by Terry Spear
“Momma, Grandma and Grandpa said we gotta live with them,” Bryan said to Robyn when he and his twin brother, Garrett, hurried to pack up their last-minute belongings in the truck.
Robyn couldn't believe they'd actually told the boys that! She'd thought her in-laws were trying to hide the truth from her until it was too late. She wondered if that meant they were making the move to take them from her sooner than later. She'd been desperate to pack up and just leave, but she'd had to do this right, for fear the sleuth would stop her before she got very far.
She tucked the fire safe with all her important documents, like the boys' birth certificates, title on her truck, her birth certificate, marriage certificate, and her husband's death certificate, in the back seat on the floor.
She had been urgently attempting to make ends meet ever since she’d lost her mate and was trying to keep her company, Bear Necessities Marketing, going. Callahan had wanted her to stay home with the boys while he was off on his trucking job. But once he was dead, she’d created the company to support her family. Callahan had been a good mate and father to the boys, protecting them on a vacation when they were running as polar bears in the Northwest Territories, and she knew, if he’d still been alive, he would have been furious with his parents over this.
She packed up her business cards and tucked them in the console because at least her email address and phone number would still be the same when they moved.
For some time now, she’d heard the rumors that her in-laws were making waves with the leaders of their bear sleuth that she didn’t have the time to properly take care of her sons, and they needed to raise the boys. They could offer them more stability and the boys would only have to follow one set of rules. Theirs. That had been disturbing news to her. Her in-laws had been so nice to her about keeping them when she’d joined the Canadian Marketing Association and had needed to travel. When she was busy trying to secure business clients, and then working to continue to make her business thrive, she left the boys with them. Her in-laws had encouraged her to do whatever she could to get her business off to a good start, and she was doing better so she could support herself and her kids. But now?
She packed up her camera and the rest of her gear into the front seat of the truck.
Had their insistence that she leave the boys with them all been a scheme to win over the boys and the bears in their sleuth to show that Robyn couldn’t manage both taking care of the boys and running her business? She had to work, or they’d lose their home. But the home, the business, none of it mattered if Martha and Arnold Gardner were able to take the boys away from her.
She packed the rest of the food she planned to take with them, mostly just items they would consume for the few days’ trip they had to make.
No way was she going to allow her in-laws to take the kids from her. If they ever learned the truth of who their real father was? She didn’t even want to consider what might happen then. Create a nice fatal accident for her, she could just imagine, so the secret would die with her.
The tallest of the twins, Garrett, stuffed some more books underneath the driver’s seat, turned to her, and lifted his chin. “I’m not staying with them.”
“No, you’re not,” Robyn adamantly said, rushing around the house to ensure everything looked just right, nothing out of place, no clue as to where they’d gone. She’d even left fake wrapped Christmas packages under the tree, some of the kids' older toys they had agreed to leave behind, and books she promised to replace when they got settled.
Of the two boys, Garrett was the most independent and stubborn. He took after both her and their real father. Bryan was more laid back and flexible. She wasn’t sure where he got that from.
Neither her own parents, nor her brothers, had been reasonable concerning her and Edward. Of course, if they had been reasonable, she believed she would have been with Edward in White Bear all along.
“We’ve been doing this forever,” Garrett complained.
For a couple of months, true. Robyn had known her in-laws would have had a fit if they'd learned she planned to take the boys to see Edward too.
“Yes, but this is the last time.” For weeks now, Robyn had been packing and getting ready to leave, knowing the influence Arnold had over the town and their sleuth as their former mayor. And Martha was such a social butterfly, when she wasn’t taking care of the boys, she was socializing with her many friends. Robyn couldn’t trust that the bear council would side in her favor as the boys’ mother over her in-laws.
She hadn’t been able to tell the boys what they were doing until now, knowing Garrett would have told her in-laws that they were leaving, so there.
It would take them forty-one hours to reach home, and she was certain the bear sleuth would try to stop her before she got very far. Which was why she was leaving at four that morning. It was a Friday, so it wouldn’t be unusual for her to take a drive somewhere, except she never drove off that early. She’d been taking the kids for short trips for several weeks, driving them out in the wilderness to shift and run, so she wouldn’t arouse any suspicions when they left for good. She'd wanted to leave last night, but she was afraid that would seem suspect if anyone checked on her and found they weren't at home.
“We’re really going away this time?” Bryan asked, sounding hopeful.
“Yes.” She always took off the whole three-day weekend to be with her kids. And she’d already told her in-laws that she needed to be at work longer on Tuesday, so she was taking off from work on Monday to make up for it. With any luck, that would give her four full days to travel to White Bear, hopefully, before anyone became suspicious. It was still a horribly long drive, and if she ran into any trouble along the way… She just prayed they wouldn’t.
“Okay, kiddoes, have you got everything you want to take with you?” she asked them one last time. She’d packed bedding, clothes, toys, some food they could eat along the way, and her computer. Other than stopping for gas, bathroom breaks, and a few hot meals to go and a couple of overnight stops that they would have to make, she didn’t want to rest, afraid someone in the sleuth would catch up to her and force her to return with the kids.
“Yeah,” Bryan said, looking at his made-up room.
“I am!” Garrett said with enthusiasm.
She had to leave everything looking the same, so they’d had to forsake some things to make it appear as though they were still living there—clothes in the closet and drawers, food in the fridge and in the cabinets, toys the kids didn’t want any longer. The bedding she’d taken with her was brand new and her in-laws had never seen it. She hated leaving the bear community behind like this when she wouldn’t have a bear sleuth to help her out when she needed it. She didn’t know if her family would even take her back, or how Edward and his family would react to her arriving in White Bear. But she was sure how this was going to turn out if she stayed in Yellowknife and she lost custody of her boys to her mate’s parents. Once she felt safe and protected, wherever they ended up, she would put her house in Yellowknife on the market to sell.
“Yay,” Garrett said. “We’re off on another adventure.”
“We sure are.” That’s what she’d called all their trips away, so if they’d let it slip, they were just going on another adventure, like they always did. But this time it was a really big adventure.
They piled into the truck with their picnic lunches that they would eat in a few hours. Though they each had apple slices for a snack. They'd gone to bed especially early last night, mainly so she could be well-rested enough for the long, tedious drive. Despite the early hour this morning, she fed them a hearty breakfast of ham and eggs and hash browns before they left.
She pulled out of her driveway, glad she had a top for her pickup bed so no would know it was packed to the roof with their treasured belongings.
She suspected her in-laws were worried that she would find another mate, and they wouldn’t approve of him and how he would treat her kids or that they wouldn’t see them a
gain. Especially, if she left Yellowknife to find a mate.
She couldn’t even tell her best friend, Becky Whitestone, that she was leaving and never coming back. That was the worst part.
But she wasn’t about to allow her in-laws to dictate who she could date, if she ever chose a mate again. They’d already suggested she mate one of their other sons. She would worry enough about whether another mate could love her and her kids just as much. But she would only mate a bear she was truly in love with. Certainly, not one of Callahan’s brothers. As soon as she learned her in-laws planned to force the issue of taking her sons from her, stating they took care of the boys more than she did, she knew she had to run. She would be forever grateful to Becky for clueing her in after she’d overheard some of the conversations Martha had with her friends.
For some time, Robyn drove on the dark, snow-cleared road, and everything was fine, though she couldn’t slow her beating heart.
She’d been driving on the road for about three hours when her cell phone rang. Her heart took a dive. She hesitated to look at the caller ID on the Bluetooth. When she did, she saw it was her mother-in-law, and she didn’t want her to suspect anything since Martha knew they were all early risers. She answered the call. “Hello, Martha?”
“We want to keep the boys overnight on Tuesday night.”
“They only stay with you when I have to be away.” Robyn thought of telling her that was fine, just so she could end the call and not have any hassle with her. She didn’t want her voice to give her away either. She wouldn’t normally have just let it go and she didn’t want to sound like she was deviating from their usual routine or her in-laws could become suspicious. One problem she hadn't thought of, not that she'd expected Martha to call, her mother-in-law would know they were in the car, using the Bluetooth, driving somewhere.
“We thought we could do it then because we’re not going to see them on Monday.”
“Maybe some other time. Not this coming week. I’m taking the kids to fish as polar bears. We’ll talk later. See you on Tuesday.”
“All right. See you then.” Martha sounded disgruntled that she couldn’t have her way.
Robyn hoped she hadn't given herself away. She would have to start up her business again in a new location, but at least a lot of the work she did was online. Still, she loved to solicit local businesses too, taking videos of them while they were creating their products or providing a service, and turning them into marketing videos to help promote them. She had to be there in person for that.
The kids were quiet, and she glanced back at them. Both were sound asleep. Even though they'd gone to bed early last night, she'd overheard them whispering about leaving and they were so excited, as if it were going to be Christmas. She suspected they hadn't slept all that long. She hadn’t. She had been too anxious about leaving and she had an awful time waking the kids at first this morning. Not her. She'd been ready to go first thing.
She hoped the boys wouldn’t miss the only grandparents they had ever known, if she could even stay free of them. Even though she was heading to White Bear to tell Edward the truth, going there could open up a whole new can of worms since she’d broken Edward MacMathan’s heart after leaving him nearly six years ago. And never told him about his sons. Everyone in the sleuth liked him, so she wasn’t sure she would even be welcome there.
Her family was a whole other story. She really wasn’t sure they would accept her back either. And if they learned the boys were Edward’s? No way could she return home. Not unless they could accept the situation now. No matter what, she wasn't keeping it secret from Edward any longer. The problem was, as polar bear shifters, she didn’t have a lot of choices about where she and her sons could live either.
So far, so good. No sign of her late mate’s family.
After three days of driving, she made it most of way through the Yukon Territory, but then had to stop again for the night. She thought they might just make it to White Bear, without getting caught, though she had one problem. She had only one more day to reach White Bear before her in-laws would discover she and the boys were gone. The day after that, they would probably be out for her blood. They still had a way to go before they could catch up to her. If they weren't already hot on her trail.
2
Edward MacMathan and his twin brother, Rob, were serving meals and drinks to help their aunt and uncle out at the White Bear Tavern in the small Alaskan town of White Bear while White Christmas was playing overhead. Family was too important to not spend it with them, and the MacMathan brothers always closed down their White Bear Wilderness Adventure Tours to work at the tavern during the holiday season.
They’d all helped to trim the tavern in Christmas garlands, wreaths, and an eight-foot, evergreen tree standing in one corner was decorated in tons of little polar bears and red bows, balls, and multi-colored lights. The reflection of Christmas lights sparkled in the smoky mirrors behind the long bar. Red-cinnamon candles sat on each of the tables, and the aroma of steaks broiling, cinnamon, and wassail filled the air.
They were all busy serving patrons at this joyous time of year, everyone’s spirits bright. Even Rob’s new mate, Alicia, a photojournalist, wanted to assist them this Christmas. But she had been turned into one of their bear kind two years earlier, and their babies were three-month-old twins: a boy, Daniel, and a girl, Jenny—and they suspected they might have psychic talents like Rob and Alicia did. Instead of helping at the tavern, Alicia had brought the babies into the place to enjoy a late lunch with Rob. That meant their Aunt Genevieve, her white-hair tucked in a bun, and wearing a Mrs. Santa apron, had to stop supervising the kitchen staff and come out to cuddle the babies for a few minutes while Alicia ate before she had to take care of the babies again.
Knowing about their psychic abilities, Edward didn’t know if he felt left out now, or relieved that he didn’t have a psychic gift. He met up with their cousin Ben, who was getting another tray of fish and chips platters. Ben worked here for his parents on a regular basis, and he still swore he’d matched up Rob and Alicia, but they knew he hadn’t had anything to do with it. Now, Ben was targeting Edward. Every cute bear shifter who dropped into the tavern, he made sure to give out the tour guide brochures to, stating Edward was one of the best tour guides around. Which amused his brother, Rob.
“Hey, it’s going to happen,” Ben said to Edward. “I just need to see the right woman, and know she’s the one for you.”
Edward snorted. “Make sure she doesn’t have a significant other first, the next time, will you?” At least the black eye he’d received from the last mistake was starting to fade. How would he look when Alicia began taking all the family Christmas photos this year, the first time for her and the babies? Though she said if he didn’t really want to have a black eye for the pictures—which would give him more character—she would Photoshop it out.
The door opened and three male snow leopards, the Wright brothers who frequented the tavern, entered and found a seat near the fireplace and waved at the MacMathans gathered at the counter.
“If I could see what was going to happen to anyone in the family, I’d tell you who was going to be in your future,” Rob said. “If it was something that was going to happen soon, I should say.” Though Rob couldn’t see anything that would happen to family members—being that he was too close to them, Edward suspected. Rob was serving the meal for his mate and himself so no one else had to do it.
“I was surprised you’d leave Alicia at home taking care of the babies for most of the day so you could help out here,” Edward said.
They’d all tried to talk Rob out of coming in this year, so he could be home with his family.
“She had a couple of women friends come over who were assisting with the babies while she got some rest,” Rob said. “She just wanted to say hi and eat lunch with me here today. I’m sure Aunt Genevieve had something to do with it. To tell you the truth, Alicia kicked me out of the house this morning so I’d assist Uncle Ned and Aun
t Genevieve here like we do every year. Alicia didn’t want to mess up our family tradition.”
“Everyone would understand if you had stayed home this year,” Edward said.
Rob was the first one in the family who had married and now had kids. Everyone loved the babies.
“I'm grabbing a quick bite to eat with Alicia,” Rob said.
"Take your time and enjoy your lunch," Edward said. "We've got this."
The door opened. They glanced in that direction again before Rob joined his mate.
The tavern was filled with families coming in to share in the warmth and comradery with the other shifters who often came here: Arctic wolves, black bears, polar bears, you name it. Most got along with the rest and helped each other’s businesses. They had a lot of human locals who were repeat customers, and a few passersby dropped in also.
A woman wearing a blue dickey over her face, her faux-fur hood still up, ushered two kindergarten-age boys into the tavern. At least he guessed that’s about how old they were. They were buried in snowsuits, hoods, face masks and fur-lined, waterproof boots to keep them warm.
Ben didn’t bother to say anything about the woman being a potential match for Edward, not when she had two kids in tow. Edward knew Ben would have otherwise. Though they didn’t even know if she was a shifter or not.
She and the kids looked cold and worn out, hunched over, the kids huddling next to her, clasping her gloved hands with their mitten-covered ones. Edward headed for them, to make sure they got a table closer to the fireplace. All of the tables close to it were already taken, but he would ask someone to move for the woman and her children. At least he guessed they were her children.
“She’s already taken,” Ben said, carrying his tray of platters behind him, as if Edward didn’t know that the woman had to have a mate already.
Edward was just being nice to the woman.
