Called by the Bear 7-9 (11 page)

C
arly
- Securing
the safety of Sierra’s children is my priority. When the plan is fast-tracked by Victor’s attempt at controlling the situation, more than custody is threatened. The catastrophic results change everything.

Lily
- Discovering my husband would kill to have the power he craves unleashed my fearless warrior. Now it’s up to me to save the Veilleux from themselves, and I’ll do whatever is necessary.

T
aylor

T
he stained-wood door opens
, and a tall woman with jet-black hair invites me into the small cottage. She says she’s my Aunt Patricia, and I enter. A fire crackles in the small open-space-style room that contains the kitchen as well as a living room. She says, “Go stand by the hearth, and I’ll bring you some tea. I’m sure you’re chilled to the bone.”

I rub my hands together as I move toward the radiant heat from the burning wood. The December temperature in the winter wonderland of Maine is sub-zero today, and the cold has me shivering. Patricia comes to stand next to me, and I notice how thin she is compared to the women I’ve been surrounded by for the last few months.

I was pulled to come here this morning by a vision I couldn’t ignore. I shifted into a bear and ran through the woods, guided by a dream-like version of the woman before me. I ask, “Why am I here?”

“You’re a Veilleux stolen from us by the Le Roux.”

I recall how the Veilleux kidnapped Sierra. The rescue mission was part of the reason I became a werebear. “I’m with the Le Roux voluntarily.”

“That’s because they managed to call you with a powerful spell, when you should have come to us instead. You’re going to help me get the Veilleux heirs back where they belong.” The teakettle whistles, and Patricia leaves my side to go to the kitchen.

The room swims before my eyes as I watch her walk away, and I shake my head to clear my vision. “But Victor kidnapped and raped Sierra for those children. Why do you think he should have them?”

A spoon clinks against a mug as Patricia stirs my tea. “You can’t rape the willing. Sierra wanted my son as much as he wanted her. You know how the mate bond works.”

The sight of Keith’s dark hair over his eyes as he gazes down at me forms in my mind, and I smile as thinking about his love warms my insides. A flash of him on my kitchen floor confuses me again. He was hurt?
What happened?
I can’t quite grasp the thread of thought.

“He bit her when she was mated to Keith.”

“Oh, it wasn’t Victor’s doing. He has more honor than that. It happened with a little of my help. Sierra was supposed to have mated with him instead of Keith. So I remedied the situation.” She hands me a cup of tea and takes a drink from hers.

She made Victor bite Sierra?
I sip the scalding liquid in my cup in an effort to thaw my chilled limbs and sway a bit as the drink burns its way down my throat. Patricia offers me a fake smile. “You don’t look so steady on your feet. Perhaps we should sit down.”

She walks over to the couch and places herself on one end while I start toward the other. “Sierra took children that belong to the Veilleux. Surely you can see why the next leader of our clan should be raised by Victor?”

I frown down at my drink as I struggle with movement. I blink to help with my focus, because I don’t feel completely here. It’s as if a part of me is drifting away, and I drop down to the couch to ground myself. “But Sierra is the mother. They’re going to... work out a c-custody...”

Patricia ignores me as she lifts a framed picture that’s sitting on a side table. It’s of her and someone I assume is her husband. She smoothes a finger over the image of the man. “Victor needs my help in so many ways.” She glances back at me, and my blurred vision returns. “He just doesn’t know it.”

She sets the metal frame on the table with a thud and nods at my mug. “Finish your tea. We have a plan to discuss.”

I
wake
to calls in my mind that make the throbbing of my headache worse. Keith’s voice rings loudly.
“Taylor! Taylor!”

“Not so loud.”
I discover I’m in bear form and have a vague recollection that I had been running. I sit up on the rock I slept on. The rush of water is adding to my discomfort, and I dive into the cold river to get to the shore and away from the noise.

“Thank God you’ve answered. Are you okay?”

My stomach is queasy, but the icy water in my mouth and nose provides some relief.
“I think so.”

The old Native American man who is a familiar vision these days appears to me. He says,
“You’ve suffered a concussion. Get home.”

I speak to Keith.
“I think I may have fallen and knocked myself out. It sure feels like it. I’m on my way home, and I’ll be there soon.”

Brady’s voice sounds.
“Do you need help? Where are you? We’ll come.”

Jesus, like I need to be rescued. I’m not some weak woman. “No. I’m fine. I’ll be there soon.”

Running through the snow as a bear is wonderful. My steps are quick, and my strides are easy. The insulation of my fur keeps me warm, and I revel in the power of my animal form. The cold helps clear my head, and I get a sinking feeling I lost more than a few minutes to a nap.
What if the poison tea I was convinced was the cure to infertility left lasting damage?
No. It is the cure, and it’s not poison. I’m
not
crazy.

When I arrive on our land, I find Keith pacing as a bear. He scans the horizon, and when his eyes find mine, he barrels toward me. He nuzzles me with his snout. “
I was so worried. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ve got a killer headache, but I’m fine.”

Bones crack as we both shift near the back door. The moment we’re inside, Keith pulls my nude body against his. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. I couldn’t live without you. It would kill me, too.”

“I won’t.” I return his tight embrace while the odd sensation that I lost time again comes over me. I’m tempted to tell Keith, but that’s the kind of thing that happens to people with split personalities, so I ignore it. I’m only one person, and a hungry one at that. “I’m not sure what happened exactly. I probably just hit my head.” I suddenly remember our breakfast meeting and pull my head away to gaze up at Keith. “Oh, no! We’re going to be late. You know how Donna hates that.”

Keith steps back from me, and his brow knits in confusion as he takes my arms. “Taylor, it’s the middle of the afternoon. We missed the meeting hours ago.”

“Oh.”
Whoa.
I chuckle to hide my shock. “That must have been some fall.” I step away from him and turn to avoid his concerned gaze. “I’m going to take a shower and some ibuprofen.”

“And I’m calling the doctor. I need to be sure you really are all right.”

I stop when I get to the stairs and turn to face Keith. “Of course. But my guess is he’ll tell me to take it easy for the next few days.”

“Promise me you’ll listen?”

The image of holding one of Sierra’s children in my arms comes to me. “How about I spend time playing mom with some of the babies in this clan?”

“A doctor’s visit would make me very happy. But babysitting is also a good idea. ”

With each step I climb, I become convinced that babysitting is what I need to do.

C
arly

B
rady is taking
me to meet Kimi, and she’ll explain how the binding ceremony will work. After Victor demanded custody of the children he sired with Sierra, the clans decided to compromise with shared custody. But it requires a magical bond to keep everyone honest. And alive. The spell will be cast over the prime and prima of each clan as well as over Sierra and Ashton. The Robichaux have agreed to be mediators in the process, and I’m grateful for their intervention. I know I can keep my cool around Victor, but I’m not so sure about Ashton and Brady.

We’re in a developed suburb of Bangor, and it strikes me as odd. I imagined the Le Roux medicine woman lived in a small cabin set in a remote woodland area, so when I see the sign for Dancing Bear retirement community, I grin. “This is where Kimi lives?”

Brady’s dark-blond hair is highlighted by sun filtering in through the window, and it gives off a false sense of warmth when I’m acutely aware of the bitter December temperature outside. “Did you expect a teepee?” he asks.

“No. But I did think she’d be a little more...” I shrug. “Mystical.”

“Yes. Well, you don’t look like a tattoo artist, do you?”

I hit his arm. “Are you calling me judgy?”

Brady grins at me. “No. Just teasing my wife.”

We pull into a one of the plowed driveways that is just big enough to park the Hummer. When we get to the door, the petite Native American woman that greets us is wearing an oversized T-shirt that says, “Original American. No need to salute.”

I smile at her when Brady introduces us, and she lets us in. Once we enter, I’m overcome by the aroma of chocolate chip cookies, and my mouth waters. Brady teases her, “What? No apple pie today?”

Kimi swats him in the stomach. “Careful, or I’ll make you eat hot dogs.” She glances at me. “You’ll get a cookie if you learn your lesson well.”

I nod and follow her like a good student. She leads us to a small living room that is decorated to reflect her heritage. I wander over to the beadwork hanging on the wall. The tiny beads are smooth under my fingers, and I say, “This is amazing.”

“Thank you. I made it ages ago.”

A folding table is set up with bowls of various herbs, and Kimi hands Brady a box of matches. He lights the candles around the room, and there is a comforting absence of words. The floor-to-ceiling drapes swish when the woman draws them shut.

She moves to the middle of the room and holds out her hands. Brady takes one, and I take the other. Her skin is cool and slippery, but her bony fingers grip mine tight as Brady grabs my other hand. Kimi says to Brady and me, “Close your eyes and imagine your life force as an electric current.”

I wonder what this has to do with learning about the spell over Sierra’s babies, but I do as I’m told and envision a white-hot source of power in my body. I picture that it’s a rolling entity that emits heat in wisps of white. Kimi says, “Try to push it into me.”

Now I visualize the ball of energy with a stream siphoning out of my fingers and into Kimi. It crackles through me, and I am startled that I can feel something. Kimi shudders as she grips my hand tighter. I begin to tremble as if I’ve just finished a tough workout and my muscles are fatigued. My instinct is to stop pushing the energy, but I only slow it down to a trickle.

I gasp when the sensation of my life force stream reverses and appears to be entering me. I let it flow until I feel normal again. Kimi lets out a sigh and releases our hands. I open my eyes and discover hers crinkled into slits as she chuckles. “There’s a bit of magic in you.”

“That’s what that was?” I recall my past premonitions and odd sense of things I don’t have a reason to know. But never before have I felt what just happened.

“Yes, and with training, you could use it. But for now, let’s focus on what needs to be done to keep those babies safe.”

Brady smiles at the news. “I’m not surprised. She’s had me under her spell since the first time we met.” He turns to Kimi and frowns. “Is this usual for werebear and I just haven’t heard about it?”

“No. But I sensed something when I held Carly’s hand earlier.” She smiles as she taps her head. “Glad to know I haven’t lost my touch.”

“Will Tokala know she’s a witch?” Brady asks. Tokala is the medicine man for the Veilleux.

I flinch. From what I know of clan history, witches are not friends of werebear. The idea of being one doesn’t make me happy.

Kimi chuckles at my reaction. “I prefer ‘gifted’ to ‘witch,’ don’t you?”

I grin back. “Yes. That’s much better.”

Returning her attention to Brady, she says, “He has no reason to suspect it and probably wouldn’t reach out to find her power.”

“Still. I’d rather assume the worst, because I don’t trust the Veilleux or that man,” says Brady.

I don’t either, because he was the one behind the fertility tea that poisoned Taylor.

Kimi says, “We’ll have to place Carly next to people that wouldn’t know how to tap into her. I suggest Lily for the Veilleux and Richard or Marion from the Robichaux.”

Brady shakes his head. “That’s not good enough. Can you teach her how to hide her gift?”

Kimi frowns, “I can try. But she’s new, and—”

“And we need it to happen.” Brady’s voice is stern, but I understand his concern. I don’t want to take any chances with my best friend’s children, either.

The old woman nods and glances at me. “You were given the magic for a reason. I’ll work with you to make sure you can use it when it’s time.”

Her tone is ominous, and I would be a little freaked out if I had a normal life. But normal is so far in my past that I don’t even bat an eye at the idea of learning some witchcraft. I nod and say, “Let’s get the ceremony stuff sorted out first, and then we can work on me.”

After Kimi walks us through how the protection spell will work, she sends Brady back home to take care of the babies so I can spend a few hours working with her. Sitting at her kitchen table, I feel right at home and imagine what a childhood with a mother might have been like. The aroma of onion adds to the delicious flavor of the soup she serves me.

Kimi asks, “Tell me about the strange things you discovered you could do as a child.” She slurps soup from her spoon.

My mouth is full of the creamy mushroom dish, and I want to savor the tangy flavor instead of answering. But I swallow and answer, “I couldn’t really do anything other than predict the future sometimes. And often I just knew things that couldn’t be explained. I used to tell my father, and he’d get a strange look when I did. I stopped because it seemed to upset him. And now I realize he probably thought it was a werebear thing.”

“Interesting. So he knew your mother was a skin walker.” Kim tears off a piece of bread and stuffs her mouth with it.

I’ve never heard the term “skin walker,” but it seems appropriate to think of it as something that happens to an animal instead of a human.

Kimi says, “Use your energy and push the salt over to me.”

I tilt my head at Kimi. “I can’t move things.”

“Open your mind, Carly. You have more power than you know.” She taps the shaker, and it thuds from the contact. “Try.”

I stare at the salt and imagine my ball of fire streaming out and giving it a small shove. The shaker flies across the room and hits the wall before landing on the throw rug in front of the sink. “Whoa.”

Kimi grins at me. “My doctor would be pleased; he’s trying to get me to cut back. Push me the pepper instead.”

This time I imagine a pinpoint-sized stream nudging the shaker, and the result is appropriate. “Wow. Is everything this easy to learn?”

“No. You have more control than most. I’m surprised you never stumbled on this power by accident.”

I recall how handy it would have been if I had. “Maybe it was something that was dormant in me until I changed into a werebear.”

“Could be.” Kimi picks up her bowl and drinks the remains of her soup, and her lack of manners makes me stifle a giggle.

I do the same before standing to clear the table. “What else can I do with my gift?” Dishes clash in the sink, and I fill it with hot water.

“I don’t know yet. Let’s get a blocking spell to work first, and then we can play with your powers.” Kimi nudges me over so she can get soap from under the sink. A stream of blue splashes into the water. “Tomorrow, you bring lunch. I’ll go broke feeding you every day.”

Every day?
I try to hide my excitement over my newfound powers, but I can’t help the grin that covers my face. Kimi hands me a sponge and winks at me as she says, “You’ve been in my dreams far too long. Maybe now I can get some sleep.”