Chapter Ten – James
With unbridled joy, James’s bear ran through the forest. Across the mountains, he called home. The place where he could be himself. It was ancient, immovable, unshakable in its permanence. The kind of place that made human worries seem small and fleeting.
Snow flew up in soft, glittering bursts with each stride as the forest opened and closed around his massive bear body, trees parting like dark sentinels as he ran.
The night air knifed past his fur, sharp and clean and exactly what he needed.
He drank in the icy cold with every breath, his lungs burning as he tried to quiet the noise in his head.
Her name echoed through his mind with each heavy footfall, with each breath that steamed in the winter air. She was all he could think about, her smile, her scent, the way she looked at him.
Not that he wanted to forget his mate. But he needed clarity. Only then would he be able to see the way forward. The way to win his mate’s heart. Her soul.
And conquer her fears.
Not by force. Not by pressure. But by showing her, moment by steady moment, that she was safe with him. Safe in ways she had forgotten she could be. His bear didn’t understand caution, but James did. And he’d walk at her pace, no matter how slow the beginning needed to be.
His friends ran with him, as they had for so long, their rhythm familiar as his heartbeat.
Christopher’s lean dark shape kept pace at his flank, brushing him now and then in a silent check-in that said everything without a sound.
Michael thundered a little behind, heavier, solid, dependable.
Daniel ranged a little wider, nose dipping toward interesting scents before he surged forward again in long, eager bounds.
Damn, he needed this run.
Restlessness had crawled under James’s skin all day, tightening like a knot inside him.
He’d tried to shake it off — with work, with chores, with pretending he didn’t replay every word Doreen said in that soft voice of hers — but it only grew heavier.
Want and worry mingled until he couldn’t tell one from the other.
His bear paced inside him, yearning to move, to act, to claim… but James held firm. Patience. She deserved nothing less.
But it was hard when the bond between them hummed low and constant, reminding him she was near. Breathing the same cold mountain air.
His bear exhaled hard, a low rumble shaking through his chest as he pushed himself faster. Snow stung his face. The ice crust cracked beneath his paws. The world sharpened into scent and movement, the simple clarity of cold air and the steady presence of the three bears at his side.
Christopher angled them toward the slope leading toward the high ridge, and James followed without hesitation.
Their paws broke through untouched drifts, white powder brushing their bellies, the incline steep enough to force power into every stride.
The climb burned beautifully. Muscles flexed and released.
Breath steamed in thick ribbons. The bear inside him, wound tight all day, finally began to loosen.
By the time they reached the top, the forest opened onto a silver-bright ridge overlooking the valley. James slowed, paws sinking into the snow as he padded to the edge. The others came up beside him, forming a quiet, instinctive line.
It had always amazed him how the four of them fell into formation with no need to look or speak. Years of shared hunts, shared losses, shared laughter… and now, shared futures that seemed brighter than any of them had dared imagine a short time ago. Except Daniel.
James lifted his head, drawing in a deep pull of the night. The mate bond hummed at the base of his ribs—steady, warm, unshakable. Not a direction. Not a command. Just a knowing.
She’s here, his bear murmured.
Somewhere in the quiet valley below, Doreen was settling in for the night.
Maybe coaxing Jake toward bed. Maybe laughing softly at Bash’s antics.
Maybe standing at the window staring out into the darkness, completely unaware that James could feel her presence like a steady, glowing point on a compass inside him.
Or maybe she was staring into the night sky, aware of the same pull. That unexplained connection they shared.
Could she sense him looking down on her from the cliff edge?
His bear rumbled, low and sure, the sound vibrating through the packed snow beneath his paws. The mate bond is strong. Unbreakable.
But for James, it was also a mystery. It was all so new. So unexpected. Even though he had waited his whole life for it to happen.
Magic shimmered in the air as Christopher shifted first, his bear dissolving in the frigid air to be replaced a heartbeat later as a man. Michael followed next, then Daniel.
James hesitated for a moment as his bear took one last, longing look at the valley below. Then he let go of the world, the air cracking and popping around him as he disappeared. A second later, James sucked in the mountain air and let it out in one long puff of vapor.
“There he is,” Michael said, slapping him on the shoulder.
“Here I am,” James replied, unable to stop the grin spreading across his face.
Christopher stepped to his side, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets as he followed James’s gaze down the valley. “You sense her out there?”
James let out a slow breath. “Oh, yeah.”
Michael crossed his arms, exhaling a thick plume of white into the air.
“Hits hard, doesn’t it?” He stared out across the valley.
“The day I met Sarah, my entire world tipped sideways. And then I blinked and somehow had a family.” He smiled, warm and rueful.
“And a daughter who stole my heart before she ever even said hello.”
Daniel huffed a soft laugh. “You think that’s wild? Try giving a terrified little girl and her quiet, stubborn brother a home and realizing you’d walk through fire for them before you even figured out how to make breakfast.”
Michael snorted. “I’ve seen your breakfasts. The fire would have been safer.”
Daniel elbowed him lightly. “Watch it.”
Despite himself, James felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. Their banter wasn’t just noise; it helped ground him. It reminded him that he wasn’t navigating this new world alone.
“You all sound very wise,” James said dryly. “Did you rehearse this?”
Christopher shrugged, his lips curving in a smile. “Maybe a little.”
“Christopher told us you were all gooey-eyed last night at dinner,” Daniel teased.
“Did he now?” James arched an eyebrow at his friend.
“You did kind of look as if you had been run over by a snowplow,” Christopher said.
“It feels like it,” James agreed, raking a hand through his hair.
“You’re good with the boy, too,” Christopher told him. “And the dog.”
Michael rested his hand on James’s shoulder. “Practice for when you have some of your own?”
“Dogs or kids?” Michael teased.
“Dogs might be easier,” Daniel replied. “But kids are the greatest reward. Whether they are your blood or not.”
James swallowed. “I can’t wait to find out. If I am that lucky. Part of me wishes Jake were Doreen’s son, so I would one day be his father.”
Christopher’s voice dropped, steady and sure. “You’ll be a father someday. I’m sure of it.”
James looked up at the stars above. “If you see another shooting star, let me know, I’ll make another wish.”
“You mean you didn’t include kids in the first wish?” Michael asked.
“I’m not sure I was that specific,” James admitted.
“Oh, man, you should be. It’s all in the small print,” Michael teased.
“Give the man a break,” Christopher said. “His head is so turned around right now he probably can’t remember.”
“I’ve gotta admit, it’s hard to think straight.” James rubbed his hand over his jaw and took a deep breath.
“That’ll pass,” Michael assured him. “It gets easier.”
“I hope so. But all I keep asking myself right now is what if she’s afraid of me?” James finally voiced the fear that had been gnawing at him since he’d recognized Doreen as his mate. “What if I tell her about the bear, about being her mate, and she just... runs? Leaves town and never looks back?”
The words silenced his friends as they hung in the crisp mountain air, his vulnerability laid bare under the stars.
Awkward, his bear said.
Oh, yeah, James said, wishing he could take the words back.
Michael’s laughter began as a deep, unexpected rumble that grew until it shook his broad shoulders. “Been there, done that, my friend.”
“Me too,” Christopher added with a wry smile. “I think it’s something all shifters feel when they have to break the news to their mate when they don’t know about shifters. That moment of terror when you realize your happiness depends on someone accepting something they never believed was real.”
Daniel let out a soft chuckle, breath fogging in the cold. “So what you’re really telling him is… panic is normal?”
“Deeply,” Christopher said.
Daniel lifted his gaze toward the sky. “Great. Maybe I should find that shooting star you keep going on about and add a little caveat to my wish. You know… ‘Dear Santa, when my mate finally shows up, could she already know about shifters so I don’t have to deal with all this heart-attack-inducing nonsense?’”
James placed his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “Do it! Sounds like a solid plan to me.”
They all laughed, the sound carrying across the ridge, but Daniel’s smile faded as he shook his head. “Truth is… looking at you three? I don’t care how hard the reveal is. I just… want her in my life. Whoever she turns out to be.”
“It’ll happen,” James assured him, feeling a pang of guilt that Daniel was the last of them without a mate. Their tight-knit group of four had always shared everything—triumphs, losses, the hardest days. But this? Finding their mates? For the first time, they weren’t walking the same path together.
Daniel exhaled slowly, shoulders lifting and falling. “She’s going to have to be one hell of a woman to take on me and two kids.”
Michael snorted. “Oh, please. Once she tastes your bakes? She won’t care if you have two kids, twenty kids, or if you shift into a giraffe.” He elbowed him. “Actually… you’d be a majestic giraffe.”
“Thanks, man, that’s so sweet,” Daniel said dryly, before suddenly dragging Michael into a bear hug that lifted him clean off the snow.
Michael’s laughter echoed against the trees. “Put me down, you menace. Or I might be the first person to die of affection.”
Daniel set him down at last, both men breathless with laughter. But when Michael rested a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, he grew serious. “It’ll happen, Dan. I mean that.”
Daniel’s smile wavered. “Maybe.”
Christopher stepped in, punching Daniel lightly on the arm. “Hey. You think you’re the only one who doesn’t get his Christmas wish come true? Not a chance.”
Daniel rolled his eyes, but the hope was there, flickering beneath the surface. “I hope not. Those kids deserve more than just me.”
James watched his friend’s face, recognizing the mix of hope and fear that had become so familiar in his own heart. “They’re lucky to have you,” he said. “And so will she be, whoever she is.”
“Okay. Okay. Enough about me,” Daniel said, turning back to James. “Let’s focus on your mate problem. When are you going to tell her?”
James ran a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. “I don’t know. I want to give her time to get to know me first. To trust me. So when I do tell her, she’ll at least hesitate before running for the hills.”
“Smart,” Michael nodded. “But don’t overthink it.”
Daniel stretched, rolling his shoulders. “Well, I need to head back. Early start tomorrow. I can’t keep up with this Christmas rush unless I’m baking by 5 a.m.”
“The price of success,” Christopher said, clapping Daniel on the shoulder.
James turned to look out over the ridge once more. His senses locked onto Doreen.
You know the price of our success? his bear asked.
No, James said, but I get the feeling you are about to tell me.
His bear rolled his eyes. The price of our success with our mate…is our mate.