Cherished: True Mates Book 5 (BBW Wolf Shifter Romance) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) by Olivia Arran

she mouthed silently, her eyes pooling with sadness.
    Well, shit.
    “So there’s three of us,” Sean continued, moving a step closer. When Josh didn’t back away, he took another step, his massive frame dwarfing the young boy. “We look a little alike, you know.”
    Josh stared up at him, his face reflecting awe at the older man. “We do?”
    “Yeah. We have the same coloring, and I think we have the same nose,” Sean quipped, pointing first to his own nose, then lightly prodding Josh on the tip of his.
    Josh’s hand floated up to touch his nose, his eyes wide as what Sean had said finally sunk in. “Am I going to be as big as you when I grow up?”
    Sean tousled the kid’s hair, then chucked him under the chin. “Only if you work hard and do everything your mom tells you to do.”
    Josh frowned. “Why do I have to—”
    “Because if you don’t, you won’t live to grow up.”
    Josh laughed, a carefree sound that hit me straight in the chest. He sounded so young!
    “I know you want to see Bert, but he needs the time to cool off, believe me. The Shifter Council are the best of our people, and he’ll get a fair trial.”
    “Can I watch?”
    I sucked in a breath, forcing myself to remain silent. The trial wasn’t a place for a kid, especially not when the kid’s dad was the one on trial.
    Sean glanced at Ana and me, question in his eyes.
    Ana quickly interjected. “Josh, it’s not something you need to see—”
    “Then how will I know that it’s not all a lie?”
    She hesitated, biting her lip in indecision, eventually falling back on a line as old as time, one mothers all over the world had been known to utter, at least in my experience. “We’ll see…”
    Josh grinned in triumph. Huh? He obviously wasn’t well-versed in mom-speak.
    Sean smothered a laugh, but Lisa laughed out loud, grinning at the kid. Stretching out a hand she motioned Josh over. “I’m Lisa, your brother’s mate. Which makes me your sister-in-law. Do you feel like coming and hanging out with us back at the house? I can teach you some mean card tricks if you like.” When Josh accepted her hand without hesitation, she turned to Ana. “We’ll make sure he stays safe,” she promised, and at Ana’s nod, they turned and made their way back up to the house.
    “This parenting thing is hard work!” I grumbled, having watched them disappear around the corner, and turned back to face Ana.
    She was glaring at me, her hands folded across her ample chest. Again!
    What had I done now?
    “I want to see him.”
    The thought of her seeing inside my workshop…it would be like her seeing into my soul, seeing the dark I kept hidden. “I don’t think—”
    “Now.” There was no arguing with her.
    “Ummm—”
    “Oliver, I need to see him,” she snapped, her foot tapping on the ground. Gone was the woman who had come apart in my arms, her eyes soft and unfocused as I lapped at the sweetness of her pussy, basking in her glow. The woman who stood before me was pissed .
    “You don’t want to go in there.” I tried again to dissuade her, but she was having none of it, instead turning and starting to tug at the bolts, straining to slide the metal free.
    “You. Just. Don’t. Get. It! I need to face him. For the first time I can look him in the eyes a free woman. I can face him knowing he can’t hurt me again!” She was getting frustrated by now, slapping at the bolt in between shoves.
    I didn’t have the heart to point out the other two bolts high above her, out of reach.
    “This place—” I started, then stopped. What could I say to her? I don’t want you to see it, because I don’t want you to see how fucked up I really am before you get to know me? I tried again. “This building, it’s…not a nice place.”
    “I didn’t think it would be,” she grunted, her eyes lighting up in victory as the bolt gave a fraction.
    Sweet Mother of All, she was beautiful. I forced myself to continue. “There’s a lot of things you