My Secret To Bear

by Becca Fanning

  “That… must have been awful,” said Kassie. On the one hand, she was still apprehensive about the person sitting on the other side of the table from her. On the other hand, she could feel herself sympathizing for the plight of the young boy coming to grips with his strange powers and how frightening that must have been for him. She knew already that this wasn’t something that she wanted for her own daughter, if and when she did have similar powers someday.

  “I struggled for years with what I was,” said Cole. “And eventually it became too much for me, staying at that orphanage and trying to hide my powers. I ran away, and that’s when I came to live with Miss June. She could tell I was different, but she didn’t ask questions. So long as I didn’t get into trouble, she just let me go about my business.”

  “And that’s why you’re so concerned about me abandoning Taylor,” said Kassie.

  “Yeah.” Cole nodded. “Nobody deserves to be outcast because of who and what they are. And—”

  “Like I said I’d never turn my back on my daughter.” She gripped her coffee cup between both hands, staring down at it to avoid the fact that he was staring at her intently as she spoke. “This is still… a lot for me to take in, but I would never turn away from her. Never. I love that little girl with all my heart, Cole.”

  Silence fell between them again, but this time it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it had been before. They had reached an understanding, and Kassie at least knew that Cole realized what lay in her heart when it came to their daughter. This may be a strange and new world for her, but regardless of how difficult it was for her to understand, that didn’t mean that she was going to turn away from the things that mattered—the things that were important to her. Love was love, and Taylor was her pride and her greatest joy.

  “The thing that I was going to tell you the other day,” he said finally, when the silence had stretched on for several long seconds, “about the other people… the people who found out about you and Taylor…”

  “Yes, I remember,” said Kassie.

  “They’re other shifters,” said Cole. “They’re the first I’ve ever met. They claim to be from my parents’ clan. They came to me, saying that they wanted to make a deal with me, to take me back. But they said that they already knew about you and Taylor. I don’t know how,” he added quickly, when he saw that Kassie was already beginning to speak. “But something about them is… off.”

  “Off? What do you mean?” said Kassie.

  “They said some things. Things about blood purity.” Cole’s face darkened. “When they asked where you were I gave them a fake address to put them off your trail, and I left the cabin where I was staying after we parted ways, but I don’t think that’ll be enough to stay hidden from them for long.”

  Kassie mulled over this information, trying to figure out exactly what Cole was getting at. “Blood purity?” she repeated. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, I suppose they mean that I’m different from you. I’m a shifter and you’re human. And they don’t want—”

  “They don’t want a shifter to have a child with a human. Is that it?” she said. “So, what does that mean? Would they really harm our child, do you think?”

  Cole shook his head. “These people… I don’t know anything about them. But I don’t trust them. Not at all. I wish it was as simple as just telling you to stay away from me, but they already have your scent. They’re going to be looking around Spartanburg for you, Kassie. So, keep an eye out, okay? If anybody suspicious comes around, an older man with white hair and a middle age man with darker hair, be on your guard.”

  Kassie stiffened. Was Cole being serious with all of this? One minute she was just learning that there were magical forces in the world, and the next she was being thrust into some sort of strange blood feud between shifters and humans.

  “Cole—”

  “I’ll protect you. You don’t have to do anything else, Kassie. This is my responsibility. I know that. I have experience with the bad man at the door. The bad man doesn’t get past me. I know that I can at least do this for you.”

  He spoke with such urgency that a strange sort of reassurance washed over her. Somehow, Kassie knew that she could trust him, even though she barely knew the man. Perhaps it was because fate had thrust them together the way that it had—not just in the past, but in the present as well—as if they were meant to meet up this way. Still, she hated the idea of having to rely on somebody else for anything, and she intended to let Cole know precisely that fact.

  “I don’t want you to feel like you owe me anything,” she said.

  “Kassie, nobody should have to feel like they’re alone in this world,” said Cole. “I don’t know what you’ve dealt with in the past or what you’ve been going through, but I’m on your side with this. Maybe it’ll amount to nothing, and if that’s the case, then I’ll be on my way and you’ll never have to hear from me again. But if these guys are dangerous, then I want to be there to help you.”

  It finally struck her then why Cole was so eager to help. It wasn’t just because he was duty bound because of their connection in the past or because he was Taylor’s father. Thinking back to what he had told her about himself—about his days in the orphanage and about being the only one of his kind for so long—she realized that like herself, Cole knew what it was like to be alone in a tough situation.

  “Where are you staying right now?” she asked him suddenly, noting the way his head shot up in surprise.

  “Uhm… I found another hunting cabin…”

  “That’s no good,” said Kassie. “You really need to be in a safe place yourself. And those guys are going to find you if you’re that close to the woods, aren’t they? There’s a cheap motel a couple of blocks from my apartment that can put you up. I’ll pay for it myself. Consider it a loan. I also know someone who’s looking for some cheap labor right now. Construction work. You can do that, right?”

  “Ah, yeah… thanks.” Looking properly humbled, a slow smile spread across Cole’s face.

  As they parted ways, Kassie wondered yet again what she had gotten herself into. She didn’t quite know what to make of his story. The idea of blood purist shifters was a bit beyond belief, but she didn’t think Cole was a liar either. However, if he was telling the truth, that meant that there could be quite a bit of trouble on the horizon. How much trouble had yet to be seen though.

  As she made her way home, she continued to think of him, feeling a faint sense of gladness that he would actually be able to get a good night’s sleep for a change in a comfortable bed. Despite every instinct that told her she should stay away, she found herself drawn to Cole, found herself caring about him and what happened to him. And at this point, she did hope that there was something she could do for him, especially since he was so committed to helping her with what he perceived to be a possible threat.

  “I guess I’m always looking for a fixer-upper,” she said to herself, thinking back to that night so long ago when she had picked him up in the pouring rain and doing her best to ignore the strange tugging in her chest whenever she thought about him.

  Chapter 9

  Cole wasn’t sure what to think after meeting with Kassie. He was confident at least that she would accept her daughter, regardless of what lay within her, but he didn’t think that she believed him about the threat that loomed over them in Spartanburg. He couldn’t blame her for that though. She hadn’t met the men or felt their ominous presence the way that he had.

  Regardless, as he sat in the motel room that she had paid for, he wondered exactly why she was being so kind to him. It had been a long time since anybody had gone out of their way to help him the way that she was doing. He didn’t think that it was pity. She didn’t seem to be the kind of person to do things just for pity’s sake.

  Raking a hand through his hair, he continued to think back to those moments when they sat across from one another in that coffee shop.

  God, she was beautiful. He felt almost ashamed of h
imself for thinking like that, especially when he still felt so guilty for coming back into her life and for the possible chaos that his presence might bring in the future if those two men really did mean to cause trouble.

  But looking into her eyes had made him feel things that he had never felt before. Not since that night when he had first met her.

  Cole genuinely thought that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, not that he believed he stood a chance with her. Just because he was the father of her daughter didn’t mean that she was going to welcome him into her life with open arms.

  Standing, he made his way to the window and pulled open the curtains, looking out into the darkness. From there, he could see out past the highway and to the edge of the woods. Inside him, the bear stirred. It wanted to run free through the trees, but he suppressed it.

  Tonight, he would stay inside and rest. Kassie had given him the phone number of her friend, and he had already called the man for an interview. In the morning, he was going to go see about that construction job. Hopefully, he could actually do something productive, get back on his feet so he didn’t have to rely on the kindness of anybody else.

  More than anything, he didn’t want to have to rely on Kassie’s kindness, especially when things were already so difficult for her having to take care of a child on her own. He wondered how she had done it for so many years. From the looks of things, she didn’t seem to have that much help. Where was her family, he wondered? She didn’t seem to have anybody as far as he could tell.

  She was a strong woman, and he admired her for her strength and resilience already, even though he had only known her for a short time. She reminded him very much of Miss June. She had the old woman’s tenacity and will and certainly exhibited the woman’s kindness. Thinking of that brought a smile to Cole’s face. He wished that he could introduce the two. He thought that they would have liked each other.

  Standing there at the window thinking, he was startled by a sudden knocking at the door. Cole turned. Nobody should be there. Perhaps it was just the desk attendant, stopping by for some reason? But he couldn’t think of anything that would make the old man stop by.

  “Yeah?” he called out, but there was no answer. Cautiously, he made his way over and pulled the door open, and he wasn’t surprised to see the old white-haired man and the dark-haired man from before standing there waiting for him.

  “We meet again, Cole,” said the older man, who walked straight into his room without waiting to be invited. He had a smile on his face, but it was a cold smile, and the glint in his eyes made it obvious that he wasn’t pleased. The younger man stayed outside as the door was closed behind them. “Now, I know you’re a young man, and you have certain attachments to this world that you’ve lived in for so long, but I had hoped that the promise of finally being with your own kind would be enough to help you understand that—”

  “I don’t have any business with you,” said Cole. “And it’s not about whether or not I have any attachments in this world. I don’t think I like these ideas you have about blood purity.”

  “Oh?” The man turned and looked at him, and there was a vicious look about him that made Cole’s blood run cold. “Well, then I think you just need to understand what you are—what we are. Cole, you come from a very special race of beings. You have a gift. These humans that you’ve lived with, they’re inferior to you. Surely you can see that?”

  “I don’t think anybody is inferior just because of what they can or can’t do,” said Cole. Which wasn’t necessarily true. He had spent a long time thinking less of himself because of his so-called gift, but he wasn’t about to say that to this man’s face. However, the older man seemed to be able to see what Cole was thinking. He turned on him, pushing a hand against his shoulder.

  “You’ve suffered boy, haven’t you?” he said. “These humans have made you suffer because they’ve made you think less of yourself. They’ve made you think that having a gift is something to be afraid of. They saw you as a tool, and that’s how you’ve come to see yourself.”

  Cole shook his head, and yet he thought back to his time in Afghanistan. He thought back to the way his fellow Marines had looked at him after he had slaughtered livestock. How they had seemed to fear that he would one day turn the beast that lay inside him against them.

  What the man was saying was true. The few people who had known about his powers in the past had made him believe that it was something to be afraid of. Or else they had made him believe that it was nothing more than a tool to be used.

  “This is why you need to come with us,” the man continued. “We can give you a place where you can be yourself, where your powers won’t be feared but celebrated. And all you have to do is tell us where the half-breed and its mother are right now.”

  All at once, the sway that the man had held over Cole was lifted, and he was back to himself. He pushed the man away.

  “Like hell I’ll give them up,” he said. “Those two are under my protection, and I’ll never let you get to them.”

  “Is that so?” said the old man.

  “It is,” said Cole. “I don’t care if I have to go the rest of my life alone. They don’t deserve to be hurt because of your ideals. They’re innocent.”

  The old man started to laugh, and it was a horrible sound to Cole’s ears. Before, he had thought the man was simply an old fool with archaic ideas about the society that he lived in, but now Cole was beginning to realize that the man was actually worse than that. There was something cruel about him—something evil.

  “Innocent you say?” he said. “You call them innocent, but they will destroy us, and I can’t call that innocent. In the past it was pitchforks and torches. Then it was the crusader’s blade and inquisitor’s pliers. Now they will eradicate us through breeding, making us as a drop of blood into an ocean. That’s why they must be eliminated. I’ll let this go for tonight, Cole, but trust me when I say that this isn’t over.” He moved back toward the door and opened it. The dark-haired man was standing right there, ready to intervene in case anything was to happen inside. “I was young once, believe it or not. I remember the way my blood pumped, hot with passion. I, too, let myself become attached to lesser things. I’m older now. Wiser. I know what’s important, and it’s you, the future of our race. If I need to tear this city down to it’s foundation to save you from yourself, I will. I won’t abandon you like your parents did.”

  And then he closed the door on that warning, leaving Cole standing there, heart racing inside his chest.

  His first instinct was to call Kassie, but it wasn’t as if she would be able to do anything if he did. The only purpose that would serve would be to scare her. His second instinct was to slip out of the motel room and to go to her apartment, to watch over her in the night, but he knew that if he did that, it would only be easier for the old man and his henchman to track him and find out where Kassie and Taylor lived.

  Cole had never felt more helpless. For the moment, at least, he knew that they were safe. They wouldn’t be able to find them right now, and he was fairly certain that Kassie was safe in her apartment for the night.

  However, he needed to figure something out to keep her and Taylor safe. He was the one who had brought this trouble on them, and he needed to be the one to be sure that no harm was brought on the two of them.

  Once again, he found himself angry at the blood that ran through his veins. If only he hadn’t been born this way then none of this would be happening. If it weren’t for the beast inside him, there wouldn’t be any problems. He could simply go through life like a normal man with normal problems. However, that wasn’t the case.

  Stop thinking this way. Cole shook his head. Letting himself drown in depression the way he had over the past several months since he returned from Afghanistan would do nothing to help Kassie and Taylor. He needed to be strong now. He had been unable to find the inner strength he needed for himself, but for the first time in a long while he finally had something—someone�
��to fight for.

  And he was surprised at the fact that he wanted so much to fight for them. Perhaps it was only natural to care for his daughter, but when it came to Kassie, already he could tell that something was rising up inside him. She was someone who mattered to him, and he didn’t want to lose her.

  Regardless of whether she slipped out of his life as quickly as she had slipped into it, he was not going to let anything happen to her. With that thought in his mind, he took a deep breath and realized what it was he was going to do.

  Perhaps he didn’t have the abilities that the two other shifters had, but he was a Marine. He had been in tough situations before, and he knew how to fight. So, if that was what they wanted, then that was what they were going to get. Kassie and Taylor were under his protection. That was what he’d said, and he meant it.

  Finally feeling resolved, Cole allowed himself to clean up, enjoying the use of a proper shower for the first time in weeks, and lay down in a proper bed. As he did so, images of Kassie crept into his mind. She really was beautiful, he thought again, even more so now than she had been all those years ago when he’d seen her for the first time. The fact that her heart was as lovely as she was only endeared her all the more to him as he drifted off to sleep, the promise that he had made to himself that he would keep her and Taylor safe above all else at the forefront of his mind.