Red's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (18 page)

“Seeing the color of her eyes, I think it goes without
saying that Octavia is the same thing as you are.”

“As
we
are.” Her grandmother emphasized.

Rena understood the message loud and clear. Shaking her
head she sighed. This was something she
had
to
come to terms
with. She was no longer the same. Hell, she had never been who she thought she
was, anyway.

Tilting her head, her grandmother gazed at her, sharply
assessing Rena’s eye color. “Unique coloring, but fitting. I believe your
birthmark, a bear paw, was a deeper marking, probably because you’re a
half-blood.”

A bear paw. Rena had never even considered that’s what
the odd red shape on her hip was. Another clue on her own body she had missed.
Staring into the empty fireplace, Rena asked, “Where do Weres come from? How
did we start this transition?”

“We’ve always been a part of the world, since the Great
Spirit created the Earth. Just like there are different races, size and shapes
of people and species and animals in the world, there are shifters. Of all
kinds.”

“What?” Rena turned to face her grandmother. “There are
Weres that aren’t bears?”

“Yes, lions, wolves, panthers, tigers…in India there is
even a breed of Elephant shifters.”

That was news to Rena. She felt as if she had been
living in a sheltered vacuum. “I never knew. No one ever talks about it…on the
news or magazines. Not in reality outside of movies and shows that dramatize
everything.” She’d been a part of making some of those local fictional shows
for kids.
What a fool I had been.

“That’s how it should be. It can be unsafe for us when
we remain for long periods of time away from our own communities.”

“I’m sure humans would like to put us in labs to
experiment on us and freak shows for entertainment.” Rena mumbled, out of sorts
by what she was discovering.

“Very true, unfortunately. FYI, just so you know, a lot
of those television and Hollywood productions are written and created by a San
Fernando Valley bobcat shifter. He does it purposely to make our species of
people seem so outlandish that humans will think we are nothing but myth and
fantasy.”

“Good cover. Hide in plain sight.”

“Yes, it is.” Her grandmother eyed her, her wise gaze
steady. Stepping to the coffee table, she poured an extra cup of tea and handed
it to Rena.

Rena didn’t want any tea, until she smelled the warm
steam—honey notes. She took it from her grandmother and drank it.

Resuming her seat, Genma sat in the rocker. “Lastly, it
is not a thing. It is a bear. Your bear, our bears, are a part of our makeup
and soul.”

Duly admonished, Rena felt as if she should apologize
to her bear for her derogatory remark. However, the voice rested inside of her,
in peace. Rena figured it must have understood she was just trying to sort
things out in her head.

Taking another drink of the tea, Rena said, “The
sweetener in cured tea and muffins was always honey.”

“Yes,” Genma lifted her own cup and calmly brought it
to her mouth. “For us Were-bears, it is always the honey.”

“Wouldn’t it just have been easier to tell me?” she
accused.

Lifting a brow at her, Genma issued a question of her
own. “What would you have said if I’d have brought one of my jars of honey out
and handed you a drizzler dripping and said here, Rena, have some.”

“I would have said no thank you and turned it down.” It
was how her mother had trained her.

‘Be polite Rena, but don’t ever consume it. It will
make you sick.’ Lillian’s voice echoed in her head.

“Exactly. Do you know how hard it was those times in
the summer when your mother would bring you for a week at a time and order me
not to give certain things to yo-u-u?” Her grandmother’s voice broke, and tears
welled up in her eyes. It was only the second time in her life she’d seen her
grandmother cry.

The first was when her mother dragged her out of her
grandmother’s house when Rena was thirteen.

“Why did she do it, Grandma? Keep such a secret from
me?” Rena stared down into her golden tea, cupping her hand around it to let
the warmth seep into her body.

“That story is not mine to tell. She is your mother and
even when I don’t agree with her I have to respect her decision.” Emotions
under control again, Genma drank her tea.

Raising her gaze to her, Rena said, “Yet, you brought
me here and fed me not only honey but salmon against her wishes.”

The corner of her grandmother’s mouth twitched with the
beginnings of a smile. “Figured out the broth for my vegetable stew did you?”

“Oh, boy did I.” A small giggle slipped out of her
mouth as she recalled practically licking the bowl at the diner.

“Well, to answer your question. I had to.”

Draining her cup, Rena set it on the table. “Why now?
You could have done it any time after I left my mother’s house.”

Her grandmother’s dark gaze held hers. “Because not
having it was starting to kill you. I couldn’t have that.”

Rena gasped at hearing the weighted words. Her mind
flashed back through the last year, the pain and weakness. The maddening
cravings, her bear had been attempting to save its life, save Rena’s life. “The
illness.”

“The illness.” Her grandmother declared.

Emotions bombarded her heart and swelled inside her
until Rena felt as if she couldn’t breathe. Popping up from the couch, she
raced to the patio doors. After opening them, she rushed out. Standing at the
rail she took in large gulps of air.

Quietly, her grandmother came up beside her and placed
a hand at the center of her back.

Staring beyond the woods to the path that led to the
lake, Rena said, “Do you think that my mother knew not giving me the honey
would kill me?”

“It is doubtful.” After giving her back a pat, Genma
pulled her hand away. “Lillian is a full Were-bear. She was raised to
understand the power of the honey. Its specific antioxidants we need like most
human’s need vitamin A, B, C, D and iron. Honey for us does all of those
things. I think she believed your human side would just take over fully and if
she didn’t give you the one thing your bear needed, you would never shift.”

Leaning her hips against the rail, she looked at her
grandmother. “Grandma, that just doesn’t make any sense. Being here in Den I
haven’t seen anything that would be a deterrent that would make my mom not want
me to embrace my shifter side.”

Shaking her head, Genma exhaled loud and said, “Your
mother is fighting her own ghosts.”

Rena felt as if they were getting to the true heart of
the matter. “What happened the last time we were here?”

Turning, her grandmother stared at her. “What do you
remember?”

Inhaling, Rena thought about all the memories that had
unfolded in her mind form the time she had awakened. It was as if everything
that had been trapped behind a wall of confusion and uncertainties had been
freed. “Everything. But I still don’t know why my mother became angry with you,
with Den.”

Nodding, her grandmother grabbed the railing and
hoisted herself over and to the ground.

Even though Rena now knew that her grandmother’s
strength and agility came from her bear, it would still take her a while not to
be shocked by it. Following suit, Rena landed two feet away.

With a twinkle in her eye, her grandmother started down
the path toward the lake. “Let me tell you a story.”

Keeping pace with her, Rena listened.

“Attraction and love have a way of blossoming naturally
in the smallest amount of time. However, for Weres we are drawn in by scents,
markings of other shifters. There was once a little girl who came for short
visits to see her grandmother. This girl enjoyed her time in the woods and
water, under her mother’s protection only. Soon the girl made friends and one
year met with them at the lake and played for hours. However, every time this
child came back she was a little older. The final time she visited her
grandmother she was beginning to mature and her scent was now a draw to the
boys.”

Rena didn’t have difficulty following her grandmother’s
words. She knew Genma was painting a picture of her life. That last summer.

“Weres may be attracted to others of the opposite
gender, but only one can be their true mate.”

During the days Rena had been in Den County she’d come
to realize several things, one being the golden eye color that happened when
someone’s desire was engaged. She and Genma now stood at the end of the dock
overlooking the water. “Cord kissed me that day.”

“Greater than that. I don’t think she would have taken
you away if it wasn’t for the fact that his eyes had become golden.”

Her brow drew tight as she looked at her grandmother.
“But, that’s just desire.”

“No that is the mating lust. It is only shown for one’s
life mate.”

The full understanding of what her mother had done when
she took her away was a stab into Rena’s heart. The knowledge angered her. She
wanted to scream, kick and claw at something or someone. Her bear was roaring
inside of her. Rena’s body was tight. “I think it’s time you take me to town,
Grandma.”

“I sure will.”

They turned back to the house.

“That painting you did for Cord, could you add two
bears on the dock?”

Hugging her waist, her grandmother said, “I thought
you’d never ask.”

~YH~

“Hello, Cord.”

He lay on one of the loungers outside on his stone
porch. The same spot he’d been in since getting home yesterday. Looking over at
the statuesque blonde woman walking toward him, he said, “Nana.”

“How are you?” Coming to him, she placed a kiss on the
top of his head as she had done since he was small.

“How’s Rena?” he countered.
He
had not just
discovered that his whole life was a lie. If his grandmother was here, what did
that mean?

She sat on the second lounger. “When I left she had
finally awakened. She looked healthy, restored but the strains of uncertainty
were evident in her features.”

Nodding, Cord sat up and swung his body to the side so
he was facing her directly. “That’s good to hear. Will Genma tell her the
truth?”

“The parts that are hers to tell, she will.” Reaching
out, his grandmother laid her hand on his knee.

Looking at the woman who’d been a constant strength for
him in his life, he had a few questions for her. He was starting to realize
that maybe she had not been forthright with him. “Where have you been these
last few days? This mystery trip you and Genma had to take.”

Crossing her legs, she linked hands around the top of
her knee. “Right here in Den.”

He frowned. “Where? Someone would have said if they’d
seen you and Genma.”

“We were at the old starter home. A few miles through
the woods beyond Genma’s cabin.”

For a moment, Cord wasn’t sure what place his
grandmother was referring too. But, then he recalled that as a young Were, he
and his friends would venture deep into the forest. They located the only residence
still standing from the time when his great-grandfather had led them here and
established a society, a way of life that would protect them. He and his
friends used the rundown place as a fort. “That place isn’t safe, Nana. How did
you two last days in it?”

“Oh, dear, Genma and I have been planning this for
months. We contracted Theo to do some work on it, restore it for our stay. We
just didn’t know when we would use it.”

“What?” He eyed the beautiful, secretive woman before
him. “I think it’s time you really tell me what is going on.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Can I assume that whatever you have to say has to do a
lot with why Rena was brought here, now?”

“That as well as why Genma contracted you to do the
yard work during the no work time in Den.”

“Why?” Then something Marcella said to him came to
mind. “You wanted us alone at the cabin?”

“Away from distraction is how we thought about it.”

He rubbed a hand across his chin, covered with two
day’s growth of stubble. “All the subterfuge, Nana.” He got up from the chair,
stalked to the edge of the flagstone patio and stared down at the grass one
step away. “Why?”

The chair creaked behind him, moments before his
grandmother placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I was there, Cord. The day Lillian took Rena away.”

That memory still brought a knot to his stomach. He
stood silent.

“Genma radioed me that night after they were gone. My
best friend was hurt by her daughter’s actions. I rushed over, but Genma didn’t
want me there for her.”

He glanced into the caring eyes of his grandmother,
then he had to look away knowing that she could see the pain in his soul.

“When she took me to the dock, I saw you, my
Cordy-bear. You were curled up into a tight ball. You had shifted and just sat
there, unresponsive to anyone. Your friends or Genma.”