Chapter 12 #2
"Different animals," I guess, and he nods again. "Okay. Okay." I'm babbling now, words spilling out. "So this whole town is full of shapeshifters. That's why everything feels different here. Why the ley lines work differently. Why...”
Why I can taste his food. Why the land feels alive. Why I felt pulled here from the moment I crossed the town line.
"For us," I whisper, and the bear's eyes soften. "The land brought me here for you. Not just you as Eli the tavern owner. You as—this. All of this."
He rumbles deep in his chest, and somehow I know it means yes.
I should be freaking out. Should be running back to the Inn to pack my bags and get the hell out of this supernatural town that's apparently full of shapeshifters. Normal people would run.
Instead, I reach out and bury my fingers in the thick fur of his neck.
The bear leans into my touch, careful not to knock me over with his weight. A sound vibrates through him that I can only describe as a purr, though I'm pretty sure bears don't purr.
We sit together in the clearing as the ley lines pulse gently around us, woman and bear, while I try to wrap my mind around the fact that my entire understanding of reality just exploded.
After what feels like hours but is probably only minutes, the mist rises again. Swirling silver-green, obscuring the bear's massive form.
When it clears, Eli stands there—human, naked, breathing hard.
"Tree," he gasps, and ducks behind the largest redwood.
I hear rustling, the sound of fabric, and then he emerges wearing jeans and a t-shirt that must have been stashed there. His hair is disheveled, his feet bare, and he looks exhausted.
But he's Eli again. Human. Whole.
He stops a few feet away, watching me with the same wariness the bear showed. Waiting for my reaction. Waiting for me to run.
"How many of you are there?" I ask again, needing to hear it out loud.
Eli's throat works. "Everyone. The whole town."
"Everyone."
"Everyone who lives here permanently, yeah. We don't let humans settle in Redwood Rise unless the land chooses them. Unless they can handle the truth."
"And you thought I could handle this?" My voice pitches higher. "I came here because I couldn't taste food anymore, Eli. I'm barely handling my life falling apart, and now you're telling me I stumbled into a town full of shapeshifters?"
"You didn't stumble." He takes a cautious step closer.
"The land called you. Same as it called Cilla when she needed a fresh start. Same as it called Dorothy twenty years ago when she was running from an abusive marriage. The ley lines recognize people who need sanctuary. Who need healing. Who need...”
"What? Magic? Secret shapeshifter boyfriends?" The hysteria is creeping into my voice now. "I don't even know what I need anymore."
"You need to belong somewhere," Eli says quietly. "You need a place where you can be yourself without fear of being betrayed again. Where your gifts are valued instead of stolen. Where you're safe. Where you're wanted. Where you're home."
The words hit me square in the chest.
Home.
When was the last time anywhere felt like home? Not my apartment in the city. Not my childhood house where I spent years trying to meet impossible standards. Not the magazine offices where I built a career on someone else's foundation.
But here, in this impossible town, with this impossible man—I've felt more at home in less than a week than I have in years.
"What are you?" I ask. "Specifically, I mean. You're a bear, obviously, but...”
"Grizzly bear shifter. My whole family—my brothers and I—we're all bears." His expression tightens. "It's why we take protecting this territory so seriously. Why losing Jonah hit us so hard. The clan—our family—is everything."
"Clan." I test the word. "Not pack."
"Packs are wolves. We're bears; we have clans." He edges closer, and I don't move away. "There are different types of shifters here. Wolves, bears, big cats, birds of prey. Even a dragon, though she keeps to herself mostly."
"A dragon." I laugh, and it sounds slightly unhinged. "Of course there's a dragon. Why not?"
"Quinn...”
"Are you dangerous?" The question comes out blunt, but I need to know. "When you're—like that. Could you hurt someone?"
"I'm still me," Eli says. "The bear is part of who I am, not separate. I have control. We all do, except in extreme circumstances." He gestures to the clearing. "That ley line surge was strong enough to force the change, but even then, I knew you. Would never hurt you."
"Because I'm...” I struggle to find the words. "Because I'm yours? The bear seemed to think so."
His eyes flash. "You felt that?"
"I did. When I touched you." I swallow hard. "The bear's thoughts. I could feel...” How do I explain that I somehow felt his emotions? His bone-deep certainty that I belonged to him and he to me? "It's true, isn't it?"
Eli closes the distance between us in two long strides, dropping to his knees in front of me.
"It is. My bear chose you the moment you walked into the tavern.
But Quinn, listen to me—that doesn't mean you're obligated to choose me back.
Mates are about destiny, but destiny doesn't override free will.
You get to decide. You always get to decide. "
I look at him—this man who's been patient with me, who's fed me, who's kissed me like I'm precious, who's shown me magic and mystery and now his deepest secret. This man who can turn into a literal bear and still somehow makes me feel safer than I've ever felt.
"Everyone," I say again. "The whole town knows about this?"
"Everyone who's permanent, yeah. Tourists and visitors see what they expect to see. The ley lines help with that—camouflage, sort of. But people who belong here, people the land chooses—they see the truth eventually."
"And you were going to tell me when?"
"Today. This morning, actually, before the emergency with Jonah." He reaches for my hand, hesitates, then touches my fingers gently. "I was terrified you'd run. That I'd lose you before we even had a chance."
"I should run," I tell him honestly. "This is crazy. All of it."
"I know."
"Shapeshifters and magic and destiny—none of this should be real."
He doesn't let go of my hand.
"But I can taste your food." The words tumble out. "For the first time in over a week, I can taste. Here at the tavern, at the Inn—only in Redwood Rise." Tears prick my eyes. "Do you have any idea what that means to me?"
His hand tightens on mine. "I do."
"And the land—you said it called me here. That it recognized me."
"The land knows who belongs. Who needs what we can offer."
"Safety," I whisper. "Healing. Home."
He nods.
I look around the clearing, at the moss still glowing faintly silver-green, at the ancient trees standing witness. Feel the ley line pulse beneath us like a heartbeat. Steady. Sure. Welcoming.
Then I look back at Eli—human now, but still carrying that wildness in his eyes. Still mine in a way I don't fully understand but can't deny.
"Okay," I say.
He blinks. "Okay?"
"I'm not running. I'm...” I take a shaky breath. "I'm choosing this. You. All of it. I'm staying."
His shoulders drop. His eyes close briefly, and when they open again, they're wet. "You're sure?"
"No. Not even a little bit. This is completely insane and I'm probably making a huge mistake and I still have about a thousand questions." I squeeze his hand. "But yeah. I'm sure."
Eli pulls me into his arms, and I go willingly, burying my face against his chest. He smells like cedar and smoke and forest and magic, and somehow it all makes sense.
"Thank you," he breathes against my hair. "Thank you for not running. For staying. For choosing...”
"Us," I finish. "I'm choosing us."
He pulls back just enough to kiss me, and I taste everything—hope and relief and promise and that wild edge that's purely him. When we break apart, we're both smiling.
"So," I say, trying for normal even though nothing will ever be normal again. "I'm dating a bear."
"Technically you're dating a bear shifter. There's a difference."
"Is there?"
"Bears can't cook omelets."
I laugh, surprised the sound comes so easily after everything. "Fair point. Though I have to say, the bear was pretty cute. In a massive, terrifying, could-definitely-kill-me sort of way."
"My bear thinks you're perfect," Eli says seriously. "Has since the moment you walked into the tavern. Wanted to keep you. Protect you. Make you ours."
"Possessive much?"
"It's a bear thing." He grins, and there's an edge of wildness in it that makes my pulse jump. "You'll get used to it."
"Will I?" I raise an eyebrow. "That sounds pretty presumptuous."
"You're right. Let me rephrase: I hope you'll get used to it. If you decide to stay. To really stay, not just for two weeks."
The question hangs between us. This isn't just about accepting that shapeshifters exist. This is about choosing a life here. A future in this strange, magical town with this impossible man.
"I don't have much to go back to," I admit. "A job I'm on leave from. An apartment that never felt like home. A career built on someone else stealing my work."
"That's not why I want you to stay."
"I know." And I do. I see it in his eyes, feel it in the way he holds me. This isn't about convenience or circumstance. This is about something bigger. "But it makes the choice easier. I'm not giving up a life in the city. I'm choosing a new life here."
"With me."
"With you," I agree. "And your bear. And your brothers and your clan and the ley lines and apparently the whole shapeshifter town."
"It's a lot."
"It is." I rest my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Strong and steady and real. "But I think I'm ready for a lot. I think I've been ready for a long time. I just didn't know it until I got here."
"Come on," Eli says eventually, taking my hand. "Let's head back. You must be starving."
"I could eat," I admit. Then pause. "Wait. Can I ask—when you're a bear, do you still think like a human? Or is it more...”
"That's question number one of a thousand, isn't it?"
"Maybe." I grin up at him. "You did say I could ask anything."
"I did." He starts leading me back toward the path, our fingers laced together. "And yeah, I still think like me. The bear has instincts, drives, but I'm always in control. Always aware. It's hard to explain to someone who's never experienced it."
"So when you were a bear just now, you understood everything I said?"
"Every word." His thumb traces circles on the back of my hand. "Including the part where you called my bear cute."
Heat rises in my cheeks. "I was in shock. I didn't mean...”
"My bear's very pleased, actually. Thinks you have excellent taste."
I shake my head, but I'm smiling. "This is going to take some getting used to."
"I know. But Quinn...” He stops, turning to face me. "I meant what I said. You get to decide how much of this life you want. How involved you want to be with the clan, with the shifter community. No pressure. No expectations. Just—whatever feels right to you."
I look at this man who's offering me freedom even as everything in him clearly wants to bind me to him forever. Who's trusting me with his deepest secret. Who's letting me choose.
"What if what feels right," I say slowly, "is all of it? The clan, the community, the magic—all of it?"
His eyes darken. "Then I'd say welcome home."
"Home," I repeat, testing the word. It fits better than I expected. "Yeah. That sounds right."
We walk back through the forest hand in hand. The ley lines pulse beneath my feet with every step—steady, welcoming. His hand is warm in mine.
I've chosen this. Chosen him. Chosen a town full of shapeshifters and magic I barely understand.
But as we emerge from the trees and the tavern comes into view, one question keeps circling through my mind: if everyone in Redwood Rise is a shifter, what does that make me?