CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Lero
Nightshade Bear Territory
Mori left a few days after his going away party. I offered to get in my truck and be part of the convoy that drove with him to the Raven Hollow Territory, but he declined. I tried not to be butt hurt about it and I mostly succeeded. Sure, I made clothes for a living, but I was still a bear.
Vallis and I opted out of a mating feast, but some of the other bears still brought cooked dishes and gifts to leave for us.
In the village, true-mates meeting was a whole village celebration.
From the mating feast to taking care of the newly met mates during their matingmoon.
They hadn’t had the chance to do that for us, but they didn’t want us to feel left out and I appreciated that.
The less time we spent on cooking, the more time we could spend together and that’s all I wanted to do.
My grandparents and parents often talked about finding the rhythm to your life while I was growing up.
I wasn’t sure if this is what they meant, because I didn’t particularly care what we did as long as we were together.
Those first few weeks we did a lot of laying around and talking and late-night runs in the forest. Anywhere else, I imagined, that two bears barreling through the forest would’ve been a cause for alarm but here, it was just us having some fun and blowing off steam.
Eventually, I did start taking orders for clothes again and we’d work on them together.
Not all true-mates received knowledge or kinetic memory from their mates during the claiming vows, but Vallis received enough to know his way around my projects.
I also made him some t-shirts for his bear form and he let me take photographs for my website. He was a big, handsome bear.
Slowly, we filled up the baby registry, because I knew better than to shop before the others were finished giving us gifts.
That’s why there was so much extra to go around in the first place.
The nursery was another thing we talked about a lot and Vallis decided that was his project since it fell into his realm of magic.
We’d keep as much of the original hardwood as we could.
The house was old and had character. That’s why I chose it.
Plus, my sire had lived here for a while as a kid.
He was still in touch with Kodiak and a woman named Crystal who was Finn’s mate.
It was one night while we laid on the bare floor of the nursery that Finn came to say his goodbyes.
At first I was suspicious, because he’d claimed he was going to move on before but had never done it.
He walked in through the wall and looked around as if he saw the room how it must’ve been when his triplets were here.
We sat up in case he wanted to talk or was about to have another episode of forgetting that he was dead like he was prone to doing.
“Hope you don’t mind. Didn’t want to bother you but wanted to see it one last time.
I didn’t know it then but those boys were the best things in my life.
They were so little and kept getting sick.
They’re all grown up now. Good guys too.
I think I’ve done everything I can do. I can’t think of a single other thing to do.
I don’t mean that I’m bored. I haven’t been bored since I died.
I think…” he let out a long sigh. “I think I had to do something for your family to make it right. Colton didn’t die but he almost did that night in the woods and it was my fault.
I… I wanted your dad’s head. It was stupid.
I was scared. I wanted my boys to be safe.
Little did I know that they’d have been safer with him than some of the people I went on to socialize with. Ivan’s a good wolf.”
“He is,” Vallis said. “He’s a better guy than plenty of people.”
“I hope this house serves you well. I really do. It’s a good house and you’ve turned it into a home, Lero. Are you okay now? Is everything okay now?” His eyes looked so sleepy as he spoke with his eyelids trying to fall down closed.
“Everything’s good now, Finn. Thank you for helping us.”
“Thank your grandpa for not banishing me to the Pit,” he yawned and stretched out.
“Sleep well, friend,” Vallis said as Finn’s eyes drifted shut for the final time.
He dozed there in the empty nursery for awhile before fading away. I hoped this time that Finn really found peace.