Page 42 of Bear With Me

“Hm.” Dennis considered that. “So I was right in thinking that was meant as a pejorative.”

“Oh, yes. Humans aren’t equal to bears, or even other shifters, in Rowena’s eyes.”

Bjorn growled again and Dennis absently patted him on the head, which felt a little funny given that Bjorn’s head was even with his own even though Bjorn was on four feet. “Down, boy.”

Grumble.

Dennis was opening his mouth to scold Bjorn again when there was a knock at the door. He sighed, instead. “That better not be her again or I’m gonna officially lose my shit.”

Gran shifted her weight in bed. “If you’d just let me up, I could answer my own door and send her away.”

“Nope.” He pressed her shoulder gently to keep her down. “I’ll get it. You…supervise with your ears. Bjorn, you coming?”

The bear huffed as if to say duh and followed him out of the bedroom, his footsteps sounding thunderous on the wood floor. Dennis looked through the peephole and sighed his relief. “It’s the alpha,” he told Bjorn, who nodded his shaggy head.

Dennis pulled the door open. “Alpha, hi.” When had he started calling Escalus by his title, the way the den members did?

Escalus held up a large paper bag. “I brought dinner.”

Dennis blinked. “Uh…thank you?” Why had the den alpha brought them food? “Uh, do you want to come in?”

“Yes, please.” He stepped past Dennis and nodded to Bjorn as if he were addressing a human and not a bear. “Evening, Bjorn.”

Bjorn rumbled what might have been a hello and lowered his head a little. Escalus patted his shoulder. “You want me to change you back so you can eat with us?” An eager snuffle, and the man smirked. “Yeah, I figured. Shift, Bjorn.”

Muscles twisted and reformed, and then a naked Bjorn rose from the floor and shook himself out. “Thanks, Alpha. Been stuck like that for hours. Let me go grab some sweats.” He darted out of the room, leaving Dennis alone with the other man.

Dennis, unsure what to say, just stood there awkwardly for a second before offering, “Kitchen?”

Escalus nodded. “Yeah. I brought soup and biscuits. Wasn’t sure what Miz Ginevra was eating these days while she’s ill. If you can help me find the bowls and spoons, we can set up dinner while Bjorn changes.”

Obediently, Dennis led him into the kitchen and set about fetching the necessary implements for eating. A few minutes later, Bjorn came out of his bedroom wearing sweatpants and no shirt and went into his grandmother’s room. They came back out of the room together, Gran leaning heavily on Bjorn’s arm, but hey, she was walking!

“Oh,” she warbled, “good evening, Alpha. To what do we owe this honor?”

Escalus sighed and pulled out a chair so Bjorn could lower her into it. “I wanted to check in with y’all after this morning’s shitshow. And to let you know, Bjorn, that I spoke to your parents.”

Bjorn winced, clearly not anticipating good news. “And?”

“Your mother is insistent that it’s not acceptable for you to mate a human. Your father supports her on that. I tried to explain to them that fated is fated and that they should consider you lucky to have met your fated mate, but she refused to budge on her opinion.”

Why did it sound like this was some sort of official refusal? “Does she get a say in our mating?” Dennis asked, and if he sounded a little worried, so what?

Escalus considered that, then shook his head. “No more than any other mother would. It’s just that a mother rejecting her child’s mate is…very rare. Unheard of, really.”

“Bitch,” Ginevra said shortly, snorting, and then focused on the soup Dennis had ladled out for her. She slurped it off her spoon loudly while the rest of them stared at hearing her obscene judgment.

Escalus coughed, looking like he was trying not to either laugh or flat-out agree with her. “She, uh…” He cleared his throat. “She says he’s not welcome in her house.”

“Oh?” Bjorn cocked an eyebrow, looking surprisingly unmoved by this news. “Guess we won’t be going to visit them, then. Did she have any other edicts to lay down while she was at it?”

Gran swallowed her mouthful and looked up. “I bet she’s trying to play the money card.” She patted Bjorn on his bare arm. “She’s never understood you, and she cares more about the purity of shifterkind than she cares about her own son's suffering if he loses his mate.”

“Yes, well,” the alpha said lamely, “she did mention something about Bjorn’s inheritance. Or rather, how it won’t be his inheritance if he mates Dennis.”

Bjorn rolled his eyes and crunched down resentfully on a biscuit. “They’re not even rich,” he muttered through his mouthful before swallowing. “It’s not like they’d be making me a millionaire.”

“And you don’t need their money,” Ginevra added staunchly, and Bjorn nodded.