Chapter Nineteen
Greyson
“Oh, Benji.” I took the cub from Mya and cuddled him close. Two seconds later, he shifted again, becoming a squirming, naked little boy. “How could you have your first shift without me?”
“I was a bear! Like you!”
“Yes, you were. What a clever boy you are. So young for the first time.” I looked at Mya who stood in the same place shaking her head. “Most bear shifters don’t manage a change until adolescence.”
“Which is why you chose not to tell me that I was nanny to a little boy who might suddenly become a little beast?” She tempered her words by tapping Benji’s foot. “But a very handsome beast. And your daddy is also a bear?”
“A big, big bear.” He held his arms out wide. “I will be a big bear too when I grow up.”
“You certainly will, Son. The biggest.” He was still wriggling, so I let him down. “Now, you need to get dressed so we can have dinner. There is dinner, right?”
“Eventually. It’s just midafternoon. Are you hungry?”
“Not particularly. I’m just not used to being home this early, and I was thrown by my barely past toddler-age son shifting. Nobody does it this early. At least no one I’ve ever heard of. Any idea what might have triggered him? Did you go somewhere or do something?”
“I went shopping while he was at school, then I picked him up and brought him home. I got him a cute toy set with bears in a tree. Do you think that could have been what caused him to turn into one? Because he has other bear toys and never changed before, right?”
“No, he hasn’t. But it isn’t likely that a toy could do that. I was thinking something more emotional, or shocking even. Did anything happen at school maybe? Did the teachers mention maybe a conflict with another child?”
“Nothing. And from Benji, I heard only fun and positive things. I also got him overalls with a bear on them. If another child who could shift already had worn them, would that affect him?”
“Doubtful. Truly it is rare among all shifters to be able to take your fur as a small child. But he seems to have done it without any trouble. Did you see him shift?”
“No, I had stepped out to put the clothes away when I heard it and ran in. At first, I couldn’t figure out how the bear got into the bedroom and where Benji was, and then he looked right at me and I couldn’t breathe. It was his eyes. In a bear.”
“If I’d had the slightest idea it might happen, I’d have figured out how to tell you, but I thought I had years before he shifted. Hell, I was eleven and regarded as early myself. I just don’t know.”
She was quiet as Benji brought her the overalls he’d been wearing, or what was left of them. He had tears in his eyes. “I broke them.”
“Oh, Benji.” She dropped to her knees and took the overalls from him. “Let me see. I don’t think I can fix the actual pants, but the bear on the front is just sewed on. Want me to make you a new pair?”
“You can do that?” I’d never known anyone who made their own clothes. Some shifters likely did, but I’d never personally known them. To me, clothes came from stores.
“Of course. It’s one of my favorite hobbies.” She outlined the bear with her fingers. Look, Benji, I will take the bear off the front and maybe tomorrow we can go shopping and buy some fabric. If they sell any in town?” She glanced up at me.
I shrugged.
“If not, we can just buy it online, but I really prefer to feel the cloth and make sure it’s good quality.”
The two of them fell into a discussion of the best color for his new overalls and whether there might be more bear patches that could be put on his clothes. My heart couldn’t take much more, and my bear was dancing and repeating over and over again what a perfect mate we had.
If she didn’t agree, I didn’t know what I’d do. This was my mate, and now that we’d met, there would never be anyone else for me. Not another by choice. So, not only would my life be half empty without her, I’d have to break the promise I made to Jeanine.
Double whammy.
We had dinner and watched a movie with Benji.
A little screen time wasn’t going to hurt him, and then we bathed him and got him tucked in.
Together. Like a family. Did she see us as family?
It seemed like it, but I wasn’t sure how humans acted in any circumstance beyond movies and TV.
Mya was just like us in almost every way I could imagine.
And she was my mate. I hoped she’d agree, but I thought she might need time.
After Benji drifted off, we tiptoed out into the hallway and closed the door most of the way. “Want to watch something else?” I asked when we reached the bottom of the stairs.
“I do,” she replied.
“True crime?” I could easily see this becoming our thing and maybe even an addiction we had to limit. Even that sounded fun.
“Not true crime. I’d like to watch you be a bear.”
My beast stood up on his hind legs and thrust his chest out inside me.
Made it a little hard to breathe. But he was on board, and it was all I could do to keep him back long enough to grab Mya’s hand and pull her onto the back porch.
I stripped off my clothes and had my fur before I landed in the yard.
He was so eager to meet her in person. Standing on all fours, he allowed her to circle him, bury her hands in his fur, and even kiss his nose.
Nobody had ever kissed my bear’s nose. Partly because I was usually shifting with someone else who was also shifted.
But mostly because this someone was my fated, true mate.
My bear preened, rubbed against her cheek, and overall encouraged her to appreciate his awesomeness.
I didn’t know how happy he could be until that moment.
After about ten minutes, Mya said, “We should go check on Benji,” and turned toward the house.
When she didn’t turn back, I shifted and dressed quickly.
Humans, as I understood it, could be shy with nudity.
My bear had taken his fur so fast, she probably didn’t have time to get much of a look. At least she hadn’t acted upset at all.
Benji was still sound asleep, so we went back downstairs and sat down to have a real talk.