Chapter 25 #2
“Eddie’s on the phone with Cole. Tell me the truth, I’m not that awful, am I?” Brent asked. “I thought I was a lot better.”
I wanted to take his hand and pull him closer. I hated it when we were separated, even for a short while. “You are, but Eddie’s got it bad for this guy and he’s only seeing problems, not potential happiness. It’ll be fine.”
“I hope so. Oh, forgot to tell you! I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“This weekend, how would you like to take a ride with me? We can sit in our field, hold hands, and stare up at the moon together to celebrate our anniversary.”
“That sounds like an awesome plan. I’ll get us a picnic together. Can’t wait. See you soon.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Then he disconnected the call. I slipped the phone into my pocket and was about to dive into recipes when there was a knock on the office door. I turned to find Amelia standing there, cup in hand.
“Brought you some hot cocoa,” she said. “His special blend.”
“Thank you, ma’am. You are a gentlelady and a scholar.”
The first sip warmed me to my toes. “Damn! How much booze did you put in this?”
She snickered. “Just enough to make you glow.”
“Mission accomplished,” I assured her, tilting the mug in her direction.
She squeezed my shoulder, then headed back out of the room.
I smiled as I took another drink. Life was weird.
One day you’re dropping things everywhere and unable to hold a job.
The next you’re controlling a lifelong issue with medication, living in a billionaire bear shifter’s mansion with his sons and the staff you regard as friends, and you find the happiness you’ve always worried was just a bit faster than you and you could never catch.
Yet, beyond all reason, I did. These past ten years have been nothing but transformative.
The boys eventually caught up to their ages and began to excel in school and life.
Brent and the boys’ psychologist were over the moon.
They both credited me, although I knew it was the hard work they’d put in.
On the other end of the family, we ended up telling Jamie.
Eventually. Brent decided he didn’t like us lying to him, and he also wasn’t keen on me flying out to meet him, Debra, and their son, Wyatt every few months.
After Wyatt was born they discovered he had profound hearing loss, and I wanted to give them a break when I could.
However…. What Chaim and Benjy had said wasn’t wrong.
Even though I wasn’t a bear, it was physically painful for us to be apart.
“We have to tell him,” Brent had said. “I don’t like you gone for weeks on end and not in our bed. They can come here to visit. Wyatt is old enough now to hear the truth and I know it’ll be a surprise for Deb and Jamie, but they’ll adjust.”
Once we’d agreed, I called and invited them to come for a visit.
When they arrived on the jet, they were all chatty.
Cullin brought them to the mansion, and Deb was in awe.
Brent showed them around, took them to their rooms so they could rest or wash up or whatever.
That night our boys watched Wyatt while we headed into the mountains.
Brent wanted to know why we were going there, and I told him it was so Jamie couldn’t run away.
He didn’t.
“Brent is a shifter. That means he can transform from a man into a bear and back again.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t possibly think I’ll accept that,” Jamie scoffed.
“Should I show them?” Brent asked.
“Apparently you’ll have to, since he doesn’t believe us.”
Brent ducked behind the car, stripped out of his clothes, then shifted. When he ambled around in his form, Jamie’s eyes went wide, then his face went pale, and he passed out. Fortunately, Brent was close enough to break his fall.
“This is so awesome!” Deb squealed, without even seeing if Jamie was okay.
“Don’t you wanna check to find out if your husband, the father of your child, is all right?”
She waved a dismissive hand. “He’s fine. Now tell me, does shifting hurt? Were you born like this or did you get bit or what?”
The questions were relentless. I had to hold onto her so Brent could get his clothes on again.
“Why don’t the two of you head on back?” I asked. “She obviously has more questions, and I’m going to have to talk to Jamie when he wakes up.”
“Sounds good. I’ll bring the helicopter when I come to get you so you guys won’t have to wait so long.”
He gave me a lingering kiss, and extracted a promise from me that I owed him for dealing with Deb. I sat beside Jamie after they left and waited for him to wake up. They were gone about five minutes when his eyes fluttered open and he sat up.
“What happened?”
I smirked. “You fainted.”
“Oh, bullshit. I never—wait. Did I really just see Brent turn into a bear? That was a dream, right?”
“Nope, that’s what you saw.”
He frowned. “But that’s not possible.”
“It is, and not just for Brent. Most everyone in the town can shift. Even the boys.”
“Oh, come on,” he said, denying what he’d seen with his own eyes. I remembered doing that same thing.
“Brent and his people are ursine shifters. Before you ask, no, we don’t know how or why.”
“But that’s insanity!” he cried out. “I’m taking you home with us.”
“You most certainly are not!” I shot back. “This is my home. Brent is my husband. Those are my boys.”
“Uly, he’s dangerous. He’s a freaking twelve hundred pound bear.”
“He’s only six hundred pounds, asshole. And if he was twelve, it would be because of the cakes you keep sending.”
His eyes were still wide, and his breathing was short and shallow. “I need you safe.”
“Who’s going to fuck with the mate of a grizzly bear?” I asked. “Or who will get near me in a town full of them? Nowhere is as safe for me as here.”
“He could maul you! You’re nothing but skin and bones, and wouldn’t even be a mouthful to him.”
Honestly, I hadn’t expected this kind of reaction, though I guess it shouldn’t surprise me.
Jamie was always no nonsense and had lost his whimsical side when we were both still young.
Despite Mom and Dad working hard, things were tough on occasion, and he went out and got a job to help with the bills.
He grew up way too fast, and I regretted it, but still, he needed to see I was right where I wanted to be.
“Look, let me tell you right now. Never once has Brent said I wasn’t a mouthful, and if there’s mauling done, I’m the one who is the happy recipient. In fact, my chest looks like a tapestry when he’s done with it.”
He stuck his fingers in his ears. “La la la la la, can’t hear you.” I yanked them away and he smirked at me. “Never say that shit to me again.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll try not to. But you have to understand, Brent and the boys are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I will not walk away from it, not even for you.”
He assessed me keenly, his gaze raking over my body, then settling on my face. “I have to admit, you sound happy.”
“Because I am.”
“And he did talk to me about dating you.”
“He did what?”
“That was years ago. He was afraid I might not like him and that would make you worry about the two of you working out, so he enlisted our help.”
Sneaky bastard. But hey, I couldn’t argue with the results. “I love him, Jamie.”
“I can see that. And you swear you’re safe?”
“Yup. Brent would never let anything happen to me.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to talk to Deb so she can bring me up to speed on… what did you call it?”
“Shifters.”
“Yeah, that.” Then he frowned. “But I’m going to have to listen to her tell me about guys doing it.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? She doesn’t read more than a few of male and female pairings. She’s hooked on two dudes getting it on. And if I ask her, she’ll read shit to me, and I’ll have those images in my head, and all I’ll see is your face and that’s just grossly awkward to me. Emphasis on the gross.”
I chuckled. “Take it as a learning opportunity. I had to hear the two of you when you were dating, so turnabout and all that.”
“You… heard that?”
“Oh, yeah. Deb can be kinda loud.”
He blew a raspberry. “Please, it’s more that I’m kinda great in bed.”
Then he smirked at me, his eyes twinkling in the softening light. A moment later he cackled and then we both broke up laughing.
“My brother-in-law is a bear. Cool, I guess.”
“You’ll learn to love it,” I promised.
He cupped my cheek, something he hadn’t done in years. “I love you, Uly. And no matter what, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy.”
“Which I am.”
“Then I am too.”
It went a long way to soothing my fear. “Let me call Brent to come get us. He’ll send the helicopter.”
“Uh… Before you do that? Could we maybe sit here a bit? You don’t get views like this in the city.”
I looked at where we were, and smiled. This was our special place, where Brent would bring me when he wanted to enjoy some quiet time, just the two of us.
The looming mountains in the background, their peaks covered in snow, the tall, majestic trees rising toward the sun reflecting off the sparkling lake, shimmering in the dappled light.
It was as perfect a place as I’d ever been.
“Sure, let’s do that.”
And as the two of us sat there, Jamie draped an arm over my shoulder, enjoying the beauty of the land I called home.
Two days later, Brent and I sat in the kitchen, eating bacon and eggs that Amelia had prepared. I loved to cook, but I could never get my stuff to turn out like hers. She had this way with food, like it cooked perfectly because it wanted her to be happy. I admit, I loved it.
“Did they get on the plane safely?” Brent asked, noshing on a strip of peppered bacon.
“They did. Jamie asked me to thank you for sending them home in style.”
Brent shrugged. “I had to because you wouldn’t.”
“What do you mean?” I groused, taking my plate to the dishwasher before coming to stand by Brent’s side. “I bought them tickets. First class, even.”