Marrying The Bear (Gray Bears 1)

by Natalie Kristen

  Her words echoed in his mind.

  A wish.

  Alisa said she'd made a wish.

  A wish was magical, and there were two people he knew and loved who had magic in their blood. He should have known they were only too happy to work their meddlesome but well-meaning magic.

  Tristan shook his head and blew a sigh towards the ceiling.

  Love powers magic, and for a spell to work so quickly, that love must have been very powerful indeed.

  But there were some spells that should never be cast.

  “Gramma, Ne-ma, what have you done?” he growled quietly.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Alisa pulled the tray of lasagne out of the oven and put in another tray. Gramma and Ne-ma told her that she had free rein in the kitchen. There was no fixed menu so the Lunch Special could be anything. Same with the Breakfast Treat and Dinner Surprise.

  “Our guests at Broomstick Inn like surprises. Be as bold and experimental as you like. The customers will love whatever you cook,” Gramma promised.

  Broomstick Hall, the small in-house restaurant on the ground floor of Broomstick Inn, catered to the guests in the inn as well as walk-in customers. People would walk in for a hearty, homely meal, and their customers ranged from office workers in smart suits to curious tourists and ravenous, rowdy construction crew.

  Tristan had woken her up with a kiss just before dawn and told her that he had to get to the construction site. They were rushing to complete a project, and he wanted to be there before his crew.

  “I thought the boss always goes in last,” she mumbled sleepily.

  “No. The boss goes in first, gets out last,” Tristan said solemnly.

  He had a good work ethic. Responsible, reliable, and not afraid of hard work. He wasn't some airy-fairy, pampered, privileged Prince Charming. Tristan was honest, solid and real. She really like that, and she really, really liked him. He was good in bed, but he was good all over as well.

  They had brushed their teeth, showered and gotten dressed together. It felt comfortable and they seemed to instinctively know each other's morning routine. It was almost like they were an old married couple, perfectly comfortable and at ease with each other. It was both sweet and sexy at the same time.

  Alisa had gone down to the kitchen soon after Tristan left the inn. She had already cooked a batch of scrambled eggs and sausages, and was mixing the pancake batter when Gramma and Ne-ma came into the kitchen. They didn't seem surprised to see her. They simply beamed at her and gave each other triumphant, knowing smiles.

  “You're perfect!” the two ladies had crowed happily. “Just perfect.”

  She assumed they were talking about her cooking. And their praise made her very happy indeed.

  The breakfast crowd was small but lively, and she got to know some of the guests staying at Broomstick Inn. The lunchtime crowd though promised to be much bigger. From the customers streaming into Broomstick Hall, Alisa knew that she had to get another tray of lasagne into the oven as fast as possible.

  Gramma and Ne-ma came in to refill their coffee pots. “Wow, it's real busy today.” Ne-ma whistled. “What a crowd.”

  “Yeah, and Tristan and the boys haven't even been in yet.”

  “Tristan is coming?” Alisa said before she could stop herself. Her hand automatically went to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Yep. Tristan comes here for lunch with his crew almost every day. But they usually come in later, after the lunch crowd has left.”

  “I guess I better prepare another tray of lasagne,” Alisa mumbled, hurrying to pull out more ingredients from the fridge. Building houses was hard work. She would make sure Tristan and his crew were well-fed, with enough carbs and protein to power those huge muscles.

  Alisa bit her lip as she began to chop and dice all those fresh ingredients. She was behaving like a little wife, worrying and fretting about her husband and wanting to keep him healthy and happy.

  She shook away the thought. It was strange how close she felt to the Gray family when she had only just met them. It was almost like she belonged here, in this family.

  Alisa was just straightening up from the oven when she heard loud male voices. She looked up and saw two tall, brawny men with the same striking green eyes as Tristan bounding into the kitchen and grabbing Gramma and Ne-ma in big bear hugs.

  “Gramma! Ne-ma!” the two big men yelled.

  “Oh, put me down, you rascals!” Gramma scolded, but her eyes were shining with joy. “Let me take a good look at you. You've grown thinner, Aidan.”

  “Nah, just taller,” Aidan answered with a grin.

  “Something smells real good.” The two men sniffed the air and spun round. “It's her!”

  “Aidan! Mason! Behave yourselves!” Ne-ma said.

  Aidan and Mason came towards Alisa, grinning mischievously.

  “I don't think we've met. I'm Aidan Gray, and this is my brother, Mason.” Aidan was smiling, but his eyes were sharp and assessing. His smile vanished when he saw the puncture marks on her neck. “You've been bitten by a vamp.”

  Alisa's hand flew to her neck. “Y-yes. Tristan saved me. He…”

  Mason squinted at her and took a sniff. Alisa backed away in shock. What the hell was he doing?

  “He did more than save you,” Mason said. “Do you see that, Aidan? Tristan's mark.”

  Broad smiles split their handsome faces and they lunged for her. Before she could scream, she found herself being hugged to death by two enthusiastic, muscular men. “Welcome to the family! Oh, that sneaky bastard didn't tell us anything!”

  “Maybe he wanted to surprise us with a nephew or a niece!”

  “This is wonderful!”

  Gramma and Ne-ma came to pry those two big men off her. “Let her breathe, you big louts,” Gramma said laughing. “Aidan and Mason are Tristan's younger brothers. They just got back from the city,” Gramma told her.

  “Where are your manners?” Ne-ma gave them resounding smacks on their behinds.

  Aidan and Mason laughed and stuffed their hands in their pockets.

  “Sorry, we got carried away. But we're just so excited!”

  “Yeah. We even forgot to ask you your name.”

  Alisa smiled. “I'm Alisa Perez. Your Gramma and Ne-ma hired me as the new chef for Broomstick Inn.”

  Aidan and Mason turned to each other wordlessly, their eyes and mouths rounding. Then they frowned and slanted suspicious looks at Gramma and Ne-ma.

  “Did you two...” Aidan wagged his finger.

  “Oh, lunch is ready!” Gramma clapped loudly and steered her two beefy grandsons out of the kitchen before they could say more.

  Alisa stared at their departing backs and smiled. She could see the familial resemblance. Tristan and his brothers were all tall, blond and broad, with stunning green eyes. And like Gramma and Ne-ma, they were all warm and welcoming, making her feel at home almost immediately.

  She pulled out the fresh tray of lasagne and cut large slices onto two big plates. “Aidan and Mason must be hungry after their long journey home,” she said, handing Ne-ma the plates. “I hope they like lasagne.”

  Ne-ma patted her hand and smiled. “They love it. After years of city living, I know they miss home-cooked food. And absolutely nothing tastes better than food cooked with love.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Hey! Big brother!”

  “Over here, big guy! We're back!”

  “Jackson! Oh, you've grown up quite a bit, eh?”

  Tristan's face split in a grin. As soon as he walked into Broomstick Inn with his crew, his two city-dwelling brothers hollered and waved at him from the reception counter.

  Tristan grabbed Aidan in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles into his brother's shaggy blond hair. Then he put his arms around Mason's broad chest and lifted his little brother right off the floor.

  His brothers grumbled, “Hey, we're not five anymore!”

&n
bsp; But they were grinning when they came to tackle him together. Their youngest brother, Jackson, jumped on the three of them and whooped. Together, the four of them made a towering, boisterous mountain of beefy man-meat.

  “Did you miss us?”

  “Did we miss something?” Aidan asked, staring Tristan straight in the eye. “What have you been keeping from us?”

  Tristan put his hands up. “I never keep anything from you guys.”

  “Are you sure?” Mason said slyly, peering at him.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Jackson demanded.

  Aidan flung his arm around Jackson's shoulder and tsked loudly. “Ah, baby brother, don't you smell something on Tristan?”

  “Tristan?” Jackson frowned as he came to sniff at Tristan. “What? A new cologne? A new woman?” His eyes widened suddenly as Tristan swatted him away. “A new woman, that's it! I didn't notice it before, but now that you mention it, I can smell her on him. Her scent is very subtle though, almost as if...” Jackson took a few more whiffs. “...her scent is fused with Tristan's. Their scents are all mixed up, mingled together. That's why I didn't smell her on him at first. Strange.”

  Mason came to throw his arm around Jackson as well. “Not strange at all. That is the scent of a mate, Jackson. Your mate's scent will mingle with yours once you're mated. She won't just smell like a female you've been with. Her scent will be a part of you.”

  Three pairs of intense green eyes zeroed in on Tristan, like laser beams. His younger brothers closed in on him as his crew watched in amusement. He shot his merry men a glance, but it was clear from their gleeful chuckles that none of them would be coming to his aid. They were having too much fun at their boss's expense.

  “When were you going to tell us, Tristan?”

  “Were you going to tell us at all?”

  “Or did you intend to hide her from us?”

  “There's no way you can hide her. Your mate is right here in the inn!”

  Tristan threw up his hands. “Alisa just arrived at Shadow Point. And I just got mated last night!”

  There was a moment of utter silence. Then his men and his brothers cheered and crowded round. They thumped him on the back and shouted, “Congrats, man!”

  “Come on, let's go meet our lady boss!”

  “You said her name is Alisa? All right! Yo, Alisa!”

  “Hello, Mrs Boss! We're here for lunch!”

  Before Tristan could stop them, his men stampeded through the dining hall and invaded the kitchen, cheerfully yelling Alisa's name.

  Tristan stared at his brothers and gulped. “Alisa doesn't know.”

  “Huh?”

  “She's human. She doesn't know that I marked and claimed her as mine. She thought...”

  His brothers' brows shot up at the same time and their eyes swiveled in the direction of the kitchen. “You might want to get in there,” Aidan muttered.

  Tristan took a sharp breath and rushed into the kitchen, elbowing his men out of his way. He had to rescue Alisa from their exuberant, zealous clutches.

  It took him a moment to realize that his men weren't doing any clutching or crowding or crowing. They were actually shuffling their feet and standing in a quiet orderly queue. And they were all hanging their heads and looking shame-faced.

  Alisa was glaring at the lot of them with her oven-gloved hands firmly planted on her hips.

  “No shoving and shouting in the kitchen. If you want your lasagne, you'll have to wait in line. There are customers outside who are waiting to be served,” Alisa said in a stern, disapproving voice. She looked like a head mistress admonishing a bunch of misbehaving schoolboys as she picked up a rolling pin and rapped the counter. “I know you are Tristan's crew. I can read,” she snapped, eyeing the words 'Gray's Domain' on the left side of their construction vests. “But you don't get preferential treatment. Go out and wait for your food. Out!” She pointed with her big red oven glove.

  “Yes, Boss,” they mumbled and trudged out obediently.

  Alisa watched them go and caught sight at Tristan at the door. She glared at him and kicked up her chin. “Out!” she ordered “All of you includes you! There are hungry customers out there. You'll get your food. Now out!”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Tristan came out to the dining hall and was met with looks of awe and admiration from his men. “Wow, lady boss is The Boss!” someone said.

  Gramma and Ne-ma was sniggering as they poured coffee and tea for the other customers. “Now you boys just sit down and behave yourselves,” they told the men. “Don't make Alisa angry. She's got a lot on her plate today.”

  “And she's got a lot of fire in her belly!” There were a few appreciative whistles.

  Aidan, Mason and Jackson tiptoed to the kitchen door and poked their heads in. They retreated in a hurry and came to sit down with the crew.

  “I think she saw us,” Jackson whispered.

  “She gave you the evil eye,” Mason said.

  “No, she gave you the evil eye,” Aidan countered.

  As Ne-ma walked past, Tristan saw her give Gramma a discreet low five.

  “Worked perfectly,” Gramma chuckled to Ne-ma.

  Tristan went up to them and demanded, “What worked perfectly?”

  The two women straightened up and stared at him with identical blank expressions. “Nothing,” they said together.

  He narrowed his eyes at them. “You worked a spell.”

  “What spell?” Gramma said.

  “How the hell should I know what spell?” Tristan exploded.

  Ne-ma and Gramma stole glances at each other and began to giggle. “You mated her. We heard you last night. And well, you know there is no mating spell,” Ne-ma said smugly.

  Tristan scowled and scrubbed a hand down his face. It seemed everyone in this goddamn town knew he had mated Alisa. His private life was not private. At least not in this town where people could see, scent and scry information that was hidden from ordinary human senses.

  But what Ne-ma said was true. No spell in the universe could prevent a shifter from claiming his true mate. And there was no spell that could compel a shifter to take a mate against his will. There was no magic involved in mating. Just pure instinct, need and want.

  “There, there.” Gramma and Ne-ma patted his rigid shoulders. “All's well, is it not?”

  Tristan growled as they hurried to the kitchen, whispering and giggling like two schoolgirls.

  Gramma and Ne-ma was always up to something, but this time, they were way more secretive than usual. Whatever they were doing or plotting had something to do with him...and his brothers. And Alisa.

  Tristan pivoted to face his siblings, who were talking furiously among themselves and sneaking him cheeky, furtive glances. Ha! They might be laughing at him now, but they wouldn't find it funny at all when it happened to them. It was just a matter of time. Tristan smirked at his gossipy, clueless brothers. They wouldn't even know what hit them.

  They stopped talking when Alisa appeared with a tray and started serving the men generous helpings of mouth-watering lasagne.

  Gramma and Ne-ma helped but Tristan could tell they were more interested in watching Alisa than serving their customers. The two elderly ladies' faces were glowing with sheer happiness and delight and there was a definite twinkle in their eye.

  Something clicked in his mind and he started.

  A wish.

  A spell.

  Alisa's wish had triggered something. He didn't know what and neither did she.

  Tristan sat down with his younger brothers, and watched them stare at Alisa with adoring, puppy-dog eyes. They loved her as a big sister already and despite their ribbing, it was obvious that they were all so happy for him.

  His family loved his mate, and his crew liked and respected her tremendously.

  Could it be...a love spell?

  Tristan's face and heart twisted painfully.

  Tristan shov
eled the lasagne into his mouth, chewed and swallowed without tasting anything.

  Gramma and Ne-ma may have meant well, but love spells always backfired. Always, without fail.

  They couldn't have worked a love spell.

  “They wouldn't,” he muttered and stared down at his empty plate.

  Tristan pushed away from the table and accosted Ne-ma in the hallway.

  “Ne-ma, I know you and Gramma worked some sort of magic. I can't figure out what. Just—” He took a painful breath and said, “Just tell me it's not a love spell.”

  Ne-ma saw the stark fear in his eyes. He feared for Alisa.

  “Oh Tristan,” Ne-ma said, putting her hand on his cheek. “Your Gramma and I will never do that to you and yours. We worked a love spell once as teenagers on a classmate. She was mean to your Gramma and I got mad so I made your Gramma help me cast the love spell. It was a mean trick, and we regretted it. We managed to make things right in the end, but love spells are nasty!” Ne-ma shuddered.

  Tristan blew out a breath of relief. “Okay. So Alisa won't suffer any nasty effects.”

  “Not from our spell.”

  Tristan's frown returned. “Did you make her...”

  “We didn't make her do anything. Free will, Tristan. Everything she does is of her own free will.”

  Ne-ma patted his chest and ambled off. “And we never could make you do anything you didn't want to do, Tristan. Even as a boy you were your own man.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Alisa dried her hands and stepped back from the gleaming kitchen counter. She had finished washing, cleaning and scrubbing everything. The kitchen had a fresh, citrus smell and she smiled proudly.

  Everything was in order and ready for tomorrow. It had been a good day, more than good really. It had been a busy, crazy and completely fulfilling day. She had never felt happier. Here, in the kitchen of Broomstick Inn, she had finally found her place, her calling. She could experiment with all the new, exciting recipes that had been floating around in her head. She loved to see people enjoying her cooking, and Tristan's brothers and work crew had all asked for seconds and thirds.