Very Bearly Mated by Rebel Carter

Chapter 1

When you moved to a new location, a new town like Oak Fast, if you will, it was permission to start over. A time to allow yourself to enjoy the early days of navigating a new town, new faces, streets and how exactly that sense of brand spanking fresh newness could bring out sides of yourself that you didn’t even know existed.

Rose, or Rosie Oliveres, relished new. Absolutely reveled in it. It was the thing that drove her to keep searching for a place that fit just right. Finding a forever home, a place she knew she could grow into as a woman and a witch, was the ultimate driving force to her refusal to settle. What Rosie was looking for was hard to put into words, but she knew the magic she wanted to master would feel right when she tasted it. So far, every place, every source, every coven had felt wrong.

Not bad or anything. She’d made wonderful friends and made memories, happy ones, really, but it hadn’t been right. Rosie had learned at the young age of seventeen, when she first packed up and left home on the hunt for her forever home, for a magic that would grow with her while reminding her that it was, indeed, vast and limitless beyond anything else she had ever known, that she had to keep looking for what felt right.

Wrong didn’t have to mean bad. It could just mean it wasn’t right for her.

She’d caught wind of Oak Fast, Alaska, through the magical grapevine that connected the inhabitants of this universe’s magically aware and inclined. There was a certain flavor to the magic in Oak Fast, something wild and a little bit dangerous. It was ancient and arcane in the very best ways and once Rosie had been tipped off it was all she could think of.

Danger. Ancient danger, at that, was her jam.

Or at least Rosie convinced herself it was her jam because after enough close brushes with nearly blowing herself up or unleashing...well, an old god, danger had to be her thing. Though it was only that one time.

It could totally happen to anyone.

Life in Alaska was...unusual, and she wasn’t sure she would be cut out for it if her goals weren’t so singular, if Oak Fast was any other town. But Oak Fast had proven right up Rosie Oliveres’ alley. It was totally her jam, even more than dabbling with old gods. She’d found a job right away, by mistake really, when she’d gone for a latte and ended up sliding behind the counter and helping the overworked fox shifter who had been doing her best but had definitely needed a hand. Being a barista was a skill Rosie had picked up during all of her moving, and it had landed her a job in a place she fit in perfectly.

“How soon can you start?” Reggie, the owner, a friendly bear shifter with an open smile had asked her when he’d come rushing into the shop to bail out the overwhelmed fox shifter. “Didn’t expect to find an extra set of hands behind the counter but can’t say I’m upset. Always happy for the help.”

It had been Rosie who had been happiest, and she’d started the next day.

The coffee shop, Barista Witch, was all that she could have asked for and more. It was a place where magic and charms and espresso all lived together harmoniously providing the perfect welcome to any and all in search of respite. The others on staff were a mix of witches, shifters, and humans, and there was such love and joy shared between them that Rosie had been happy to count herself among them. Finding a place to live had been just as simple and accidental with the fox shifter she’d helped, Alice Silver of the Silver Fox Clan, happily offering to introduce her to her clan leader.

“He’s renting out this super cool cabin on our land, but he doesn't want any shifters, or humans. So a witch like you would be perfect, you know?” Rosie had nodded, following behind Alice who was merrily bouncing ahead with a toothy grin. “We don’t like having to hide and it’s not like you don’t know about magic, and” she paused, waving an arm at herself, “how shifters are. It’s not a big place, but it’s cute and there’s a lake nearby---with fish!”

“Fish, huh?”

“Yeah, so lucky right? I love fishing. You’ll see me loads if you take the place.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! Wouldn’t that just be so fun?!”

Rosie smiled, knowing she would like to see Alice loads. The girl was younger than her, but she had an infectious spirit that was positive and buoyed her up. Alice grabbed Rosie’s hand and tugged her along happily behind her, and it was hard not to feel like she’d discovered a little sister all of a sudden. Rosie had gone gladly with her and met the head of the Silver Clan, a fox shifter that was wiry and a lot younger than she’d expected him to be.

“Name’s Brent, I’m the head around here, and if Alice likes ya then you’ll be a good fit. She’s got a good nose for witches,” he’d said, tapping his nose with a wink. “Plus, if you like the place we could use some warding around our territory for a rent reduction.”

Rosie perked up at that. “I can do that, no problem. I can even ward against old gods if you’ve been particularly naughty,” she told him, striding into the cabin eagerly.

Brent’s blond eyebrows went up. “Wait, what?”

“One can never be too careful!” She told him with a grin. She turned, taking in the space and focused on exploring the small cabin, her happy mood only amplified by Alice’s effervescent presence. A job and a place to live in the same day? And a discount? What more could a witch ask for? The cabin had been quaint with a small living room and eat in kitchen dining room combo. A small bathroom was off the kitchen and to the left of the living room was a decent sized bedroom with a tiny closet. But nothing could compare to what was outside. The cabin came with a wrap around porch--a screened-in wrap around porch. The second she set foot on the land in front of it she could see herself out on the porch enjoying her evenings and she knew she had to have it.

And there was the lake that Alice spoke so excitedly of. It was a lovely place, serene in its gentle waves and flower pads. That would have been nice enough...could have been nice enough to make it appealing to her. The silver sheen sparkling in the water that told her it was a magical lake, one that had a massive amount of untapped potential by the shimmery iridescent hue of the water, sealed the deal as picture perfect for Rosie. If she wanted to try out any big spell work she wouldn't have to exhaust herself. Not with a magical lake nearby.

The cabin and its lake were as close to perfect as she’d managed to find.

That had been months ago, and she still hadn’t worked up the courage to explore the depths of its magic. Whatever was down there was big, it was...old and dangerous. It was just the right mix to scare her. Rosie hadn’t been scared by much since she’d left home---seventeen years ago. She wasn’t exactly a young woman, she was a wise, smart, capable thirty four year old witch who knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would find precisely what she was searching for. That it would happen when it was meant to, but not a single minute before.

Rosie was hopeful Oak Fast would be the place for all of that to happen. Life here didn’t feel weird or wrong. It felt new, but in the way that meant growing and exploring even though the town was only that of 8 thousand souls. Though she had lived in cities all over the world, ones with skyscrapers that vanished into the clouds, ones filled with a collection of beautiful languages and cultures, ones where she was well and truly one in a sea of millions. Those places had lost their flavor in a matter of weeks, sometimes days, and Rosie had been quick to move on.

Oak Fast didn’t feel that way. This place had staying power with its quiet little cabin and its magic filled lake. Rosie had been in Oak Fast for three months now, endured a chilly end to winter and was now enjoying all that spring had to offer with the other residents of Oak Fast. It was a beautiful place, with mountains surrounding the town nestled in a lush valley of old tree growth. The natural and raw beauty of Alaska was alive and well here even in the pretty as a picture streets of the small town that was anything but sleepy. To the humans of Oak Fast, the town was quaint. A good place to raise a family and grow old in relative peace, but to shifters, witches, and the Fey folk that lived amongst them Oak Fast was a thriving hub of power. The ley lines of magic that intersected in this valley?

Radical.

The power here was immeasurable. Each and every day Rosie found more sources of it. It was easy to understand the draw the place had on the Fey, on witches. Why shifters made their home here so freely. She was right to come here, the potential was beyond her understanding-- which was absolutely freaking perfect. She needed to learn and be outclassed to grow and become a witch far more powerful than she currently was---mastering the arcane was the one thing that had made sense to her in all seasons of her life. She was a devoted lifelong student of the power and supernatural world that was hers by birthright. She’d inherited very little from her family, but this?

Magic? Being a witch? It was their greatest gift to her amongst a sea of wrongs and slights. This was perhaps worth it all. Made her life of following the wind whichever way it blew make sense to her, and Rosie embraced it wholeheartedly. If she didn't, nothing made sense and so, she grabbed hold of all that her wandering and the possibility Oak Fast offered her.

She positively ate it up with both hands and planned to continue to happily do so for as long as she was able---her whole life, if she were in the right place.

But you know what they say about carefully laid plans and all that, right?

Well, Rosie didn’t really know, because she’d dropped out of high school, but she knew the gist of it. It went something along the lines of well laid plans being awesome and all until they were derailed by unexpected and unpleasant obstacles and life took a giant crap on them.

And in her case that was a mate.

A fated mate.