The Silver Bear's Mate

by Fay Walsh

  It wasn't just a calm “we don’t believe you” response. Instead, they shunned her. If she even dared to bring it up, they would tell her that it wasn’t worth discussing and that she needed to stop bringing it up. She hated that she would be silenced for everything that she said, and she hated that neither of them would ever take her seriously. It pissed her off to no end and she hated that it forced her to move out at a very early age, live on her own, and get away from them. She would rather live on her own than deal with that. She definitely still remembered not just the physical scars, but the mental ones too.

  She remembered the way that the shifter looked. It was a female wolf, that’s for sure. The bloodlust, the fact that she was killed because of that, all of that left marks on her mind, her psyche, and she wanted nothing more than to forget her past. That was why she hated talking about it, resorting to making every effort possible to change the subject when she needed to. She hated talking about it, but when she talked to Sven, it felt strangely calming.

  She didn’t understand it. She wondered if there was a reasoning for that, or if she was just imagining all of this. But, she loved the way that it felt, the way that he talked to her, and the comforting words were enough to make her feel better than she did before. She definitely would give anything to feel that way again.

  The next couple of days were quiet, but she couldn't stop thinking about Sven. It wasn’t even thinking about him in a sexual or romantic way, she just wanted to see him again and again. It made her want more, got her to crave so much more than before, and she was happy to have these feelings whenever she could experience them. But of course, this desire to have him also pushed her to want answers, real answers that could help her.

  There were a lot of things she wanted to say, but at the same time, she didn’t want to worry him, nor did she feel like it was necessary to tell him. She wanted to wait until the time was right to admit the truth, the truth about her past, and what it meant for them.

  There were dark secrets, and she wondered if she could talk to him about them eventually. But, she didn't know for sure. She had a feeling that there was a lot that happened, and she figured that it may be explained later on. For now, she just kept herself together and waited until the time was right.

  About three days later, she got a call from Sven. He hadn’t really talked to her that much before that point, but when her phone rang, she immediately picked it up and held it to her ear.

  “Hey there,” she said, trying her hardest to quell the obvious excitement in her voice.

  “Hey, Vicky, it’s me. Say, uh, do you want to maybe go out tomorrow? I don't have anything going on, and I would like to see you,’ he said.

  “Sure. That would be great,” she said to him. She wondered if the two of them would talk about what was going on.

  “I was a bit worried about you, honestly. But, I didn’t want to bother you. It was really nice seeing you the other day though. It was nice to just… talk to someone about that, you know?” he explained.

  “Yeah. Do you want to see me this weekend?”

  “Sure. How does the same time as last time sound,” he said?

  “That’s fine,” she told him.

  “Good. ‘Cause I can do that. Anyway, I'll talk to you later.”

  “Anyway, I guess I'll be seeing you around,” she said.

  “Yeah. You will.”

  She wanted him to say more to her, but she realized that he didn’t want to say anything else. She heard the click, sighing in slight frustrating as she realized he didn’t feel that urge to talk to her.

  Maybe it was due to the fact that he was worried about talking about it outside of the conversations they had on their dates. But, she did feel slightly disappointed. However, they would talk eventually, and she would get the answers needed.

  For Vicky, she had a feeling that this was the beginning of something else, something new, and she would experience it when it was right.

  Chapter 5

  Sven couldn't get Vicky off his mind. He knew for a fact that she was a wonderful woman, and that she was quite sweet, much nicer than he had expected. But, at the same time, he was worried about telling her the truth, mostly because she didn’t seem to be the type that understood just yet, especially in terms of what she did and didn’t know.

  There was a lot that he was worried about, a lot that he felt concern about, and in truth, Sven wanted to tell her more, but he feared the truth of it, and her own personal response to it. It was something that sat at the back of his mind, eating away at it like it was some sort of mess that he couldn’t escape. It was bothersome, but maybe she would tell him a bit more about herself.

  He just wondered if she had some other connection to him besides a love for the paranormal. Which was great, but he also felt like there was much more there.

  This time, they met at a park. He was happy to just be out of the house. Travis was getting nagging again, and he didn’t have time for that. When he got there, he noticed Vicky sitting and reading a book. It was one of the books he had returned the other day. She read it with large, excited eyes, her body turning as she felt his presence.

  “Oh, you’re here,” she said.

  “I am. What did you find?” he inquired.

  “Oh, just this book on shifters of the world, if that makes sense. I actually was a bit curious about it, and I wanted to know a bit more about it, and I was curious, that’s all,” she said.

  “You seem to really like shifters a lot,” he said pointedly.

  It couldn't be because she figured it out, could it? She wasn’t insightful, and he hid it well from most humans. But then, she smiled.

  “It’s because of what happened ten years ago,” she said.

  He looked at her, nodding.

  “I see. What happened then?” he asked.

  She immediately reddened, and Sven could tell that she was slightly discomforted by the question.

  “You’re not going to laugh at me, right?”

  “Course not. I'm not here to laugh at you,” he said.

  “Yeah well, I actually have quite the story,” she admitted.

  “I've got time if you want to talk right now,” he said to her.

  She blushed but then nodded.

  “Fair enough. Well, to start with, a shifter saved me,” she said.

  A shifter saved her? He didn’t think that was even possible. There were only a few shifters in town, and he didn’t remember-

  “When did it happen?” he asked her. He needed to know. He wouldn't tell her the truth, because he needed to be totally sure before he said anything.

  “Well, about ten years ago, I was heading home from school. I remember talking with this guy, about the same age as me, and I got attacked. He made some comment and some wolf-like creature, who I knew was a girl, jumped in, pinning me down and tearing apart my ribs and such. I… I remember it so vividly it’s almost a little sick, but I actually remember, after I was attacked, that someone tried to save me,” she explained.

  “I see. And that someone was a shifter?”

  “Yes. A silver bear. I remember it, and the vividness of it is still surprising to this day. It had soft, silvery-white fur, unlike anything I've ever seen. I tried to fight it, but after a little bit, I finally realized this creature didn’t want to kill me. So, I let it help me, in its own unique way. It saved me from the attack. I never got the name, but I ended up back home. Before I could thank the creature, it left. I'm still mad I never got to tell them thanks, because they saved my life,” she said. “I can’t say it made my home life better, unfortunately. My family is a bunch of assholes, and they never believed me. Even though I came in with all those marks from the attacks. I hate it but… that's what happened,” she said to him.

  He tensed up. He knew immediately this was him and felt slightly sick to his stomach.

  “What did they do?”

  “I told them what happened. I was as honest as I could be. But, they thought that I made it up, and I
had just been attacked by a wild animal. But I hadn’t. They never believed me. They did agree to let me get treatment, but after that, they tried to throw me into a psych ward. I tried my best to make them believe that I definitely had been attacked,” she said.

  “Shit. Did you end up going?”

  “Nah. I was freshly 18 at the time, so after a stupid argument with my parents, I ended up leaving them. I was mad at how I was being treated,” she said.

  “I don't blame you. I mean, I know it’s not something easy for people to understand, but still,” he said.

  “Yeah, to put it into perspective, my parents hate anything paranormal. They think it’s stupid, fake, and generally not worth putting time into. Well, I've always been fascinated with it, and even when I try to make it so that I'm not totally focused on it, it’s something I've always felt a connection to. I love the paranormal because I feel like… it connects with me. I have always wanted to meet that person, to thank them for this. I doubt that I will ever meet them. I wonder if they’re listening right now, somewhere, and they want to listen to me, and that’s all that I'm doing,” she admitted.

  “Who knows? Maybe they are closer than you think. I mean, I don’t really understand it myself, but I do support you, Vicky. I've never had to deal with being attacked, but I do understand how, with that connection alone, you can grow curious about it,” he explained.

  “Thanks, Sven. Trust me on this, I do like that this is happening in this way,” she said.

  “I see. Well, I'm glad to make you happy too,” he told her.

  “Yeah. I mean, I did manage to leave, but a part of me wonders if, by some sort of luck, there is a chance that the bear is listening,” she said.

  He looked, nodding.

  “You never know,” he said.

  “Yeah. Anyways, thanks for listening to me Sven. You know, you remind me of what I wish that person was like. You know, what I thought he might be,” she said.

  He nodded, taking that in.

  “I mean, I guess we have similar personalities, he said.

  “Yeah. I just remember that this person seemed to know the wolf that attacked me. Actually, I remember someone from then too that was with the wolf that attacked me. They seemed almost like they were using some kind of magic, like they knew what they were doing when it came to hurting me,” she said to him.

  He nodded, listening to this. He started to take it in, realizing what it was.

  It had to be Emilia and Laphy. He knew for sure what was happening next. He knew that it was them, that they attacked her. He knew that Emilia was dead. He knew that Billy took care of her, both him and his girl, but… whatever had happened to Laphy? He only remembered that she was always right behind Emilia, and he wondered if there was some sort of prophecy to be fulfilled.

  “Do you know anything about this?” Vicky asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

  He knew that lying to her would make things more awkward down the road. He understood that, but he wasn't going to tell her right away. He was definitely struggling to realize that there was something else there, that’s for sure.

  “I don’t think so. I mean, I guess people act the same in some ways, and different in others, he said.

  He could see the disappointment in her face. He felt bad for this, knowing that she was probably hoping for something else, but he couldn't tell her yet. He was definitely ready for what he would say next, but he wanted to make sure that it was indeed her.

  “I see. Well, I just wondered if you may know,” she said.

  “To be honest, Vicky, I don’t. But, if you feel like the answer is closer than you think it is, then it probably is,” he said.

  “That’s cryptic,” she admitted.

  “What can I say, I'm a bit weird,” he said.

  She looked at him, and he could tell that she was trying her hardest to understand what was going on. He wondered if there was something else that was being hidden from view, something deeper, darker, and more mysterious.

  But, he wasn’t ready to reveal it all yet. He didn’t think it was time, and he wondered if there was anything more here that could be done.

  Chapter 6

  Vicky walked around the park with him for a little while, surprised that Sven stuck around for so long. She wondered if he was just buying time before he would tell her more about this, or to see if she would say more.

  She got a strange aura from him, and that presence seemed a bit persistent on sticking around. She wondered if it was maybe because he wanted to know more, but he feared what might happen. But, he seemed a bit determined as well to stay quiet, which did communicate to her that he might be hiding something.

  Vicky wasn't sure what Sven was hiding under everything. On the one hand, she figured it was something of value because naturally, people don’t only hide things that they’re ashamed of. But, at the same time, Vicky also felt like there was so much more here, so much that he was hiding from her, that she didn’t know for sure. She definitely was curious about this, and she was quite focused as well on her own personal worries and such.

  The walk around the park was quiet afterward. She didn’t even know why, or even what to do about this, but at this point, she wasn’t going to get too hung up on it. She decided to ignore the feelings, even though she had a nagging sensation that there was something more to it than this, and she was experiencing something else, unlike anything she had experienced before. She wondered if there was something about what she told Sven that was bothering him. She decided to ask.

  When they got to their cars, she looked at Sven with an apologetic face. He looked at her with concern, and then, she spoke.

  “There is one thing I wanted to ask you,” she said.

  “What is it?”

  “Well, it’s about you, from like years ago. Do you remember anything about my story? Is there something about it which bothers you? Because if you don’t like hearing about that, we can just… stop seeing one another,” she said.

  She didn’t want that, but she definitely knew that it may have to come to that. It was then when Sven laughed at her with a chuckle.

  “You worry so damn much, Vicky. Trust me on this, I'm good. You should be fine too. Everything is alright,” he said.

  She nodded upon hearing those words, but she didn't know for sure whether or not that was the truth. There was a strange feeling to his words, almost like he was lying, but she didn’t want to get involved with that. For now, she figured the best thing to do at this moment was to just wait and see what would happen next.

  “Trust me on this Vicky, you’re better off not knowing about what is going on in my head. My head is a strange place.”

  That was bizarre to admit, but she understood that feeling.

  “But remember that I'm always ready to listen to you and provide advice, no matter what it may be,” he said.

  “Thanks, Sven. It’s nice to have that,” she told him.

  “Well, I'm just trying to make your life, and my life, a whole lot easier,” he told her with a cheer. He knew that it wasn't all that easy to do that, but he definitely wanted to show, Vicky, that he did care. She could tell that, and after a bit, she then spoke.

  “Thank you, Sven. It’s nice to have a man like you,” she told him.

  “Well, I'll say it’s just as nice to have a woman like you too,” he told her with a purr.

  She flushed, but then nodded.

  “You’re such a damn flirt,’ she teased.

  “I mean, I definitely like flirting,” he told her.

  She immediately turned red. When they parted ways, she sat in her car, realizing just how nice it was to have this in her life. But, she also felt like there was so much more going on, and she wondered if the internet could help.

  She decided to check to see if there were any sightings of bears, wolves, or any other creatures out there. While there were a couple that seemed suspicious, there was but one article that said that they did exist, we just don't realize it. The who
le article discussed how nighttime was best for learning about shifters.

  “The night has darkness, and while it may seem that it’s easier to just learn about everything during the day, at night you get a sense of vulnerability, and while it does put you in danger, it’s better to look at items under the cover of night, to reveal the truth,” she read to herself.

  She knew that the night was dangerous. There were reports all over the TV about how, if you go out at night, you’ll be able to see things for what they really are, but if you do choose to do so, you’re also putting yourself in danger.

  She understood that and tried her best to figure out where to go with this next.