Southern Shifters: Bearing the Ink (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Black & White Book 3) (10 page)

Epilogue

Bex took a deep breath and glanced around the front room of her house. Meryl and Martin. Mary and her husband, David. Blake and Leah. Derrick, Tip, and Ben from Luke Blackwood’s pack. Maxine and her brother.

Beck.

And of course, Gus…

All were in attendance. All who meant anything to her had come.

“I asked all of you here because I have an announcement to make. As most of you know, I bought this house to open it as a bed and breakfast. It’s what I’d grown up doing. It’s what I’ve always known. In recent months, I’ve found my plans and priorities have had to change. I’m a shifter, like many of you. I’m a target. For reasons I’m not quite sure of, this house has become a gathering place, a healing place, a hub of sorts.”

“Bex…”

She smiled at Gus and shook her head. He was worried about her, as he usually was, but this time, he didn’t have to be. She knew what she was doing and it made sense and it filled her with a purpose. It filled her with a sense of power that she hadn’t felt since all this began.

“I want to keep the house for those things. I want to make this a safe place, a haven for wounded shifters, for those in danger, for those who need or want to help others. I don’t know what the future holds and I don’t know how these networks of poachers are going to affect us individually. But there’s strength in numbers and if we have a place where we can regroup, that’s better than being scattered.

“All that being said, I still have a mortgage to pay, so we’ll have to work out a way to get that taken care of. Maybe… I don’t know. Gus has plans, too. And I welcome any and all suggestions. I didn’t think I would fit. I didn’t know how I would fit into your world. Nothing in my life could have ever prepared me for all this. But I think by having this place, by having a house, a home, a haven, that maybe this is how I fit. Taking care of people is what I know how to do and I haven’t been doing it for months. I’ve been trying to figure out how to take care of the new parts of me. It’s time I started doing what I’m meant to do. The upstairs will need to be renovated. We have a nurse here in Maxine and I’m hoping I can convince her to stick around. I’m also hoping I can talk Beck into running this place with me. Beyond that, though…” Bex shrugged

“I think it’s a great idea…”

“It’s a great thing…”

“We can stay a few extra days…”

“We can help with…”

“I can do some of…”

“Really? You want me…”

Bex took in the different snippets of conversations that had erupted around the room, but soon found herself scooped up into Gus’s arms. “What do you think?”

“I’m proud of you. But, pretty girl, you do fit.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Everyone in this room cares about you and is indebted to you for taking them in. Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you want to change your dream?”

“Aside from you, I’ve never been more sure of anything. The Mayor may have provided the money that allowed me to buy the house, but I’m going to turn it into something he can’t touch the heart of. Helping people was the dream. Being there for people who needed a place to stay was the dream. Offering warmth and good food and comfortable surroundings was the dream. Doing this, turning this large house into a place that can do and be all of that is the dream.”

Gus grinned and her heart flipped over in her chest. “Okay. I’m all in. When do we start?”

Thank you for reading
Bearing The Ink
. Writing in Eliza Gayle’s Southern Shifters Kindle World has been such a unique and fun adventure.

I want to thank my cover artist,
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Ink To Bear

Black &White Series, Book One

Southern Shifters Kindle World

Big, and built, Gus is one werebear most other shifters, and hybrids steer clear of; unless he’s got the ink out. Then, they line up for the chance to see him work and maybe, just maybe, get a little ink of their own. He’s made a name for himself as a traveling tattoo artist, but he’s a loner and his only rule is to never stay any place long enough to learn names.

But, he sees her…

Bex is alone now. No family since her mother passed. Few people she would call friend. And she’s just sold the last remaining link to her childhood. None of it seems real and yet, it’s all too much reality for her. She wants to start her new life and she wants out of her small hometown.

Her way out comes in the form of a broad shouldered, tattooed biker, offering take her anywhere she wants to go, even if it means going over the infamous Tail of the Dragon mountain pass and through territory that isn’t always friendly to his kind.

She’s never been on a motorcycle. She’s never been this close to a shifter. She’s never done anything reckless. Can she trust him to keep her safe? More importantly, can she trust herself and her feelings when she climbs on and wraps herself around him?

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About Lissa

Born and raised in the South and currently living in North Carolina, USA Today bestselling author, Lissa Matthews has many loves in her life: Family, friends, NASCAR, football, music of all kinds, cooking, BDSM, penning stories filled with feisty heroines and naughty heros, and last, but certainly not least, coffee.