Healing the Bear

by Vanessa Devereaux

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Vanessa Devereaux

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-124-0

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Melissa Hosack

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For my grandfather, Edgar D.

  HEALING THE BEAR

  Kalispell Shifters, 4

  Vanessa Devereaux

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  Dane walked to the top of the hill. He stopped and leaned over. He was out of breath. He coughed twice and held his chest. He was out of shape because he hadn’t run in over a year. If a man was forbidden to run as his bear half, there wasn’t any point in doing it. He stood upright, looking down onto the road below him. Coming back to this spot was stupid. He knew it. Knew that he was torturing himself but nevertheless, here he was.

  Now that he’d been allowed to come back to Kalispell, he wanted to see the spot again. A year away hadn’t done anything to take away his hate and resentment of the human that had taken the life of his wife and unborn baby. Dane had done a bad thing to him, he knew that, but still to this day he didn’t feel any remorse for his actions.

  He focused in on one particular spot on the road below him. He needed to go and see it again, punish himself some more. Two cars passed him by setting up some dust that he brushed off his jacket. Many of the trees in the area had been hit by lightning while he’d been gone. Maybe even a similar storm to the one that had brought them to this planet in the first place. They had, in fact, crash landed close to this wilderness area west of Kalispell and that was the reason why he and Lucinda liked to run there.

  The tree in question was still standing untouched as if it knew it held a special place in this bear’s heart. Dane reached out for it, extending his arm so his hand could touch the bark. Lucinda had taken her last breath slumped against this tree.

  He knelt down, putting his forehead against it, picturing in his mind’s eye his beautiful wife and how she’d looked that day. Her round face, her glowing skin, and her beautiful growing belly. A child residing within it, one that they’d tried so hard to conceive and finally been granted their wish. Dane spread his fingers out, allowing his large hands to grab the bark and feel its roughness against his palms.

  It had been his idea to shift into their bear form so they could run in the woods, enter areas that would be unmanageable in human form. They’d run along here close to the edge of the woods, then out of nowhere… Dane flinched as he had that day. The crack of a rifle sounded throughout the area. He was about to tell his wife to take cover but when he turned to look at her she was already on the ground with blood pouring from her side. He’d shifted back into his human form, ran over to her not scared about being shot himself. He’d pulled her behind the tree and she’d been too weak to shift back from her bear half. Tears flooded his eyes, still seeing her lying there dying. He looked up at the tree and saw some of the blood still etched deep within its bark.

  She hadn’t died quickly but slowly and when he’d seen the hunter looking for them he’d had mixed emotions about what he should do. Come out of hiding, take his gun, and kill him or hide her body and stay with her and hold her until she’d passed.

  He’d chosen the latter, but the hunter had still hung around. If only he hadn’t. A grizzly had to do what one of the most unpredictable animals had to do. He had to take revenge.

  Dane hardly remembered shifting back into his bear form, but he did still recall tracking the man, knocking him to the ground, using his claws and strength to take away every inch of the man’s life. When he’d finished, he’d been totally ashamed of what he’d done.

  He hadn’t put up a fight when Aiden told him they’d report it as a bear attack but that he was banished from Kalispell and the group until the Council gave the okay for him to come back.

  He was back and so much had changed while he’d been out in Washington State.

  Aiden had found himself a human, Trent had found one too, and now Aiden’s brother, Christopher had found one as well. He pulled out the wedding invitation he’d received two weeks ago along with his permission to return to the area.

  Ms. Lilly Banks and her daughter Kaitlin request the pleasure of your company at her marriage to Mr. Christopher Renner at 3 p.m. Saturday October 4th, 2014 at The Lodge in Evergreen, Montana.

  A wedding was the last thing he wanted to attend, but he was on probation. One more strike and he’d be banished forever. Aiden was a no nonsense leader. Dane had to be on his best behavior because he needed to be back where he and Lucinda had fallen in love, conceived their child, the place where he said his goodbye to her.

  He took a deep breath. They’d also forbidden him from shifting while he’d been gone. That had been the hardest thing for this grizzly to do. He was free again and while he was out here in the middle of nowhere he was going to shift and run and let the wind fly through his fur.

  ****

  Melanie put the three trays of cupcakes into the oven and checked the temperature on the dial. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, realizing when it was too late that she’d just put flour all over her face. She glanced at her watch. Lilly and Christopher would be here soon to go over last minute preparations for their wedding ceremony this coming weekend.

  She heard the bell ring over the door. That was probably them arriving early. She wiped her face and headed to the back of building where the bride and groom to be stood on the step.

  “Hi Lilly, Christopher.” She opened the screen door and let them in. “Please excuse how I look, but I’ve just finished the last batch of cupcakes for a sweet sixteen birthday bash going on here tomorrow.”

  “If you’d prefer we come back later that’s fine with us,” said Lilly.

  “No, absolutely not. Come on. Let’s go through here and we can give everything a final check.”

  “The weather forecast says sunny all day on Saturday, so let’s go with our initial plan and have both the ceremony and reception outside,” said Christopher.

  Lilly lifted her hands in the air and crossed her fingers. “You know how unreliable the weatherman can be these days.”

  “We’ll hope for the best,” said Melanie as she showed them into her office. She pulled out the book containing all their notes and the requests.

  “Let’s see we have 120 guests who have said they’ll be attending and you want the chairs divided evenly on both sides of the aisle.”

  Lilly nodded. “Most of the guests know Christopher, but I guess I’m inheriting them as my friends too now.”

  She smiled at Christopher and he leaned over and kissed her. Melanie knew love when she saw it and these two personified it. She should have been happy for them, but it was making her depressed.

  “The family members will be in the first two rows, here,” said Melanie putting at the seating chart. “Your mother, step-dad and step-brother, aunt, and uncle will be right here. On other the other side, you’ll have Christopher’s sister-in-law, his aunts and uncles, and behind them his cousins.”

  “How about the flowers, did you speak with your friend?” asked Lilly.

  Melanie nodded. “They can deliver them a few hours before the ceremony and they’ll set them up at the
front here, and then on each table for the reception,” she said pointing to the layout.

  They held hands and Lilly leaned on Christopher’s shoulder. Yes, they were making her downright depressed.

  “And the cakes?” asked Christopher.

  “You still want the large wedding cake and then the small bridesmaid’s cake in the shape of a bear?”

  “Oh yeah, we wouldn’t hear the last of it if we didn’t,” said Lilly. “I guess you’ve guessed by now we have a thing for bears.”

  “And the food for the dog?” asked Christopher.

  “Yep, I have someone who owns a dog bakery in Big Fork and they’ll put something together just for Barney,” she said, double checking she’d got the pooch’s name right.

  “Great and how about valet parking for our guests?” asked Christopher.

  “I have a couple of guys who work on special events here and they said they can do that. And you’re still going with the chilled cucumber and dill soup, blackened salmon, rice pilaf, roasted green beans, and for dessert, the huckleberry ice cream?”

  Christopher licked his lips and nodded.

  “A great combo if I might say so. There will also be the finger foods and an open bar when the band begins playing the music,” said Melanie.

  “Everything sounds perfect,” said Lilly.

  “Oh, it will be so just concentrate on enjoying your big day.”

  They squeezed hands again. “We will,” said Christopher. “And we know you’re busy so we won’t keep you any longer.”

  “Let me walk you out and if there’s anything else you need or if you have any questions you know I’m only a call away.”

  She opened the door.

  “See you Saturday,” said Lilly.

  Melanie nodded and watched them walk away hand in hand, Lilly’s head resting on his shoulder as they walked down the path to the parking lot. They reminded her of her past life. One she had to forget for so many reasons. She closed the door and rested her back against it, suddenly feeling the tears coming on again.

  They’d put her in the wrong line of work because she saw couples like Lilly and Christopher almost every week and it made her long for her former life and everything that damn man had made her lose.

  She closed her eyes, seeing Mike’s face so clear that she reached out to touch it. She ran her hands down the side of his cheek like she’d always done when they first greeted one another when he got home from work. The stubble she was feeling was real. She was sure of it because its roughness scraped her fingertips. And his hair, the thick curly hair that sometimes stuck up and refused to go back down when he got up first thing every morning. She put her nose in the air. There was a hint of his aftershave hanging around the kitchen. Now she could even feel his arms around her, holding her like he did before he left for work each morning…like that terrible morning. She lifted her face up, allowing him to kiss her one more time. She touched her lips. She felt something on them. Maybe Mike had found a way to come back to her, to see her again and keep her safe forever.

  Melanie sniffed the air again, this time it wasn’t aftershave she detected, but burning cupcakes.

  Chapter Two

  Dane glanced at the map that had been tucked inside the wedding invitation. He’d set it on the passenger seat, convinced he wouldn’t need it, but here he was lost. Lucinda would have made him pull into a gas station and ask for directions, but shifter guys and humans were a lot alike in regards to not lowering their dignity in asking the way. Even if they were in what looked like the middle of nowhere.

  The Lodge had to be around here somewhere because he’d taken Highway 93 and then turned left onto the county road by the farmhouse just as the instructions had told him to. Dane set them on his lap, peering out of the window ahead. Woods and farmland but no sign of anything else. He’d left thirty minutes early, hearing Lucinda’s voice telling him to do it just in case the wedding venue was hard to find.

  She was still with him and always would be. He wiped away a tear with the back of his hand.

  “So how come you can’t help me find this place?” he said.

  “Find a gas station and ask directions. Drop your pride you silly grizzly bear.”

  His sadness turned into a smile for a second at hearing her voice and instructions echo in his head.

  He glanced down, realizing his tear had dropped onto the map and smudged the ink. Damn, was that turn right or left. He leaned back in his seat. Maybe this was an omen that he shouldn’t go to the wedding. He lifted the envelope up and saw Dane Reynolds and Guest written on it. He guessed Christopher’s bride was just being polite. Maybe she didn’t know he’d lost his mate and there would be no guest he’d ever want to take along to social functions. Lucinda had been his one and only.

  A car swishing by his set up a tornado of dust, but he was quick enough to spot the driver and passenger. Lucas and his twin brother Jared, brown bear shifters who were obviously on their way to the wedding. Maybe Lucinda had sent them as his direction to the Lodge without him having to lower his pride.

  Putting the car back into gear, he sped away and put his foot down hard on the accelerator, hoping to catch them so they could lead the way. He didn’t see their car again, but when he got a mile down the road, he noticed white balloons and streamers attached to double iron gates and guessed he’d been closer to finding the venue than he’d thought.

  “Yeah, I’m not such a silly grizzly after all,” he said. He indicated left and turned up a gravel driveway seeing chairs and an arbor with flowers set out on the right. Had he remembered to put the gift in the car?

  Damn, another thing Lucinda would have never left the house without. He’d also been lost on what to buy the happy couple. He’d wandered around and around until finally he’d opted for an electric tea kettle, knowing all bears loved tea and honey. He just hoped Christopher’s bride did too. He glanced over his shoulder seeing said gift, wrapped, not very well, but at least he’d remembered it.

  A young man in a dark suit and running shoes waved to him. He slowed the car and pressed the button to lower the window.

  “Good afternoon, sir. Are you here for the Banks and Renner wedding?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “I can park your car for you and then you can walk across the pathway over there. Go through those set of bushes and you’ll find the area where the ceremony’s going to take place.”

  “That’s great,” said Dane, turning off the ignition, reaching over for the gift, and then getting out of the car where he handed the keys over to the boy whose overwhelming aftershave made him sneeze.

  “If you follow the path, someone will show you to your seat,” said the man.

  Dane nodded and put the gift under his arm. He set across the path, seeing only couples and no single people making their way with him. He followed them through a set of hedges, noticing flowers and ribbons everywhere. He usually didn’t pay much attention to frilly fancy stuff but had to admit everywhere looked beautiful. He only wished he and Lucinda had been well off enough to have all the fancy trimmings when they’d tied the knot, but they’d been young and broke.

  “Dane, how great to see you again.”

  It was Mick, one of the wolf shifters, who threw his arms around him. “Aidan said you were back in the area.”

  Dane wasn’t sure what Aiden had told the others about his sudden departure from the area, so he’d play it cool for now.

  “Yeah, very happy to be back with everyone.”

  “And can you believe it, Christopher settling down. And with a human no less.”

  Christopher was a wild one, but then so were most of the younger bears.

  “I haven’t met his fiancée, so what’s she like?” asked Dane.

  “Beautiful young woman. She’s divorced with a little girl.”

  Wow. Not Christopher’s type at all. “Is she rich? I mean this all looks like it cost a fortune?”

  “Just the opposite. Her former husband beat her and he’s now
in jail for trying to kill her. Lilly runs her own cleaning company if you ever need help around the house. I think Christopher’s picking up the tab for most of this. Did you hear he’s designing for video games now?”

  Her husband beat her. Bastard. He’d like to get his hands on the guy. “No, I didn’t know about the video games. And Trent and Aiden married humans too.”

  “Most of us didn’t like it or understand it at first, but I suppose it might be better in the long run if we did start mixing with them.”

  Dane wasn’t sure about that but maybe that was because a human had taken is wife from him.

  “Speaking of which, there’s Aiden’s wife, Charlotte.”

  Mick pointed to a woman in her early thirties wearing a pink calf length dress with a matching short jacket. “She’s a doctor and did you know that Liam Foster is training to be a doctor now? Aiden thought we needed some shifters in that field, and Liam was the first to volunteer.”

  Dane smiled. Liam was also a grizzly so he was proud to think one would have Dr. before his name pretty soon. He had been one of the first shifters to be born here on Earth. A little bit like Christopher but wilder and always getting into fights. Dane was happy to hear he was finally maturing.

  “You want me to introduce you to Charlotte?” asked Mick.

  “Sure.”

  Mick led Dane over to the young woman who’d just finished talking to two of the cougar-shifters.

  “Charlotte, you have a minute?” called Mick.

  She put her purse on a chair and looked their way. “Hi, Mick. Sure I do,” she said, walking toward them.

  “Dane Reynolds, I’d like you to meet Charlotte Renner. You might have heard Aiden and Christopher talk about this guy.”

  “I certainly have. Pleased to meet you.” She stuck out her hand and Dane had to switch the gift to another arm so he could shake it.