Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
" S o, Carly," Rhys started, "what made you decide to become a teacher."
"Oh, here we go." Hattie rolled her eyes, and shoved another forkful of food in her mouth.
"And why art?" Noah added, unfazed by his cousin.
Carly looked around the table and smiled at Ryker's family. She'd been right about Luke being close to her age—he was only two years older—and at twenty-eight, the twins were only six years younger. Hattie was the youngest of the group at twenty-six, and even though she was their cousin, they all treated her more like a little sister. Not that she couldn't hold her own. The woman fit in with this group of guys easily, and wasn't afraid to call them out on their bullshit.
She couldn't think of any of them as kids, but their questions were similar to the ones she received from her students, and she'd been dealing with curious kids for more than a decade. Of course, she wanted to make a good impression, but the only thing she could do was be herself and hope for the best.
"Well, I really love art," she smiled, "but the idea of being a starving artist didn't have any appeal, so I decided to teach. I've done painting parties and other things like that, but I wanted a steady income that would also allow me to have free time to work on my own art, so I decided to become an art teacher. Sadly, art is being phased out of a lot of schools, so it might not be a forever type of thing, but until that happens, I'll keep doing it. I think it's important to share art with the world."
"Is that why you moved to Hickory Bear Rapids? Was your last job phased out?"
This time it was Luke asking the question. Unlike the twins, Luke was much more reserved, and she didn't miss the way he seemed to watch everything while still being an active part of the group. He also had a calming presence about him, and she understood why he made a good sheriff.
"Yeah," she nodded. "That and I was tired of living in the city. It's crowded and expensive, and I really like being around nature. I love walking along the rapids every day, and you just can't do something like that in the city. Not every day. So, when they phased out my job, I looked around for something better, and was lucky enough to find it here."
"And you found dad, too."
Noah's voice was serious when he said the words, but it only took a couple of seconds for everyone to burst out laughing, including herself. Ryker gently squeezed her thigh, and though he was laughing too, she took the gesture as some sort of affirmation his son's words.
The conversation flowed easily for the rest of the evening, andas she got to know his family, her attraction to Ryker grew. He'd raised his sons all on his own, and had had a huge influence on Hattie's life, and all four of them were pretty great.
After they cleaned up the mess from dinner, she brought out the box of cookies she'd picked up from the bakery, and everyone started teasing Luke when he only put one on his plate. Going by the amount of food she'd seen Ryker eat, she'd gone with two dozen cookies thinking his boys would have the same enormous appetites. As she glanced inside the nearly empty box, she knew she'd made the right decision.
"You don't like chocolate chip cookies?" She asked.
"No," Rhys laughed. "He likes them too much."
The guys all had their mouths full, so Hattie explained.
"Luke is in love with the bakery owner, so he visits the place every day. And practically keeps her in business with all the cookies he buys," Hattie laughed.
"I do not keep her in business," Luke practically growled the words. "She does that all on her own. I just visit to show my support."
"And to hope that one day she'll go out with you," Noah chimed in.
"Why won't she won't go out with you?" Carly asked.
"She's being..."
"Smart!" Noah and Rhys nearly shouted the word.
"Cautious," Hattie added.
"Thank you," Luke nodded at his cousin. "She's being cautious, and that's fine with me. I will wait forever for her."
"She'll come around son." Ryker said matter-of-factly, and all of the others nodded. She loved that they could all be joking one minute, and know when to stop in the next.
Carly smiled at Luke and started on her own cookie when someone changed the subject.
Hattie was the one to leave first, followed by the twins, and then Luke started saying his goodbyes.
"Hold on, son," Ryker stopped him. "Carly, have you received any more of those texts?"
"Texts?" Luke asked, quickly turning professional.
"Ah, a couple," she said, looking between the two men. "The last one was Friday, though, so I'm hoping he might have finally given up."
"She's been receiving daily texts—sometimes more often—possibly from an ex, for about a week."
"I'm not sure it's him," Carly added, "but the texts started coming the same day a friend told me she gave him my number. I haven't seen him in two years, and deleted his contact info out of my phone right after we split, so I have no idea if any of the numbers actually belong to him. So far, all the numbers have been different, so I just keep deleting and blocking.”
After explaining what types of messages were coming in, Luke agreed with Ryker.
"Right now, this just seems annoying, and maybe that's all it is, but it does seem weird. Sometimes things that seem like nothing are actually something, so if you get another text, even one that seems harmless, don't delete it and bring your phone down to the station. Whoever is doing this is probably trashing the phones after each text, but we can try to trace it and see if we find anything."
"Okay," she nodded. "Thank you, Luke."
"It's no problem," he smiled. "I'm goingto head out, but you kids have fun tonight."
They all laughed at his joke, and Ryker walked him to the door whileshe hung back to let the guys talk. Aside from the box that now only held two cookies and some crumbs, the kitchen and dining area were spotless, and she was once again impressed by Ryker's family. After the main meal had ended, everyone had done their part to put away all of the leftoverfood, load the dishwasher, and clean the table.
They were like a well-oiled machine, and though it didn't seem like anyone was assigned one specific job, they all joined in and did what needed to be done. She'd done her part, too, of course, but that had mainlyinvolved taking her plate to the sink and handing it off to Noah.
Watching everyone move gracefully and efficiently around the kitchen made her smile because it was one of the things that she taught in her classes at the beginning of every school year. Because she spent her days moving from classroom to classroom, she only had a limited amount of time to actually teach a lesson, and training the kids on efficient clean up gave them more instruction time when they moved on to bigger projects.
"What's that look?" Ryker smiled as he moved back into the kitchen.
"Just thinking about your family and how well every one works so together. I really like them, and I had fun tonight. Thank you for inviting me."
"They really like you, too, and I'm glad you came," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "I missed you yesterday."
They hadn't been able to see each other the day before because he'd had to go out of town to renew one of his certifications, and after their declaration to be exclusive on Friday night, not seeing him had been weird. They'd texted though, and she hoped he didn't want her to leave yet, because she really wanted to spend some time with him alone.
"I missed you, too. They told you they like me?"
"They didn't have to. I can just tell. Can you stay a little longer? I want to show you something."
She hoped whatever he wanted to show her involved him being naked, because she could feel his thick cock pressing against her belly, and she really wanted to know what it felt like to be filled by him.
"I can stay."
He brushed his lips against hers, and then he let her go and moved to the coffee maker.
"Good. Go get on your coat and gloves. We're going to take a little walk."
R yker handed Carly the thermos he carried, and slowly lowered the draw bridge that would connect his land to the National Park on the other side of the river.
"This is amazing," Carly said. "You can't even see the bridge unless you're really looking for it."
Yeah, he'd built it that way on purpose. Because even though no one ever visited this part of the National Park, he wasn't dumb enough to ever let his guard down.He'd already sniffed the area before showing Carly the bridge, and even though there was no one around, he would still sniff his special spot before allowing her to enter.
Once the bridge was lowered, he took the thermos back and grabbed her hand.
"I'll go first," he said. "It's safe, but make sure to hold onto the rail as you cross."
"Okay," she nodded, her excitement palpable.
Ryker crossed the river and then waited on the other side for his mate. The way her face lit up as she crossed over the rocks made him feel amazing, and beneath the surface, his bear even sat up taller. There was no doubt in his mind that she was made for him, and some of the tension he felt at showing her his bear dissipated.
Carly was nothing like his ex, but that didn't mean he could predict how she would act at seeing his bear, and a small part of him still wondered if she would reject him. He didn't think so—not when she seemed to fit him so perfectly—but the possibility was there. It was one of the reasons he didn't want to wait to show her this part of himself, even though he wasn't ready to complete the mating bond.
When Carly met him on the other side, she bounced on the balls of her feet.
"That was incredible," she practically squealed. "Thank you for sharing that with me."
"There's more."
"More?"
He laughed as he secured the chain thatheld the "No Trespassing" sign so that it blocked the entrance to the bridge.
"Yeah, a lot more. Come on."
He grabbed her hand and led her down the small path that led to the entranceof his cave. Of course, it wasn't really his, but he'd claimed it as his own years ago, and no other man or beast had ever entered the space. Whenthey reached the entrance, he subtly sniffed the air again, and then pulled Carly through the nearly hidden opening.
"Oh my god, this is beautiful."
The space was the size of a small bedroom, both in square feet and in height. One wall housed a small waterfall that came in from another water source, but the real treasure was the light pool on the opposite wall. The pool was oval shaped, and only about four-feet wide, but the rock inside sparkled and glittered like diamonds. The water covering the rocks caused all of that light to reflect on the walls and ceiling of the cave, making it look like he'd lit a lamp.
Unlike the brisk air outside, the space was warm, and Carly had already removed her gloves and was starting to unzip her jacket.
"How is this possible," she asked, walking over to the pool. "How is it so warm in here with all of this water? How is that rock lighting up this room like that? Can I touch it? Is it safe?"
"It's one of the miracles of nature," he shrugged, "and it's completely safe."
She dipped her hand in the water, and ran her fingers over a stone.
"I can't believe how warm that is."
"There's a place to hang your coat. If you want to take it off."
He walked over to the wall, and showed her the knobs that looked like they were carved from the stone.
"Did you carve these?" She asked, trailing her fingers over the rock.
"No," he shook his head. "They are just another wonder of nature."
"Wow."
She hung her jacket on the knob, and looked around the space again while he walked over to the tiny alcove where he'd stashed the oversized sleeping bag, blanket, and pillows. There was also a bag that held two disposable cups with lids, some bottles of water, and a couple of energy bars.
"Now, I did stash this stuff here," he said, showing her all of the provisions.
"Oh, good," she laughed, helping him spread out the sleeping bag. "I was hoping we were going to hang out here for a little while."
As soon as the sleeping bag was ready, she sat down and started taking off her shoes. They hadn't actually talked about sex yet, but he knew from the sparkle in her eye that she at least wanted to play, and he wanted that, too. So much. But she was important to him, and he wasn't going to sleep with her without telling her about his animal.
"Wait!"
He hadn't meant to shout the word, but he never wanted her to feel trapped, or frightened, with him. If she freaked out about his bear and decided to run, she would either fumble to get her shoes on, or run without them and get hurt. Both thoughts caused his chest to ache, but he pushed the feeling aside. He wasn't going to let fear stop him from telling her the truth.
The worried look on her face was so different from the teasing one she'd held a minute before that he wanted to forget this plan and join her on the sleeping bag, but he knew he couldn't. Not yet.
"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to yell, but before we go any further, I have to tell you something. If you decide to leave, it will be better if your shoes are already on."
"Okay."
She dragged out the "O" while looking at him skeptically, and he knew he was totally fucking this up. Aside from his ex, who had found out about his bear by accident, he'd never actually told anyone about his animal. He was only telling Carly because she was his mate, and even though he didn't want to complete the bond, he did plan on keeping her in his life.
"Fuck," he swore, and glanced at the ceiling before taking a deep breath and meeting her eyes again. "I know this is weird, and I'm fucking it all up, but I've never actually shared this part of myself with anyone before. At least... not on purpose."
"Just spit it out, Ryker. That's the best way."
"You're right," he nodded. "No matter what happens, just know that I will never hurt you, okay?"
"Okay."
He could sense a small amount of fear radiating off of her, but she wasn't running yet, so he pushed on.
"I'm a bear shifter. I can change, or shift, into a grizzly bear."
She stared at him a full minute before speaking.
"You can change... Into a bear?"
She cocked her head to the side, as if trying to figure out whether or not he was telling the truth, and though the small amount of fear was still there, it wasn't as strong.
"Yes. I'm still me, but I just change forms. Do you want me to show you?"
"You'll know it's me sitting here? You won't think I'm food?"
"Well, I'm dying to taste you again," he smiled, "but that has nothing to do with me being able to change forms. It will still be me; I'll just look different on the outside."
"Okay," she nodded. "How does it work?"
"The change is instant, so I keep my clothes on and sort of... call my bear. One second it will be me standing here, and the next it will be my animal form. You can talk to me, and I can understand you, but I can only respond back in grunts or growls."
"Hmmm." She laughed, and he could smell a small trace of arousal filling the air. He knew she liked the sounds he made, and he hoped that worked to his advantage in some way. She stood up, and disappointment flooded him. she was going to leave, and he had no idea how to stop her.
Fuck!
"Okay," she said, standing close to the knob that held her coat. The entrance to the cave was only a few feet away, and he liked that she was prepared to run if needed. Not that she could actually outrun a bear, but he wouldn't chase her if she left. "I do want to see him."
He shifted forms, and then sat down on his hind legs and watched her.
"Fuck," she swore. "You were telling the truth. I mean, I wanted to believe you, but... Ryker, this is amazing."
She took a tentative step toward him, and then paused.
"You do know it's me, right?"
He grunted and rolled his eyes, causing her to laugh as she took another step closer.
"Can I touch you?"
He nodded and she crossed the room slowly, keeping her eyes on him the whole time.
"You know the pamphlets say not to make eye contact with a grizzly, or they will take it as a challenge. Is this why you were asking me about the grizzlies? Have you seen me out walking before? No, I don't think you have, because you are darker than the other bears I've seen. Wait? Are Luke and the twins bears, too? What about Hattie? Are there other shifters living around here?"
She was babbling again, something he knew she only did when she was nervous, which wasn't often. He had to give her credit, though, because she was handling this like the fierce woman he knew she was.
When she finally reached his side, she only hesitated a minute before dragging her hand against his fur.
"Oh," she said, petting him again. "You're soft."
She dug her fingers into his fur, and suddenly, he was anything but soft. The feel of her tiny hands threading through his fur was fucking amazing, and he wanted to shift back and bury his very human dick in her cunt.
"I thought your fur would be coarse," she said, letting her hands roam, "but you're so soft. And look at those paws. My hand looks so tiny next to this thing."
She traced his claws with one of her fingers, and then she looked him in the eye.
"You have the same eyes," she said, placing one hand on his cheek. "I bet no one ever gets close enough to see that, but it's definitely you in there."
He turned his head, and gently licked her palm. Her eyes flashed, and a new wave of arousal filled the air, pushing away any trace of fear.
"Ryker," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Shift back."