A human whistle interrupted his thick, hungry thoughts.
“Over here, brother!”
Hudson had come uphill on the opposite trail. He was just across the Grounds, breaking through the treeline.
“You came,” Chance managed to say. Human language seemed a struggle.
“’Course I came.” Hudson was almost like a stranger. He was darker, fiercer, and colder than Chance had ever seen him. “This had to happen. It was a long time comin’.”
“Sure was.” Chance could feel the animal inside of him struggling to get out. His teeth sharpened in his mouth. “Enough talk, friend. Let’s see who the true Alpha of this clan is!”
Before he could even undress, he was changing. And before he knew it, he was charging, ready to wrestle for the crown—and for the woman.
***
“Think deep, girl. Go deep.”
Hazel’s voice was guiding her right into the center of her own mind. And, as it did, she remembered things. Dreams she’d had. Not just recently, but for months. Dreams about the wilderness, about Banff. Dreams about cabins. Dreams about bears.
And dreams about men. Her men.
It all came back to her in a watercolor rush. The clan—the range—the coupling—the Season—everything.
Abruptly, she stood up, breaking free of Hazel’s hands. She was trembling.
Gorse, suddenly at her shoulder, was pushing her back down. “Calm down, honey. Just calm—”
“You’re right! You’re right! I did dream all those things. I dreamed them, I dreamed all of them. There were, there were grizzlies and… and Chance and… and Hudson and… and all of you, and the mountains, the wildflowers, springtime—” Her words were coming at lightspeed. “I did dream all those things! I’ve dreamed them for months. What’s happening? Why? Is this real?”
“Yes, my love,” Hazel said, reaching up for Harper’s arm and tugging her down. “It’s real. Sit, child. Sit and understand.”
Slowly, with the reassurance and pressure of the two older women, Harper sank back into her chair. “It is real, isn’t it? I remember…”
She remembered dreams she’d had in March, in February, dreams she’d had last year, starting in the autumn. Dreams about men who could change into animals, about women who could change into animals, too, women she now recognized. “Ivy was there—I mean, I dreamed about her, too, once—I saw her in the woods, picking something… flowers. How is this possible?”
“You were meant to come to us,” Hazel said simply, clasping Harper’s hot hand. “Calm down, precious daughter. You were chosen. You saw us in your dreams, and you knew to come, and you came.”
“Mama, she’s nervous as a hen on a hot rock,” murmured Gorse, sympathetically. “Poor girl. I don’t think they hold with seers back where she comes from.”
“Well, she’d best learn to hold with them now, since she is one,” said Hazel frankly. “And you are, girl. You saw us before you came, and now you’ve journeyed to us found us just as you dreamed us. Don’t you think that’s seeing?”
“Yes,” Harper agreed, dazed. She’d seen all kinds of things. She’d seen spring in the mountains, just as it was now. She’d seen the cottages. She’d seen the people. She’d seen herself with the people—and herself with the men. A lot of her dreams had been of her coupling with one of the two men, either Hudson or Chance, with raw abandon. But in a few of them, she’d been coupling with both of them. Simultaneously.
“I, um,” she stammered. “Some of these dreams, they don’t… make sense. Even now, I don’t understand.”
“Which are they?” Hazel’s pale eyes narrowed. “Is it you with both of your men at once?”
Harper colored up. “How can you know these things?”
“I know what you’ve seen because I’m a seer myself, child. You’ll be my apprentice, here—the heir to my powers and my place in the clan.” She squeezed Harper’s hand. “It’s not a common power, daughter. You’re special. And you’ll do a lot of good for these people. They depend on us. I’ve told the elders who you really are, and that you belong to us. You’re not Huntress, love. I know that.”
“I… I’ve got a life.”
“Is that the life you truly want? Or do you want to be here? Think on it hard.”
“I don’t even understand what it would mean to have a life here.”
“But you want it, don’t you, child?”
She did. Deep down inside her, she did. She’d always loved the wilderness, and she’d always wanted a place to belong. She’d also always wanted a family, and she felt—instinctively, profoundly—that these people could really, truly be that for her, that they would love her. But she was scared.
“I don’t know…”
“There’s nothing to be feared of, girl. We’re good people, if different from what you’ve known. What’s to be scared of? I’ll train you. Your men’ll love you. Ivy and Yarrow are near your age and they’ll be like your sisters, Dove too. You’ve got the whole range to run and thousands of dreams to dream, dreams about the future.”
“ ‘Both’ of my men?”
“When we’re in lean times, baby-wise, clan-size-wise, our women sometimes bond and mate with two men, or our men with two women. A triad, we call it. Naturallest thing in the world, and looks like you’re at the center of one.” Her expression turned slightly shrewd. “I don’t think you’re as troubled by it as you believe you are, girl. I think it feels right to you.”
Harper squirmed. “So a triad’s just for… what… efficient reproduction?”
“Not just that,” Hazel said easily. “It’s just more common when the clan’s blood is gettin’ lean. It can happen at any time, if a shifter’s animal enough. You see, child, a grizzly bear is a wild thing, full of appetites. A skinchanger close to their beast nature is full of appetites too, too many and too strong for one mate. Bears take many mates over the course of their lives, but being human, we want more meaningful bonds and fewer partners. So a shifter like that will fall in love with and take two mates.”
“That’s very… promiscuous… isn’t it?” Harper asked, frowning.
“We don’t see it that way,” said Gorse gently, coming back from the stove. “It’s natural, like Mother says. A bear with two mates is seen as faithful if they’re faithful to their triad, and they almost always are. We’re a faithful people, honey. The bonding goes deep.”
“I’m not a bear,” Harper said weakly.
“No,” agreed Hazel, “but you could be. You’re a seer in any case and you’ll live surrounded by bears. You’re preternatural and if you live our way you’ll be happier for it. You’re meant to be with those men. The clan needs it, and you need it, too.”
Maybe she did.
“You’ve been lost,” said Hazel lowly, seriously, “but now you’re home. Don’t resist this magic, girl. Or this love.”
Harper stared into Hazel’s milky, gold-shot eyes and she knew the elder was right. Suddenly, Hazel stood up. Her face was set and queer, her expression far away.
“Mother, what is it?” Gorse asked, hurrying to Hazel’s side. “Are you sensing something?”
“I’m alright, darling. Harper! Sweet child! Go up the mountain.”
“Up the mountain?” Harper repeated, surprised. “Now? Why?”
“Your men are done with their scrap. Go and find the winner—and the loser, too. Both of them need you now.”
Harper shot up. Chance! Hud! “Which trail do I follow? I’ll go right now!”
Gorse and Hazel gazed at her, approvingly.
“I’ll show her, Mother,” Gorse said after a moment. “I’ll show her the path.”
“Good,” the elder said, nodding. “Show her how to get to her men! She’s one of us now!”
Chapter Seventeen
It was a hard uphill trail to get to the Grounds. She took it at as much of a run as she could. Who won? Who lost? Are they both alive? I need to go faster!
&
nbsp; But as it turned out, she didn’t need to go all the way up to the Grounds. It was on one of the wood paths, far above the compound, that she saw Chance.
He was coming down the mountain, and he was filthy. Filthy with sweat, filthy with dirt, filthy with blood.
“Chance!”
She didn’t wait. She rushed him and threw her arms around his dirty neck.
“Harper?” he managed, hoarse and surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to find you.” She pressed her face into his damp, scruffy neck. The smell of him was bliss.
“Why?” he asked, his voice thickening. He put his arms around her and squeezed her close. She loved the hot firmness of his body, a body ribbed with muscle and as strong as a bear’s.
“Because I needed to see you. If I stayed here, in the mountains, would I be yours?” she whispered.
“Stayed? Would you stay?” His grip tightened.
“Hazel said I’m meant to. She came to me, Chance. She told me I could be yours if that was what I wanted.” She nuzzled his neck. “I do want that… if you want me.”
“Of course I want you, Harper. Of course I do. A dead blind man could see that I want you,” he said, half-chuckling with relief. “God girl, you really want to pair with me?”
“I’ve dreamed about you. Have you dreamed about me?”
He stared at her. “Yeah. I have.”
“Then you already know how I feel, and how we’re supposed to be.”
“ ‘Supposed’ to, huh?” he repeated, cupping her face. “We’ve still got a choice. Is this really what you want? To be with me?”
She held his gaze. “It is what I want. I didn’t want to believe that it was, because it’s crazy. But it is.” He was listening intently, so she went on. “I want to be here, Chance. Because I love the wilderness—the mountains and the meadows and the trees—and I don’t need the city anymore. Because I’m tired of being alone and I’m ready to be loved by a family. By this family, this clan. I really am.
“And because I’m ready to love a man… and that man is you. I want to be with you, Chance. Every inch of me knows that we belong to each other, and Lord, it makes me happy. Ever since I first saw you I knew it was true. I’ve loved you since before I met you and I’m sure you love me, too.”
He kissed her—a rough, possessive kiss, hot as warm wine. “I do. If I’m really what you want, then I’m the luckiest man alive. I’ll keep you safe, Harper. I’ll love you like you deserve.”
“There’s still a lot I don’t know about this life,” she murmured against his mouth. “You’ll have to show me.”
“It’ll be my pleasure, truly it will. This life if full of joys, Harper. You’ll see.”
“I believe you,” she whispered before turning fully into their kiss. She didn’t know if they’d ever peel apart again, not with the taste of him, the hard, close strength of his body, the shushing of the pines and the cool sweetness of the wind. It was heavenly. It was perfect.
But eventually he broke it. “I’ll take you back down to my cabin. C’mon.”
“There’s somewhere I have to go first,” she said, pressing kisses along his jaw. He rumbled in pleasure. “Just one place.”
“Where’s that, honey?”
She leaned back, watching him carefully. “Don’t be mad.”
He frowned, confused. “Mad?”
“I’m not. I’m one of those people who…” She sighed. “I have to find Hud first.”
“Hud?” he asked, surprised, the gold flashing in his eyes. “Why?”
“Because I… I love him too,” she faltered, biting her bottom lip. “Can you… can you understand? Hazel said it’s not wrong. She said it’s something that happens in the clans—to bears—and now it’s happened to me too. Triads.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, his hands squeezing her shoulders; but then he opened them again, and there was no anger in his gaze. “Isn’t that an irony? After I fought him tooth an’ claw for you?”
“For me? Wasn’t it for—”
“It was for you, too, girl. Believe me. He adores you, same as me.” He kissed her forehead; her eyelashes fluttered closed. “I’m not mad, love. This is normal here, or at least, not unheard of. It’s alright. You can’t help it any more than you could help the rain and snow.”
“I’ve never felt this way before, I swear—”
“Don’t even try and explain. I understand. Truth be told, some part of me is glad, ‘cause it means maybe things between me and him can be salvaged. They’ll have to be, won’t they, if we’re gonna share you?”
“I love you just as much as I do him. I love both of you the same.”
“I know it. I know you do.” He kissed her forcefully on the mouth. “Don’t fear. This doesn’t make you any less mine, or me yours.”
“Where is Hud now, Chance?” she swallowed. “Is he hurt bad?”
“Not bad,” he said grimly. “Not in body. But he lost, love, and that’s a hard thing for any man to swallow.”
“Where is he?”
“Dunno. But I can take you down the trail again, back to the cabins. You wanna ride me?”
“Now?”
He laughed, and she got goosebumps. “Not like that, love! I’m gonna change. You can ride my back.”
“Really?” She linked her fingers behind his neck. “I won’t be too heavy?”
“Honey, nothing’s too heavy for a full-grown grizzly. Ready?”
She let go of him reluctantly and stepped back. Effortlessly, Chance shifted from a man into a huge, dark-furred bear. It dropped down onto its stomach. Gripping its fur, she climbed up onto its broad, high-humped back. The sheer power underneath her was dizzying.
The bear—Chance—snorted, pawed the earth with a massive claw, and then started barreling down the track. She held on as tight as she could, pressing herself low to his shoulders and starting to laugh. Ivy trees lanced with sunlight flashed by, and she thought to herself: I’ve made the right choice. I’m never going back to Chicago.
***
“Hudson.”
He looked up from what he was doing, stuffing a weatherworn pack. It was clear he’d caught the worst of it in the fight. One eye was black, his lip was bleeding, and there was the angry welt of a thin, painful clawmark on his neck. He was dressed in a beat-to-hell shearling jacket and some old-looking clothes; clearly he’d dressed in a hurry.
“Harper,” he breathed, his voice dry. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m staying here.” She ran a hand over the untreated wall of his cabin.
“No. You’re not.” Fiercely, he went back to stuffing the bag. “And neither am I. No one is. I’m leaving.”
“Hud.”
“Go back to Chance, girl. When I came back… and you were gone.…” He looked up at her, the gold in his eyes as pale as white corn. “I knew where you were. Who you were with. And why the fuck not? He won the right to court you, and you like him, I know you do. Of course you snuck off to him. Everyone’s happy.”
“You don’t think I have feelings for you?” she asked, coming closer. “After last night?”
“Women can’t love a losing man,” he said harshly, stopping to glare at her. “I can’t stand it, Harp. I can’t stand that he held me down and forced me to yield or die. I told him to finish it, finish me, and he wouldn’t. He thought letting me live was mercy, he thought it was—”
“Hud…” She got her hands on his face, made him look at her. “What happened?”
“Happened?” he repeated hopelessly. “Hell, Harper, I don’t know.”
“Tell me.” She pressed her soft, warm body to his.
“Ah… damn. I don’t know. I really don’t, girl. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but I guess he’s stronger than me. I guess he wanted it more.” His voice was colorless. “I have to go.”
“Go where?”
“Dunno. But a man can’t abide losing a fight like
this one.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“Women,” he repeated stubbornly, “don’t love a losing man.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“IAlright. Let me think.” His brow furrowed. “It was like this: we got to the Grounds. We shifted shapes. You’ve seen me turn, but you’ve never seen Chance, have you? You have? Then you know we’re matched for size.”
He gripped her arm. “He charged me. I… I swiped him hard and he dodged, took it on the shoulder. After that… I’m not sure. It’s a blur, fighting’s like that. I remember lotsa growling, and biting, and wrestling. I remember rolling around in the grass. I remember that nasty bear-blood taste. But mostly I remember… I remember. Fuck!” He slammed a fist on the table suddenly. “He pinned me. I was on the ground, finished. I said kill me. He said no. So here we are.”
She put her arms around his waist, under his jacket.
“Don’t pity me,” he said gruffly.
“I don’t.”
“Why are you here, Harp? Let me leave.” He put his hands on her elbows, and broke her hold on him. “Now.”
“I’ve been dreaming about you. Did you know that?”
That stopped him.
“Dreaming about me?” he looked surprised. “What d’you…”
“Hazel said she foresaw me coming. Did you know that?”
He frowned. Crickets chorused outside. “So that was you. You’re the girl she saw.”
“She said I’m a seer. Like she is.” She held his brown-and-gold eyes. “I’ve been seeing you for months, Hud. In dreams.”
“Have you?” he asked slowly. She could tell she’d really gotten his attention.
“Yes. You… and Chance. And everyone. Do you understand?”
“No. Do you?”
She nodded, clasping her arms around him again. “I do. I’m supposed to stay here. Hazel says I’m meant to join the clan, and I’m meant to succeed her, too. As your seer.”
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