She opened her mouth to tell him but he spoke first. “You did me a favor, Bug. That wasn’t a one night mistake. They had been sleeping together for a long time behind my back. Who knows how long it would have gone on if you hadn’t intervened? It may have dragged out right up to the wedding day and I would have been the fool left at the altar.”
“She may have even married you and kept having her affair.” Susan mumbled the disgust in her voice clear. Sebastian ran his hands over her back again and she had to resist the urge to arch back like a cat eager for pets.
“No,” He grunted, “Mary Beth told me that she never had any intention of marrying me. She wanted Christian because he would be the one to inherit the ranch but she didn’t want to give up the ring I gave her.” He sneered.
Susan gasped and drew her head back sharply, shock clear in her expression. “She actually told you that?”
Sebastian nodded. “She did.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed his back this time to soothe him. She once again tucked her head against his chest and mumbled “No wonder you left. I thought it was just the pictures I had sent had made you mad. I kept hoping you would come back.”
Susan felt a tickle on her upper lip just below her nose and cursed softly. Pulling away from Sebastian she lunged for a tissue before she embarrassed herself; Stupid cold ruining my chance to stay in Sebastian’s arms.
“I should let you get back to bed,” he said coming forward to kiss her on the top of her head as she blew her nose as quietly and as ladylike as she could manage. She watched him gather up all their dinner plates and flatware and place them in a cardboard box he had stashed in a corner. Once his arms were full he looked back at her. “Get some sleep so that you can get better. There are lots of things I want to show you.” He smiled and said, “I’ll come back tomorrow to check on you.” She just stood there like an idiot gaping at him as she nodded her head like the bobble head she had earlier denied being.
When the door shut behind him, she collapsed on the bed and sighed. There are lots of things I want to show you he’d said and her mind had immediately taken up residence in the gutter as images of them naked played like a movie reel in her head. Oh, if he only knew how badly she wanted him to show her everything.
The first thing Susan noticed when she woke the next morning was how much better she felt. Her nose was still a bit stuffy, but after a good blow, she seemed to be back to breathing normally. She sent up a little prayer of thanks for the shifter genes that helped her recover so quickly.
The second thing she noticed was the agitated feeling in her body, like she couldn’t sit still. Everything seemed to itch and twitch; comparable to drinking way too much coffee. She’d felt it before and knew exactly what it was – her bear was clamoring to break free. It happens when a shifter goes too long between shifts or after recovering from illness. Soon the walls would start closing in on her.
Susan took a quick shower and got dressed before heading down to the dining room of the bed and breakfast. As she approached she could smell coffee, bacon, and the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread; her stomach growled. She could also hear Constance’s raised voice as she said, “You need to leave, Jacob; right now.”
Susan slowed her step, not wanting to intrude but she also didn’t want to eavesdrop either. She cleared her throat to announce her presence but didn’t know if she’d been heard as Jacob spoke, “We had a good time, Connie and I want to see you again.”
She heard Connie sigh long and low. “Yes, we had fun but then the next day I was told by three – THREE – different people how terrible I was to use you to get to your brother!” Her voice rising to a screech of frustration, “I won’t have it Jacob. I want nothing to do with your family so you need to leave!”
Susan cleared her throat again and edged into the dining room as Jacob raised a hand with entreaty, “Please, Connie… OW!” and Susan watched with horrified fascination as what looked like a honey dipper with a beehive shaped end smacked Jacob square in the forehead before it fell to the floor with a clatter.
Susan let out a squeak as she tried to contain her inappropriate humor at Jacob’s expense. Jacob turned and looked at her with chagrin as he used his thumb to clean the blob of honey off his forehead before putting it in his mouth to suck it clean. “Oh, hey, Susan, how are you?”
She tucked her lips between her teeth to keep from laughing and just nodded at Jacob. He sighed, “Looks like I have to get going, but hey, at least she didn’t throw a knife.” He said with a grin, before he gave one last lingering look at Constance who had given him her back, pulled on his coat and walked to the door.
As soon as the door closed behind Jacob, Constance turned and busied herself with cleaning up the sticky mess the dipper had made on the floor. She gave Susan a sheepish smile, “Sorry you had to see that.”
Susan smiled, “It was fine. I just didn’t want to interrupt.”
“I’m glad you did.” Constance said motioning to the table. “Go ahead and eat. I’ll just go get a spoon for the honey,” and she disappeared through the door to the kitchen.
Susan looked over the offerings; there were two loaves of freshly baked bread, one of which had a few slices cut from it, on a cutting board with a crock of butter, an assortment of muffins and pastries in a large basket as well as chafing dishes with scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. The sideboard just past the dining room table held dry cereals and a pitcher of milk, carafes of orange and grapefruit juice, a wooden bowl with assorted fruits, a pot of freshly brewed coffee as well as a pot of hot water for tea. The spread was impressive and Susan wondered about it since last she knew she was the only guest.
Constance seemed to read her mind as she came back in the dining room and put a clean spoon in the honey pot. “We have a family that checked in yesterday. You didn’t meet them since you were sick, but they come here every year for cross country skiing.”
Susan nodded as she filled her plate with eggs, sausage, warm bread and an orange before taking a seat at the table. Constance sat down next to her and sighed. “How are you feeling today?” She asked.
Susan nodded, biting into the bread. “Much better,” she said after she swallowed. “I’m feeling the need to go out and explore nature.”
Constance smiled in understanding. “Head out toward Mr. Black’s cabin – you’ve been out that way, right?” When Susan nodded, she continued. “That area should allow you to explore to your heart’s content.” She said with a wink. “The Murphy’s take a trail further south.” She said referring to their guests.
Suddenly Constance’s expression turned excited her eyes dancing with happiness. “I know you saw him yesterday,” she said grinning widely, “What did you think of his transformation?” She waggled her eyebrows comically. “Impressive, right? I never knew such a handsome specimen was hiding under all that hair!”
Susan smiled. “You did an amazing job, Constance.”
Constance stood and gave a little bow. “Thank you, thank you,” she said and then laughed before grabbing a banana out of the fruit bowl and peeled it as she returned to her seat. She was thoughtful for a moment and then said, “I bet you’re wondering what all of that with Jacob was about.”
Susan shrugged. “Only if you want to talk about it,” she hedged though she had to admit she was wildly curious.
Constance grimaced. “I thought I was in love with Jacob’s older brother Conner; for as long as I can remember, I followed him around like a puppy hoping for the smallest little scrap of his attention.” She shook her head, “I made such a fool of myself. Now I understand that it was a childish infatuation that I should have gotten over long ago but foolishly clung to instead. He wasn’t even very nice to me, yet I’d placed him on some sort of perfect pedestal. I made him into my ideal and convinced myself that I just had to work harder to win him and one day he would love me back.”
Susan lowered her gaze to her plate and played with her scrambled eggs. Boy, coul
d she ever relate. Were her hopes too high? She pushed that thought away. No, Sebastian had asked her to stay. She was not Connie and Sebastian was not this Conner person.
Constance continued. “A few months ago Conner finally came right out and told me I had no hope and had to let it go.” She set her half eaten banana on the table, her expression pained. “I was mortified. He yelled it in front of half the town at his birthday party that I had put together for him.”
Susan winced in sympathy and put her hand on Constance’s shoulder. She gave her a supportive squeeze, but said nothing. Constance gave her a sad smile and continued with her story. “Earlier this month – before all this snow,” she said, motioning toward the frost coated windows, “Jacob asked me to go fishing with him and I agreed. It was cold but he had a blanket in his truck. We sat close so that we could share it and we had a great time just talking and laughing, but as you probably heard me say, the next day I was accused of using Jacob to get close to Conner. I thought I could get past that and not care what other people thought, but…” Constance shook her head and sighed. “Who knows, maybe subconsciously I was replacing Conner with Jacob, though it really didn’t feel that way. Aside from their similarities in looks, Jacob and Conner act completely different. But this is a small town and everybody ends up in your business.” She grimaced. “They mean well, but it’s aggravating. I think it’s just easier if I stay away from the entire Pierce family, no matter how much I enjoyed Jacob’s company.”
Susan didn’t know what to say, but Constance hadn’t actually asked for advice, so she just watched the other woman as she took a deep breath and pasted a too bright smile on her lovely face. “It will all work out eventually,” she said as she stood up from the table. “There are plenty of fish in the sea.” She grabbed her half eaten banana and headed for the other room. “I have to get to work. Enjoy your exploration, Susan.”
Chapter Ten
When Susan stepped outside it was snowing again; huge, fluffy flakes that drifted slowly from the sky. She couldn’t say she particularly enjoyed the cold but she really loved the snow. It made everything look so clean and fresh; like a Christmas card. Mariposa rarely saw snow like this; total annual accumulations there were measured in inches (or inch) rather than feet. She breathed in the scents of cold air, evergreen trees, and wood smoke and smiled. She wanted to make another snow angel or build a snow fort and arm it with snowballs but her muscles bunching in her arms and legs reminded her that she had to satisfy the inner bear before she could indulge her inner child.
She had started her rental car to let it warm up and was cleaning the heavy accumulation of snow off the windshield when she heard the whine of a snowmobile approaching. The rider was wearing a helmet and heavy black parka so she shouldn’t have been able to recognize him, but she would know Sebastian anywhere. He cut the engine and pulled his helmet off. “Where are you going?” He asked with a frown.
Conscious of possible non-shifter ears nearby, Susan said, “I was feeling a bit caged after being sick and thought I’d do some exploring up by your cabin.”
Sebastian nodded toward her car. “Turn it off and jump on. I brought an extra helmet.”
Remembering how much fun she had had the last time, Susan didn’t need to be told twice. With a grin she pocketed her car keys, put on the helmet he handed her, grabbed Sebastian around the waist and straddled the snowmobile. She was surprised when Sebastian headed in the opposite direction of his cabin, but she didn’t protest as he sped through the fresh snow on the main road for about two miles before turning onto a side road. A short ride up that road and he pulled the sled to a stop in front of an A-frame cabin.
When he pulled off his helmet he glanced at her over his shoulder. “This is the place I was telling you about last night where I’ll be staying.”
Susan looked around as she climbed off the back of the snowmobile. She nodded, “It looks nice. I bet it’s much more comfortable than the cabin you had been living in.”
Sebastian grunted. “Go inside and shift. I’ll give you a tour when we get back.”
She nodded and quickly mounted the steps to the front porch and stomped the snow off her feet before opening the door. She marveled at Sebastian’s improved living conditions for a few minutes before she found the bathroom to strip off her clothes. When she emerged as the bear she felt immediately more relaxed; all the tension in her muscles seemed to ease and she could breathe easier. She made her way out to the back deck and saw Sebastian, already shifted, was waiting for her near the tree line.
On all fours she broke into a run toward him, let out a happy bellow and promptly tackled him to the ground. Sebastian let out a bellow of his own, clearly surprised by her antics but he didn’t hesitate to take up the challenge and wrestle with her. Rolling around in the fluffy snow with him would be a memory she would cherish.
There were definitely certain benefits to being the bear like her increased strength – not that she could match Sebastian, but she could at least make his sweat a bit. Her ears were only marginally better than her human side and her eyesight was about the same, but her sense of smell was increased exponentially. This could also be seen as a curse though since not everything smelled pleasant; for example, the musty scent of the boundary markers that the pack had left behind to mark their territory. But worse was the repulsive scent that hit her nostrils as she explored the tree line with Sebastian about thirty minutes later. Her head jerked up and she released the small tree she had been bending. She watched Sebastian’s head lift as well and his nostrils flared – he had caught the scent. It was faint and quite a distance away, but the smell was unmistakable: death.
Susan lifted onto her back feet to raise her body high and sniffed at the air before dropping down and heading into the trees to investigate the source of the smell. Sebastian’s body suddenly blocked her path as he moved in front of her. He let out a bellow and nudged her with his head until she turned back toward the cabin.
He shifted back to skin and Susan was once again confronted with a naked Sebastian. She was grateful she couldn’t blush as a bear as she quickly turned away from all of that glorious skin and hard muscle. The man had absolutely no modesty. She focused her attention on the cabin. He had to be freezing without his fur since her paws were already incredibly cold, but he didn’t show it.
“I don’t want you in danger.” He grunted. “We’ll go check it out, but we’ll do it in skin and armed. We don’t know what’s out there and I won’t have you shot by some idiot hunter.”
Susan’s heart warmed and she felt a little thrill at his concern until he said, “Your father would skin me and use me as a rug if I let anything happen to you.”
She swallowed the grumble that rose from her chest. So much for thinking he cared she thought, but then berated herself. He did care or he wouldn’t have come to take care of you when you were sick, silly. She picked up her pace and dashed for the back door of the cabin, headed straight for the bathroom and her discarded clothes.
When she was dressed she came back out to find Sebastian clipping a radio to his jeans. He didn’t turn to look at her as he headed for the closet and pulled out a rifle and a box of ammunition.
“Do you think it was a hunting accident?” She asked, wrapping her arms around her middle.
He finally turned to look at her and frowned. “You’ve been sick and you shouldn’t be hiking through the snow. You should stay here.”
She hesitated for a moment. She knew she hadn’t been wrong in what she had smelled; did she really want to see a dead body? No, absolutely not. Besides, what could she possibly do to help? She nodded, “You’re right.”
Sebastian looked a bit surprised at her easy capitulation but then he nodded sharply, pulled on the heavy parka, and slung the rifle across his back. “Eat. There’s plenty of food. I’ll be back soon.”
Without another word, he left the cabin.
Sebastian let the disturbing scent guide him through the forest, but his mind was back
at the cabin with Susan. She had managed to get him to frolic again! He had actually tussled in the snow like a cub! He hadn’t done that since he was a cub. It had felt so incredibly nice. Susan was doing something to him, affecting him, changing him. She was somehow making his life seem lighter and he liked it. When she was around he actually felt happy. It was just another reason why he needed to keep her with him.
He had hiked a good mile and a half when he saw something that didn’t quite fit in with the landscape. He was in dense woods where only a minimal amount of snow had penetrated the canopy or branches above. It could be a log, but Sebastian didn’t think so. The smell of death hit him hard and he approached the body, only to see that there were two. He crouched down to examine the bodies. Both were males dressed in green camouflage and both had suffered massive damage to their head and shoulder region. One of the men looked like something large had bitten into the back of his head and neck while the other had obvious claw marks across the face and throat. The spacing between the slashes suggested an extremely large paw. The hunters’ rifles were on the ground beside them and one of them had a large hunting knife still in hand with traces of blood on the blade. There was a great deal of blood surrounding the corpses, but he also saw a trail of red – just a few dots here and there – stark on the dusting of snow leading away from the bodies. He bent down close, inhaled, and growled; feline shifter.
Until You: A Malsum Pass Novel Page 7