AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I love you, little cub,” he says as he kisses my toes.
“I love you, too, my alpha.”
The dark tattoos covering his body and his shaved hair make him look nearly menacing. But then my eyes travel to my name over his heart, and I see the true tender man inside. He’s my mate, and my alpha, and he will always protect me.
I smile as he thrusts into me again, knowing this is only the beginning.
THE END
Finding Snow
Alexa Riley
FINDING SNOW
Fairytale Shifters Book 4
by Alexa Riley
Koda's found his sister, Winnie, and now he's made a life for himself in Gray Ridge, Colorado. As a bear shifter, he's naturally a loner, and with so few females around, he's resigned to never finding his mate. But when he stumbles upon a woman in the woods, his whole world changes.
Snow's been on the run and has made a makeshift family with a band of seven wanderers. While resting in the woods and waiting for them to come back, something big finds her.
When Koda and Snow collide, they realize their stories are woven together more tightly than they could have imagined. Will the truth break their mates bond? Or will it bind them closer together?
Warning: This fairy-tale shifter story is full of alpha sweetness with a side of growly bear. What's not to love?! If you love a classic story with a dirty twist, then get your click on!
To the hubs; my life, my love, my mate.
Chapter 1
Snow
Smack!
Finn drops the bacon and pulls his hand back, a grunt coming out of his mouth like my little slap actually hurt him. I raise my eyebrow at him, knowing better. The man is six foot and probably has a hundred pounds on me. Not to mention he’s a shifter.
“Forest hasn’t gotten his yet,” I scowl. Finn just grunts again and goes back to eating his steak and eggs and everything else he has left on his own plate. I lift the coffee pot and top off his coffee. Living with three male shifters can be a fight when it comes to food. You’d think they’ve never eaten before, like I was starving them and not making sure they got three full meals a day, but since I’ve been cooking for them for the past seven years, I know that’s a load of bull. I keep them well fed.
Three is a whole lot easier to handle then the seven it used to be, but over the years, one by one, the brothers have started to find their mates. Our little family gets smaller and smaller each year. That’s all the band of brothers seems to be about—looking for their one true mate.
Each time one found his mate, it was bittersweet—knowing he found what he were looking for but would be leaving us. We were always on to the next town. Never staying in one place too long. I liked being on the move at first. It felt like my past couldn’t catch up to me. If I kept moving, I’d never be found.
For the last year it has just been Finn, Forest, Flint, and me. Down to three brothers and not one has gotten lucky with finding his mate yet. Tired of being on the road and hopping from town to town, we all decided it was time to settle in somewhere. We’ve been in Gray Ridge, Colorado for over a month now, and I’ve been stuck inside this cabin.
We’d chosen Gray Ridge because we’d heard they were a more laidback pack. Not so sticky with the rules. Some packs only accept certain shifters and have a list a mile long of dos and don’ts. But it isn’t like that here. Or so my brothers have told me. Everyone just has to be a part of the community. They all work together here. I like the sound of that. It sounds friendly and even homey.
“Do you think I can just go out for a little? I’ll be real careful.” I bite my lip and give Finn my best sad face, opening my blue eyes real big. It’s something I’ve been doing for years when I’m trying to get something. When I was little it was just candy or ice cream. As I got older, it tended to lean on the side of family movie night or them taking me fishing.
“Ahh, Snow, don’t do that.” Finn puts his fork down, and I can see he feels guilty, and that makes me feel guilty. I know they’re just trying to keep me safe. It’s all they have ever done since the day they became my family. All I want is to take care of them and make them happy. It’s all I know.
But it’s like I’m going to be a secret my whole life. No one is allowed to even know I exist. Ironically, it was something I’d begged them for when they’d found me out in the snow all alone seven years ago. Begged them not to take me back. Begged them to hide me from my father.
They did. Now I’m like their little sister. At first they were reluctant about taking me in and hiding me like I asked. Not that I blamed them. I was eleven, and they found me running through the woods in the middle of the night all alone. But soon their protectiveness ascended to a whole new level. I was one of them. I belonged with them. They were my world. All I had. A better family than I’d ever had. It was a miracle that brought them into my life. They saved me, and I would forever be indebted to them for that.
“I’m sorry. I’m just going a little stir crazy, is all.” I make Forest a plate as he stumbles into the room and sits down at the breakfast bar next to Finn. His blond hair is sticking in five different directions. It took me a good six months to be able to tell them apart—they’re identical twins—but now I can just tell with a glance. “I was hoping since we were staying here that maybe I could come out of hiding. I, ahh…” I pause, feeling a little guilty at my next confession. “I turned eighteen last week.”
“What?!” Flint growls from the kitchen entryway, making me jump. Even after all these years I still haven’t gotten used to how these big men can move around so quietly.
“It’s not a big deal.” I try to reassure them, seeing the annoyed, angry looks on their faces. “I didn’t want to make a fuss. You guys have been working like crazy, and I didn’t want to be a bother, is all. It’s fine, really.”
“It’s not fine, Snow. We should have celebrated. You just came of age,” Forest says, looking at me with sad eyes. He’s always the softy.
“I’m not a shifter, so I don’t think it really counts.”
“It matters.” Flint walks the rest of the way into the kitchen and wraps me in a hug, kissing the top of the head.
“I mean, just think about it. My father can’t, like, come and take me or anything. I’m eighteen and all.”
“I’d snap his fucking neck,” Flint growls, making me smile at his protectiveness.
“But you said your dad took all kinds of people,” Flints adds, squeezing me tighter like someone might bust in and take me now. He’s right. My father liked to take shifters. Cage them and then do God knows what. It still eats at me that I’d run and left them all behind. By the time the Denali brothers found out where I’d been, the building I’d run from was empty. They’d said the place was completely bare. Maybe if I hadn’t been so scared. Maybe if I’d told them sooner, they could have saved some of them. I push the painful thought away.
“I know, but it’s been seven years, and I can’t hide forever. If I do that, I might as well have stayed in the cage he put me in.”
Flint releases a deep breath then lets me go. He walks over to the counter and picks up a piece of bacon, popping it into his mouth. “Thing is, I still got to tell the alpha about you. It’s kind of against the rules to let humans who aren’t mated to shifters know about us.”
“It’s not like you spilled the beans,” I remind him. I’ve known about shifters most of my life.
Flint runs his hands through his hair, something he always does when he’s thinking.
“Just think on it is all I’m asking. Nothing has to be done today. Besides, you’re going to be late. Can’t be doing that your first month here.” I turn to the fridge and pull out the three lunches I packed, then I grab the thermoses I filled with coffee, handing them over to each of them.
“Make a cake. I’ll grab some candles. We’re celebrating,” Forest says, pulling me into a hug.
“Okay.”
