A lot.
Chapter Ten – Caleb
Best picnic ever,Caleb’s bear said with a contented sigh.Although it would be even better if you shifted and let me say hello properly.
Not happening today,Caleb replied as he glanced at his mate sitting beside him, her face tilted toward the sky, eyes half-closed, as she listened to the sound of the stream.I don’t want to spoil this moment.
What if it didn’t spoil it?his bear pressed.What if Hannah finding out that she is our mate is the best news she ever heard?
Caleb huffed a quiet laugh.She might feel that way. But first would come shock. Tension. Maybe even fear.
And he didn’t want that for her. Not today.
He hadn’t known Hannah long, but from what he’d witnessed in that short time, her life was anything but settled and secure.
“This is a special place.” Hannah turned and smiled at him in a way that reached deep into his soul.
Caleb’s heart ached for her. Not in a pitying way. In awantingway.
For a few quiet minutes, neither of them spoke. The silence between them was easy rather than awkward.
The stream murmured beside them, the water clear enough that light fractured into bright shards across its surface.
Hannah shifted beside him, sitting up and brushing crumbs from her fingers. “I kind of want to put my feet in,” she said, nodding toward the water. “Is it freezing?”
Caleb smiled. “It is cold. But not unbearable.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” she said, already scooting off the blanket.
Before he could warn her properly, she kicked off her shoes and rolled up the cuffs of her trousers, laughter bubbling out of her as she tested the water with her toes.
“Oh...” She sucked in a breath. “Okay. That’s cold.”
Caleb laughed, the sound surprising him with how easy it felt. “You get used to it.”
She shot him a look over her shoulder. “You say that as if you’ve done this before.”
“My brothers and I used to meet up with my cousins. We spent many long, happy days playing in these woods, paddling in this stream,” he said, standing and joining her at the bank. “Summer days usually ended with numb feet and wet trousers.”
Hannah grinned, then deliberately lowered both feet into the stream, hissing softly as she adjusted to the shock.
After a moment, she sighed. “Oh. That’s actually... really nice.”
Caleb sat beside her, boots still on, watching the way her toes stirred the current. She leaned back on her hands, face tilted up again, eyes closed. The sun caught in her hair, glinting off copper strands that the breeze teased loose from her ponytail.
“I never did things like this,” she said lightly, almost offhand. “Never played in woods or paddled in streams.”
Something in her tone snagged at him. Not sadness exactly. More like sorrow. For a child who had missed out on such simple joys he’d taken for granted.
She’s opening up,his bear murmured.She trusts us.
“What did you do instead?” Caleb asked quietly.
Hannah shrugged. “Stayed busy. Stayed practical.” She wiggled her toes in the water, sending ripples dancing outward. “This feels very... indulgent.”
Caleb watched her, every instinct in him pulling closer even as he stayed where he was, letting her set the pace. He didn’t want to rush her, didn’t want to risk making her shut down.
“You deserve indulgent,” he said simply.
