As soon as I lifted the curse, a light shined so brightly from within your father that I had to turn away, and when I turned back around, he was gone. Poof. But because your mother and father loved each other so deeply in the physical realm, they have become guardian angels in the spiritual realm. The witch can no longer cast loves spells in the name of evil. Now, she gains power from death. Every time one of her werewolves takes another life, she becomes stronger. That is why we have werebears for protection.”
Aurelia’s eyes were starting to water. “Can you tell me if those were my parents last night?”
The witch smiled, “Yes, darling. Yes.”
Aurelia started crying hysterically. Afonso ran over to console her.
While he did that, the old woman grabbed Nico’s hand, startling him, and said, “By the way, I do love you like a son. Love is all we have in this world, Nico. Please remember that.” Nico smiled back at her, and they too, went to console Aurelia.
“There, there,” the old woman said. “It’s a happy story. Now, that evil woman can no longer harm those in love. Your parents saved us. So, we must find love in our lives and never let it go. Boys, why don’t you help an old lady out and pick those nasty weeds in the garden? I do believe there will be some warm, apple pie awaiting you.” The boys jumped out of their seats and shoved each other all the way to the door.
Aurelia laughed. “I’ve never seen people more excited for pie. You must be brilliant.”
The old woman shrugged and said, “Well I do have 120 years of experience.” She turned to look out of the window.
“Would you just look at those boys? Born twins, but couldn’t be more different. Afonso: so caring, thoughtful, eager to please.”
The old woman quickly glanced at Aurelia through the side of her eye to try and catch a reaction. “And then there’s Nico: stubborn and blunt with a sharp tongue.” This time, when the old woman glanced at Aurelia, her face was slowly melting into a euphoric abstraction. “AH HA!” the old woman shouted, nearly jolting Aurelia right out of her seat. “I knew it. Your heart is fixated on Nico!”
Aurelia considered trying to defend herself, but then thought it useless to argue with a witch. “I… um, geez…” Aurelia was struggling to find words. “He makes me feel things no other man has ever made me feel.”
The old woman was intrigued. “What kind of things, my dear?” Aurelia closed her eyes. “it’s embarrassing. I shouldn’t say anything.”
“Sexual things?”
“Oh! God!” Aurelia threw her head down on the table.
“It’s alright, my dear. I don’t imagine anyone has talked with you about sex, have they?”
Aurelia kept her head down and mumbled, “I spoke with my sister about it, but I never seemed as interested as she was.”
The old woman asked, “You never felt this way about your fella back home?”
Aurelia started groaning. “Oh this is so embarrassing. Make it stop!” the old woman started cackling again.
“Heh heh heh. Oh, relax, sweetness. Live a little! It’s that why you ran away in the first place? To get out of your comfort zone? What is more uncomfortable than talking about sex with a 120-year-old witch? Heh heh heh.”
Aurelia laughed and agreed with the crazy old woman. “Well, then, without going into detail… what do you propose I do?” she asked.
“Like I said, live a little. Let me start this pie so the boys do not turn on me. Though, I know that one of them has already turned YOU on. Heh heh heh.”
“Oh, that was pretty good. I’ll let you have that one,” Aurelia said as she laughed and followed the old woman into the kitchen to help.
CHAPTER SIX
It was just before dawn on the third day of Aurelia’s absence. Prince Olric and Sabina were preparing to head out. What they did not know was that Lady Gertrud had listened in on some of their conversation from the night before. Around midnight, she summoned Colonel Ferdinand. He rushed to meet her in the chapel as she requested.
Since he was awoken rather abruptly, he was a little disheveled when he saw her.
“Hello, Madame. I received your message. My apologies for my presentation, but I wished to be prompt rather than proper.”
She smiled and said, “Oh, you look fine. Thank you for meeting me. I have a mission for you. My son intends on leaving very early in the morning with Sabina to try and find Aurelia. I want you to gather a few men to follow his every move.”
Colonel Ferdinand looked rather hesitant. “By all due respect, Madame, didn’t King Roland forbid our interaction with the prince?”
“Technically, he said he was not to utilize you, not the other way around. My orders are still to be obeyed. I just want my son followed in case he needs the backup he will not acknowledge. I refuse to let him be killed because of this woman.”
Colonel knew he had to obey Lady Gertrud, but he had a terrible feeling about all of it. “How many men would you like me to send?” he asked.
“Five should be sufficient,” she said. “They intend on leaving before dawn, so I would get a move on. Meet me here tomorrow at dawn, to confirm everything has gone smoothly. Goodnight, Colonel.” Lady Gertrud bowed her head to the altar, said a short prayer, picked up her umbrella, and headed back to the castle.
Colonel Ferdinand also said a prayer before leaving, except his was very long, very thorough and included a large amount of begging.
Prince Olric arrived at the stables around 5 am, expecting to have to wait for Sabina. To his surprise she was sitting on a backpack, hunched over as if she had been waiting for quite some time. “What a surprise to see a beautiful woman waiting for me,” Olric said. “My whole life, I have grown accustomed to the opposite.”
Sabina smiled and said, “Trust me, you just caught me on a good day.” The two loaded up their horses and quietly started making their way towards the forest. Colonel Ferdinand was watching through binoculars from the military headquarters.
“Alright, men. I want you to track these two, more than shadow. They must not know that they are being followed. Only interject if you sense danger. Move out!” The five horses carrying the chosen soldiers started trotting off into the moonlight until they were no longer visible to Ferdinand. “May God bless your souls,” he said. before retreating back to his bed.
Olric and Sabina journeyed through the darkness. “Thank you for offering to help me, Sabina. You truly are one of the best people I know.”
Sabina was glowing. She was making an effort to slowly start revealing herself to Olric. “And I am certain that you are the best man I know, Olric. It is an honor to join you.”
They did not speak again until the sun began to break from behind the mountains. “Wow! Look how beautiful it is!” Sabina said to Olric, while absorbing the warmth and watching the colors in the sky begin to transform.
Prince Olric didn’t know if it was the silhouette the sun was casting of her or the soothing sound of her subtle humming, but for the first time he truly noticed Sabina and responded, “Yes, it actually is quite nice.”
Sabina was still transfixed on the view, and without knowing it, was about to give Prince Olric a metaphor to ponder on. “So often in life, we overlook the most precious, beautiful gifts that are right at our hand, every day! Because we are so busy chasing wild dreams, we cannot appreciate what is right in front of us.”
Prince Olric felt his heart flutter for the first time since Aurelia had been gone. “Well, I feel that it is very necessary then to stop for a moment and appreciate this gift, as you say.” The two dismounted from their horses and sat next to each other at the foot of a hill. “You are right. Sometimes we can be blinded by heartache just as easily as we can be blinded by dreams,” Olric said.
Sabina looked down for a moment. “Yes, but sometimes the dreams lead to heartache. So much that you would rather live in the dream where everything is as you want it, and not in the present where you are invisible.”
Prince Olric grabbed Sabina’s face. “You
are not invisible, Sabina. I see you.”
She started to cry so she closed her eyes and said, “I always see you. Even now, with my eyes closed. I see you.”
He leaned in toward her face. She could feel her heart racing. She could feel the warmth of his skin near hers, then he gently kissed her on the forehead and wrapped his arms around her. “I love your sister, Sabina. I am so sorry to cause you pain.”
Sabina was whimpering quietly, but then took a deep breath and said, “I know. Thank you for seeing me.” They hugged for a long time, sharing comfort from different kinds of pain, until they drifted off to sleep still embraced in each other’s arms.
By the time they awoke, the sun had been up for nearly two hours. Sabina woke first. She thought it would be harmless to allow another minute of embrace before she gently peeled herself from Olric. He snapped his head back and let out a rather large, comical snort.
Sabina laughed and then coughed and apologized. “It looks as if we have dozed off. We’d better get a move on,” she said.
Olric looked into Sabina’s eyes, and for a split second seemed to forget where they were going. “Aurelia!” he yelled and jumped back on his horse. “Let’s go!” The ride was completely silent.
Back at the old woman’s home where everyone was finishing their triple berry pie, she suddenly stopped and blurted, “We’ve got company.”
Afonso got up to look out the window. “It’s a man and a… beautiful woman on horseback. Wow, she’s striking.” The others got up to take a peek as well.
“That’s my fiancé!” Aurelia screamed. “And… my sister? Well, … that took no time.”
Nico was having a good laugh. “Hey, they make quite a pair, don’t they?”
“Shut up, Nico!” everyone yelled simultaneously.
“What on earth are they doing out here?” Aurelia asked out loud.
The old woman kindly responded, “Why, looking for you, of course. Seems as though they are going to ask for advice on the shortest route.”
Aurelia looked sick. “What should I do? I must hide,” she said as she paced around the room.
The old woman remained calm and offered her opinion. “Or… you could come clean. Start a new web. This time one made of truths instead of overlapping, sticky lies.”
Aurelia, Afonso and Nico now all appeared puzzled.
“Just like that? Tell my fiancé and sister the truth and poof, everything is right in the world again? I think I have a better idea,” Aurelia said as she ran into the closet full of potions.
There was a knock on the door and Nico’s face lit up. “I’ll get it!” he sarcastically yelled in an overenthusiastic tone.
The door opened, and Nico’s massive body just stood in front of Olric and Sabina. He said nothing. Prince Olric cleared his throat to cover his obvious intimidation and spoke. “Hello, good sir! We seem to be a little lost and were hoping you could help us with some directions.”
Nico gave them a giant creepy smile, which Sabina could still only see that he was handsome as she continued to smile like a mischievous child, and then in the deepest voice he could conjure, he said, “Yes, of course. Please do come in.”
Olric and Sabina made their way to the table and starting discussing routes around the mountain with the old woman and the brothers. A few minutes later, Aurelia emerged from the closet wearing a long dress and a white silk veil over her face. Afonso and Nico both quietly laughed under their breath and tried to cover their tracks with coughing. In the most ridiculously shrill, Swedish inspired voice she could mimic, Aurelia asked, “Would anyone care for teeeeeeaaa?” Olric accepted so as not be rude, but Sabina just shook her head quickly and politely declined. “I insist you drink some teeeeeeaaa, my dear,” Aurelia said, trying to pressure her sister.
“I’ve had enough today, but thank you,” Sabina said firmly.
Olric took a sip on his tea and began to ask another questions. “So, if we were to hea… if we were to heaaa… if…” His eyes slowly began to flutter and his head began to bobble until he collapsed face first onto the dining table. Sabina let out a high-pitched scream and leapt from the table, trying to escape. Aurelia immediately removed her veil and screamed, “Sabina, it’s me! It’s Aurelia!”
Sabina whipped back around toward her sister. “Aurelia!? What have you done? I know you do not love him, but you didn’t have to kill him! I LOVE HIM!” she screamed back.
Afonso jumped in saying, “Well, how’s that for the web of truth?”
Aurelia ran over to calm her sister down. “I didn’t poison him. I just put some sleeping potion in his tea. I panicked. And, you love him? Are you two together now?”
Sabina got defensive. “Does it matter? You can’t be jealous, you left him… and me… and everyone!”
The old woman interjected with some comic relief. “Don’t worry Sabina, Aurelia’s fixated on this one, now,” she said as she nodded her head at Nico who immediately smiled and crossed his arms as if to acknowledge that he already knew that.
Afonso looked so confused. “What the hell is going on here?”
“How do you know my name?”
“What are we supposed to do with this guy?”
Everyone started projecting over each other until Aurelia yelled, “ENOUGH! We are going to take turns speaking to fill Sabina in on what is going on. We will cover all aspects except the false accusation about Nico.”
For the rest of the evening, everyone brought Sabina up to speed about everything from shape-shifters to her father.
“Wow, that’s a lot of information,” Sabina said when she could finally process words again. “So, what now?”
Everyone looked at each other and nodded in accordance. “We fight!”
The old woman chuckled and added, “Pretty great timing, since you’ve got that army following you.”
Sabina shook her head. “There’s no army. It’s just Olric and me.”
The old woman laughed. “Heh heh heh. No, dearie. That nosey queen of yours sent men to follow you. And once they find out that Olric has been captured, too, those five men tracking your tail will rapidly grow to thousands.”
Aurelia turned to Sabina and said, “Sister, stay here. I will go tie the horses up and feed them. Try and relax. I know you must be processing a lot.”
It was dark out now as Aurelia stepped outside.
Nico joined her shortly after. “Need any help?” he politely offered.
“Never,” she said, allowing a playful smile to be known.
“You know, I’m not religious, or spiritual or anything, but I do think life has a plan,” he said to her.
“What are you getting at?” she asked.
“Think of it like this,” he said as he started making his way towards her, “I’m on a certain path leading this way, you’re on a path leading that way, and sooner or later, our paths are going to merge.”
Aurelia laughed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, I tend to hog my path all to myself. Why should I share mine with you?”
Nico continued moving closer to Aurelia until he was right in front of her, breathing in the air she was breathing out. “Because we are already connected. This magnetism between us will keep bringing us back together until maybe we touch.”
He grabbed her hand, and then let it go. “Until we need more.” He ran his hand up her arm, along her shoulder, up her neck and under her jaw, and then pulled it back. “At first it’ll just be a thrill, but soon, we’ll need it. Our bodies will ache for the touch.”
Aurelia started to close her eyes, allowing her other senses to be heightened. He used his thumb to gently glide over her bottom lip. She subtly bit down on it as he fed just the tip of his thumb into her mouth. She opened her eyes and grabbed his face and pulled it to hers. He started passionately kissing her soft lips, then moving down to her neck and stopping at her chest. Her heart was pounding. She never wanted something so much in her life. He looked up at her as he was using his tongue to gently circle around her nipple
. She pulled his face back up to hers as he leaned her against the wall. He slid his fingers between her legs and under her knickers with softness at first, and then slowly adding pressure and depth. She started begging him to enter her. He added one finger, then another and with rapid force, she started moaning. He brought his mouth back to hers as she experienced waves of euphoria for what felt like minutes. His lips slowly trailed back to her neck, up to he ear lobe and back to her lips as he gently pulled his hand from her undergarments. She was still heaving as he smiled at her and kissed her one last time before cupping her buttocks and gently lifting her back to standing. She couldn’t say anything, so she just smiled back and started shaking her head. He reached for her hand and asked, “Shall we?”
Her face lit up. “Again?!” she gasped.
“Haha, no, we should head back. Come on. We’ll go slow.”
When they returned, Sabina and Afonso had fallen asleep as well. The old woman was giggling and suggested that they get some rest before the prince woke from his slumber. “Don’t worry. I locked him in the guest room, just in case. Heh heh heh. I only have one extra bed. I guess you two will have to share. Heh Heh…” So Aurelia and Nico prepared to sleep for what might be the one of the most eventful days of their lives. Aurelia offered her hand to Nico, smiled and asked, “Shall we?”
THE END
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BOOK TEN
SOLD
TO THE BEARS
A BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance
Simply Bears: A Ten Book Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Collection Page 100