Whole Lot Of Shiftin' Going On: Magic and Mayhem Universe (Baba Yaga Adventures)

by Donna McDonald

  “Hi,” he said, hoping Hildy hadn’t noticed.

  Even wearing a blanket and looking like she hadn’t brushed her hair the whole time they’d been apart, Hildy was still the only female he wanted.

  “Come in,” he said, his throat dry and scratchy with nerves.

  He turned away from Hildy’s curious gaze before he did something stupid like snatch her up and kiss her senseless. His bear rumbled and pushed to get out. They were not in alignment with what to do about the long-lost mate who had been avoiding them.

  “Thanks,” Hildy muttered, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

  The moment Chuck opened the door time had gotten erased. She stared up at the biggest bear in the recorded history of Assley. Chuck easily had grown another foot while she’d been away. That would make him somewhere between seven and eight feet tall now. The only thing she’d grown was a bigger ass. How was that fair?

  She nodded at the invitation and tried not to be hurt when Chuck turned and walked away as if he couldn’t stand being that close to her. But what had she expected? This was precisely the type of emotional distance she had intended to put between them by leaving. Her brilliant plan to destroy their love had apparently worked.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting your evening,” she said in apology.

  Chuck shook his head as he wandered back into the kitchen.

  Hildy tagged along behind him, not knowing what else to do. “The Baba Yaga asked me to come back to Assley and investigate the shifting problem everyone’s having.”

  “Let me guess. The townspeople you talked to pointed their fingers at the kids and me,” Chuck said, his heart deflating. He should have known she hadn’t come to see him out of love.

  Hildy nodded in reply. “Can I ask you some questions?”

  Feeling the same hopelessness settle over him that he’d lived with for two years, Chuck poured Hildy a glass of herbal tea and set it on the table. “Sit for a while. I’ll answer what I can.” It would at least give him an excuse to look at her.

  Hildy didn’t want to argue—or get off to a lousy start by demanding he stop staring—so she slid into a chair and took a sip of tea. Chuck had always kept a pitcher for her at his house. “I heard you’re the only shifter in town who hasn’t had any problems maintaining your animal form.”

  Chuck sat in the most massive chair at his table. He’d had to make a sturdy one to support his giant size. He nodded briefly before answering.

  “Mostly true, but then, I don’t shift much these days. Until the cubs get their first shift, it’s easier to stay human. I shifted once to fight some lady mountain lions after my friend’s harem kicked him out. George has unfortunately been stuck like glue to me ever since. The other time I shifted was today when your house almost fell on me. Using my bear was the only way I was able to prevent it from totally collapsing.”

  Hildy reached a hand up and twirled a lock of frizzy hair around her finger. “Thank you… but that’s not really my house. The Baba Yaga found it for me. It’s temporary lodgings while I work on the shifter problem.”

  “That place is not fit to live in. It was Doc Seaver’s old place back when the town had a human vet doing all their healing. It looked like it does now when I was born. After the Doc died, apparently the town let his house fall apart while they grieved him. No one’s been in that place for probably a hundred years. I can’t believe you’re trying to live there.”

  “It’s not much different than living in a cave… and like I said, it’s temporary.” Hildy swallowed her discomfort. She wished someone would just shoot her and put her out of her misery. They were talking like strangers. This was awful. “Tell me about the kids. Have you noticed anything unusual about their growth cycle?”

  Chuck nodded. “They’re not like normal cubs. They stayed babies for like three months, then suddenly doubled in size and started walking within a week. A couple of months after that, they doubled again and began talking in full sentences. It’s like they keep skipping big chunks of their childhood.”

  Hildy smiled and tried to imagine how Chuck had managed to cope with fatherhood. “I thought they seemed far too mature for two-year-olds of any species.”

  “We don’t know their exact date of birth, but this year they got their pig snouts. I marked that day down on the calendar as their birthday because instinct told me that was right. They’re supposed to be two, but they’re more like seven or eight in bear years. Their mother must have been a pig shifter but that seems impossible since they don’t exist.”

  “No, pig shifters don’t exist. I specifically asked Gaia about it before I left. She said whatever was happening was outside the natural order of life for everyone.”

  “Natural order,” Chuck studied the ceiling. “I wouldn’t understand that. Nothing’s been natural for me since you walked away.”

  Hildy sighed. “Do we have to talk about this?”

  Chuck nodded. “I think we do.”

  “I don’t regret leaving. I only regret returning. Once I solve this shifting mystery, I’ll be leaving again. Nothing has changed between us.”

  Chuck nodded and stood. “Sure. Why wouldn’t you leave me again? It’s not like we’re mates or anything. It’s not like we’re dying inside from being apart. I’m sure you have more important things to care about in your important Shifter Whisperer life than a broken-hearted bear dying for lack of love.”

  Hildy pushed herself up from the table with shaking hands. She refused to be made responsible for his happiness. “It’s not like that. It’s not like that at all.”

  Chuck huffed and then made a big burly chuffing sound. “It’s exactly like that, Hildy.”

  It was the first time she could recall Chuck being mad at her over anything. She put a hand to her nervous stomach. “Well, I guess we have a difference of opinion on the subject,” Hildy said as calmly as she could.

  She needed to leave before she said something stupid and started a bigger fight. Or threw herself at the big foolish bear and begged him to love her just once so she’d know what it was like to do more than dream about him.

  Hildy rubbed her nose and tried to deal with her conflicting feelings. “I don’t believe the kids are the real problem, but I can’t rule them out yet either. I’ll protect them all I can.”

  Chuck crossed his arms. “I’ll cooperate with your investigation but only if you promise not to hurt them.”

  Hildy shook her head. “You know I would never hurt them.”

  “Guess I’m not as sure about you as I used to be,” Chuck said.

  “Okay—on that fine note—I’m going to transport back to my haunted house. Don’t be frightened by the magic I use. It won’t hurt anything here. My magic is a bit stronger than it was a couple of years ago.”

  Chuck stared at her and wondered how he could let her leave again. He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be a nice enough bear to let her go. “Your magic doesn’t scare me. The only thing I’m scared of is losing you again. I’ve missed you, Hildegard. I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to come home to me.”

  “I can’t talk about this anymore,” Hildy said.

  Through eyes burning with tears, she lifted a hand and disappeared in a sparkle of pink which was often the color of her magic whenever she was around Chuck.

  5

  After crying herself to sleep, Hildy rose the next morning in a vile and bitter mood. She didn’t want to be here but she was stuck until she figured things out.

  It didn’t help her to find Gaia’s oldest druid sitting at her kitchen table. Keera was of Celtic blood, a bit of a drama queen, and continued to live on what she called the isles. Keera was also the druid who’d created Hildy’s tattoos one painful thorn prick at a time. Her Amazon training had been all that had gotten her through those days of tattooing torment. It was a painful experience that she’d never forget.

  “Greetings, Hildegard. Yar looking a bit peckish this morning. Didn’t ya sleep well?”

  “Not reall
y.” Hildy sighed and pushed back her hair. “Did Gaia send you to see me?”

  Keera lifted a hand and waved it. “She did, but can ya not offer a woman a fecking cup of tea before ya grill her about business?”

  “Sorry. Of course.” Hildy moved to the sink and filled a shiny copper kettle with water from the tap. “Have you seen my cats? They should have woken me up when you arrived.”

  Keera chuckled. “Oh, they’re out and about. I told them I’d seen a hundred mice plotting to invade this old house. They went to investigate my story.”

  “Did you lie to them just to get them to leave? I do that sometimes.” Hildy could admit it to her house guest because Keera often twisted facts to suit her purposes too. However, Keera’s talent for tale bending came from bargaining with the Fae.

  “I only lied a little. Thank ya kindly for the tea,” Keera said, smiling at the cup of hot brew Hildy put in front of her. “It was only about fifty or so rodents I saw. Something powerful wants you gone from this place, Hildegard. The critters actually were plotting how best to do it. That, unfortunately, is the truth.”

  Sighing over Keera’s drama, Hildy made a cup of tea for herself and brought it to the table along with the rest of the honey muffins. Keera looked delighted when she offered her one. She thought of how she used to make them for Chuck and how happy they’d always made him. She certainly hadn’t made him happy last night. He’d been downright mean to her.

  Her eyes filled with unshed tears as she thought about her messed up love life. The possibility of Chuck having a broken-heart made her feel small and mean as well. She blinked the moisture away and glared at Keera for witnessing her weakness. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

  “Shite, woman. I said ya were fecking suffering for no good reason. Mates aren’t a gift everyone gets in this world. Why are ya turning yers away?”

  “It turns out my alleged mate had a family without me.”

  Keera snorted and shrugged. “Bullocks and I thought ya had a good reason. Yar just going on hearsay and given yer enemy exactly what the frigging bastard wants.”

  “My enemy?” Hildy sat upright. Did she have enemies of that sort?

  Keera sipped her tea and nodded. “Yer enemies are part of the reason I’m here. Gaia said someone from yer past was messing with ya and that ya shouldn’t allow whoever it is to drain yer magic away with misery.”

  Hildy reached out and grabbed a muffin. “I’m not miserable.”

  “Liar. You’re wretched.”

  “Am not,” Hildy denied.

  Keera huffed. “Ya are too—as sure as I’m sitting here.”

  “Prove it,” Hildy said on a dare.

  Keera grinned. “Fine. If ya aren’t miserable, then I guess the death of yer bear won’t be adding to it.”

  “Death? Chuck’s not dead,” Hildy insisted. “I would know.”

  The last bite disappeared into Keera’s mouth. “Would ya now? And how would ya be knowing if he lived or died since yar avoiding yer natural link to him?”

  Hildy drank her tea and frowned. “What do you want me to do, Keera? Give up my pride and accept a mate who didn’t put me first?”

  “Yer bear is a gift from Gaia. She said she watched ya throw yerself between him and danger so ya could save his life.”

  “That was a long time ago. Chuck and I were both different then.”

  “The only difference is in yer mind. No mate is perfect, but yer bear comes pretty fecking close. His life is in danger from the one who’s orchestrating yer downfall. Do ya think it’s accidental that all the shiftin’ shite started here in Assley where Gaia has stashed ya for safe keeping?”

  “It’s Assssssley—emphasis on the ass,” Hildy corrected automatically.

  “Asssssssssley? That makes no sense. Assbucket makes sense because this place is shitty times ten,” Keera said, shaking her head.

  “Nothing in this town makes sense so don’t go there, Keera. Just try adding effing to the front—as in effing Assssssley. I find that works best.”

  Keera chuckled at Hildy’s teasing. “Yer sense of humor is a blessing to both of us. Do ya fully understand what it means that ya are only the second witch in all of history that Gaia’s been willing to train? It’s written in yer heart that her creatures come first with ya. This is how ya were made.”

  Hildy bowed her head. “The other person she trained doesn’t count because he wasn’t a witch. He was a dragon and the son of one. He was also a firebird. She trained him in healing to balance out his other powers. I know him well, Keera. Zenos was my magic teacher. He’s the reason Gaia chose me.”

  Keera hand smacked the table. “I’m here to tell ya he was not the fecking reason. When that bastard asked to see the Great Mother, Zenos of the One was no more than a conniving womanizer and a braggart. He habitually used his magic for nothing more important than a joke. Zenos was far, far from being exemplary until recently. Now yerself, though, ya have always been good of heart.”

  “Are you making a point? Because I’m not getting it. Maybe I need more tea.”

  Keera leaned closer. “No one’s perfect and no life is either. A person’s destiny can make things messy and ugly which only makes it more satisfying when the person finally get things straightened out.” She leaned back and sighed. “Gaia said she was holding off with bestowing your ultimate powers until ya stopped being a stubborn arse. There now—I’ve said the main thing I was sent to say. Take my counsel or not—that’s yer choice. Mention of the bastard has me all riled up.”

  Hildy threw up a hand. “That’s not fair. How am I being stubborn?”

  “By crying when ya don’t have to. By believing wrong things. Do ya really think in yer heart of hearts that yer bear has been unfaithful to the love he feels for ya?”

  Hildy sighed deeply. “I don’t know. How will I ever know? Chuck doesn’t remember either. But he’s raising three children, and they aren’t mine and his. If they’re truly not his cubs, why do they smell like his family?”

  “Maybe that’s a question ya should be asking his other family. As to why he kept them, would ya have preferred he tossed them back into the street? That bear is like you. He’s good of heart. The cubs are his because he made them so. That’s something ya must accept. They would have been yers as well if ya had stayed.”

  Hildy frowned into her tea. “I don’t know how to accept it.”

  Keera swore under her breath and had to calm herself before speaking. “The root of yer unhappiness is the person looking back at ya in the mirror. Yer personal situation is robbing ya of the magic ya need to see the truth. Gaia made me mortal for fifty years once. I even got old in the face. Don’t bring that kind of chastisement on yerself. Ya won’t ever get those years back. Life will go on without ya while yar learning the hard way.”

  “What are you saying, Keera?”

  “That I think the Great Mother is starting to regret giving ya all she has so far. Whatever ya need to do to set yer heart right, I suggest that become yer priority. Next time I come for a visit, I hope it’s to consecrate yer marks.” Keera lifted her head and stopped speaking. “The fairies are calling me. Gotta to run. Heed what I said about not rejecting Gaia’s gifts. Love is the most precious one.”

  “You’ve given me no choice but to think about it,” Hildy responded, but Keera’s chair was now empty.

  She thought back to the children arriving. There was a basket and a note—a note from someone claiming to be Chuck’s girlfriend—someone named Issy. The words had burned themselves into her mind like a brand.

  “Issy,” Hildy said aloud. “Why does that name sound so familiar?” She made a mental note to talk to Carol about it.

  Chuck sighed and forced his feet up Hildy’s sidewalk. He glared at the broken fence and growled because the porch wasn’t safe. He hated the idea of Hildy being here. The house wasn’t good enough for her or her work. It wasn’t good enough for anyone.

  He knocked at the door and a slump-shouldered Hildy came to answer
. She looked as haggard as he felt. Her wild hair wasn’t helping either. Chuck cleared his throat. “We fixed the foundation yesterday. I’m here to see if I can get your lights working.”

  Hildy closed her eyes at the pleasure she felt to see him standing on her threshold. Her first instinct was to push her feelings away. Keera’s warning came back to haunt her and her resistance to her feelings melted. “I’m sorry. Please come in. I appreciate all the work you’re doing on the house.”

  She held the door open so Chuck could pass by her. He smelled like vanilla sugar cookies and everything lusciously male. It was impossible to ignore her attraction completely.

  Hildy thought of the worried shifters in town, and of them blaming Chuck. She couldn’t let that continue. To get to the bottom of the shifting problem, she needed a place to work. Creating a place required asking for help. Luckily, eight feet of willing male just walked through her door.

  “Before you look at the lights,” Hildy blew out a breath and lifted her chin. “Will you go down into the basement with me?”

  “Scared of what’s down there?” Chuck asked.

  Hildy looked up at the caring in his eyes and hers started burning again. She nodded and hung her head. “I know I should be braver, but it’s been a hard day already. I don’t want to deal with it by myself.”

  “Glad I came by then.”

  “Don’t,” Hildy said, holding up a hand. “Don’t be nice to me.”

  “Sorry, but I can’t do that. I’m a very nice bear and I don’t hold a grudge.”

  Chuck bent and put his tools on the floor. He tugged the blanket until Hildy fell into his arms. Her low painful moan had him scooping her up and carrying her into the charming living room the Baba Yaga had fixed for her. He walked to her comfortable couch and rolled her against his chest as he sat. Seeing Hildy looking so defeated made him want to maul something… or someone.

  Chuck cleared his throat. “Whatever the problem is, we’ll tackle it together. But I can’t promise not to tackle you first. Bears like to give hugs. It’s in our nature.”