“On that note, I’ll leave you guys to it. I’m going to, um, go eat cold pizza,” Jane mumbled, as she headed back to their table. She couldn’t think of a single joke that didn’t involve biological functioning.
Bo and Liam were still howling with laughter as she made her way back. She held her head high. So, she liked stupid gas jokes and shows with kids who saved the world, and the cartoon shows about superhero teenagers. She laughed and settled back in with a new game. Life seemed real right now. As she watched her son and her date carefully grip the unicorn and place it into the winner’s chute, she basked in the moment. Life was good. The only thing standing in the way of her son’s main goal right now was a horned stuffed animal, and that was great.
A tear came to her eyes when she finally heard the loud squeal of delight followed by Bo’s bellowed booyah. They’d gotten their prize. And she had gotten hers. An evening out with her son, great memories, and an amazing man who was starting to wake up something that had died in her a very long time ago.
She turned to see their excited football dance and flushed gazes and smiled. The way Bo’s perfect white teeth shone in the overhead lights, his joyful exuberance lighting the pools of his deep-brown eyes—all because of a child’s prize. He walked over to her, his arms filled with both the unicorn and the wolf dog.
“Here. Liam wants me to give these to you.” He placed them on the table.
Liam gave her a quick wave and bounced off to the tunnels and slide.
“Thanks. They cost a ton. Sorry.”
“It was worth it to see both your faces.” Bo leaned in and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Your whole face lights up when you smile.” He took her hand in his and gave it a slow kiss, sending tingles throughout her body.
“I like your teeth, too.” She winced. “I mean, your teeth are white and beautiful like your eyes. Dang it.” She buried her head in her hands, moaning.
“Hey, I’m out of practice, too. Why do you think I’ve been patrolling the area and playing with Liam so much?” He exhaled a deep frustrated breath. “That sounded bad. I mean, I like hanging out with kids. Liam’s fun. But I was also hiding from you, so we wouldn’t have to have an awkward conversation.”
She giggled. “You mean like this?”
“I don’t know. Could it get any more awkward?” The look on his face was pure embarrassment, and she decided to put him out of his misery.
“It’s fine. Awkward conversation is my middle name.”
“Really?”
“No, it’s actually Jane. I just prefer to go by my middle name.”
“I like it. It’s pure and gorgeous, just like you.”
She basked in his compliment. Was he just trying to get into her pants? Not that she had that much experience with men, but wasn’t that what guys did? Give you stuffed animals—not necessarily from a claw machine—buy dinner—probably somewhere fancier than Ralph E Pizza—and tell you you’re beautiful? “Are you trying to have sex with me?”
His eyebrows surged to his hairline, and he choked on the soda he had just sipped.
“Not here, but in general?” she said quickly as he dried himself off with a thin napkin. “Here. Take mine.” She handed him a few more and helped blot the table.
“Jane, I’ll be honest,” he said after he got dried off. “A part of me wants nothing more than to drop Liam off at the sitter. Take you back to my place to make love to you all night. Make you scream my name over and over until you’re hoarse.” He leaned in and spoke more quietly. “But I’m not going to rush you. If you decide you want to have…” he whispered, “sex with me…” He spoke normally again, “You’re going to have to make the first move and let me know. I’m not taking any chances of spooking you.”
She relaxed. He was honest. She’d give him that much. “I’m not necessarily saying no, just not right now.”
“How’d we get from pizza and unicorns to sex, anyway?” He winked at her.
“Sorry. I was overthinking.”
He kissed her other hand and stood up. “Never apologize for doing what you need to do to feel safe. We can continue that conversation another time.”
“Are you rushing off to avoid any more awkwardness?”
He grinned. “Fifty percent true. The other fifty wants to make sure the little guy is okay in those tunnel slides.”
Honest, kind, good to her son, and hot as heck. She watched his backside as he sauntered off in search of Liam. Boy, her heart was in for a wild ride.
~.~
Bo rushed off for another game with Liam. After the initial weirdness wore off from the conversation about sex, Jane had opened up a bit more. They’d spent the last forty-five minutes taking turns playing games with Liam—and keeping an eye on him—then sitting and chatting easily over cold pizza and soda. Bo had never felt such a connection to a woman, and it unnerved him. His bear was going crazy, demanding he take her home and make her theirs, but that wasn’t going to happen. She was too skittish. The way she constantly watched the people around them, how her whole body tensed when someone walked into her peripheral… He liked her, as in really liked her, but Jane wasn’t ready for all of him. Bo cursed his rudeness. He shouldn’t even be thinking of trying to get her alone. She was a young, single mother at her wit’s end with a son who was about to shift. Jane didn’t need any more hassle in her life. But Bo felt like his heart might stop beating if she dropped out of his life completely. Was this what it felt like when you met the one? The mate made specifically for you, and you for her? No. The fates wouldn’t do that to him, right? She was curvy and large in all the right places, perfect in every way, but he could hurt her if he went too hard with her. Humans and shifters—especially grizzly bears—were not meant to be. So that let her out as a mate. His soul deflated within him even as he watched Jane and Liam laugh while bonking plastic groundhogs on the head.
Jane turned and met his gaze. Her eyes warm and bright, her cheeks flushed with happiness. She waved at him. His bear rose again. The woman he felt most connected to, had just sought him out in the busy restaurant. She was happy and at peace, yet she sought out his gaze. Pride filled his chest and his whole body heated. He waved back.
“Come play with us, Bo,” she shouted over the chaos of the other parents and children. He could have heard her melodic voice from a hundred miles away through a thousand people. Her voice was a symphony, and it beckoned him forward.
He made it to their game and smiled down at them.
“You try it with me,” Jane said as Liam scampered off to another game.
“Okay.” He hit and missed.
She laughed and leaned in closer, her shoulders rubbing against his chest as she shimmied in front of him. “You gotta be faster than that, big guy. Pretend you’re a bear, and just smack it with your paw.”
That should be easy. He rolled his eyes. If he smacked it with his paw, the whole game would smash into pieces.
“Like this.” She placed her hand on top of his. Electricity scorched through every part of his body when she touched him. He took a deep breath and reined in his bear. He would do anything to keep her touching him. She pushed his palm down onto the creepy, little thing they were supposed to smack. They missed, barely, and tried again when she grabbed his wrist in her delicate fingers and moved him over the next spot she anticipated. After smacking that one and receiving a delightfully charged energy as her megawatt smile brightened, he placed his left hand on top of hers.
He topped her left, and she topped his right, a fun exercise that reminded him of that old pat your stomach and rub your head game. Or was that backward? He couldn’t think straight around this woman. Her whole body shook with her laughter as they tried and missed each and every time. But he loved it. The game ended with a loud buzz, but all he heard was her fast breaths. Bo turned her around, breathless at the vision of beauty in front of him. Your eyes are like the purest air on a snow-capped mountain. Your lips the radiant red of the ripest strawberry. Your hair, gold sp
un from the finest threads. He opened his mouth to tell her all of it, to tell her he would do anything to make her his. “You’ve got a huge mountain and golden berries.”
Her eyes widened. She glanced down at her breasts, looked back up at him and howled with laughter.
Damn, that’s not what his mouth was supposed to say. He flushed as his obvious mating ineptness reared its ugly head. He was better at hanging out with the kid and telling inappropriate jokes. Great.
“Hey, big guy, it’s okay.” She gave him a small hug, and he relaxed. Jane had a way of settling him more than anyone in his life.
“Sorry. I suck at this stuff.”
She giggled again. “So, you don’t say that to all the girls you take out on a date to a kid’s pizza place?”
“I can honestly say you’re the first.” He half growled, half smiled sheepishly.
“Good, then my mountains feel special.” She grinned and tugged his hand back toward the table. “Come on, let’s eat some more pizza, and you can laugh at my lack of table manners.”
Twenty minutes later, he carried an exhausted Liam out to the car and buckled him in before accepting the keys from Jane. It had been the best date of his entire life. Maybe a little unorthodox and awkward at times, but definitely the best. If only he could make her his mate, raise Liam together. But the mother goddess wouldn’t do that to him, right? Then again, she had set up his sister with a wolf. Zach and Nissa hadn’t seen that coming. Maybe there was hope for him and Jane yet. As tiny as it was, he’d take it. As they drove back into town he wondered how his sister and new mate were doing on their trip to Zach’s home.
Chapter Six
Nissa paced back and forth in the guest suite in his parents’ home. Yeah, suite. Not sweet. No, she was feeling anything but kind and warm and bubbly. The party last night had been a bit over-the-top, and had surprised her and Zach. But they went with it. How could they not? His mom was a doll. Asina was kind and beautiful and had a light about her that made everything in the room glow. She had hugged Nissa so tightly, Nissa was pretty sure the wolf female had broken one of her ribs. And then they’d brought out food and drinks and gifts—holy cow, how were they going to get everything home—and partied most of the night. Nissa had never been to a wolf party, but it had definitely opened her eyes. The howling and baying and dancing and rhythmic music and drums, well, let’s just say she and Zach weren’t the only ones leaving for some private hanky-panky time. Zach’s father, Connor, had been just how Zach had described him. He exuded the power and confidence of alpha, there was no doubt about it. But he was just as uncomfortable during the dinner party as Nissa was. While Zach had been replying to his mother’s awkward question about when and how many babies, Connor had leaned over and grabbed the extra silverware from in front of both his and Nissa’s settings.
The rest of the night had gotten better, after that was taken care of. Nissa still wished they could have stayed in Zach’s smaller, more intimate cabin on the other side of the compound. But Asina had begged them to stay closer to her for the night so she could get to know Nissa more easily. She’d also said something about a rodent problem at Zach’s place, so Nissa was good. The suite was a bit more than she needed for sleeping and showering, but it was a nice gesture.
A soft knock came on the bedroom door, and Nissa opened it to see her mate’s beautiful mother. Appearing not a day over forty, she looked radiant in her cream-and-light-blue gown. “Good morning, dear. I came to walk you down to the meeting. If you’re ready?”
“We didn’t know if I would be welcome at a Tracker meeting, so I was just going to hang out here. Thanks.” She smiled at the older woman.
“Nonsense. As mate to our son, you are welcome in every and all meetings. I think it’d also be a good idea to have someone there who knows your area so well.”
“If I can be of any help, I’m happy to come.”
Asina walked her down the long hall and the stairs toward the sitting room in the back.
Nissa winced as the sound of shouts and curses echoed down the hall.
“That’s another reason we try to attend.” Asina smiled and clasped her hand. “We help calm our agitated mates.”
Nissa nodded nervously, and squeezed the soft, but firm hand that guided her to the door. Lone bear walking into a wolf den. Yeah, like that didn’t sound like the start of a bad joke.
“Gentlemen.” The lady of the house threw her shoulders back and grandly entered the room with a flourish. “This is my son’s new mate, Nissa. Did we miss anything?”
Connor stood toe-to-toe with a large, older man with gray hair and wrinkles. Both looked on the verge of shifting and making this meeting a wolf smackdown event. They turned to the women, and their eyes lightened as they bowed and backed off from each other.
Ding ding. Retreat to your corners, fellas. Round two starts after the sexy shifter carries in the sign, Nissa thought. Her mother-in-law stifled a giggle. Had she heard her?
“Sorry, honey. We started without you.” Connor hugged his wife and sat down with her on a couch facing the visiting wolf pack.
“I’m not trying to disrespect your heir or you, Alpha,” the older man said. “We’re just having a difficult time with the loss of our own.”
This must be the alpha of the Florida pack. The ones who hired Zach to find their missing female.
“You insinuated that my son is shirking his duties and is, how did you say it, using your funding to party his way up the coast while hooking up with women?”
The low growl came from Nissa’s throat before she could stop it, and Zach wrapped a tight arm around her. Probably a good thing, or she was taking over round two’s pummeling.
“I apologize to all of you. We’re very worried about her.”
“If you’re so worried about her, why haven’t you found her yourself?” Zach asked.
“We can’t pick up her scent.”
“She never shifts?”
“We’ve had our own trackers searching for her for years, but she never seems to shift. And we can only do so much. We can’t scent her.”
That’s why Zach and his family were so useful. Royal Trackers were the only shifters who could differentiate between animals while they or their quarry were in human form. She, as a normal bear shifter, couldn’t do that. Heck, if these guys shifted into their wolves, she could smell them five miles away without too much problem. But, while they were in human form? She barely got a whiff of anything. That’s what made the Royal Herne clan so unique, so powerful. Zach had explained there were four royal clans. This was the east clan. When a wolf pack from Florida hadn’t been able to find one of their females, they’d gone to Zach and his father, asking them to help.
Now it looked like they were questioning his integrity, which made her want to cuff someone upside the head with her paw. But she was here to keep her mate calm and focused, so she’d better keep herself in check.
“Are you sure you don’t have any more pictures?” Zach asked. “The one of her as a four-year-old has only gotten me this far.”
“If she’s from your pack, why don’t you have anything more recent?” Nissa asked, leaning forward.
Rand, the alpha of their pack, answered with a sigh. “She’s my granddaughter. After a...fight, my daughter and her human mate left the pack and took her with them. They died a few years later, and she was put into human foster care. We were lucky to have a few friends on the outside who found her and kept an eye on her. But she got moved around before we could track her again. We finally found her in her teens, but she ran away before we could get to her. Her adoptive parents died shortly after that, and her trail went completely cold. It’s been years, but this is the only recent picture we have.” He held up a picture of a teenage girl sitting in the passenger seat of an old Mitsubishi.
Nissa squinted. The girl could have been twelve or seventeen. It was hard to tell at this angle and from so far away. Her long blonde hair framed her angelic face, and she wore a big smile as
if laughing at the funniest joke in the world. She was thick-boned, plus-sized like Nissa, and she’d bet the woman had gorgeous curves now that she was all grown up.
“How do you know she’s still alive?” Connor asked, and the older man growled at him in reply.
Asina patted her mate’s hand and gave a calming smile that lit up the whole room, bringing the energy down a notch. Zach had done that before, too. That’s probably where he learned the cool trick.
“No, I’m sure she’s still alive, Dad. My gut is telling me I’m close to finding her,” Zach answered before the older man could.
“Are you sure you weren’t led to the bear territory by your potential mate?”
It was Nissa’s turn to calm her mate. She stroked his hand and watched him visibly relax as he formulated his answer.
“I was extremely blessed to find my mate, but no, that wasn’t what led me there. I can’t scent her at all, but my instincts keep telling me she’s there. Or she’s traveled through the area recently. Plus, I’ve been following her bank account activity, and I think she’s heading east.”
Nissa frowned. “If trouble keeps following her eastward, don’t you think she’ll double back at some point. Head west?”
“Yeah. And when she does, I’ll lose her.”
Rand pressed his face into his hands wearily.
Nissa stood and walked over to sit next to the visibly upset older man. “My mate is the best in the business. He’s got the nose and the brains to get it done. Just give us all the information you have on her. Even the most trivial. It might spark something with him.”
Rand nodded and rose. All the other males stood and shook hands. “We are going to head back to our hotel for the night. I will get you everything I can get my hands on. Find my granddaughter, Tracker.”
Zach nodded and placed his fist over his heart. Connor did the same. All four men gave a short tilt of their heads, acknowledging the power in each other, and left the room.
“Come on, little bear.” Zach took her by the hand and led her outside.
Bear With Me: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (Mates of Bear Paw River Book 2) Page 5
