Chapter Eighteen
Saber
We combed the area and came up empty. We’d had things happen during our travels, as everyone did, that made us concerned, but this was a new level of worry that made me sick to my stomach.
We hadn’t found Posy, and now, Judah was missing as well.
“What do we do now?” I asked Aldrin. Her scent had somewhat faded from our camping area, her nest.
“We stay put. Let’s build a fire and start some breakfast. If Judah found her, they know where to find us. It’s only been an hour. Moving will cause more chaos.”
I got to work building the fire and I pushed some of the embers to the side and filled our camping pot with water.
We always kept some staple things in our packs, and one of them was oatmeal.
No matter where we went hiking, camping, wherever, oatmeal always fit the bill, and we could get creative with it on the trail.
In no time, I’d made oatmeal with peanut butter and trail mix in it and set the pot near enough to the fire to keep warm if Posy came back hungry.
I looked off into the distance and shook my head. The chance that our mate might not come back was enough to stop my heart.
We barely got a chance to know her.
At the snap of a twig, I turned to see Judah emerge from the trail with Posy in his arms.
“What happened?” Aldrin touched the ends of her damp hair. “Everything okay?”
Judah beelined toward his pack after putting Posy on her feet , fished out one of our cameras, and began to film. What in the hell was going on?
Posy leaned into Aldrin as his hand moved to cup her face. “I’m okay. I just went to take a quick bath in the stream. This one walked right up on me.”
My heart drummed so hard, I could barely get out a word.
My fears for her were blinding. And she was bathing?
What the fuck? “You couldn’t let us know where you were, so we wouldn’t be worried to death?
” The words projectile-spewed out of me without my permission.
She didn’t deserve anger. And I wasn’t angry, but from her wide eyes and trembling chin, it probably sounded that way. “I’m sorry. We were just worried.”
Posy came over and stood right in front of me. Judah was still filming, and it felt weird this time. She was ours, the one part of our lives that should be private. Shouldn’t it?
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve told you where I was, yesterday and today.” Posy stared into my eyes. She reached out for me, and I hugged her, breathing in the scent I’d learned to crave. Like every beautiful travel moment and sunshine. “Forgive me?” she whispered in my ear.
“Of course.” I looked over her shoulder at Judah. “What are you doing?”
“Filming. Posy, want to tell them what you told me on the way back?”
We all sat down around the campfire on logs Aldrin had brought in.
Posy sighed. “I came here to join you three as a mate but also, I want to go on your adventures with you. Not as some female you treat with kid gloves but as an equal. I can make fire and carry firewood, and do most of the things you do. And if I can’t, I’ll learn.
I was raised among wolves as the weakest part of the pack, but I’m still stronger than most humans.
I don’t like the fancy trailer. I want to be in a tent.
In the dirt. Eating charred food from the fire and sleeping under the stars. I’m not fragile. I won’t break.”
Damn it. We had fucked up. Royally.
“We fucked up.” Aldrin had somehow read my thoughts. “We expected you would like a more glamping experience, but you wanted the raw one.”
“There’s a reason I watch your vids and other similar ones instead of the glampers.
” She shuddered. “Those are fine for some females, I suppose, but why call it camping if it’s fancier than a house?
If…if we are going to make this work, I want to be a part of your life, not a prop or someone you have to blur out because I’m on a bike covered with rhinestones. I’m strong and capable.”
Judah set up the tripod and sat next to her. “You absolutely are, and we underestimated you. From now on, you are a part of this team, this family.”
“And I might be overselling myself a little. I am going to have to train to keep up in the more physical challenges.” Tears welled in her eyes but she quickly brushed them away. “I didn’t expect this. I never thought I’d have a family beyond my parents.”
Mental note: do whatever it takes not to make her cry again. It breaks my heart.
“Well, this is day one of our new series. Three Bears and Their Mate Road Trip. If that’s okay with you, Posy?” Aldrin’s bear reached out to her. Even now, sitting together, spilling truths and being real with each other, I could feel the string of our beginner bond growing.
“Are you sure you want to call it that?”
Judah nodded. So did Aldrin. The three of them looked at me. “We’re all 100 percent sure, Posy.”
“Good. I’m sure too. Even after these misunderstandings, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”