Red's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (11 page)

Theo nodded slowly. “Ah, I see. Trust me, if anyone
knows what it is like to have an unexpected encounter with not only an
available Were-female, but one’s life mate, I do.”

Cord and Theo had gone out for a run one night months
ago and Theo had filled him in on what had happened between him and Riley when
she’d crashed her car down the road from Theo’s cabin. They had discovered that
they’d met previously and Theo had unknowingly marked her, causing Riley to
carry Were-bear markings in her scent.  “Well, my situation is not so different
from yours.”

“How? Did you bite her one of those summers she was
coming up here?”

He wished. Then maybe things would be a little easier.
“No. I kissed her once then. Hell, that may have been the catalyst that made
her mother keep her way. Who knows.”

Theo dunked the other half of his biscotti. “That’s
doubtful. You couldn’t have been but maybe sixteen at the time. You would have
posed no threat.”

Staring down into the remainder of his coffee, Cord
considered whether or not to go into details with Theo about the full incident.

His silence must have been telling, because Theo said,
“What is it?”

Raising his gaze, Cord confessed, “My first golden haze
happened.”

“No shit?”

“No shit. It did it again today when I kissed her,” he
explained.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Theo chuckled. “Do you plan to
claim her before or during the Bear Run?”

Shoving his lose hair back from his face in
frustration, Cord exhaled hard. “It’s complicated.”

Theo rose and walked to the counter and poured himself
another cup of coffee. “Because she’s Genma’s granddaughter?”

Cord rose as well, but instead of going for a refill he
placed his mug in the sink. “No, because something is off with Rena.”

“I’m not following.”

Leaning back against the sink, Cord said, “I can’t
explain it. It’s like she doesn’t know she’s Were.”

“How’s that possible? She’s Genma’s kin and she’d spent
vacations in Den. Granted she was young, but how can she not know?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been racking my brain all day
trying to figure it out. When my eyes turned this morning she didn’t know why
it happened.”

“She didn’t recognize that it was brought on by your
desire for her?” Still holding his mug high, Theo folded his arms across his
chest.

“Exactly.” Shaking his head, Cord pushed away from the
sink. “Look, you have a mate awaiting you. I’m going to head home.”

Theo patted him on the shoulder. “Trust me. One way or
another it will work itself out.”

Cord headed to the door. “I hope so.” Opening the side
door, he exited the house and shut the door behind him. At the bottom of the
stairs he started to unfasten the jeans Theo had loaned him, when he heard his
name.

Turning, Cord faced Theo who was standing on the top
step.

“Let me guess, you need pointers on what to do with
that pretty life mate of yours in bed.”

“Not from your cocky ass I don’t. Hell, compared to me,
you are well out of practice.”

“If that ain’t the fucking truth.” Cord agreed. 
“What’s up?”

Moving one step down, Theo said, “I’m not sure if this
means anything, but if I’m not mistaken when Lillian left Den when she was
younger, I recall there were whispers about her marrying a human, non-shifter.”

“So did you.” Cord wasn’t understanding where his
friend was going with this information.

“Yes, but Riley became a Were. I don’t think Lillian’s
husband was ever changed. At least he’s never come to Den to prove the rumors
wrong.”

“Thanks, Theo. I think you may have hit on something.”

“I hope it helps.” Theo told him.

Stripping out of the jeans, Cord tossed them at Theo
then said, “So do I.” In a flash, Cord shifted and his bear was off.

“Ass.” Theo called out to him, his voice filled with
gaiety.

Cord was glad he had done the final check at Theo’s
place even though his friend had told him he’d be back by Monday. It had given
Cord the opportunity to get some of his worries off his mind. Even though being
around Theo had stirred up more questions, Cord at least felt like he was
moving toward a path that would lead to a future with his life mate.

Now how he was going to get Rena to drop her guard and
let her bear out, he didn’t know.

~YH~

Hearing the knock at the door, Rena tossed out a quick
prayer that it wasn’t Cord. All day long she had been on pins and needles,
knowing he was once again outside the cabin working in the yard. She had kept
herself away from the windows, refusing to let him catch her staring at him
again. As if it wasn’t bad enough that this man had haunted her dreams, this
morning she had awakened with her thighs coated with her own cream. Ever since
that kiss yesterday she’d been in a state of need.

She’d thought about going into town, just to get away
from the house and the man, but she didn’t want to risk going outside and
running into him. Especially with the memory of the powerful kiss they had
shared plaguing her.

That low voice in her gut seemed to be pushing her
toward going out and taking matters into her own hands, kissing Cord.
Claiming
Cord had been the exact words. However, she’d held herself back. It had been a
draining feat but one she’d managed to prevail in so far.

By the second knock, Rena finally decided to answer the
door. She wasn’t a chicken, she had turned down plenty of men in clubs and at
her old job, one wilderness male she could handle. Maybe.

Opening the door, she was relieved to see a statuesque
black woman, around her age, on the porch.

“Rena, right?” the woman asked, a wide smile on her
mouth.

“Yes. And you are?”

Sticking her hand out, the woman said, “I’m Greta. My
parents and I live next door.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Greta.” Rena shook the hand
offered. “Please come in.”

Greta crossed the threshold. “Genma asked me to pick up
some muffins she’d set aside for the festival.”

“I’ll get them. I believe my grandmother said they were
supposed to go to a woman named Lola Shardik.” Rena walked toward the kitchen.

“Correct. I’m headed to town now.” Greta called after
her.

In the pantry, Rena told herself not to even look at
the honey. Just grab the muffins and go. Picking up the large container marked
Festival, her eyes caught the sight of a smaller container beside it with CORD
written on it. Rena closed her eyes and inhaled. Holding a breath, she tried to
keep herself calm. The right thing for her to do was to take the package to
Cord, her grandmother had evidently meant for him to have it.

Ignoring it for now, she turned to leave the small
room. She stared at the words labeling the batch for sale and refused to allow
her gaze to stray.

“Here they are.” Rena sighed with relief as she moved
back into the living room where Greta was still standing.

“Thanks.” Greta took the container. “I can’t wait to
purchase some of these.”

“They are delicious.” Rena pulled the front door open,
smiling at the thought of how many of her own muffins she had consumed in the
last two days. If she kept it up, she would have to start walking laps around
the house to keep her weight down. Thank goodness she had plenty of room to
spare with all of the pounds she had lost over the year while she’d been ill. 

Greta walked past her. “It is the honey. It makes
everything better.”

“What did you say?” Rena didn’t believe she’d heard the
other woman correctly.

Turning on the porch, Greta faced her. “It’s the
honey-glaze that makes the muffins delicious. Everything delicious.”

Rena frowned. “That can’t be right. I’m allergic. My
grandmother knows that.”

A similar frown came on Greta’s features, brow tight.
“What’s your allergy to?”

“Honey.” Rena said plainly.

Tilting her head, Greta stared at her as if Rena had
just popped out a third eye on her nose. “I’ve never heard of that before.
Especially not in Den.”

“Well, I’m not from Den. So, evidently my grandmother
must have made my batch with agave nectar.”

“Do you happen to have any of your batch left?”

Laughing, Rena said, “Barely. I’ve been consuming them
almost on the hour.” Turning she went into the kitchen and located her tin.
Opening it, she took out one of the three muffins remaining then got a butter
knife to cut it in half. Once that was done she went back to the door and
handed it to the other woman.

Greta didn’t waste any time before sinking her teeth
into the treat. Chewing slowly, she moaned. “Oh, goodness, they are so good,”
she mumbled around the mouthful.

“Agave, right?”

“Absolutely not, pure raw honey.” Greta popped the
other half into her mouth and smiled around it, her dark eyes shining bright
with joy.

Rena was floored. All her life, her mother and
physicians had said she had a honey allergy. Her mother had cautioned her with
a horrible story about when Rena had eaten honey when she was too young to
remember, saying she’d almost died. Broken out in hives and fever. Now to find
out, that not only did she not have an allergy to the sappy sweetness, but she
craved it.
Did my mother lie to me? For what purpose would she have told
such a tale?

“Maybe you grew out of it.” Greta declared, now having
completely consumed the muffin.

“You’re probably right.” Absently, Rena nodded, still
trying to make heads or tails of it all.

“Well, I’m off to town.” Headed to the steps, Greta
stopped and faced her again. “You want to come. Get out the house?”

“Um. I was considering it, but I don’t kno—”

“Hey, Greta!”

Just the sound of the deep masculine voice and its
husky rumble caused heat to spread out from her core into the rest of her body.
How could someone’s voice make me feel so needy?

Turning to the side, Greta’s ready smile appeared on
her face, almost too wide for Rena.

“Hello to you, Cord. I see you’re working hard over
here. You’re going to miss the festival events if you keep this up.”

“I’ll catch some things sooner or later.” He responded.

Rena leaned against the doorjamb and kept her gaze
fixed toward the trees in front of her grandmother’s house, denying herself a
glance at Cord. He was already haunting her mind when she was asleep and awake.
She was too afraid what would come next if she gave herself leave.

“Well, there’s going to be a dance tomorrow night, this
year. You’ll get a chance to show all the females in town your moves.” Greta
called out laughing.

A sound filled the air, like an animal’s growl.

Greta looked at her and laughed. “Down girl, Cord and I
are only friends. If you want to claim him, you’ll get no blocking from me.”

Shocked, Rena slapped her palm over her mouth. She
couldn’t believe that sound had come from her lips. She didn’t know what had
come over her. Lowering her hand, she said, “Oh, goodness… what? No, it’s
nothing like that for him. I mean me… us.”

“Which ever. You want to come with me?”

Rena looked at the sexy, beast of a man leaning on his
hoe casually. However, the intense look he was giving her was anything but
casual.

Mine
.

Blocking out the “Sybil-ish” voice inside her, Rena
quickly agreed. “I’m going with you. One second.”

“I’ll be in my truck.” Greta moved down the steps.

Rena rushed back into the house and went to her room to
get a light jacket. Then went to the kitchen and in there she entered the panty
and grabbed the container marked for Cord. Going out of the house, she headed
to the silver truck parked behind Cord’s black one.

Passing his truck, Rena set the muffins on the hood of
it then continued past to the passenger side door of Greta’s truck.

She was grateful that Greta did not ask about the tin
now resting on Cord’s vehicle. When Greta backed out, Rena allowed herself a
quick glance at Cord. Her breath became seized in her chest when she saw that
he had not moved, but he was staring pointedly at her. Lifting his hand, he
gave her a knowing wave. She looked down at her hands, but didn’t mistake the
lowed rumble of the male laughter.

That man is going to stop laughing at me.

~YH~

“This is amazing. Everything looks like so much fun.
It’s like a county fair.” Rena walked beside Greta to the festival ground area.
It was a large clearing with a playground and park at one end, the other was
set up with tents, booths, field games and so much more: food, crafts and a
small stage where there was a kids’ talent show happening. After stopping by
Gobi’s Diner, where she started off eating a large garden salad, Rena ended
with three homemade rolls dripping with honey and most of Greta’s creamy smoked
salmon pasta in her stomach. She was stuffed.