by Alana Hart
“He has secrets, Merrie…”
“So have a lot of people. Who do you think you are, questioning him like that?”
“But, did you see how he reacted? He knows something about Grandmo…”
“All I saw was you attacking him for something some guy did, seventy or eighty years ago, to someone we never even knew!”
“But you know the story, Merrie…”
“Yeah, I know the story. And that’s it — it’s a story. A bedtime story to warn little girls away from the big bad shifters,” I mocked. “Next thing, you’ll be telling me Little Red and the Wolf are real.”
“Shifters are real…”
“Even if they were…” I held my hand up, halting her retort, “…and even if he is. It has nothing to do with you!”
I tried to imagine Craig shifting into some sort of animal. Would I know it was him? I shook my head. Those were deluded thoughts. Of course he wasn’t.
But why had he shot off — again?
Maybe because he couldn’t stand listening to Cassie anymore.
But…he had turned me down when I had practically thrown myself at him. He had stayed untouchable while playing me like a violin. Why hadn’t he just told Cassie to fuck off? Or just laughed it off?
Miserable, I slid off the table and sunk into one of the matching chairs.
“Oh, Merrie. Don’t cry. He’s not worth it. I’m sorry…I just…I don’t want to see you get hurt…” Cassie said, wrapping her arms around me. “…Again,” she whispered, her words muffled by my hair.
But I was already hurting.
CHAPTER FIVE
Craig
Racing up the street, I hurtled across the road, blind to the traffic and angry motorists, aiming for the forest. Gritting my teeth, I held back the shift with grim determination until I reached the sanctuary of the trees. Once safely hidden by the leafy boughs, reaching over my head, I ripped off my shirt, simultaneously unbuttoning and kicking out of my jeans and shoes. With a roar, the shift washed over me — the one that had held me in its grip since the dashing out of the shop. Fur had barely finished sprouting, before I was off, crashing through the forest, giving over my fury to speed.
At a dead run, I barreled through the thick overgrowth, sending rabbits fleeing for shelter, and birds crying to the skies for safety. I thought nothing of scaring them, my focus only on reaching my destination — my Mom. She would know what to do, what this all meant. I was so tired of guessing, trying to figure out what the Mother of All meant for me. What she wanted me to do.
Go back! She wants us!
I ignored my bear.
With a lunge, I cleared the front steps that led to the large wrap-around porch of my parents’ home. It was an old wooden building, big enough for a family of bears, hidden safely away in the forest. Weather worn but impeccably looked after, it still stood after hundreds of years. Those hundreds of years meant we had to live apart from the non-shifters, the humans — most of the time. Careful planning, and some delicately crafted lies, allowed us to mingle in the town for necessities. I think I was my own grandson, this time around. Or maybe great-grandson? I lost track. Time passed and it ceased to be important.
Bumping the front door with my large head, I nudged it open and padded into the kitchen, spying my mom cooking at the stove. The kitchen smelled wonderful, roasted salmon and fruit pie. My pink tongue darted out, licking my snout, and my mouth drooled in anticipation. I could always eat.
“No bears in the kitchen, Craig. You know the rules,” my Mom ordered with a flick of her spoon. Reaching out a hand, she grabbed a pair of sweats off a stack by the door, throwing them at me before turning back to the stove.
Urging the change to come, I reared back onto my hind legs — after all, it was never nice to end up crouched on the floor — and with a human hand, grabbed the sweats, pulling them on.
“I’m decent,” I said, walking up behind her and pulling her into a big hug. Tall, with the broad frame of a bear shifter, she was around 190 years old, or so I was guessing, since she would neither confirm nor deny her age. A woman’s prerogative, she would always say, laughing. A touch of white had just started to thread her coal black hair, which she always wore pulled back in a ponytail. She looked, at the most, in her early forties, by human standards.
Slapping the hand away that I had snaked around her to filch some fish, she chuckled. “Wait for dinnertime, like everyone else. I can rustle you up a sandwich if you’re that hungry?”
“That’d be great, Mom, thanks.” I pulled out a chair, swinging it around and straddling it.
“So, do you want to talk about it?” she asked, as she bustled around, pulling fixings from the over-sized fridge and cutting four doorstops of bread.
I took a deep breath. “There’s this girl…”
“Girl? With your…problem?”
“Well, that’s it, you see. With her I don’t have…the problem.” I muttered the last bit.
Her hand halted in mid-air, the knife she held dripping peanut butter onto the counter. “She’s your mate?” she asked, her voice hoarse from the unshed tears that glistened in her eyes.
“Yeah…”
“Oh, Craig! I’m so happy for you! When do I get to meet her? Will you bring her for dinner? Do your brothers know?”
I waited for her to take a breath, then jumped in. “She’s a witch.”
Silence. I watched her process the information.
“So? She’s a witch. You can’t choose your mate, Craig.”
“I know that, Mom. But she’s not just a witch. She’s related to that witch.” I tried not to whine. Really, I did.
Mom flinched. We had all lived through my pain and frustration 87 years ago. She had borne the brunt of it, calming and soothing me until I could see through the anger and control my beast again.
“Meridith?” she whispered the name.
I nodded. “She’s called Merrie, and she’s the granddaughter. So, Meridith obviously forgot all about me and found happiness with someone else. Enough to produce a granddaughter, anyway.” I laughed, a hollow sound.
“I should be thanking my lucky stars that she did, seeing as that granddaughter is my mate…”
“Oh, son…” She finished up the sandwich, pushing the plate toward me. “The Mother of All had a plan for you, after all. You were young, and foolish. Playing with the humans…”
“But did I deserve that! To be cursed to only live a half life for so many years?”
“No, no, of course not. But, you knew the rules. We can’t allow humans to get close, not unless they are our mates. It’s too dangerous. We could be exposed, or hurt them…”
“Like I hurt her?”
“Well, you did, son.” She laid a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “I know you didn’t mean to, but she fell in love with you. Something you shouldn’t have allowed to happen.”
“I just didn’t want to be alone. I thought we were having fun…and I thought, that maybe…but she wasn’t.”
“What’s done is done. Now this mate of yours, what’s she like?” she asked, cutting short my reminiscing, her tone resolutely cheerful.
“She’s…she’s wonderful. Funny, intelligent. A hard worker. She owns the magic shop down on Main Street.” Taking a huge bite of my sandwich, the peanut butter and jelly sticking to the roof of my mouth, I pictured Merrie in my mind — visualizing her pale, freckled skin and fiery mane of hair.
“Mom — she looks just like Meridith. What do you think that means?” I blurted out, swallowing down the lump of sticky, gooey bread.
“Like her? Or just like her?” she asked.
“Just like her. Everything. Like she’s a carbon copy.”
“Must be genetics at play, son.” She dismissed my concern, turning to check on the fish that were baking in the oven.
“But they all look alike. I saw the pictures. Even the sister…”
“The sister looks like Meridith?”
“No. She looks like an aunt,
or something. Exactly like her.” Frustrated, I set my sandwich back down on the plate.
“Let it go, son. She is your mate. What has happened, was meant to happen. Just enjoy being happy now.”
She was right. So why couldn’t I just let it go and be happy? She was everything I wanted, and everything I thought I hated.
Because you like to complicate things and punish yourself, my bear muttered in my head.
Shut up, grumpy, I sent back. Just because you didn’t get some…
Neither did you…
Oh, I got some, I thought back, reliving the memory of Merrie’s honey sliding down my throat as she thrashed and bucked with orgasm.
Want some more, my bear growled.
“Craig! It is rude to carry on a private conversation at the table. Did you learn nothing as a cub?” Mom scolded, clouting me around the ear.
“Ow! Sorry,” I said, fixing a contrite expression on my face.
“Now, I hear your brothers coming up the steps and your Pa is due back any minute, so why don’t you make yourself useful and set the table?”
“Sure,” I said, pushing away from the table, just as my brothers barged noisily through the door.
***
Merrie
Setting a bottle of wine and two glasses on the low table, I sunk gratefully down onto the couch next to Cassie.
“I am sorry, you know,” she said, reaching over to pour out the wine, before handing a glass to me.
Taking a sip, I paused, enjoying the rich, tart liquid rolling over my tongue.
“I know. I don’t really want to talk about it now. I just need to…relax, let things wash over me for a bit — you know?”
“Yeah, of course. I’m here for you though, if you need to talk things over.”
I took another sip.
“Nothing to talk about.” I so didn’t want to dissect the past few hours. Not when all I really wanted to do was curl up in bed, relieving the feel of his mouth on my skin. My hand crept to my throat as imagined doing the same to him.
“…Gary and I. So he left and…”
“He left? Left where?” I hadn’t been paying attention.
“Like I just said, it simply wasn’t working anymore. So he left.” Tears glistened in her eyes as she stared into her wine glass, twirling it in her hand.
Shit. “Did you want him to leave?”
“No…yes…I guess I don’t know. I just know that it hurts. And I’m scared, Merrie.” The tears spilled down her cheeks, leaving trails of smudged mascara in their wake. Throwing herself into my arms, the floodgates opened.
“There, there,” I patted her back awkwardly, unsure of what to say.
“I’ve missed you, Merrie,” Cassie said, sniffling into my shoulder. “I’ve missed talking to you. We used to be inseparable…”
“Missed you, too,” I replied automatically. Wait. What? She’s missed me? Inseparable? We’d never been that close.
“Inseparable?” I asked lightly.
Pulling back, she swiped at her eyes, purposely avoiding meeting mine.
“There’s things you don’t know, Merrie. We thought it best… At least, I used to agree. Now, I don’t know if what we did was right.”
What didn’t I know? And who was we? I opened my mouth to ask…
“What’s that smell?” Suddenly alert, she sniffed the air.
“What smell? Smoke!” I cried, jumping to my feet and charging toward the door. Hurtling down the stairs, I shouted back to her, “Grab the fire extinguisher from under the sink!” Reaching the shop door, I was about to throw it open when she tackled me, holding me back.
“Look!” she said, pointing at the bottom of the door.
Smoke oozed out, creeping out from under the door.
“My shop!” I cried, pulling against her grip. “We can save it…”
“Merrie, we need to call for help. If the smoke is at the door, then we can’t go through. Think!” she shouted, shaking me.
All the fight drained out of me, replaced by a feeling of dread. She was right, goddammit. My heart felt like it was being ripped from my chest — my beautiful shop!
Feeling me surrender, she edged me backward, her hand grabbing the phone.
A deafening roaring sound filled my ears, as my mind tried to process — to make sense of what was happening. In the background, I could hear her calling the fire service, but the words were distant, a world away. Legs giving way, I started to sink to the ground, but Cassie urged me up, toward the back door.
“We can’t stay here, Merrie. They’re on their way. Come on!”
***
Craig
“Craig! What the hell are you doin’ here?” asked Ryan, as he strode over to Mom, pulling her into a big hug. Wearing his sheriff uniform, he looked the epitome of a calm, civilized man. A well-built, very tall, human man. But Ryan was nearly 100 years old, and it was a delicate balance that allowed him to interact with the town’s population on such a regular basis. But it sure was useful to have him in power. It made covering up some of the bear sightings a whole lot easier. The town’s people sometimes got a little trigger happy.
“Smelled Mom’s food, of course,” I replied with a wink.
Ralph sauntered over to the stove and started poking at the simmering pots.
“So what happened to that lovely lady you were with last night? She kick you out of bed? Ah, right — just remembered — you can’t even get it up to get in bed—”
“Ralph!” Mom exclaimed, swatting him affectionately with a dishtowel. Nothing shocked her, not after raising a clan of bear cubs.
Ducking under the incoming blow, Ralph shrugged his shoulders.
“What? He’s had eighty-seven years to come to terms with it. It’s not like it’s something new…”
“Actually, I’ve been cured. Fully functioning and fully loaded…” This time the dishtowel swatted me around the head.
My brothers froze in shock, their heads turning, as one, to look at me.
“What’s this I hear? Cured?” bellowed Pa, as he lumbered through the door, sweeping Mom up into a passionate embrace. Hastily, I looked away. They had been like this as long as I could remember. Their love had never faded, never faltered. And now…I could have the same.
Focusing on my brothers, I nodded, a wide grin splitting my face.
“How?”
“Is it her?” They both asked at once.
“Yup. Merrie is my mate,” I declared, accepting the back-slapping and fist bumps of congratulations.
Ryan cocked his head in confusion. “So, why’re you here, then?”
“Because, he’s being a fool, that’s why,” Mom interjected before I could answer. “His mate is a witch, and he doesn’t like witches. That’s the long and short of it.”
“Bro! Good looking lady like Merrie…if you don’t want her, then I’ll be happy to…”
Ralph didn’t even get a chance to finish as I slammed him up against the wall.
“You don’t touch her!” I roared, vibrating with a raw fury.
Ralph smirked. “So…you do want her then. That cleared that up! Now, put me down, please. I’m hungry. And don’t you have somewhere you have to be?”
Lowering him to the floor, I swallowed my anger back, pushing my bear back inside. Forcing a chuckle, I slapped him on the shoulder — maybe a little harder than needed.
“Well played, bro.”
Something is wrong, my bear growled in my head.
An uneasiness swept over me, followed swiftly by a wave of anguish and pain that rocked me on my feet.
Not my pain. Merrie’s.
Tugging at the fragile bond, I felt for her. She was hurting, her sorrow almost overwhelming. Racing to the phone, I punched in the shop’s number, nearly destroying the handset in my haste.
“Pick up, pick up, pick up — hello, Merrie?”
“No, it’s Cassie. Who’s this?”
“It’s Craig. Where’s Merrie? What’s wrong with her?” I asked shar
ply.
“How do you? Never mind, I think I can guess. There’s been a fire at the shop, but you don’t have to…”
“Is she?” I demanded, my heart threatening to explode in my chest.
“No, no. She’s fine,” Cassie quickly replied.
“She is not fine!” I roared, my chest tight with Merrie’s anguish. “I’m on my way.”
“You don’t have to…”
“Yes. I do. And you can’t stop me,” I growled, hanging up.
“Go to her, son,” Pa said. “You might not like that she’s a witch, but she’s your witch.”
He was right. She was mine, dammit. To look after and protect…and to claim. I charged out of the house. Toward my mate.
CHAPTER SIX
Merrie
“They’ve finally put it out, Merrie,” Cassie told me softly, crouching down beside where I sat on the street, my back propped against a cold, brick wall.
“Do you want to come look? The Fire Chief says it was most likely some faulty wiring. That it started behind one of the displays, then spread through the shop, rapidly — with most of the fittings and stock being either wood or fabric.” She laid a hand on my arm, squeezing gently.
“Merrie, did you hear me?”
I let her words wash over me, hugging my legs tight against my chest. An emptiness had set in, deep inside of me. I couldn’t feel anything.
“What’s the point?” I whispered, my throat scratchy from crying.
“Well…”
“Merrie? Merrie!” a deep, masculine voice echoed around the street, sounding frantic.
Craig!
“Here!” I croaked, the sound barely audible.
“There you are,” he said, sounding relieved. Crouching down, he swept me into his arms.
“I was so worried about you.” Holding me at arms length, he visually checked me for damage. “You’re not hurt? What happened? When I felt…” His mouth clamped shut.
“I’m fine,” I reassured him, wanting his arms around me again. Just for a minute, for that short moment, I had felt my worries melt away. I wanted to escape back into his arms, pull them around me and shut out the world, just for a little while.
As if reading my mind, Craig pulled me against his broad, warm chest. Breathing deeply, I absorbed the smell of him — sweet and smoky — not like the smoke still curling from my ravaged shop, more like the aromatic scent of hickory wood chips, mixing with the sharp tang of soap and underlying muskiness of man. I shivered, lust stirring in my belly.
