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“What if I can’t? What if the bear doesn’t want to come out? What if she doesn’t want to obey? I don’t know what she was doing in there just now, but she wanted to be the boss.”
“It’s okay.” He soothed her, splaying his hand over her arm. “I told you that Tavish once just about shifted in the middle of everyone in the city. Sometimes the bear just pops out. There was a loud noise, but the difference was, he was with January. His mate. The bear shifted in order to protect her. At least, that’s what we think happened. He had just about no warning. It came out of nowhere, when he was perfectly in control and in sync with his shifting.”
“That doesn’t exactly give me hope.”
“Okay. Well, I’m confident we’ll be just fine. You’ll be just fine. You and the bear.”
“Are you sure I didn’t ruin anything for Misty?”
“I’m positive. We’ve only been out here for a few minutes. I’ll walk us back inside.”
“You’ll put me down before we get there so I can walk in myself?”
“Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”
Taylee believed him. She didn’t have a single doubt about Kier or his words, his commitment, his emotions, or his heart. His abilities as a shifter, mate, guard, guardian, and father were unquestionably dependable.
It was only she herself that she questioned. Had she ever felt secure in her own body? Was she ever half as dependable? If she was, she missed that.
Maybe sometimes not being able to remember was a good thing. It would only make it harder now if she knew how badly she was failing, or how big those gaps were between then and now.
Chapter 10
Kier
“Ugh, it’s useless. It’s not going to happen. I’ve been trying for hours.”
Kier walked up behind Taylee and put his hands over her eyes. She tensed, but when he gently tilted her face up and removed them, she let out a sigh of wonder.
“I’ve missed them,” she whispered, speaking of the stars. “I know I used to know most of them by name. Probably when which constellation would be visible at night during a certain season or time of year. I probably knew their myths and folklore.”
“You could relearn it.” He felt her shiver. Felt her tiny bones beneath the swaddling cocoon of his coat over her thin frame. The jacket smelled like him. It was embedded with his scent from years of wear. No amount of washing would take it out. He’d spilled oil on it helping Trace change a chainsaw blade years ago. Probably just about everything else on earth had spilled or rubbed off on it too, over time. The thing was at least a decade and a half old.
After tonight, he had no doubt Taylee’s scent would be the strongest of any in those fibers, even his own. When he put it on, he’d smell the sweetness of wildflowers.
“I could,” she whispered, then she sighed. “It’s so frustrating.”
“We’re not in a rush. Just take your time. If you don’t shift, you don’t shift. It’s all good.”
“The bear can try to come out in the middle of Misty’s party over pancakes and people laughing, but not now? Not when I’ve made time for it, in a safe place?”
He made a noise in his throat and felt her stiffen. His hands bracketed her shoulders. He could feel the frustration rolling off of her like smoke from a wildfire. “I think you might still be a little bit tense. Sometimes, when something is forced, it just won’t happen. Maybe I had the wrong idea about coming out here. Maybe we should just forget about the shifting and just watch the stars. Just sit or lie in silence. Or we can talk, if you want.”
“Don’t you think that we should get back to the kids? Lily and Sam are great people, but I feel like I’m asking a lot of them, to watch a two-month-old and then Misty on top of their own boys.”
“Lily was absolutely delighted to have the girls. She and Sam both. The boys adore Misty. They’re good for her.”
“I’m just worried it’s too much. They have the whole clan to look after. They probably don’t need us thrusting our kids on them.”
“They love it when people thrust kids on them. I never met a couple who loves kids more than they do, and that’s saying something because everyone in Greenacre loves their young, whether they’re theirs by blood or not. As for the bear, there’s no use stressing either of you out. The bear will come out when she wants.”
“Yeah, probably during the most inopportune time.”
“I don’t think so. I think if we just take the pressure off tonight, it’ll happen.” He motioned to the ground. It was damp from the mist, but he didn’t think Taylee really minded. He’d brought a blanket too. It was one of those good camping blankets, with a waterproof coating on one side and a softer side on the other. Excellent for all those middle of winter, wet ground, star gazing, trying like heck to shiftadventures.
“Why don’t we just relax for a minute and see? You’ve told me some things about stars before. We never just sat and watched them together, but we did walk. Mostly, we talked about other things. We still had to keep up our jobs, guarding and walking our clan’s lands, but we did it together. This might not be so bad. Just sitting for a few minutes of quiet.”
Taylee’s lips twitched, but she sat down right there on the ground beneath the huge pine. The green needles had protected most of the earth from the dampness. His jacket on Taylee would keep the wet and cold from seeping into her. She folded her legs, showing no signs of noticing or minding the weather. The mist had cleared, leaving the sky clear and bright. It actually seemed to have warmed up despite the cloud cover moving off. He couldn’t even see his breath.
