Fae-ted to the Bear - Harmony Raines Page 0,41
just for Ivan’s sake. She thought your people wouldn’t like six shifters charging through your lands.”
“Valerie is very wise. One or two shifters are tolerated, but six, especially if one is a dragon...” She sat up straight as they approached the crossing point.
Caleb put his foot down on the gas. He had no idea why, but he always experienced the need to go faster as they approached, as if the vehicle needed more momentum to burst through from one world to the next. He always pictured the crossing point as like the surface of a bubble and by going faster, he would pop the bubble and arrive in the fae world.
But if he failed to pop the bubble then he would be stuck between worlds like a fly trapped in a spider’s web.
His bear chuckled. You still believe that?
No, Caleb answered. I know it was a story Rift made up when we were kids. I know it’s not true, but my foot has a mind of its own. He eased up on the gas as they reached the fae world.
“Well, that was interesting,” Elise said. “I thought you were trying to run a red light or escape the police.”
“You can thank my brother Rift for that. He used to say that you’d get stuck between worlds.” Caleb chuckled. “Thinking about it, Rift used to make up all kinds of stories. I should warn Logan since Rift takes care of Milo a lot.”
“You don’t think he’s grown out of it?” Elise asked.
“Rift?” Caleb shook his head. “I doubt it. He likes making up stories. He has a very vivid imagination. I think that’s why he likes taking care of Milo so much, he can pretend to be a kid again.”
“We don’t make up stories. Not like you do in Wishing Moon Bay and certainly not like the people in the world beyond.” Elise rolled down the window and rested her elbow on the door. “When we have children, we should tell them stories. Maybe not the ones about benevolent fairies with wings, but other stories.”
“It’d be weird for me not to tell our children stories,” Caleb confessed, glad that Elise was at least talking about them having children together.
“My Grandma Hannah had a big book of stories. Short ones, the ones you call fairy tales. Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. Do you know them?” Her eyes sparkled as she half turned to face him.
“I know them.”
“She used to read them to us when we were small. Even Karros used to sit and listen.” She smiled wistfully. “We used to love staying with my grandma in the wildwood.”
“I’ve never had grandparents,” Caleb confessed. “There was only ever Valerie.”
“And she raised the six of you alone.” Elise stared out of the window before quietly asking, “What is she?”
“What is she? You mean what is Valerie?” Caleb checked that he’d heard her right.
“Yes. She lived in Wishing Moon Bay and ran the hotel while raising six boys. Surely she must be a sorceress who kept you all under her spell so you would behave.” Elise’s lips twitched.
“She’s...nothing. Valerie has no real magic. At least not the kind that the witches use to cast spells. And she’s not a shifter.” He thought for a minute. “Yet she has this way of...communicating with people. She can empathize with most people she meets.”
“That is truly a gift,” Elise said. “To be attuned to another person’s thoughts and feelings.”
“When we first went to live with her, we found it hard to trust anyone. Even when we misbehaved, she was always there for us. She explained the situation in a way we could understand and soon we knew we could trust her and most importantly count on her to be there for us.”
“She taught you trust. And loyalty. I don’t need shifter senses to know that you and your brothers are incredibly loyal to each other.”
“We are. We always have been.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “But that’s changing. Four of us have found our mates now.”
“That doesn’t mean your loyalty wanes. And I doubt any of your brothers’ mates would ever make you choose between them or your brothers.” Elise shook her head. “You would never make me choose between you and Karros.”
“No. But sometimes these choices are out of our control,” he said quietly.
Elise shuddered. “We need to turn left here. The wildwood is about ten miles away.”
They drove on in silence, each of them lost in thought.
“We’re close,” Caleb said.
“How do you know?” Elise whispered.
“I