ROMANCE: Time of the Werebears (Scottish Historical Time Travel Shifter Romance) (Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance)

by Sky Winters

  “Not really. My head is throbbing,” she answered honestly. The fact that she was being led into her own home by a stranger was the strangest of sensations, and it was not helping her to get her bearings.

  “That is alright. We will get you upstairs and get you rested. It will all come back to you then,” she said as she patted her on the back.

  “Yes, alright,” she said as she shook her head in agreement. Perhaps it was all a dream. Maybe if she lay down, and fell back to sleep, she would wake up and laugh about this hallucination.

  “You will come to like him. He can seem a bit severe but it is only because he has put everything into this ranch,” she explained as she opened the door to a room at the end of the hall. It was very simple. Inside was an iron framed bed and a small dresser. A small desk and chair in the corner faced a window that looked out over the surrounding countryside. It was, she thought, the exact kind of room that her mind would have conjured in a dream about life on the ranch in generations past.

  “He owns the ranch?” she asked, deciding that she might as well play into her delusions as she waited to wake and return to her own life.

  “He does now. He worked here since he was a boy. When he was young, his momma was the cook here and he started on the range as soon as he was old enough to ride. He saved his whole life, and when the last owner got in over his head with the bank, he bought it. This place is his whole life and he refuses to let it fail,” she said, beaming with pride as she spoke of him. It was clear that this woman cared deeply for the mysterious Peter.

  “I can understand that,” she said, knowing more than anyone what it was like to put the ranch before everything else in your life. Perhaps this dream was trying to tell her something about the way she was dealing with her own life.

  “Yes, he is a very practical man. If you are a practical girl, you will get along well,” the woman said as she turned to leave her.

  “What is your name?” Sarah asked, realizing that she had rudely not asked who the woman was. Even if this was a dream, it was unacceptable to be rude.

  “I am Patty. I'm the cook and housekeeper here,” she answered with a warm smile.

  “Thank you Patty,” she called after her as the other woman closed the door and left her there alone.

  Sarah sat down on the bed and looked around her. It was, she thought, the oddest dream she had ever had. Quickly, she unbuttoned the old fashioned dress she was wearing and pulled it off. She lay down in her underclothing and covered herself with the pretty quilt that covered the bed. It was when she woke up two hours later to find herself in exactly the same place and time that Sarah realized that she might be in real trouble.

  Chapter 3

  It was not long after she awoke that Patty came to fetch her and let her know that Peter had returned to the ranch house and was awaiting her in his study. She did her best to straighten her dress, and to look the part of a woman who was about to meet her intended husband for the first time. She knew that she was safest on the ranch and she needed to do everything that she could to keep up the façade, at least until his true mail order bride arrived.

  When she got to the study, she was surprised by the man that she saw seated behind the desk. She could tell he was tall, even before he rose to greet her. His eyes were green and intelligent, with a spark that nearly took her breath away. His skin was tan from his work on the ranch, and his dark hair made him the personification of tall, dark and handsome.

  “Ms. Parson,” he said with a curt nod. He seemed to regard her presence on the ranch as one would if a business connection came to call. There was no warmth in him, though he was not cold or distant. He was merely matter-of-fact in his mannerisms, and that put her immediately at ease. Had he had appeared to be in love with her, she would have felt terrible about impersonating the woman he had been corresponding with.

  “You must be Peter,” she replied, feeling stupid the minute she spoke the words. Clearly he was Peter. However, his lips turned up in a smirk that calmed her.

  “Yes, Patty told me you had an accident,” he continued, his eyes looking her over appraisingly as though he was trying to assess if she had been damaged in transit.

  “Yes,” she answered, deciding that it might be in her best interest to answer him in as few words as possible. She locked eyes with Patty who stood near the door. The older woman gave her a sweet smile and an encouraging nod that made her feel guilty for the lies she was allowing them to believe. All she could hope was that the woman would understand one day when she vanished from their lives as quickly as she had arrived.

  “Has your mind cleared?” he asked as though he was talking to a ranch hand about a cow who would not give milk. She wondered if his business like demeanor was the kind of tone her brother often scolded her for using.

  “I am sorry to say, but no. Everything is still a blur,” she answered, hating to play the helpless woman. Still, she had no choice. In this unknown time, she needed to do her best to fit in until she got her bearings.

  “No matter. I am sure it will come back to you once you rest,” he said dismissively. His casual reaction to the amnesia of his future wife seemed odd to her, but the less attention he paid to her, the better. She did not need him to quiz her on the details of their correspondence.

  “Yes, I am sure,” she said, nodding in agreement.

  “Until then, I will tell you a bit about what brought you here,” he offered, seemingly eager to conclude their discussion and be able to return to the work he had been pouring over when Patty brought her into the study.

  “I would appreciate that very much,” she said, doing her best to hide her own eagerness for their time together to be over. She knew the safest place for her to be was alone in her room. There, she did not have to worry that she would do or say something that would give her away.

  “After exchanging several letters, we decided that you would come here to see if the place was to your liking, and if we got on well enough together to be wed,” he explained, his eyes looking out the window towards the horizon rather than at her.

  “How did we come to write letters to each other?” she asked, not wanting to lose the opportunity to learn as much as she could. She suspected that she might not get another chance to question him about it.

  “I engaged the services of a mail order bride service in Chicago. You were working there as a domestic and wished for a change in your life which is what brought you to list yourself with them. They matched us. Do you really remember none of this?” he asked, his eyes snapping away from the lovely view and locking with hers.

  “No, I am very sorry,” she said, her chin held high. She refused to look away from him. She needed to be brave and she needed him to believe her, no matter how little she cared for lying.

  “No need to apologize. Your purpose here is unchanged. I am sorry that I was not here to greet you but that is something that will be a part of your life here if you choose to be my wife. The work must always come first,” he said, studying her reaction intently as he spoke his words.

  “I understand that. Truly, I do,” she said, relieved to be able to say something honest to him. Nobody knew better than her how wholly and completely the ranch took over one’s life. For it to succeed, it had to be put first. Whatever else divided them; she might be the only person in the world who truly understood how true his words were. The expression on his face altered ever so slightly as he watched her, clearly surprised by the genuine response she gave him. He stared at her for a moment without speaking before he shook his head as if to draw himself back from his thoughts and into the businesslike frame of mind he preferred.

  “I am glad to hear it. If you like, I take breakfast at sunrise before going out to work with the men. You could join me and we could learn more about each other,” he suggested, though she could tell that he expected her to turn down his offer.

  “I would like that,” she said with a warm smile. She was very accustomed to rising early for her work on the ranch. Bes
ides, she rationalized, it would be good for her to learn all that she could about the history of the ranch. It could come in handy once she found a way to return to her own time. She told herself repeatedly that it had nothing to do with his broad shoulders or the deep emerald shade of his eyes.

  “I will see you then,” he answered, looking no less skeptical as he turned his attention back to the work on his desk and dismissed her.

  Chapter 4

  Sarah rose at her usual hour, well before the sun. She made her way to the ranch's kitchen. She found it quite deserted. Not even Patty was there to greet her. The pride she felt at being to breakfast before Peter was a wonderful feeling after the skepticism he had shown her the day before. Quickly, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work preparing a hardy ranch breakfast because it was clear to her that he simply ate whatever he foraged in the kitchen before going off to his tasks.

  It was almost half an hour later and breakfast was nearly completed when Peter arrived. The look on his face was almost comical because he made no effort to hide his shock at the sight she presented there in his kitchen.

  "You are here," he stammered, his eyes locked on her. She was sure she looked a mess, covered in flour from rolling out biscuits.

  "Yes," she said, brushing stray hairs from her eyes with the back of her hand.

  "You woke before I did," he continued, still looking as though he did not believe his own eyes.

  "I suppose so," she answered before going to the fire to stir the gravy she had managed to whip up from ingredients she scrounged from the kitchen.

  "Nobody rises before me, not even Patty," he accused, though he finally left the doorway and took a seat at the table near the fire.

  "Life on a ranch begins well before dawn," she answered dismissively as she grabbed two plated and began to serve him breakfast.

  "Yes, it does," he said as he leaned back and watched her intently.

  "What will you be doing today?" she asked as she took her seat across the table from him.

  "We have fences to mend. Some rustlers broke the fence on the norther part of the ranch near the river. We have to get it fixed before we lose anymore," he answered, digging into the plate in front of him. Clearly, he enjoyed her cooking. She loved to cook, though she rarely had time to make such large meals. It was oddly nice to be able to cook in the old fashioned way.

  "Is it dangerous?" she asked, not sure what that would entail in this time. She suspected, though, that it was not a safe endeavor.

  "No, they are well gone by now. If not, we would be going after them to get the cattle back," he said as though it was a minor detail.

  "How many head did you lose?" she asked, knowing just how devastating that could be for a rancher.

  "We are still trying to figure that," he said, the anger in his voice clear. There was no denying that he cared deeply for the ranch.

  "I am sorry," she said genuinely.

  "It was a big loss to us," he admitted before changing the subject. "What will you do today?" he asked to draw her into another vein of conversation.

  "I suppose I'll explore a bit and get to know the place," she said, actually eager to see what the ranch was like in this time.

  "Do not over exert yourself and do not go into the corral off the barn," he said, the business lay demeanor he had shown her the day before returning.

  "Why not?" she asked, unable to keep her curiosity in check.

  "There is a difficult stallion there that needs breaking. He is dangerous," he said sternly, speaking to her as though she was a vulnerable child rather than a grown woman. It was hard for her to keep her annoyance in check given her own extrovert experience with horses.

  "Why hasn't he been broken before this? Is it not odd that he was not trained as a younger horse?" she observed as she rose to refill his coffee cup.

  "His last own tried his damnedest and my men have been trying for nearly a year. He will not be tamed," Peter said, shaking his head as though the stallion were a mystery to him as well.

  "Interesting," she said, thinking of the sweet joy that she felt when she got a difficult animal like the one he was describing to respond to her. It was that feeling that had convinced her to make her love of horses into a career.

  "I have to go now," he said, rising abruptly. "Stay clear of him," he warned, clearly suspicious of the sparkle in her eyes.

  "Have a good day," she said as he left, smiling sweetly at him while her thoughts drifted to that powerful animal, just waiting to be trained.

  Chapter 5

  As she cleaned up the kitchen, she tried to convince herself that the best thing for her to do was to stay away from that horse. After all, she needed to continue to play the role of the mail order bride eager to please her future husband. The woman he had been expecting was not the type who would defy him so openly and Sarah was sure that she would not have been the type to sneak into a corral with a horse he had warned her was dangerous.

  Still, she could not get the animal out of her head. If she could help the beast, then it was her duty to do it. That was her attitude towards all difficult horses. Her men and her brother never missed the opportunity to scold her for the dangerous creatures she took on. Many had been challenges and she had the scars to prove it. Still, in the end there was not one she had given up on and they were all better off for it.

  In the end, she could not stay away. She snuck out the back of the kitchen so that Patty and anyone else who might be around would not see her. She reasoned that since the animal was so dangerous, it was not likely that many would linger near where he was held. When she arrived at the corral though, the animal took her breath away. He was a massive creature, 17 hands tall and as broad as could be. He was a deep chestnut color, with a mane as black as night. There was no denying that he was an impressive animal. In that instant, she completely forgot the role that she was supposed to be playing. Instinctively, she grabbed the rail of the fence and swung herself over the fence and into the corral with the animal.

  He looked as shocked by what she had done as she was when she realized the position that she had put herself in. Still, the animal did not act spooked and she had never felt fear at the sight on any horse and she had no plans to begin then. She stood her ground and locked eyes with the animal whose own large eyes were gazing into hers.

  “Oh my, aren't you a beautiful creature. Do you have a name?” she asked as she closed the distance between them in a few slow steps. She expected the horse to jolt and move away from her, but he stood still and allowed her to stand within arm’s reach of him.

  Standing so close to him, he was even more amazing to her. She had never seen such a fine horse in all of her live. He reminded her of her own horse Loki. He had been the single greatest thing to ever happen to her in her own time. The year before, when he had gotten sick and passed on, she had been unable to replace him. Though she had a few horses on the ranch that she rode regularly, she had been waiting to feel the connection she had with her Loki. The last place she had expected to find it was a hundred years in the past.

  Gently, she raised her hand and placed in on the side of his face. The horse leaned in to her caress as though he had known her forever and she could not help but giggle at the large animal behaving much like a kitten would.

  “You do not have wild eyes. There is just a strong spirit in you. You do not need breaking. You simply need to be handled with respect,” she cooed as she walked to his side. She ran her hand along his back and soon had no doubt that he would let her ride him. Quickly, she grabbed a rope from the fence post and fastened a guide for him.

  “Good boy,” she whispered as she looped it around his neck.

  “There, that was not so bad, was it,” she said as she patted him approvingly.

  “I think we will forgo the saddle, but do you think I could ride you?” she asked, his eyes telling her that he agreed to her proposition. She gripped the rope and swung herself on to his back, ignoring the cumbersome dress she wore and the unladyl
ike picture she must have made. Seated astride that horse was the first moment she had truly felt peace since she had been hurdled back through time.

  “Such a sweet boy. You are so strong and beautiful. I think I will call you Thor,” she said as she led him around the corral with ease. She was itching to set him loose, to urge him to jump the rail and run free towards the range. That, she knew though, would be a mistake. She had built up an amazing amount of trust with him but she needed to hold back. There would be no hiding an action like that and it likely would not end well for either her or the horse.

  “I think that was enough for today my sweet Thor. Thank you,” she said as she swung off his back and removed the lead she had placed on him. It was not until she turned to put the rope back on the fencepost that she realized she was not alone.

  There, staring at her as though she were an alien was Peter. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes kept darting back and forth between her and the horse who had come to stand protectively by her side. Instinctively, she reached up to stroke his mane and to reassure him that Peter presented no threat to them. Clearly, Thor regarded her with the same immediate affection she had come to feel for him.

  Sarah tried her best to think of some kind of rational explanation for what he had seen but she knew there was none. There was no way a servant girl from Chicago could possibly have handled such a horse and he of all people would know that.

  “What was that?” he finally demanded after minutes of tense silence.

  “I am sorry. I know you told me to stay away but I could not resist the challenge,” she admitted, deciding to be as honest as she could with him. It was bad enough she had disobeyed his order, she could not have him suspecting she was being dishonest too.

  “He let you ride him?” he asked, his expression a mixture of anger and disbelief.

  “Well, yes,” she said, turning to look fondly at the amazing animal beside her.

  “He has never even let one of my men get a harness on him without knocking them to the ground,” he said, shaking his head as he grabbed the railing and threw his leg over it. He sat there, perched on the rail as he tried to make sense of what he had just seen.