Goldilocks

by Patria L. Dunn

  The hard ground was unforgiving, her bones rattling as her hip and back took the brunt of the fall. But despite the pain, she wasn’t about to let him get the best of her. She was already rolling down towards the water, her hands thrown up to shield her face from any loose debris that kicked up. Size was her advantage, her small frame able to stop before falling in. She watched as he came after her down the incline, a smile on her lips the second he realized that he wouldn’t be able to stop in time. Spears were ready as he hit the water with a huge splash, millions of stars rippling outward from his point of entry.

  “Gotcha again!” Hannah laughed as his head popped up from beneath the surface, her weapons held fast, but in a deadly position.

  No, I’ve got you, Jake roared as he took another swipe at her legs, catching her as she toppled off the rock she’d just perched so proudly on a second ago.

  “No fair!” Hannah sputtered as she broke the surface with a laugh, her feet kicking her away from him.

  All’s fair in war, Jake countered, grabbing her before she could get too far away from him.

  “And what about love?” she murmured, her hands cupping his face just as it began to change.

  “Love too,” Jake smiled as his mouth lowered to hers.

  This kiss was different from the rest. Tentative at first, her lips parting slightly to catch the breath she didn’t want to take. Where fur had once been, her fingers entangled in thick wet curls, the smell of the earth clinging to her nostrils as she inhaled his scent. He took full advantage, their connection igniting like fire in a wild brush, her legs now wrapped around his fully human form as he carried them deeper into the sea of stars.

  It didn’t need to be spoken, he was in her thoughts, and she his. Tonight would be a memory created only for them.

  I love you

  **********

  “I didn’t know this was a hot spring,” Hannah commented as she watched the steam rise from the dripping wet shirt she still wore.

  “It isn’t,” Jake smiled as he pulled her with him onto the rocky shore, fur growing suddenly to cover his lower half.

  “Half man, half bear,” Hannah smiled and then blushed as her eyes traveled over his broad naked chest that still glistened with droplets of water.

  “It’s a talent that comes in handy,” Jake laughed as he led the way back up the incline. “Especially when it’s so hard to keep up with my clothes.”

  “I was wondering about that…when you change I mean…”

  “I keep some hidden throughout the woods, just in case, but I’m not always near enough, like now,” he stopped to grab some loose sticks off the ground. “Luckily for us both, I have some in a spot near here.”

  “For a fire?” Hannah questioned, also picking up a few sticks as they walked.

  “I don’t normally build one, but yes. I can’t have you freezing to death,” Jake teased, his arms nearly full now.

  She hadn’t realized she was shivering until he pointed it out, but now she was shaking, the cold seeming to claim her skin almost instantly.

  “A problem I won’t have to worry about once I can shift like you,” Hannah offered, knowing that it would change the mood, but they were both thinking it.

  “It’s just up here,” Jake ignored the comment, quickening his stride to conquer the final slope of the incline they’d just climbed.

  Hannah handed her sticks up first before allowing him to help her the rest of the way, her thoughts once again taken by the beauty of the view below. Just a few more steps and they stopped again, this time on a slim lip that dropped dangerously on both sides.

  “Me first,” Jake warned just before jumping over the edge, sticks still in hand.

  A scream lodged in Hannah’s throat, her heart slamming in her chest as she scrambled to look for him over the edge. A soft thud echoed from below and she almost cried at the laugh that followed.

  “Don’t do that again!” she snapped, her eyes adjusting to the dimness below.

  “Jump, I’ll catch you,” Jake laughed again, already reaching up to take the sticks she lowered down.

  Her fall wasn’t as graceful as his, but she landed securely his arms, his body taking the brunt of her weight as they fell back into a wall of stone.

  “You okay?” he whispered pulling her tighter, his lips already claiming hers in a seeking kiss.

  She could only nod, her arms wrapping around his neck as her heartbeat quickened yet again. Every bit of him was warm, his mouth against hers, his fingers on her bare back as they slipped beneath the sopping wet shirt that clung to her like a second skin. A possessive growl rumbled deep in his chest and Hannah’s hands warmed instantly as she let them slip over the smooth skin that pressed into her. Had it not been for the lone howl that jerked her from him, it would have been impossible to stop this time.

  “Coyote,” Jake whispered against her neck, his breath ragged as he released the hold he had on her waist.

  “Don’t go,” Hannah shivered, grabbing his arm before he could move away from her.

  “When the time is right,” Jake lifted her chin so that he could see her face in the moonlight. “I will have all of you. But only when you are mine.”

  “I’m yours now,” Hannah whispered, glad for the darkness so that he couldn’t see the heat that filled her cheeks.

  “When you can shift, and there is no danger of…hurting you,” Jake murmured, pulling her to him in a hug. “Only then will I be able to trust myself. I’ve never…”

  “I thought you could control it.”

  “Most of the time,” Jake nodded, his eyes closing as he sighed. “I just don’t know if I could if we...”

  “So when the time is right?” Hannah smiled as she looked up at him. “Which means that you’ll let me become one of you.”

  “It means that I’m considering it,” Jake tried to shrug as nonchalantly as possible, but knew she saw his thoughts before he could even try and block them.

  Hannah decided to let it go for now. They had the whole night to talk, and right now she just wanted to be close to him and warm. She released him to gather the sticks they’d discarded at the mouth of the cave, pilling them in a circle further in where the moonlight didn’t reach. The sound of a zipper and then a match striking caused her to turn and then gasp at her surroundings. The cave was much larger than she’d imagined it would be, the part that they were standing in, only the beginning of what looked like a labyrinth of at least four separate rooms.

  “I found it when I was just a kid,” Jake explained, carefully adding a handful of dry leaves to the pile of wood before dropping in the match. “It’s been hollowed out by thousands of years of water rushing down the mountainside into the lake, which is why I can only come here during the dry season.”

  “It floods,” Hannah frowned in disappointment as her eyes followed the thick cord he’d strung up along the ceiling, down to the sleeping bag that hung suspended a few feet off the cave floor.

  He’d fashioned it into a large pouch of which the contents he now dumped on the floor to free the insulated sack.

  “Dry clothes!” she smiled as she helped sort out the items, pulling free two long sleeved shirts and two pairs of cotton shorts.

  “Not exactly your size, but better than what you have on now,” Jake smiled and then groaned as she immediately shed the wet shirt she was wearing, his back turning reluctantly while she finished undressing.

  “Too bad you can’t live here. I’d love this view every day,” Hannah sighed as she collected her wet clothes and shoes and carried them to the edge of the fire.

  “There is a way,” Jake assured her, pointing to the farthest opening on their left. “The water fills the spring in that room and then trickles over throughout the winter until the entire cave is flooded. If I were to reroute the spring through the cave wall and out the way that we climbed up, I could make this a permanent home.”

  “So you’ve thought about it then,” Hannah grinned, helping him spread the sleeping bag
out onto the floor.

  “Just now,” Jake admitted, his eyes meeting hers for a moment. “When I saw that you wanted it.”

  “And if I wanted a bed, a kitchen, a garden…?” She asked, curling into his arms as soon as he settled.

  “It would be yours,” he replied with a kiss on her forehead, his arms wrapping tightly around her to keep her warm.

  “A door too?” she giggled just as another coyote howl broke the still silence of the night.

  “A door too,” Jake breathed softly, his heart clenching at her next question, even before she asked it.

  “And maybe one day…babies?” She whispered, her gaze now reaching beyond their tiny fire out into the star filled sky.

  He wanted nothing more than to give her a den full of his cubs, and one day he would. It was a promised he wanted to keep more than anything.

  “You’re going to be an amazing mother…one day.”

  Chapter 28:

  “Wake up Goldilocks, it’s time for school,” Jake teased, pulling the corner of the sleeping bag from over Hannah’s face.

  He almost hated to see her stir from the tiny ball she’d managed to curl herself into, his fingers catching hers just as she reached for what was no longer there. Jake’s breath held as he watched her lids flutter open and then close against the sunlight streaming in through the mouth of the cave. If he’d ever wanted to remember a moment for the rest of his life, this was it: the corners of her lips curled up into the tiniest of smiles, the hint of rosy pink in her cheeks, her long blonde locks splashed golden by the morning sunlight; she was perfect and she was his.

  “School,” Hannah sighed as she pushed the rest of the tangled sleeping bag from around her legs. “Seems like miles away,” she smiled when Jake kissed the back of her hand, nodding in agreement.

  “Which is why we should get moving.”

  “How much time do we have? I need a shower,” Hannah groaned, stretching the kinks out of her slightly achy limbs as she stood.

  “I have something better than that,” Jake grinned as he collected the items they hadn’t used and strung them up in the sleeping bag once more.

  “Well lead the way,” Hannah squinted out into the sunlight, her eyes held fast on the glass lake below.

  We’ll get there quicker if you ride…

  The sound of Jake’s voice inside her head jerked her around to find him standing on all fours, his shift already complete. Hannah could only nod as he walked slowly towards her, stopping only when their faces were mere inches apart.

  Are you sure you want this? Jake’s question was hesitant, his large brown eyes almost sad as he held her gaze.

  “More than anything,” Hannah whispered, her fingers slipping through the thick brown fur that cuffed his neck. “This is exactly what I want.”

  It was enough to squelch the tight ball of doubt that had built in his chest over the last couple hours while he’d watched her sleep. He could never live with himself if she ended up resenting him. This choice had to be hers and hers alone.

  Hold on tight, Jake warned, but he didn’t need to.

  Hannah already had a secure grip as she swung herself up and onto his back. There was no scream this time as he leapt from the lip of the cave down onto the rocky incline, his claws digging into the rough terrain for the climb back up.

  The hot spring was hard to get to, but worth the extra mile he had to cover to access it. Moss grew in abundance here, shrouded in an overgrown valley of pine and oak that had long since choked out any other vegetation that tried to grow in this area of the forest. Jake was careful not to jar Hannah as he crossed the fallen log that led to the other side of the spring; the steam billowing up from below to cocoon them in a fog that seemed almost magical given the setting.

  “The city has nothing like this,” Hannah breathed in awe, her gaze circling the steaming pool as she slipped from Jake’s back to her own two feet once again.

  “I’ve never seen a city,” Jake answered as he slipped into the warm water, his body now fully human again. “Well not a real one anyways. I don’t think Lake City really counts, considering…”

  “The population count and lack of a mall?” Hannah giggled as she shed her dry clothing, grateful that he turned his back without her asking him to.

  “Something like that,” Jake smiled as she joined him in the water, their hands intertwining as he pulled her to the middle. “This is just another one of my hiding places. Nothing special…except that you’re here.”

  “Nothing special?!” Hannah scoffed, spreading her arms wide as her face tilted up towards the peeking sunlight. “Everything about you is special. This, is extraordinary, whimsical, magical…” she breathed softly, her eyes finding his once again. “Ours?”

  “Yours,” Jake whispered before planting a gentle kiss on her lips.

  “A place like this needs a name,” Hannah murmured, her fingers tangling in the damp curls at the nape of his neck as he pulled her closer.

  “We can think of one, while we wash,” Jake smiled, releasing her to reach up and grab a canvas pouch he kept tied to the underside of the fallen log they’d just crossed.

  “Soap, toothpaste and toothbrush,” Hannah giggled as he handed her the items one by one, her head shaking. “What haven’t you thought of?”

  “I might be a bear, but I promise you wouldn’t like my scent so much after I’ve spent days in the woods,” Jake laughed, tossing the bag up onto the bank.

  “Who said I liked your scent,” Hannah teased, throwing the bar of soap back at him.

  “I can read your thoughts remember,” Jake teased back, dipping below the surface to avoid the spray of water she sent his way.

  “A problem that I am definitely working on,” Hannah giggled to herself, shaking her head as she began to brush.

  Aunt Maggie was never going to believe this.

  **********

  “Where have you been?!” Lindsey’s shrill voice cut through the chatter of the crowded hallway, causing Hannah to jump as she spun around to face the two girls approaching her.

  “You missed practice again,” Beth grimaced as she looked Hannah over from head to toe, her nose curling in disdain at the wrinkled clothing she wore.

  “Our most important meet of the season is coming up this weekend! This is the first time scouts will be there, and Coach has personally put me in charge of making sure you show up. You won’t mess this up for me!” Lindsey snapped, waving her hand in Hannah’s face to get her attention. “Anybody else…”

  Hannah was only half listening as Lindsey continued to reprimand her, both of them following hot on her heels as she headed towards the cafeteria. Track was the last thing on her mind right now. Right after Kline’s class, Jake had left, only saying that he had to take care of something. He should have been back by now, but he wasn’t. She was worried about him, but she was more worried that something had happened at the mine and she was stuck here in school.

  “Didn’t you wear that yesterday?” Beth asked as they joined the food line, Hannah now pinned between the two of them.

  “Yeah, so…? I showered,” Hannah shrugged, her eyes traveling around the cafeteria and then back to the door they’d just come through.

  “So?!” Lindsey gasped as she jumped away from Hannah’s side as if she were diseased. “If you want to have any friends here that is a big no no.”

  “If you want to meet any boys here…”

  “Hold that thought,” Hannah interrupted Beth, her chest suddenly tight as Jake’s frame filled the doorway of the cafeteria. “Be right back.”

  The look on his face scared her, his features drawn and tight now as he watched her approach. She could feel Lindsey’s and Beth’s eyes boring a hole into her back, but she didn’t care. Her arms were thrown around Jake the moment she reached him, her question spoken in a single thought.

  Is everything alright?

  “Another collapse at the mine. Ten or fifteen wolves broke free this time. Luckily the council caught
most of them. I found two more on the northern loop, but I have to get back out there, just in case,” Jake spoke low enough so that only Hannah could hear him, but he was still wary of the bystanders gawking open mouthed at them.

  “My father?”

  “Is alright, but definitely suspicious. He saw at least one of the wolves, and so did a few others. They’re gathering up guns now.”

  “Guns?! I should come!”

  “NO!” Jake squeezed her arm a little tighter than he’d intended on. “Stay here, please,” he added before planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’m not going to let anything happen to him, I promise Hannah,” he whispered with a brush of his knuckle against her cheek.

  “There’s three more hours left of school. I’ll go crazy wondering.”

  “It’ll be hard with me being so far away, but if you listen carefully…” Jake touched her temple with the tip of his finger.

  “I’ll be able to hear you,” Hannah nodded reluctantly, wanting to ask so much more than she could with a room full of people standing around.

  “The council has made a decision,” Jake murmured. “Midnight, in the woods behind your house; will your father be sleep by then?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Hannah breathed softly, her heart now hammering in her chest as even more questions flooded her thoughts.

  “See you then Goldilocks,” Jake whispered, his lips pulling into a tiny smile as he tugged on a lock of her hair.

  “See you then,” Hannah whispered as she watched him go, a blush already creeping into her cheeks when she realized that Lindsey and Beth were now right beside her.

  “Tell us everything!” Lindsey demanded, pulling Hannah over to the table they’d shared since her first day here at Lake City high.

  Hannah had never been a good liar, and was an even worse one when put on the spot, which is why she grabbed the apple from Beth’s tray and took a big bite of it to keep from answering right away. But nothing could hide the heat creeping into her cheeks, and before she could attempt to say a word, Lindsey had concocted a nearly true story.

  “So that’s why you’ve been missing practice?”