“I’ve gone insane.” She muttered to herself. She needed to call her mother. Her mother was a psychiatric nurse in Denver. She’d know what to do when something like this happened.
Surely, I’m too old to have a psychotic break. She tried to remember the age range from her intro psych course, but her brain wasn’t functioning.
Not with a big black bear watching her from the other side of the coffee table.
“This is not real.” She closed her eyes. “I’m hallucinating.” She opened one eye and peeked at the bear. “I didn’t even have anything to drink.”
Chapter 24
Brayden watched as Taylor panicked at seeing him as a bear. It wasn’t doing much for his ego. He considered himself a handsome bear, and he wasn’t doing anything that would scare a human.
He sighed. He knew that it was too much, too fast. Even humans who claimed they believed in shapeshifters had a hard time believing it when they actually saw one shift. Look at Riley and Tyler; Even though they’d been high school sweethearts, after she shifted in front of him, it took them ten years to end up back together.
Brayden kicked himself for not thinking this through. Now Taylor would probably bolt, and he’d never taste those sweet lips again. He’d be left watching her through the television screen. His life would never be the same.
He shifted back into his human form and watched her eyes widen. He didn’t say anything or move. He just stood there, waiting to see what she would do.
With the blanket wrapped around her shoulders and dragging behind her along the floor, she dashed into the kitchen and grabbed her handbag.
He went to the door and leaned against the counter. “What are you doing?”
She pulled out her cell phone and held it front of her. “I have to call my mother.”
“Your mother? Why?”
“She’ll know what to do about…” She held her phone up. “Damn it. There’s no service here.” She lowered her phone to her side. “...about hallucinations.”
Brayden felt the laughter bubbling up, and he tried not to laugh. He turned around, but he couldn’t stop it. He bent over laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
Brayden took a deep breath, focusing on keeping a straight face. “It’s not funny.” He held his straight face for all of ten seconds. Then he started laughing again.
“Brayden.”
He tamped down his laughter and turned back to face her. “No one’s ever accused me of being a hallucination before.”
She just stared at him, her expression blank. “Well, has anyone ever seen you do…” she swept a hand toward him. “that?”
“Shift?”
“Yes. Shift.”
“Sure. Lots of people.” My family.
She cocked her head at him and crossed her arms.
“Okay.” He admitted. “Not really. But you said you believed in shifters.”
“I also used to believe in Santa Claus and Cinderella. And although I still believe in the magic of Christmas and the concept of Cinderella, I don’t expect anyone to come down my chimney or to turn into a pumpkin.”
He grinned at her. “Cinderella doesn’t turn into a pumpkin.”
“Somebody does, but I’m pretty sure I won’t witness it either way.”
“You have a very good point.”
“Of course, I do. Just because I do the weather doesn’t mean I can’t think.”
“Hey.” Brayden sobered. It hadn’t occurred to him that she thought she wasn’t taken seriously in her job.
He shoved off the counter and held out his arms. “Come here.”
“Is it safe?” She asked, this time a smile played about her lips.
“I promise to never do that again without warning you first.”
She stepped forward and took his hands. He stared into those beautiful green eyes. “Taylor, I happen to take you very seriously. I know that when you say it’s going to snow it’s going to snow.”
“I said it wasn’t going to snow until tomorrow. Yesterday.”
“You missed it by a few hours. That’s better than anyone else does. Frankly, I think you have a gift. And it’s not just me. My brother Aiden won’t step outside without checking your forecast.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her against him. Her heart was racing dangerously in her chest. He realized he never should have shifted without warning her first. They were still vulnerable from their night of making out. He’d made the same mistake Riley had made all those years ago. He’d wanted to share every part of himself.
Chapter 25
Her heart still hammered dangerously in her chest. She took a deep breath. Just when she was completely relaxed, he’d… shifted into a bear.
She smiled against his chest at the irony of it. She’d come here to scoop a story on shapeshifters, and she’d not only found one, she’d… kissed and made out with one.
The only problem… well, one of the many problems was… she couldn’t do the story now. Things were so much more complicated than merely spotting a shapeshifter on the side of the road. What had she been thinking anyway?
She’d been thinking about a promotion. A promotion from weather girl to anchor. She had a double major at Colorado State University at Fort Collins – journalism and meteorology, done an internship at the local station, then stayed on to do the weather. But being a meteorologist at a small television station didn’t garner the respect she was looking for. Being known as the weather girl wasn’t exactly her lifetime goal. She’d applied to larger stations, even to The Weather Channel, but the competition was stiff.
As a result, she’d shifted her goals. With a degree in journalism, she qualified for the job as the station’s anchor. Unfortunately, there were a lot of politics involved, and she didn’t have the required social connections.
After her boss recommended she start putting together some special news episodes, her coworker had suggested shapeshifters. It seemed just interesting enough to get her attention. So, she’d taken a few days off and driven up to the Silver Creek Lodge. Unfortunately, her snowstorm prediction had been a day off.
“Want to get outside and take a walk?” Brayden’s voice pulled her out of her musings.
“Sure.” She looked into his eyes. Eyes that held so many mysteries. Eyes that melted her heart.
“You can borrow some of my warm clothes.”
It was still snowing, but it was a light snow now. The fresh-fallen snow was inviting, just waiting for footprints.
Minutes later, Taylor was bundled up in one of Brayden’s heavy coats and a pair of waterproof boots that were much too big.
When he opened the front door and followed her out, the cold clean air cleared her lungs and her mind. She smiled as Brayden took her hand and together they went down the porch steps into the fresh fallen snow.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said.
“It’s hard to beat fresh snow.”
“Cold weather is so invigorating. I love a good storm.”
Brayden laughed. “You’re a true weather-” He cleared his throat. “Meteorologist.”
“It’s okay. I only have a Bachelor’s in meteorology.”
“You have what? A certification?”
“Sure. I’m actually working on my master’s degree online.”
“I’m impressed. You like this area then?”
She shrugged. “It’s close to home. My mom lives in Denver. I’ve applied at different places, but so far nothing that would warrant me moving away.”
“I understand. I’ve dealt with the same thing. I want to stay close to family. So, I chose to live here.”
As they neared the road, the sounds of a snowmobile shattered the quietness. They stopped and waited until the snowmobile came into view. “It’s Doc.” Brayden told her.
The driver stopped next to them. “I’m not going to turn it off,” Doc yelled over the noise of the motor. “I’m afraid it won’t start back.”
“Good idea.” Brayden said. �
�Where are you headed?”
“To the lodge. Do you want a ride?”
Brayden glanced questioningly at Taylor. She shrugged. Brayden nodded to Doc. They climbed aboard, and Taylor was nestled between the two men. Doc steered them along a path that Taylor could only surmise was there. There were ruts in the snow that she presumed he’d left on his way out.
Within twenty minutes, she could see the lodge. It was known as the castle in the mountains. And the name was well-deserved. Made of large, light-gray stones, it was nestled at the base of the mountains covered in snow. With the light snowfall at the moment, it looked like a giant silver snow globe that had just been shaken.
Taylor was enchanted.
Chapter 26
Brayden rode with one arm braced against the side of the snowmobile and the other wrapped around Taylor’s shoulders. Taylor was pressed against him, but she was also pressed against Cooper on the other side.
Brayden wasn’t particularly excited about her being in such close proximity to the Doc. Especially with the Doc being estranged from his wife.
Such possessiveness wasn’t in Brayden’s nature. He wanted to claim Taylor as his- to make sure everyone knew they were a couple.
He hadn’t planned on taking her to meet his family, but since the opportunity had arisen, he could barely wait to show her off to his sister Skylar and any other of his eleven siblings who happened to be around at the lodge. Aiden and Emma would probably be cuddled up in their cabin.
When he squeezed Taylor to him, she looked up at him and smiled. His heart did a little somersault.
The self-proclaimed bachelor had managed to fall in love practically overnight.
Chapter 27
They stopped next to the front door of the lodge, and Cooper turned off the motor. Brayden jumped down and helped Taylor off the snowmobile. “Is this your first time at the lodge?”
“I don’t know how, but yes. It’s beautiful.”
“It is, isn’t it?” He took her hand and led her toward the front doors. “Thanks for the ride, Doc.” He called over his shoulder.
“Anytime.” Cooper said.
Taylor looked over her shoulder. Cooper shrugged.
Brayden had been awfully quick to pull her away from the handsome doctor. “So, he’s the doctor?”
“Yeah.” Brayden didn’t offer any other information.
Interesting. Cooper was handsome, but older. He was probably close to thirty-five years old. Maybe Brayden was being possessive. Taylor smiled to herself. It was cute.
Once they were inside, he helped her out of her coat, and they took off their boots. “What are we doing?” She asked.
“We’ll see who’s here. You can meet some of my family.”
Little alarm bells went off in Taylor’s head. Being jealous of another man was one thing, but meeting his family was another. They’d only just met.
Her face flushed. This was moving extraordinarily fast.
The real problem was that though she was caught a little off-guard, she really didn’t mind. Brayden was a ruggedly handsome man, and he was intriguing on many different levels, not the least of which was that he could turn into a bear at will.
Taylor had never been one to like anything, or anyone, ordinary. She’d picked a career involving public speaking that most people would cringe at. Then there had been her high school boyfriend who had been the president of the senior class and the football quarterback. They’d broken up after he moved away to go to college, and Taylor had thrown herself into her career. She’d had a few short-term boyfriends, but none of those had been serious enough to warrant meeting the parents.
“My sister Skylar’s working the front desk,” he said, as they walked across the lobby, his fingers lightly linked with hers. She kept her hold loose to give him the opportunity to let go, but he didn’t.
Skylar watched as they approached and came around from behind the desk as they neared. Taylor saw the moment Skylar recognized her. Skylar’s face lit up in a wide grin. “You’re Taylor Stone – the weather girl.”
When Skylar called her the weather girl, it didn’t sound so bad. She grinned back and nodded.
“What are you doing with my no-good brother?”
Taylor looked at Brayden sideways. He shrugged. “I got lucky.”
“I’ll say you did.” Skylar held out her hand. “I’m Skylar, his big sister.”
Taylor shook the other girl’s hand. There was nothing big about Skylar except maybe her smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Let me find Nate, and we’ll go have lunch in the restaurant.” Without waiting for an answer, Skylar took off behind the desk.
A couple of minutes later, a man who must have been Nate came out to stand behind the desk. The three of them went into a large restaurant across the lobby. It was a formal dining area with white tablecloths and fresh flowers on each table. The room had large floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, offering an astounding view of the mountains.
It was early yet, so only a scattering of couples were seated at tables around the room. Skylar stopped and whispered to the hostess who nodded, then Skylar led them to a secluded table near the far window.
“This is absolutely beautiful.” Taylor said as she took her seat. Brayden sat on her right and Skylar on her left.
“It is, isn’t it?” Skylar agreed. “Our parents did well.”
A young man brought a tray with three flutes of orange juice. Taylor took a sip. Not just orange juice.
“Mimosas,” Skylar said. “Our house specialty.”
“Your specialty.” Brayden clarified, squeezing Taylor’s hand next to his under the table.
Skylar grinned.
Chapter 28
A week later, as Taylor waited in the lobby for her mother, she idly flipped through the pages of a Cosmopolitan magazine, reading the article captions. “What to do if your man has a work spouse.” “What to do if your man wants to make a sex video.” No articles on “What to do if your man can shift into a bear.”
She sighed and set the magazine aside as her mother came out through the door of the locked ward of the psychiatric facility.
Grinning, her mother gave her a hug. If had always been baffling to Taylor that her mother could stay so positive when working with people with severe mental illness. I try to stay upbeat, so I don’t bring other people down. Taylor aspired to be positive like her mother in her everyday life.
“It’s good to see you, Pumpkin,” Her mother, Maria, said.
“It’s good to see you, too.”
“What’s bothering you?”
The downside of having a mother who worked in a psychiatric hospital was that her mother was super in-tune to her daughter’s moods.
“I’ll tell you over lunch.” Taylor didn’t even bother pretending to keep things from her mother anymore. She’d given that up as a teen. Her mother could see right through any façade she might try to put up.
Taylor drove to the Rock Bottom Café. It was crowded and noisy, but they found a table toward the back. After they ordered salads, Taylor braced herself for telling her mother about Brayden.
“Before I tell you this, you have to promise not to admit me to the psych unit.”
“I would only admit you if it was for your own good.”
“That’s not helping, Mom.”
“I know. Tell me what it is so I can decide.” Maria smiled at her daughter.
It had been an ongoing conversation between them since Taylor was old enough to understand what it was her mother did for a living.
“Have you ever heard of shapeshifters?” Taylor blurted.
“Of course.” Maria said. “We have two in the hospital right now.”
Taylor nearly spit out her soda. Not the answer she was looking for. “No. I’m serious.”
“I’ve heard the stories, but I don’t have any direct experience.”
“I met one.”
Her mother narrowed her eyes.
Taylor kept talki
ng. Now that she’d started, she wanted to tell everything. “His name is Brayden, and he lives with his family at a lodge in the mountains.” She took a deep breath. “He’s a bear shifter.”
“How do you know this?”
“I saw him.”
The server brought their salads, but neither of them touched their food. “That’s not what I expected.” Maria said.
“I know. I might be hallucinating, right?”
Maria picked up her fork. “Actually, you might not be. We had a guy, a psychologist, come in about a month ago who talked about the possibility. He suggested that we not automatically think people who claim to be or to have seen shifters to be delusional.”
“Really?” Taylor bit into a tomato.
Her mother’s words, though vague, were more supportive than she had expected.
“Of course, I never expected my daughter to be one of those claiming to have seen a shifter.”
“Um.” Taylor felt her face warming.
“You said him so I’m safe in assuming that you aren’t a shifter, right?”
“Right.” Perhaps this hasn’t been such a good idea after all.
“But you didn’t just see him…”
“Mom. I… We… I sort of kissed him.”
Her mother’s eyes widened. The mother who rarely showed surprise at anything. “I see. Your boyfriend is a shapeshifter.”
“I don’t know that he’s my boyfriend, exactly.”
“I’m not sure that helps.”
Taylor sighed. “Remember, I told you I have an interview.”
“In Atlanta.”
“Right. So, I’m being careful.”
“What’s he like? Brayden?”
“He’s really good-looking. He’s kind and funny.”
“What about the bear side?”
“I guess he’s okay as far as bears goes. I don’t have a lot to compare him to.”
“So… when you’re kissing him. Is he a bear?”
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