more.
She’d found friends.
****
Jason leaned back on the bar top and watched Georgia with Willa and Gia. Gia had one hand protectively over the slope of her belly as she excitedly ran through the songs on the old jukebox in the corner. Georgia and Willa bantered back and forth about which one to choose next. Damn it was good to see his woman smiling and having fun with his crew.
Creed leaned against the bar in between him and Easton and gave a two fingered wave to the bartender. He ordered a round of six shots—one for every Gray Back except Gia.
Surprised by the drink selection of his usually controlled alpha, Jason asked, “What are we celebrating tonight, boss?”
“What aren’t we celebrating?” Creed turned and clapped Easton on the back beside him, then threw his arm over Jason’s shoulders on his other side. “The crew is together, we survived another week on the landing, your ghost is—”
“Staring at me from that window over there,” Jason said.
“Getting weaker,” Creed continued as if he hadn’t interrupted. “Easton’s out for the first time with us, and the Gray Back women are happy and safe. And yesterday, Gia and I found out we’re having a little girl.”
“What?” Matt said, sloshing his beer as he twisted on his bar stool and looked around Easton’s far side. “A girl?”
Creed’s dark eyes danced as a grin split his face. “Yeah, boys. The Gray Backs are gonna be raising a little girl.”
“I’ll be damned,” Jason muttered happily as he stared at the swell of Gia’s stomach. He clapped Creed on the back. “You done good, alpha.”
Harrison and a few of his Boarlanders streamed through the door. Clinton followed them in, causing the smile to fall from Creed’s face.
“Yeah,” the dark-headed alpha said as his mouth ticked. “I’ve done real good.”
“That shit ain’t your fault,” Easton growled low. “Clinton left because he’s too weak to be a Gray Back. He’s chicken shit about a mate, but that don’t have nothin’ to do with you.” Easton’s gaze arched to Willa, Gia, and Georgia. “He doesn’t deserve to protect a woman anyhow. D-team.”
Jason laughed louder than he’d meant to, and Easton shot him a startled look. “That was funny,” Jason explained.
Easton offered him a baffled smile and took the shot of whiskey Creed was handing him. Matt let off a shrill whistle for the girls, which got him playfully flipped off by Willa. Matt’s wicked smile said he liked when his mate got sassy. While the girls made their way through the crowd, Creed laid down the rules.
“Tonight is for fun. No Changing, no fighting, no getting your cages rattled by banter from the other crews.”
“We would never,” Matt joked.
“Bullshit,” Creed muttered, handing Jason a shot. “I’m serious. No bleeding tonight.”
Jason pulled Georgia between his legs and kissed the back of her neck as they lifted their tiny glasses high into the middle. The shots clinked against each other as Willa said, “Cheers to the best damned group of monsters a weirdo could ask for. C-team!”
“C-team,” they said in unison, then tossed back their drinks.
On the stage, Denison and Brighton Beck of the Ashe Crew were tuning their guitars. Denison was sitting in a chair under the spotlight, a pitcher of beer sitting beside him on a stool. He pulled the microphone down to his lips and said, “Rumor has it a little human took her teeth to one of my good friends in the Gray Back Crew.”