by Bianca D’Arc
She suspected that would change in a hurry, though, if anyone or anything he counted as under his protection was threatened. Bears were slow to anger, but once riled, most shifters knew to give them a very wide berth.
“For right now, I’d like your doctor to take a look and see if he can figure out what was done to me in the menagerie,” she said, gathering her own courage to even speak the words aloud. She knew some of her fear sounded in her tone, but she couldn’t help it. “After that, depending on what he finds, I’ll make more decisions about where and when I’ll go.”
“Or you could stay,” Georgio said, unexpectedly. “I’ve got a big house. Plenty of room. Very secluded and safer than just about any place these days. If you want to stay here for a while, you’re more than welcome. You could invite your brother up here, too. I know Seamus would like to see him again.”
Matilda gaped at him. What was he saying? Was it just a simple invite from one friend to another or was this something deeper? And was she okay with the idea of him wanting more from her than just a casual relationship? Was she ready for that kind of thing?
She was all mixed up after her ordeal, but she did enjoy being around Georgio. He calmed her, somehow. And excited her in sexy, naughty ways. He was an easy companion and a passionate lover.
She already knew he was an able protector. Not that she needed protecting, anymore. Still, it was nice to feel that he cared for her wellbeing. He was her equal in dominance, which made things comfortable between them, rather than challenging. He didn’t begrudge her the natural Alpha-female tendencies she’d always had. He hadn’t tried to hold her back in any way. He’d let her have the kill she needed, to settle her thirst for justice. He’d fought at her side and hadn’t tried to interfere. He’d helped. Which was more than any lion she knew would have done.
Not that the lions would have left her hanging. No, they were more likely to saunter in and take over, trying to make her sit things out while the men did all the work. Which was why she’d never been tempted to consider anything long-term with any of those big pussy chauvinists. She almost smiled, betraying her inner thoughts, but just as she was about to respond to Georgio’s invitation, the doctor came to the door of his office.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Sven said, speaking mostly to the Alpha bear who was sitting behind his desk. “Thought you’d want an update on Frank.”
“We do,” John replied, inviting the blond doctor to give his report.
“Most of the damage is relatively minor, but there’s a lot of tissue damage and at least two fractured ribs. I’d recommend we make him comfortable here—in the clinic to start—for a few days, at the very least. All the jostling of travel doesn’t help healing, but I think he’s comfortable enough for now.”
“Having him stay would also give us time to get some specialists in to try to figure out why he’s so sensitive to having people around him. He seems all right with shifters, but he was driven to become a hermit because he can’t stand being around large numbers of people,” Georgio said. He’d already briefed the Alpha bear on Frank’s peculiarities, but Matilda figured he hadn’t told the doctor the details, yet.
Sven looked intrigued, his gaze narrowing in thought. “That’s very interesting. I’ll ask Gus to drop by.”
“Gus is our resident shaman,” Georgio clarified for Matilda. “If he can’t help, we have others in town. They’ve been calling themselves the Magic Circle, and among them are all sorts of skills and backgrounds.”
“Do you think they can really help Frank?” Matilda asked.
John looked bemused. “I never expected any of this when I came up with the idea for this town, but the Magic Circle has turned out to be very helpful, in unexpected ways. I’d be truly surprised if they couldn’t figure out what’s going on with your friend. And they’re all very dedicated to helping people.”
That was good news to Matilda. She wanted to repay Frank’s kindness, and maybe helping him cope better among regular folk would help. Of course, she would like to do something more personal for him, but it was hard to know what to do for a man who could afford to buy anything he wanted.
“Well, Frank is resting comfortably, and I hear you want me to take a look at your insides?” Sven smiled, but Matilda felt dread about what the doctor might find. Still, she wasn’t a scaredy cat. She would face this head on.
Matilda stood. “Ready when you are, doctor.”
Georgio stood, as well, and caught her hand. “You don’t have to do this alone,” he told her in a gentle voice.
She squeezed his hand in thanks and smiled at him. Maybe he was right. Maybe it would be good to have him at her side, at least for part of this.
“Thanks,” she told him. She didn’t care about the speculative looks both the Alpha and the doctor were giving them. This moment was between her and Georgio.
Decision made, she left her hand in his as they went through the door, following the doctor.
Chapter Thirteen
An hour later, Matilda breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
“The scan shows nothing missing that should be there, so they didn’t take anything out. It also doesn’t show any foreign objects inside you, though there is some evidence that they were trying to create a pocket where something about the size of a strong-signal transmitter would have gone. My best guess is that your biology rejected their attempts at every turn. It isn’t easy to infiltrate something like that into a shifter’s body,” Sven told them as she and Georgio sat, once again, in his office. “My hypothesis is that, because we frequently break down our structure and reform it into another shape, our cells automatically recognize things that don’t belong and reject them. That’s why we never really have to deal with the diseases of the human population. I think your captors were experimenting on you, hoping to find a way to insert a long-range tracker on a shifter’s body, but thankfully, they didn’t succeed.”
“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear this,” Matilda said, her emotions swamping her with relief. “Thank you.”
Sven smiled gently. “I’m glad I could help set your mind at ease. You should have no long-term problems from what they did, other than the psychological residue that comes along with captivity. We have an expert in town, if you want to talk to someone who can help with that. Gus is our shaman, and he’s newly mated to a woman with a background similar to yours. Gus also got the very best training in treating military, and related trauma, that Uncle Sam could afford to give him, and he has years of experience in the field. Georgio can introduce you, if you’d like.”
“I’ll think about it,” Matilda answered, not wanting to say no right off the bat but unsure of what she would do.
She knew she probably should speak to someone, but she’d figured on a priestess, not a shaman. Still, if this guy had the right experience, he might be the better choice. She wasn’t going to commit to anything, right now, though she’d made up her mind to at least meet this Gus they spoke of and take his measure. If he seemed the right person to speak to about her problems, she might just take the bears of Grizzly Cove up on their gracious offer.
And another offer she would accept was staying in town for a while. She felt comfortable here, even in the short time she’d been here. She wanted to see more of the place before she committed to anything long-term, but she knew she’d at least stay for a couple of days. Depending on what Georgio wanted, of course. She wouldn’t just barge in on the guy, even though he’d invited her to stay. She wanted to tiptoe around a bit and figure out where they were going—if anywhere—as a couple. She could easily be convinced to stay a lot longer if he was willing to consider something a bit more lasting.
For the first time since her abduction, she was thinking about the big picture. The final question had been answered by the doctor’s examination. She wasn’t damaged physically in any permanent way, which was a huge relief. She could finally start thinking about her future—now that she was sure she had one.
She left the cl
inic with Georgio at her side. They strolled slowly along the picturesque Main Street, and he told her all about the various businesses they passed. He gave her the option of picking up food at the bakery and taking it back to his place or going to his friend’s restaurant for a sit-down meal.
While she might have enjoyed the quiet, she opted for the more public meal in the restaurant. She knew the townsfolk—Georgio’s friends—would be talking about her anyway, and she was just spunky enough to let them do it out in the open. No sense prolonging the speculation. If they were anything like her nosy lion Pride, they’d send an ambassador or two over to their table to get the scoop then carry the tale of Georgio and his lioness far and wide. Better to let them get it over with now, she reasoned.
But the bears were surprisingly reticent. More than a few came over to the table to offer greetings and congratulations on Georgio’s tracking prowess in finding her, but there were no prying questions. No innuendoes. No intimidation techniques or power plays.
“This bear Clan is very different from what I’m used to,” Matilda said, returning to her meal after the latest quick visitor to their table took their leave.
To a man, the well-wishers had been friendly and welcoming without any sly looks or probing questions. That would never have happened among cats. She sawed off another piece of her perfectly cooked steak and took a bite, marveling all over again at the spicy seasoning and expertise of the chef. Everything was absolutely delicious.
“I’ve heard cats can be a bit…inquisitive,” Georgio offered, sending her an amused glance across the table.
“You don’t know the half of it,” she told him. “Lions are downright invasive. Sometimes, they don’t seem to understand the meaning of personal space and privacy. I’m relieved you bears appear to be a lot more civilized.”
“Part of it is that there aren’t many female bears here,” Georgio mused thoughtfully. “But, yeah, in general, bears tend to give each other more space. We don’t even usually live so close to one another, so I guess we’re all being extra sensitive to make this whole thing work.”
“I really like what I’ve seen so far of the town and the people in it,” she offered. “Everybody’s been really helpful, and there’s none of the power play games I thought might happen in a group of such dominant shifters.”
“We settled that nonsense years ago,” Georgio revealed. “We’ve all known each other so long, we’re very secure in our places in the hierarchy. We each have our special skills, and we all respect each other for them. Honestly, I think that’s what really makes this all work the way it does. I don’t think you could take just any group of bears and put them in such a comparatively small territory and get what we’ve got here. It’s John’s strategy, Sven’s care for our wellbeing, Tom’s legal skills, Brody’s penchant for law and order, Jack’s care for the wildlife, Gus looking out for our spirits. All that, and so much more. We all bring something to the group, and we all bring something to the town. We’re working for a common purpose, and we’re all in it together. Like we were in the service, only now, it’s for our futures.”
Matilda sat back and just looked at him. He was so passionate when he spoke of his home and his friends. He really loved it here, and she could understand why, even after just spending a few hours in the town.
“That’s really amazing,” she said honestly. “What you’re building here is incredible.”
Georgio smiled a bit smugly. “Thanks. We like to think so, too.”
After dinner, they got into a giant pickup truck that one of the table visitors had helpfully retrieved for Georgio and parked in the restaurant’s lot. He’d done it without even being asked, just doing a favor for a friend. That’s the kind of people in this town, she decided. People doing the right thing. Helping a neighbor. Trying to make life easier for their fellow man. Amazing.
Georgio’s vehicle was big and powerful. Just like the man who owned it. He helped her up into the cab then went around to the driver’s side and got in. He drove competently, taking the road out of town that led around the curve of the cove.
“Nice truck,” she said, just to make conversation.
“Thanks. It’s not my usual ride, but one of the Wraiths is driving my SUV back, as we speak. I customized the inside so it’s like a den on wheels. This is my working vehicle for when I want to haul stuff around,” he explained.
“It’s big,” she replied, not really knowing enough about pickup trucks to say much more.
“My place is out near the edges of the cove, though not quite on the ocean. Gus wanted the outermost parcel of land, because there’s a sacred circle out on the southern tip of the cove, and he’s its caretaker,” Georgio talked as he drove. “Before all the magical folk moved in, practically nobody went out there, except Gus, so I tended to walk there all the time and just sit in that ring of stones. I found it very peaceful. I’ll show you later, if you like.”
“I’d like to see it,” Matilda replied, feeling a bit shy, now that it hit her she was about to see Georgio’s home. His den. His private space.
That was a big step among shifters. They’d passed a hotel on the way out of town, so she knew there were other accommodations available, but he had never suggested she stay anywhere other than with him. That had to mean something, didn’t it? More than just that he wanted to have sex with her again. His invitation had been open-ended. He’d invited her to stay as long as she liked, and to her, that meant he was interested in something longer-term than just a few more romps in bed and then see ya later.
Now that she knew she was whole physically and nothing permanent had been done to her by those at the menagerie—not that they hadn’t tried—she felt possibilities opening up in front of her again. Hope for a future she hadn’t been completely sure she would be able to claim. Thoughts about how, where and with whom she might be spending that future.
More and more, she realized, she wanted to be near Georgio. If that meant spending time in, or even moving permanently to, Grizzly Cove, then she was very willing to consider it. More willing than she’d realized.
When she thought about her home in California, she realized she wouldn’t miss it. She’d been discovered there, somehow, though she’d thought she and her little brother had been as careful about keeping their secrets as they could be. Somehow, someone had realized what they were and had targeted them. No. She didn’t ever want to go back to that place, even if she could have. The place had betrayed them.
Georgio pulled into a winding dirt track that led up the side of the cove, into the woods. “There’s a redwood grove up ahead. Gus and I share this driveway. To the right is his land, which is bordered by the ocean on the west and my land on the east.” He turned left when he came to a fork in the track that wasn’t really smooth or defined enough to be called a road. “I chose to put my house a ways back, set in the dense part of the woods, but it’s spread out. All one level, so I don’t have to fool with stairs. When I first came here, I still had to use a cane. I’ve gotten so I can walk without it, now, but I’m not getting any younger, and the kind of damage I sustained will mean aches and pains in my later years.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Shifters seldom had to consider physical limitations. It was probably embarrassing for him to talk about, yet he was sharing openly with her. She realized that, even though it shamed him to talk of his injuries, he did so freely with her. It was yet another intimacy they shared.
“I built back into the side of the mountain a bit. A lot of us did, since this land is so suited to it. Plus, our bears feel more comfortable in an underground den, even if we don’t actually hibernate like our wild cousins.” He chuckled wryly. “I also have a pool. It’s not really a swimming pool in the traditional sense. It’s smaller, for one thing, and it’s got a device in it that creates a current. You can control the speed and swim against the current. I used it for physical therapy, and I’ve let some of the mer use it on occasion, when they were injured.”
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��They’re okay with fresh water?” Matilda asked, wondering how that worked. “Or is it salt water?”
“It’s actually rain water that I collect and then filter, so yeah, fresh water. The mer didn’t seem to care, except that the water was clean. They all complimented us on the purity of the water in town. We use spring water for most of the homes and filter rainwater where necessary and practical. We bears are very fond of pure water without contaminants. Not sure why. It just tastes and feels better.”
“I know what you mean,” she agreed. “Sam put filtration systems in every home, and it’s something we cats like, too.”
She would have said more, but he turned a final corner on the winding track, and the house appeared before her. The immense logs of the structure took her breath away for a shocked moment. It almost looked like a pile of trees had simply fallen and lay horizontally, but then, she made out the door and windows and realized that Georgio’s home blended almost seamlessly into the forest around it. As architecture went, it was absolutely lovely.
It fit his wild nature and didn’t detract from the beauty of the spot he had chosen to build his home. It looked substantial in a way that made her feel at once both safe and comfortable. She couldn’t wait to see inside.
Georgio pulled the truck under a large carport on the left side of the house that was covered with small tree trunks that still had their bark on them. The occasional pine frond, blown down from the trees higher up on the hill, was scattered on the wooden roof, making it look like part of the forest at first glance. Inside, though, it provided sturdy cover for Georgio’s big pickup and the trailer that was parked farther to the left. There was also a big black motorcycle parked near the back, where a tool chest and work lights, now off, stood ready, waiting for Georgio to have time to tinker with the bike’s engine.
