Teeny sighed while shaking her head. “My child, you are in for a wild ride. Can you do me one favor?”
“Of course.”
“Tell my sisters I love them and I can’t wait until we are reunited.”
Just like that, I was waking up in my bed. I always wondered if my encounters with Teeny were real or if she was just a figment of my imagination. I guess this meant it was time for me to get my day started. Looking down at the ring on my finger, I twirled it as I did every day while thinking about Alonzo.
“Take it off,”the other voice, darker and more sinister, came to me.
“I’m not. You can stop suggesting it,” I said out loud. I had to be losing my mind because I was alone in my room talking to a voice in my head.
“He’s coming for you. He’s going to kill you. Run,”the voice said, sending chills down my spine.
“Shut up,” I gruffly grunted. That always quieted that voice down for a while.
Getting out of bed, I stretched when that familiar smell of toasted vanilla hit my nose, causing my pussy to come to life, as it had done for the last year whenever that scent became too strong.
Great. Now, I had turned into the horny, crazy hermit lady who lived in a cabin in the woods. What a life to live. By now, I had planned to avenge Alonzo by killing the ones who took his life. I considered maybe moving back onto the human settlement of Groovewood and settling back into society, but I was far from doing that.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for Teeny helping me, I would have been dead by now. She taught me how to survive on my own out here. She taught me how to make my own clothes out of silwoom plants. When washed and weaved, they created a soft, silky material that was stretchy and very comfortable. Silwoom was a very universal material that I was able to make almost anything out of. I had never heard of that plant until Teeny showed me where to find them in the forest. I never knew I had a knack fordesign, but I turned out to be a natural. Learning how to make clothes gave me a source of making money.
I would sell them in Hollow Valley to make money. I hated going there, but the money I made allowed me to eat more than the fish and leaves I had been surviving on. I made my visits quick and easy. I never tried to make friends or chit chat. I sold my clothes, got the supplies I needed for the month, and went back home. I only went to town once a month. There were too many shifters for my comfort. Granted, they were the majority of my customers, but I preferred to keep my distance. I traveled during the daytime because for whatever reason, Alonzo thought it was a good idea to have my cabin built right by a big wolf pack and the entrance to the bear shifter community. He knew how I felt about shifters. The fact that he thought I would want to be out here was crazy, but maybe he knew it would keep me in the house, keeping me safer longer.
Today was the day I went into Hollow Valley. I had all the clothes I made last month, aside from the few things I kept for myself. Walking over to my wooden dresser, I pulled out a green skirt made of silwoom. It fit my body snuggly while still allowing my body to move freely with little restriction. I would need that freedom on the long walk to town. It wasn’t terribly long. It took me about an hour to make it to town now that I was more in shape and able to walk faster. I paired the skirt with a simple white short-sleeved bodysuit. I had a pair of white sneakers I had gotten from a shoemaker in Hollow Valley. They were comfortable and still stylish.
Twenty minutes later, I was dressed, and my clothes were loaded in my wagon I used to transport them. While standing on my porch with a cup of coffee in hand, I admired the beautiful forest surrounding my home. I wished Alonzo was here with me to see the beauty of the forest. I knew I should have been on my way by now. It was pushing deeper into the afternoon, and if Iwanted to be back before nightfall, I needed to hurry up. After sitting my cup of coffee on a small wooden table, I walked down my steps and over to my wagon that was sitting in front of my steps. Grabbing the handle, I began down the path toward the city.
I inhaled the warm summer air, catching the scent of toasted vanilla, a familiar scent that had become a comfort ever since I’d lived in the cabin. It was an odd smell to come from the forest, but for whatever reason, it helped ease my nerves. Now, I looked forward to coming outside to smell that scent. Hearing the sound of a leaf crunching under a foot sent fear racing into my heart. I turned to see if anyone was there, but no one was around me. I was all alone. I tried to calm my nerves, but I couldn’t fight the feeling that someone was there. My fear had me encased. I was scared to move.
“Helloo?” I called out. Fear had my voice shaking.
Nothing. Not a sound.Get it together, Bellamy Rose.Taking a deep breath, I took a step but then heard a growl, and my heart began beating out of control. I looked around me frantically again, and still, there was nothing. This time, I began speed walking toward town, and when I heard nothing, I calmed down. My imagination had to be getting the best of me. I needed to get out more.
Chapter Three
KENZO ATALLAH
This hadto be a sick fucking joke. There was no way Fate could be this cruel to me. There was no way in fucking hell I was seeing who I thought I was seeing. It started with the familiar scent of a mix of vanilla and apple hitting my nose on my way back home from the Kismet pack. While deep in my thoughts, I took the back way home, not even noticing that I took that route. Once I got about halfway to my cave, my senses were overtaken by that familiar scent, but there was no odor, intriguing me even more. I couldn’t stop my bear from shifting out and taking control to go after that scent, and now, I wished I hadn't. I felt like I was losing my mind. What I was looking at didn’t make any sense to my bear or human. We sat there dumbfounded and trying to process what we were looking at.
Taking a deep breath, we inhaled the scent as we watched the female in front of us standing on her front porch with wild curly hair blowing every time the wind blew. Her chestnut brown skin had a beautiful golden glow that made her look like an angel. Her face sent chills down our spine…
She looked just like Bellum.
But there were differences. Her lips were big and succulent like we loved. Bellum’s lips were slightly thinner. Her piercinggreen eyes could be seen a mile away. Bellum had light green eyes that looked dull compared to the female in front of us. She was also thick, meaty, and succulent. Bellum was on the slimmer side. My bear hated that. Being a Bear shifter meant I was naturally larger, and having the Atallah bloodline meant I was even bigger than the average Bear shifter. Needless to say, we wanted our mate to be thick. We needed to be able to hold onto the extra curves when we fucked our mate. We wanted to be sure our mate could handle all of our dick. Fate was very generous in that area, and it was something we often worried about with Bellum.
Crunch!
Looking at my paws, I realized I had stepped forward in my anxiousness and stepped on a leaf, causing the Bellum look alike to look around, frantically trying to see if she was alone. Everything in me wanted to reveal myself, but a part of me felt like I was losing my mind and the female in front of me wasn’t real. She couldn’t be…
I felt like a piece of shit. I shouldn’t have sent my fated mate away. I knew what she was dealing with, and granted, she hadn’t been the best mate, but as her mate, it was my duty to help her get over whatever she was going through. Knowing how vulnerable Bellum was with us not being fully mated, I should have made her go with me more instead of leaving her alone for hours at a time. I let my own feelings overshadow our mating bond. I was embarrassed by the fated mate Fate had given me. Many shifters would have been grateful for their fated mates, no matter their background, but I allowed my pride to lead me when my love should have been doing theleading. For the last hour, I had been beating myself up for making Bellum leave.
I shifted into my bear, and we took off down the mountain in search of our mate. My bear wasn’t too excited, but he knew we should have handled the situation. I followed Bellum’s distinct scent. I didn’t know too much about her sister Blossom aside from the fact that something about her didn’t sit right with my human or bear, but as a bear, I was naturally more cautious of strangers. It took me a while to get used to new people. I brushed those feelings off.
Once we were at the edge of the Kismet packlands, I saw two figures in the distance and slowed from our running pace to a light jog. I was able to make out Bellum and Blossom, but it looked like they were arguing. Sitting still and keeping ourselves hidden in the tall grass, we focused on the conversation.
“Blossom, I can’t do that,” Bellum said, sounding as if she’d been crying.
“You’re a fucking fool. You have loyalty to others who have given you nothing but their asses to kiss. You see how easily Yves threw you away when that red-headed bitch showed up? After everything you’d done for his ungrateful ass,” Blossom spat while throwing her hands in the air angrily.
