"Cal!"
Cal vaulted the fence and strode toward him.
"You're looking brighter today."
"I feel much better. Like I could climb a mountain."
"I don't know about a mountain, but how about a tree?"
He wasn't sure what Cal meant. "A tree?"
"I thought you might like to stretch your legs. You've been stuck inside a while now."
"I… I can't. Shay doesn't want me to leave the yard."
"How long will he be gone?"
"He said he'd be back in time for supper. But I have a lot of chores to do."
He didn't know why he didn't just come out and tell Cal about the tag, except that he felt ashamed to admit it.
"I'll help you finish the chores when we get back. Between the two of us, we'll have them done in no time."
Cal's began to guide him toward the fence. The more Dylan tried to dig his heels in, the more insistent Cal became.
"If I have to throw you over my shoulder, I will," he joked.
"No, I can't, I can't leave." Dylan found himself starting to babble as he struggled to free himself from Cal's arms, panicking at the idea of being shocked unconscious.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, slow down. Dylan, hey—"
And Cal's arms were suddenly holding him still, his concerned face just inches from Dylan's own.
"We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. If you don't want to leave the yard…"
"I do," he whispered, "but I can't."
"Because Shay will be angry?"
"He tagged me. To stop me leaving."
"Tagged?" Cal looked lost, his eyes scanning Dylan with confusion.
"A tag on my ankle. He said if I cross the fence, it will shock me. And if I keep going, it will knock me out."
"May I see?" Cal asked gently.
Ashamed, Dylan nodded, watching the top of Cal's head as he bent to look.
"I've seen these before. It's a shock collar. They use them for dogs."
"Dogs?"
"To stop them from leaving people's yards, and hurting farm animals or getting run over by cars."
So that's what Dylan was. Just some stupid animal that might get itself killed if it left the confines of its cage.
"Dylan, I'd like to take it off of you. There is no earthly reason why you should have to wear something like that."
"It's to keep me safe and stop me wandering."
"There is nothing wrong with your wandering. People aren't meant to be confined, it does something to the mind. They need space and freedom. You need space and freedom. Let me take it off, please."
He pulled away from Cal.
"No, you can't. Shay will never forgive me, and there'll be nowhere for me to go."
"What if I took care of you? What if I kept you safe?"
"You barely know me."
Cal turned, pacing away a few steps before coming to a stop.
"Okay. We leave the ankle bracelet on. But that doesn't mean we can't leave, just for a little while."
"No," Dylan shook his head, stepping away from the determined man standing opposite him. "It will hurt me, I'll pass out."
"Not if we break the circuit. The tag responds to a signal given by something in the surroundings. It's usually a wire on or just under the ground. I'll see if I can find it."
Cal headed for the fence. Dylan watched him, hugging himself tightly as he worried about what Cal was trying to do. What if breaking the circuit set off the shock anyway?
After a few minutes of intense searching, Cal returned to his side.
"There's nothing there. No wire, no circuit. Did you see Shay setting it up?"
Dylan shook his head. "No, but I've been in bed a lot."
"I think he may have lied to you. I think perhaps there isn't any wire for you to cross. He was hoping the fear would be enough to deter you from trying."
"No, Shay wouldn't do that. Shay wouldn't lie to me."
"Even if he thought he was protecting you?"
That gave Dylan pause for thought. Would Shay lie to him to protect him?
"Maybe then he might."
"So how about we try?"
Dylan didn't like that idea. "What if you're wrong?"
"We'll take it really slow. The second anything happens, I'll pull you back. Trust me, it'll all be okay."
And that's what it came down to. Did he trust Cal, this dark-eyed stranger who'd turned up out of the blue and kept coming back even when Dylan tried to push him away? This man who'd brought out feelings Dylan had never experienced, had never dreamt of.
"Okay. I guess we can try."
"Good. Take my hand."
He held it out, and Dylan grasped it tightly. "We'll do this together," Cal said and began to walk them toward the fence.
The closer they got the more Dylan shook, until they were right there and Cal was helping him climb over the fence. His feet hit the ground on the other side, and the shock of pain he expected never came. Cal landed next to him, and they kept going. One step, two, Dylan ready at any moment for the surge of pain. It never came. They reached the tree line unscathed, and Dylan leaned against a tree trunk to catch his breath.
"You were right, he lied."
He looked back toward the house, almost expecting to see Shay's disappointed face staring back at him.
Cal's finger on his chin urged him to look round.
"Thank you for trusting me. Let's go for that walk, like we planned."
Side by side they stepped through the forest. Cal's hand was a constant presence on his shoulder or around his waist, guiding him along the path. It felt nice to be close. It felt nice to be held. They came to a stop at the base of a large tree.
"Are you feeling up to a climb?"
"You were serious?" Dylan had assumed the tree-climbing was a joke.
"If you're not up to it, we can leave it for another time."
"No, I can do it."
Cal steadied him as he climbed to the first branch.
"Are you sure it will hold our weight?" he called down to him as he scaled the next branch.
"Yes. Don't worry. I've climbed it myself. Just stick to the branches on this side until you're halfway up, then you'll need to swing left to the south-facing branches."
Dylan did as Cal directed, until they were right up near the top of the tree. The tree was very old, the branches coarse and thick even that high up.
"Stay there, I'll come up and join you," Cal called, and moments later he was on the branch next to Dylan.
"This is nice," he said, leaning back against the trunk.
Dylan, his knuckles white from holding on, wasn't sure he agreed. He slid carefully along his branch until he was next to Cal, mimicking the other man's posture.
Cal wrapped an arm around him and Dylan leaned into him.
"Look out there," Cal said, gesturing to the view ahead of them. They were on a slight rise, putting them above the rest of the forest and giving them a view into the distance.
"We're looking south-east and just beyond that hill is Evenfall. My home. My family's ancestral home."
Dylan followed where he was pointing. It seemed so very far away.
"And it could be your home too, if you like."
His body jumped at Cal's words, and he was very glad for the strong arm wrapped around him, holding him steady.
"How?" he asked, turning to Cal.
"Come with me when I return."
"It's that simple?"
"You're my true love, the one I've been waiting for. What could be simpler?"
"But what would your family think of me?"
Dylan couldn't imagine they'd be pleased. Not with someone like him.
"I've already told my brother and his partner about you. They're looking forward to meeting you."
"What did you tell them?"
"That I had found you, and you were beautiful and kind and human."
The last word stood out and made Dylan do a double-take.
"You say
that like you're not."
Cal's hand was rubbing soothing lines up and down his arm.
"What if I told you what I wasn't?"
"But you look human. You act human."
"My brothers say I'm going through a phase, but now that I've met you, it makes a lot more sense why I've been spending so much time in human form."
Human form? Dylan didn't understand.
"Why don't we climb down, and I'll explain it to you. Nothing has changed, Dylan. I love you and that's what counts."
The climb down seemed to take only seconds, Dylan's heart hammering in his chest. He'd known, from the moment he met Cal, that there was something different about him. Something unearthly, something enchanting. And now he was about to find out what.
Chapter Eleven
Once they were back on solid ground, Cal tried to take Dylan's hand, but the other man shook him off.
"Come on, let's go find somewhere with a bit more space."
If he was going to show Dylan his true form, they'd need room. He could see Dylan was distracted as they walked, his eyes not really seeing what was in front of him. More than once he tripped and only Cal's quick reflexes kept him from falling.
"Almost there," Cal said, spying a clearing up ahead. He had just turned to look over his shoulder at Dylan to make sure he was keeping up when Dylan called out to him.
"Cal, watch out." Dylan's hands were suddenly on him, yanking him backward and sending them both to the ground.
"Dylan, what on earth…"
"There," Dylan said, pointing with one shaking hand. "A snare."
Cal couldn't see it at first, not until he looked right at the spot Dylan was pointing to. It was right in Cal's path, where his next footstep would have fallen. Even after Dylan pointed it out, he struggled to keep it in his sights. As soon as his gaze slipped even slightly left or right, it seemed to fade from view.
"How did you spot that?"
"I caught it, out of the corner of my eye. It kind of glints, like the sun is reflecting off of it."
Which was how Simon described how the one they'd found had looked to them. Nothing like the dark, coiled wire Cal could barely see.
"Thank you for saving me from that, Dylan. I think we had better dismantle it before some other poor unfortunate gets caught in it."
He took the knife from his bag and set to cutting the snare to pieces, storing each one in his bag. He scented the area but was unable to pick up a trail.
"What is it? What are you doing?" Dylan asked, looking both amused and confused at Cal's antics.
"I have an excellent sense of smell. I'm trying to see if I can catch the scent of whoever set this."
"Because you're not human."
Cal smiled. Dylan was getting it.
"Yes, that's right. And these snares seemed particularly designed to catch people like us. One has died already and another has been injured."
Dylan looked saddened at that. "And you don't know who is setting them?"
"Not yet, but I hope we will know something soon. The clearing is just ahead of us. Let's keep going."
Cal took him by the hand and led him into the large clearing, the sun beams breaking through the overhead leaves.
"My family are what's called shapeshifters. We can change form at will between human and animal. There are all sorts of legends about how it came about."
"Any animal?" Dylan asked.
"Just the one. There are many different types of shapeshifters, and each can change into a different animal. Our family are bears. Near here there is a group of wolves."
"Bears and wolves?"
"That's right."
Dylan paced across the clearing and back. "So you can change into a bear."
"Yes. Would… would you like me to show you?"
"Now?"
"Now is as good a time as any."
"Are you still you when you're a bear?"
"Of course, it's still me, I'm fully in control. My personality is a bit more bear-like I suppose. More black and white and less gray. But I know who I am and I'll know who you are."
"Okay," Dylan said with a nod. "I'd like to see."
"Good." Cal set his backpack, bow, and arrows lying against a tree trunk before stepping toward the center of the clearing. He shed his shirt and reached for his pants, hearing Dylan's sound of wordless protest.
"No use shredding good clothes," he said easily, his eyes meeting Dylan's and holding his gaze as he slipped off his pants.
"I'll just change for a few minutes and then change back," he assured him, kneeling amongst the leaves. He stretched his arms out, feeling the power of the change throughout his whole body as he moved to balance on his hands and feet. He let the change come—slowly and carefully—closing his eyes a human and opening them a bear on four paws.
He looked to Dylan, unsure what he'd see on the other man's face. He expected surprise and some fear but not the abject terror he was met with.
Dylan's eyes were wide, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he stared across at Cal. Cal pressed himself toward the ground, doing his best to make himself seem small and harmless. As best he could when he was a huge, life-size bear.
His movement seemed to break the spell holding Dylan frozen, and his mate turned and ran. Cal's instinct was to give chase, but he forced it down and brought his power to the fore, forcing himself back to human form. It wasn't easy this soon after a shift, it took effort and power and pain. He scrambled back into his clothes, grabbed his things, and took off after Dylan. Dylan had run straight for home, to Cal's relief. He reached the edge of the forest just as Dylan was jumping over the fence into his yard.
"Dylan, wait please," he called after him.
Dylan turned, eyeing him with wary eyes.
"Stay away from me."
"I'm not going to hurt you. It's exactly like I told you. I'm a bear shifter. It is who and what I am."
"You're a monster. With teeth and claws. My grandfather tried to warn me about you, but I didn't listen. Well, I'm listening now."
Cal stopped when he reached the fence.
"Stay away from me," Dylan called, backing toward the house.
"Dylan, please. You're my true love. My destined mate. I need you just as surely as you need me. Don't shut me out. I know you're scared, but please…"
"I said stay away. I don't want anything to do with you. Monsters don't feel love. It was all a lie, a trick, so I'd let down my guard and you could infect me with your evil."
They were strong, twisted words and they weren't his own.
"Shay told you that."
"Shay has always tried to protect me. He told me you'd come. I understand now what he meant."
Dylan reached the door, opening it and stepping inside, his eyes still on Cal like at any moment he expected an attack.
"Dylan, please."
The other man just shook his head, slamming the door closed.
Cal was unsure what to do. He paced back and forth in front of the fence, hoping Dylan would come back outside. While he waited, he tried to make sense of what had happened. Dylan seemed to take the explanation of him being a bear shifter at face value until he actually saw him change. But the words he came out with were odd. He'd talked about monsters, about evil. They were strange things for his grandfather to have told him. Then there was the unmistakable fact that Dylan had been able to see the spelled snare. He'd been able to see the magic embedded in it. Yet that same magic had damaged him, eaten into his skin.
It was growing late, and it became clear Dylan wasn't coming back out. His grandfather would be home soon. Cal had no wish to make his acquaintance after the events of today.
Instead, he gathered his things and left, making his way back to Laurel Coven. He needed to speak to the Wiccans. All his senses told him Dylan was human, but his response to magic was suggesting something different.
Chapter Twelve
Leona took one look at his face and stopped what she was doing.
"What's wron
g, what it is? Is it Fionn?"
"No," he assured her. "Nothing like that. I need to talk to you."
"Faye, Simon, would you excuse us—"
"No, actually. It would be helpful if someone from Laurel stayed. Faye may be able to shed some light on this."
Faye and Simon returned to their seats.
"About two weeks ago, while searching for more snares and those who set them, I met a man caught in one of them. He was human."
Leona already knew this much, but he could see Simon and Faye's confusion.
"I went back to check on him and found he had an injury from it that was worsening. I used the ointment Leona gave me, and it helped, his ankle healed."
"But how could he have been infected by the magic? Are you sure he's human?"
"I believed so, at first. But he wasn't just injured by the magic, he can see it. He saved me from walking into another snare. I could barely see it, even looking right at it, but he caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye."
"And that's what has brought you back to us?" Leona was watching him with raised eyebrows, knowing there was more to it.
"Dylan is my mate. Things seemed to be going well between us. I told him about my being a shifter, and he took it well. But actually seeing it sent him running.
"That's not exactly unexpected. You said he seemed very innocent for a human."
"It was more what he said. That his grandfather Shay had warned him about monsters and that they could infect him with their evil."
"There are some humans with knowledge of shifters. That doesn't explain why he could see the snare.
"Wait, did you say Shay?" Faye interrupted.
"Yes, you know him?"
"Maybe. He'd be an older man now, in his sixties, lives in a house at the edge of Oakley forest."
"Yes, that's him. He's Dylan's grandfather. How do you know him?"
"I don't, not really. I was only a child when it happened. My mother would know the details. I'll go get her."
Faye hurried away, leaving Cal alone with Simon and Leona.
"Nothing is ever straightforward with your family, Cal. But things have a habit of working out for the best."
Faye returned with her mother, Angela, in tow.
"Cal, you're looking pale. And thin. Are you eating?"
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