The Bear’s Nanny by Erin Havoc

06

KIERAN

WYATT SLAMS HIS car’s door shut. I step out of my truck, looking around at the place we just parked at. It’s been forever since I came here. Some five years, ever since my sister asked for permission to leave the city.

The Draaks’ mansion sits high atop the mountain. It’s a long drive up here, even longer if one comes from downtown. I turn on my heels to take a long look at the sprawling forests ahead of me, taking the side of the mountain. My bear roars deep inside my chest, but I keep him in his place. He doesn’t like the smell of the supernaturals around him, but it can’t be avoided. Not today. Not when there’s a Council Meeting, and Wyatt thinks I should tag along.

My alpha strides onward, not relenting his pace so I can keep up. He doesn’t shoot a glance over his shoulder at the scenery since he comes here often. The mansion is the closest parking spot to the top of the mountain, where the meetings happen. I speed up to walk next to him, my gaze darting up the pillars that take over the front of the mansion. It’s a hideous thing, let me tell you. Completely off in this stretch of wilderness, with its tall windows and manicured hedges. But it’s been here forever, and the Draaks’ just keep it as a family heirloom.

“So, what is this about?” I call for Wyatt as we take a beaten path around the mansion and into the woods. The shade of the trees makes the path darker with every step we take. Wyatt doesn’t reply, and I shoot him a glance. He watches me with a skeptic expression on his face, his brow cocked in disbelief.

“What?” I cry, tilting my head to watch him. He looks like I should be aware of the reason behind this meeting when I’m hardly ever invited to it.

The Council is a sort of leadership among the several parts of Shadow Falls. And I am no one’s leader, so there’s no reason for me to be here. Unless it’s like today, and Wyatt, my alpha, orders me to come. A shifter doesn’t say no to his alpha. What’s the point of living in a clan if you don’t respect the alpha?

“Really, Kieran,” Wyatt says, stretching his lips sideways into a smile. “Think carefully. Nothing ever changes in Shadow Falls. The one thing that does is that people are born, people get married, and people die. And whenever one of these things happens, we all hear about it.” There’s an undertone to his smile that makes me feel dumb. “What happened, I wonder, that forced the Council to meet?”

“Nothing happened this week, besides Owen arriving. And you guys already had a meeting about that.” I don’t enjoy coming here. I had high hopes I wouldn’t have to see Julian Draak or that Ezra mutt any time soon.

Wyatt stretches an arm and curls his fingers over my shoulder, gripping it as he releases a sigh. “Really, Kieran? Nothing else?”

My bear awakens when we’re close to the forest. He stretches, and his presence grows inside me. He pushes against my skin. His voice is also clear when he complains.

Mate?

No, no mate. I frown in reaction to him. He still insists Astrid’s our mate. But that makes no freaking sense; she's human. Humans aren’t mating material. They’re fragile, breakable. And they’re scaredy cats who can’t learn about our existence.

It dawns on me. Astrid is a newcomer; she arrived in Shadow Falls uncalled for, uninvited. She knows no one here, has no relatives. Why is she here?

“Astrid,” I murmur, meeting Wyatt’s eyes.

He nods slowly. “It is about her. We have a normie in town, Kieran. And that always spells trouble.”

A normie. Wyatt finds the weirdest ways to refer to humans.

Even if Astrid cannot be my mate, I dislike the idea of her presence being questioned, analyzed. I don’t know if I should worry. Don’t know what they’d do to her to keep her from finding us out. Shadow Falls is a haven for supernaturals because it is secret. The moment the secret spills, we’ll all be in danger.

Wyatt takes the lead, and I follow him into the woods. The path is straightforward — even in the darkness, the scent of the others stains the ground, the tree bark, the leaves. I smell them, and I smell wolf easier than the rest. The stink of wet dog is clear even in the distance.

The path gets steeper as we climb the last part of it. We burst out of the woods to the vast clearing that marks the top of the mountain. The sapphire sky beams down at us as I squint under the sunlight. The sharp brightness of it is too much after ten minutes of walking in near darkness. In the middle of the clearing, three other people wait in silence. Their gazes turn to find us as we approach.

“Ah! I thought you’d never arrive!” Sabrina taunts, her arms crossed over her chest. The woman grins as Wyatt approaches, then she slaps his shoulder once in greeting. “How are you doing, Wyatt? Been a while since you graced the bar.”

My alpha shrugs. “The clan keeps me busy enough. And I’m taking night shifts running around the woods, so I can’t drop by.”

Sabrina nods, her grin melting into a worried frown. “I heard you were attacked.”

“We were.” Wyatt turns to the other two and juts his chin out in greeting. “Julian. Ezra.”

Julian nods to Wyatt, then to me. He has longer hair than I do, dropping to the middle of his back in a curtain of blond hair. But his eyes are not as human as the rest of him. The golden shade of it always sets me off. Ezra greets neither Wyatt nor me. He always looks like he’s too important for us — freaking mutt.

Sabrina waves a hand in my direction. “And the baby?”

“He’s good,” I reply shortly. It’s honestly weird to be standing here with the others. This is a Council Meeting, and I don’t enjoy being the one non-leader in here.

“What about his babysitter?” Sabrina wiggles her brows, her mouth opening into a smile.

“Yes,” Julian cuts her off in his sharp-as-ice voice. “The babysitter.” He moves his golden eyes to each one of us, staring for a second before going back to Sabrina. “Tell me, Sabrina. How did a human end up here again?”

Sabrina smirks. “Her car broke down.”

“Her car broke down,” Julian repeats, his face empty.

Ezra sneers. “For fuck’s sake.”

I bare my teeth at him and roar. He glares back at me, and I lean forward an inch. Wyatt’s hand slams to my chest. I turn to find his eyes so hard on me my bear immediately pulls back. That’s the alpha’s presence. His orders are wordless, and I understand them either way.

I grind my teeth together. Why the hell did my blood boil so much when Ezra said that? It sounds like he doesn’t believe Astrid got here this way. As if he’s indirectly saying she’s lying. I don’t like the idea of him offending her. It makes my blood boil all over again, so I take a deep breath.

“Liking it or not,” Ezra goes on, his eyes on me. “This story can’t be true. A human can’t just show up like this and just enter Shadow Falls. If they could, then what’s the point of the barrier spells?”

We all turn to Sabrina. She shrugs. “They’re standing.”

Julian shifts in place. “The spells are standing?”

“They are,” says Sabrina. Her mouth curves into a soft smile, like this is all so much fun. “I checked them yesterday, on the witching hour. Strong and steady.”

Wyatt lowers his arms to his sides. “So, you’re saying she crossed the barrier even with the spells?” He shoots me a doubtful glance. “Is she some sort of supernatural? Does she smell like something?”

I shake my head fiercely. “No. One-hundred percent human.”

Ezra takes a step closer. “You bears aren’t famous for your amazing nose. I should go after her and make sure she’s not a threat.”

My bear rises inside me again. He comes like a wave of heat, burning my throat as I step to Ezra, my fingers curling into fists. Wyatt’s hand closes around my shoulder again, and I stop a foot from Ezra. He doesn’t step back, looking up at me with a sneer.

“You’re not getting within one mile of her if I can help it,” I threaten him, letting my bear come close, closer. My animal molds into my skin, making it itch, my bones singing for a change.

Wyatt pulls me back, and he turns me to face him. “One last time, Kieran,” he roars, and I back down. My bear responds easily to him; to his presence. “I don’t fucking know what’s wrong with you.”

“I do.”

We turn to Julian; he still has the same empty face. The way his eyes flash to me makes me shiver with awareness. It’s not comfortable to have a dragon’s eyes upon you. I know I can fight any shifter out there. Crap, I can put down Ezra’s wolf with a couple of slaps, alpha or not.

But a dragon? That’s out of anyone’s league. Well, maybe not Sabrina’s. Witches are something else, and I wouldn’t mess with them.

“Come again?” I ask Julian once he doesn’t prompt an explanation.

He waves a hand in my direction. “I have never seen you act so disrespectful toward your alpha. There’s only one thing that overwrites an alpha’s orders in shifter nature.”

His words sink into me like a stone. I try to swallow the knot in my throat, but it doesn’t budge as I shoot a glance at Wyatt.

My alpha gapes at me with realization on his face. He leans closer. “Do you think she’s your mate?”

My bear purrs inside me. Mate.

This is pathetic.

“No,” I shake my head. “No. Humans can’t be mated. They wouldn’t survive. They... They can’t know.”

Ezra laughs a sarcastic belly laugh that makes me want to punch him. “Oh, fuck. Your mate’s a human? Holy shit, that’s bad.”

“She’s not my mate. She can’t be my mate.”

“The complications aren’t good,” Julian says, cupping his chin. “She mustn’t know. If she learns of what we are, she’s a Twitter post away from revealing us all.”

Sabrina snorts. “As if anyone would believe a single person talking about werewolves and witches.”

“Does she have a family?” Julian asks, raising his eyes. “They’ll believe her. And then what? Her father comes around with a couple of extremists and sets the forest on fire?”

“Maybe her father will kill you, Kieran,” Ezra points. “Make a trophy out of your head.”

I bare my teeth at him, but I don’t roar. Because he’s right. These are the dangers of being revealed. Even if the secret doesn’t spill in a worldwide sense, people still die. We’ve had this happen before.

We’ve had humans that were happy dating their shifter partners until they found the truth out. Bestiality. Devil spawns. They called us worse. Shifters were burned and killed a few years ago.

“Her father can’t come here,” Wyatt’s voice brings me back from my musings. “He wouldn’t be able to cross the barrier.”

“But she can,” Julian says. “What if it’s some kind of genetic characteristic, and her parents can do it too?”

Another snort and Sabrina laughs out loud. “You lot are crazy.”

“Says the witch,” Ezra chuckles. Even with the pokes, he seems to be taking it all just fine. Wolves are weird.

Sabrina takes a step closer to the center. “Don’t you see? Astrid is meant to be here. The town called her in.” Her words force silence upon us for several heartbeats. I stare, waiting for her to go on, but she just smiles at me.

“The town called her in?” Julian keeps the same aloof tone. “What do you mean?”

“My spells have worked perfectly for years. As did my mother’s and her mother’s before that.” Sabrina waves a hand in dismissal. “But magic works in mysterious ways. It let Astrid in because the town wants her in. There’s something for her in here, something that she wouldn’t have been able to see if the barrier didn’t allow her in.”

“Are you talking about fate, old hag?” Ezra pulls the side of his lip, revealing a sharp canid. There’s humor on his face as he props his hands to his hips. “That’s rich.”

She shrugs. “Isn’t having a mate all about fate? I’m not a shifter, so I’m not the one to know.” She motions for the rest of us. “Don’t you think fate would find a way to get your mates to you?”

That seems to shut Ezra up. Even Julian seems uncomfortable.

Wyatt clears his throat. “So, this is what we have. A human entered Shadow Falls through the barrier. You think it’s because the town called her in.” He points at Sabrina, then at me. “And the town called her in because she’s your mate.”

I shake my head, but it’s weaker now. This makes sense. And I can’t ignore the fact my bear has been crying for her ever since I saw her.

“That’s easy to learn,” Julian says, stepping closer to me. His yellow eyes drill into mine. “What is your bear telling you?”

That’s something we shifters understand. Sometimes the human part wants one thing when the bear wants another. It’s the quest of a lifetime to find a middle ground. The human is best for rationality, for understanding and compromising, for strategy. The animal is for instinct, for fighting and protecting. And for sensing your mate.

And my bear knows it. “He says she’s my mate.”

The shifters release sighs, and Wyatt whistles. “Unexpected. A human.”

“Yes,” says Sabrina. “But it explains everything.” She tilts her hip and smiles. “Is there anything else to be discussed? I haven’t had my coffee yet.”

Julian’s brows furrow an inch. “Of course there is. Even if she is his mate, and even if the barrier let her in. She can’t know.”

“I won’t tell her,” I burst out. They all stare at me. “Though my bear says she’s my mate, I don’t think it’s right.”

Ezra cocks a brow, smirking. “You’re going against your bear? That’s nuts.”

I shrug. “No other option. I can’t mate a human.”

The others sway their heads in agreement. I promise not to tell her, and we set back into the forest. Ezra bids his farewells and takes a side-path to shift and run back to his pack.

Once I’m inside Wyatt’s car, I feel the weight of my bear inside me. I’ve been negligent to him; he's been away from the woods for too many days. I haven't had the time with Owen around, unable to balance the attention. Maybe if I shift and let him run wild for some hours, he’ll help me choose wisely on this matter. He’ll help me see clearly.

Astrid may be my mate, but this doesn’t mean we’re perfect for one another. It doesn’t mean she’ll take me immediately, and we’ll love each other forever, with no problems whatsoever.

I have time, and I have more important things to deal with at this moment. And, for sure, I won’t risk the safety of Shadow Falls. After all, she said she’s leaving. She won’t stay for long. Even if I’d be forever empty. I’d let her go if that meant the safety of this place. Of the one place I have ever been safe.