Chapter 9 #2
A low, vibrating rumble emanated from the grizzly as he snapped his teeth at Liv. Panting, he stared at Fern and dropped open his massive jaw. Canines the size of her fingers gleamed in the sunlight.
Fern stepped back. “He’s not going to eat me, right?”
“I mean, define ‘eat,’” Noa replied.
Taking another step away, Fern reached over to grab Liv’s arm for reassurance but only found air. Thrown off balance, she slipped on her discarded dress, her toe hooked beneath a fold in the fabric, and she flailed backward, splashing ungracefully into the freezing pond.
She sank for a moment, opening her eyes beneath the water to stare at stone and swarms of bubbles. But shock wore off, and she propelled herself to the surface. Sputtering, she wiped the hair from her face just in time to look up and see Noa’s golden tan legs flying toward her.
“Cannonball!” Noa screamed, leaping over Fern’s head.
Olivia watched Noa, shaking her head, then squatted down and reached out a hand for Fern. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I don’t even know—” Past Liv, she caught sight of Elliott’s bear lumbering away. Ben watched him go with his arms crossed over his chest. “I think I’m going to swim for a minute, since I’m in and all.”
“Suit yourself.” Liv sat down and dipped her legs into the water.
Pushing off the slick stone wall, Fern floated, looking up at the hazy clouds as they glided across the aqua sky. “I am going to need my questions answered,” she announced with her ears still submerged.
Lifting her head a moment later, ready for those answers, she was interrupted by Ben announcing, “Come on, let’s go eat before the burgers get cold.”
Fern scowled at Liv, who said, “And we’ll answer all your questions at the table. Let’s go.”
Wrapped in towels and weighed down by loaded paper plates with burgers, potato salad, and grilled corn, they moved the conversation to a picnic table on the back deck. Partly shaded, with sunlight passing through the pines behind the cabin, it was a lovely place to enjoy the weather.
“How do you expect me to start my job in two days with this insane information?” Fern asked, skewering her best friend and her new friends in turn as her gaze shanked its way around the table.
“It’ll make it easier!” Noa offered.
“It really will,” Liv agreed. “The stories you hear will make so much more sense.”
“How did you learn about shifting?” She tried to imagine Ben explaining he was a wolf. “And when?”
“Um...” Olivia coughed, picking at her burger bun.
“Liv?”
Liv’s shoulders drooped. Giving Fern a pleading look, she said, “Please know I never wanted to lie to you. But I was born one.”
Fern’s mouth fell open.
“Humans don’t know about us. Our populations are small. It’s too dangerous if they found out,” Noa chimed in, clarifying.
Olivia Montclair had never been a human. Betrayal and understanding played tug-of-war within Fern, hot rope burn searing her chest and tightening her gut. “This whole time? We’ve been friends for a decade.”
Liv’s mouth fell farther into the largest frown Fern had ever seen, and she reached for Fern down the table. “I’m sorry, lovey. I can explain everything now.”
She nodded, appetite slowly returning at Olivia’s contrition. Lifting her burger, she awaited her answers.
It turned out Olivia Montclair had been born to two alpha wolf shifters, but she was inert. That, Fern learned, meant Liv had an animal buried within her that she couldn’t access until she came to Beckett Falls and met Ben. Olivia promised Fern an additional conversation on the topic later.
Moving on, Fern learned Ben was elected alpha of the pack four years earlier, and Olivia joined him in leadership after they mated. With all the details before her, Beckett Falls sounded like a big HR department… with omegas, which she helpfully pointed out.
Liv fought a smile. “It’s different. Alphas at the top, then betas—”
Fern nodded knowingly, but Olivia gave her a teacher look and shook her head.
“No. They’re titles, that’s all. Alphas at the top, then betas, then the enforcers who protect the town, and everyone else is an omega—the people who work in standard jobs for the pack.”
“No heats?”
“Not really.”
“What do you mean, ‘not really’?”
Liv’s impatient sigh prompted Fern’s laughter before she launched into more clarifying questions that carried them through lunch and back to the pond.
Of note, she learned there were no worms or lobsters or horses, but there was a honey badger in town. They could only turn into animals from the Carnivora order, an oddly scientific quirk of the magic.
“Are there other types of magic?” Fern asked as she braided Noa’s hair by the waterside.
“Like what?”
“Vampires? Demons? Witches?”
“No. No. Dunno.”
“Dunno?” Fern snapped Noa’s hair tie and gave her braid a tug, letting her know it was finished.
“I’ve never met any, but I’ve heard stories.”
“Like charms and spells and stuff? Or tarot?” she checked.
“Sorta. I’m going to grab a beer. Want another one?”
“Yeah,” Fern replied, and Noa bounced away. Waving Adam over, because she still needed a lot of information, she asked, “Can we rewind for a minute? I have another question.”
“What’s up?” He swam up to where she sat on the stone, her feet in the water and a formerly cold beer in her hand. “Is this about the boats?”
“No.” She’d gotten permission to use one of his kayaks on Monday, but that’s not what she was curious about.
Primarily, she was wondering where the fuck Elliott went, but she wouldn’t ask that one.
With no shortage of things she wanted to learn, she went with: “You guys said Liv became alpha when she and Ben mated. What’s mating? ”
Adam dipped under water and pushed away, gliding across the pond like a human torpedo.
“I’ll take that one, I guess.” Noa chuckled and joined Fern on the rock, handing her a fresh beer. “Mating is like marriage.”
“You’re talking about mating?” Liv called, emerging from the empty house Ben took her into to pee.
“How did you hear that?” Fern yelled. “Also, you’re married?”
“Yes! Sorry.” Liv shrugged an apology and continued across the sloping yard toward them.
“Oh, yeah, shifters have enhanced eyesight, hearing, and a sense of smell that we can tap into at will,” Noa said before pursing her lips and tacking on, “and strength and speed.”
“You guys are fucking superheroes. I’m so jealous,” she deadpanned. “How can I become one?”
Grinning, Noa explained, “If you mate with a shifter, you become one. It’s part of the process.”
Fern’s heart soared. She could become a shifter. She would, somehow. It was too fucking magical to consider not trying. She caught Noa’s eye. “Are you into chicks?”
Noa sputtered with laughter.
“That’s a no?”
Adam chuckled from the middle of the pond. “No one tell Fitz she asked that, or he’ll come for Noa. I don’t think your fox would hold up as well as my bear did.”
“Wait, what? Did he fight you? Why would he do that?”
“I’m fine. You should’ve seen him, though.” Adam swam toward the side.
Confused, she looked around for someone to offer an explanation.
“Elliott’s got a crush on you,” Liv said with a soft smile.
“He— Maybe.” She shrugged. “I dunno. I thought he did when he brought me food and kissed me, but then he apologized for it, and he keeps running off.”
Noa dropped her beer, and the bottle clanged on the stone before rolling into the water with a soft splash.
“I’ve got that,” Adam offered before taking a deep breath and diving for it.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Olivia asked.
“Did you hear what Fern said?” Noa yelled to Ben, who was crossing the yard after cleaning up from lunch.
He shook his head.
“Elliott kissed Fern.”
“Noa,” Fern groaned. “I don’t need everyone to know.”
“Eh”—Noa waved her off—“everyone knows everything about everyone in Beckett Falls. I need this whole story.”
“No.”
“Will you tell us in the car on the way home?” Olivia pleaded, pouting with puppy dog eyes.
“I guess,” Fern replied before tossing back her beer.
“Awesome. We’re done here,” Noa announced, hopping up and sparking a spurt of laughter from Fern.
“I’m ready too. Let’s go,” Liv said with a smile, holding out a hand to help Fern to her feet.
“Oh my god, fine. I need to talk about this shit anyway.”
“Fuck yes, gossip,” Noa hissed as she grabbed her towel and skipped to the car.