Chapter Six – Jay
Jay had woken up feeling hung over, although he had only had one beer. All he could blame it on was his restless night, full of dreams of a woman he had never met, and nightmares of a man who had died. He hoped he would get over the man soon; he hoped he would get over the woman, never.
Rising, he went and made breakfast, and then stoked the fire, catching the embers to blaze. As he watched the flames lick at the wood, his phone rang, signaling the start of his day.
“Hello, Jay speaking.”
“Jay, hello, it’s Mrs. Wilks. I wondered if you could help me. I brought my dog up over to Plover Fields this morning and now I can’t find him. I know the river has started to thaw, and I’m worried he might have slipped in. I’ve searched and I’ve called him.”
“Are you there now, Mrs. Wilks?” Jay said, standing up and heading to the front door.
“Yes, I am,” Mrs. Wilks said, her voice choked. “I can’t leave without him.”
“I understand. I’m heading out the door now,” he said. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”
“Thank you.” She hung up, and Jay could imagine her standing in the middle of Plover Fields looking for her dog, feeling utterly helpless. He pushed those thoughts aside. He was not helpless, he might not have been able to save Rhys, but that was one man in how many? Hundreds, thousands, that was how many people he and Tad had saved over the years. Only a small handful had never made it.
Going out into the early morning air, he took a look at the clear blue sky, and saw the sun rising up over the horizon. The thaw would begin in earnest today. The streets were already filled with slush, and he decided to take his truck, rather than using his snowshoes, which would be rendered useless in an hour or so.
Checking that his snow chains were still in place, he climbed in and turned over the engine as he had every day all through the bad storms. Always prepared, that was his motto. Taking a few minutes to let the engine warm up, he carefully pulled out and headed to Plover Fields, which was a large open park on the south side of town.
When he got there, he found Mrs. Wilks at the gate, waiting for him. “Thank you for coming so quickly, Jay, I can’t find him anywhere, I’ve called him and called him.” She was beginning to sound frantic, and the first thing Jay had to do was calm her down.
“Is there anyone you can call? Someone you could stay with while I search for him?” Jay asked, noting that Mrs. Wilks’s breathing was rapid, as if she was beginning to panic. At the same time her face looked pale and pinched, and he noted there was a cold wind sweeping across the open fields.
“I’ve rung my brother and he’s going to come over. He said he would help you look.”
“I think it would be better if you left me to look for your dog alone, Freddie, isn’t it?” Jay had often seen Mrs. Wilks walking around Grizzly Hollows with a small dog; it was some kind of terrier. He presumed it had run off after a rabbit or something that had decided to risk its luck coming out of its burrow to search for some food now that the snow was melting.
“Freddie. Yes. That’s it,” she said. “You sure it wouldn’t be better if we all looked for him?”
“No, it’s all right. I can handle this on my own. Really, Mrs. Wilks, if Freddie is out here, I will find him.” Mrs. Wilks didn’t know about his bear side. She didn’t know that once she was out of the way, the best way of finding Freddie would be if he went bear, and tried to pick up the scent.
“Oh, here—here’s Arnie.” With that, a small red car pulled up and a man that he vaguely recognized got out. Mrs. Wilks ran up to him and began sobbing in his arms. “Freddie’s run off, I think he’s fallen in the river or something. I can’t find him. I called and I called and I called.”
“Why don’t you take your sister home?” Jay said.”
“Are you sure you don’t want my help?” Arnie asked.
“No. I think Mrs. Wilks should get inside and warm up. A nice cup of hot tea would help, she looks frozen.” Jay stood for a minute while Mrs. Wilks was led off to the car. As soon as they had driven away, Jay began to make his way down towards the river. He started along the trail, the one he could see Mrs. Wilks had followed. Her tracks were clearly visible in the snow, and he walked in human form, until he was in amongst the trees at the edge of the field.
Once he was sure nobody could see him, he quickly shifted into his bear form, and made his way along the track that ran by the side of the river. After a few minutes he picked up the scent of the dog, and the scent of something else. As he suspected, it was a rabbit.
Moving faster now, he followed the dog’s trail. It threaded through the trees, and ended up at the mouth of a burrow. Now, this was going to be difficult.
Shifting back to his human form, he knelt down in the wet snow and looked down the rabbit hole. Sure enough he could see the back end of the little terrier. Freddie was stuck fast in the hole.
Shifting back into his bear, he used his big strong paws to dig out the hole, making sure it would be big enough for his arm to reach down and grasp the dog. Unfortunately, Freddie was beginning to panic at hearing a big bear trying to reach him. The poor dog probably had visions of being a hungry bear’s next meal.
Jay worked quickly, and as soon as he thought the hole was deep enough, he shifted back into his human form. On his hands and knees, he wriggled until his fingers closed around the tail of the little dog. He tried to reach further but he couldn’t. Doing the best he could, he hooked his hand under the terrier’s belly and then began to pull. For a moment he thought the ground was frozen solid and the little dog wouldn’t budge, but then he pulled free and Jay moved swiftly to gather him up to his chest.
“Hello there, Freddie, this is your lucky day. At least I’ve managed to rescue you.” To most people, it probably wasn’t the same as rescuing a person. Many of the rangers wouldn’t go out to help rescue a dog. But he knew how much Freddie meant to Mrs. Wilks, and so it meant a lot to Jay to be able to return him to his owner.
With his clothes covered in mud, he walked back across the fields towards the road. However, as he walked, he felt a peculiar sensation that traveled all the way from the nape of his neck, down his spine, and then shot out to every single nerve ending in his body. His bear began to prowl in his mind, and Jay had the strangest sensation that his mate was near.
It seemed impossible. Only yesterday, when he had spoken to her, Mae had said she wouldn’t be able to come and meet him. And yet he was sure of it, as sure as he knew his own name, as sure as he knew every mountain trail around the town of Grizzly Hollows.
She was here. He began to run towards the road, hoping that he would see her, that she would know where he was. When he reached the gate, he quickly let himself out, still with Freddie in his arms.
He stood on the road, looking left and right. There was no sign of anyone else. Unsure of what to do, he opened his truck and deposited Freddie on the passenger seat, before going round to the driver’s side and getting in. He would get Freddie back to Mrs. Wilks; then he would go on a hunt of his own, to find his mate.
Chapter Seven – Mae
Mae eased the car into a parking spot and turned to look at Isabelle. “Now what?”
In all the excitement of coming here, and the nervousness, she hadn’t phoned Jay and asked him where exactly he lived. Partly because she didn’t want to get his expectations up, in case they didn’t make it here in the treacherous conditions. But they had, and now she had to try to find him.
“It’s a very small town, Mae. I’m fairly sure that if we ask in one of the local stores, someone is bound to know him. You know his name, and you know that he’s a ranger. I would think that narrows it down quite a lot.”
“Of course. I’m just not thinking straight.” Mae ducked her head and looked out of the car window. There was a grocery store just across the road, which was probably a good place to start. “I’ll ask in there. I also need to ask if there’s anywhere we can stay. A small hotel, perhaps.”
“This town looks so small, I’m not even sure if the will be a hotel,” Joan said from the back seat.
Another thing Mae had forgotten to check. She just assumed they would find somewhere to stay, but as they drove into town, there had been no signs pointing towards a hotel.
“Right. I’m going to go and ask.” She got out of the car. Ignoring the three pairs of eyes that followed her, she walked across the road. Mae knew that they were probably talking about her. She just hoped that they weren’t regretting coming on this road trip.
As she slipped and slid across the road, she knew they had to find a nice place to stay, because there was no way they could turn straight back around and go home. Not now they were here.
Opening the door, she went into the grocery store and made straight for the counter. “Hello,” she said. “I’m looking for somebody, and I wondered if you could help me.”
“I’ll try my best,” the man behind the counter said.
“I’m looking for a man called Jay. He’s a mountain ranger. You know him?” she asked.
“Jay? Of course I know Jay. Everybody knows Jay. He lives down Mountain Drive. You go along this road, then turn left and head towards the mountains. I think it’s the second right, and then you just keep going until the road narrows and the house is on the left. He lives there with his brother.”
“Thank you,” Mae said. “And is there a hotel or guesthouse here somewhere in town?”
“The only rooms for rent are above the pub. It’s called the Mountain Pass Inn. You can’t miss it; it’s on the way to Jay’s house.”
“Thanks.” She grabbed a couple of boxes of cookies and put them on the counter, feeling that she ought to purchase something, since the owner of the store had been so helpful. As soon as she paid for them, she went back out across the road. Getting in the car, she smiled widely.
“It looks as if somebody’s got the news they wanted,” Isabel said. “You know where he lives?”
“I do. Let’s just hope he’s in. There is a pub on the way too. Maybe I should drop you all off there first and get you settled before I go find him. I’m not sure if it might be a bit weird if we all turn up on his doorstep.”
There was a murmur of dissent from the back of the car, and then Joan said, “We came all this way to make sure you’re safe. I’m not sure about leaving you to go meet a strange man. I’ve heard some of the horror stories about this Internet dating.”
“She’ll be quite safe, Joan.” Isabelle gave Mae a wink. “She’s a very good judge of character, is my Mae.”
Mae drove slowly along the road, and turned left, just as the store owner had said. A hundred feet along the next road, they saw the pub he had mentioned. She pulled up and switched off the engine.
“You just pop the trunk. We can manage from here.” Isabelle and the other two ladies were out of the car before Mae could protest. Even though she really wanted to go and get them settled in the pub, she also wanted to go and meet Jay.
“Are you sure you can manage?” She opened her door, and added, “I could just carry the suitcases inside for you.”
“We can manage. You go on.” Isabelle waved her hands at Mae, as if shooing her away. “Go on, Mae, we can manage. Send me a text when you meet him to let me know you’re okay.”
Nervously, Mae waved to the three old ladies standing on the side of the road, and felt guilty she had ruined their trip to the beach. However, she was also really pleased that they had come to Grizzly Hollows. She hadn’t mentioned to her gran, but for the last few minutes, she had felt different. Odd. Something she couldn’t quite explain was creeping over her, and a shiver of excitement traveled down her spine, while inside her head, her bear stretched and stood up alert.
He’s here, isn’t he? she asked her bear.
I can feel him, I can feel his presence, her bear answered.
The let’s go and meet him, Mae said.
She found the house easily. Pulling up in front of it, she switched off the engine and sat for a moment trying to compose herself. This was it, she was about to meet her mate. However, now that she was here, she wasn’t quite sure what to do. The draw of him, the pull of knowing he was so close, was intense, but it was mixed up with fear. Fear of the unknown.
This wasn’t just about meeting her mate for the first time, this was about meeting a man, a shifter, who knew all about his other side. Knew all about living with his other side, and letting it run free. For Mae that was new. She was scared that once she allowed her bear freedom, she might never be able to go back to her old way of living.
There is no going back, her bear said gently.
Mae knew she was right on so many levels, but that didn’t make any easier. So she just sat there, as if frozen still by the cold mountain air.
Then there was a shift in the sensations running through her body. They became more intense, almost out of control. She knew that he was close, very close, and yet still when somebody knocked on the car window it made her jump.
She looked up into the face of the man she had seen on the Fated and Mated website. There was no doubt this was the man, and there was no doubt he was her mate. Her breathing became rapid, her eyes dilating as she looked at him, and she saw the shock of recognition on his face too.
His left hand went to the door of the car and he yanked it open, resting his other hand on the roof of the car. For a full minute they just looked at each other, and then he spoke, “Do you want to come in?”
“Yes.” The word came out on her breath, softly, but he heard.
He offered her his hand, and she slipped hers into it, feeling the shock of electricity pass between them. “This seems surreal. I spent all morning trying to figure out how I could get to see you sooner than next week, and I had it all planned out, but now here you are.”
“My gran decided she and her friends would make do with a trip to the mountains instead of the beach. Although I’m not sure how their poor old bones will cope with the cold weather.”
“The mountain air is good for you. Just take deep breaths.”
“I’m trying,” she said, gazing into his warm brown eyes.
He grinned. “Let’s go inside. I want to kiss you so badly.”
“I would say, but we’ve only just met, but I want the same thing.”
They went up the steps and onto his porch, then he opened the front door and they went inside, the warm air hitting her. It was so cozy in here, and she felt as if she was coming home. Yet she couldn’t let go of her old life, she reminded herself, the life she had with her gran.
Yet, as she gazed into his eyes, she realized that this was not the time for thoughts of anyone other than the man who was taking her in his arms, and holding her against his body, while his lips sought hers and he kissed her with a passion that made tendrils of desire unfurl in her stomach.
This was right, he was right. She was glad she had come. Oh, so very glad.
Chapter Eight – Jay
She felt so good in his arms, and tasted wonderful on his lips. Jay held her tightly against his body, afraid that if he let her go, this might all be a dream and he would wake up in bed alone. But this had to be real. Didn’t it?
Her breath caressed his neck when she pulled away from him to cup his cheek in her palm, while a smile played on her kips, as her soft voice said, “I can’t believe I’m here.”
“I am so happy you are.” He stroked her long blonde hair back from her face, and looked into her gray-blue eyes. She was as pale as the snow on the mountain, his very own ice maiden and yet she seemed to be full of fire, not cold like ice.
“I’m Mae.”
“I am Jay. Which rhymes with Mae, so we must be perfect for each other.”
She giggled, and he liked the sound, like a mountain stream in the spring. “Is that how these things are decided? If your names rhyme, then you must be fated to be together. I always wondered.”
“I think it’s more than that. But it’s a start. So you’re here with
your gran? Is she like a chaperone or something sent by your parents to check me out?” His smiled, until he saw her mouth droop. “I’m sorry, I’ve said the wrong thing.”
“It’s OK. My parents are both dead. My dad was a bear shifter, and my mom was a human. She died of pneumonia; she had a weak heart. He died of a broken heart.”
“I’m sorry.” He held her close, and she rested her head on his chest. He automatically placed his hand on the nape of her neck and then stroked her back as if she were a frightened animal. He wanted to offer her comfort, and since he didn’t know her well enough to be able to find the right words, he hoped his touch would be enough.
“I had to go and live with my gran, Isabelle. She lives in a town, where as far as I know, there are no other shifters.”
“And she isn’t a shifter herself?” he asked.
“No. She knew about my dad. And she’s always been really supportive, but I think that you should know from the start that I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to behave. You know, around other shifters.”
“That’s why you put on your profile on the dating site?”
“Yes. Because it was the only way I could find somebody I could trust to make this all make sense. I’ve dated other people, but I knew that it was no good because they weren’t the one for me. I can still remember my mom and dad talking. My dad telling me about how he felt the very first time he saw my mom. I knew I had to find my mate, that it would never be enough to just date any man.”
“I’m glad you made that decision, Mae, and you come to the right place. I can teach you what you need to know about being a bear, and I can teach you what you need to know about being my mate.” He tried not to sound arrogant.
“I never expected it to be like this. Did you?” she asked. “I know what my mom and dad told me. But I used to think it was like a fairy tale, that it wouldn’t really be like that. But it is, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” He was still stroking her back, but now he put his arms around her and held her tight. “Why don’t we have some coffee? And I can fix you something to eat. Then we should go out on the mountain and let our bears get to know each other too.”
Her Choice To Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Dating Agency Romance (Fated and Mated Book 2) Page 3