Brew Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance) (Rescue Bears Book 4) by Scarlett Grove Page B

friends since college, and Quinn had come to rely on Juliet’s warmth and kindness to get her through the trials of life. At this most difficult time, Quinn had been without her support system. She wanted more than anything to have Juliet back in her life.
    When Quinn was pouring her second cup of coffee, she heard a car drive up in the driveway outside her cabin. Quinn went to the living room to look out the window and saw Juliet waddling up the front walk, at least six months pregnant. Excitement shot through Quinn’s belly at seeing her friend carrying a child just like she was. This should have been a time when the two women had created an even deeper bond of friendship. They should have been sharing their pregnancies together all this time.
    The feelings of shame and regret swirled deep inside her, and she tried to push them aside. This was not a time for such feelings. It was a time for renewal. Quinn needed that more than anything. She couldn’t stay stuck in despair forever.
    Juliet knocked on the door. Quinn flung it open, beaming at her friend. Juliet looked shocked and surprised for a moment, but immediately reached out to hug Quinn. The two women embraced over their large rounded bellies. Quinn began to cry. Of the two women, Quinn was the less sensitive. Juliet began to cry as well. They stood there sobbing, two overly emotional pregnant women embracing in the doorway.
    “I’ve missed you so much,” Juliet said.
    “I’ve missed you too,” Quinn said.
    They were both sniffling and had tears rolling down their cheeks when they released each other from their embrace. Quinn invited Juliet into the small cabin, and they sat together on the rickety old futon.
    “I can’t believe Levi has you staying in this place,” Juliet said, wiping away her tears and looking around the cabin.
    “It isn’t exactly five-star living,” Quinn said.
    “Why don’t you stay out at the lodge?” Juliet asked.
    “I can’t stay at the lodge forever. I have a baby coming.”
    “When are you due?”
    “Just a few weeks from now.”
    “Quinn, what happened to you?”
    “I wish I could explain it, Juliet. You know that feeling you get when you’re with your fated mate, and you just can’t control yourself?”
    “Oh yes. Believe me,” Juliet said suggestively.
    “I’m sure that it’s amazing and awesome with a man you’ve chosen to be with. But it happened to me the first night I met Drew. It was like being on drugs. I did things I never would have consciously chosen to do.”
    “You knew the effects of being around a fated mate. Everyone knows about it now. You can turn on almost any early morning talk show or celebrity gossip and you will hear about what it’s like to be mated with a shifter.”
    “I know, but none of that prepared me for the reality of it. It’s stronger than even the talk shows make it out to be.”
    “So you were freaked out. Did you really blame Drew for what happened?”
    “It wasn’t that I blamed him. It was something else.”
    “I know that your parents were seriously anti-shifter.”
    “They weren’t just anti-shifter. They were the founders of one of the largest anti-shifter organizations in the country. I was raised on anti-shifter rhetoric. My parents held anti-shifter meetings in our house every Sunday. It was almost like a religion for them. I never really believed it. My parents weren’t the best people in general, so it wasn’t much of a stretch for me to not respect their ideas about shifters. But that doesn’t mean that those messages didn’t sink deep inside me and take root.”
    “You were raised your whole life with serious shifter hate, and then you lost control with a shifter. I understand why you are so scared. It must have been very confusing for you.”
    “It was confusing. I didn’t even know who I was for a few days. When I woke up that morning with Drew, I had the mating mark on my neck. The only thing I could think was that I had to get away as fast as