I woke with a start, banging my head against the boards above me. A cascade of dirt fell onto my chest through the crack between the boards and I cursed Pami’s name, wishing I could turn over onto my side. There wasn’t room and it wasn’t time to wake up. I didn’t have the energy to astral project again.
“Sleep,”my bear whispered into my thoughts.
***
When I woke again I was laying on my back on the grass. I blinked up at the watery blue evening sky streaking with pinks and oranges. How long had it been since I looked up at the sky? A warm-ish breeze ruffled my hair. Someone spoke nearby. I wasn’t on my home world anymore. I must’ve astral projected in my sleep. I was only a few feet from Lero’s front porch. My sleeping self had better aim than I expected. Stretching, I stood up. None of the bears standing around and chatting with each other glanced in my direction. Yep. I was still invisible. If I wasn’t in a hurry to reunite with my mate, I might’ve danced around or at least waved my hand in front of a few faces to see how invisible I was. Instead, I knocked on the front door again. No one answered and it was locked.
“At least no one can get him,”my bear said into my thoughts as I circled the house looking for an open window or something. I tried the back door to no avail and knocked on it too. I glanced through the big window in the kitchen to see him face down in a book. A stack lay scattered nearby. All titles on astral projection. I tried to walk through the glass, but it’d been blessed by someone and wasn’t letting me through. I knocked on the window and Lero startled awake. I hated waking him up but there was no telling how short our time together would be.
“Val---” he started to shout my name but stopped.
Instead, he pushed himself upright and straightened his hair. A smile that he didn’t let out pulled at the corners of his lips. He opened his back door slowly and looked around. One of the neighbors waved to him and he waved back. The bear shifter padded across his lawn and then the street to speak with him and I slipped into the kitchen. It almost felt wrong but I openedhis fridge and started eating the first thing my fingers found which turned out to be a block of cheddar cheese.
Lero shut the door before his neighbor noticed and I surveyed what else was in the fridge. I had to ask him about the food situation before I took too much for him. The Fallen Star had known lean times before. It wouldn’t be fair to sustain myself while taking food from my mate’s mouth. What sort of man would I be? I stopped eating the cheese too. My stomach still growled but despite the full fridge I didn’t know how long the food had to last him. Maybe I could hunt. I managed to touch him and most solid objects. Maybe I could manage to chomp down on a deer. It wouldn’t be fair if the deer couldn’t see me coming but life was rarely fair.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Lero said, opening the back door and stepping inside.
He shut the door and pulled the curtains closed over the window. While folks couldn’t see me they’d be able to see him acting odd. He threw his arms around me and I almost dropped the cheese. I squeezed it in my fist right before it slipped through my fingers.
“I’ve been eating your cheese,” I said, guilt washing over me.
“I don’t care. Eat up! I need you strong enough to survive. I think if I astral project too I can find where you are. Then we can ask for help and…”
“No!” I shook my head. “No. I won’t risk you---”
“But you expect me to risk you?” he asked, pulling a covered dish out of the fridge. “You expect me to keep risking you?”
“I’m risked whether or not you’re involved. I have no choice in the matter!” I tossed my hands up. My heart thudded against my ribs. “You have a choice!”
“We’ve just met!” he set the dish down on the counter.
“Exactly! We’ve just met! There isn’t a reason for you to risk everything!”
Lero took a deep breath. His hands found his hips, and he looked down at the floor as he toed it for a moment.
“I’m trying very hard not to roar and get every bear in the village over here,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You are my mate,” he continued, still looking at the floor. “You are the one I chose and the one I continued to choose throughout lifetimes. I grew up around people who talked a lot about the past. Around people who were always saying to take a step back and look at how it all runs together. In both practical and spiritual senses. So, I am. Will we succeed? I don’t know but I do know I wasn’t raised to go down without a fight. I’m only here because one of my grandfathers was kind to wolves. That’s why my sire has a wolf too. I’m here by a fluke. My sire could’ve been dead. So never think you know all the pieces at play and never assume you know how badly or great something will end. I don’t know any of that but I do know that I’m going to try and since you’re just astral projecting here you can’t stop me.”
For a moment, rage tore through me. I wanted to roar too but Lero was my mate. My omega. Somehow we were having our first fight before we even made love for the first time. Hell, before we ever met in person for the first time. I swallowed down that roar. Nashen once told me I had a hard time asking for and accepting help because I grew up without anyone who had myback. Maybe the fucker was right because I was literally buried alive and expected my mate to do nothing.
“I appreciate that you want me to stay safe but safety isn’t guaranteed. As long as the universe churns out freewill there will be assholes and the rest of us will have to deal with them one way or another,” Lero said when I didn’t say anything. “I’m going to toss this leftover pot roast in the oven and then I want to have this conversation again. We need a plan before my parents arrive in a few days. The snow is already starting in. It’s going to be a long winter if all we do is bicker in secret.”
There were a million other things I’d rather do in secret with him. I might’ve pulled him into my arms and told him to forget about the food but if I were ever going to come face to face with my omega in corporeal form I had to find a way to keep my strength up.
“Won’t someone notice that you’re astral projecting?” I asked, my last ditched effort to keep him safe.
“It’s not illegal. I mean, Grandpa didn’t even ask why I asked to borrow his books,” he said, sliding the pan into the over.
“Here. I’ll pick them up,” I said, bending down to pick one up.
“Don’t! I have them organized,” Lero said and I froze in place. “I know they look like one big mess but I know where everything is.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Lero
Nightshade Bear Territory
The next few days passed with me preparing for my guest while dodging my Uncle Preston. I loved my uncles.fwa All of them. Even the annoying ones but Preston without Mori could be a lot to handle. He was so used to having his twin around that whenever he wasn’t, Preston sought out social interaction everywhere. Now, he was a father to a baby who stuck his hand in anything that might be edible. Kids were kids but it made me nervous to have him around because I liked to keep a cup of coffee out and couldn’t stop imagining Baby Andy dunking his hand in steaming, hot coffee. Plus, babies often saw things grown folks didn’t. Especially in this family.
