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Row pulled her into his arms and kissed her as the bears cheered.
“I can’t wait to hunt with you,” Row said as he lifted from her mouth. “The next full moon is going to be amazing.”
“Maybe I won’t let you catch me this time,” she said.
“Oh, I’ll catch you,” he said, his voice husky. “Again and again.”
* * *
The following morning, Row walked Kammie to the gathering building, where Desendra waited to begin her first lesson on jam and jelly making. It was Row’s first day in his new position on the training team. He wore a black, long-sleeved shirt and dark jeans with hiking boots. The shirt fit him so snugly that she could see the outline of his abs, and she wanted to lift the fabric and explore him.
He tweaked her chin. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to be late for my first day of work.”
“I can’t help it that you’re so lickable.”
“I’m not sure that’s a word,” he said, laughing, “but I like it. You’re lickable, too.”
“Oh man, I need to get a mate!” Desendra said from the open door of the building.
Row kissed Kammie on the cheek. “I’ll be back to get you in six hours. Have fun,Adara.”
“I’ll take good care of her,” Desendra said.
Kammie waved at Row and entered the building. Desendra pulled the door shut behind her, and Kammie stamped the snow from her boots and took off her scarf and jacket, hanging them over the back of a chair. “I can’t wait until spring.”
“Me, too, although my bear does love snow. When I’m outside in the cold, all I want to do is find a cave and take a nap. I think it’s because regular bears hibernate and there’s a part of me that wants to do that. Could you imagine sleeping for three months? I’d definitely need a bikini wax when I woke up.”
Kammie laughed. “Fall makes me feel like that. Like I should be finding someplace warm to curl up.”
She followed Desendra into the kitchen and washed her hands. “We’re going to make an enormous batch of grape jelly. After we get that done, we’ll use peaches I froze from last summer’s harvest and make preserves. They look so beautiful in the glass jars. Are there any kinds of jelly or jam that you’d like to learn to make specifically?”
“Row likes blackberry jam on toast for breakfast.”
“There are wild blackberries in the woods, but they’re such a hassle to pick because of the thorns. We can buy them from the grocery store.”
“They make thornless bushes; maybe we could plant some?”
“Great idea. See, I knew we’d work well together!”
As Kammie and Desendra worked, they talked about the sleuth and females’ roles within the group. As Row had explained, the sleuth had no true ranking like the pack, but the males understood their place and did their jobs. Only Fayar had a rank, and his youngest son was poised to take over when he stepped down.
“Is Fayar’s son mated?”
“No. He’ll take a mate before he takes over kingship. The females need a leader of their own, someone who can speak on their behalf to the king. Gloria is a wonderful mate to Fayar and a good leader for us.”
“Row said that Fayar doesn’t show affection to Gloria in public because he doesn’t want her to be taken from him in an attempt to get him to step down.”
Desendra nodded. “The king before Fayar was his father. His mate, Fayar’s mother, was kidnapped and tortured by a small group of male bears who wanted to take over the territory. By the time his father found her, she was dead. He slaughtered the males and vowed to never mate again. I think Fayar doesn’t want anyone to know how much he loves Gloria, but the sleuth knows. It would be impossible to hide that kind of love from people who know each other well.”
“Bears love fiercely,” Kammie said.
“So true.”
“I know some wolves who love fiercely as well, but our people are very different, especially in how females are treated.”
Desendra said, “I’m disappointed with how females are treated in your pack. You should never have been treated as if you were of no value. I’ve only known you a day and I already adore you. You’re sweet and funny, and you survived a shitty childhood to become a female fierce enough to defend yourself.”
Kammie looked down at the batch of grape jelly. “I never thought I’d be anything but what I’d been defined as by the pack. It’s very freeing to be able to make my own choices.”
