Luke the Bear Shifter

Chapter 1

The trouble with fresh starts, Valley had decided while spending the day packing up her converted garage apartment, was that they came with an awful lot of goodbyes.

Still, she had a plan.

A very good one, actually, if she did say so herself.

Her boss Margaret, owner of Margie’s Bakery, had offered to pay Valley’s relocation expenses, cover her first month’s rent, and give her a pay raise if she came with her.

The storefront in Mill Creek had come to the end of a ten-year lease and the rent had jumped by enough that Margie thought it was better to look for a cheaper location elsewhere.

Valley had never lived anywhere but her parents’ farm on the outskirts of Mill Creek.

When she’d graduated high school and taken baking and decorating classes, she’d wanted some freedom and independence and her dad had converted the garage into a great apartment for her. She was on her own. Sort of.

But leaving with Margie meant an independence that Valley had never really had before.

No more running across the yard to raid her mom’s stash of colorful scarves to tie her hair back, or have her dad come to her rescue if her car broke down or she needed something fixed.

No more stopping by the old barn where her mom packed orders for her Wild Sage Studio jewelry business.

Or hanging out in the workshop where her dad turned curbside furniture into treasures for Old Soul Furniture.

No more rescue dogs underfoot, wanting belly rubs and extra treats.

She’d be well and truly on her own.

The bakery moving had seemed like some kind of cosmic sign that Valley should move on. Her parents – Sage and Bodhi – had lovingly supported her, although she knew they would prefer she stay close.

Leaving was everything that Valley needed. Mill Creek was a classic small town in the middle of nowhere, bordered by a river and a creek, and if she didn’t leave with Margie, she’d be without a job until she found something else.

So why, as she grabbed the packing tape and closed a box of winter clothes up with a quick swipe, did her chest get tight every time she got closer to being finished?

A knock echoed.

“Come in,” Valley called.

The door opened and Eisley, her best friend and former coworker, stepped inside with two iced coffees.

Valley straightened and clocked Eisley’s determined expression. “Whatever it is, no.”

“Oh, come on!” Eisley said. She joined Valley and handed over an iced coffee. “I brought you a sweet, caffeinated treat.”

“Sounds like a bribe. What are you up to?”

“Nothing.”

“Your face says otherwise.”

“This is just my regular face!”

Valley took a sip of the vanilla cold foam iced latte and gave her bestie a soft glare.

Eisley seemed to purposely ignore the look. “You’ve packed up a lot.”

The efficiency-style, one-room apartment had a Murphy bed, a big closet, a kitchenette, and a full bathroom with extra closet space. Valley had still managed to stuff it full.

“I’m leaving next Friday.”

“I know.”

Eisley had been the counter girl at Margie’s.

They’d been high school besties, and when they’d ended up working together, Valley had figured they’d always be together.

Find their forever guys, have families, maybe even live near each other.

Even though Eisley’s family wasn’t in the area, she didn’t want to relocate.

She’d lined up a job at Petals & Pine, the flower shop in Mill Creek.

Eisley was staying.

Valley was leaving.

Neither of them had said how strange that was.

Valley put the coffee down and picked up another box. “So why did you bribe me?”

“Bringing a coffee is a bribe?”

“At four p.m., yes. It means you want me caffeinated so I’ll stay up late for some shenanigans.”

“You know me too well.”

“Spill it.”

“We’re going out tonight.”

“No.”

“Come on! One last hurrah. You’re leaving in a week. We won’t get another Friday night like this.”

Valley’s heart panged a little.

She looked at the box, and then around the apartment. There was still a lot to do, but she wasn’t working until she started at the bakery, so she had time to finish up.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Yay!”

“I didn’t say yes.”

“You basically did! Okay, we’re going to The Amber Howl.”

Immediately, something inside Valley fluttered like a trapped butterfly.

The Amber Howl was a tavern owned by a small wolf pack, across the river in the shifter town of King Lake.

She’d never been across the bridge, just because there really wasn’t any need for her to go there.

Mill Creek was entirely human, and King Lake was entirely shifter as far as she knew.

No animosity between the towns, it was just how they’d been settled.

But she had heard about The Howl’s amazing burgers of the week, and only someone living under a rock wouldn’t know that there was now a deck on the back of the tavern and tonight was the kickoff for a weekend concert series.

“I’m not much of a crowd person.”

“I’m not really either,” Eisley said.

“You also have to work tomorrow.”

“Yeah, so it’s not like I’d want to stay out super late. Just…kinda late. The doors open for the deck at seven. Let’s go at six. They aren’t taking reservations for the deck, so we’ll wait and get a seat, have a burger, and who knows where the night will take us.”

Valley looked out the window. Outside, the June afternoon was turning to evening in a slow way like it had all the time in the world. Her mother’s wind chimes moved in the breeze and the tinkling sound was something she sometimes found annoying but knew she’d miss.

Just like the hum of her dad’s electric sander.

Or the dog barking at the birds.

For a sharp second, Valley felt the weight of her decision. Was she really moving two hours east?

She exhaled sharply and clenched her teeth. She’d made a decision. It was the right one for her. She wanted to someday own her own bakery. Margie was giving her more responsibility with the move, and the pay raise was a step closer to her being able to start her own business.

So, she was doing it.

“Fine.”

“Fine?” Eisley asked, grinning.

“Yes, but not late. And you have to help me pack until it’s time to leave.”

“You got it.”

Eisley picked up a flat box and opened it, securing the bottom with tape and flipping it over on the end of the bed. “You know what? I think something good is going to happen tonight.”

“How do you figure?”

“I don’t know. There’s something in the air.”

A strange shiver moved through Valley, her spine sparking. The wariness at her choice to move away roared back to the forefront of her thoughts.

“I think you’re just a loon.”

“Well, maybe,” Eisley said. “But what does that say about you?”

“That I have a very sweet nature. And attract nuts.”

Eisley laughed. “I’m going to miss you.”

“It’s only two hours.”

“I know. But be serious. That’s two hours one way.

One way! I might not have much of a social life, but at some point, I’ll find my forever guy and start a family, and I won’t be as free to travel.

And you’ll be working hard setting up shop with Margie.

I know you’ll come visit your folks, but it won’t be the same.

” She shrugged. “When I said one last hurrah, I meant I wanted it to be memorable because moving changes things in ways we can’t anticipate.

I’m not trying to bum you out about the future.

However, I do think something amazing will happen tonight.

And if it’s just you and me enjoying our last Friday out, then it’ll still be cool. ”

They packed until the sun lowered some more, chatting about old times and finishing their identical iced coffees.

Then Valley changed into denim shorts, a moss green tank, and a light floral kimono just in case it got chilly on the deck.

As she tied her canvas shoes, Eisley looked up from her phone.

“The burger of the week is Audrey’s ‘We’re Gonna Have a Gouda Time’. ”

“It must have gouda on it.”

“Yep. And Audrey must work there,” Eisley said.

“I wonder what kind of buns they use and where they get them from,” Valley said as they walked out of the apartment and down the stairs, stopping to pet Kevin, the old hound dog waiting at the bottom.

“You’re such a baker.”

“I can’t help it. I’m curious where people get their baked goods.”

“You can’t ask that in public, it sounds dirty. Where do you get your buns?”

Valley laughed. She gave Kevin a pat on his rump and he waddled off to find her dad.

As she and Eisley drove through Mill Creek to King Lake, Valley texted her parents that she was going out to eat and she’d see them for breakfast for her mom’s famous banana walnut pancakes and her dad’s hickory smoked bacon that he made in a huge smoker he’d salvaged from a closed restaurant.

Eisley turned onto the road leading to the bridge over the Pine Run River. The windows were down, the warm June air rushing into the car, and the music was a low hum in the background, one of Eisley’s eighties playlists.

They crossed the bridge and parked in The Amber Howl’s lot. There was a short line forming at the door already, so she was glad they’d come when they did.

As she got out of the car and tugged her shorts into place, something tightened in her chest.

Was it Eisley talking about this being their last Friday hurrah?

She wasn’t so sure.

But the odd flutter in her chest had come back, a little stronger than before, and made her feel like every step toward the tavern was one in the right direction.

Eisley gave their names to the big guy at the door and said they needed a table for two, then they walked to the end of the line.

They stood in silence for a few minutes as a crowd formed behind them, and the band on the deck checked their instruments and the sound system.

The door opened.

And for one moment, Valley had the impossible feeling that she was most definitely, very truly, standing on the edge of something amazing.

Someone was coming for her.