Home Or Her Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Bluff Clan Book 4) by Harmony Raines

Chapter One – Melanie
    Melanie watched the truck drive past the store window. She was altering a dress, ready for a Bear Bluff wedding on Saturday, but as usual, when she heard the big truck driving down the road, she had to try to catch a glimpse of the driver. She had no idea of his name, or anything else about him for that matter.
    Except for one thing. He was her mate .
    “Everything OK, Melanie?” Alli asked.
    “Yes,” Melanie answered, feeling guilty, although of what, she wasn’t sure. “I was just checking the weather. It’s icy out there. I don’t want you slipping over. Not when the baby is so close to being born.”
    Alli rubbed her swollen belly with the palm of her hand. “I wish the baby would arrive. I am fed up of this waiting.”
    “Not as fed up as Kian. He’s like a bear with a sore head.” Melanie laughed at her own joke, and soon Alli joined her. “There, that might get the baby moving. A good laugh always helps.”
    “Kian is as impatient as me, if not more. He is so broody.”
    “Now he’s settled financially, he’s going to want a big family, you know.”
    Alli went and put the kettle on to make some tea. “What about you, Melanie? It would be great if you found your mate and settled down. That way our cubs can run and play together.”
    Melanie quickly went back to her work. “No chance of that.” She wistfully looked up, imagining the truck driving by and having to stop. For some reason the driver would have to come into the store and she would be there, their eyes would meet and he would realise who she was.
    “Daydreaming again?” Alli asked, handing her a cup of tea. “You know if there’s anything you want to talk about. I am here for you, Melanie.”
    Melanie looked up at her sister-in-law, and smiled, she couldn’t have wished for a better mate for her brother, Kian. “Thanks, Alli. But I’m content with the way things are.”
    “That’s a cryptic answer,” Alli said. But didn’t pry and Melanie loved her for it.
    “I am going to get this finished, and then we can go home together. The way the weather is settling in, I doubt we are going to get any more clients today.”
    “Good idea. I can think of nothing better than sitting at home next to a great roaring fire.”
    “Apart from a new baby.”
    “Apart for a new baby,” Alli agreed, kicking her shoes off and rubbing her feet. “Thanks for picking up the slack here.” Bear Brides was Alli’s store, they catered for most of the brides in Bear Creek and Bear Bluff. However, she had taken Melanie on as a seamstress, and now had offered her the chance of being a partner in the store. It helped, of course, that Melanie’s brother turned out to be Alli’s mate.
    “No problem Alli. You know how much I love Bear Brides.” She turned her attention to the dress on her lap and tried to concentrate, but she still kept imagining the dream sequence where the lorry stopped and she finally met her mate face to face.
    “Maybe one day soon, I might be altering a dress for you, Melanie,” Alli said, casting a glance around all the beautiful dresses hung up in the store, waiting for a bride to choose one for her special day.
    Melanie blushed, hating to keep her secret from Alli, but her brother and sister-in-law, had enough to deal with. “Maybe, but let’s get that baby of yours into this world before we think about me. Someone should tell it yesterday was supposed to be its birthday.”
    “It’ll come when it’s ready,” Alli said, drinking her tea and looking thoughtfully at Melanie.
    Melanie simply got on with her work, trying to get it finished so that she could get Alli home. She knew how much Kian worried, and how he hadn’t wanted Alli to come out today. But Alli wanted to make sure everything was OK at the store, and Melanie knew she also wanted to keep busy. With her maternity bags packed weeks ago, there was nothing else she could do to prepare for the birth. The house was also spotless; Alli had