Hearten (Bayou Bear Chronicles)

by Lila Felix

  “Really? What do you think, I’m gonna jump out of the car and start dry humping a wolf?”

  I didn’t have to look at the wolves to know that they’d heard my mate’s spurt. She was intent on ridiculing me at every turn.

  Sinister grins marked the wolves’ faces and though Hawke had assured me they were completely trustworthy, my bear was still defensive. If I hadn’t been trusted with this most honorable task, I wouldn’t have come within miles of these wolves—or any wolf. In the wild, their kind killed my kind.

  Suddenly, I rethought this whole bring your mate with you deal.

  “Welcome, Rev. I am Schuylar, Alpha of this clan. We trust your journey was pleasant. We regret to inform you that Hawke’s special order is not ready yet. We’ve made provisions for your stay, but we only expected one guest. However, that’s not an issue since this is your lovely mate.”

  Another growl flew from my throat. I had to stop growling at everyone at some point.

  “Oh,” he stepped back with a knowing smile. “Newly mated, I see.

  “Yes. This is my mate, Martha.”

  We didn’t shake hands like most acquaintances. Shifters in general didn’t do that. You didn’t want to smell like another species or even the same species from a different clan.

  You just didn’t.

  This was especially true for us bears. Scent was such a huge part of who we were since black bears in particular had exceptional senses of smell.

  So Martha waved and smiled at the wolves instead.

  “May we be shown to our room? My mate works at night and she is exhausted.”

  “Your mate works?”

  “Yes,” I said with a dare for them to presume anything.

  “Behind the main house is a gray cabin with a red door. Those are your accommodations.”

  I grabbed our bags from the car and tugged Martha along until we got to the cabin. There was a sensation building inside of me that I was already having a hard time suppressing. But something about her being surrounded by males, even of another species, was making squashing it any longer damned right impossible.

  Finally inside, I gave her three seconds to get her bearings before I couldn’t help myself anymore. I tried in vain to concentrate on the sparse furnishings—the table, the recliner, the loveseat, what I could see of the bathroom—the bed. The one, bed. The only bed.

  “Martha,” my bear spoke out of me. In my mind’s eye, he slapped me on the back of the head and said, ‘Let a real man handle this.’

  “Yeah?” She answered innocently. I knew she could feel it. I was shaking, with the feeling.

  I needed to touch my mate.

  Not hand holding.

  All I could think about was her mouth—how sweet it would taste, how warm it would be, how perfect it would fit against mine.

  I wanted to kiss her until she said my name.

  “Come here.”

  There was no time for please. She would be saying please soon enough. She stepped closer and I cursed that sweater for everything it wouldn’t let me touch, but praised it for the same reasons. I didn’t need any coercion.

  “Can I kiss you, love?”

  Her eyes widened as she nodded.

  Creator, let me make this perfect for her—perfect for us.

  Lowering my face at the same time I tipped her chin upward, I commanded her with a whisper. “Say you’re mine.”

  Her throat worked like it was manufacturing the words. “Rev, I’m yours.”

  That’s all I needed.

  I took her lips one by one, moving as slowly as I could, making this first joining one for the books.

  But it wasn’t quite fast enough for her.

  Martha laced her hands behind my head and deepened our connection. A whimper of a sound coupled our collision and I knew without a doubt that what had been building in me was so very strong because it wasn’t just me at all. It had been building in both of us. My hands roamed from her waist down to those dangerous hips.

  She tasted as sweet as she looked, but instead of tasting like rain like she smelled, her lips were tinged with the taste of sugar, like sugar cookies. It was like our Creator had molded her lips of cookie dough.

  There was nothing sweeter in this world.

  I didn’t let it go any further than a simple kiss, for now, my inner beast was pleased and contented with just this—and so was I.

  “You should rest,” I said against her forehead, willing myself not to take it any further but not quite ready to relent her touch. In her book, the one she’d allowed me to read, the female character had mentioned how endearing it was for a male to kiss the female on her forehead. She’d explained how that kind of kiss was disjointed from the other kissing. It was a signal of his undying affection that extended way beyond the physical attraction. It told the female she was precious to him.

  And that’s what she was to me.

  It couldn’t hurt me to take a few pointers from my mate.

  “You must be tired too, and I don’t…”

  Our hearts sped up together with her nervousness. I could feel it tangling within her.

  There was no use hiding from me.

  I was hers—even if she told me to go away.

  I’d still belong only to her.

  “You don’t what? There’s nothing you can’t say to me.”

  “I don’t want you to be away from me. Can you sleep with me? Just sleep, please.”

  I took note of the flush in her cheeks and the blush caused by her admittance. She wasn’t lying, I’d be able to feel it. This amazing creature wanted to share her bed with me.

  “Will that make you happy, love?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I can’t say no.”

  After taking off our shoes and my locking the door for good measure, she got into the bed first and I followed. The rest might as well have been scripted out. I lay on my back as she moved at the same time to put her head on my chest. I took the opportunity to kiss the top of her head while her arm rested over my stomach and her feet tangled between mine.

  I’d never slept with anyone in my life, but after holding her like that, after having her complete me with one gaze—I would never have to sleep alone again.

  Not once.

  She melded against me and while it was on my mind, I thanked the Creator once again for his grace. He hadn’t been required to make a mate for me, and after so much time without one, I’d found myself doubting His plan.

  And now every heartbeat confirmed how dead wrong I had been.

  I’d never been so happy to be so wrong.

  Not even three breaths later, she was asleep and with her content, I fell asleep as well.

  Martha

  I inhaled through my nose, but instead of the regular smells—books, coffee, sometimes the keyboard—it was the forest. My first thought was that I’d shifted in the middle of the night and fell asleep in the woods. The smell of the swamp and everything it consisted of was that strong. Then a muted thud resounded in my ear that matched with the thud in my own chest.

  I was asleep on my mate for the very first time.

  A lift of the corner of my mouth made me realize the taste in my mouth was atrocious. I lifted gently, trying not to wake Rev.

  “Where are you off to?” He asked. When I turned, his arm lay folded over his eyes. The only part of him that had moved was his mouth. I liked that he felt my absence.

  “Brushing my teeth.” I raccooned through my luggage, finding a toothbrush and toothpaste and ducked into the bathroom to handle my rancid breath. I hoped it hadn’t tasted like that when Rev had kissed me before.

  He kissed me.

  I sat on the closed toilet and closed my eyes, remembering every bit of it as I scrubbed—the way I couldn’t take the over-gentleness of his lips—how I’d needed more—how I’d taken what I needed.

  “Who knew brushing your teeth could be so blush-worthy.”

  His bass voice startled me, making me spit foam down my shirt
. I barely made it to the sink in time to spit the rest out. “Now I have to change my shirt.”

  “Sorry. Next time, think about me when you don’t have a mouth full of foam.”

  “I…” I stuttered. He thought I was thinking about him twenty four hours a day? The ego of this man!

  Okay, I was thinking about him.

  A little.

  A lot.

  Shit.

  “Go change your shirt. Do you mind if we run some more errands for Hawke?”

  I shrugged, “Not at all. Stay here while I change.”

  He nodded curtly. I liked that he knew when I needed him to be coy and when I needed him to understand that I was having a moment. Like right then, I was having a moment. Maybe I’d been too tired to let it all soak in, or maybe I’d just been too naïve.

  We were staying in the same room.

  Like people who were—mates.

  Instead of changing my shirt, I opted for throwing off my jeans and wearing a simple maxi dress with a cardigan instead. That was my normal outfit. It was easy to throw on and comfortable enough to work in. It was like wearing a nightgown around all the time.

  “Ready?” Rev asked.

  “Yes.”

  He stepped back into the room and gave me the once over—and then growled. I looked up from buckling my sandal. “Did you just growl at me?”

  He cleared his throat and backed up. “I didn’t growl at you female. I growled because of you. There’s a difference.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  Leaning against the wall, he crossed his arms over his chest and studied me. “I growled because you look so damned beautiful and we’re just barely mated. We are not marked. It’s difficult for me to see you around males when you are not marked.”

  I thought that over while I buckled the other sandal. It was a heady thing, my mate getting possessive about me. I thought I would hate it—but I found quite the opposite. As he stood there, he flexed his biceps, not as a parlor trick or out of conceit. He flexed his biceps, I was learning, out of frustration. And really, who could be angry with a guy who does that? The only thing more adorable would be if he popped his pecs like The Rock.

  I wouldn’t stand a chance in hell.

  The thought of the marking ceremony scared the hell out of me, but like our kiss—we would get through it. There was no reason to rush—no male could ever make me feel the way he did.

  “Before the next run, I promise.”

  “You’ll change your mind. The next run is in two weeks.”

  I challenged him, “You think I have no self-control?”

  He shrugged. “I think there are other factors at play.”

  “Like what?”

  “You’ll see. Come on. Let’s get business done and then I’m taking my mate on a date.”

  I’d never dated anyone—in school—never. There was no point. I knew, we all knew, that from birth we had a mate waiting for us. Some bears did date. They dated all through high school and some even beyond.

  But I wanted to give all my firsts to the male I would spend my life with.

  Maybe I wasn’t as new school as I pretended.

  “Let me grab my sweater.”

  “Yes, please.” He answered and then reached out his hand for me. “Where are we going?”

  “Let’s wait until we get into the car.”

  I frowned at his attitude. These wolves were providing us shelter while we waited for whatever for our Alpha and did so with true generosity. There was no reason for him to be snarky.

  “They’re being nice to us.” I complained as soon as we were in the car.

  He shrugged and drove out of the gates, fake smiling and waving at the guards now present there.

  “I know they’re being generous. That’s not the issue. I just don’t want to speak about the Alpha’s private business, well, any more of his private business, in front of anyone else. No matter how much we trust these wolves, they are not clan. It’s not a matter of trust. It’s a matter of manners.”

  “Hmm,” I took his thought into consideration. He was right. Yes, these wolves were allies of a sort, but that didn’t mean we had to spread our business around. “You’re a good Beta. You take it seriously.”

  “As should you.”

  Me? I wasn’t part of the leadership of our clan. The closest I got to being in charge was getting the latest gossip from Echo.

  “Why me?”

  He looked at me like I was crazy. “What does you being Beta have to do with me?”

  Taking my hand in his he reminded me. “Don’t you remember Hawke saying that we are in charge in case of the absence of the Alpha and the Coeur for any reason?”

  No, I remembered nothing of the sort. “No.”

  “Maybe listen more closely when the Alpha is giving out orders, love. If you are mated to the Beta, you are automatically the Beta Female.”

  It sounded like he was calling me one of those fish that has to stay by themselves in the tiny cups at the pet store. You know, the ones who they can’t put in the tank because they will eat the other fish. I had one when I was small. I’d killed it by putting a mirror up to the tank and watching it attack its reflection over and over.

  I’d nearly gone comatose over killing another animal. I cried for days and days.

  “That’s a big commitment.”

  Rev recoiled, “Which part, the mating or the Beta Female?”

  “Are they separate?” I felt like we were jousting instead of having a discussion.

  “Yes. If you don’t want the responsibility—you can refuse.”

  I didn’t want to refuse. Truth be told, I was honored and since Echo was my best friend, it made it all the easier.

  But I wasn’t one to enjoy things being forced on me.

  “Can we talk about something else? Where are we going?”

  “We are checking on the grizzly clan lands and then—well—I actually need to check something out for myself.”

  “Okay.”

  We drove past the lands which used to belong to the grizzly clan that had kept Echo captive for so many years. It disgusted me to even look at the land. “Can you take some pictures with your phone, please? Unless you don’t want the responsibility.”

  “That was low, Rev. I’m happy to take pictures. Maybe it will give Echo and Hawke some peace of mind.”

  He grunted.

  Where were my roses and bold declarations of love?

  Butthole.

  He drove away after I was finished taking pictures. He pulled into a custom furniture store and I followed him inside—not because I wanted to, but because I was bored. I headed straight for the bookshelves, of course, while he shopped for desks. Maybe Hawke needed a new desk? Then he pulled out a measuring tape and I laughed so hard, I nearly choked.

  The man was like some buffed out nerd.

  My mate then shot me a look that would kill baby ducks for laughing at him. I was still laughing when a woman with a pencil skirt so tight, I was surprised she could walk, sauntered up to him. Cracking my neck against the ting of jealously, I watched them carefully while pretending to go about my shopping.

  Ignoring the situation didn’t last long.

  She told him with a giggly tone how smart he was to bring a measuring tape and then she touched—his—arm. Her gangly, witch from Snow White, made for pointing at naughty children fingers were walking up my bicep. Not my bicep, his bicep. The bicep that was made for me. Well, it hadn’t been made for me.

  Ah, screw it.

  The point was, she needed to get her mangled fingers off my mate before I showed her how this girl could use a measuring tape.

  I should’ve marched right over there and swiped her feet out from under her. With that tight skirt, she’d never be able to get up. Sell some furniture from down there, wench.

  Instead, I felt the need to play it cool. Why, I didn’t know. I knew he felt my jealousy. I knew he could.

  Rev was born to piss me off good.

&
nbsp; “Oh, and what were you buying this desk for?” She bumped his hip against his, and I speculated whether or not I could afford the damage and cover up it would take if I let my animal take care of the little issue.

  “Oh, I’m thinking of buying it for a friend.” I rubbed my lips together, trying to smother the very slight metallic taste now on my tongue. He wasn’t lying per se, but he was only telling a half truth.

  “Oooh, a friend, huh? Lucky girl?” She popped her hip out again and this time, there was no stopping me. Drums beat between my ears and all I saw was red. My bear, I could keep inside, but barely.

  But this girl? She was about to whip furniture girl’s ass.

  “I swear to all that’s holy, if you touch my man one more time, I’m gonna hurt you. Keep your hips to yourself. He’s only looking to buy furniture, not a date.”

  I’d yelled all that across the enormous store. Employees, customers, and random citizens alike were caught in my jealous wrath. I slapped my hand across my mouth, embarrassed beyond belief. I didn’t act this way. Usually I was cool and calm, always trying to treat people with manners and propriety.

  My cheeks were fully ablaze as I stormed out of the place, ashamed at my actions and my words. Tears flowed of their own accord despite me demanding they stay put. One poor elderly woman had gasped as I spoke. I was surprised I hadn’t given her a stroke with my trashy screaming fit.

  I was so ashamed.

  Look what you’ve done to me, mate. I spoke to him from the passenger seat of the car as he approached.

  I looked out the window as he got in and started the car. Through our new bond, I checked his emotions. I expected embarrassment, anger and disappointment. I searched first for those emotions, certain of what he would feel.

  Instead, all I felt from him was love and understanding. But mostly, I felt concern. He was worried about me. I’d done the most asinine thing in my life and he was worried about me.

  “Just say it,” I demanded despite knowing how he felt.

  “What would you like me to say, love?”

  “Say I’m stupid. Say I embarrassed you. Say I’m a big jealous wench. Say you’ll never go anywhere in public with me again.”

  He shrugged, “I’ll do no such thing.”

  “Why not?”

  He took my hand again, and the tears began again. “I think you’re brave.”