Chapter 8
Dean
The urge to keep driving rose as Lily’s cheek lay against my back, her arms tight around my waist. But I needed to show her the school and introduce her to some parents in the community. Expanding the school to include the younger shifters should have been done long ago, and I wanted her to see that.
I came to a stop near where my mom was standing with the main bear shifter community elders. Perfect timing. I got off the quad and offered my hand to Lily, who took it. Her cheeks flushed as her gaze darted to toward the group that were gesturing at the school building, her voice low as she muttered, “I’m not dressed to meet people.”
“You look great.” I grinned when she glared at me. “Relax. Shifter dress codes are very forgiving. They’ll be tickled to meet my mate when she’s wearing my clothes.”
She started to speak, but the buzz of her phone interrupted her. She pulled it from the shorts pocket and frowned. “I missed a call. Someone left me a message.”
“We were out of cell service until now,” I said. “Except in the communities, Shifter Alley is mostly a dead zone.”
“Let me just check this quick.” She walked a few feet away, phone raised to her ear.
I waved to my mom as she and the elders began making their way over. But Lily’s sudden squeal had me turning back to her. Her eyes sparkled as she hung up the phone. “I got the job.”
“What job?” Dread pooled in my gut.
“The online interview I told you about. They said I impressed them with how well I handled the technical difficulties, and between that and my resume, they’re excited to have me come work for them.” Lily bounced lightly on her feet. “I got a teaching job.”
Before I could point out that it would take her to another state, away from me, my mom reached us. “Hello sweetie. And Lily. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”
“You too, Ellen.” Lily awkwardly accepted my mom’s hug. She tugged on the hem of the shirt she was wearing. “Dean is giving me a tour.”
“That’s wonderful. And don’t be uncomfortable. I wear my mate’s clothes all the time.” Mom leaned in close to whisper in Lily’s ear before pulling back to introduce the elders. “We were discussing the school expansion and would love your input on what the younger kids need.”
Mom drew Lily with her, but I hung back as they approached the building. I didn’t want to hear Lily tell her she was taking another job. A job that was far from me. And I didn’t doubt she would take it. Suddenly my bear rose inside of me, pushing to get out. He wanted his mate. He wanted to keep her safe and close by, where he could take care of her. But she didn’t want that. She wanted to do it all by herself.
A bear took care of its mate. What was I if I couldn’t do that? Fur rippled over my arms and I fought to hold the shift back. But my bear was insistent. I quickly stripped and finished shifting before heading to the woods, away from the person I wanted most. I needed to run off this hurt so I could support her decision. If I couldn’t be the mate I wanted to be, I’d be the mate she needed.
Lily
I glanced over my shoulder and saw a naked Dean shift into a giant brown bear, which then ran into the forest. My jaw dropped, both in awe at the sight and in disbelief. Did he just leave me here with his mother and the community elders?
Ellen finished her explanation of what they were planning to build. It was amazing, like a dream classroom. They didn’t have the same limitations created by layers of administration and a limited public school budget, and it showed. “What do you think, dear?”
“It sounds wonderful. You’ve really come up with a great plan, and in a very short amount of time.”
Ellen laughed. “Oh, it’s been in the works for over a year. But finding the right teacher has been a challenge. When I told the elders about you, everyone was excited.”
“But you don’t know anything about my skills. And I don’t know anything about teaching shifter children.” I held my palms up. “Surely a teacher who’s also a shifter would be better.”
“There are only a few of those. Most prefer not to leave the community for the time it takes to finish their degree. And the ones who do, they choose to teach the older kids, who actually need a shifter in the classroom,” Ellen said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “The younger kids are basically human, just with a little more energy. It’s during adolescence that all the shifter changes start happening. The early years are about grounding them in their humanity.”
“It’s about getting kids off to a good start.” I thought about Bryce, and how Dean said he fell through the cracks. Were there other shifter kids who needed help? It was why I chose teaching. To give a solid start in life to those who needed it. But I doubted I was the best candidate for the job of teaching shifters. My other job offer was more in my comfort zone. Still, something about the shifter school got me excited. Maybe it was the challenge.
“Exactly.” Ellen looped her arm through mine. “We do what we can as parents, but our community is getting big enough that help is needed. As for your skills, I don’t doubt them. Dean’s one of the good ones, if I do say so myself, which means his mate must be pretty special. And the time I’ve spent with you has only confirmed it.”
She tilted her head and gave me a half-smile. “But if you’d prefer to go through an official interview process, we can arrange that. We can even throw you in a room with some shifter kids and test you.”
“Is it wrong if that makes me more comfortable than being handed the job?”
Ellen threw her head back and laughed. “Not at all. Dean’s a bear shifter. His every urge right now is about taking care of his mate. He’ll steamroll you if you let him. It’s good you have your own mind.”
What followed was the strangest job interview of my life. The elders read my resume off my phone and questioned me on what teaching methods I preferred and how I planned to approach discipline in the classroom. The job would involve teaching a mixed age group, from grade one through six, and they were curious about how I would keep everyone engaged at the same time.
Then Ellen took me to a cabin near the edge of town where a harried woman was attempting to homeschool four rambunctious young kids. I took a quick look at her lesson plan and made a few modifications. By combining everything into one science experiment, it would be easier to engage them than if I had four separate lessons.
One hour and a dozen eggs later, the kids successfully dropped an egg without it breaking by creating a structure from straws and string. Then came the hard part. Clean up. But luckily they were riding high on their victory, and I turned the chore into a game.
Afterward, Ellen led me back to the school. “Janice appreciated the break. She has her hands full with those four.”
“I hope she doesn’t mind that I used up all their eggs.”
“A small price to pay to restore her sanity, even briefly. Her mate travels for work frequently, and she’s often on her own. The community helps where we can, but it’s still hard for her.” Ellen sat on a bench in front of the school building and patted the seat next to her. “She’s one of many who would benefit from the new classroom and teacher.”
“You should probably interview other people.” When her brow raised, I continued, “You might find someone better.”
“Why go through the trouble when we’ve already found someone we like? Unless you don’t want the job.” She turned to face me. “Do you not want to stay with Dean?”
“It’s not about Dean.” I sighed when she looked at me in disbelief. “It’s just all happening so fast.”
“That’s shifter romance for you.”
“But I’m not a shifter.”
“Doesn’t matter.” She patted my hand. “The mate bond works fast. And it works on you, too. Not as intensely as it does Dean, but it’s still there. You can try to slow it down and make sense of it, but fate often has other plans.”
She waved at someone behind me, and I turned to watch as Dean approached, hands stuffed in his pockets. She gave me a quick hug goodbye and whispered, “I won’t pretend that I know a lot about human men. But I can promise you, you’ll never find anyone as dedicated to you as a bear shifter is to his mate.”
Dean nodded at his mom as she left, his hands still in his pockets, eyes shuttered. There was a distance between us that wasn’t there earlier. I followed him back to the quad and expected him to help me up again, but he didn’t. Scrambling onto the machine, I watched, brows furrowed, as he mounted. I placed my hands lightly on his waist, feeling strangely like I was invading his space, unlike previously, when our bodies gravitated and melded together.
The silence between us was palpable, even riding through the forest on a quad. There were no quick glances over his shoulder, no pressing up against him and wrapping my arms around his waist. I wondered what had changed. From the way he and his mother described mates, I had to wonder if I wasn’t his after all. That could explain his distance now. He realized he was wrong about me.
I blinked back tears I couldn’t blame on the wind blowing across my face as a pain pierced my heart. Had I already fallen for Dean? Really, truly, fallen? If so, it appeared I discovered it too late.