by Jenika Snow
I stopped midbite as I looked up at my father. “A nice man?” I asked with a mouthful of my mother’s homemade meatloaf.
“Well, a nice human, sweetheart.”
I set my fork down and reached for my glass of red wine, taking a long drink from it before I answered. Having a father who was a bear shifter and a mother who was human meant my father was an outcast from the moment he decided to marry and be with someone not his fated mate. But he’d fallen head-over-heels in love with my mother, mate or not, because after forty years of him being alone, he was done looking for that “soulmate.” And I couldn’t blame him, was glad they’d been happy and found each other.
I’d been their midlife baby, the surprise they thought they’d never be able to have any children. I’d taken after my mother’s side, fully human but with slight bear-shifting genetics. My senses were keener, more heightened. And my drive for the wilderness was there, so strong I found myself in the woods weekly just to touch base with nature.
But actually shifting into a bear? Never going to happen for me.
So here I was, my father salty because he was estranged from his bear side, and both my parents wanting nothing more for me than to be happy and live a shifter-free life with a banker husband, a white picket fence around our three-bedroom home, and popping out little human babies.
“We just want you to go after what you deserve, honey.” My mother brought her fork to her mouth, the prongs speared with romaine and spinach, a dollop of thick ranch dressing dripping onto her plate.
I glanced at my father, who was in the process of cutting into his pretty much rare steak. The focus he had on the piece of meat was akin to being in love.
“I’m actually going to head to bear country for the week to go camping.” That had my father glancing up midchew. Bear country wasn’t the town’s real name, but it was one the residents and anyone who lived within a hundred-mile radius called it. Mainly because the population of bear shifters in that area and the surrounding parts was pretty thick.
“Bear country?”
I nodded at his question. “Yeah. Isn’t any mountain town filled with wild animals?” I asked in confusion.
My father lifted a salt-and-pepper, bushy eyebrow.
“And you’re camping? Like in a tent or one of those rent-a-cabins?” There was worry in my mother’s voice, and I almost scoffed.
“I’m gonna rough it. Full-on middle of nowhere, pitching a tent, and starting a fire all by myself.”
My mom and dad glanced worriedly at each other.
“You think that’s a good idea? Safe? The bear shifters that live in the forest are feral, Mena. They aren’t like the bears who live in towns. They are in their animal form more than they are human.”
I did roll my eyes then and scoffed. “I don’t even know if there will be bear shifters where I’ll be. And if there are, I’m sure I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m not bringing protection.
“Protection?” My mother all but gasped that word and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She leaned in closer. “Like a gun?” she whispered.
“Oh my God, Mom.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Firstly, you make it sound like a dirty word. Secondly, no, I am not bringing a gun. I don’t even own one.”
“Oh, thank fuck.”
“Harold,” my mother hissed and glanced at my dad. “You know I don’t like that kind of language.”
“Sorry, dear.”
“I have pepper spray and my hunting knife Dad gave me for my fifteenth birthday. I’ll be fine. Promise.” I smiled. “Dad taught me all I need to know to survive out in the woods.” I glanced at my father and he grinned, his chest puffing out in pride.
“Damn right I did.”
My mother, being human, was against all forms of violence. But having a bear shifter for a father meant I learned all about surviving in the woods and how to take care of myself.
“Are you taking any of your friends, honey?” My mom went back to eating her dinner, but her focus was on me.
I shook my head. “No. This trip is just for me. With work and finals, I’m pretty stressed. So when I take my last exam, I’m going to have my car packed for the week and just head out.” I could see the pride in my father’s face, but also the worry.
He may have taught me how to survive, but that didn’t mean he also hadn’t told me about all the strangers.
He was nervous, probably more so than my mother. He knew all about how bear shifters could be. Because he’d been an outcast for falling in love with a human female who wasn’t his mate, he’d seen the ugly side of his kind.
But no matter what, he still didn’t try to hide who and what he was. Who and what a part of me was.
It was twenty minutes later when we finished eating, and as I helped my mom clean up, my dad called me into the other room. I headed into his study and saw him sitting by his desk. Being a high school English teacher meant he did a lot of work from home, grading papers, doing lesson plans. The end of the school day wasn’t the end of the day for him.
So when he opened up his drawer and pulled out a gun case—the gun case—I felt my eyes widen a little.
He unzipped the case and opened the top, turning it around so I could see his pistol. I knew it had been in his family for a very long time, something that had been passed down to the men in his family. His father had given it to him before he was shunned from his clan.
I looked between the gun and him and back again. “Dad, what is this?” Of course I knew what it was. I just wasn’t sure why he was showing it to me.
“I want you to have this.”
Surely he didn’t think I was so helpless I would need it for my short-term camping trip.
“Listen, I want you to be safe and protected, and sometimes a hunting knife just doesn’t do the trick.”
I was shaking my head before he finished. “Dad, it’s legit like a week I’ll be gone. I’m not going to the middle of nowhere. The town is like twenty minutes away.”
He chuckled in that deep, husky voice I was familiar with. “This isn’t just for the camping trip. I’ve wanted to give you this for some time. I figure now is as good a time as any.” He smiled. “You’re my little girl still, even if you’re all grown up. And I want to make sure you know how to handle yourself.” He leaned in and kissed the top of my head, and I smiled. “Be safe, but most of all be content and happy. Know what you want in life and follow through with it all the way.”
He ruffled my hair before turning and leaving me. I looked down at the gun sitting in the case and ran my fingers over the cold metal. I was glad I had supportive parents who accepted anything and everything I decided to do with my life.
Now, I just needed to realize what I actually wanted to do.
Chapter Two
Mena
I took a step back and cursed as I felt sweat start to form on my forehead from pitching the tent. I placed my hands on my hips, staring at the small two-person tent currently situated between a couple large pine trees.
I turned and went back to my car and pulled out the padded mats, setting them inside the tent, and then made a couple more trips to grab my sleeping bag, some blankets, and all the other camping paraphernalia I needed.
I hadn’t been camping in forever, but damn could I still make one good-ass campsite.
I popped the trunk and looked at the four boxes of food and five jugs of water my mother and father packed, and all I could do was smile and shake my head. I was only going to be gone for about a week, yet they’d given me enough stuff it was like I would be gone for a month.
When I looked down at my cell, I saw I had zero bars of service. But instead of worrying about that, I felt a sense of relief.
It was another fifteen minutes of getting everything situated before I finally sat down to start making a fire. Once the flames were licking across the wood, the sound of crackling filling my head, the smell of smoke mixing with the scent of evergreens and pine trees, I felt calmness settle in.
/> Despite my human side being dominant, my bear did come out when I was surrounded by nature. Being in the woods made my animal side content and relaxed.
It made me happy.
It made me feel like I was at home.
Cason
I stood at the ledge, looking down over the sleepy, quiet town below. This was my home, the place I called mine my entire life. The construction business with my brothers, my side business of woodworking... my life was pretty damn near perfect.
But then again, it wasn’t.
I felt like I was missing a part of myself, an integral piece that would make me whole, make me complete.
And that was my mate.
Six brothers, four of them having found their fated females, yet here I was—myself and Damon—mateless, missing a part of ourselves. And the truth was, we may never find our females. It wasn’t unheard of. In fact, there were plenty of instances where shifters had given up hope of finding their other halves. And so they fell in love with humans or other shifters. They had families. They started lives with them. And although that was an option, the truth was I didn’t want that. I’d rather be alone than be with a female who wasn’t fully mine, wasn’t born to be solely my mate.
Closing my eyes and just inhaling and exhaling slowly, I felt my bear stir, felt him rise up from deep within me and push forward for supremacy. I’d been letting him out more and more, my human starting to feel more submissive as my animal became dominant. Although he’d always been at the forefront, it was my human side who took precedence. But not lately.
I was starting to feel more animal than human, and that was a dangerous situation. Because when a shifter let his animal side reign supreme, it was hard going back. It was hard not to just be in animal form full-time, letting yourself be one with nature, not letting any of the bullshit of the human world consume you.
I started taking off my clothes, enjoying being out here in the middle of nowhere, only nature surrounding me. The property myself and my brothers owned was vast and extensive.
When I had my shirt and pants off, the material pooled by my feet. I was about to remove my briefs when the scent of burning wood from a fire filled my nostrils.
I growled low. This was our property, and anyone on it was trespassing. I could picture young college assholes pitching tents and starting campfires, drinking beer and smoking pot. My animal was dying to come forward, my bones and muscles pushing out of my skin, my body all but shifting, changing for the impending transformation. And I let it overtake me.
I let it rip through my human form until I was on all fours now, my claws digging into the dirt.
I started making my way toward where the fire was coming from, the scent of burning wood growing more potent. The closer I got, the more I heard the crackling of the flames moving over the logs, eating at it until there would be nothing left.
The scent of smoke was strong, masking any other I could pick up. And when I was finally at the campsite a few yards away, hidden behind the woods, watching, taking everything in, I was surprised to see only one vehicle. I didn’t even see anyone, but the tent door was open, and the sound of rustling within it was loud.
“Shit.”
The sound of the feminine voice cursing had my ears picking up. I felt my body tighten even further. All anger left me. Curiosity grew. The feeling of something monumental piqued my interest.
I stood a little bit taller, a little bit straighter outside that tent. There was something about her voice, something that pulled at me. It was just a feeling that had my bear becoming restless. I was having a hard time controlling him, the bastard starting to pace back and forth, his nails digging into the ground, this low growl leaving him. I was confused, didn’t know what was going on. The only thing I knew was I didn’t want to relent, didn’t want to turn around and leave, to stop the sound of that voice from penetrating me and seeping into every single cell in my body.
I found myself taking a step closer, moving toward that campsite almost as if my life depended on it. It was this tether inside me, pulling me forward. And it was only when I was several feet from the campsite that I finally stopped, my human side becoming a little bit stronger.
I took in the scene, trying to figure out what was going on and why I was acting like this. And then I saw her emerge from the tent, the fall of her long dark hair coming out of the haphazard ponytail she had at the top of her head.
My heart stopped, seized in my chest. The air left me, my body tightening, and everything in me came alive, awake. It was this feeling of my muscles contracting and relaxing. It was the sensation of being… home.
My mate.
My mate stood right in front of me, and she didn’t even know what she was about to get herself into, what type of possessive beast she’d been mated to.
Chapter Three
Mena
I heard a snap of a twig close by and tipped my head back to look out in the woods. The sun was just starting to set, colors of orange and pink painting the horizon as it washed over the forest and the campsite. It gave it this hazy, almost romantic feel, a cotton candy sense of wonder that made it seem like I was somewhere else, living in another world.
I turned around and scanned my surroundings, the knife my father had given me already in my hand. The sound of the fire crackling and the scent of wood burning filled my senses. I was getting supper ready, and although I wasn’t afraid, didn’t feel any kind of worry because of nature and the sound it created, that it made me feel, I was observant and on guard, ready if need be.
I inhaled deeply, since my sense of smell was normally acute and precise, but the fire masked many things. There was no wind, no presence of a breeze that would give me the scent of what was nearby.
As I looked into the woods, the darkness started to creep forward, to come in closer toward me, obscuring the trees, hiding them in the shadow of a blanket. I felt myself relax. There were animals of all kinds in these woods, big and small, just as afraid of me as I would be of them.
I loosened the grip on my knife and sat back down on the fallen log that happened to be in position parallel with the fire. With my back to my tent, I stared at those flames. I was content and happy, right in my element. I reached for the little pot and grate that would make up my stove and placed it over the flames.
I opened up the cooler and pushed the ice around. The fresh, cold items would only last me a few days before the ice melted, but I had enough prepackaged, non-perishable items to last me the rest of the week. I didn’t want to have to keep going back-and-forth into town, and although it was only a twenty minute or so ride, the point of coming out here was to get away from everyone, away from civilization and the crush of being social.
Besides, I’d always been a peanut butter and jelly kind of girl, a protein bar and fresh fruit kind of hiker. I could handle this, could deal with it even if I had to eat beef jerky out of a bag for the next seven days.
The wind started picking up then, coming from up north, down the mountain. It washed away the scent of smoke and fire, and I inhaled deeply once more, finally smelling the forest in front of me. Squirrels and rabbits, even a wolf in the distance. But there was a musky aroma, a scent of an animal that was stronger, more powerful.
A bear.
As I took in that scent once more, something in me shifted, my inner animal slowly rising, trying to wade through my human side. She was trying to get out.
Although I felt my bear’s strength throughout the years, I’d never felt the kind of push she was giving right now. It’s like she was attempting to fight for supremacy, like she wanted to break free and be the dominant one. And it was a new, frightening but exciting feeling. The very thought of shifting, of letting her take control, actually being in my bear form for once in my life, gave me this excited and anxious feeling.
I stood then, the blade in my palm, my fingers wrapped tightly around the handle, and I glanced into the woods where the scent and noise came from. The bear was still there, powerful
and strong, saturating the air. It was a male. A grizzly.
I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply through my nose. Wild. Musky. Alpha. But there was some other scent mixed with all of that, one I couldn’t place, couldn’t decipher what it meant.
But what I did know was that it made me feel like I wanted more... made me want one thing.
Him.
Chapter Four
Cason
I didn’t go any closer her— even though I desperately wanted to, and even though I wanted to make my presence known and tell her she was mine.
Instead, I waited in the darkness, in the shadows. I watched her to make sure she stayed safe, protected. I was going through every scenario in my mind on how I would make her mine.
Charging forwarded in my bear form, roaring out that she was my mate, would most definitely frighten her, would have her running in the other direction from me forever. And that’s not what I wanted. I wanted her irrevocably.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I’d actually found where I was supposed to be, found what had always been mine. My life had meaning now, purpose. It was like all the other bullshit I’d done thus far had just been preparing me for this one moment, this one time where I would lay eyes on what was mine, on who was born to be by my side.
My mate, my wife, and the mother of my children—that’s what she was to me.
My everything.
I watched as she sat by the fire, staring into the flames. There was a little bowl in her lap filled with some peaches she’d poured out of a can. God, she was gorgeous with the wisps of her hair falling out from her ponytail. All kinds of possessive, filthy things ran through my head, things that had me envisioning pulling on those strands and tilting her head back as I stared at the arch of her neck, as I bared it to me and marked her.