Her Bear To Keep (Second Chance Shifters 5) by Meredith Clarke

followed the small woman into the kitchen, passing kids reading, kids playing video games, and kids playing quietly on the floor, all of whom watched them walk through with curious and hopeful gazes.
    It broke Ty’s heart to think that these kids had all been abandoned, but at the same time, he could already tell that they were lucky to have been taken in by the Kline’s.
    They rounded the corner to find a tall, thin older man, whose hand was indeed in the cookie jar, with a four or five-year-old girl sitting on the counter with chocolate smeared all over her face.
    “Harold, you’re going to ruin Betsy’s dinner,” Mrs. Kline scolded, and Tyson had to struggle not to laugh at the sight of the five foot nothing woman admonishing her at least six-foot-tall husband.
    Mr. Kline had the decency to look sheepish at the reproach, but Ty didn’t miss the wink he gave little Betsy.
    “Nah, Glenda, Betsy promised she’d eat all her dinner. Even the peas… Isn’t that right, Betsy?”
    Betsy nodded, although she’d lost her grin at the mention of peas.
    “Come now, Betsy, you go on and play, while Mr. Harold and I talk to these fine gentlemen, all right?”
    “Yes, Ms. Glenda,” the girl said sweetly, then hopped off the counter and scurried out of the room, glancing back quickly before she was gone.
    “Harold, you remember Mika,” Mrs. Kline said as she opened the refrigerator. She waited while he and Mika shook hands before adding, “And this is his friend, Tyson.”
    “Ty,” Tyson amended as he shook the older man’s hand.
    “Nice to meet you, son, please, have a seat.”
    They all sat at the large dining room table and Ty saw Mika bite back a grin when Mrs. Kline put a glass of milk and a plate of cookies in front of him.
    “So,” she said once they were all settled. “Mika says that you and your mate might be interested in adoption…”
    Tyson leaned forward and admitted, “Actually, Ma’am, I never even considered it a possibility until Mika told me about this place today. I’ve never heard of an orphanage for shifters, and even though my mate is human, their orphanages don’t like to place humans in shifter homes.”
    When the Kline’s both nodded, Ty continued, “But now that I know you’re here, and that there’s a chance Jordan and I could adopt, I’m… well, I’m…” Ty was surprised to find himself getting emotional. Once he’d regained his composure, he said, “Yes, I’m very interested.”
    “Well, we’d have to know that you were both interested, that you’d claimed each other,” Mrs. Kline began, then Mr. Harold added, “And that’s just so we know that the kids are going to a home with parents who are committed for life. We want them to have stability.”
    “Of course,” Ty said. “I’ll want to bring Jordan here so she can see the wonderful home you have for herself. How do things typically work?”
    “We’ll introduce you to children who have black bears in their lineage. Of course, we have no way of knowing if they’ll ever shift or not, but we always match children with their own animals. Then, you’ll get the opportunity to spend time with them and see if there’s a connection. Now, I know with bears you’re used to having a litter at once, but we won’t tell you how many children to adopt. Whether you connect with one child, or five, that’s totally up to you and your mate. Next, we’ll set up scheduled visitation to see how they fit into your home, your community, your clan. Finally, if everyone agrees that it’s a match, we’ll start adoption proceedings.”
    Tyson nodded as he tried to take in everything she was saying. It all made sense, as he’d never want to force a relationship that wasn’t there. That would just be cruel.
    “It’s a long process, son,” Mr. Kline added. “And it can be very difficult at times, but I can promise you, it’s worth it in the end.”
    “If you don’t mind my asking, how’d you start this place?” he