Chapter 12
Elliott gets questioned.
Elliott seriously regretted not taking Fern inside his house during the few short hours he had her undivided attention.
Her scent could have been everywhere, instead it was confined to his back porch.
They’d napped out there until early evening.
He woke before her, disentangled from her body, and dashed inside to toss together a couple caprese sandwiches.
They ate, then she asked for a ride to her car at the Lodge.
He’d almost begged her to spend the night but managed to let her go without making a peep.
In the morning, Elliott stretched beneath the quilt on his back porch, sniffed the air, and frowned.
Then he flipped onto his stomach, shoved his face into the pillow, inhaled, and smiled.
Although he’d hated letting her leave, his ill-behaved bear was happy with her scent all over him and the daybed.
The beast seemed fair-tempered that day.
After a shower that had the sad side effect of washing Fern’s smell from his skin, Elliott moped around until he found his phone by the bed.
He must’ve left it there Sunday morning—as evidenced by the seven thousand missed messages and calls.
Mom, Dad, Danielle, and her family wanted to come visit before tourist season, but it was looking like they’d wait until November. Sure, that was fine with him.
His friend group chat was blowing up with texts flying through.
Skimming to get the gist of it, Elliott deduced that he was the drama, again.
They all knew something was up because Able got concerned yesterday when Fern didn’t return from her jaunt downriver, and he found her kayak near Elliott’s house.
Even though Adam had scented Fern with Elliott, that hadn’t placated Olivia until she heard from Fern several hours later. Elliott smirked, entering the foray with:
Elliott
I’m back.
Beck
Did you tell her you’re potential mates?
Liv
I’m coming down to look at your collection with Noa
Ren needs to pick new favors, we need your help
Do you have time to make something?
Elliott
Ben, no. Liv, sure, how many?
Able
You really should
Noa
Agree w/ Able. Tell her dude
Liv
Not positive, we’ll get Ren on a call
Sighing, he set down his phone. Making favors for Renata’s wedding would be a nice distraction from whatever the hell he’d gotten tangled up in with Fern Walsh.
He wasn’t ready to tell her, not yet. Things were definitely headed in a direction where he thought he could probably tell her, but... not yet. Definitely not yet.
Olivia and Noa showed up not much later, rolling down the driveway in Liv’s Subaru with some throwback-to-their-youth song playing out of the open windows.
He waited on the front porch, sitting in his favorite oak rocker, trying to enjoy a cup of coffee while lamenting that he had nothing to wear that smelled like Fern.
It was probably for the best; he didn’t need Liv and Noa making fun of him.
At least he’d sent Fern home in his clothes.
Would it be weird if he asked her to wear them a ton before giving them back? Probably.
“Ready for action?” Noa called, hopping out and slamming the passenger door.
“What type of action?”
Olivia closed her door and walked around the front of her car. “Ren needs new favors.”
“You said that. Why? I thought they were doing some sort of keychain thing? They only hired me for vases and oil diffusers.”
“They were.” Sighing, she sat on the non-rocking chair opposite him, while Noa claimed the top step and leaned against the pillar. “Scott didn’t like the floral keychains Ren already picked. He said they were tacky and clashed with the rustic vibes.”
“Scott told his fiancée this two weeks before their wedding?”
Noa side-eyed the story, and Liv pressed her lips into a flat line before saying, “I just want to help her fix it. She doesn’t need the extra stress after her original venue canceled. Do you remember that? What do you say?”
“I have some ideas. I’m into it. How many are we talking? A Hundred? Two hundred?”
“Can you do one twenty-five?” Liv asked.
“Consider it done.”
Bracing one hand on the arm of his rocker, Elliott went to stand, but Noa cut him off with an, “Ah, sit back down.”
Olivia, his alpha, nodded when he caught her eye, so he sat. “What?”
A cat-like grin stretched across Liv’s face. “Let’s talk about Fern.”
Elliott groaned in perfect harmony with his bear’s purr.
“How do you feel?” Noa asked in a singsong voice.
“No.”
It was Olivia’s turn. “Did you bite her?”
“No.”
“Really?” Noa checked. “We thought for sure you would’ve tried.”
“No.”
“Elliott, is that an answer? Or a refusal to answer?”
“Aren’t we supposed to be talking to Renata?”
“She needs a few minutes. She’ll call when she’s ready.” Liv leaned in, bracing her elbows on her knees. “How’d you get Fern over here yesterday?”
With a sigh that blew down his walls from the inside out, he gave in and started answering: “After the pond on Sunday, I ran up into the mountains, spent the night there, came down—in bear form—and found her kayaking up the Potter’s Branch. Why didn’t she tell you this herself?”
“She was being weird when we texted last night. Said she had to get back to Jessica and her aliens or something.”
He frowned at Liv, perplexed.
“She reads a lot.”
“Oh, yeah.” He knew that. He’d seen her collection, and he’d heard her audiobook. But hadn’t asked her about them, hadn’t asked what she was reading at that moment. Elliott’s bear growled, mad at him for the information oversight.
“So what happened?” Noa cut in, tense and waiting for more gossip.
“My bear wouldn’t give me control. We chased her down—”
“What!?” Liv hissed, a burst of alpha power slamming him in the chest, making his grizzly cower... and him too.
“It wasn’t like that! I didn’t bite her. Everything was fine. I shifted back, we talked, and… stuff.”
Noa snorted.
Olivia eyed the porch ceiling and inhaled slowly. “We know she’s your potential mate. Why haven’t you told her?”
“Because I’m not ready. You haven’t said anything, right?”
“No,” Noa replied. “I haven’t at least.”
“Me either. But I don’t like keeping secrets from my best friend.”
Palms up, he asked, “Does she even know mates exist?”
“She does.”
She did? He looked over at Noa, who nodded, pinching her thumb and forefinger to indicate “a little bit.”
As a friend, not an alpha, Liv implored, “What happened yesterday?”
“That’s personal.”
“She’ll tell me when she gets off work. I think she finished her book.”
“Good, you can ask her then.” He drained his mug, slurping down some extra air just for the break in conversation.
Liv’s phone buzzed, and she glanced at it. “Ren says ten minutes. Go get yourself another coffee and get your ass back out here. There’s more to discuss.” Alpha power gently hugged her coffee-command. Intentionally weaponized to relax him, he didn’t mind the magic.
The screen door creaked behind him, and Elliott made a note to oil the hinges—front and back. With his mug topped up, he returned to the porch, took his seat and a sip, and was yanked right back into conversation about Fern.
“I’m going to run you through some things I’ve noticed over the past few days, and you stop me if I say anything wrong, okay?”
“Yes, Alpha.” He gave Liv a little salute.
She patted one of her puffs, shaping it, and began, “When Fern got here, she smelled so good that you acted like an asshole.”
He frowned. “No, dude. I was weird, maybe. Not an asshole though, I don’t think.”
“Got it. You acted weird. You couldn’t stop thinking about her and brought her pot, which you knew she liked, and fish, correct?”
“Correct,” he answered through a cough.
Noa giggled while braiding a random chunk of her hair. “He also heart-ed that text about bringing her presents.”
True.
Continuing, Olivia ticked off more of her list, “You helped her unpack, kissed her, left, then handpicked her favorite welcome gifts that match her apartment perfectly.”
“Mhm.” Ah, so Fern did notice the care he put into the serving tray and bowls. Hot coffee met his warm heart, setting his chest, and likely his cheeks, ablaze.
“You fled our party, then attacked Adam because he smelled like Fern.”
He took another sip.
“You almost bit Fern at Pella’s Pond when you shifted in front of her. That’s why Ben sent you away.”
Again, that was true.
“And we’ve looped back around to you chasing her up the creek and bringing her back to your house to do—”
“Stuff,” Noa offered.
“Stuff,” Liv finished with a nod.
“Yeah, and? I was trying to ignore the potential bond, but she seems pretty cool and—”
“Now you’re considering it?” Noa’s face lit up.
“Wait. We need to rewind for a minute here. You brought her a fucking fish, Fitz. Is there anything more ‘bear’ you could do to show interest? Has your animal said anything to you?”
Brows pinched, he looked at Olivia. “They don’t talk. You know that.”
“I know. But has your bear said anything to you?”
Yes, actually. Happily rising up on his hind legs, the bear in Elliott’s chest did a little dance that set his human heart to racing. Choking out the words, he admitted, “He said something that sounded like ‘mate’ yesterday.”
The grins greeting him were fucking blinding.
“When you were with Fern?” Liv double-checked.
“Yes.”
Chaos erupted on the front porch. “I knew it! I knew it!” Olivia shouted, leaping to her feet.
Noa met her energy, and the two women clasped hands while hopping in a circle, shaking the floorboards and rattling his front windows.
Elliott bounced his knee, sending a spray of coffee flying, marring his white T-shirt as he awaited the words he feared. “Feared” may have been too strong; perhaps “anticipated” was a better choice.
He hadn’t even considered the option, not because he didn’t believe it was possible at all; he never believed it was possible for him. It was too rare.