Page 30 of Bear With Me

“Oh, do tell!” She patted the edge of the bed. “If you won’t snuggle up, at least take a seat and tell me about your trip while we wait for Bjorn to be able to speak.”

Dennis gave her a suspicious look. Had Bjorn been able to talk, he would have told his mate that he was right to be suspicious; Gran was a meddler par extraordinaire. Unfortunately, he was stuck as a bear and Dennis was on his own. Finally, Dennis sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. “Well, we were both accidentally booked at the same cabin in rural Pennsylvania, and then when we met, Bjorn’s shifting went out of control, so when they called him about your being sick, he wasn’t sure how he could get here. I offered to drive, because he obviously couldn’t fly like, well…” He gestured at the bear. “This. And he couldn’t drive, in case he shifted unexpectedly. So I drove; we’ve been on the road for two days.”

Gran winced and patted Bjorn again. “I’m sorry, baby. I did tell Fi to not call you, that it would just worry you, but I guess she -”

Dennis shook his head, interrupting her apology. “It wasn’t the healer; it was the alpha. He basically demanded Bjorn come back to see you. Not that he wasn’t happy to do it when he heard you were sick,” he added quickly, apparently not wanting to make Bjorn look reluctant.

That earned him a sigh from the woman and a huff from Bjorn. “Pushy man,” Gran complained, then coughed again. “He’s been wanting to get you back here for ages; I think your father has been in his ear a little too much.” She glared at Bjorn. “Don’t do what they say, my boy. I know you’re happy where you are.”

Bjorn grumbled lowly, and Dennis looked like he wanted to give grumbling a try, too. “His parents have already tried to tell him he has to stay here,” he told her, earning himself a glare from Bjorn, who had been hoping they could just forget about that part. “What?” he challenged. “She was going to find out eventually. From you or from the alpha or from your father, himself. I just saved us time.”

She chuckled. “Oh, I like your spirit. Even if you are a little bit of a tattletale.”

Dennis sputtered out a protest. Bjorn bet no one had called him a tattletale since he was in kindergarten. But then, Gran had been a kindergarten teacher, back in the day. “But -” Dennis began, but she waved a hand, dismissing him.

“Now,” she broke in confidingly, “tell me exactly what Ronald and Rowena said, before Bjorn changes back and starts arguing with me.”

Bjorn tried, he really did, but the shift just wouldn't come. So instead he did his best to glare at his mate, who stared back implacably.

After a second, when Bjorn had silently admitted defeat, Dennis looked back at Gran and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, his father’s name is Ronald? He failed to introduce himself before they started lecturing. Basically they just said that Bjorn owed it to the den and his family to stay here and take ‘his birthright’,” he told her, making sarcastic air-quotes around his birthright. “Bjorn told them ‘no’, but they didn’t seem to be buying it.”

She harrumphed. “That man. I don’t know where I went wrong. I’ve been telling him for ten years that Bjorn was doing fine on his own, but he refuses to believe me. Makes rude comments about his own son being a failure!” She coughed again, not as deeply this time. “And Rowena!” She sighed. “That woman's spine is actually the stick up her ass.”

Dennis coughed out a laugh at that, though it was clear he’d tried to hold it back. He turned to look at Bjorn. “She’s so much more fun than your parents,” he told Bjorn, who huffed his agreement and licked his grandmother’s cheek.

Gran grimaced and wiped the spittle off her skin, but didn’t scold Bjorn. “I’m the only one in the family - besides Bjorn - with any sense of humor,” she informed Dennis. “Stick with me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed immediately. “Uh, come to think of it,” he added hesitantly, “I’m not sure where we’re supposed to be staying while we’re here, but I’d really rather it not be with Bjorn’s parents if we can avoid it.”

Oh dear. Bjorn knew his grandmother’s house like the back of his hand, and he knew exactly where this conversation was going. It was either going to end up really good or really bad.

Gran waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, no, you don’t need to stay with them. I’ve got my spare bedroom. You can stay in there - and that way Bjorn can fuss over me all he wants.”

He didn’t fuss. He just wanted to take care of her until she was back on her feet. Was that so wrong? He let out a frustrated rumble at being able to say none of this out loud.

Dennis, meanwhile, was probably wondering how this was his life. Yes, he’d ended up in another only-one-bed situation. “Uh,” he ventured tentatively, “you only have the one spare room? Do you maybe have a couch I could fit on?” Oh, he was willing to be the one to sleep on the couch this time? How chivalrous of him.

She shook her head. “Only the one bedroom. The couch is…well, I live alone,” she explained, “so I don’t need much space.”

Dennis dropped his face into his hands and just sat there for a long second before straightening up and nodding. “Right,” he managed steadily. “Well, okay then. Don’t suppose it has a large bed?” he tried.

“Oh, it’s a double,” she assured him placidly, as if that would fit two grown men, let alone a man and a bear. “You’ll be fine.”

Well, Bjorn certainly had no objection to it, but then he seemed to always be the one who ended up on the bed while Dennis hit the floor when he shifted. Maybe he should offer to sleep on the floor?

Was that a twinkle in Gran’s eye? Dennis narrowed his eyes, studying her. “Are you sure you only have the one bedroom?” he demanded.

“Yup,” she said, but a small smile was twitching at the corners of her mouth. She really did only have the one guest room, but Bjorn could tell she was taking unnecessary amounts of joy in telling Dennis that. “You’ll be fine. Now, tell me about your first meeting!”

As Dennis paused to take a breath and, probably, prepare his story, Bjorn abruptly shifted back to human.

He shook himself out, then laughed and turned onto his back, putting his hands behind his head and not minding his nakedness. Gran had seen it all before. So had Dennis, at this point. “I was eating a fish,” he said. “There’s a creek next to the cabin we were at, and of course the area was deserted when I got to the cabin - I got there while Dennis was napping and I hadn't gone inside - so I decided to have a quick snack in bear form before I hauled my stuff inside.” He chuckled again. “Dennis came walking out of the cabin and caught me mid-fishing. Next thing I knew, I was sitting there naked with a dying trout in my mouth.”

Gran snorted, then slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh dear,” she managed through her hand. “That’s quite a meet-cute. What did Dennis say?”

Dennis winced, looking like he was trying to keep his eyes on anything but Bjorn’s body. In truth, the first thing he’d said was a hearty nope, but Bjorn didn’t want to hear him say it again. He decided to tear off the bandage himself. “He said ‘no',” he informed his grandmother, trying to keep his expression neutral. “Dennis doesn’t want a mate. Or at least, he doesn’t want a shifter mate.”

“What?” she demanded. “Why not?” She glared at Dennis, her jovial expression gone in an instant.