“What if it’s the man who took you and Aiden when you were kids?” Flora asked Caleb.
“Then at least we’ll finally be able to catch him and bring him to justice.” Caleb gripped his coffee cup so tightly, he could have crushed it in his hands, but he flexed his fingers and relaxed. Losing his temper was not going to help.
Of course, we’re angry that this person might be back and causing a threat to our sister, his bear said.
But why follow her? Caleb asked. Why not just take her if that’s what he wants? I can’t see why he’d just follow her.
To lure us back here? His bear’s suggestion that they had walked into a trap didn’t sit well with him and he pushed his senses out, trying to locate anyone lurking around the house.
There was no one.
I doubt this is about us. He must be crazy if he thinks he can take us and Aiden again, we’d fight him now and he wouldn’t stand a chance.
So what is it about? Caleb asked.
That was the question no one could answer.
“I’m going to go take a look outside.” Caleb stood up abruptly. Sitting around drinking coffee was not going to help them.
“I’ll come with you.” Elise shot a look at Flora who also stood up.
“I’ll go check on Aiden.” She bolted for the door.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Zara asked.
“No. Stay here.” Caleb grinned as he caught sight of Elise’s expression.
“I don’t think we were very subtle, do you?” Elise asked as she closed the front door behind them.
“Not really, but those two are so focused on each other right now they won’t even have noticed.” Caleb chuckled. “Is that how I looked when we first met?”
“Oh, you looked as if you had eaten bad seafood.” She waved her hand around her face. “A little green. Not a good advertisement for the hotel restaurant.”
“Funny.” He rolled his eyes, but she was right, meeting his mate had knocked the air out of his lungs and left his knees weak. His mind had emptied of all thought except his mate and how to win her heart.
They left the house behind and followed the road for a short distance until a trail cut past between two houses and wound toward the foothills of the mountain. Caleb stopped walking and stretched his senses out to their limit.
“Was Karros right?” Elise asked. “Is there a way to make your senses stronger and more far-reaching?”
“I suppose. I’ve never thought about it. But I expect you could train them.” He shrugged. “My senses have always worked so well that it never occurred to me to test them.”
“Are your senses the same as your brother’s?” Elise asked.
His brow furrowed. “We never overly compared. Aiden and I have the same senses for sure but that could be because we’re twins. Rift has heightened sight, he can’t necessarily see farther but he can see more clearly, the details are sharper. Ivan probably has the best senses.”
They walked along the trail and Caleb kept his senses stretched to their limit, which was mentally exhausting. As he walked, he tried to push a little farther, to hear more distant sounds, and to sense the presence of any living creature outside his normal limit.
“Of course, it could be that Zara’s senses are just not so well developed.” Elise’s suggestion snapped his attention back to her and he relaxed, allowing himself a moment to recover.
“That’s possible.” He stopped walking and put his hands on his hips. “Or she might have imagined it.”
“Do you think that’s possible?” Elise asked. “Zara seems levelheaded. She doesn’t seem like the kind of person to see monsters where there are none.”
“She’s not. At least from what I’ve learned, she’s not, but we don’t know her that well. She might be our sister, but we don’t know her. Our relationship is new. It takes time to get to know someone. To really know them.”
Elise linked her arm with him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Does it?”
“Mates are different, we have that connection, remember? I think it makes it easier to read a person, to know their heart.” He turned to face her and threaded his arms around her shoulders. “I feel that I know you. That I know the essence of you.”
“The essence of you.” Her eyes misted with tears. “I like that.” She blinked rapidly. “I’m so grateful for you.”
He lowered his head and kissed her lips, tightening his hold on her. This is where he wanted her to be always, in his arms with his lips on hers.
That would make life very awkward, and we’d starve to death, his bear pointed out.
Caleb sighed and broke their kiss. His bear reminded him that they were here to solve the mystery of their sister’s stalker. Kissing would have to wait for later.
“Let’s keep going on this trail.” He pointed upward. “Once we get higher, we should be able to get a view of Zara’s house.”
“Do you think that’s where they would have stood and watched Zara?” Elise asked.
“Yes, it’s beyond the limit of my senses when we were back at the house. I expect it’s beyond Elise’s, too. But someone with binoculars would have been able to watch the house from there.”
“Which means we might be back to looking for a non-supernatural being.” Elise patted his arm. “Impressive.”
“You think so?” He caught hold of her hand when the trail became steep and harder to climb.
“I can manage,” she insisted, although she didn’t pull her hand away from him.
“I know. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help make your life easier.” They walked on until they reached a small outcrop. Anyone standing there had a good view of the houses below, including Zara’s house.
“Can you sense them in the house?” Elise asked.
Caleb shook his head. “No, they are out of range.”
Elise leaned down and stared at the ground while walking back and forth along the outcrop. “Let’s see if we can find any clues.”
“You’re like a detective,” Caleb told her as she brushed her hand across the dirt and uncovered a bottle cap.
“I don’t think my skills are going to help us solve this.” She examined the bottle cap. “This has been here for a few months at least.”
“I can’t see anything.” He inhaled deeply. “And nothing smells different. Zara is right, there are so many scents here, though, it would be impossible to pick one out.”
Caleb straightened up and stared farther up the trail. The foothills stretched up toward the mountain. Someone with a powerful telescope could stand on any part of the mountain and spy on Zara in her house below.
“We’re not going to find anything here, are we?” Elise asked.
“No. I hoped we might. About the only thing we have done is expanded our list of suspects to include every non-shifter along with any shifter. Until we figure out why someone might spy on Zara, we’re not going to figure out the who.”
“Let’s go back to the house. I should check up on Karros. He looked as if he’d been hit by a bus.” Her expression brightened, a smile chasing away her fears.
“It’s a good thing I like the guy,” Caleb told her. “If he’d acted like an idiot over us being together, I’d have been forced to go into big-brother mode and warn him he’d better not ever hurt my little sister.”
“I get the feeling your little sister can take care of herself. But I don’t think you need to worry at all. Karros is the sweetest guy, and he is smitten by Zara. They’re going to be just fine.”
As long as they could find and neutralize the threat against Zara before whoever was watching her could carry out their plan.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Elise
They headed back to the house, their search for any clues futile. Caleb was right, they needed to figure out why someone might be watching Zara before they could figure out who.
“When we get back, why don’t you talk to Zara alone, while I talk to Karros,” Elise suggested as they neared the house.
Caleb stopped walking and glanced at her. “I assume there’s something specific you want me to ask her. Although, she said she has no other information that would help.”
“What if we’re blowing this all out of proportion?” Elise lowered her voice, fully aware that Zara was also a shifter with heightened senses. After the discussion on how far a shifter could push their senses, she didn’t want to risk this conversation being overheard. The last thing she needed was to offend the woman who was both sister to her mate and mate to her brother. “What if Zara has a...” She ran her hand through her hair and looked around.
“Just say it, Elise. We’re floundering here so any ideas are better than no ideas.” Caleb brushed her hair back from her face. “You won’t offend me. You might look at this from a different perspective.”
“A non-shifter perspective.” She chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment.
“Please, tell me,” Caleb urged.
“Okay. Karros was in love with Flora. I mean really in love with her.”
Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “But now he has Zara.”
“Relax, that’s not the point.” She placed her hand on his upper arm. “Compare his behavior to Tisserand’s.”
Caleb’s nostrils flared. “Tisserand was a controlling jerk who wanted his own way.”
“But if you put the two together.” She entwined her fingers.
“I don’t understand.” Caleb knitted his brows together.
“That’s because I’m not explaining it very well.” She blew the air out of her cheeks and looked down at her feet. “So I’m just going to say it even though you might...”
“Elise.” He looked her straight in the eyes. “Say it.”
“Okay. Your sister might have had a boyfriend. And since she’s a shifter, the relationship might not have been serious for her...but it might have been for him. He might have fallen in love with Zara and when she didn’t reciprocate his feelings, he might not have taken it well.” Elise shrugged. “Is that possible?”
“Absolutely.” Caleb rubbed his hand over his chin. “We saw firsthand what can happen when things didn’t work out your way when we dealt with Tisserand.”
“The thing is, Zara might not want to admit it in front of Karros.”
“He’d understand. More than most people, he’d understand since it’s so similar to his own relationship with Flora.” Caleb continued toward the house. “But you’re right, let’s split them up and I’ll ask Zara.”
“I wonder if Aiden has any news from Oscar.” They were nearly at the house. She couldn’t wait to talk to Karros and find out how he was feeling. She was so happy for him. If only his meeting with Zara had come under better circumstances.
A lump of emotion welled in Elise’s throat and she blinked back tears. She needed to focus instead of dissolving into a pool of emotion. The sooner they figured this out and dealt with any threat to Zara, the sooner they could all get on with their lives.
“How are you doing?” Caleb’s gentle tone nearly pushed her over the edge, but she stifled a sob.
“I’m so happy for him, I can hardly breathe. I just wish we weren’t here under these circumstances. Why couldn’t they have just met when Zara visited Wishing Moon Bay without this threat hanging over them?”
“We don’t get to choose the circumstances when we meet our true love,” Caleb replied sagely. “But we should both realize that we’ve all come together like this at this time for a reason.”
“Karros is here because Zara needs him.” She nudged him playfully. “And you met me because you needed me.”
He smothered a smile. “I have needed you all my life.”
“Cute cover-up.” She tilted her head to one side and studied him. “You know what I mean.”
“I do. When Flora and Aiden met, it was because she needed him. But maybe this time it’s the other way around. I need you.” He pointed at her. “Although, you did need me to get you a job with Ivan.”
“I concede that point.” She bowed her head. “And maybe it’s just better if we realize we do need each other. It’s not something we have to keep score of.”
“Right. Let’s go inside and test our acting skills.” He kissed her cheek, inhaling deeply as her hair brushed his face. There was something incredibly sexy about having a man love every part of you.
And she loved every part of him.
He pushed the door open and went inside. After a moment she followed, trying to compose her thoughts and emotions which had been all over the place since she’d met Caleb. Her once calm life was gone, it was as if she’d been cast out onto a tumultuous ocean in a rickety boat. Yet she knew while there was breath in Caleb’s body, she would never fall overboard or lose her way.
“Okay. Are you ready?” Caleb asked and she practically bumped into him as he stopped suddenly.
“Yes.” She nodded but didn’t meet his eyes.
“Are you sure?” He moved closer, until there wasn’t room for air between their bodies. “If there’s anything else you want to talk about. If you have any other ideas.”
“No.” She placed her hand on his chest and took comfort from the steady thump of his heart.
“Okay then.” He inhaled and inched away from her, but she caught hold of him and pulled him back.
“I just want you to know that I love you.” She patted his chest. “I mean really love you. It’s like it’s there, inside of me. I don’t know where it came from or when it started, it’s just there.”
He smiled shyly. “Are you sure you don’t have shifter blood somewhere in your ancestry?”
She snorted and covered her mouth. “My Grandma Sylvie would go crazy if she heard you say that.” Her brows knitted together. “Although, my Grandma Hannah who lives by the wildwood would get a kick out of it.”
“You’re back.” Aiden appeared behind them, making her jump and pull away from Caleb as if they’d been caught misbehaving.
“We went to check out the surrounding area,” Caleb replied. “There’s an outcrop in the foothills. I wondered if someone had been spying on the house from up there. It’s far enough away that my senses wouldn’t have picked up on them but close enough that someone with a powerful telescope would have been able to see.”
“Did you find anything?” Aiden asked.
“No.”
“I’ve already scoured the mountainside,” Zara called from the kitchen. “I had the same idea.”
“And nothing?” Caleb went to the kitchen and Elise followed. She needed to get Karros outside. Perhaps into the back yard.
“No.” Zara shook her head. “Plus, it’s not just here that I sensed someone. I went for a run from my aunt’s house and sensed it there, too.”
“Could someone have followed you from here to there?” Aiden asked.
“Not easily. Not without me knowing. The roads are so quiet, I’d have seen the headlights.” She shrugged. “Unless they guessed that was where I was going.”
“You look as if you need some fresh air, Karros.” Elise went to her brother and tucked her hand under his arm. “Come on, let’s go outside.”
Karros looked up at her as if he had no idea who she was then he blinked and nodded. “Fresh air might help.”
“I think so.” She glanced sideways at Caleb who winked.
“I feel numb,” Karros admitted as they walked to the end of the yard and sat down on a wooden bench that looked as if it might fall apart at any moment.
“This is a shock.” She leaned forward and rested her elbow on her knee. “Are you okay about it?”
“About having a shifter as a mate?” He stared at her for a long moment before he blinked. “Our parents are going to go crazy.”
She took hold of his hand and threaded her fingers through his. “At least we’re in this completely and utterly together. They’ll have to disinherit both of us.”
“I don’t care so much about that,” Karros confessed. “I just know how happy they were when Flora agreed to
marry me. I ruined their dreams once.”
“We should tell them soon,” Elise agreed. “Because knowing Grandma, she’s probably already busy arranging marriage number two.”
“I told them not to.” Karros rubbed his hand over his eyes. “When I broke the news about Flora, after their initial shock and anger, Dad said they would figure something else out. That he’d call Grandma Sylvie and get her to find me another wife.”
“I had no idea.” Elise squeezed his hand. “You never said.”
“I wasn’t marrying Flora for any other reason than I loved her.” His eyes sparkled with tears. “I never just wanted to marry for the sake of getting married, I wanted to get married for love.”
“And now you have found the truest of love.” She sat up and wrapped her arms around him. “We’re incredibly lucky.”
He raked a hand through his hair and chuckled. “It’s starting to sink in.”
“Zara seems nice. Did you get a chance to talk to her while we were out?” Elise stared at the house. Had Caleb asked Zara about any potential stalker ex-boyfriends?
“A little. Mostly we just sat and held hands and stared into each other’s eyes. It’s like we didn’t need words.” He covered his face with his hands. “Is this even real?”
“It’s very real.” She leaned back and inhaled, the air was warm and carried the scent of pine. “So incredibly real.”
“The weirdest thing was that when we left Wishing Moon Bay as we were driving here, I knew I was still in love with Flora. It was like a burning pain in the pit of my stomach. I was worried I would never get over her and find a way to be happy.”
“And now?”
“Now...” He hesitated. “It’s going to sound shallow, but it’s gone. The intense love I had for Flora has changed, it’s muted, like the love for a best friend.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be.” She turned her face to the sun. “I wish we were here for a vacation rather than because your mate is in danger.”
Karros clenched his hands into fists. “I’m not a violent man but right now, if I could get my hands on whoever is stalking her, I would tear them apart.”
Fae-ted to the Bear: A Wishing Moon Bay Shifter Romance (The Bond of Brothers Book 4) Page 17
