Fated To Her Bear (3 page)

She guessed bears, that the town had got its name from its shifter inhabitants, because otherwise—well, that would be weird. A session of people-watching ensued. She tried to guess those who were able to change into another animal, and those that couldn’t. She was out of practice with this, not having interacted with others like her for such a long time.

Slowly, she began to tune into the town’s inhabitants. Those who could change had different mannerisms. Not something you could point to and name, but it was there all the same. Could they see it in her? Ciara had never questioned herself before, never sought out what made her different from others. But it was there; she knew it.

Then something else struck her. There were five separate couples in the coffee shop. It became very obvious which were bonded. The way they moved around each other, like two dancers, touching, caressing with a rhythm of their own. As if music played for them, music no one else could hear.

Choking down her need to experience that with the rancher, Ryan, she swallowed her hot coffee and left the shop, heading back to her normal world and her real life. Yet she knew she had left part of herself behind at the ranch, and that she would never reclaim that part unless she went to him and stayed with him forever.

“Not happening,” she said as she got back into her car and headed out of Bear Bluff.

Each mile that went by was hard, the connection between them so stretched she thought that if she let go she would ping back towards him like a stretched elastic band. Maybe like that elastic band, there was a breaking point. A point where the bond was no more.

Could she find the strength to find that point? Pulling into the parking lot at the practice, she felt a little better, but maybe that was the coffee and cake talking.

“Ciara,” Anthony, another vet at the practice, said. “How did it go? I haven’t been to Bear Bluff for years. You didn’t get eaten alive by the bears, did you?”

“Obviously,” Ciara answered evenly. Anthony had this way of flirting with her. She found it flattering, although she had no intension of encouraging him. But it was nice, who wouldn’t like a man paying you attention, especially when it didn’t happen too often because you were too curvy?
But he’s not your mate.

That reminder made her think. Maybe that was the answer; find another man to take her mind off Ryan. But when she looked at Anthony’s face, she had to acknowledge it wouldn’t be fair. There was no spark between them, no attraction.

“Did you solve the puzzle? He was a bit vague on the phone.”

“No,” she answered. “I have taken some blood though, so I am going to run some tests and see what it shows up.”

“Want coffee before you start work?” Anthony asked.

“No thanks, Anthony. I’m going to get this done now.” She noted his slight disappointment and nearly promised him a rain check, but she stopped herself and said, “I just had coffee on the way back. Thanks anyway.”

“No problem. Maybe another time?”

She just smiled and walked away, seeing the puzzled expression on his face. As she went to the small lab, she thought about Anthony and then realised that he might be different too. He had never said, but then why would he? But maybe he had an animal side, and if he did, maybe he knew her secret too.

But you have a mate,
the same voice reminded her.

I know, but I don’t want one
, she answered.

However, the voice didn’t want to go away, and all the time she worked, she kept imagining Ryan. The smell of him, the feel of him against her body. The way he had so easily brought her to climax. What would it be like to lie with him? To mate with him and to know he was hers?

A knock at the door made her jump. The machine had finished, and she looked at the results as she opened the door.

“Yes?” she asked Anthony.

“Phone call for you.” He winked as he handed her the phone. Then closed the door behind him.

“Hello,” she said, but she already knew who it was going to be. The threads that connected them reached down the phone and held her in his power.

“Ciara,” his voice said, dark and sexy. “I wanted to apologise for my actions.”

“There’s no need,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. So, that was his game, find an excuse to ring, and then what? She listened to his next words, wanting to know despite herself.

“No, really. I just wanted to ask you to do the tests, please. If you prefer to have someone else, call me with the results, or have a different vet come and look at her again. I’m happy with that.”

Are you?

“Look, Ryan, I’ve just finished the tests. If you stay on the phone, I’ll take a look.” She should have hung up, got someone else to talk to him. But she didn’t. What was wrong with her?
Nothing
, her other side replied. She quickly shut that voice up; this was going to be tougher than she imagined, because she was fighting with herself. Her animal side wanted this, wanted him.

She scanned the results. Nothing jumped out at her. Double-checking, she picked up the phone once more to speak to him.

“I can’t see anything out of the ordinary. The only couple of raised levels are still within normal parameters for a mare who is so heavily pregnant.”

“I see.” He sounded genuinely worried.

“Listen, let me think about it tonight and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” he said simply and then added, “Once more, I apologise for earlier.”

“Already forgotten,” she said.

Liar
, the voice in her head screamed, but if Ryan thought the same, he kept it firmly to himself.

Ciara placed the piece of paper with the results on down on the table. They showed nothing. Yet Ryan was genuinely concerned, and with his dual nature, he might be more attuned to the mare than a normal person would be.

Damn, he was certainly more in tune with this mare, too
. Now her other side had been awoken, it just wouldn’t shut up. She took the results, put them in her pocket, and then headed out for her next call, hoping to give herself some distraction from the sensations flooding her body every time she thought of him.

“Ryan,” Taylor said, coming into the kitchen. Ryan was making coffee, having heard his brother’s car driving up the track.

“Yes,” Ryan said, handing a cup to his brother. It was nice to have company. His earlier encounter with Ciara was still ricocheting around his brain.

“Thanks,” Taylor said, taking the coffee and wrapping his hands around it. ”I have a favour to ask.”

“Yeah, Taylor.” Ryan sipped his coffee, watching his younger brother. Happier than he had ever been, Taylor glowed with contentment. He had found and married his mate. Now they were living in a converted barn next door to his mate, Melanie’s brother.

“It’s Melanie’s birthday next week and I wanted two cows.”

Ryan nearly sprayed his coffee all over the floor. Wiping his hand across his mouth, he said, “You want to give your new wife two cows for her birthday?”

“Yes. You know that farm of theirs has no animals. So I thought I would give two cows to Melanie.” Taylor didn’t see the funny side at all; in fact, he looked quite serious about the whole thing.

“OK. I’ll see what I can do. I have two that are pregnant. That would be a good start to a herd.”

“Thanks, Ryan. Knew I could count on you. I just want to make her happy. You wait until it’s your turn, then you’ll understand.” Taylor drank his coffee, looking relieved that Melanie’s slightly strange birthday present was taken care of. However, when he looked at Ryan, he saw something different in his brother’s face and his mug left his mouth. “Oh.”

“Oh, what?” Ryan asked, trying to cover up whatever feelings he had been displaying so openly.

“You found her?”

“What? Why would you think that?”

“Because you have that look on your face. The one that says you have trouble. And unless it’s cattle rustlers, you never have trouble. So, spill.”

Ryan finished his coffee and went to the sink to wash the cup. “It’s complicated.”

“It always is. Come on, Ryan. I swear this will go no further. I won’t even tell Melanie. Although she’ll be so pleased that the number of females in the family is going up. She’s desperately hoping we are going to have a girl to break the family curse.”

There were six brothers in the Munroe family. And Rob, the only other brother who had found his mate and settled down with a family, already had two sons. No daughters had been born for generations.

Compelled to share his news, Ryan said, “She was here earlier. But she ran off.”

Taylor opened his mouth to make a comment and then closed it again. This was too important to joke over. “I’m sorry. Did you speak to her? Does she know?”

“Oh, yes, she knows. Yes, we spoke. But for some reason she doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.”

“Then go after her.”

“Like I said, it’s complicated.”

“Nothing is too complicated that it can’t be resolved.” Taylor thought for a moment. “So if she knows, does that mean she is one of us?”

“Yes and no.” Ryan turned to look at Taylor, wishing that he could look as happy as his brother did. “She isn’t a bear. But she’s something; she felt the connection. She knows about the bond, but she ran away scared. And I don’t know why. All I know is, if I push her too hard too fast, I might just lose her forever.”

“And that would be a disaster,” said Taylor.

“Exactly,” said Ryan.

Ciara finished her calls, went back to the practice to finish her paperwork, and then headed home. A hot bath would be the answer, then a movie, sitting on the sofa with some junk food. She’d earned it. Although she conveniently forgot about the large piece of chocolate cake, she had earned earlier.

Undressing, she grabbed her robe and headed to the shower, her mind filled with thoughts of how Ryan’s hands had felt on her body, and how much better they would feel on her naked body. The hot water had to wash those thoughts away, or else she would go insane. All day she had been unable to get him out of her head. And she needed to be able to concentrate on her work, or an animal’s life might be at risk.

Washing her hair, she let the tangy lemon scent awake her senses and she tried to steer her thoughts towards Sapphire. If she had to keep reliving this morning, then at least she could make use of it by trying to figure out what was wrong with the pregnant mare.

As far as she could tell, the foal was in no danger. Its heartbeat had been strong and healthy, so what was wrong with Sapphire? It was like a puzzle she couldn’t put together. Over and over, she went through the results and the physical examination, but still came up with nothing.

After she had washed and dried her hair, she put the movie on. However, as she sat and watched it, her mind zoned out. Had she missed something? Had the presence of Ryan made her miss something obvious? Something that might cost Sapphire or her foal its life? But she couldn’t go back and face Ryan tomorrow for a re-examination.

Because if she did, she
knew
that Sapphire wouldn’t be the only thing having a re-examination. Her feelings towards Ryan would be amplified and she would be even more likely to give in to the feelings he evoked in her.

What was she supposed to do? She would never forgive herself if she let the mare or foal die. That left one choice.

Going to her bedroom, she pulled on some warm clothes. The only way she could deal with this was to go back, but not in the day. No, she would go tonight. Sneak into the barn and speak to Sapphire. Ask her what was wrong. It was the only way to know for sure.

She ran down to her car. Sliding in, she started the engine and drove over to Bear Bluff. Instead of going to the farm, she parked her car at the bottom of the mountain, and began to climb the path, which was worn into the dirt. It was used a lot, and she didn’t think by hikers. No, she was sure that the inhabitants of Bear Bluff used this path to walk out of sight of the town before they changed.

Which was exactly what Ciara intended to do.

Wishing she had brought a flashlight with her, she slowly climbed up the steep path to the small copse of trees. There she ducked under a branch and found herself in a clearing. Trying to calm herself down, she tried not to panic about changing. It had been so many years since she had let her other side run free. The excitement she could feel at the prospect was threatening to make her concentration slip.

Ciara placed her hand on the cool tree trunk. Letting her mind concentrate on the bark under her hands, the rough ridges hard and unmoving against her fingers. Trees, old and wise, how many times had they watched someone like her come to this spot and change into something else, something completely different? How many horses had they seen? She might very well be the first. The rest of her kind herded together, mixing and mating in a large expanse of meadows and forests. Beautiful and quiet, with no prying eyes. A place she had left. A life she had shunned.

Feeling confident, she allowed herself to move away from the tree. Ciara pictured her horse in her mind. Pictured the long limbs and flowing mane of her other self. She imagined her horse, with its jet-black coat, which would keep her hidden, as she galloped over the mountain meadows. A thrill of excitement coursed through her, but she pushed it aside, needing to keep calm and concentrate.

There! She fixed the image in her head and then let her body flow into it. A tremor of sheer power passed through her as she shimmered out of this world for an instant, only to come back to herself with hooves, a mane, and a tail. Tossing her head, she pawed the ground, feeling the need for speed.

Exiting the trees carefully, nearly forgetting she was much wider and taller now, she took off up the steep path, strong muscles working to propel her higher. The rocks bruised her feet, but she didn’t worry; she was heading for the soft green meadows of the mountain where she could gallop, her mane flying in the breeze.

Her heartbeat quickened as she reached the meadow and galloped across the wide expanse of springy grass. The darkness should have scared her, but she was lost to the exhilaration of being a horse once more. The joy of powering over the ground at breakneck speed, with night all around her, cloaking her. Above her head, the stars twinkled, glittering in the sky as they watched the creature who had been shut away for so long take its long, deep breath of freedom.