Page 11 of Bear's Rejected Love

“I don’t know.” He was lying and they both knew it. He had to give her something more and they both knew that too. “It was a relief, being gone.” There. That was the truth.

He hated the hurt that burned in her eyes, but she nodded. “Of course it would have felt like a relief. But now? Now you know what it’s like to be in a bad place and now you’re in a good one. I think you’re wiser than you were when you left, and if that was the point of leaving, then I’m glad. We all need to find ourselves, learn what life wants us to learn, and be who we were meant to be. Corbin is just starting down that path and I would really like it if you were a part of it. I know you want to bow out and give up on it, but I’m not going to let you. So…” She stepped back and smiled a little shyly. “Will you all come to dinner one night? Our cabin is small, but we have room for everyone.”

He put a hand over Honor’s back when he hiccupped against his shoulder, but didn’t wake up. Sleep hiccups, burps, and every other sound a baby made while warm and lost in dreams should never be so cute.

“Dinner?”

“Dinner. A few nights from now? Maybe the weekend? Once we’re properly settled in.” He looked so blank that she gave him the look her mom used to use all the time. He couldn’t even define it because it was a mixture of so many things. It made you want to laugh and want to get in line fast at the same time.

“How about lunch?”

“Sure. If that sounds less formal, lunch works. I’ll make your favorite.”

No one knew what his favorite dish was aside from the people he’d chosen to leave behind. Nostalgia was like a bunch of vines, twining around his insides. It didn’t play fair.

“I even promise to make sure that Corbin is agreeable and polite, even if he curses you out after.”

“He can curse me out if he wants.”

“No, no. Not with the girls and a baby present.”

“Maybe I should come alone then. A man has to take what he’s done. He has to understand the consequences of his actions.”

That just made her look sad again. She hadn’t come back here for justice. She was far too honest and he’d never doubted her, but seeing those haunted shadows the past painted on her face didn’t make him feel right.

“I think you’ve more than paid already. As for what life decided you should live, I think you’re living it.” She smiled easily at the baby again. “Whether you saw it coming, or whether you think you deserve it or not.”

Chapter 5

Tabitha

Tabitha stared into the bathroom mirror. She’d showered the night before and left her hair wrapped in the towel overnight. She’d controlled the frizz with cream and now her natural waves rolled down her shoulders. She’d put on a small amount of mascara, some blush, and pink lip gloss.

What the heck was she even doing, making an effort?

She still didn’t have a job here. It didn’t seem like there was anything she could do. She’d gone to Sam and Lily after her conversation with Roan the day before, but they told her to just worry about settling in. They’d take care of the rest.

She didn’t want them to take care of it. They’d already done more than enough. She’d spent too many years out in the world and even though it felt like a relief to be safe here, to not have to scrape by, to not have to deal with drunk, horny bastards at the bar and the never-ending stream of dissatisfied customers, to have her son safe and protected.

She just wasn’t used to feeling lost.

She’d spent so many years searching for Roan, but she never thought she’d find him.

Her pulse picked up just thinking about his perfectly jacked, carved out body and the rich scent of earth and maleness that followed him everywhere. He’d looked so right holding his baby, even if how he’d come to be a foster dad or whatever he was, seemed pretty strange. Clans did weird things sometimes and he was right, any shifter kids without parents needed to be brought in and given a home. Roan always was hard to get through to, especially after he’d lost his parents, but now he seemed so far away.

Would he even come to lunch?

She met her eyes in the mirror, wincing at the webbing of wrinkles around her eyes and the way her face didn’t seem so perky or pretty to her anymore. She worked enough that she had zero extra meat on her bones, but she still felt saggy all over. Like life had sucked out all her vitality.

“What are you doing, mom?”

She jumped, dropping the mascara tube she’d palmed without even thinking. Corbin stood in the doorway, leaning against it with a particularly languid, loose pose. Were all teenagers made of butter? How on earth could he hold that with actual bones in his body?

“Nothing.” She slipped the mascara back into her makeup bag.

“Nothing looks good on you. You’re beautiful, mom. The prettiest woman here.”

“Jeez, Corbin.” It probably wasn’t a great sign how close she was to breaking into tears all the time. Too many emotions in too short a time.

---