Chapter Six
There was something Poppy didn’t like. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
She sat in the sitting room in his home, recalling the conversation from a couple of hours ago.
He had to leave as he wanted to get the cub settled, and he’d made a couple of calls, but told her not to leave until he returned.
She had nowhere to go, regardless, and those poachers scared the life out of her.
What started out as a money-making mission was turning into a nightmare.
But she couldn’t figure out what the problem was.
Wilder was nothing but kind, but there were now a couple of things that didn’t make sense.
First of all, the way the cub responded to him.
Sure, it made sense that some cubs that had gone through traumatizing experiences might develop a connection with the human that helped them.
That was a big if, and that usually tended to take days, if not weeks and months.
She’d seen it on those nature videos. The cub acted so differently around Wilder.
As if the cub knew something about him. It wasn’t natural.
Next were the bees—that was completely insane.
He didn’t need to have smoke or any special equipment, and the bees didn’t sting him.
This blew her mind. She didn’t like hurting bees, as she knew they were good for the environment, but even she freaked out every time one buzzed close to her.
That seemed natural for her to do exactly that. He was fearless.
And how was he always hot? That made no sense. Last night was so incredibly cold, yet he’d been so warm. He didn’t need a jacket nor a blanket, and Poppy knew she didn’t exactly provide enough heat to keep him warm.
The final strange thing about Wilder were the scars he possessed, and why did poachers attack him?
Were his parents investigating poachers?
Did they get too close? Were they the poachers and turned on fellow poachers?
She had no understanding of anything that happened, she was more confused than ever before, and she didn’t like it.
Her suspicions had no real validity so they just made her feel guilty.
She rubbed at her temple and remembered how he mentioned putting up security fences to keep humans out. He didn’t refer to men or women, or people, but humans. Maybe he’d just been out in the wilderness too long. Some days she was ashamed to be a human being herself.
The door suddenly opened and she stood up, grateful she’d already finished her cup of tea, because she nearly threw half of it away. She forced a smile to her lips, because she suddenly felt uneasy.
“Hello,” she said. “Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?”
“That would be great. I’ve got honey on the counter. A couple of spoonfuls, please.”
Again, with the bees, and how they reacted to him. Her mind wouldn’t turn off.
“How long have you kept bees?” she asked.
“A long time.”
“It must be nice not to get stung.”
“I’ve never been stung,” he said.
She frowned. In all her life, she’d never known an instance where someone keeping bees hadn’t been stung. No matter how good they were.
“I was really sorry to hear about your parents.” She didn’t want to keep asking questions about the bees, just in case she asked something stupid.
She didn’t know anything about keeping bees, and although she liked the taste of honey from time to time, she didn’t like it enough to keep bees. It was a lot of work.
“It was a long time ago,” he said.
“And poachers killed your parents? Like the men that were chasing after us?” she asked. She hated talking about something painful for him, but she needed answers.
Wilder nodded, and she held out the tea she made for him, and he took it from her. His fingers glided across hers, and she couldn’t help but take a deep breath as all of her nerve endings seemed to stand right on edge.
She looked at him and saw his beautiful dark eyes.
She was not sure if they were quite black or a deep brown.
One look and she felt like she was falling.
It was strange as in the back of her mind, she pictured a dark black bear with lighter streaks of brown.
She had no idea why she thought about that, just that it came to her almost like a vision.
“Don’t you think that’s a little odd?” she asked. “That poachers would kill your parents? Were your parents poachers?”
She was pretty sure a growl emitted from his lips, and she found herself jumping back. The hairs on the back of her arms stood on end.
“They killed my parents. It’s why I go out and force them to move on. I protect bears. My parents were not poachers. They did all they could to protect bears from those monsters.”
He took a step toward her, then another, and Poppy looked into his eyes, and for a split-second, she felt afraid, but then that fear disappeared. This man was not going to hurt her. Wilder had proven he would never hurt her.
“I’m so sorry,” Poppy said. “I don’t know what is ... it must be fear or something. I don’t know what those poachers are capable of, and you mentioned that some of the police are in on it, and I don’t know who I can trust.”
“And you thought I was part of it?”
“I don’t know. It made no sense your parents being attacked by poachers, and I’m so sorry because I know how that sounds.
” She winced. “Ignore me. It’s been a long couple of days.
” It had been a lot longer than that. She hadn’t truly rested in years.
Life, for the longest time, had sucked. Now, the stress was starting to get to her, and she might have insulted Wilder. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated.
“Don’t worry about it. The cub is safe now and so are you. Here, you’ll see that all your troubles melt away.” He leaned in close and Poppy thought he smelled her but she couldn’t exactly be sure.
Her feelings for this man were so confusing, but there was that twist of her gut that told her something wasn’t quite right. What was it? Why did she feel nervous? Like Wilder was hiding something from her?
****
Wilder listened to Poppy sleep.
He’d hoped to come home to Poppy being a little more relaxed, but the moment he opened the front door he sensed a change within her.
It was hard to hide his real bear from her.
The bees, the cub, his senses—all of them were incredibly difficult to hide.
Especially from Poppy, who was now living with him.
After Poppy went to bed, he sensed she was still nervous around him.
At least her body felt different. He took a quick check of the perimeter, then sat on his back porch listening to the night.
Wilder could hear the rabbits, the birds, a few deer running around in the distance. He saw clearly as well.
There was no threat to his home, but he always found peace at nighttime.
This was where true solitude existed, and peace of mind came.
No one was out there, threatening to take it all away.
He knew this sense was always fleeting. The real truth was someone, somewhere was always planning to make life hell, to take, to steal, to ruin.
That was what humans did. The illusion was safety.
It took him a long time to accept that, and now that he had, he didn’t look back.
He relished moments like this, brief, teasing flashes of safety. They were always short-lived.
At the sound of a gasp, he turned to see Poppy. She was in a pair of flannel pajamas. He’d gotten them years ago from a store. They were fucking ugly things, a garish blue and yellow, but on Poppy they looked cute. He would have much preferred her in nothing.
“I thought I heard you up,” she said.
Wilder glanced toward her. Poppy’s body may be sending her warning signs that he was a predator, but did it also tell her she wanted him?
He sensed her attraction, and it made her nervous. He loved when she flicked her hair, or tucked it behind her ear. Little telltale signs that spoke volumes, even better than words ever could.
“You’re up late,” she said.
“I’m just keeping an eye.”
“Do you ever need a lot of sleep?” she asked, with a giggle.
“Sometimes.”
He did love his sleep, but that was usually through the winter.
He liked to snuggle down, and he couldn’t help but look toward Poppy.
She was standing with her arms folded which distorted the shirt she wore.
However, he was able to get a clear look at her body underneath.
More than a generous handful. If she decided to stay with him through the winter, he would have a lot of fun with her.
“What woke you?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I just couldn’t sleep. Did that cub settle all right?” she asked.
“Perfectly.”
“That’s good.”
He moved across the bench, giving her space to sit beside him, and he patted the seat next to him. Poppy didn’t hesitate in taking the seat beside him, and she offered him a smile of thank you.
He smelled her. Tonight, she was like vanilla, sweet, mouthwatering. He loved vanilla. Poppy tucked some hair behind her ear, and he couldn’t resist looking at the curve of her neck. She was so beautiful.
“Were you really being serious about me staying here?” Poppy asked.
“I don’t say things I don’t mean. I’ll keep you safe here.”
“Then, if it is okay with you, I would really like to stay.” She nodded her head. “I think this is going to be a good place for me.”
“Do you want to risk going back home to get anything?”
Poppy shook her head. “I was late on the rent. Those photographs were supposed to help me.” She sighed.
“I hit on hard times. Nothing ever goes to plan, does it? My landlord has probably already rented my place.” She shrugged.
“There’s nothing I can do about it now, but you know, I think this is a good thing. ”
“Why?” he asked, loving her voice.
“Simple, I think everything happens for a reason. My life going from bad to worse meant I was supposed to meet you. This was all meant to happen. It’s like some weird twist of fate, but that’s how the world works, and that’s what I believe.
” She turned to look at him, with a pretty smile on her lips. “And that is what I believe now.”
“Fate?” he asked.
It was odd, because he was a bear, and fate said he was destined to find a mate. One woman in the whole world who would accept him for who he was, who wouldn’t run away.
Poppy was his mate. He sensed it the moment he started to follow her.
With each hour, and the fact he didn’t want to kill her, he knew his feelings were strong.
They went far deeper than anything he’d ever experienced.
He’d tried to fight his bear on this, but the beast was usually right.
A human and a bear. It was laughable, but it wasn’t unheard of.
He heard stories of bears mating with humans, and they were happy.
Wilder didn’t think it was possible he would ever be happy with a human.
Not after all he’d experienced. Yet, here he sat on his back porch with a human he was willing to risk his life for to keep safe. This is what being a mate meant.
“Do you think it’s stupid?” she asked, and even though it was dark, he saw her nibbling her lip.
When Poppy found out the truth, he had a feeling he was going to have to chain her to his bed. The revelation that he was a shifting bear would be hard for most people to digest. Perhaps Poppy would be different.
There was time yet.
His bear wanted to get to know Poppy. Just having her close, the beast in him was settled, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before he wanted to be released. Time was ticking. For now, he was going to enjoy this woman, but he wasn’t going to think of her as a human.
She was his Poppy, and that was all she needed to be.