Clay

By Becca Fanning

Chloe was exhausted. Moving from New York City to Ithaca, NY had been a real strain on this city girl. Her darling son Noah had been a handful, as usual, but lately he'd been behaving strangely around the other kids his age. A nice trip to the zoo would let him get out some of that energy and hopefully let Chloe relax a little bit. But whatever the day had in store for her, relaxation would play no part in it...
Clay knew this was the wrong way to do it. Trying to naturally meet someone you've been tracking down is never going to work, but what choice did he have? She was raising his cub, and that meant the normal playbook was going right out the window. As soon as he laid eyes on her, he had a feeling that the wrong way was going to suit him just fine...
This 10,000+ word BBW Bear Shifter Romance Novella contains all the heat and passion you expect from a Fated Mates story!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gizmo Media
• Release date: May 23, 2021

Book preview

Fanning

Prologue

"I understand why you want to be involved with your children, Partridge said. But you realize that if you proceed down that route, you’ll be waiving the more than generous compensation offered by the University?"

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I don’t care about any money, Clay said. I want to see my kid.

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Very well, Partridge replied. I’ll make some calls to the university and see what I can do. He cleared his throat. I assume that all of you feel this way?

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All of the men nodded.

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I’m not sure how they’ll respond, Partridge said carefully. They may try to pursue legal action to keep you away.

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I don’t care, Clay repeated. I want to see my child.

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Partridge nodded. He looked defeated. Fine, he said. I’ll start drawing up a possible contract, and we’ll make sure that you all have the contact information for all of the women who accidentally were impregnated with your sperm.

Chapter 1

The morning sun shone brightly into the room as Chloe Parks stretched in bed. She yawned, reaching up over her head and stretching as far as her thin arms would take her. With a contented sigh, she pulled off her eye mask and sat up, gently rubbing at her eyes.

Noah? Chloe climbed out of bed, pulling a silk kimono around her lean frame as she ducked into her son’s bedroom. Noah, are you awake?

Noah was still asleep. His thumb was in his mouth and he was sucking contentedly. Chloe sighed as she reached down into the large crib and gently tried to pull his hand out of his mouth. She remembered what Dr. Horvath had said: Your son’s accelerated growth may trigger some inert desire to remain as young as possible.

Noah, sweetie, Chloe said softly. It’s time to wake up. We’re going to the zoo today!

Noah opened his big, golden eyes and stared at his mother. As always, Chloe was slightly stunned by the intelligent expression on her son’s face. Even though he was only two, he was frequently mistaken for a much older child – sometimes as old as four. She’d been more puzzled than anyone by his seemingly-constant growth spurt, and his odd behavior. No time to think of that today, she thought hurriedly. We’re going to have fun.

Noah put his arms up and Chloe scooped him up, snuggling him for a moment before carrying him over to the changing table. He was so big that his arms and legs hung off the edges and Chloe watched carefully to make sure that he wouldn’t tumble off.

You are getting so big! Chloe said under her breath as she searched for a clean outfit. You’re already wearing toddler clothes, isn’t that something?

Noah gurgled. Mama! He cried loudly, beating his stubby fists against the side of the table. Zoo!

Chloe broke into a wide grin. That’s right sweetie, we’re going to the zoo today. Can you tell me who lives at the zoo?

Noah closed his eyes and wrinkled his tiny features. Tigers! His voice was a startling burst of energy and Chloe jumped a few inches off the ground.

"That’s right,