by Vella Day
She’s your mate, his bear said. I told you.
Will wanted to believe it, but he decided to wait a little longer before celebrating.
She entered their campsite. “Hey, it’s me,” she called out. “Acacia.”
“Come have a seat by the fire,” Lucas said.
When she came into view, Will’s heart sank. Her hair was dripping wet, and her pants were soaked. “Get caught in the rain?” Will asked.
“Maybe a little. I was making spaghetti and had to drain the water out of my pot. I guess I didn’t realize how long it would take.”
Will vacated his small, triangular camping chair and offered it to her. “Looks like you could use some heat too.”
“You have no idea.” She held up a bag of marshmallows. “Anyone want to share?”
That was so sweet of her. “We’d love some.”
Lucas stood. “I’ll find us some sticks.”
“How did you get the fire going?” she asked. “I gathered wood, but it’s wet and wouldn’t light.”
Will smiled. “There’s a secret to lighting wet wood. I’ll have to show you some time.”
Her shoulders sagged. “I would love that.”
“Though in this instance, we put a tarp on top of it to keep it dry.”
She chuckled. “You guys are smart.”
Mate, mate, his bear chimed in.
Cool it. You don’t need to tell me twice. I just have to figure out my next move. We know nothing about her.
I do, and I suggest you get to know her or lose your one chance at love forever.
Chapter Three
Will wanted to strangle his bear, but he couldn’t blame his horny animal. Lucas and he had been so preoccupied with work that Will hadn’t taken the time to even date, which was why they were here. The problem was that Will’s bear didn’t like sitting around a campsite. He wanted more—like to enjoy a beautiful woman in the most intimate way.
“So, how’s it going in your campsite? Need anything?” Will asked.
“I’m good, unless you have a colander.” She chuckled.
If she could kid at a time like this, she was a real trouper. “The lid method works wonders. It’s amazing how little you really need to survive in the woods.”
She looked around. “You two aren’t slumming it, I see.”
He grinned. “No. We’ve been doing this for a while and have learned the hard way what we need.”
Lucas returned, waving three sticks. “Give me a sec to whittle the ends.”
In no time, he had carved perfect points. He handed one to Acacia and one to Will.
“Where are you from, Acacia?” Lucas asked.
“Edendale in Avonbelle province.”
Will’s heart nearly stopped. “No, shit. So are we. We run King and Deland Home Automation over on Hilltop and River Run.”
“You own your own company?” She glanced from one to the other.
“Yes.”
“Congrats. You’re both quite young to be that accomplished.”
“Thanks.” She pressed her finger against the end of the stick as if to test its sharpness. He was a little surprised that she didn’t ask anything more about it. “And you? What do you do?”
“My sisters and I run the Four Sisters Pottery Shop. I know the name isn’t clever, but we’ve had it forever and never got around to changing it.”
“I think it’s a good name. It sounds homey and comfortable.”
She smiled. “It is.” Acacia picked up the bag of marshmallows from her lap. “I guess we need these.” She broke open the bag, slipped one out, and then handed the bag to him.
All three stuck their marshmallows into the fire and let them toast. Acacia pulled hers out first and blew on it.
“It’s almost raw.” Will wanted to tease her about her choice of not letting it catch on fire first—the only proper way to cook a marshmallow. Flames suddenly licked all sides of his, and Will withdrew it and then blew on it.
She laughed, catching him off guard. “At least mine is edible,” she said as she popped hers into her mouth. As if she wanted to torture him, Acacia clamped her teeth on the outside, and then slowly eased out the white goo.
Will’s dick hardened. Shit.
Lucas’ also caught fire, but that was because his best friend couldn’t keep his eyes in his head. “Oh, shit,” he exclaimed as he yanked it from the fire and snuffed out the flames.
Acacia laughed once more, and that sound made his bear roar louder.
“Tell me about yourself, Acacia,” Will asked with as even a tone as he could muster. While he didn’t want to pry, he needed to know everything about her.
“As I mentioned, my sisters and I run a pottery shop. We make things like pots, plates, wall hangings, you name it, all by hand. Then we sell our goods.” She scraped the marshmallow off the stick with her teeth until the wood appeared.
When she groaned and then licked her lips, Will could actually feel the hair poke out of his skin. Damn it. He didn’t need her to learn that he wasn’t completely human. Sure, everyone knew about shifters, but he’d run into a few humans who freaked out when they found out he was one. From what he could tell, Acacia seemed to be rather conservative, and might be prejudiced against his kind.
“How did you get started in your business?” she asked as she grabbed another marshmallow from the bag and stuck it on the end of her stick.
Lucas piped up and regaled her with the story of how the two of them loved electronics as kids. They would build computers and then play around with software. “We started building devices for home automation systems right after high school, and the rest as they say is history.” The reflection of the fire made her hands look as if they sparkled.
“That is really cool. Maybe we could use something like that in our pottery shop. What specifically can your stuff do?”
“Anything you want. You can put cameras in your store so you can watch if anyone is shoplifting during the day or if there is a break-in at night. You can even have the system turn your lights on and off. It can also light your kiln at a designated time.” Lucas sounded more excited than usual.
“Wow.” Pride bloomed in his chest at her interest.
“So, none of your sisters wanted to come with you on this trip?” Will asked. He still couldn’t figure out why she’d wandered so far from home.
“That’s not how we work. While we all go on vacation at the same time, we put the names of the provinces in a glass jar and draw one—okay not Poppy since she really wanted to return to Grindale and waitress like she did last year. My straight-laced sister Magnolia insisted on staying in Avonbelle. That left two names. I chose Hearndon and Primrose got Thedia., which worked out well since Primrose really wanted to go skiing.”
“You four seem very close.”
“Too close sometimes.”
Lucas reached over and snagged another marshmallow. “Why didn’t your boyfriend come with you? I never would have let you come here alone if we were together.”
Really? Will would have said something to Lucas about his lack of tact, but in truth, he wanted to know the answer as well.
“Don’t have one of those at the moment,” she said. “The shop keeps us too busy for much socializing.”
“Business must be booming then if all four of you are producing artwork every day.”
She smiled, but the joy didn’t reach her eyes. “We keep busy, that’s for sure.” She twisted back toward Lucas. “Won’t your lady friend miss you being out here in the wilds?”
“That’s a big fat no,” Lucas said. “Long story short, she’s no longer in the picture.”
“I’m sorry.”
Will stuffed a marshmallow in his mouth and chewed. “Me too. No girlfriend.”
As much as Will enjoyed being with Acacia, this getting to know one other was a bit awkward. “Lucas and I are going on a hike tomorrow. Would you like to join us?”
“No, thank you. I’m still sore from yesterday’s hike just
getting to my campsite. Maybe another time.”
“Sure.” Will could take a hint. Acacia Faiten was not interested. Damn. He’d have to figure out something though to change her mind.
She lifted the bag of marshmallows off her lap and stood. “I should let you two have some peace for the night. I really appreciate the fire. I needed to warm up.”
“I can stop by tomorrow and show you how to light a fire with wet wood if you like,” Will said. Shit. He hadn’t meant to sound desperate.
“I’d really like that. Thank you.”
Acacia clicked on her flashlight and hiked out of there.
Acacia couldn’t believe how her body had responded to Will. She might have been covered from the neck down, but her hands had actually glowed, which freaked her out. Angelique, her friend from Edendale, was a white entity, and she told her that when she was anywhere near her mate, Thane, her body glowed. Did that pertain to goddesses too? Acacia tried to recall if her mom had mentioned anything about that phenomenon, but she came up empty. Even if her mom had told her, Acacia hadn’t been the best at listening back then.
Regardless of the reason for the glow, spikes of lust were piercing her body with too much frequency. Being around Will was definitely doing something to her, making him a truly dangerous man. Yes, she yearned for the love of a man—okay she wanted a mate—but that was not what Fate had in store for her—or so she believed. Her goal was to help others. Period.
When Acacia made it to her campsite, it was dark, cold, and really lonely. The temptation to create a fire using a spell overwhelmed her, but Acacia was determined to be strong. The best thing to do now was to clean up and head to bed. While she didn’t like wasting her batteries in her flashlight, she might sleep better if she read a bit before crashing.
She went into her tent and tossed the marshmallow bag in the corner. She wasn’t in the mood to take down the food bag hanging on the tree just to add these to it. The clouds were moving fast across the sky, blocking the moonlight, looking like it might rain again. Tomorrow would be soon enough to come up with a better system to keep her food safe.
Once in her tent, she slipped out of her jacket and set her dirty shoes just outside the opening. Sleeping in wet clothes that smelled of smoke wouldn’t be pleasant, so she changed.
Once in her sleeping bag, she tried to read. Without anything to lean against, Acacia gave up, turned off her light, and snuggled into her bag. As soon as she closed her eyes though, the image of Will popped up, and she smiled. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, but the age of bear shifters was often deceiving.
Acacia could tell he was a nice man, especially when he’d offered his chair for her to sit on, but there was something simmering inside him that made her want to know more. If she did take them up on their invitation to go hiking, with her luck she’d fall for him hard, only to have her heart broken in two weeks. Nope. Acacia had come to this remote area of the world to reflect, not have a party. At least for the first week, she should do as she had planned.
That ideal plan was totally destroyed when she awoke the next morning to find some animal had torn her food bag to shreds. Paper, cans, and opened food bars were scattered all over the ground. Her heart sank.
“Shit!”
Unless she could succeed at catching some fish, she’d have to ration her food. Not wanting to give more forest animals a treat, she picked up the scraps. The problem was that her bag was torn apart and now she had no place to store the remaining food safely.
Footsteps sounded. Lucas and Will must have heard her less than ladylike curses and thought she was in trouble.
“Wow. That’s quite the mess you have there,” Lucas said, nodding to the pile of half eaten food.
“You’re telling me. Clearly, I made some animal happy last night.”
“You didn’t use a bear bag?” Will asked. While he probably was trying to be helpful, she could hear his disappointed undertone.
“I only had a plastic bag.”
“You need something stronger. Let me run over to our campsite and get one of our sturdy spare ones.”
She didn’t want to be beholden to them, but Acacia wasn’t sure how to keep her food safe from harm for the next twelve days without it. “I would appreciate that.”
Will jogged toward the trail while Lucas helped her finish gathering some small bits and pieces left on the ground. “Do you have a rope by any chance?’
For my clothesline. “I do.”
“If you get it, I’ll set up a bear bag system for you.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“I’ve learned my lesson the hard way too. Nothing is worse than ruined food.”
About a hundred feet from her campsite, he located a good spot where he strung the rope high between two trees. Just as Lucas was almost done, Will found them carrying a strong looking nylon bag. “Here you go. Leave it under the kitchen tarp during the day—unless you go hiking. Then I’d keep it in your tent in your backpack. At night you’ll have to hang the food. That’s when the animals come out.”
“I had no idea.”
“The bears can be pretty mean around here, so be careful.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“Let’s carry the bag over, so we can show you how to hang it,” Will said.
Lucas had not only tied a rope between the trees, he’d had enough to dangle a rope in between. “Here.” She handed it to him.
Lucas explained how to secure the bag and then haul it up to a height above where a bear could reach it. He tied off the rope at the tree. “To bring it down in the morning, just pull this loop and voila.” Lucas demonstrated.
“That is so clever. I can’t thank both of you enough.”
Will smiled, and her heart fluttered. “Just stay safe. We’ll see you around.”
“Where are you off to?” Not that it should matter as she wasn’t planning on hiking today, but she’d feel better knowing.
“Up to Wilkers Bluff.”
Until she looked at a map, she’d have no idea where that was. “Enjoy.”
“Thanks.”
Will winked and then trotted after Lucas. Oh, boy. This was going to be one interesting vacation.
Chapter Four
“I wish we could have convinced Acacia to join us on the hike,” Will said once they finished eating their evening meal back at camp.
“We asked. She said she was sore from hiking, and considering her inexperience, that was probably true.”
In truth, if Acacia had joined them, Will wouldn’t have been able to think about the beauty of the woods or appreciate the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins as he scaled a rock face. No, this intriguing woman would definitely have been a distraction. Last night had been a case in point. He’d not been able to sleep much, because he kept revisiting their conversations. While he tried not to think about what it would be like to make love to her, he’d failed miserably. He had to blame those thoughts on his horny bear, and the only way to calm down his libido was to make a promise to go out more.
Acacia lives in our town remember, his bear said.
Yes, I know.
You need to ask her out for a date when our vacation is over.
I’ll think about it.
With his bear seemingly satisfied, Will collapsed his camp chair that he’d placed facing the fire and stashed it under the kitchen tarp. “You know, if Acacia lost a fair amount of her food, we should cook her a meal tomorrow night and take it over to her,” Will said, trying to act nonchalant.
Lucas joined Will in the kitchen and stuffed the remaining food in the bear bag. “Sounds like a plan. You seem really taken with her.”
So much for trying to fool his best friend. “I am interested, but it’s different for my kind.”
“Different how?”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think Acacia might be my mate.”
“Really? That’s awesome, but you said she’s human, and you’re a shifter.”
Will gathered their food bag and hiked over to the spot away from camp where they had the rope attached high between two trees.
Lucas tied the knot. “We can invite her over here or we can go over there. Either way, you deserve to be happy,” Lucas said.
“Sounds like a plan.” They headed back to their tents. “I’ll dump some dirt on the fire to put it out. Then I’m heading to bed,” Will said.
“See you in the morning.”
After he doused the flames, Will checked to make certain his rain fly was secure and that his tarp was lifted off the ground to allow runoff water to go under the tarp instead of over it. Nothing was worse than waking up to two inches of water.
To his surprise, he managed to fall asleep right away. Sometime in the middle of the night, a scream roused him, but in his groggy state, he assumed it was only a dream. Then the sound entered his conscious mind, and he bolted upright. Holy shit. The shouts were coming from Acacia’s campsite.
He slipped on his shoes, grabbed his jacket, and raced out. Will was about to tap on Lucas’ tent and ask him to help when deep growls floated toward him. Crap. It was a bear. Not wanting to endanger his human friend, Will ditched his clothes, leaving them strewn on the ground, and shifted into his bear form.
Running as fast as he could, he loped toward her campsite, praying Acacia hadn’t been injured. As he neared, her screams turned to whimpers, and Will’s protective urges flared.
When he entered her campsite, he spotted a rather small brown bear next to her tent. In its paws were the marshmallows.
Will rose to his full height and roared. The cub took one look and ran away. As much as he wanted to return to his campsite before shifting—in part so he wouldn’t be naked—he needed to make sure Acacia was okay. Sticking his bear head into her tent would scare her even worse than the cub, he bet.