Red's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (3 page)

His father’s mouth pulled up on one side. It wasn’t a
complete smile, but one Cord understood was meant to encourage him. He’d seen
it several times over the last few months.

“I won’t disappoint, Dad.” Cord covered his father’s
hand with his.

The smile stretched wide this time. “I never thought
you would. Now, let’s go for a swim and get home before your mother sends Mina
and Kelly after us.”

“Oh, Great Spirit, I ho—”

Before Cord could finish his sentence the cool water of
the lake surrounded him, a result of his father giving him a shove into the
water.  Cord broke through the surface sputtering, eyeing his father who was
still standing on the bank clutching his stomach chuckling. “Fine old man, if
you think that’s funny, watch me beat you to the Berend pier.”

Jasper Bjorn’s expression sobered, as he yelled. “You
cheat.”

“I didn’t give
myself
a head start.” Cord called
back as he began swimming in the direction of the pier a little under a
half-mile away.

There were multiple splashes behind him as not only his
father but other males joined the race. Weres were naturally competitive and
couldn’t resist a challenge no matter the reason it had been issued.

This was just what Cord needed to take his mind off
finding a life mate. Correction, only a companion. At least for a little while
he had the pleasure of focusing on nothing but his strokes slicing through the
water.

When the pseudo race had ended, Cord was the victor
with his father only a single stroke behind him followed by other Den County
males falling in. Cord pulled himself onto the pier and sat on the end, staring
into the water at the other men looking up at him. Apprehension cloaked his
shoulders for a moment.
Can I lead them? Am I the
right
person to
lead them?

A Bjorn male had never taken the seat of mayor without
a life mate, that additional strength now his father expected it of him.

Tilting his head back he stared up into the night sky.
The crescent-shaped moon hung high above his head. Cord wanted to send up a
prayer to the Great Spirit, but he wasn’t even sure what to pray for: guidance?
wisdom? patience? All of those were probably appropriate but there was only one
thing his gut wanted him to entreat the Spirit for, but he doubted it was even
an option.

Chapter
Two

Rena sat at her desk, feeling green. Her stomach felt
like a pitbull had his jaws locked around it and was shaking the rest of her
like a ragdoll. She was so off balance that bile had taken up residence in the
back of her throat for hours and was now staging another escape from her
stomach.  That morning, she had not consumed another anti-nausea pill, not
after last night’s prayer at the toilet. Sitting before her computer she tried
to concentrate on the data collected on the previous show season, but the image
before her was coming in and out of focus with each wave of queasiness. She
didn’t want to be at work and she couldn’t afford to go home again. Not if she
wanted to keep her job. As soon as she could take a break she was calling her
doctor and attempting a lunch-hour appointment.

“We need to talk, Rena.” A firm, light voice spoke to
her from the side.

Rena hadn’t even heard her supervisor approaching.
Glancing up, she stared at the older black woman, with her designer glasses and
long Nubian braids, standing at the opening of her cubicle. “Good morning, Ms.
Crawford.” Rena forced a smile on her lips and attempted to lace her voice with
cheer.

“It doesn’t look so good for you.” Sighing, her
supervisor continued, “My office please.” Turning on the four-inch burgundy
heels that complimented the dark gray suit she wore, Ms. Crawford strutted
away.

Picking up her ginger ale, Rena took a liberal gulp of
the soda, hoping it would calm her stomach, then rose and followed her boss.

“Take a seat, please.” Ms. Crawford moved behind her
desk and directed Rena to one of the two chairs beside it.

Claiming one, Rena waited as her supervisor stared at
her. The other woman assessed her slowly, looking from her face—that Rena knew
was showing beads of sweat—to the hand that clutched at the clothing over her
stomach and finally arriving at Rena’s flats that were anxiously tapping
against the carpet. Rena had given up wearing heels weeks ago as her sickness
had increased. It was bad enough trying to maintain balance standing, let alone
fearing she’d topple over three extra inches from the ground.

“You look terrible.” Ms. Crawford’s voice was direct
and calm, a touch of sympathy echoed behind it.

“I’m okay.” Rena lied.

“No, Rena you’re not. You look a mess. Your work hasn’t
been getting done for weeks and what you do turn in is so below your expert
status, it’s laughable.”

Those words hurt, even though Rena knew they were the
truth. “I’ll do better. I’ll come in early and stay late if I have to, so I can
get things done right.” She could hear the whining in her own voice, but she
didn’t want to lose her job and she could almost sense the hammer coming down.

“When, Rena? In between doctor appointments?” Ms.
Crawford threw her hands up in a helpless gesture. “You have no more sick time
remaining. Another boss would have canned you months ago. But I like you, and
over the years you have kicked ass here. But—”

“Don’t say it.” Gripping the arm of the chair, Rena
rushed on, “I can do this. I know I can. Green or not, I can do this job better
than most people in this department.” She wasn’t bragging but telling the
truth. She had a cubicle filled with awards from the station.

Leaning forward, Ms. Crawford barked out, “No, Rena,
you’re better than every fucking person I supervise on the production staff and
that is the only reason that once you get yourself better I’ll hire you back in
an instant. I’ll create a job for you if it comes to it.” In low tones, she
finished, “But, now I have to let you go.”

Rena could feel the burning in her eyes and the tears
crawling down her cheeks. Nodding, she stood and headed toward the door. There
was nothing else that needed to be said.

“Get better, Rena.” It was almost a command, an order
from a supervisor to an employee.

Pausing in stride, Rena glanced over her shoulder and
took in the smooth sophisticated woman that had trained her and been a good
mentor. “I will.”

Continuing on, she went to her cubicle, packed up her
things in an old box she’d found and left the building, not stopping to say
goodbye to anyone.

~YH~

“Hi, Grandma. What are you doing at the Sheriff’s
office at this time of night?” Lying on the cement slab of her balcony patio
again, Rena pressed her cell phone to her ear. She was thankful she’d had the
foresight to bring it out with her. She was happy it was her grandmother
calling her, not her mom. Her mother, Lillian, was the type of parent that
called at odd times of the day and night. Most people would call it nosy or
controlling, and so would Rena, but she also knew her mother cared and was
always concerned. Especially since Rena first became ill. Her mother had
encouraged her to go to the physician but also warned Rena about her allergies.

Rena had not opened up to her mother fully. She’d not
confessed her cravings and maddening desire for those forbidden items and
something else, something she could not completely express to herself or
others. She was hearing voices. More like a voice. Not around her but inside of
her. So low, Rena couldn’t make out the words.

“It’s not that late in California.”

“That was true.” Rena had momentarily forgotten that it
was late in North Carolina where she lived but three hours earlier at her
grandmother’s house.

“What’s wrong, Red dear?”

Feeling as if she wanted to cry from the overwhelming
ache in her stomach, and the calm comfort of her grandmother using her
nickname, Rena inhaled a few breaths and took in the cool night air. She was no
weakling and hated that her illness had brought her down to this.

“I’m okay, Grandma.”

“Now, Red, don’t you lie to me.” Genma Berend
admonished, the firmness of her statement coming through the line. “I can hear
it in your voice that you are not well.”

Her grandmother was always astute, wise and practically
clairvoyant if Rena had to put a name on it. With a dry, low laugh, Rena said,
“I don’t want you to worry.”

“Let me take care of my own emotions. What’s going on?”

Rena’s heavy sigh shot into the air. Her grandmother
had always been her private confidant. Her mother didn’t realize how often she
and her grandmother still communicated. Rena’s mother and grandmother had a
falling out when Rena was younger and it had been since that time that Rena had
seen her grandmother. However, Rena would still go to the park at least twice a
month and call her grandmother. She never asked what the disagreement was
concerning, and neither of the two women seemed to want to volunteer the
information. Her grandmother would always just say, it is your mother’s
concerns and not mine to share.

Rena knew better than to ask her mother. The spring
after her mother had taken her away, Rena had asked to go see her grandmother.
However, her mother had become angry and told her that her grandmother’s county
was not ‘safe’ for Rena. Not a healthy place for a young girl to be raised.

She found it hard to believe since her mother had lived
in that wooded community all her life, so Rena just let the conversation die.

“I’m not well, grandmother.”

 “That I can hear.” Genma was always straight and to
the point. “Have you seen a doctor?”

“I have. My physician and I have tried many things over
the past year.”

“A year!” The outrage in her grandmother’s voice was
more than clear. “Why haven’t you said anything before?”

“I did—”

“Don’t you dare say you didn’t want me to be bothered.”

Rolling to her back, Rena closed her eyes and just
tried to absorb the light breeze moving that night. “I wasn’t. I was going to
say that I thought it was a passing thing. I didn’t think that almost a year
later I’d still have no answers. It’s called
modern
medicine for crying
out loud.”

“But they still don’t know shit.”

“Grandmother!” Rena laughed and groaned, feeling the
ache increase as her stomach clenched.

“It’s the truth. Tell me what is going on. What are
your symptoms? Maybe I can send you something in the mail.”

Rena didn’t doubt that her grandmother at the moment
was taking notes on the various jars of herbs she grew and stocked. In the
background she could hear the low hum of radio that she knew was in the
sheriff’s office from many other calls she’d had with her grandmother. Den
County was deep in the woods of Northern California. All of the residents there
communicated through CB radios.

“Nausea like I’m going to throw up or pass out at any
moment. Which I’ve done both more times than I can count.”

“Hm hmm…what else?” She imagined her grandmother
scratching fiercely on a tablet.

“Nothing real.” Moving her hand to her stomach Rena
rubbed it mindlessly. “We’ve tried pills and various medicines…I even went to
see an acupuncture therapist. That was a joke. She just told me some mumbo
jumbo about my life about to change…or transition…or shift… I can’t remember.”

The other end of the line went silent. “Shift? You said
she said shift?”

Shaking her head, Rena recalled that frustrating day of
finally reaching out to a woman that a coworker had told her helped her to stop
smoking. However, the woman didn’t do a thing for Rena and afterward her
symptoms even seemed to get worse.

“Something like that. But I’m sure she was indicating
that I was going to lose my job. Standing in the unemployment line is one major
transition she could have warned me about.”

“Sorry about your job. I know it was something you
really enjoyed.”

“I did, but I’m more concerned about getting myself
better. I have enough savings to get by for a while.”

“Red, are you sure sweetheart that nothing else is
going on? That you’ve had no other symptoms?”

She wondered what her grandmother had cooking in her
mind. Genma never asked any arbitrary questions. “No, just the nausea that
usually brings on a headache and full body aching. Reason I thought it was just
a bad case of the flu.”

“I see. Anything strange happen?”

Strange? Rena pushed herself up to a sitting position.
The hair on her arms rose and there was a tingling sensation along her spine.
Did my grandmother know something about what was going on with me?
“Grandmother, do we have a family history of some kind of illness? I tried to
ask mother, but she just shooed me off the topic and simply instructed me to
stick to my diet.”

“That diet is ridiculous. No fish, no honey… who has
ever heard of anything so ridiculous. What kind of vegetarian is she trying to
be?” Her grandmother went off on a rant about her mother and Lillian Hoodman’s
rearing style.