by V. Vaughn
Look What You Made Me Bear
Bewitched by the Bear Book 4
V. Vaughn
Sugarloaf Press
Copyright © 2018 by V. Vaughn
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover by Wilson Rowe
Editing by Jodi Henley, Red Adept Publishing and Angie Ramey
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Contents
About This Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
About the Author
About This Book
LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME BEAR
by V. Vaughn
Five years ago, Elise left Maine and the taboo love of her life with a plan to return the next summer. But when she got back to college for her final year, she discovered she’d discovered she returned with more than sweet memories. She was pregnant with a werebear’s children. In a world where werebear are not welcome, Elise learned to use her magic to keep the bear side of her twin girls hidden, but her luck was being tested.
In desperation to keep her children safe she returns to Maine, and her great aunt, the clan’s medicine woman, with the hope of a solution. While Elise is willing to make sacrifices for her girls, one comes at a cost she’s not prepared to pay—telling Ian what she’s done. Seeing the father of her children again makes the strong connection of their love come rushing back, and suddenly she’s paralyzed with fear. Because once he finds out the truth, she may lose him forever.
Chapter 1
Rain pelts the windshield of my car as the wipers beat steadily. I glance in the rearview mirror at my twins, who are sound asleep in their car seats. And when I notice our belongings stuffed into every extra nook and cranny, my stomach knots up. We’re on our way to northern Maine to beg my great aunt to take us in, and she has every right to tell me no.
Five years ago, I spent a summer with Kimi, who, besides being my great aunt, is the medicine woman for the LeRoux werebear clan. It was the best three months of my life. I learned to use my magic. And I fell in love with Ian. I left with a promise to return the next summer when I’d graduated from college. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I left pregnant with a werebear’s children too.
Plenty of werebear and humans have produced illegitimate children, and for decades it was a dirty little secret since those children were not welcomed into a clan. But for a witch and a werebear? Well. I let out a sigh as I think about the fact that the danger I’m walking into might not be any better than the one we’re leaving. Considering werebear are a little afraid of what their medicine people do, my children will likely be deemed an abomination.
Half-werebear children can lead normal human lives since their bear side is dormant. So dormant that they may not even know it exists. Unless they find a werebear true mate they can bond with, their bear side can’t come out. At least that was the theory I operated on when I decided to keep my children and stay far away from the LeRoux clan forever. But I was wrong.
About a year ago, my daughter Sophie shifted into a bear cub. It wasn’t long until her sister, Sadie, did the same thing. And that was when my plan fell apart. We had been living with my parents. They supported my decision to keep my children and raise them on my own and offered to help. But while my mother knows about werebear, my father doesn’t. So as soon as Mom found out my kids were shifting, she packed us up and sent us a few towns away. To deal with the fact I couldn’t leave my half-bear-cub children in anyone’s care to work outside the home, I left my teaching job to open up a daycare.
As long as I was present, I could use my magic to cloak either of my children when they shifted into their bear forms. But kids can be observant, and when one of the other children I took care of began to ask to play the bear game, I knew our days in that town were numbered. My kids need to go to kindergarten soon, and I could only imagine what would happen if their bear side was discovered. I needed a new plan.
So I’m doing the only thing I can think of to keep my girls safe. I decided to beg the most powerful witch I know to help me. I know it’s a bit like jumping from the frying pan into a fire, bringing my girls to the very clan that may kill them, but in the human world, their future could be much worse than death. And if my great aunt is as accomplished as I think, she may be able to find a way to keep what my children are a secret from everyone.
I take a deep breath and shake off my fear, because it only takes one look at my precious daughters for me to know I’m doing the right thing by taking this chance. A truck whooshes by me on my left, momentarily blinding me in the mist, and I think about how I love my children as much as I love their father, Ian. The tattooed warrior stole my heart the first time he said hello, and I believe I had his, even though witch and werebear relationships were strictly forbidden. When I discovered I was pregnant, I couldn’t tell Ian. I couldn’t force him to decide between the clan and his children, because he would have chosen us and left behind the life he should be living. It was best to leave our relationship as the summer fling we both thought it had been.
I see the sign for the Orono exit, and I slow to get off the interstate. Kimi lives in a retirement community that is on the outskirts of town, and it doesn’t take long for us to get there. I drive slowly by the small houses, which are all similar in shape and size, as I look for hers. Sophie is awake and says, “I need to potty, Mommy.”
“We’re almost there, sweetie. Can you hold it?” I ask as I splash through a puddle.
“I think so.”
I let out a sigh of relief, because Kimi will at least have to let us in the door so Sophie can use the bathroom. And by the time my daughter is done, I can count on her sister, Sadie, to have won Kimi over. Both my girls got Ian’s blue eyes, but Sadie has long dark eyelashes and has already figured out how to bat them to make an adult swoon. While she’s my extrovert, always craving attention, my sweet Sophie is her opposite. It amazes me that my twins are such different people.
“Here it is!” I say as we pull into Kimi’s driveway. Even if I didn’t remember the number of her house, I would have recognized it. The front yard is all gardens and is a strong contrast to the manicured lawns of her neighbors.
The seat belts constraining my children click as I unfasten them, and I say, “Girls, I need you to remember your please and thank you.”
Sadie says to her sister in a sweet voice, “Please.”
Sophie replies dramatically as well, “Thank you.”
“Please,” says Sadie, and the two continue to go back and forth until they have to stop from giggling. I laugh with them as we jog to Kimi’s front door in the rain. There is a small porch, so we’re out of the weather when we stand to wait for her to answer the bell.
When Kimi opens the door, the tiny old Native American woman takes a moment to blink a few times, then a slow smile forms on her face to the point her eyes are nothing more than slits. “Elise.”
“Hi, Kimi,” I say. “I’d like you to meet my daughters, Sadie and Sophie.” I notice Sophie has her legs crossed and is bouncing, so I
add, “And I believe Sophie needs to use your bathroom, if that would be okay.”
Sophie chides me. “You forgot to say please.”
“I did. Please.”
“Right this way, young lady,” says Kimi. She takes my daughter by the hand and leads her away as Sadie and I step into the warmth of Kimi’s home. I glance around at the cozy place as Sadie does the same with wide eyes. I’m sure she wants to touch every little knickknack Kimi has stored on various shelves and tabletops. But she knows she needs to get permission, which I have no doubt Kimi will grant.
When Kimi returns, she says to Sadie, “I suppose you’re going to want to go to the bathroom too just so you can see what it looks like.”
“Yes, please,” my daughter says as she smiles sweetly.
“That one’s already trouble,” says Kimi.
I chuckle because Kimi’s got my daughter’s number. She may not have ever had children, but she knows them well. Kimi points down the hall. “It’s the first door. Don’t forget to wash your hands, because if it’s all right with your mother, I bet I can find you girls some cookies.”
“Thank you,” says Sadie before she walks off.
I realize that other than our initial greeting at the door, Kimi hasn’t made eye contact with me, and my stomach sinks. She continues to ignore me and goes over to the kitchen area of the open-space design that is her home, and I follow her. “Thank you for seeing us unannounced,” I say.
Water rushes as Kimi fills a teapot, and it thuds loudly on the stove when she sets it down.
“Kimi,” I say. “I know you’re probably mad at me. I’m sorry. I should have called to tell—” I remember that I’m asking her to do me a big favor and correct myself to say, “Ask you if it was okay to come.”
She turns to me with fire in her eyes. “You should have called. About four years ago.”
I knew she’d be upset with me, but I didn’t expect such anger, and I say, “I’m sorry,” in a small voice.
Kimi lets out a disapproving grunt and snaps open a tin full of cookies to set on the table. When the girls come to sit, she speaks to them in a stern voice. “Two cookies each.” They nod at her and say thank you when she sets their plates down in front of them. Then she looks at me. “You know where the linens are. Go make your bed.”
My heart soars, because Kimi may be acting as if she’s angry, but clearly, she’s not mad enough to kick us out. Yet. I walk over to hug her tight. She pretends she doesn’t like it at first, but I hold on long enough that she embraces me back. Tightly. And when we break apart, she asks, “Ian’s?”
Chapter 2
I gasp as I wonder how Kimi knew my girls’ father is Ian. But then I remember Kimi sees everything, and that summer I stayed here, she probably knew Ian was who I was sneaking off to see late at night when I thought she was asleep. I’m not going to have this conversation in front of little ears, so I move to leave the kitchen and go make up my bed. When I walk down the hall to the linen closet, Kimi follows me with silent footsteps, but I know she’s behind me, because I can feel her disapproving stare. Now that she’s seen my girls, I bet she determined Ian is why I stayed away.
My ears burn with my shame, and when I get to the linen closet, I turn to her and say, “Yes. Ian is their father. But—” I grab her arm as I plead, “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“You won’t be able to hide it for long.”
“But I have to.” I frown as I recall werebear have acute senses and ask, “Oh god, can other werebear smell it on them or something?”
Kimi shakes her head. “I know they’re shifting.”
I blink in shock. “Your powers are that good?”
Her face crinkles up in a smile. “That’s why you came.”
I have no idea why she’s smiling considering the severity of the situation. “Well, yes, I figured you would know what—I mean—” I realize if I want Kimi’s help, she’s going to want something in return, so I blurt out, “I came to help you too.”
“Help me?” She glances down at herself. “I’m still walking. Talking.” She grins at me. “Kimi doesn’t need help.”
I know better. She may not want to admit it, but she’s quite old, and last I knew, she didn’t have anyone to take over when she dies. The closet door creaks when I open it, and I grab a set of sheets off a shelf. “Do you have an assistant?”
She scoffs. “I don’t need one.”
“You need me,” I say. I recall what she told me that summer I was here. “I come from our powerful bloodline of witches and have what it takes to be the next LeRoux medicine woman. Since you aren’t training anyone to take over right now, I think it’s because you haven’t found someone suitable.”
“Huh. What I need to find is my tea,” she says as she walks away. “And cookies!” She exclaims when she gets back to the kitchen. “Everything’s better when you have a cookie. Right, girls?”
I hear squeals and laughter as Kimi entertains my daughters with silliness, and I begin to make up the queen-size bed in the guest room. A sheet snaps as I shake it out. Looking around, I feel as if it were just yesterday that I was here. But even though this space is familiar and comforting, it was a lifetime ago when I think about all that has happened since. Even though I knew I couldn’t come back once I discovered I was pregnant with Ian’s children, I knew in my heart that being a clan witch was what I was supposed to do. But I gave up that future to keep my girls safe.
I’m a firm believer in things happening for a reason. It’s often the spirits guiding one in the right direction, and in this case, perhaps my girls shifting was their way to ensure I’d return to the LeRoux clan. I hold on to that thought because I have to believe my plan is going to work.
I take a deep breath to clear my head and make my way out to the kitchen. I find my girls are engaged in a serious game of Chutes and Ladders, and judging by the old look of the board, I know it’s a game Kimi has had in her closet for decades. I sit at the table with the intention of joining them on the next round.
But Kimi looks at me and says, “You need to go pull weeds.”
“What? It’s raining.”
“Drizzling now. Besides, weeds don’t care,” she says.
Sadie counts out her moves slowly as she taps her playing piece along the board, and Kimi nods toward the door.
“You can wear my raincoat. It has a hood.”
I get up as I sigh. Kimi makes me crazy, because she never explains why she has you do something. But I know two things. She won’t tell you if you ask, and no matter how odd it may seem, there’s always a reason.
“Oh no!” Kimi exclaims when it’s her turn in the game. “I have to go back to the beginning.”
She whimpers, and my sweet Sadie reaches over and pats her arm as she says, “Don’t cry. It’s only a game.”
I chuckle as I snap up Kimi’s raincoat, and I slip my feet into her rubber boots before I make my way outside. Kimi was right. The rain has almost stopped, and I glance around, wondering where to start. Not that it matters, because I’m pretty sure I’m not really out here for the weeds. I choose what looks like carrots and squat down to get to work.
Mud covers my hands as I make a pile of weeds, and I inhale the scent of fresh earth to let it fill me. The dampness on my skin is soothing too, and I know it’s because I’m where I’m supposed to be. I’ve come home. My mother may have shunned her magic, but she was wise enough to realize it’s too deep in our genetics for me not to have been curious. So once I became an adult, she sent me to Kimi to explore the powers and find my own way. I swipe away a drop of moisture that tickles my nose. I may have taken a detour, but I’m finally back where I belong.
The tapping of multiple feet hitting pavement makes me look up and notice a group running toward me. It’s mostly men, but I see two women as well, and judging by their size, I know they’ve got to be werebear. One is in the lead, and he’s not wearing a shirt. I take a moment to notice his abs are so hard I can see the ridges from her
e, but as the group gets closer, my heart stops. I recognize the tattoos on the massive chest I’m checking out. Ian. Crap!
I turn away so that my back is to the runners as they go by, and Ian calls out, “Hey, Kimi! I see the rain doesn’t stop you either.”
Double crap! I wonder if I can pretend Kimi is too old to hear well, but Ian’s voice was loud, and Kimi isn’t deaf. I have to acknowledge him, so I lift my hand in a quick wave as if I’m too busy to give him more. As soon as they are far enough away, I stand up with the understanding of why Kimi sent me out here. Ian probably runs by every day, and she knew I’d see him. As if I don’t know I’m going to have to deal with him at some point. My guess is she thinks I need to do it sooner rather than later.
But that’s my choice to make. If and when I’m ready. I know I made the right decision for my children to come back to Maine, but I’m not sure I’m prepared to weave the web of lies I have to tell. It won’t be rocket science for Ian to put two and two together and think Sadie and Sophie are his.
When I get back inside after what I assume is a reasonable time to weed, I glare at Kimi before I say, “Girls, it’s getting late. We should get ready for bed.”
It was a long travel day, and it doesn’t take long to get them settled and asleep. When I get back to the living room, I sit down in a well-worn chair across from Kimi on the couch, and I say, “We need to talk.”
Kimi looks up from her tablet and waits for me to speak. I clear my throat and try to keep my emotions in check. “I need you to help me figure out how to keep my girls safe. Is there a potion or a spell I can perform to keep them from shifting?” Kimi frowns at me in what I think is disapproval. “Not forever. Just until they’re teenagers like other werebear. That way, nobody will have to know they are anything else.”
“That is what you want to do?”