Jingle Bears: A Pacific Northwest Bear Novella: (Shifter Romance) Read Online Free Page A

Occasionally offering advice on how the guys should be doing it. Which Conner and Wyatt completely ignored. Cage gave up on watching his brothers wrestle with the tree and went to get the gated pen so the kids could play together and give the adults some space.
    “No pen!” Micah yelled as Cage started setting it up.
    “It’s not a pen bud; it’s a special rocket ship! You can play with your cousins and boss them around,” Cage tried to convince his son. “Besides, I’m pretty sure there will be treats to taste soon if you give mommy some time to start cooking.”
    “Cookies!” Micah yelled, clapping his hands.
    Cage got Micah and the twins settled into the gated area with more toys than any of them could play with. Maizy had shifted and now Micah was trying to pull a toy out of the little bear’s mouth. “Bad bear,” Micah was scolding her.
    Wyatt and Conner had finally finished with the tree, deciding it was secure enough to withstand three baby bears and possibly hurricane force winds.
    “Okay ladies, tree is up, babies are contained, let’s get baking!” Sophie called out.
    Conner glanced at the pen and then saw his dad was sound asleep in his recliner with a ball of white felt that must be King asleep on his chest. His heart warmed just seeing his dad hold his son. A year ago he would never have guessed this would be his life. He was one lucky bastard.
    Taking in the ridiculous snowman outfit, he sighed, shook his head and standing with his hands on his hips, mumbled under his breath at the ceiling. He couldn’t resist going over and checking the tag on the back of the outfit to see what it was made of. He even tried to tug on the trim to see if it would come off. Finally satisfied or at least deciding he was not going to cause too much of a fuss, he joined his brothers.
    Falling on the oversized couch that had been finally replaced by the tattered one they grew up with, the boys settled in. They all gazed in silence watching their mates putter around the kitchen laughing and chatting. The men were content to see their women happy, healthy, and protected. That was their Christmas gift to themselves. It was the best thing they could ever get for them and their bears.
    Cage took a moment to catch his brothers’ eyes, they all gave a small smile and went back to watching the kitchen.

Chapter 6
    “ N o , we’re making gingersnaps, sorry Jinger I couldn’t resist,” Sophie said laughing at her sister-in-law.
    “Fine, fine, but we aren’t making that spotted dick stuff. I don’t care how traditional it is. I can’t eat something named that,” Jinger said with a frown.
    “I’m working on the sugar cookies with icing. The babies will love those. Micah can help do sprinkles when they are ready,” Connie said from the other side of the kitchen.
    “Sprinkles!” Micah shouted from his pen. Both twins had shifted and were now ganging up on him. He must have been being very bossy.
    Each woman had secured her own space. Kenzi was in charge of stirring. Her culinary skills weren’t the best. Jinger had a tube of cookie dough in front of her and was eating more of it raw than actually cutting cookies.
    Sophie was looking at her list. “We still need to make my friend Tiffani’s chocolate snowball cookies which are aces. Shortbread cookies, toffee chip cookies, and coconut squares,” she said with a big smile like it was the best day ever. For Sophie cooking with her new family was aces.
    “You know they sell big trays of pretty cookies at the store,” Jinger said around a mouthful of dough.
    “It’s tradition!” Sophie said in a shocked voice. “We bake cookies, the guys put up the tree, and then we all decorate it. Right, mom?” she asked turning to Connie to make sure she was on her side.
    “Yes dear, exactly like that,” Connie smiled indulgently. She was scooping up icing onto tiny plastic baby spoons and casually walking towards the pen. One happy toddler and two tiny bears were quickly