That our parents were murdered? His bear shook his head. I’m not sure. The truth made me want to go out and rip someone’s head off.
Caleb knew exactly whose head his bear wanted to rip off. But after talking it over with Aiden, they had decided to focus on the future rather than tracking down the person responsible for the death of their parents.
“Maybe I will.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “But not today. I need to get home, I have a few chores to do before I get back here for the evening.”
“Are you sure you don’t need me?” Elise asked.
Ivan opened his mouth as if he were going to say a smart retort but instead, he shook his head and said, “No, you and Caleb go have fun.”
Caleb nodded his thanks to Ivan who could easily have pointed out to Elise that he had run this restaurant for years without her and he could continue to do so. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Have fun, Caleb. Bring me back something tasty to eat.” He aimed his comment at Elise who looked flustered for a moment before she let out a long breath and nodded.
“I will. I have something in mind, but it depends on whether I can find some. It’s a little late in the season.”
“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” Ivan replied. “I like what I’ve seen so far. Your trial is going well.”
A big smile spread across Elise’s face. “Thanks.” She clutched her purse tightly as she hurried toward the door. “Have a good evening, Ivan.”
“You, too.” He winked at Caleb before he turned his back on them, sweeping the kitchen with his critical gaze to check if everything was ready for the evening. Ivan was very particular about leaving anything out of place in his kitchen.
It’s a habit from when we all lived here and he first started cooking, Caleb’s bear said. You do remember how you and our brothers used to come in and grab food for a midnight snack after going for a run in the mountains.
Caleb chuckled to himself. We used to raid the fridge and then Ivan would get up in the morning and find the food he’d prepared for breakfast was gone.
Exactly. His bear chuckled.
He should be grateful, Caleb answered. We helped make him into the chef he is today.
His bear guffawed. You mean because he had to get creative with his menu to make up for the fact that he never knew what ingredients he’d find missing?
Yes, we taught him everything he knows, Caleb said smugly as he followed Elise out to the parking lot.
“Karros dropped me at work, so I don’t have to take the car home before we leave.” Elise glanced at the sky. “We don’t have a lot of time to spare. Not if we want to make the most of the daylight.”
“Then let’s go. I think I remember the way, although the last time I went to the fae realm, Ivan was carrying the car in his talons.”
“You’re joking?” Elise stopped walking, her mouth open in surprise.
“We were in a hurry.” Caleb shrugged. “You can always depend on Ivan if you have a need for speed.”
“I’m beginning to see he is a man of many talents.” Elise glanced back toward the hotel.
“I’m a man of many talents, too,” Caleb insisted, ignoring the pang of jealousy he experienced. At work this morning, he’d had a frank talk with Aiden about what it was like to have a mate.
Unreasonable jealousy seemed to be one of the major changes Aiden had experienced, even toward Caleb. The merest hint that his mate was showing someone else attention would send Aiden spiraling into a fit of jealousy if he didn’t regain control quickly.
It’s a primal urge, his bear said.
Aiden said he spoke to Logan about it and it soon passes. Mostly. Caleb chuckled. Unfortunately for Aiden, his primal urge might last longer since Karros is in town. The constant reminder that Flora was supposed to marry another man grated on his nerves.
Caleb’s bear chuckled. At least we don’t have that to contend with.
“So, what are your many talents?” Elise asked, pulling his attention back to her.
“I’m good with my hands. I’m good at repairing things. I’m an okay mechanic, for the basic stuff at least. I’m also a good woodsman.” He started the engine. “I’m good at tracking and hunting. Although we rarely make a kill.”
“I suspect that might get messy when you live in a town filled with shifters.” Elise chuckled. “Just think if you caught a rabbit and it turned out to be a person.”
“I can sense whether the creature I’m tracking is a shifter or a non-shifter,” he assured her. “There have been no unfortunate shifter-on-shifter killings for as long as anyone can remember.”
“Wow. That’s a handy sense to have. You guys are full of surprises.”
“I like to think so.” Caleb drove toward the place where the town of Wishing Moon Bay linked to the fae realm. He only had to check for directions once. He remembered the route fairly well since he had driven back here from the fae realm only a couple of days ago. However, he had been tired and focused on getting home rather than the route they were taking.
“Have you only been to the fae realm once?” Elise asked as they reached the place where the two worlds intersected.
“Yes. When we were younger, we’d come here. But we’d take a more direct route. Straight across country rather than following the road.”
“You used to come to the crossing but never enter the fae world?” She sounded surprised.
“Valerie really did impress on us the need to stay away. Not just for Ivan’s sake. She thought your people wouldn’t like six shifters charging through your lands.”
“Valerie is very wise. One or two shifters are tolerated, but six, especially if one is a dragon...” She sat up straight as they approached the crossing point.
Caleb put his foot down on the gas. He had no idea why, but he always experienced the need to go faster as they approached, as if the vehicle needed more momentum to burst through from one world to the next. He always pictured the crossing point as like the surface of a bubble and by going faster, he would pop the bubble and arrive in the fae world.
But if he failed to pop the bubble then he would be stuck between worlds like a fly trapped in a spider’s web.
His bear chuckled. You still believe that?
No, Caleb answered. I know it was a story Rift made up when we were kids. I know it’s not true, but my foot has a mind of its own. He eased up on the gas as they reached the fae world.
“Well, that was interesting,” Elise said. “I thought you were trying to run a red light or escape the police.”
“You can thank my brother Rift for that. He used to say that you’d get stuck between worlds.” Caleb chuckled. “Thinking about it, Rift used to make up all kinds of stories. I should warn Logan since Rift takes care of Milo a lot.”
“You don’t think he’s grown out of it?” Elise asked.
“Rift?” Caleb shook his head. “I doubt it. He likes making up stories. He has a very vivid imagination. I think that’s why he likes taking care of Milo so much, he can pretend to be a kid again.”
“We don’t make up stories. Not like you do in Wishing Moon Bay and certainly not like the people in the world beyond.” Elise rolled down the window and rested her elbow on the door. “When we have children, we should tell them stories. Maybe not the ones about benevolent fairies with wings, but other stories.”
“It’d be weird for me not to tell our children stories,” Caleb confessed, glad that Elise was at least talking about them having children together.
“My Grandma Hannah had a big book of stories. Short ones, the ones you call fairy tales. Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. Do you know them?” Her eyes sparkled as she half turned to face him.
“I know them.”
“She used to read them to us when we were small. Even Karros used to sit and listen.” She smiled wistfully. “We used to love staying with my grandma in the wildwood.”
“I’ve never had grandparents,” Caleb confessed. “There was only ever V
alerie.”
“And she raised the six of you alone.” Elise stared out of the window before quietly asking, “What is she?”
“What is she? You mean what is Valerie?” Caleb checked that he’d heard her right.
“Yes. She lived in Wishing Moon Bay and ran the hotel while raising six boys. Surely she must be a sorceress who kept you all under her spell so you would behave.” Elise’s lips twitched.
“She’s...nothing. Valerie has no real magic. At least not the kind that the witches use to cast spells. And she’s not a shifter.” He thought for a minute. “Yet she has this way of...communicating with people. She can empathize with most people she meets.”
“That is truly a gift,” Elise said. “To be attuned to another person’s thoughts and feelings.”
“When we first went to live with her, we found it hard to trust anyone. Even when we misbehaved, she was always there for us. She explained the situation in a way we could understand and soon we knew we could trust her and most importantly count on her to be there for us.”
“She taught you trust. And loyalty. I don’t need shifter senses to know that you and your brothers are incredibly loyal to each other.”
“We are. We always have been.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “But that’s changing. Four of us have found our mates now.”
“That doesn’t mean your loyalty wanes. And I doubt any of your brothers’ mates would ever make you choose between them or your brothers.” Elise shook her head. “You would never make me choose between you and Karros.”
“No. But sometimes these choices are out of our control,” he said quietly.
Elise shuddered. “We need to turn left here. The wildwood is about ten miles away.”
They drove on in silence, each of them lost in thought.
“We’re close,” Caleb said.
“How do you know?” Elise whispered.
“I can sense your excitement.” He grinned at her. “You look like Aiden when he scents a fresh hive of honey.”
She chuckled and rubbed her hands over her thighs. “It’s been a while since I’ve visited the wildwood for more than an hour or two.” She glanced up at the sky. “We have hours before we have to return to Wishing Moon Bay.”
“We have all night if that’s what you want.”
Elise swung her head around to study him. “You want to stay the night? What about work?”
“What about work? Aiden told me that a night in the wildwood is like no other night.” He glanced over his shoulder. “So, I packed a tent and some sleeping bags. And some pots and pans. I figured we could spend a couple of hours foraging for food and then you could cook something over a campfire.”
“Oh, you did, did you?” Elise’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“I’ve made all the arrangements. Karros is not expecting you home.”
“You have been busy behind my back.” She clasped her hands together.
“You looked as if you needed cheering up last night.” He grinned. “Did I make your wish come true?”
“Wish?” Her eyes went wide. “You’re asking if that was the wish I made?”
“Yes.”
“No, I wished for something more.” Elise ducked her head, leaving Caleb guessing as to what exactly “more” meant to her.
And if it included him.
She could have wished for more of me, his bear said lightly.
Elise can’t want more of you, Caleb told him. Not when she hasn’t had any of you yet.
Ah, but she will when we get to the wildwood, and when she does, she’ll want more and more of me. How can she not when she sees my sleek fur, my massive paws, and my sharp claws? Not to mention my teeth. He bared his teeth to show off the whiteness.
Caleb chuckled. I’m sure she’ll find you adorable.
His bear gnashed his teeth. That’s not exactly the look I’m going for.
Why don’t we let your mate be the judge? Caleb snickered to himself, but when he saw the tall, ancient trees ahead, he quickly sobered.
“I told you it was magnificent,” Elise said.
“You did. I just never thought it would be this magnificent.” Caleb slowed the truck, taking in the scene before him, while also fighting for control of his bear who desperately wanted to break free and run beneath the dense trees with their overlapping branches.
“So you like it?” Elise asked with relief.
Tell her I love it, his bear prompted.
“I like it a lot, my bear says he loves it.”
“You can hear his voice in your head?” She jerked her head around, taking her eyes off the forest before them.
“Yes, we share some thoughts and can communicate whenever we want. But only one of us can ever be here in this world.” Caleb’s bear mentally nudged him. “He wants to meet you in person. Or person to bear.”
“Yes.” She shuffled forward in her seat. “If we’re going to camp, we need to follow this road for a couple of miles and then follow a rutted track deeper into the forest. It’s dry and your truck will handle it. The place I want to camp is about another mile into the forest. There we should have plenty of privacy.”
“Great.” Caleb drove on, impatient to begin this new adventure with his mate.
Chapter Fifteen – Elise
“So, this bear of yours.” Excitement pulsed through her veins, they had left Caleb’s truck and were hiking through the forest to the place they would camp.
The scent of the forest filled her senses, from the pungent damp earth to the sharp pine resin, to the subtle smell of herbs and shrubs that grew in among the trees. These smells always reminded her of her childhood, of blissful days spent at her grandma’s house.
“This bear of mine...” Caleb hitched the pack containing the camping gear onto his shoulder. “Do you want to meet him now or when we get to the camp?”
“If you shift now, will I have to carry all the gear?” There was no way she would be able to add Caleb’s pack to the weight of the pack already on her back.
“No, if I shift, the pack kind of stays with me.” He stopped walking, his eyes unfocused for a long moment before he said, “It’s hard to contain my bear. He’s been fighting to get free and meet you in person since we left the truck.”
“Oh.” Her brow furrowed. “Does that mean that once he’s free, you won’t be able to come back? I mean the human you.”
“No. If you want him to shift so that this part of me comes back, he will. My bear is connected to you in the same way the human me is. Which means he will never hurt you. Not ever.” Caleb locked eyes with her. “You are the most important thing in our lives.”
“I’m beginning to realize that.” She nodded, her mouth dry as her nerves got the better of her. Despite what Caleb said, she was about to come face to face with a bear.
The only bears she’d ever met before were those that lived in the wildwood. They were fierce and territorial but rarely appeared around humans, preferring to keep to the shadows. The fae, on the whole, respected them and left them alone.
However, when she was a girl, staying at her grandma’s house, she had been out foraging for mushrooms when a snuffling alerted her to the presence of a massive old bear who was following her trail.
For a second she’d frozen, unable to move. If the bear decided she was his next meal, there was nothing she could do to fend him off.
But she was a fae, and fighting wasn’t her only option to escape. Tiptoeing forward, her eyes fixed on the branches above her head rather than the huge beast of a bear following her, she located a branch which she could reach.
Strapping her pack across her back, she’d run forward, arms outstretched as she leaped for the branch. Her hands curled around the rough bark and she’d levered herself up a little awkwardly. Hooking her leg over the branch, she’d hoisted herself up out of danger.
The moment of relief lasted for barely a minute as the bear reached the spot where she’d jumped up. He snorted and snuffled in the dirt, before raising
his huge head and staring at her.
Huffing and puffing, he went to the trunk of the tree that supported the branch and placed his huge paws on it. The tree swayed as he pushed it hard, his claws scraping at the bark, shredding it like paper.
Clutching onto the branch, she’d fought the panic rising inside of her as she tried to figure out her next move. Going down wasn’t an option and so she searched the branches above her head, looking for one stout enough to bear her weight.
With perfect timing, she waited for the bear to stop pushing the tree trunk, pulled her feet under her so her toes rested on the tree limb, then leaped for the next branch. Using her momentum, she swung forward, grabbing hold of another branch and then another until she reached another tree.
The bear didn’t realize at first, giving Elise a chance to put some distance between her and her pursuer. Only when she was sure she could outrun him and reach the safety of her grandma’s house did she drop down to the ground and set off at a sprint.
“Are you okay?” Caleb asked. “Your heart rate has quickened and you’re breathing heavily. My bear wants to think it’s because you are so excited to see him, but you seem...scared.”
“Oh, I was recalling a bear attack.”
“You got attacked by a bear?” Caleb’s shock showed on his face. “I had no idea.”
“I didn’t get hurt, I outran him. And I don’t ever really think about it, it didn’t scare me for life or anything. But the thought of actually meeting your bear, it’s brought it back to me.”
“A wild bear?” Caleb asked.
“I guess so, unlike you, I can’t tell the difference between a shifter bear and a real bear. But there are not many shifters in the forest.” She lifted her head and inhaled deeply. “Mushrooms.”
“Mushrooms?” Caleb sniffed the air. “I can smell them, too. Very sweet.”
“I was collecting them the day the bear attacked me.” She beckoned to him and he followed her as she left the trail and ducked under a low-hanging branch. “There.”
“Maybe that’s why the bear attacked you.” Caleb tensed his jaw. “They are irresistible to my bear.”
Fae-ted to the Bear: A Wishing Moon Bay Shifter Romance (The Bond of Brothers Book 4) Page 11
