by C. L. Stone
As she pulled onto the long road that wound around to her grandmother’s, she tapped her left foot rapidly. The trees began to part, and there it was—her grandmother’s cabin. The house wasn’t as old as the land; the original farmhouse had been torn down years ago, long before her grandmother was born. She couldn’t suppress the sigh that longed to escape. It felt like coming home; she may have only spent a small portion of her childhood here, but it felt like the best part.
A flash of red caught Ellie’s attention on the side of the road; rather than take her eyes off where she was going she hit the brakes. Scanning the tree line, she spotted it again, something large was moving through the woods just up ahead. As if it could feel her eyes upon it, it doubled back. Out of the woods stepped a giant red-furred black bear, Mathin. It’s Mathin, I know it! The bear sniffed the air, coming to stand mere feet in front of her car, it was like he thought he could smell her through the layers of metal.
Slowly, careful not to startle him, Ellie opened her car door. She was still some ways from her grandmother’s, but she knew this bear. It couldn’t be any other; she felt it. Mathin had grown to be a very large bear, but he didn’t charge at her or show any aggression as she slid from around her car door. He just watched her closely. Snap! Something else was in the woods. Mathin let out a warning cry, and Ellie flew back into her car before another even larger bear came barreling out of the woods to tackle Mathin. The fur was black as night, Dov, she felt certain. The bears weren’t hurting each other, but they ignored her as they wrestled together on the ground. Ellie started to laugh, but broke off as her third and final bear made his appearance. Torben walked slowly from the direction of the house; it wasn’t until he came into range of the others that he let out a loud growl. Ellie gasped, the brawling in front of her stopped.
With the other bears calmed, Torben approached Ellie. She still stood behind her car door, but she reached a hand towards Torben as he approached. He was almost within reach, but his ears flicked back and he paused before turning to the other bears. With a quick call to them, he turned and disappeared into the woods, the other two fast on his heels. Ellie strained to hear what they’d heard, but she didn’t hear anything other than the birds in the trees. It was a whole minute before she saw her grandmother, a small speck beyond the cabin. The bears were racing to meet her; she must have called them in. That’s amazing! I wonder if they’d come when I call?
Shaking her head with a smile, Ellie climbed back into the car and drove the remaining distance to the cabin. By the time she turned off the ignition, her grandmother waited just outside her vehicle, and the bears were nowhere in sight.
“Hi Maw-Maw!” Ellie jumped out of her seat and threw her arms around the older woman. Julia’s hair looked grayer than she remembered, and she seemed smaller somehow. Still, she appeared fit and healthy, ready to tackle any animal brought into her hospital. She’d told Ellie on the phone she’d tried taking house calls again, but most animals were spooked by the bears.
“Ellie, honey, it’s good to see you. Do you need help gettin’ your bags? I can get the boys to help you.”
“No, that’s okay, I loaded it up. I can get it out. I’d rather have a minute to put myself back together before they see me.” Ellie patted her hair and straightened her skirt, puzzled by the smile on her grandmother’s face. Was it so hard to believe she wanted to look good around a group of young men?
“How was your trip?” Julia rested her arm on the side of Ellie’s car.
“Great! No problems, just smooth sailing all the way here.” Opening the trunk, Ellie pulled out two large suitcases.
Julia smirked as Ellie waddled, struggling to carry both cases at once. “Are ya sure you don’t want help?”
“No, I can handle it.” Ellie grimaced. “I’m not going to let my grandmother do the heavy lifting.”
“You’d be surprised what this old lady can lift.” Julia closed the trunk with a smirk.
“Speaking of old, how many years are you now, Maw-Maw?” No one would ever tell her.
“Ya don’t ask an old woman her age, Ellie.” Having spoken her peace, Julia turned and headed for the house, leaving Ellie to hurry behind her.
“I’m sorry Maw-Maw, I won’t ask again. So which room should I take? You didn’t give my room away, did you?” Ellie asked as she entered the cabin.
“I did actually. You can ask the boys to share a room, or you can be a sport and take the couch, it’s up to you,” Julia stood behind one of the sofas placed parallel to one another around a worn rug.
“Okay then, I guess I’ll take the couch.” Ellie tucked her suitcases into a corner in the living room, just enough that they were out of the way. “I’m just gonna go freshen up.” Taking her purse, Ellie headed to the bathroom. She passed by her old room on her way down the beige hall, but all the bedroom doors were all shut. Julia always kept the bathroom doors closed when she was little, so it didn’t occur to her to knock before entering.
Ellie pulled the door open and stopped short. Standing mostly naked—with only a towel draped low around his waist—was a very tall man. Muscles covered his body. She felt like drooling, and she hadn’t even made it to his face yet. She couldn’t get past the size of his arms or the firmness of his abs. When she finally looked into his brown eyes, she realized how long she’d been staring at him.
“I’m so sorry!” Ellie threw the door open and slammed it shut with her on the other side.
She replayed the last few minutes in her mind as she stood with her back to the door catching her breath. The black haired stranger never said a word to her, he just stood there letting her stare at him like a complete idiot. But oh, what a view! His eyes were a honey brown; his kissable lips had been set in a straight line neither smiling nor frowning, just watching. He never moved the whole time she stared at him. How embarrassing! Realizing she’d been hanging around the scene of the crime, Ellie headed back to the living room to sit down where the old brown sofa welcomed her home. She tilted her head back on the frame of the couch and sighed.
2
“Not going to freshen up?” Julia chuckled at Ellie’s narrowed eyes.
Ellie jumped to her feet. “Did you know he was in there?” Damn it, she knew!
“Do you think I would allow a young girl to head into the bathroom with a young man half dressed?” Julia placed a hand on her chest, giving Ellie a rather exaggerated look with her eyebrows raised so high they almost touched her hairline.
“How did you know he was only half dressed if you didn’t do it on purpose?” Gottcha!
“You’re a smart one, go use my bathroom, Honey.” Julia smiled, her eyes crinkling. “If I’d left it up to you, y’all never woulda gotten together with all that stallin’.”
“I only wanted a minute to myself Maw-Maw,” Ellie said, red in the face.
“Well, it’s done now. One down, two to go.” Julia patted her on the back as Ellie passed her. The master bedroom was down a different hallway, kept separate from the other bedrooms. As soon as the door shut to Julia’s bathroom, the guys used their heightened speed to meet Julia in their hallway.
“You can keep that glare to yourself, Dov.” Julia laughed. “I did it for your own good.”
Dov moved his hands to sign, “not funny.” Dov didn’t speak, because Dov was mute. They weren’t entirely sure if he couldn’t speak due to post traumatic stress or if he’d simply gone so long without trying he didn’t have any desire to. Julia had struggled after the cubs finally shifted. Dov wouldn’t talk, and it took the others awhile to tell her why, seeing as Mathin and Torben were only four at the time while Dov was five. It had been several weeks after Ellie’s dad had picked her up that first summer. Julia wasn’t proud, but she had once again resorted to bribery and withholding. She’d denied them their favorite snack until they chose to shift and eat at the table like regular boys. They waited her out for several hours before they couldn’t take it anymore. Mathin, always the first to try new things, shifted
and the others followed.
In the end, the reason why Dov wouldn’t talk seemed obvious, the woman in the woods had been his mother. During their travels north, Dov had gotten banged up; since any injury had long healed, it was hard for Julia to determine if the problem was psychological or physical in nature. Either Dov had a brain injury, or the stress of watching his mother die caused him enough emotional trauma to rob him of his voice. The brain is a very complex organ. She could have taken Dov to a specialist, except he refused to let anyone, but her examine him. Julia imagined he was told to avoid human doctors since shifters were a relative mystery to science. Luckily, shifting healed most wounds, and weres weren’t prone to viruses or infections.
The other boys spoke just fine; but then, it wasn’t their mothers who were killed in front of them. Julia also found out while the boys were all related, they weren’t brothers, they were cousins. They’d been having a sleepover when someone attacked their werebear community, Dov’s mother managed to get them out, but they ran into hunters several times along the way. The boys weren’t told anything specific about their direction, just that they were headed to a werebear community up north.
Mathin stepped in front of Dov to face Julia. “We saw her, outside. I could smell her from the forest, I’m certain she’s my mate.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” Torben shook his head, hands planted firmly on his hips. But I suspect she might be…
“True, but why else does my heart race and my skin tingle whenever she’s near.” He placed a hand over his heart, rubbing little circles there. “You’ve felt it right? You said you did when we were kids.” Mathin couldn’t believe they still doubted him. It was true they’d never learned much about mates before being rescued by Julia, but instinct was a powerful tool. He lived on it.
Dov gestured quickly, still looking aggravated, “there’s something about her.”
“See! Even Grumpy-Pants gets it,” Mathin said, with a laugh, earning himself a glare from Dov.
Torben pointed at Mathin. “Don’t start with him. I’m not saying she isn’t special to us, but we can’t go around using the word mate. She’s human, like it or not.”
“In all the research I’ve done for y’all, I’ve never found anything that said a human couldn’t be mated to a werebear.” Julia titled her head, pulling Dov to her side to wrap an arm around him.
Torben shook his head. “That may be true, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t something. Besides, who ever heard of three bears with one mate? Even if female shifters are rare… There’s another issue we need to address. What are we going to say when she asks us our names? We can’t use our bear names, she knows those.”
“What about the names your parents gave y’all?” Julia asked, Dov rolled his eyes. “Okay, you don’t like those.”
Mathin jumped in to explain. “That’s not really what he meant, weres—well—werebears, let their children choose their own names when they turn six.”
“So, none of y’all had names?” Julia couldn’t believe her ears. Why didn’t they tell me before?
“We had nicknames, but they were more what a mother calls a baby, not something you give out to others,” Mathin whispered.
“Well, that’s odd.” She wasn’t trying to be insulting, but she wasn’t sure what to say. “I guess we’ll have to give y’all nicknames, some form of your names that won’t sound so close that Ellie gets suspicious.”
“We could assign ourselves middle names. You never did give us those.” Mathin shrugged.
“That’s true, I hadn’t thought of that.” Julia turned and peaked around the corner; there was no sign of Ellie. “We better make it quick, she’s a girl, but Ellie’s not prissy. She won’t take that long freshenin’ up.”
“I vote Ryder for Dov since he loves working on his bikes.” Mathin stuck his hands in the pockets of his shorts. Dov shrugged, which was as good as they were going to get. “Okay one down.”
“Mathin’s zany, so I vote Zane for him.” Torben poked his cousin. “And since we’re naming each other, Dov you get to pick my name.” Watching Dov’s hands fly, Torben replied, “No, Shit-head is not a good name. Be serious.”
Dov thought for a minute before sighing, he signed, “Wade.”
Torben shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t suck, so that’ll work. Now we just have to try to remember them, I wish we could tell Ellie the truth. Are you really sure she’d freak out?”
“She doesn’t even know weres exist. After meetin’ y’all as cubs, her father succeeded in keepin’ her rather sheltered. I’m sure he knows weres exist, but I don’t think he realizes that’s what y’all are.” Julia patted Torben’s hand.
“It’s not that big of a leap,” Dov signed.
“Maybe not, but people around here don’t ever see shifters, or if they do, they think we’re just animals.” Torben shrugged. “Either way, if we can’t tell Ellie, we’re going to have to be very careful around her. We’ve gotten complacent lately with only Julia around.”
Dov signed, “fine.”
“It was great being able to shift wherever, whenever.” Mathin stretched his arms out to the side, imagining shedding his human skin.
“You’re just an exhibitionist,” Dov signed, hands flying as he teased.
Mathin laughed and leaned into Dov’s face. “No, I’m a thrill seeker.”
“Same diff.” Torben poked Mathin.
“Zip it,” Dov signed.
“Here she comes.” Torben spoke to Julia as the bears all heard Ellie’s footsteps.
When Ellie walked back into the living room, the guys were already lined up waiting for her. This time, fully dressed, while Julia was still walking in from the hallway. “Oh, hi,” Ellie said. Turning to Dov she added, “I’m really sorry about before.”
Dov just shrugged; Ellie didn’t know if he was being standoffish or if he was really embarrassed. “I really didn’t mean to…” I’m so sorry and embarrassed, very embarrassed.
“It’s okay, Honey, Ryder here doesn’t talk.” Julia patted Ellie’s hand.
“Doesn’t talk? Like, at all?” Ellie’s eye’s widened, and Dov shook his head no. “So…how do I, um…?”
“He signs, American Sign Language, ASL, to be exact. He can hear just fine, though. I’m Zane, that’s Ryder, and the brunette over there is Wade,” Mathin said, his ear length red hair coming to rest partially over one eye.
Ellie turned to Dov, or as she knew him, Ryder. “Okay, um…I don’t know ASL, but I’ll learn it if you want.”
Dov’s eyebrows raised before he signed, “You don’t have to, but it’s cool you offered. I can write things down for you.” Mathin translated.
“It’s okay, it’s good to learn new things. If Maw-Maw can do it, so can I, but I will need you to write stuff down for now. Does anyone have a dry erase board?” Ellie bit her lip.
“I have one, I’ll go get it,” Torben, now dubbed Wade, offered.
“Thanks Wade!” Ellie beamed at him, making it hard for Torben to turn away. Torben returned with a small erase board attached to a string; she grabbed the board and approached Dov, without batting an eye she hung the board around his neck. The board was a cheapie from the grocery store, lined with images of little wild flowers. Ellie tried to keep a straight face, but Dov’s “not amused” grimace was too much for her. Doubling over with laughter, she unintentionally gave the guys a nice view down her top. The laughter that had started in Torben’s and Mathin’s throats died on a choke. Ellie slapped her knee with rounds of happy chuckles.
“Ellie sweetie…” Julia mimed pulling her top up.
“Oh!” Ellie blushed. “Sorry Maw-Maw.” She turned a lovely shade of red, but the guys didn’t notice. They were still staring at her chest. Dov didn’t wear a grimace anymore; the tiny smirk hovering on his lips caused Ellie to break out in a wide grin when she noticed. She might not have intended to flash the guys her black bra, but she couldn’t help loving the result. Dov was even more handsome with a smile
and way less intimidating. Not that she was afraid of any of them, but she could see where he could have that effect on others.
Ellie leaned on the sofa. “So, what now?”
“Well, it’ll be lunch time soon, I’m gonna go make y’all some food. Everyone good with fried chicken?” Julia smiled at the chorus of nods that answered her. “Great! Why don’t y’all sit down and get to know one another while I get it goin’.” She nodded to the couch and took her leave.
“Works for me.” Ellie sat down in the middle of the couch. Dov remained standing, but Mathin and Torben sat on either side of her. Dov eventually moved to the sofa across from them. He looks so adorable, but so pissed. “I’m sorry, Ryder.” Ellie giggled before removing the board from around Dov’s neck and sat it in his lap instead. As she stood over him, Dov got a whiff of something sweet beyond her perfume and couldn’t help using his bear senses to scent the air, the smell was coming from her pocket.
“Are you sniffing me?” Ellie scrunched her nose. What the hell?
Dov looked away guilty as charged, but quickly wrote. “I smelled candy.”
“I don’t wear a scent with…oh! I bought this candy bar at the gas station.” Pulling the Bit-O-Honey out of her pocket, she held it up in front of them. “But how could you smell that?” The guy’s eyes followed the honey filled bar as she waved it through the air; bears really do like honey.
Mathin dropped his eyes, staring at Ellie’s shoes. “Oh, um, you know what they say about losing one sense? Ryder lost the ability to talk, but his sense of smell improved.”
“I’m not sure that’s how it works, Zane.” Ellie shook her head with a frown. He’s lying through his teeth.
