To Trust A Bear

by Hartley, Emilia

  Still, Callie’s shoulders dropped. It was just another reminder that she couldn’t stay here. Even if Emmy had put her trust in Callie’s hands, the others wouldn’t be as likely to give her the same treatment. Boomer had made it clear that he still thought she was her father’s pawn. After what her father did, they had no reason to love him.

  Boomer crossed the room, snatched the mug from Emmy’s hands, and threw it against the wall. She could see his disappointment when he realized the mug was already empty. His jaw dropped just before he fell to his knees.

  Callie fumbled back from them. Her hands shook. She shoved them into her coat pockets to hide the tremble. She had to stand strong in the face of Boomer’s accusations. If she showed how scared she was, he would only hold tighter to his convictions. She looked to her mate.

  Morgan would leave behind his family for her, but she didn’t want to ask that of him. She couldn’t stand the thought of separating him from Boomer, from his future niece or nephew, or any of the others. So, she sucked in a shuddering breath and ran a hand through her hair.

  “What do I need to do to make you trust me?”

  Her words echoed through the room now that Emmy’s pained sounds had faded. Everyone turned to look at her. Morgan stepped toward her, as if ready to tell her she was wrong. It was obvious. No one wanted to trust her.

  She swallowed and bit back the tears that threatened to rise. This moment should have been about Emmy. Instead, it had turned the tables on Callie. She felt like an outsider all over again. She didn’t belong anywhere. The Den had revealed itself for what it truly was, and she wanted nothing to do with them. Now, Morgan’s family wanted nothing to do with her.

  From the corner of her eye, she could see the door. It beckoned her. She could run for it and kept running until she found solid ground to stand on. Instead, she stayed where she was, no matter how shaky the ground was beneath her feet.

  Morgan looked like he was about to wrap her in his arms, but he settled for a hand on her shoulder instead. She flashed him a smile of gratitude, thankful he wouldn’t reveal just how weak she felt in the situation.

  Emmy grabbed Boomer by the hairs on his chin and brought him to eye level with her. “You didn’t accuse me of betraying anyone when my ex-husband threatened us. No one accused Addison of turning on Reid when the hunter attacked them. Why would you accuse Callisto of wanting to hurt us?”

  Boomer crouched before his mate. He hung his head. Callie knew the answer. Boomer had so much more on the line now that he not only had his mate, but a child on the way. It had his bear whipped into a frenzy. His beast was wary of everything that stepped near Emmy. It wanted to kill anything that touched her.

  Unable to understand Callie’s struggle, he only saw her as a threat.

  Morgan squeezed her shoulder, trying to get her attention, but she stared at Boomer. The door had opened, and life had come bursting in. The moments she and Morgan had shared in the cabin were over. It seemed like everything was racing to catch up, slamming into her all at once.

  Callie forced herself to breathe, to straighten her spine, even though everything wanted to crush her all at once.

  ***

  He knew she was hurting, but he didn’t know how. Callie was frozen. She was a deer in the headlights, but Morgan couldn’t figure out what was the headlights in this situation. He didn’t think she was afraid of Boomer. Callie was a bear in her own right, and a strong one at that. Boomer couldn’t threaten her.

  No, it was something else. Morgan struggled to understand, to unravel the situation and peer inside his mate’s mind. It took him a long while, standing at her shoulder, to see the world as she did.

  Where once Callie had the Den and the convictions her family had instilled in her, she now had nothing. Morgan had assumed the group would fold her into their ranks the same way they had with Emmy and Addison, but it was becoming clear that the threat Callie brought with her was greater. The stakes were higher.

  Morgan wanted to scream at his friends. He wanted them to trust his mate. She had fought against what they feared. Callie risked everything.

  “You know what?” Emmy’s voice was terse. “I think it’s time for a girls’ night. I’m going to call Addison.” She jerked her chin toward Callie. “You call Aimee. We’re going to do something as a group. Men can go jump off a cliff.”

  The tension in the room snapped. Suddenly, Callie was laughing so hard she was in tears. Morgan suspected that those tears might have been real, born from the stress of her situation and not the humor she feigned.

  Emmy quickly put together her plans and told Callie to be back with Aimee later. It meant Morgan had a couple hours with his mate before the other ladies stole her away. He guided her out of the cabin and back toward the truck.

  Callie paused. She stared at the silver truck door before looking over her shoulder. When she bit her lip, eyes going distant, he realized what she wanted. Without another word, Morgan took her hand and led her into the woods.

  The areas around the cabins were safe, having been swept for bear traps. He led her along paths that they’d cleared. With each step, they shed a layer of clothing. The mountain air was growing chill. It crept past his skin and caressed his bones. In a few minutes, he would no longer feel it.

  They stopped and tucked their clothes into a pile before letting their beasts rise. If she didn’t want to talk about what was troubling her, Morgan wouldn’t press the issue. If she was determined to keep it locked behind her lips, he would draw it out of her eventually. For the time being, he would let her forget about it.

  Callie’s bear was beautiful. He’d forgotten the sleek black fur that ran along her body and the small window of white fur that crested her chest like a moon. His form was larger, but not by much. When Callie rose to her full height, she was breath taking.

  They bounded toward a nearby stream, drawn by the sound and the scent of fish in the air. The water splashed around their paws. They couldn’t feel it through the thick layer of fur. They frolicked like that for a while, splashing each other or snatching fish from the shallow waters.

  Eventually, Callie let her bear fall back, shifting back into her human form. Morgan watched her chest rise and fall from the effort of it. He watched her drop to the grass, arms spread wide as she stared into the sky above. When he was about to shift and lay beside her, Callie began to talk.

  “I don’t know why I thought this would be easy.” She paused, as if searching for something. Perhaps she was stringing together her thoughts. After a moment, she went on. “I thought that I could become one of you. I wanted to jump from one family to another without thinking of what kind of baggage I was dragging along with me.”

  Her words filled the air like her soul leaving her body. They were weighted with not only the truth of the situation, but the guilt she’d carried. Morgan crouched low to the ground and nudged her with his muzzle. He pressed himself into the line of her body, willing to be her shield against the world.

  “I don’t want to take you away from them, but if they won’t trust me, then I can’t stay. I’ll find my own path. It’s about time I spread my wings and figured out what I want to do with my life anyway.”

  He whined. She had to know that he would never let her go anywhere without him now. If she left, he would follow. He realized that was a part of her guilt. She knew that the lies she’d lived had paved the way for the split in this family.

  Morgan didn’t waste time wondering what could have been if things were different. He didn’t want to turn time back and ask her to do it differently. The past was what it was. All they could do was move forward. He’d thought they were making strides toward something new, but it seemed the past still had one hand on Callie.

  Morgan knew words wouldn’t change how his mate felt. He would have to convince his family to show Callie how she was one of them. She hadn’t seen the fire that’d been lit when Richard ambushed the group. She hadn’t seen how the others had rallied to get her back. Morgan
would not deny that there would be bumps in the road ahead.

  Boomer was scared. The man who had nothing to care for other than himself for years suddenly had everything to lose. He was on edge. It didn’t excuse his behavior, but it gave Morgan hope that Boomer could change his mind. If anything, Emmy would do it for him.

  While he wanted to spend the rest of his life curled around his mate, Morgan knew that the girls’ night would be good for her. He nudged her back onto her feet and let her ride him back toward their hidden clothes. He enjoyed having her on his back, so he let her hold them as he carried her home.

  They passed the clearing. The hill was nearly finished. Bigger machinery had been brought in to pull the stumps from the ground. They rose from the ground like blemishes. Morgan was careful with his footing as he passed. Stumbling and rolling through the stumps or hitting the massive machinery would not only hurt, but most likely maim.

  Once the stumps were ripped from the ground, another crew would come in and begin laying the foundation for the hotel to come. Morgan and his crew would move on to the next project. He hoped, for a blessed moment, that the Den would tire of them and lose interest once the group moved.

  That would never happen. Callie wasn’t just anyone. She was Richard’s daughter. Over and over, Morgan had to face the facts. The Den wasn’t finished with them.

  He, though, wanted to make sure they were finished with the Den before the crew had to move.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Callie was offered a pair of footed pajama pants, but the height difference between her and the other women meant the pants were far too small. She settled for a pair of flannel pants she’d brought with her and a foam toe separator while Addison painted her toenails.

  The design might not last through her next shift between forms, but it would make her feel pretty until then. Besides, she reasoned, it gave them something to do together. Callie knew nothing about the other mates. To her, they’d been assignments. She was supposed to come and convince them of all the Den had to offer new mothers.

  Now, she was one of them. It didn’t feel like it. Callie still felt like she was standing on the fringes of something. She was part of the crew, but apart because her ties to the Den still dragged her back. She’d expected the women to be cold to her the way that Boomer had been, but they’d welcomed her with more warmth than she’d ever felt.

  Callie looked to Aimee and wondered what her friend would do now. Aimee had never felt at home at the Den. It had simply been a stop on her journey. Callie wondered if her friend would move on, like she always said she would, or if there was something that would make Aimee settle down with them.

  As much as Callie wanted to call out Aimee, she turned toward Emmy and Addison. Both were new shifters, humans that had been changed for one reason or another. As far as Callie understood, Emmy had asked for the change. While the woman seemed sweet and soft on the outside, Callie saw the steel glint in her eyes.

  Addison, on the other hand, had been saved by the change. Callie knew the woman’s scars were probably deeper than her skin. Coming that close to death had to have a price.

  Callie suddenly felt bland in the face of them. She didn’t know what she brought to this small pack. There was nothing extraordinary about her. She felt smashed, reduced to nothing but ruin after what happened.

  “Addison, how’s that book going?” Emmy smirked like they had an inside joke.

  Callie and Aimee shared a quick look before turning to Addison. The auburn-haired shifter glowered at Emmy. Both Callie and Aimee pressed their backs into the couch to escape the fury that was Addison’s gaze.

  “It’s going fine. Why do you ask?”

  “Liar,” Emmy accused with a wily grin. “Reid mentioned that you haven’t touched it in nearly a month.”

  “Looks like Reid and I need to have a talk when I get home.” Addison slammed the nail polish brush back into the bottle.

  “If you can’t stand to look at it right now, then why don’t you start something new? That way you’re still flexing those creative muscles while you give the other book a break.”

  Addison lunged to her feet, crossed the room, and hugged Emmy tight. She laid a big kiss on Emmy’s forehead. “You have the best ideas!”

  They watched Addison run into the kitchen for a stray piece of paper and a writing utensil. Emmy sat with her spine straight and chin up.

  “You look out for everyone here, don’t you?” Callie asked.

  It was apparent that Emmy was a caretaker. The shifter refused to let anything get to her because she had others that needed her. Callie waited for Emmy to turn those instincts on her, but the shifter’s gaze skipped over Callie and went straight to Aimee.

  “Where did you get that adorable stuffed otter?”

  Callie spun toward her friend, noticing for the first time that Aimee had a little stuffed otter tucked in her lap. It was small, the size of a newborn kitten. That explained why Callie hadn’t noticed it, but she was certain it hadn’t come from Alaska with them.

  “Didn’t Morgan win you one of the big ones at the festival? Did he also get you that one?” Callie recalled the disastrous double date. Morgan tried to make Callie jealous, but set it aside in favor of a more direct approach once Aimee and Dom ganged up on her. Her lips formed an O as she realized where the tiny stuffed thing had come from.

  “Dom won that for you. Didn’t he?”

  Emmy howled with delight, clapping her hands together. “Do we have a new couple on the horizon?”

  Aimee tucked the little stuffed animal into her bag at her feet. It was clear she didn’t want to talk about it, but Callie enjoyed the shift of attention to her friend. It made her shoulders feel lighter, even if only for a moment, and so she didn’t let up.

  “Why didn’t you tell us about you and Dom? Come on. We need all the juicy details.” Callie nudged her friend with her shoulder, pushing for a story that would make her feel like all eyes weren’t on her.

  Aimee scooted away from her friend and shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Why won’t you tell us? It’s just us girls?” It was easier than talking about the Den. Callie didn’t have to face the lies she’d lived if she pressed Aimee for gossip. So, she kept pushing, prodding her friend even though it was clear Aimee was shutting down. “Because my life isn’t yours to parade around.”

  Callie wasn’t sure she’d ever heard Aimee snap at anyone before. Her friend had a sharp tongue, but it’d always been used with wit. Never with the venom that Callie felt. She shrank back from the words, her guilt doubling.

  She opened her mouth to apologize, but Emmy had already taken control of the situation and was turning it in a new direction. While Emmy spoke, Callie looked to her friend. She silently begged Aimee to forgive her. She didn’t know what was going on between Aimee and Dom, but she never would have thought it would make Aimee so guarded.

  Callie bent and pulled the stuffed otter from the bag, intending to hand it back to Aimee as a kind of apology. Aimee slapped her hand before she could grab it. Callie jumped back.

  No matter what she did, at every turn, she was screwing up.

  “Aimee,” she began. “I was just joking.”

  It wasn’t an apology and she knew it. For some reason, Callie couldn’t get an apology out. It stuck in her chest, a lump that she could barely breathe around.

  What she’d done hadn’t been that bad. She hadn’t really done anything wrong, and yet Aimee acted as though Callie had stabbed her. Callie couldn’t figure out why her friend was so angry. It was nothing. It was a joke.

  “Fine. Be stuck up. We’re all just trying to have a bit of fun.”

  Callie was aware that all eyes were on her now. Emmy and Addison had stopped what they were doing to watch the fight unfold. It was over, Callie thought, folding her arms over her chest.

  But, it wasn’t. Aimee had been pushed too far.

  “Of course. It’s just a joke when you want to tease me. It’s
not like I didn’t cling to the bottom of a truck to help you escape from your evil father. It’s not like I didn’t almost fall into traffic for you. Do you even realize how dangerous that was? I did it for you, but it’s like you don’t even care.”

  Callie was stunned. It seemed the rest of the room was, too. No one knew what to say. They all stared at Aimee with their jaws dropped. One by one, they snapped shut. Aimee moved to leave, but Callie beat her to it.

  She surged to her feet and ran for the door. The room got smaller and smaller. She couldn’t stand it anymore. She could feel all eyes on her. They accused her of everything bad that had happened to them. It was her fault.

  Everything was Callie’s fault.

  Callie shoved the door open, stumbling into the cold night air. It caressed her face and filled her lungs with cold, clearing her mind for a moment. The stars winked above her head, much like the stars she’d seen from back home.

  A place she’d never return to.

  All over again, her mind began to spin. Callie couldn’t help but see all the ways she had destroyed her own life. Worse even, she had passed that on to Morgan the moment she arrived. Perhaps the other women didn’t blame her, but Callie couldn’t stay if the men didn’t trust her. No one would want to leave her alone. They would be waiting for the moment that she betrayed them, watching with hawk-eyes just to be able to proclaim ha, I knew it!

  The only problem was that she didn’t know what she could do to make any one of them believe her. She was done with the Den. She was done with its lies and the way it continued to hurt people. The men had spoken about their pains, and she had listened.

  Wasn’t it their turn to listen?

  Callie wanted to punch a tree, but as she approached, a figure stepped out of the darkness. Her heart flipped, thinking the worst. Someone from the Den had come to quietly take her back. Then, an errant breeze brought a familiar scent to her nose and the sudden tension in her shoulders loosened.