Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  “Smells wonderful Lucy. You outdo yourself every year. Melanie, I see you’re learning some tricks from the best.”

  “Mom may have divulged a few family secrets.” She laughed as she dipped her hand in the cookie jar.

  “I’m glad to see you showing interest in some more domestic traits. Have you caught up on all your sleep yet?”

  Her dad was making a dig at her, and she knew it. She decided to ignore it though. She knew her mom hated their fighting, and she didn’t want to ruin their good day with silly bantering.

  “I feel much better today. Mom said you invited over some friends this year.”

  “Yes, I invited the Carr’s over for dinner. Ethan is excited to see you. I trust that you will be welcoming.”

  Welcoming. That was her dad’s way of saying you better play nice in front of his guests. No way in hell was she playing this game with her today. She was so sick of the game. The thought of sitting through an even of playing nice with Ethan, while he tried his best to pick her up made her stomach curl. There was only one man she wanted touching her. She smiled now thinking of Tye, and the way he touched her.

  “Of course.”

  “Very good. Well I’ll leave you ladies to it then.” Her dad leaned over and gave her mom a kiss on the forehead. Her mom smiled softly, and then went back to chopping onions for her dressing. Melanie hoped her mom was truly as happy as she seemed. Maybe it was time her dad got a taste of his own medicine. Melanie excused herself and ran upstairs.

  u

  Chapter Eleven

  Tye

  Tye’s palms were sweating when he hung up his phone. He hadn’t been expecting that call. He went downstairs to find his mom.

  “Mom!” He yelled through the house, even though he wouldn’t really have to do that. She would hear him regardless.

  “I’m in the kitchen Tye.”

  “Hey. I’m sorry to do this, but something just came up. I won’t be here for dinner.”

  “Tye. Are you serious? Do you know how much food it takes to prepare Thanksgiving for a family of bears? I even made that special honey butter with your honey, and extra rolls just for you.”

  “I know mom. I’m really sorry. If it wasn’t an emergency, you know I wouldn’t bail like this.”

  His mom studied him. He knew she’d be able to tell he wasn’t telling her the whole story just based on his elevated heart rate. He just hoped she’d be cool enough to let it slide.

  “Fine. Here, where you’re going would you maybe like to take some of your honey butter and rolls?”

  How the hell did she know that?

  “Yes, please.”

  As she set about packing him up a basket, he took off back upstairs to get ready. It was just about an hour drive where he was headed, and he didn’t want to be late.

  “Hello, I’m a friend of Melanie’s.” He extended his hand to very domineering man who opened the door. He could only assume this was her father. He tried to keep his anxiety in check, but he really wanted to take off. There was no way in hell he would make it through this day without royally embarrassing himself.

  “Melanie didn’t mention any friends stopping by.” He still had yet to invite Tye inside. Tye finally dropped his hand to his side, and held the old man’s stare.

  “My name’s Tye, I am doing the internship at the hospital with her. We’re partners. My folks don’t live to far from here, and she invited me over. I hope that’s okay.” He saw now where Melanie got her tenacity. Her father wasn’t the least bit deterred by his golden eyes as he continued to hold his eye contact. Most humans would have already dropped their eyes, Tye’s family wasn’t the head of their clan, but they were very dominant.

  “Tye! I’m so glad you made it. I see you met my father.” Melanie threw the door wider, and gestured for Tye to come inside. He stepped around her dad, and circled her up for a hug. Then he handed her the basket of goodies his mom sent with him.

  “We were just getting acquainted. Tye, my name is Victor Gloss.”

  “Nice to meet you Dr. Gloss, Melanie has told me so much about you. I bet you’re proud of her, following in your footsteps. She’s already at the top of the internship.” Tye knew damn well the old man didn’t give a rat’s ass how well she was doing, but he couldn’t help himself. He was proud of her, and he wanted her dad to know that even if he didn’t appreciate her, others would.

  “Of course. Her mother and I are both very proud. We’re hoping she’ll come settle down nearby soon though. We’re both looking forward to grandkids.”

  Tye looked at Melanie who looked like she wanted to kick her dad. Apparently her last minute call for help had something to do with her settling down.

  “My parents feel the same about grandkids. All in good time though. There’s so much to see and learn at the hospital were interning at, it’s hard to imagine a life outside of doctoring. I’m sure you understand having been through the same.”

  “Yes, the medical world is always changing. Make sure you take time to yourselves though.”

  “Tye, let me show you around the rest of the house. You have to try my cookies I baked today. It’s an old family recipe.” The smile she shot his way is enough to make him stutter step, and just about face plant. She turns around to laugh as Tye adjusts himself. Hopefully her dad didn’t notice the clumsiness, but Tye didn’t bother turning around to check.

  “Your dad seems pleasant.”

  Melanie busted out laughing. He loved seeing her so carefree.

  “He didn’t hate you. He would have just simply asked you to leave if that was the case. He’s probably too concerned that you’ll one day cross paths in business one day. Appearances are everything.”

  “I see. So you wanna tell me why you called me last minute begging me to come to your rescue.” He knew he would strike a nerve with his comment. The way her eyes narrowed at him for a second told him he had been successful.

  “I didn’t beg. I simply asked, and you jumped at the opportunity.” Her eyes twinkled with delight at their banter.

  “I see.” He backed her up to the kitchen counter, and rested his hands on either side of her hips. Her eyes immediately went heavy with desire. It was like an electric current charging between the two of them. It was getting stronger. Tye was pretty sure that without realizing it, Melanie had allowed herself to start connecting to him through their bond. It wouldn’t be long, and they would both spontaneously combust from the chemistry.

  “So you said something about cookies?” He pulled back from her. He didn’t trust himself to touch her. He may not be able to control himself.

  “Yes. I, um, made my grandma’s no bake cookies.” She cleared her throat, and adjusted herself. Tye never took his eyes off of her. When she called he had hoped that she was finally ready to drop the pretenses, and be his. She handed him a cookie from a porcelain cookie jar shaped like a Santa. It seemed so out of place. The house was a mansion furnished with all the best furniture, and decorations. The Santa cookie jar looked old, and worn amongst the rest of the beautiful china.

  Tye’s family didn’t have fancy china, or much of anything porcelain. Bears weren’t the most graceful of creatures with their giant size; let alone a Kodiak bear. Tye and Jake had gone through their change only a couple years apart, so the house was a war zone for a while. How his mom survived with a house full of Shifter men he’d never know.

  “You can lie and tell me if you hate them.”

  “Oh man, no way these are the best! I’m an expert too. We bears love our sweets.” Tye was genuinely impressed with the cookies. He had never known no bake cookies to be so good. It was almost as good as his honey straight off the comb.

  “For real?” Her eyes were back to sparkling with delight. Tye didn’t know how much more torture he could stand. Not sure if he could speak clearly, he grabbed three more and proceeded to gobble them all down.

  “I’m glad you’re here Tye. Thank you for coming.”

  “I’m glad you called me, Mel
anie.”

  Tye’s bear perked up then. He pushed Melanie back behind him, and let out a low growl.

  “Hello Melanie.” Ethan’s voice seemed to fill the kitchen.

  “Tye, what’s wrong with you.” She poked him in the back, and tried to move around him.

  “I wondered why you were never weary around me. Why didn’t you tell me you knew other Shifters?”

  “Because I don’t, you’re the first one I’ve met.”

  “No, he is.” Tye said pointing to Ethan.

  Chapter Twelve

  Melanie

  Melanie looked back and forth from Tye to Ethan. Surely if Ethan was a Shifter her and her family would have known. She had known him and his family her whole life. He didn’t even have the golden eyes.

  “Tye, I think the cookies are going to your head. I’ve known Ethan my whole life. He’s definitely not a Shifter.” Tye still hadn’t let her walk around him. He also never broke Ethan’s eye contact. They were having some weird power struggle, and Tye was winning. Ethan was starting to shake all over.

  “Melanie you may want to back up. I think Ethan’s about to show you his jaguar.”

  “What? This doesn’t make any sense.” Melanie had a hold of the back of Tye’s shirt, and didn’t have any plans to go anywhere without him. Other than his stance being a bit rigid, he seemed completely unaffected otherwise.

  “Ethan, just calm down. I don’t want to fight you. I will, but I don’t want to make a bad impression on Melanie’s family by wrecking her mom’s Thanksgiving dinner.”

  “You’re bonded?” It was the first words Ethan had spoken in a while. It looked like he was in extreme pain.

  “Not yet. She’s my mate though.”

  That comment landed Tye a swift jab in the back. She didn’t like that word, and they hadn’t established that as a certain or not. She didn’t like him throwing the word around to everyone. He might as well just hike his leg, and pee on her.

  “She seems to object?” Ethan took a threatening step forward. Uh oh maybe Melanie should have saved her disagreement for a more private setting.

  “She’s human it’s new for both of us. There are no doubts that she is my mate though. Don’t try it Ethan.”

  Melanie’s father, mother, and Ethan’s dad were all in the kitchen now. They were all wide eyed at the Shifter show down happening in the kitchen. Ethan’s head snapped over to them, which gave Tye an opening. Faster than Melanie thought possible Tye had Ethan in a deathlike bear hug, and was dragging him backwards. She realized he was taking him towards the French doors that lead to the back yard. She darted behind him and got the doors open just in time. Both men were now no longer men, but giant animals.

  Tye never ceased to amaze Melanie in his gigantic Kodiak form. Ethan was indeed a jaguar just as Tye had said. He was circling Tye, every bit the predator. Tye still seemed completely bored with the situation as he stood, and kept his piercing eyes locked on Ethan.

  “What the hell is happening Melanie?” Her dad had her by the arm trying to drag her behind him.

  “I have no idea. As soon as Ethan walked in Tye recognized him, and apparently he is a Shifter. They had some sort of weird pissing contest, and now you’re watching the aftermath of that. Did you know Ethan was a Shifter?”

  “Yes, but we didn’t realize he could still shift.”

  “What? What the hell dad?” Melanie couldn’t believe her dad had known, and never told her.

  Her dad stood completely still, and seemed completely frozen at the fight that was brewing in front of him. She shook his arm, and tried to get him to finish the conversation. It was Dr. Carr that finally explained things.

  “I adopted Ethan when he was just a baby. His family had been executed for threatening humans, but the officers were sure what to do with him. I couldn’t stand the thought of them killing a harmless baby so I said I would take him in. Your father and I had been working on experimental drugs that might be able to control the Shifters.”

  Melanie turned back to Tye and Ethan in the yard, they still hadn’t managed to make contact with one another, and she could tell Tye was hoping it would stay that way. He wasn’t provoking Ethan, but letting him pace and hopefully burn off some steam.

  “Tye won’t hurt him.” As soon as she said it she knew Tye had heard her. She said it more of a statement for him not her parents. She didn’t think he would anyways, but she didn’t know what was happening with the two of them in the kitchen. Ethan seemed to be having trouble coming to terms with Tye’s claim that she was his mate.

  “Do you know if humans can mate with Shifters?”

  “Melanie!” Her mom was aghast at her question.

  “Not like that? Tye and Ethan were using the term mate in reference to me. That’s not the first time Tye told me I was his mate. Is it possible?” She asked the question to Dr. Carr assuming he would know.

  “I’ve seen it before. It’s rare, but if he says that you’re his mate, then he obviously is feeling the mate bond with you. It’s not a term Shifters use lightly.”

  Melanie wasn’t sure if that was reassuring or not. She turned back to Tye and Ethan who had finally started to fight. Ethan dove in trying to go for Tye’s throat, but Tye was faster, and batted him away with ease. Ethan righted himself and jumped right back up and immediately launched another attack. The two circled and lunged at each other until Tye finally caught Ethan by the neck. He slammed in down on the ground so hard it felt like it shook the house. Ethan immediately shifted back into a man.

  Tye released him, but he didn’t shift yet. He kept himself protectively in between Melanie, her parents, and Ethan. Melanie wanted to go to Ethan and make sure he was okay since the hit seemed to have really dazed him. She wasn’t sure how Tye would feel about that though. She decided best to stand back. Tye was a doctor after all, and a Shifter he would know how to help Ethan better than anybody.

  “I’m fine Tye. I won’t hurt them you can Shift.” Ethan’s voice was hoarse. He still hadn’t moved from his position on the ground. Melanie realized he may not be moving because he was naked so she ran in the house and got two blankets. She came back out and handed one to Tye. When she went to lay the other on Ethan Tye growled, and took it from her, and did it himself.

  “You’re being a bit over bearing Tye.” He was still in his bear form so he gave her his best frown. He finally shifted back.

  “Finally. What happened?”

  “Your friend Ethan here was hoping that you’d be his mate. When he showed up today, and realized that you were mine his jaguar took over. You saw the rest. I think we’re both in agreement now though. Wouldn’t you say Ethan?”

  “As long as Melanie is happy I’m fine.” Ethan said as he made his way over to them.

  “Huh. Well I’m glad that you two have this all worked out. Let me see if I follow. I’m yours, not his. You two had to fight it out first though.” The venom dripped from her voice. She couldn’t believe how barbaric they were acting. It was all too much. She stormed back inside. Tye was hot on her heals though.

  “Melanie, what is going on. I’ve told you before that you’re my mate.”

  “You’ve told me. You TOLD me! Don’t you see how that could make me a little angry. I don’t like to be told how I will spend my life, and with who. I don’t want to be anybody’s mate. Not right now. You know that Tye. You know how hard I have worked to get this far. I’m not done yet.”

  “Yeah, I know how hard you have worked. I also know that you feel for me as strongly as I you. You may not be a Shifter but you have opened yourself up to the bond, to me. I have no intentions of throwing you off of your career path. I’m right there with you. We want the same things.”