by Jules Tyler
“I think I scared her off. I think she saw me when I came home last night. But I wasn’t entirely human when I got here,” Jesse explained, running his hand over his head in frustration.
“Son of a bitch! Jesse, are you serious? You came home without being completely shifted? You know the rules!” Stella screamed at him before pacing the porch in frustration.
“It was dark outside, so I didn’t think it would matter,” Jesse countered, now regretting his decision not to go into the woods before shifting.
“We have rules for a reason, Jesse, and that’s for situations like this! Because they happen. What if a camper would have seen you? What if someone shot at you? Damn it, Jesse, why do I always have to do shit myself?” Stella ranted at him.
“What are we going to do?” Jesse asked, trying to formulate his own plan in his head. He needed to get his mate back.
“No, no, no. This is not a what are we gonna do situation. This is a what is Stella gonna do situation. You are going to stay here and help Brady run shit. I am going to get your mate back. I can only imagine what she is feeling right now. Why the fuck did you wait so long to tell her, Jesse? Full disclosure is always best. That girl tells me everything, and I know for a fact she still has her secrets but I’m sure she trusted you with them. It’s a partnership, Jesse. You share things with each other. You can’t pick and choose which parts of yourself you share with each other. Especially not something as big as you having a fucking bear stowed away inside of you!” Stella exclaimed, stomping off the porch and heading towards the lodge.
“I should be the one to go,” Jesse pleaded, jogging to catch up with her.
“No, Jesse,” Stella flatly said as she pressed on.
“Stella, she’s my mate. I’m the one that screwed this up. I need to be the one to fix it,” Jesse argued back.
Stella rounded on him and put her hands on her hips in defiance, “Exactly, Jesse, you’re the one that screwed this up. What makes you think you would get down there and she would see you? Because I can guarantee I wouldn’t want to see you right now. Hell, when I found out that Brady was a shifter, I didn’t speak to him for days! We don’t have days, Jesse. I need to bring our girl home, today. I’m going to go to Boise and get her to come home. Now go find my mate and put yourself to good use. Come hell or highwater, I’ll be home tonight with her, and you will not bother her until I tell you that she is ready. Are we in agreement?”
Damn, she’s scary when she’s mad. Definitely won’t be making that mistake again.
Jesse didn’t want to accept this. He wanted to go after Liz but he also knew in his heart that Stella was right. He needed to stay here and let Stella handle this one, because if he was being truly honest, this was definitely his fault. Making a promise to himself then and there, he swore if Liz came home to him, he would spend every single day of the rest of his life making up for this.
Chapter Nineteen
Liz leaned back against the headboard in her hotel room and clicked the television on with the remote, pushing the button until she found the cooking channel that hosted all of her favorites. She knew she should go find something to eat, but the pit in her stomach made her nauseous, so the need for food was far from her mind. She just wanted to lay here and feel sorry for herself. Episode after episode came on, and time ceased to be something Liz was worried about. She would start figuring out her game plan tomorrow. Today was all she was allowing herself to feel like shit about what was happening.
A knock at the door brought Liz back into reality. Pushing off of the bed, she went to open it, figuring it must be one of the hotel staff checking to see if she needed her room cleaned. Instead, Liz discovered a rather disgruntled looking Stella.
“Stella, what are you doing here?” Liz asked, bewildered as her friend shoved past her into her room.
“I’m here to talk some sense into you and bring you home,” Stella said matter-of-factly to her.
“I’m not going back. I told you on the phone this morning that it’s just not the right fit for me,” Liz explained, trying to keep the tears from pouring down her face again.
Stella glared at Liz, “You and I both know that that is a bullshit excuse, Elizabeth. I think I know what really happened to make you run and I’m not leaving here without you, so start talking.”
“You’re so fucking stubborn,” Liz complained, sitting down next her friend.
“Damn right I am and I’ve got all day since Mama and the guys are back home running the lodge for me, so the sooner you get to talking, the better for both of us,” Stella smiled, folding her arms across her chest in defiance.
“This is going to sound crazy, but you know that book you lent me? The one about the lady tiger?” Liz asked.
“Sure, it’s one of my favorites. What about it?” Stella asked.
“Jesse is a man bear,” Liz blurted out.
Without blinking, Stella said, “I know. Now don’t look at me like that. Let me preface this by saying that it was not my secret to share with you, or I would’ve told you on day one. Shifters are very protective of their animal, and out of respect, I keep my knowledge to myself so as not to betray their trust.”
“What about my trust, Stella? What about me?” Liz complained.
“I urged Jesse to tell you, and so did Brady, but he is his own man. I don’t think he was knowingly trying to hide this from you either. That man loves you. Yeah I said it; don’t look so surprised. You know he loves you. I think he was just struggling to find the right time and place to tell you everything you need to know,” Stella explained. “Not that what he did was right because I think it’s absolute bullshit that he didn’t tell you sooner, but given your reaction, can you really blame him for wanting to tell you in just the right way?”
Liz considered what her friend was saying. She wasn’t wrong.
Stella spoke again, “I know you know part of my story, but maybe me sharing my story with you will help you make up your mind and help you know that what is happening isn’t to hurt you.”
Liz nodded. “Okay, yeah. Let’s hear it.”
“As you already know, I used to be a bartender in Seattle and that’s how I met Alaric. What I didn’t tell you is that Alaric was a grizzly shifter. Shifters have their Intended Mates, hand selected by the Fates themselves. For shifters, it’s love at first sight with their mates, but if their mates are human, it can take longer for them to feel the bond that develops there. Sometimes in life, a shifter will either find their mate and lose them for one reason or another or they never find them. When this happens, they get mentally sick because their animal needs that bond to stay sane. That’s what happened with Alaric; he got sick and his bear fixated on me. You know how he was with me but what you don’t know is why I was so afraid of him,” Stella said, standing up and moving her clothes to show Liz the scars that covered her body.
“Oh my God, what did he do to you?” Liz asked in shock as Stella sat back down on the bed.
Trying not to make it sound so bad was difficult, but she began, “I tried to leave him, and his bear wouldn’t allow it. He tried to ruin me for others, knowing that the vanity of most men wouldn’t allow them to accept me if I was damaged goods. He took me to the hospital after what he did and told them to fix me, claiming some bullshit excuse that I was attacked by a stray dog. Multiple reparative plastic surgeries and days on end in the hospital, and the doctors were finally able to release me from their care. But the damage wasn’t completely fixed. Not only would I live with the lasting mental and emotional wreckage that Alaric gave me, but he left so much carnage in my pelvic area that the doctors said I would never be able to have children,” Stella voiced, choking on the emotion in her throat so she paused for a moment.
Liz could feel the tears streaming down her face as she listened to her friends story. She couldn’t imagine having so much taken from her the way Stella had.
“When I checked out of the hospital, I packed as much as I could into a backpack and left. I hea
ded for the last place that I had felt the safest. You know that part of my story, about how Brady and I were childhood best friends and we found each other again. I confided in him, much like you did with Jesse. Now imagine my surprise when Brady, just like Jesse, didn’t ‘fess up right away that he had a very big secret as well. When we went looking for a Christmas tree, there was a cougar on the prowl that decided Mama Ally and I looked like tasty morsels, and in an effort to protect us, Brady shifted into this gigantic polar bear and went barreling past me. Think about how betrayed I must have felt knowing that the man I loved had a bear in his middle just like Alaric did and he didn’t tell me,” Stella said thoughtfully, a tear running down her cheek as she took Liz’s hand in hers.
“What did you do?” Liz whispered.
“I hid in my cabin and refused to speak to him. Mama Ally came to me and was my shoulder to lean on. She would bring me dinner and didn’t force me to talk about it with her. After awhile, I found the courage to ask her about him and shifters and everything. Brady wasn’t the one to tell me about all of this Intended Mates shit, it was her. It took hearing what I already knew to make my mind up and finally confront him. I knew in my heart what I was to him, because I knew what he was to me. I knew he would never knowingly hurt me, and even though I wouldn’t be able to give him the young he wanted, he wouldn’t stray from me,” Stella said, her eyes glittering with emotion as she recalled the details of that day.
“I miss him,” Liz admitted to her friend.
“Of course you do, honey, you’re his Intended. You guys aren’t fully bonded but you feel that pull to be together,” Stella explained, squeezing Liz’s hand.
“How do you complete the bond?” Liz asked.
Stella stood from the bed and turned around, moving her tank top strap to show Liz the scar on her shoulder that was close to the nape of her neck, “When you agree to the pairing, during sex, your mate bites you. I thought it would hurt, but it didn’t. Your body is filled so full of pleasure you don’t even realize that it happened until it’s over. This mark is closer to the shifter’s version of a wedding ring than anything.”
“But you wear a wedding ring,” Liz pointed out as Stella returned to her spot on the bed.
“That’s because the rest of the world doesn’t recognize matings as an actual marriage. I wanted to take Brady’s last name, so we had a little ceremony at the Garden Valley Courthouse not long after that,” Stella said.
“Oh, that makes sense, I guess,” Liz said.
As the pair thought about the information Stella had just given Liz, Liz tried to grasp what her friend was telling her. Brady was a man bear, a shifter, and Liz was his Intended Mate. So much had changed in her life in the passing weeks. Was she really ready to commit herself to someone who hadn’t been able to come clean with her?
“Did I mention that shifters mate for life?” Stella asked.
“What do you mean?” Liz canted her head in confusion.
“I mean that Jesse would never be able to cheat on you. Once a shifter meets their Intended Mate, their entire life becomes making them happy and keeping them safe. They would never have the urge to look at another person the way they look at you. You are where their world begins and ends,” Stella said.
“That sounds nice,” Liz nodded. “How do I know you aren’t just saying this to convince me to come home?”
“Because I’m giving you a choice before I give you my ‘Hail Mary’ excuse to get you to come home,” Stella grinned a wicked grin.
“And what is that?” Liz asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“I can’t tell you until you tell me whether or not you’re willing to come home and hear him out,” Stella taunted her.
Liz grew silent and thought about what Stella was saying. Coming home didn’t necessarily mean she had to take Jesse back, but she could at least hear him out and see what he had to say about all of this. Her heart said yes, her head was screaming no at her, but something Stella had told her weeks ago was niggling at the back of her mind. Listen to what your heart says.
“Okay,” Liz nodded in agreement, “I’ll come home.”
Stella clapped her hands together in excitement, “Okay good, now I can tell you. By the way, you’re lucky I’m telling you at all because I had planned to come by this morning and tell you, and you totally ruined the surprise.”
“Stella, come on, you’re killing me here,” Liz begged.
“Alright, alright, fine,” Stella said, pausing for effect before continuing, “Brady and I are pregnant!”
Liz’s eyes went round in surprise, “Wait, are you serious?”
“Yes!” Stella squealed in excitement as Liz pulled her in for a hug. “Brady could scent the change a little over a two months ago, but chose to keep it to himself, just in case something went wrong. If I had to guess, I’d have to say I’m probably about ten weeks along. I haven’t had a normal cycle since everything happened with Alaric so I didn’t think anything of it. We’re going to call in a shifter midwife to come help take care of me just in case anything weird happens, since I can’t go the traditional route.”
“I can’t believe it. This is so exciting,” Liz said, looking down at her friend’s stomach.
“I know, it’s still so surreal,” Stella said. “Now I’m gonna take a much needed piss while you pack, then we’re grabbing food at the nearest burger joint, and then we’re going home. Got it?”
“Yes, your majesty,” Liz rolled her eyes at her friend’s bossiness.
“Don’t you sass me, woman. My day was completely derailed by having to come down here to get you. We’re going to have to work double time tonight to get everything prepared for the restaurant,” Stella quipped.
“Oh ye of little faith, I already prepped everything last night so I could spend more time with Jesse today,” Liz giggled, standing to start stuffing everything back into her bag.
“Good, so let’s get this party rolling, shall we?” Stella nodded before heading for the bathroom.
Home. I’m going home.
Chapter Twenty
“You going to be okay, brother?” Landon asked as he came over to the table Jesse was sitting at in the lodge and handed him a bottle of beer.
“I don’t know, man. What if Stella doesn’t get her to come back?” Jesse said somberly, popping the top of the bottle before taking a long draw off of it.
“She’ll come back. I don’t think anyone could say no to Brady’s mate,” Landon stated.
“I feel like I’m going to come out of my skin. Her not being here is like an itch that I can’t get rid of. I just need to know she is okay,” Jesse admitted.
“Stella is with her, so she is safe. What are you going to do once she’s home?” Brady asked, coming over to join the pair.
“Tell her everything and beg for forgiveness,” Jesse said.
Brady and Landon nodded in unison, “Good plan.”
“What if she won’t hear me out?” Jesse asked.
“Then you try again and again. Stella took me back after my epic fuck up, so I know Liz will take you back,” Brady joked.
“They’re almost here,” Tyson said, walking through the door on the opposite side of the lodge.
“Good deal,” Brady nodded. “Maybe we should clear out and give them some space, huh?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to be here when Stella lights into him again. I already had to hear that nonsense this morning,” Tyson laughed, heading back through the door that he had walked through a moment ago.
“Asshole,” Jesse muttered under his breath.
“I heard that,” Tyson called over his shoulder.
Rolling his eyes, Jesse tried to think about what he was going to say to Liz. How was he going to go about explaining why he kept his bear to himself? How was he going to make her understand he was selfish and he was sorry? How did one go about explaining any of this to anyone?
The door across the room opened, and he watched as Stella and Liz walked together towards
where he was sitting. He could feel the nervousness Liz was feeling rolling off of her in waves. He did that. He had made his mate scared of him.
Stella stopped right in front of him and poked him in the chest. “Don’t fuck this up.”
As if the pressure wasn’t bad enough.
“Hi,” Liz said, stepping around Stella to sit across from him at the table.
Jesse turned his attention to Liz and smiled at her, “Hi there.”
The silence that drifted between them was awkward, neither one of them knowing what to say. After a moment, Liz spoke up, “So Stella was explaining things to me.”
“What did she have to say?” Jesse asked, trying to figure out where Stella left off.
“She thinks I’m your Intended Mate. She thinks you were trying to find the right way to tell me your secret,” Liz said, searching his eyes for the answers.