Storm Bear

by Bianca D’Arc

  Sabrina had heard Urse and the grannies talk about being a sylph, but Sabrina still wasn’t exactly sure what that really meant. The word had seemed to strike a chord deep down in her center, where her power lived. Her magic recognized the term in some way that she didn’t fully understand. But she would. She would figure this out and make it the goal of the rest of her life, if necessary, to learn about what she could do and use it in service of that amazing Light.

  The bakery was open and welcomed them with the wholesome fresh scent of newly baked bread. Ace escorted Sabrina in, along with the rest of their party, and they took over one of the larger tables by one of the front windows. Nell came over to greet them and soon had coffee and scones served while she went to work on the more complicated orders behind the counter.

  Sabrina had been very quiet on the car ride back to town, but Ace figured she had a few things to think about. Heaven knew, he’d been pretty amazed at what she’d done and the spectacular Light show at the end there. He’d known instinctively that, at heart, she was a good woman, but he had never expected to see such tangible proof of the approval of the Goddess. It humbled him and made him want to wrap her in cotton wool to protect her from all the evil in the world that would try to harm her.

  She’d hate that, of course. If there was one thing he’d learned about Sabrina in their time together, it was that she was an independent soul. She liked to stand on her own two feet. She welcomed assistance, when needed—she wasn’t stupid—but she did more than her share when the going got tough.

  This morning’s incredible bravery and skill was just an extension of what she’d done on the highway to confront the evil that had been chasing her. She was a protector, at heart. She would put herself and her power forward to save others, which was a rare thing to find among non-shifters, in Ace’s experience.

  Such a rare soul needed protection, and Ace was just the bear for the job. Now, he just had to convince her of that. Seeing her this morning, rising to the occasion to help someone she didn’t even know had only solidified his desire to join his life to hers forevermore.

  His inner bear was scoffing at him for taking so long to recognize what was right in front of him. Sabrina wasn’t just another woman. She was his mate!

  Ace just sat there, stunned. The conversation flowed around him as the revelation kept echoing through his mind. Of the gathering, only Ezra seemed to notice Ace’s distraction. His old friend leaned over and spoke quietly while the women’s conversation went on around them.

  “You okay, buddy?” Ezra asked, concern in his quiet tone.

  Ace shook himself. “Yeah. I’m good.” A slow smile spread across his face as he looked at Sabrina, seated across from him. She’d ended up sitting between Gus and Urse, as they discussed the magical aspect of this morning’s events.

  “She the one?” Ezra asked in an even lower tone.

  Ace started and looked over to meet his old friend’s gaze. Ezra chuckled at Ace’s expression.

  “Oh, man, you got it bad,” Ezra told him and put one friendly paw-sized hand on Ace’s shoulder.

  “How did you…?” Ace had to ask.

  “You look like a guy who just figured things out, that’s all,” Ezra assured him. “It’s okay. It happens to all of us—if we’re lucky enough.” The hand on his shoulder lifted and slapped him on the back in a bearish version of low-key congratulations. “I’m happy for you. And, I’ve been in your shoes. Thea hit me like a semi-truck going ninety. She flattened me and then made me whole, again. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m glad you found that for yourself, man.”

  Ezra turned away as Nell returned to the table with plates of food. He helped her distribute the loaded platters while Ace tried to gather his scattered wits. He had to figure out how to tell Sabrina. He wasn’t sure how—or if—his declaration would be welcomed. She wasn’t a shifter. He didn’t really know how that worked. Would she feel the same bond? Would she understand what shifter mating was all about? What she meant to him?

  She’d lived among werewolves for a while. Hopefully, she’d picked up a thing or two from watching them. Still, he’d have a lot of explaining to do, once he figured out how to tell her.

  He couldn’t really ask Ezra for advice. His mate was a shifter. She had, no doubt, felt the same bond pulling them together. Maybe one of the guys in Grizzly Cove who had mated with a human would be willing to give Ace some pointers, but he didn’t really know most of them well enough to ask that sort of thing.

  As he was puzzling that out, the door to the bakery opened with a jingle. A man rushed in, his gaze zeroing in on their table, and he came right over. Ace tensed. He didn’t know this bear. Of course, there were a lot of people in town he didn’t know. He watched those around him for their reactions.

  Ezra laughed when he saw the man, which put Ace at ease. Urse rose from her seat and started pointing an angry finger at the guy while calling him an idiot, and it clicked that this must be the man who was on the fishing boat. Gus and Ezra laughed out loud while Urse berated the poor guy, but when Urse stopped cussing at him and pulled the newcomer into a shaky hug, they rose and piled on in the group bear hug.

  This, then, was one of their close friends. Possibly, he was part of the central group that had founded the town, though Ace had never crossed paths with the blonde behemoth. Not that he remembered.

  Regardless, it was clear the newcomer was one of the band of brothers who had fought side by side for so many years, in so many foreign places around the world. Ace almost envied their bond, but then, he remembered his own little band of brothers. Blood brothers. They might be pains in his ass, sometimes, but they were his closest friends. The fact that he’d had so much of an adventure without them was both surprising, and a little sad. They’d shared most of their lives together, traveling from job to job, always together, a trio of badass bear shifters who were there for each other when push came to shove.

  But they all had recognized that, eventually, they would have to expand their circle if they wanted to settle down and start families. They’d been doing solo trips for years, going out and exploring on their own, from time to time, always keeping their eyes open. It was an unspoken thing that they were each looking for a mate when they went out on their solo adventures.

  Ace knew his brothers would be happy for him that he’d found his mate on this trip. They’d tease him, of course. That’s just what younger brothers did. But, at heart, they’d be happy for him. If he could get Sabrina to agree to be his mate, Ace knew things were going to change for both himself and his brothers. They wouldn’t be a trio any longer. Now there would be three brothers, one of whom was mated and had another person in his life that meant as much, or more, than his brothers. And, in time, perhaps there would be cubs.

  Just the thought of it made him catch his breath.

  The bear hug broke apart, and the newcomer walked over to where Sabrina was sitting and dropped to one knee at her side. Ace bristled. What were this guy’s intentions? Then, he saw the brightness of the man’s eyes and knew strong emotion was driving him. Ace sat back and waited to see where this was going. He calculated he could have the guy flat on the floor with his arm across his airway in the blink of an eye if he did something stupid.

  “Ma’am,” the man’s voice came out rough. “I’m Sig. I own the fish market, and I can’t thank you enough for the rescue today. It’s hard for a bear shifter to admit when we need help,” he said, his mood visibly lightening as the others chuckled at his statement. “But I’ll be the first to admit that I bit off more than I could chew this morning, and I really thought I was a goner. Thank you for your timely intervention.”

  Sabrina blushed at all the attention, making Ace love her all the more. She hadn’t done what she’d done out of some need for attention or a desire to prove how great she was. Ace knew that firsthand. She was the greatest—even if she might never see that about herself. Still, her humility was endearing.

  “You’re welco
me…um…Sig. I’m Sabrina. And this…” she motioned significantly to Ace, seated across from her, “is Ace.”

  Sig got up off the floor and reached across the table to shake Ace’s hand. He was a friendly guy whose emotions rode close to the surface. Ace wondered if his recent brush with death was the cause, or if he was the kind of guy who always walked around with his heart on his sleeve. Only time, and further observation, would tell.

  “I managed to come back with the hold full of fish. Really good fresh stuff that I haven’t been able to get to since the leviathan troubles started,” he told them enthusiastically. “I’m delivering the catch of the day to Zak’s restaurant, and I hope you’ll all be my guests tonight for dinner. We’re going to have a fish feast the likes of which we haven’t been able to have for months.”

  Sig’s enthusiasm seemed contagious, and the others wholeheartedly agreed to his plan. Ace thanked the man, accepting his invitation after checking with Sabrina. She nodded, and Sig moved slightly back from the table to look at her, again.

  “I’m saving the best of the best for you, ma’am. To show my thanks.”

  Sig’s smile was kind, and Ace didn’t think there was anything to object to in the gesture, but his inner bear bristled at the other man paying so much attention to Ace’s mate. He tamped down a growl that wanted desperately to come out.

  Sabrina blushed, again, and looked at Ace. “Thank you, Sig. Ace and I will be there, though you don’t really have to go to that much trouble. I was happy to help, and I’m just glad that I was able to do so.”

  “You’re a very modest woman, ma’am,” Sig told her as he moved farther back. Then, he looked at the others and grinned. “See you all tonight!”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Sabrina spent the rest of the day with the magic circle, as she was beginning to think of them. First, right after breakfast was over, she accompanied Urse back to the bookstore she owned with her sister, Mellie. They spent an hour over coffee, talking through what had happened that morning and the research Mellie had been doing ever since Sabrina’s situation had come to their attention.

  The real revelations came when the girls’ grandmother showed up mid-morning. Nonna Ricoletti had tales to tell that were both eye-opening and a little scandalous.

  The store was empty, so the four women sat in the reading nook they’d created in one of the windows and chatted over coffee. Nonna was served by her granddaughters and treated with all respect due her age and revered position in the family. When everyone was comfortable, Nonna began to speak.

  “When I was a younger woman, I had a lover who had great power over the winds. Air was his element, I always thought,” Nonna said, her aged eyes sparkling as she looked at Sabrina. “Just as I said when I saw your power.”

  Urse and Mellie seemed a little shocked by their granny’s frank discussion of a former lover, to Sabrina’s amusement. What did they think? That their granny had never had sex? She had to have had it at least once in her life if they existed.

  “My lover called himself a mage, but I always suspected he was something more.” The old woman sighed heavily. “He died a long time ago, fighting evil, but I still talk to his sister, from time to time. I placed a call to her last night. After hearing your story, she also believes you may be part-sylph. She said, as such, you might be able to learn how to fly, after a fashion, given a bit of practice. You just have to direct the wind to support you and move you around in the sky.”

  “Fly?” Sabrina was flabbergasted by the mere thought of it.

  “Power over the wind, dear,” Nonna said quietly. “Think about it.”

  Sabrina was thinking about it, and it was scary! She didn’t like heights.

  “We’ll table that idea, for now, if it makes you uncomfortable,” Urse said, reading Sabrina’s reaction accurately.

  “To be a sylph is to be a spirit of the air, at one with it,” Nonna went on. “I think, since you came to your power so late, you may have sylph heritage, but perhaps not too close. Do you know much about your ancestors?”

  Sabrina could only shake her head. She’d been on her own a long time. She didn’t know much about her origins and ancestry. She told the women as much, and they all looked sympathetic.

  “My father raised me, but he died around the time I started high school, and I went into foster care. He never talked much about my mother, but I remember her a little. She was tall and willowy. With blue eyes like mine and wavy golden hair. She died when I was little, and Dad never got over losing her. After she was gone, he seldom spoke of her, and I was too young to really ask about the important stuff.” Sabrina looked down, feeling the loss, all over again. “He was a great dad, but as far as I know, neither he nor my mother had family that could take me in when he was killed.”

  “It’s a shame you don’t know for sure,” Mellie said quietly.

  “You are part-sylph. It is the most reasonable explanation,” Nonna concluded with a nod. “And armed with that knowledge, we can begin honing your skills.”

  The old woman’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Sabrina, and she wondered if she should be worried. They’d already shown her so much in such a short time. Now that they had a plan in mind, what more could she learn from them?

  “A storm is gathering,” she blurted out, surprising even herself with the bald pronouncement. “I mean…”

  “Go on, dear,” Nonna said gently, encouraging her to speak.

  “My weather sense got knocked around a bit when my power increased so quickly, but after yesterday, it’s starting to become more workable, again,” she told them, putting into words something she’d only just begun to realize. “Before this all started, I used to be able to forecast weather better than any meteorologist. I could tell you a week in advance if a storm was headed your way. Right now, my senses are saying we’re in for a really bad storm coming from the direction of the mountains, which seems wrong.” Sabrina frowned in concentration. “Nothing about the storm feels normal, in fact. It’s not natural.”

  “Not natural?” Urse asked, her brows knit in concern. “So, it’s magical? Someone is weaponizing the weather?”

  “I believe our enemies are attempting to get your attention,” Nonna said sagely, nodding in Sabrina’s direction. “The question is, what will you do about it?”

  *

  Ace went to pick Sabrina up later that afternoon at the circle of stones. Apparently, the ladies had relocated there, at some point, to work on magical things that would be contained by the circle while they experimented.

  When Ace pulled up on his bike, he could hardly believe his eyes. Sabrina was floating about six feet off the ground, her arms held out at her sides like a high wire act, balancing over a gorge. She looked scared, but also a bit triumphant, which made him back down from running to her aid as he’d first intended.

  The more he watched, the more he realized she was up there on purpose. The people in the circle with her were spotting her. Gus was close enough to catch her should she fall, and the other women were shouting encouragement and giving her advice as they watched. This was some kind of lesson, and Ace was loath to interrupt it once he realized she wasn’t in any real danger.

  He sat back and watched as she rose a little higher, but ten feet was about as high as she seemed to want to go. He relaxed a bit. She wouldn’t be killed from a ten-foot drop, if she lost control. As she got used to it, she seemed to get more comfortable and even tried moving around a bit, using her arms to direct her movements.

  Ace didn’t pretend to understand how it all worked, but it certainly looked like she was able to call air currents to support her in various ways. What he was watching was her experimentation as she learned how to shape the commands, and the power, to do what she wanted.

  None of the magic leaked beyond the stone circle, but Ace was pretty sure that was some massive magical power she was wielding. Good for her. He was proud of her quick learning and aptitude and relieved that she was getting stronger and better able to
defend herself. She’d been vulnerable when they’d first met, but he’d been glad to see her blossom as her power and confidence grew.

  She’d done an amazing thing out on that highway, but judging by what he could see now, she was even stronger. She certainly had more skill. Working with these people had helped her develop finer control, and they had encouraged her to try new things—like flying. Ace had to shake his head. Who knew a person could actually fly under their own power without first shifting to some kind of bird form?

  That she wasn’t a shifter still concerned him. He grew more positive with each passing minute that she was the only woman for him. His inner bear was pushing him to declare himself. To stake his claim and hope that she would return it. His human side was just plain scared. He dreaded letting her know how he felt if she didn’t return those feelings. He would die inside if she rebuffed him, but not knowing was also making him a little crazy.

  He’d have to say something, but he’d have to pick exactly the right time. He didn’t know when that would be, exactly, but it would come. He was certain of that. And, then, in one fell swoop, the rest of his life would be decided. Either she would accept him and claim him in return, or he’d live out his days alone. For there was no other woman for him. Sabrina was it. The One.

  On that thought, Sabrina lowered herself back to the ground. The grannies clapped in delight, and the others smiled. Urse and Mellie went over to Sabrina, and an animated discussion followed as they began making their way toward the nearest edge of the circle to Ace. Sabrina saw him, their eyes meeting across the distance, and he knew her smile was just for him.

  His breath caught in his chest. She was the most amazing woman. Beautiful. Smart. Brave. She made him want to be a better man. A better bear. A better being all around. Just for her.