Antonia smiled. “Oh, I promise.” How could a man who was so handsome and rugged be so delusional?
“No. You need to take this seriously Antonia.”
Straightening her face, deciding it was time to get this over with, she said, “Shall we go?”
Sam walked past her, giving her a look of sadness and concern. In that one glance, she should have seen the truth about him, but she was too blinded by the need to let her sister see the folly of her ways. So she missed the look and instead went confidently outside.
Behind her, Daryl grasped Kayleigh’s hand and kissed her fiercely. “I hope this doesn’t backfire.”
“How can it, Daryl? At least this way everything is out in the open.”
When they got outside, they went around to the side of the house. Daryl and Sam left the sisters standing together and moved some way away. Kayleigh slipped her hand into Antonia’s and squeezed it tightly. She was scared, Antonia could tell. She felt so sorry for her sister; she hated having to break her heart by proving that none of this was real. But sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.
“Please don’t judge them, Antonia,” Kayleigh said.
“Do you promise you’ll come home with me?”
“They do change into bears. I swear. That’s why I know Daryl will never leave me. They have this thing where once they find their fated mate, they are loyal to them for the rest of their lives.”
“Oh, Kay, is that what he told you?”
“Yes. But it’s true, Toni.” She rubbed Antonia’s hand. “And Sam is your mate.”
She snorted in contempt. “No. He is not.”
“Yes, he is, Antonia, and when you see him as a bear you’ll have to believe.”
“If he stands before me as a bear, I promise you, I’ll believe it.”
“I will hold you to that. You have to give him a chance, Toni. You just have to. All the things we missed growing up, they’ll be a thing of the past. I can’t tell you how much it means that you’ll be part of the family too.”
“Kayleigh. I’m so sorry they’ve lied to you.”
Kayleigh kissed Antonia on the cheek and then hugged her. “I’m right here by your side.”
“Kay ...”
“Ready?” Daryl asked. He had been talking to Sam, who was looking extremely worried. However, his concern seemed to be directed at Antonia. But not in the way she expected. For the first time, Antonia had the vague feeling things were not going to go her way. Had they seen this coming and set out some kind of projection equipment?
“Yes,” Kayleigh said, and squeezed Antonia’s hand harder, if that was possible. It seemed she was willing them to change, if only because she wanted to stay here rather than leaving with Antonia.
For a brief second, Antonia regretted pushing them into a corner. But she was only doing it for Kayleigh’s own good. These thoughts soon passed; something was happening. The air around the two brothers crackled and hissed. For a moment, they disappeared, and she blinked in quick succession to try to refocus her eyes and look for them. When they weren’t there, she knew it must be some optical illusion, or they had gone inside a box, as magicians do. Yes. That was it. A box painted to blend in with the darkening gloom settling around the cabin.
No sooner had her eyes got used to there being nothing there, then they were reappearing. Only it wasn’t two men standing in front of her. Whatever it was was bigger, lower to the ground and much bulkier. She took a step backwards and Kayleigh sandwiched Antonia's hand between hers.
“It’s OK. Just breathe. I know it’s a shock when you first see it.”
“It’s not real.” Antonia couldn’t remember whether she spoke the words or they were in her head. Because she kept repeating them. Her mind was trying to work out how they had pulled it off. Because standing before her were two bears. Exactly where Daryl and Sam had been standing.
“They are real,” Kayleigh said.
“Two bears... We need to run.”
“No, we don’t. They won’t hurt us. They can’t hurt us.”
“Because it’s a trick?”
“No. Because we are their mates and they know us. Just because they are bears now doesn’t mean that they don’t think, don’t feel.”
“But...”
“Hold out your hand, Antonia. Stroke Sam’s fur. Then you’ll understand.”
“I can’t.” Antonia was frozen to the spot. Her mind kept racing through all the possible scenarios that could explain what she had witnessed. However, as Kayleigh slowly pulled her forward, she had to admit she had nothing. If she touched the bear and he was real, she would have to accept that what her eyes had seen was real. But her mind couldn’t process that.
So when she finally made contact with Sam’s thick, soft fur, her brain short-circuited and she fainted. Before her eyes closed, she saw the bear’s eyes; they were looking at her, full of concern. And all she could think was that she knew those eyes, she had seen them before.
As she drifted into the darkness, she remembered where she had seen them. Sam. They were his eyes. He was the bear. It was impossible. She couldn’t deal with it. So for once in her life, she didn’t. Instead, she let Kayleigh look after her, because right now, she was no good to anyone.
Chapter Nine – Sam
His bear roared, and he had to try to contain himself. He needed to change back to be the man Antonia needed in this moment. But it was so hard; the urge to protect her while she lay on the ground was intense. He told himself that there was no danger near, that she was safe with Kayleigh by her side. Still, he struggled to bring himself back.
Concentrating, he pictured himself as a man, holding the image tightly in his mind. Then he stepped into it and the world around him faded, and for a few moments, he ceased to exist on that plane. Instead, he walked in the world of magic and energy, where anything was possible but nothing was real.
Slowly he came back, one atom at a time. The process accelerated as the mass of his body on the mortal plane grew larger. Almost like the force of gravity, it dragged more of him back. Then he was whole, or was he?
Now that he knew her, without Antonia in his life he would never feel whole again.
“How is she?” he asked, stumbling forward onto his knees next to Kayleigh, who was stroking her sister’s face.
“She’s just had a shock. She’ll be OK, Sam. I know how she feels—when I saw Daryl change for the first time, I fainted. It’s hard to make sense of something that in our world can’t possibly be real. You’ve grown up with this knowledge, but to the rest of us it’s like something out of a movie.”
“I never wanted to hurt her.”
“I know, but she had to be told. It was the only way.”
“Do you think she’ll accept me for who I am, what I am?”
“Yes. She’s lived the same life I have, and when you’re constantly being moved around, you accept things more easily. The life we lived would be alien to most other kids, but to us it just became normal. We didn’t like it but we had to survive it. We good at not being normal.”
He reached out his hand and stroked Antonia's cheek, so gently it was like a breath on her skin. Yet it might just have carried an electric shock, because her eyes suddenly flew open and locked onto his face. He couldn’t read her expression: pain and shock, or a deep realisation of the bond they had together. Or was he dreaming, or in wishful thinking mode?
“What happened?” Antonia said.
He was so tempted to make it easier for her, to tell her that she had tripped and fallen. Then when she said she had seen a bear in the place of him and Daryl, he could say she must have been hallucinating. But Daryl took that away from him, thank goodness.
Her eyes slid past Sam's face, and she looked over his shoulder. There, big, bulky and brown, stood Daryl. He hadn’t changed back. Instead he stood looking at her with his soft brown eyes. His body relaxed, trying his hardest to look cuddly and cute rather than fierce and deadly.
At that moment, he realised how much he loved h
is brother. Daryl might be younger, but sometimes he had a lot more sense.
Chapter Ten – Antonia
“It was real,” she said, to herself more than anyone else. Her eyes were fixed on the bear standing behind her sister.
“Yes,” Kayleigh said gently. “He won’t hurt you, come on.”
She put her hand under Antonia’s arm, and Sam did the same the other side, so they could help her to her feet.
“I don’t understand,” Antonia said, her voice wavering as she struggled with this new truth. “It can’t be real, it’s not possible.”
“Possible or not, it’s real. It’s something written into their DNA. You kind of just have to accept it.”
Antonia looked at her sister, her eyes wild, as though Kayleigh was saying something horrific. “Just accept it? Is that what you did?”
“Daryl saved my life. A couple of wolves tried to attack me. If he hadn’t changed into a bear, I would be dead.”
Antonia looked back at the bear, who stood patiently watching the exchange. “Can he hear me?”
“I think perhaps, Sam might be the best person to ask about what it’s like to be a bear. Sam?”
Sam tightened his grip on her arm, almost possessively. She turned to him and saw the look of hope that flickered across his face. “Whatever you want to know, Antonia. Just ask.”
His voice was soft and reassuring. To them this was the most natural thing in the world, while to her it was almost alien. Yes, they might just as well have come down in their spaceship from another planet.
“I don’t know where to begin. Why? No, how does this happen?”
“I don’t really know. It’s just the way we are, in the same way as you are just the way you are. It isn’t like a disease or anything. It’s just the way we are born, like Kayleigh said, something in our DNA. A gene that makes us different. Or you different. People have been able to shift into other creatures for thousands of year.”
“Other creatures, so it’s not just bears?”
“No. And not every bear is able to change too. So don’t just approach a bear thinking there is a man inside there somewhere.”
“I won’t. But I can touch Daryl? Would he mind?”
“He won’t mind, will you, Daryl?” Kayleigh said. Although there was something in her voice that said that she might mind her sister touching her man, well, her bear.
Antonia moved forward slowly, and once more buried her fingers into thick bear fur. This time there wasn’t a shock to knock her out, that had only happened with Sam. She questioned why, but part of her knew. When she touched Sam, there had been a moment of recognition as though they had been waiting for each other for the longest time. More and more the pieces fell into place. She began to understand what had happened between Daryl and Kayleigh, but she could not accept it for herself.
She staggered backwards and Sam caught her. She felt so pathetic, but she could not deny the feeling of belonging that covered her when he held her in his arms.
“I think it’s time we went inside,” Sam said. “It’s been a shock for you, Antonia. You ought to have a drink. Some brandy might help.”
“Are you trying to get me drunk now?” she whispered.
“No, I want you to remember everything with a clear head.” He didn’t ask, he just lifted her up and carried her inside. Behind them, she felt the air change and she knew Daryl was turning back into a man. Kayleigh hadn’t followed, so she supposed they were having a moment together, leaving her with Sam.
“I still don't think I can believe it.”
“I can understand that,” he said, laying her down on the sofa. “It’s so totally different to what you are taught to believe. It will take a few days to get your head around it.”
“A few days! I don't think I’ll ever get used to it. Maybe I should go back to the city and pretend none of this ever happened, that none of it is real.”
His body stiffened. “But what about Kayleigh?”
“Or do you mean what about you? Is that true, too? That you are my mate.”
He looked into her eyes, holding her gaze, which told her more than his words ever would.
“Yes.”
“And what does that mean? To you.”
“To me, it means you are the woman I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with. The woman who bears my ... children.”
“I don’t get it. You don’t even know me. And I don’t know you.”
He smiled and her heart beat faster. The attraction between them was intense, building every minute. The words might be coming out of her mouth, but they weren’t the words her heart would speak, given the chance. Her body yearned for him. Yearned for him to touch her and caress her, to make her feel safe.
“I’m not going to rush you, Antonia. I know what a shock this has been.”
“And I’ve been so rude. I haven’t even been introduced to Daryl. He must hate the way I’ve behaved.”
“He’ll forgive you. He’s a good man, and I’m not just saying that because he is my brother.”
Kayleigh came back in and Antonia held her hand out to her sister. “I’m so sorry. I’ve behaved terribly.”
“It’s OK. I know you were worried. And I couldn’t tell you.”
“It’s kind of frowned upon to just tell our secret to anyone. Not unless they are a mate, or we really have to,” Sam said.
“I can see why you would do that, to protect yourselves.” Antonia could only imagine what would happen if news of these people got out. They would be taken away and dissected. Something she would never want for Sam and Daryl. “Are there many of you?”
“Yes. Here and in Bear Bluff, further up the mountain. Then there are wolves over the other side of the mountain. Towns like ours are scattered all over the world.”
Antonia shook her head. “I can’t believe everyone doesn’t know.”
“We’ve been around a long time; we’ve got better at keeping the secret.”
Antonia grew pale again. A fresh wave of shock came over her. Although she was getting used to the idea—or maybe she was going into denial—every time she pictured Sam as a bear, she couldn’t get her head around it. The way he had changed, his words about being bonded to her for life. The fact that they had only just met and he was already talking about children. No wonder she had taken them as some kind of cult. In a way, they were.
“I’ll get you that brandy,” Sam said and left her side.
“Kay, do you forgive me?”
“Of course. It hasn’t gone the way I intended. I never meant to spring this on you before my wedding, but at least you understand now.”
“I don’t think I’d go that far. I don’t actually understand any of this at all. It all sounds so far-fetched. I still keep thinking I’ll wake up and find out it’s all a dream, or that I hit my head or something.”
“I know. Don’t forget I went through exactly the same thing. I know how you feel.”
“So, Daryl,” Antonia said, looking around Kayleigh at the man who was going to marry her sister. “I think I should thank you for saving Kayleigh. I never knew you were such a hero.”
He smiled shyly. “I would do anything for her. Anything at all to keep her safe.”
“That’s good to know, Daryl. Really good to know.” She looked up at her sister and then at Daryl. “I know you don’t need it, but I would really like to give you my blessing for the wedding.” No matter what she thought and what she believed, she knew that Kayleigh wouldn’t find anyone else who would look after and protect her as Daryl had.
“Here, Antonia,” Sam said, giving her a large glass of brandy. “This will make you feel better.”
“Thank you, Sam.” She took the glass, and their fingers touched, giving her that incredible thrill of awareness.
While she sipped her brandy, she tried to figure out if she wanted to learn more about Sam. Did she want to buy into this whole town and bonded-mates thing, or did she simply want to see her sister get married and then walk away?<
br />
Chapter Eleven – Sam
He dared not let himself hope that this would turn out alright. Not yet. Antonia had calmed down; she now seemed willing to accept her sister’s upcoming marriage to Daryl. However, accepting him and his dual nature was another thing. Would she be willing to take a chance on him?
He knew how adamant Kayleigh had been to begin with about not wanting to settle down and have children. And he felt that Antonia’s fears ran deeper, like a vein of fear through her soul. Maybe it had been worse for her, because she was the eldest. She had probably taken the responsibility of them both on her shoulders. He knew what that was like.
All he wanted to do now was relieve her of that responsibility. He wanted to make things right for her. Make them easier for her, just like any other man would. The fact that his bear influenced his need to protect her only compounded his strength of feeling.
“I should make dinner. It kind of went to the back of my mind,” Kayleigh said, moving towards the door.
“No. Let me and Daryl cook, you should stay with Antonia.”
“I can’t ask you to cook, Sam,” Kayleigh said.
“You're not asking. I’m offering. You should talk to Antonia. You have a lot to catch up on. We can manage, can’t we, Daryl?”
“Yes, sure,” said Daryl, looking pleased to be off the hook. He didn’t look too comfortable at all around Antonia. If Sam hadn’t known better, he would have thought that Daryl was a little bit scared of her.
“Do you want to peel the potatoes?” Sam asked Daryl.
“I can manage that. It’ll be nice to cook. Kayleigh has felt obliged to take over since she’s moved in. Because I work all day, she likes to provide an evening meal for me. And sandwiches when I come home for lunch.”
“She likes to look after you, Daryl. That’s sweet.”
“She feels it’s her duty since she no longer works.” Daryl pulled out a pan and filled it with water.
“With the wedding to arrange in such a hurry, it was sensible for her not to take Will’s job offer. There’s no way she could have fit it all in. And once you’re married, she can come and work for me until we hear the patter of bear claws.”
Complete Bear Creek and Bear Bluff Box Sets: Including brand new exclusive book Best Man Bear Page 17
