Fae-ted to the Bear - Harmony Raines Page 0,43

to come back? I mean the human you.”

“No. If you want him to shift so that this part of me comes back, he will. My bear is connected to you in the same way the human me is. Which means he will never hurt you. Not ever.” Caleb locked eyes with her. “You are the most important thing in our lives.”

“I’m beginning to realize that.” She nodded, her mouth dry as her nerves got the better of her. Despite what Caleb said, she was about to come face to face with a bear.

The only bears she’d ever met before were those that lived in the wildwood. They were fierce and territorial but rarely appeared around humans, preferring to keep to the shadows. The fae, on the whole, respected them and left them alone.

However, when she was a girl, staying at her grandma’s house, she had been out foraging for mushrooms when a snuffling alerted her to the presence of a massive old bear who was following her trail.

For a second she’d frozen, unable to move. If the bear decided she was his next meal, there was nothing she could do to fend him off.

But she was a fae, and fighting wasn’t her only option to escape. Tiptoeing forward, her eyes fixed on the branches above her head rather than the huge beast of a bear following her, she located a branch which she could reach.

Strapping her pack across her back, she’d run forward, arms outstretched as she leaped for the branch. Her hands curled around the rough bark and she’d levered herself up a little awkwardly. Hooking her leg over the branch, she’d hoisted herself up out of danger.

The moment of relief lasted for barely a minute as the bear reached the spot where she’d jumped up. He snorted and snuffled in the dirt, before raising his huge head and staring at her.

Huffing and puffing, he went to the trunk of the tree that supported the branch and placed his huge paws on it. The tree swayed as he pushed it hard, his claws scraping at the bark, shredding it like paper.

Clutching onto the branch, she’d fought the panic rising inside of her as she tried to figure out her next move. Going down wasn’t an option and so she searched the branches above her head, looking for one stout enough to bear her weight.

With perfect timing, she waited for the bear to stop pushing the tree trunk, pulled her feet under her so her toes rested on the tree limb, then leaped for the next branch. Using her momentum, she swung forward, grabbing hold of another branch and then another until she reached another tree.

The bear didn’t realize at first, giving Elise a chance to put some distance between her and her pursuer. Only when she was sure she could outrun him and reach the safety of her grandma’s house did she drop down to the ground and set off at a sprint.

“Are you okay?” Caleb asked. “Your heart rate has quickened and you’re breathing heavily. My bear wants to think it’s because you are so excited to see him, but you seem...scared.”

“Oh, I was recalling a bear attack.”

“You got attacked by a bear?” Caleb’s shock showed on his face. “I had no idea.”

“I didn’t get hurt, I outran him. And I don’t ever really think about it, it didn’t scare me for life or anything. But the thought of actually meeting your bear, it’s brought it back to me.”

“A wild bear?” Caleb asked.

“I guess so, unlike you, I can’t tell the difference between a shifter bear and a real bear. But there are not many shifters in the forest.” She lifted her head and inhaled deeply. “Mushrooms.”

“Mushrooms?” Caleb sniffed the air. “I can smell them, too. Very sweet.”

“I was collecting them the day the bear attacked me.” She beckoned to him and he followed her as she left the trail and ducked under a low-hanging branch. “There.”

“Maybe that’s why the bear attacked you.” Caleb tensed his jaw. “They are irresistible to my bear.”

“Is he going to... Are you going to lose control?” Elise’s face paled as she turned to face Caleb, her eyes on the branches above his head.

“No, I’m in control and even if my bear did come forth, he still wouldn’t hurt you. But the mushrooms smell like heaven to him. If heaven had a smell.” He tried to lighten the mood.

“You’re saying that the bear wasn’t after me that day, he wanted the mushrooms I’d