“You look worried,” Caleb whispered to Elise.
“Not worried. Anxious, I guess.” She touched his cheek. “This could be a problem. Not just for us and our relationship but also for Zara.”
“You mean we might not be able to dream walk?” Caleb raked a hand through his hair as he exhaled slowly. “We don’t have time to waste.”
“Why don’t I go inside with Flora and see if my grandmother is leaving anytime soon?” Elise suggested. “She might not be staying overnight in which case we could wait until she leaves and then you and Aiden could come inside.”
“And if she doesn’t leave?” Caleb asked gently.
“Then we’re screwed.” Elise chewed her bottom lip.
“We should all go inside together,” Caleb responded. “I know you’re worried but if your grandmother thinks that we’re hiding, that we’re scared of her, then it’s going to be harder to win her round.”
“I think Caleb is right,” Aiden agreed.
“You haven’t met Elise’s Grandma Sylvie,” Flora told her mate.
“Is she really that bad?” Caleb asked. “Surely she wants you to be happy.”
“She does.” Elise turned around to face the front of the car. “And normally she probably wouldn’t be too upset. But...” She glanced at Aiden.
“Oh, of course, I keep forgetting that Aiden is the reason Karros won’t be fae royalty.” Caleb groaned. “Fate is messing with us.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about fate messing with us. Not when you have Elise’s grandmother in there.” Flora covered her face with her hands. “I haven’t spoken to her since I left this realm for Wishing Moon Bay.”
“Yeah, from what Karros said she’s pissed with you, too, Flora.” Elise reached for the door handle. “Come on, we’re in this together, let’s face it together.”
“Is this one of those times where you’re going to protect me?” Caleb asked as he got out of the truck.
“It might just be.” She walked toward the cabin but then stopped and waited for Flora and Aiden to get out of the truck too.
“I was trying to convince Aiden to make a run for it.” Flora hooked her arm through her mate’s. “But he said he couldn’t leave his twin here alone.”
“All joking aside,” Caleb began, “we’re here because Zara needs us. We’re here because we need your grandmother to help us dream walk so we can remember what happened to us.”
“And hopefully, that will lead us to the person who is stalking her.” Aiden nodded firmly. “No one can get in the way of this. We do what we have to do.”
“My grandmother might see that as a challenge.” Elise sighed and rolled her shoulders as they approached the house. “Why don’t you let me do the talking?”
“Okay, and should we not eat anything? Or drink anything?” Caleb asked.
“You think she’ll try to poison you?” Elise rolled her eyes.
“No, but we were there when Flora gave a piece of fruit to Sapphire and she instantly forgot fae existed,” Aiden reminded them.
“Oh, yeah.” Caleb shook his head. “I don’t want to forget you and I don’t want you to forget me.”
“The sycombre fruit won’t work on shifters like that,” Flora told them. “If it did, my father would have forced us to eat it.”
“The fruit is okay if it’s a memory that’s not anchored in deep emotions. Plus, I’d just told Sapphire, so the thought hadn’t had time to spread through her brain. Sycombre fruit works best on short-term memory.” She tapped her head. “Although, there’s some skill to using it. And Elise’s grandmother is the most skilled wise woman in any of the fae realms.”
“I don’t think they needed to hear that.” Flora clapped her hands together lightly. “We’re safe, nothing will happen to us. Nothing physical at least, but I’ve known Elise’s grandmothers my whole life and they are...” She sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Elise went to the door and knocked. The two shifters and Flora hung back a little way as if ready to make a run for it. She half-turned to look at them. “Try to relax.”
“Okay.” Caleb rolled his shoulders, but the tension didn’t leave his body.
“Nonthreatening,” she whispered and pointed to his clenched fists.
He held his hands up, his fingers splayed wide. “Nonthreatening.”
“Better.” Then she snapped to attention as the door opened and an old woman with hair as white as snow faced them. “Grandma Hannah.”
“I wondered when you would get around to knocking. All that whispering.” The old woman glanced at Elise and then tilted her head sideways to look at the others. “Flora. Boys.”
Elise ducked her head and smothered a smile, wondering if the boys were going to insist they were men. They chose to simply nod and say hello.
“Grandma Hannah.” Elise held out her arms and leaned forward to embrace her grandmother, only hesitating for a moment when she noticed the old woman’s raised eyebrow.
“It’s good to see you, Elise. Even if you have brought two shifters to my door.” She hugged her granddaughter and then fixed Flora with a sharp look. “And the woman who broke your brother’s heart.”
“Can we come in?” Elise asked quickly.
Her grandmother inched her head back and studied Elise’s face. “You bring trouble with you.”
“Not exactly.” Elise’s eyes misted with tears. “But we do need your help.”
“Then you’d better come inside. All of you.” With a quick, disapproving look, Elise’s grandmother turned around and headed into the cabin.
Elise glanced over her shoulder, inclined her head toward the interior of the house, and then followed.
Chapter Twenty-Six – Caleb
“Why does this feel worse than when we entered the dragon’s lair?” Aiden whispered.
“Because Elise’s Grandma Sylvie is probably fiercer than Fiona.” Flora put her hands to her mouth and wiggled her fingers. “Only without the teeth and claws.”
“Great.” Caleb straightened his back and followed his mate into the house. If they were going to face the two fae grandmothers, then he wanted to be by her side.
And keep quiet, his bear reminded him. We should be very careful what we say.
I agree, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let them treat Elise, or any of us, badly. We have done nothing wrong.
Aiden was responsible for Karros breaking off his engagement with Flora. He did ruin their plans.
They can’t blame Aiden, that was due to fate, Caleb answered.
Do the fae believe in fate? His bear frowned. I mean it’s kind of in their name.
Caleb shook his head. One letter missing can make all the difference.
Well, if they don’t believe in fate yet, by the time we leave, we’ll make sure they do and that they accept the decisions of both their grandchildren.
Caleb nodded and accepted the challenge. If they were going to find true happiness, Elise’s family had to accept that two shifters were about to join their family.
“Elise is here,” her grandma said.
“Elise?” another older woman answered. “I thought she’d gone to Wishing Moon Bay.”
“I did, Grandma Sylvie.” Elise glanced over her shoulder as the others entered the living area. “But I need Grandma Hannah’s help.”
“Oh, you need Grandma Hannah’s help.” There was a hint of disapproval in her tone as she got up from the sofa where she’d been drinking coffee and eating cake. Caleb’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food. After leaving Zara’s house, they had stopped briefly for fuel and grabbed some sandwiches from the local grocery store in Bear Creek. Then they had driven straight here without stopping.
It was way past dinnertime and Caleb’s empty stomach didn’t help his mood. He certainly didn’t want to waste time listening to an argument as to who was the better grandma.
That’s not a good start, Caleb’s bear agreed.
I suppose rivalries between grand
mas are as much a thing as rivalries between brothers. Caleb moved in front of his brother and Flora, moving to stand beside Elise.
“Oh, and Elise has brought some friends.” Grandma Hannah’s tone was lighter, laced with amusement.
Perhaps we have at least one grandma on our side already, Caleb said hopefully.
Or maybe she’s just interested to see how this is going to play out. She can probably afford to sit back and watch Grandma Sylvie savage us with her tongue. His bear ground his teeth together.
“Shifters.” Grandma Sylvie moved around the side of the sofa and saw Caleb and Aiden for the first time. “And Flora.”
“This is Caleb.” Elise ignored her grandma’s hostile expression. “And this is Aiden.”
“Twins. Identical twins.” Grandma Hannah came closer and stared at them. “Very identical. Extraordinary.”
“So this is the man you left Karros for?” Grandma Sylvie didn’t seem in the least interested in them being identical twins.
“I didn’t leave Karros for Aiden. I am Aiden’s mate and Karros realized that my heart would never belong to him,” Flora said firmly. “He did the right thing for the right reasons.”
“Ah, and now you think Hannah will do the right thing for the right reasons.” Sylvie nodded. “What happened, did your bear lose his chew toy?”
“Sylvie.” Hannah’s warning tone pierced Sylvie’s hostile teasing. “Why don’t we give the young people a chance to talk? I think we both know they would not be here, given the current circumstances, if this wasn’t important.”
“We were also having an important discussion,” Sylvie insisted. “Remember?”
“I recall our discussion,” Hannah answered.
“We were trying to decide on who Karros should marry,” Sylvie said. “Since he’s in the market for a new wife. I came to tell Hannah that I have been in discussion with a very prominent family.” She fixed Flora with a hard stare.
Does she think she’ll make Flora jealous? His bear shook his head. She doesn’t get the whole shifter mate thing, does she?
I don’t think she truly understands it. No. Caleb groaned inwardly. She’s going to be really pissed when she finds out that Karros is not interested in marrying anyone other than Zara.
“I think you should let Karros decide who he’s going to marry,” Elise said firmly.
“How is he supposed to do that when he’s still in love with Flora?” Sylvie kept her eyes fixed on Flora. “By the time he gets over his broken heart, he’ll be too old to settle down and have children.”
“He isn’t in love with me anymore,” Flora stated.
“I expect that’s what he says to make you feel better. He always did care more for your feelings than his own.” Sylvie crossed her arms over her body.
“What exactly do you need, Elise?” Hannah asked.
Elise let out a long breath. “I need...” She glanced at Caleb and Aiden. “We need you to help Caleb and Aiden to dream walk.”
Hannah’s eyes widened and she swayed back and forth before she regained her composure. “Dream walking.”
“Yes. They need to remember something that happened to them when they were younger,” Elise explained, ignoring Sylvie who tutted loudly.
“What kind of something?” Hannah moved around the room until she stood before Caleb, her eyes narrow as she studied him.
“When we were children...” Caleb’s mouth became suddenly dry. He coughed and cleared his throat. “When we were children, our parents were killed, and we were put in foster care.”
“Until Valerie adopted you,” Sylvie said. “And that’s when you came to Wishing Moon Bay.”
“You’ve been busy,” Elise commented. “Did you pay someone to investigate them?” Her cheeks flushed pink, and her eyes glittered like diamonds as she stared at Sylvie.
“Yes.” Sylvie jutted her chin out. “I wanted to know if there was anything we could use as leverage to get Aiden to break off his relationship with Flora.”
“You did what?” Flora asked.
“I did what any self-respecting, caring family member would do for her grandchild. He was destined to be your husband.” Sylvie was unrepentant as she stared at Flora.
“That doesn’t matter.” Aiden reached for Flora’s hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand to comfort her. “Will you please help us?”
“What do you need to remember?” Hannah asked. “And why?”
“Before we were adopted by Valerie, we were in foster care. But someone stole us from our foster parents. We were found by the police inside an apartment, but they never found who took us.” Caleb held his hands out to Hannah. “It’s important that we remember.”
“Why do you need to remember something that happened so long ago?” Hannah stepped sideways and stared at Aiden as if he were a specimen in a jar. Then her eyes widened. “Someone is in danger.”
“Our sister. Someone is stalking her, and we think it might be connected to what happened to us. Our father was responsible for putting a bad man behind bars. This man, we believe, murdered our parents. Then we were taken from the foster home.”
“Why? When your parents were already dead, why were you taken?” Hannah asked.
“Because we’re shifters. There was a trafficking ring back then and we believe we would have been sold,” Caleb admitted.
Elise stepped closer to him and reached for his hand. He entwined his fingers with hers and looked down at her face, drawing comfort from her.
“No!” Sylvie put her hands over her mouth. “Not you, too.”
“You make it sound as if I caught a disease or something.” Elise shook her head. “I love you. Both of you, but you must respect my decisions and my decision to be with Caleb is one of the best ones I have ever made. One that makes me happy. Isn’t that what you should be interested in?” She aimed her comment at Sylvie.
“I suppose if you have chosen a shifter then there’s little we can do about it. Does Karros support this decision?” Sylvie asked. “I doubt it since he isn’t here. And he gave up his life here for you. So that he could help you with your career. I suppose you’re going to give that up and spawn a brood of shifters.”
Elise glanced at Caleb. He shook his head slightly. This wasn’t the time to argue with her grandmother or to break the news that Karros had also found a mate and would be breeding his own shifter children.
She inclined her head and inhaled deeply. “Karros is supportive of my decision and no, I’m not giving up my dream of becoming a chef and one day running my own restaurant. Caleb’s brother is the reason I went to Wishing Moon Bay. He’s one of the best chefs.”
“And who is going to raise your babies?” Sylvie asked.
“I have a very supportive family,” Caleb replied. He was tired of Sylvie being so hard on Elise and shifters in general. “They will help us. Isn’t that what families are supposed to do?”
“It is.” Hannah averted her gaze and ignored Sylvie’s hard stare.
“And that’s why we’re here.” She moved toward Grandma Hannah and reached out for her hand. “Caleb and Aiden need to unlock their memories so they can help their sister.”
“You always did have an open heart and an open mind.” Hannah tilted her head to one side as she studied her granddaughter. “I can’t fault you for following your heart.”
“Will you help us, please?” Caleb asked.
“If Caleb wasn’t my mate, if he was my friend or just someone who came to you for help, you would help him.” Elise squeezed Hannah’s hand. “Just because you don’t approve of me having a mate, and you don’t agree with Karros letting Flora go so she could be with Aiden... Will that stop you from helping them help their sister?”
“I have loved you since you were in your mother’s womb,” Hannah replied. “I remember putting my hand on her stomach and feeling you kick.” She smiled wistfully.
“Grandma,” Elise began, “I never set out to disappoint you or hurt you. Neither did Karros. You k
now that.”
“You’ve never disappointed me.” Hannah wrapped her arms around her granddaughter’s shoulders. “You are so brave.”
Sylvie snorted. “The brave thing would have been to think of your own family.”
“You don’t really mean that, Sylvie,” Hannah replied. “You’re only upset about Karros breaking up with Flora because you know how much he loved her.”
Sylvie’s eyes misted with tears as she jutted out her chin like a petulant child. “I can’t understand why Flora would hurt him like that. He was so happy when he came home and told us that Flora had agreed to marry him. He was willing to accept that you didn’t love him because he thought he could make you happy.”
“I know that but after I met Aiden, there was no way I could go through with marrying Karros. It wouldn’t have been fair to him. It wouldn’t have been fair to any of us. And he understands that,” Flora said.
“He tells you he understands it. But does he?” Sylvie asked.
“Yes. He does.” Caleb couldn’t hold back any longer.
Elise still held onto Hannah’s hand as she reached for Sylvie’s hand, too. “Karros understands exactly how Flora felt when she met her mate.”
Sylvie’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish as her eyes went wide. “No.”
“Yes. Karros met Zara, Caleb and Aiden’s sister, today. They are mates.” She waited for the news to sink in. “Which is why we really need for you to help us.”
“You are both mated to shifters?” Sylvie didn’t sound impressed as she looked up at the ceiling. “Is this some kind of a cosmic joke?”
“Love is never a joke, Sylvie,” Hannah said quietly.
“No, it’s not.” Elise placed her hand on her heart. “I never thought I could feel this way. I had grown to believe that love had passed me by. When I saw how much Karros loved Flora, I always wished that I could experience that same love. Until he lost her to Aiden and then I was grateful I’d never had my heart ripped in two like that.”
Fae-ted to the Bear: A Wishing Moon Bay Shifter Romance (The Bond of Brothers Book 4) Page 19