Nightshade Bear Territory
Lero had just come from romping with his true-mate.
The words bounced around my head. That was impossible. Lero wasn’t claimed. His scent hadn’t changed one bit from when I met him the day before. He was freshly showered and wearing a sweater that had big snowflakes all over it, knitted right into the design. My Preston had made that. Still, I knew he had come from romping with his true-mate. I knew it just like I’d always known I’d meet mine here in the Nightshade Bear Territory.
I opened my mouth and shut it again when Mori walked into the kitchen. Maybe it was a well-kept secret. Maybe Lero had only just met him and hadn’t gotten around to telling the rest of the family yet. Maybe he needed to keep it a secret for now because his carrier was a lot to handle whenever someone new was around. Maybe it wasn’t any of my business. It was strange knowing so much about Lero from his Mated for the Holidays file but not actually knowing him at all.
Mori shot me a strange look and stared at the open door as if I was the one who left it open and not Lero. I waved a hand and acold gust of icy wind shut it. He was two feet from the door but if he wanted to see if I was going to be helpful, well, I’d be helpful.
“Mo!” Baby Andy waved over my shoulder with his eggy hand. Mori crossed the room and grabbed a clean dish towel to clean the giggling baby up with. I was in awe that he’d sat himself down right on my lap at all. He was this happy little piece of Preston who I’d die for now.
“Did you see something by the door?” Mori asked me.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Never mind. I think it started to snow again,” Mori shook his head and took the baby who wiped his nose on his shoulder.
I almost asked him if he noticed what I noticed about Lero but thought better of it. Preston was my mate and I shouldn’t be thinking about who Lero is or isn’t romping with even if it was coming to me through my visions. My polar bear cocked his head to the side and shifted my eyes to his. Lero looked like he always did but the knowing was still there. Had my knowing broken somehow?
Preston rubbed the top of his head, and I knew we needed to go home for him to lie down. My horns had properly grown in when I was around five. They were there before that but not big and proper. It ached like my skull was teething and I still had the soft squishy skull of a cub. Preston was hardheaded. I could only imagine how much the horns hurt breaking through his skin. We said goodbye to everyone and kissed the baby on the top of his head before leaving. Andy was already distracted by trying to ‘pinch’ Mori’s morning tea into his mouth.
We spent most of the day in bed, napping off and on. I massage Preston’s head, encouraging his horns to finish popping out. If he blamed me for the pain, he didn’t say anything and once or twice I caught him making little snowflakes on his fingertips. All magic came at a price.
“Did you notice anything strange about Lero?” I asked while we waited for the pizzas we ordered for dinner and by ‘ordered’ I meant Preston called his sire and asked for pizza. There were a few local shops that made them but Preston was in the mood for home cooking.
“I don’t think he’s mad at us,” Preston said. “He might be a bit wary now that he knows you can turn people into ice sculptures or maybe he’s making a list of people to ask you to turn into ice sculptures. It’s hard to know what’s going on inside Lero’s head. Mori looked at him strangely this morning too, though. I didn’t notice anything. But – like Frost on a Glacier- did you see that annoying squirrel?”
“I did but didn’t want to say anything because then they might figure out you see dead people too,” I shrugged. “It was hard not to just crack all the nuts for that damn squirrel.”
“It was but it’s not worth the headache. I have enough of those,” he rubbed his temples and then felt his way up to his little horns. They were mostly in now and any pain he experienced was just from growing accustomed to having horns sitting on the top of his head.
“I’m sorry your head hurts,” I said, leaning over to kiss his forehead as someone knocked on the door.
“Come in, Dad!” Preston called out.
“I’m not your dad!” Lero’s voice called back.
“Come in, Lero!” Preston said.
“Wanted to make sure everyone had their pants on,” Lero said, stepping inside a moment later with several sheet pan pizzas piled on top of each other. “I think grandpa went overboard but then again…” he shrugged.
Lero had taken a walk with his true-mate recently. I shook my head and told the knowing to shut up because it was obviously wrong. My bear rolled his eyes inside his inner sanctum because the knowing had never been wrong before.
“Do you want some pizza?” Preston asked as we followed Lero into the kitchen.
“No, grandpa has a ham in the oven for dinner and I’m ready to eat a whole pig if it doesn’t hurry up and bake!” he laughed.
“Thanks for bringing these by,” Preston said and gave his nephew a one-armed hug.
“Any time,” he said.
“How are you feeling?” Preston asked him. “I mean, about everything.”
“We got the money back we put into Mated for the Holidays. Dad wants me to try again next year. My carrier has all but forbidden it. I don’t think I want to do it again. I think this was my sign that waiting it out until my true-mate arrives is probably the best thing to do,” Lero said, glancing out the window.
I squinted at the window too expecting to see someone watching us. The bears of the Nightshade territory weren’t themost covert when they were spying or being nosy about someone new. My appearance didn’t help matters either.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Preston asked, noticing his odd glances too.
