“Whatever you want to ask me, just ask. I won’t keep any more secrets from you. Not now.” Joey stared into her hazel eyes, they were dark in the shelter of the trees, with no sunlight to lighten them. Dark and unreadable.
“You loved Polly.”
He let his breath out in a long exhale. “I did. I do.” He gave a lopsided smile. “When we broke up, it hurt like hell.” He arched an eyebrow. “But now that I’ve met you I know that love is insignificant compared to what I feel for you.”
Breeze’s shoulders sagged forward. “Joey, I… You’re right, this does scare me. Not because you are a shifter and can turn into a bear. Which I still want to see. But because of Tristan. He got swallowed up in his parents’ fiery passion. When he came to stay with me, I made my own promise. To myself.”
“You don’t want this…” He angled the wood in his arms to point at Breeze and then back at himself. “To consume us. You don’t want Tristan to get pushed to one side.”
“Exactly,” she confirmed.
“The thing with shifters is that, second only to their mate, children are the most important thing. He is part of my family now, Breeze, just as you are. He’s mine to protect, and that isn’t just about his physical well-being. His emotional well-being is important, too.” Damn, he wanted to kiss her as she stood looking up at him, tears misting her eyes.
“So, what now?” Breeze brushed her hand across her eyes.
“Whatever you want,” Joey replied. “No one is forcing you into a relationship with me. No one is saying this is fate and you have to obey.”
“I know.” She sighed. “But your face says it might just be the end of the world if I said no.”
“Breeze, you have to do what is best for you and Tristan. Honestly, that is all that matters to me.” Joey was not fooling around. He needed her to know that he wanted what she wanted, no matter how much that hurt him.
“I don’t know what I want, I wish I did,” Breeze replied. “I want to tell you I’m willing to give us a chance, but I am scared of what effect it might have on Tristan.” She shrugged. “On the other hand, he does need to see that people can have lots of relationships.”
“Lots of relationships, huh?” Joey asked.
“You know what I mean, I want Tristan to see that it’s possible to have a variety of relationships, that loving one person doesn’t cannibalize the love of another. That’s not what he’s seen so far. That’s not what his parents have taught him.”
“And since they’re not here, it’s up to you to teach him,” Joey said.
“That’s about it,” Breeze said.
“And that means you are going to date me?” Joey asked, hopeful but a little confused.
“Yeah, it does.” Breeze inhaled deeply. “Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She grinned. “Does that make you happy?”
“It certainly is a relief,” Joey let out a long breath. “I was worried for a moment that you were going to dump me.”
“Me, too.” Breeze laughed. “When you invite a woman on a picnic, you should warn them that it’s not going to be at all relaxing. Today has been hard work.”
“But totally worth it.” Joey picked up a few more branches and cradled them in his arms. “Let’s go back to the others. They’ll wonder where we are.”
“I’d hate for Tristan to think I’d been eaten by a bear,” Breeze joked.
Joey chuckled. “He doesn’t know he’s eating a picnic with two cougars and a wolf.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all,” Breeze admitted. “I don’t know, it’s like I think I should have been able to tell that there was something different about you.” Her eyes widened. “And Polly. That’s why you two broke up. She found her mate and dumped you.”
“Yes, but now you know I was not on the rebound.” He paused as they reached the edge of the trees. “Honestly, what I feel for you… It’s nothing like what I felt for Polly.”
“It’s okay. You weren’t expected to be celibate until your mate came along. Were you?” she asked. “In my defense of that personal question, I have no idea how you are supposed to behave or if you have rules for these things.”
“No rules.” He’d searched deep down inside his heart. Since he’d met Breeze, he had a good idea of why Polly meant so much to him and he wasn’t afraid to admit it. “I was lonely. It’s as simple as that. We were both lonely and we both knew what we were getting into and gave each other a get-out clause.”
“Let me guess, if either of you found your mate, the other one would walk away, no strings?” Breeze guessed correctly. If only it had been that easy.
“Yes and I completely understood when it happened to her. She met Miles and I could see how happy she was. But that didn’t mean I stopped caring for her. I missed her. We were good friends and suddenly she didn’t want to see me.” It seemed silly now. With Breeze here, he couldn’t muster those strong feelings, the enormous well of loss and loneliness was gone. “I realize now she was a poor substitute for the person I really wanted to be with.”
“I wouldn’t let Polly hear you say that,” Breeze replied.
“She’d understand. She understood way before me.” He grinned. “So, come for a picnic and listen to me dredge up old painful memories about a woman I once thought I loved.”
“Yeah, it’s been quite the afternoon.” Breeze inclined her head toward the others. “Honestly, it’s good to see Tristan happy. It’s good to see him out in the fresh air. Although, your attempts at making him like vegetables have failed. Although, I think he liked the spinach tortillas but there is no way he is going to admit it. The boy is stubborn.”
“Oh, I’m not done yet. Not by a long shot.” Joey chuckled to himself. “There is no such thing as failure. I just need to move to the next stage.”
“Which is?” Breeze asked, her amusement comforting. If she was freaked out by everything that had happened, then she was hiding it well.
“I have to get sneakier.” He winked, thoughtful as they got closer to the group seated on the picnic blankets.
“Sneakier, huh?” Breeze asked. “Is that a shifter trait?”
“No. I’m probably the least sneaky person in town. So this will be a challenge.” He sighed, he would find a way to get Tristan to like vegetables. But right now, he was going to focus on honing the boy’s fire lighting skills.
“Can I help?” Tristan got up from the blanket and ran to meet them as they returned with the firewood. “I could have helped you collect the wood.”
“You needed to save your strength for the actual lighting of the fire,” Joey answered. “Since you don’t eat vegetables and they give you strength.”
“Now you’re just making it up,” Tristan complained.
“Or am I?” Joey asked.
“You are,” Jane chimed in.
“Oh, I thought you had my back,” Joey told her.
“I do. But you’re not going to make Tristan like vegetables by telling him they make him stronger. Sure, it might make him eat them, but not like them.” She put her hands on her hips as she watched Joey tip his armful of branches onto the ground. “Can I help, too?”
“Sure you can. We need to collect some big rocks to go around the outside of the fire. That stops it from spilling out and the embers spreading. Fire safety is one of the most important things. Sometimes when the weather is really dry in the summer, there are warnings not to light fires since they can spread and do a lot of damage.” The children went to collect the rocks while Joey broke the kindling up into smaller pieces and also collected some dry moss from the underside of a large rock.
“Did your dad teach you to light fires?” Breeze flopped down next to him and watched him work.
“He did, He’s the outdoors type. We used to climb the mountains and spend the weekends camping out under the stars.” He looked up toward the higher peaks. “I had the kind of childhood that I’d love Tristan to have.”
“It sounds incredible.” Breeze hugged herself as
she watched the children ferrying stones back to the fire pit.
“It was.” He sat back and glanced over at Shawn and Joanna who were talking quietly. “Where’s O’Malley?”
“He went for a run. He said he’d be back for our hike. I think he needed to stretch his legs.” Shawn fixed Joey with a knowing look. O’Malley was feeling the emotional effects of being the only one here without a mate.
“Everything okay?” Breeze asked. She’d picked up on the look.
Smart and empathetic, his bear said.
“Yes, it can be hard being the only one without a mate. Before I met you, O’Malley and I were like the last two bachelors.” Joey clapped his hands. “Okay, I think we are ready to start.”
“Great!” Tristan and Jane came to sit by the fire pit. “What do we do?”
“We have to put the kindling into the center of the fire pit. The kindling consists of dry sticks and moss. You have to make sure that they are really dry, and the sticks have to be small. If they’re too big, they won’t burn.” Joey reached in his back pocket and pulled out a flint and steel firelighter. “We could rub two sticks together and make a spark that way, but it could take a long time and is hard work. So, for today, I thought we’d use this.”
“What is it?” Tristan asked, fully engaged in the act of making fire.
“This is a piece of flint.” Joey held up a long, cylindrical shaped piece of flint. Then he showed the children the shiny flat piece of metal. “This is the steel and you strike the two together until you make a spark.”
He leaned down and placed the piece of metal close to the kindling and then struck down hard. He repeated the motion, changing the angle and the hardness of his actions until he was rewarded with a shower of sparks that flared into fire as they rained down on the kindling.
“Wow!” Tristan said eagerly.
“Okay, do you both want a turn?” Joey patiently taught both Tristan and Jane how to strike the two objects together to make sparks which they then turned into fire.
“That is awesome.” Tristan went to sit next to his aunt as Joey showed them the next stage, which was to feed the bigger pieces of wood to the small flames until the fire was burning bright. “Joey said I could keep the flint and steel in my backpack as long as I never use it unless there’s an adult with me.”
“That’s a big responsibility but I trust you to keep to your word,” Breeze told her nephew.
“I will,” Tristan solemnly promised.
“Good job,” Shawn said as he and Joanna came to join them. “When Joey said you were going to build a fire, we thought we should all toast some marshmallows.”
Joanne produced a bag of marshmallows and some skewers. “What do you think?”
“Yes!” Jane exclaimed.
“I’ve never toasted marshmallows before,” Tristan admitted.
“Then you are in for a treat!” Joanna told him. “We also have some graham crackers so we can make s’mores.”
“Snores?” Tristan asked.
“No, silly, s’mores. With an m. For mmmmm.” Jane licked her lips and passed him a marshmallow. “I’ll show you.”
Breeze glanced up at Joey, her eyes misted with tears although a smile played across her lips. Being here with his mate and his friends made this a perfect day.
Having Breeze as his mate made this a perfect life.
Chapter Fourteen – Breeze
“So, are you going to show us?” Breeze asked. She’d been waiting for the right moment to ask Joey to shift into his bear.
She wanted to see what he was really like. This other side of him. A mixture of excitement and fear tumbled around in her stomach like a swarm of irritated butterflies. If butterflies got irritated. They always looked so serene. Breeze wished she could channel some of that serenity right now.
“Show you the view?” Joey asked lightly.
“The view is awesome,” Breeze admitted as she turned and looked over her shoulder at the world below. The town of Bear Creek stretched out alongside the silver sliver that was the creek. To her right, Bear Bluff nestled under the watchful eye of the mountain. It all looked so peaceful, yet in each and every house, people went about their day. Some happy, some sad, all living their lives, writing their stories.
She turned back to face Joey. There was her story, right there in front of her.
“But you meant my bear.” Joey looked toward Tristan who was running after Jane as they climbed a steep path through a forest of pine trees. “I guess here is as good a place as any.”
“Are you going to show us your bear?” Tristan asked.
“Wow, you must have super senses, too,” Breeze held out her arms and Tristan went to her. “You’re not going to be scared, are you?”
“Nope.” Tristan shook his head firmly even though he looked unsure.
“There’s nothing to be scared of,” Jane told him and threaded her hand into his. “You’re safe.”
“I know.” Tristan nodded and took a deep breath. “What about your mom and dad?”
“You want us to shift, too?” Joanna asked. “That would be fun.”
“Is it safe? In your condition,” Breeze added quickly.
“Yes. Perfectly safe,” Joanna confirmed. “Are you shifting, too, O’Malley?”
“Of course,” O’Malley said as he caught up with them. He’d been walking some distance behind the rest of the group, deep in thought, but now he joined them. “I am the coolest cougar.”
“You have some competition,” Shawn told him playfully.
“I do?” O’Malley asked. “I have the sleekest coat and the longest whiskers.”
“The thing with cats is they like to preen themselves and their ego at every opportunity they get.” Joanna reached out for Joey’s hand. “Wolves and bears are more practical.”
“So, your animal side resembles a true animal?” Breeze asked. “I figured they were an extension of you.”
“They are,” Joey confirmed, “but they also carry the traits of the animals, too. It’s a mixture of the two. My bear is a bear through and through but he’s also part of me and carries my character traits.”
“Fascinating,” Breeze told him.
“More like awesome,” Tristan added.
“Awesome and fascinating.” Breeze puffed out her cheeks. “Okay, I think we’re ready to see you.”
“Okay.” O’Malley came to stand with the others. “We’ll all shift. Jane has seen us before, so she knows we won’t hurt her. But Breeze and Tristan, try not to scream and run away. We won’t hurt you.”
Tristan screwed up his face. “I do not scream, and I don’t run away from anything.”
“Then that is another conversation we need to have,” Joey told him. “You should never be afraid to run. It’s knowing when to run and when to stand your ground that matters.”
“I like your lessons,” Tristan said.
“Good. Because I have one on vegetable cooking over a campfire I thought you might enjoy it.”
“I do not enjoy anything about vegetables at all.” Tristan blew a raspberry. “They are yucky.”
“I am going to convert you,” Joey promised as he lined up with his three friends. With a quick glance at the others, he said, “Ready?”
“Ready,” they all answered.
“Okay then, one, two, three, go.” Joey seemed to blur for a moment before the air around him and the others fizzed and popped as if someone was opening a bottle of soda that had been shaken up.
Then they were gone. It was as if each of them had been erased from the world.
“Where did they go?” Tristan asked.
“They just go someplace else,” Jane told him. “They kind of swap places.”
“Is that…” Tristan pointed to the large outline of a bear that was slowly coming into view. It was huge, covered in thick brown hair that was tinged with silver at the end.
“Oh, wow.” Breeze put her hand over her mouth while she reached for Tristan with her free hand.
&
nbsp; Tristan, who normally shook off any handholding, slipped his hand into hers and curled his fingers tightly as if he was scared to let go. “Are they real?”
“Very real.” Jane, who held his other hand, pulled Tristan forward as the two cougars and a wolf appeared next to the bear. “Come and meet my dad and Joanna.”
“It’s really them?” Tristan’s voice wavered as Jane led him closer to one of the cougars.
“It’s really them.” She reached out her hand to the tawny feline and the cougar sniffed her hand before his pink tongue poked out and he licked it. Jane giggled and leaned forward to plant a kiss on the cougar’s broad head. “That was yucky, Daddy.”
The cougar purred and rubbed his head against Jane’s thigh. She stroked him absently while the wolf approached. It was the most incredible sight to see a young girl with a cougar on one side and a wolf on the other. By the looks in their eyes, they obviously doted on the girl.
A snuffling alerted Breeze to the enormous bear who stood in the space Joey had been only moments before. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed shifters could be real. Sure, she’d half-believed it when Joey had told her the truth. But to actually see it happen, to see a man turn into a bear…
She swallowed down her nerves and once more tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. The bear was so big he could probably inflict a mortal wound in one swipe of his paws or bite of his jaws.
Her first instinct was to push Tristan behind her and shield him from the huge creature. However, as she stared at the bear, she knew they were safe. The bear’s eyes held the same kind expression as Joey’s…the human Joey’s.
“Can I pet him?” Tristan poked his head around Breeze, his voice filled with anxiety and wonder in equal measure.
“Is that okay?” she asked the bear, certain that having a conversation with a bear was not in any handbook on how to deal with an encounter with a bear.
The bear nodded his head and took a shuffling step forward. Tristan did the same and held out his hand to the large animal. Stretching out his neck, the bear sniffed Tristan’s hand and then closed his eyes as Breeze’s nephew stroked his head.
Joey: Spring (Shifter Seasons Book 6) Page 10