Chapter Five
Posy
I don’t know what I expected to happen when I finished signing up for the app. For a service that declared itself a mating one rather than dating, I sure got a lot of possible matches. It should have been more refined than that?
Fortunately, I had a lot of free time that evening to browse profiles and narrow them down for myself. So many wolves! Maybe my answers had drawn those matches? After all, I’d lived with wolves my whole life and probably had taken on some of their characteristics. How would I know the difference?
Willing to put aside prejudices based on my pack, I looked over the profiles. Each of them had humans as an option, of course, which already made them more of a choice than the boys I grew up with.
Finally, I sent a message to a cute wolf shifter who lived in the Arctic. Far, far away from home for me. I called that a plus. He even had a picture of his wolf who was white and fluffy and very cuddly looking. Why not say hello?
He replied to my short message of greeting with an extremely enthusiastic, When can we meet?
Not scary at all… How about we chat on here a bit first? Or video call?
He shot himself in the foot with, I don’t have time for that. I’m in the lower forty-eight until next week, and I need to have a mate by the time I go home. I’m a catch. I just need to know if you are. Yes or no?
I might not be finding my fated—if humans even had them as my parents insisted I did—but this guy was as pushy in his way as our alpha.
I couldn’t conceive of a worse fate than ending up at the end of nowhere with someone whose ego would burst the walls of his log cabin or whatever he lived in up there in the land of ice and snow.
Months of darkness trapped inside with that narcissism? No, thank you.
Your loss.
How did a person respond to a comment like that? Mom was one of those mothers who always said, “you can’t say anything nice, tell them to fuck off.” Well…not that word exactly.
No, it’s yours. And I feel sorry for any female desperate enough to accept what you are offering.
Then I blocked him.
A lot more wolves populated my matches, so I made a change to my options, excluding them. I’d have one to start with if I’d realized it was a possibility. Unfortunately, doing that thinned my matches down by about 90 percent.
Most of the others were foxes or rabbits or squirrels.
Nothing wrong with that. They might be perfectly nice guys I could make a happy life with, but reading over their profiles, they were mostly homebodies who didn’t show any interest in travel.
And I wanted to see the world. All the videos I’d watched made me sure of that.
With the expense, I’d probably never get too far even with willing partners, but I wanted to go somewhere different occasionally.
Have my own experiences instead of only watching others do it.
A lion shifter looked good, but someone else clicked on him sooner than I did, and his profile disappeared, replaced by a heart.
And then, I saw them. Bears. Not one, not two, but three.
Just like in the fairy tale, except this version of Goldilocks did not want them for their porridge.
Because the picture I looked at held all three of them, I couldn’t see them well, but they liked to travel and cook and were looking for one female to share their life with.
On instinct, I sent them a DM. Hi. I’ve been matched with you guys, and I wondered if you’d like to talk a little?
Not assuming anyone would see the message right away, I set my phone down. But before I could walk away, it chimed. Was that a reply? So soon? My mouth went dry. Hand trembling, I picked up the device and tapped the screen.
Sure thing! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Saber and my friends and I are just kicking it. What are you up to?
Wow. He didn’t tell me how awesome he was. Or demand anything. And he asked about me! Hanging around the house. Nobody’s home, so it’s quiet.
It’s quiet here, too. Other than the loons, but they’re always noisy at this time of year.
There were loons? They must live in Canada or Maine or something. I tried to think of what I knew about them, which was almost nothing and mostly came from some movie I watched in high school. I hope they don’t keep you up all night. They are pretty loud, right?
We don’t mind. We can sleep through just about anything.
That’s a gift. I am a light sleeper. Why did telling him—them that sound so intimate? But I like birds.
That’s cool. What else do you like?
I’m boring. Reading, watching videos, helping around the house or the lands.
Raised by wolves, huh. I bet there’s a story there.
Foundling. Great parents, a pack that isn’t so sure I belong. But I do okay. Way to whine! I’ve never met any bears, by the way. Good change of topic. I carried my phone outside and sat on the porch, handily ignoring the demand to remain inside.
Bears are great. Especially me. This is Judah, by the way.
I couldn’t help but laugh. Unlike the wolf’s egotistical nonsense, this was funny. Well, if you say so, it must be true.
I knew you’d get me.
This is Aldrin. Just saying hello and ignore Judah. He thinks he’s funny.
Amazing how they could banter this way on DM. Just typing. Watching them go back and forth, my mood lifted from where it had been since the alpha came by and said I had to stay home.
In the house. Not on the porch. Fuck him. I think you’re all hilarious and you are making me giggle.
Perfect. This is Saber again. We’re really enjoying talking with you.
Drawing up my courage, I typed, Maybe we could have a video chat?
Whenever it’s convenient for you. Would you like to do it now? Or some other time?
Isn’t it kind of late? I wasn’t sure where they were exactly because their profile didn’t give a home address. I don’t want to keep you up.
This is Judah, and we’re having our coffee and getting ready to head out for the day soon. So, now is perfect.
Daytime? Where are you?
Saber here. In the next few days we’re in Iceland and I think…yes, Norway is next. We’re always on the move. Video life.
Video life? I brought up their pictures again. Oh. My. Goddess. You’re not Three Bears Road Trip? How had I not connected the names?
We aren’t? This is Aldrin. Please don’t hold our trip to Monaco against us. It’s not our usual kind of adventure, and I told Saber we should just toss the whole thing.
That trip was amazing. I choked, gathering breath to type, glad I didn’t have to speak. I’m sorry. I’ve seen every one of your videos, and that was my second favorite.
What was your first?
Definitely the Search for the Lost Bears in those caverns. I was so scared you’d never make it out alive.
Judah here. And then you realized that if you were watching the video, we must have?
I asked them for five minutes before the zoom call so I could go brush my hair and put on a little mascara and lip gloss.
These bears could probably have any number of females in their lives, and if I was going to have one call with them before they realized I was so ordinary they lost interest, I was at least going to look my best.
Don’t let them find out how many times I’d dreamed of having a similar experience, hitting the road and making lifelong friends to travel with forever. Or, in my deepest fantasies, as more than their friend.