Page 42 of Bear's Rejected Love

“Take half an hour and we’ll all cover. Seriously, if you need to take the rest of the day off, we’re fine. No worries at all. If he’s come all this way, it’s probably important and can’t wait.”

“He could have called first and given me some warning.”

“Maybe he couldn’t risk a phone call.” Elowen stopped assembling sandwiches. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t mean it like that. That it was dangerous for him and his family—you’re already on edge, and here I am making things a hundred times worse.”

“No, if it was, he’d have called me for sure and I would have known the second I saw him. This is something else. I’m not sure what, but it kind of feels like stepping outside into a blast of frigid air without a coat on. Just instant goosebumps and shivers all over.”

“I understand. Family comes first. If you need to take the rest of the day, let me know. It’s no problem.”

“You’re the best, El. Thank you.”

Tabitha was sure she wouldn’t have to take an entire afternoon off, but her she was practically shaking with nerves when she got to her brother’s table. Her brother. Here. In Greenacre. It made her head feel like it was going to explode, and every time she thought about that, she got nasty images of brain goo ending up all over the walls and no one needed that.

She sat down and then went to pop back up. “I forgot water. Or do you want coffee? How did you get here? Did you fly? Drive?” Denver hated flying. He wasn’t scared of actual planes, but he was worried about his bear randomly popping out if they hit turbulence and there being nowhere to hide.

“I drove and because I drove, I’ve had my fill of coffee. I don’t need water. I’m fine. Do you want something for yourself?”

“No.” She watched his face, quite unlike hers, but there were a few similarities. He was a big man, whereas she was dainty and female. His features were hard and chiseled, but they had the same eye color and kind of the same shaped nose. Though to look at them, most people probably wouldn’t guess they were cousins let alone brother and sister. “No, unless I need something?”

He leaned in, cautious, which made sense. He’d come through an open gate, watched only by hidden cameras. During the day in the peak tourist season, Greenacre was open for anyone to drive in. The town’s security was actually higher during that time, but it went unseen. To anyone stopping in, they just looked like an adorable regular touristy hotspot created because the mountains weren’t so far away and camping and hiking were hot things to do during the summer.

“I want to get the clan back together.”

Thank goodness she wasn’t holding another tray. It made total sense why Denver would drive across the country now, instead of calling her. Not that they were paranoid about phone taps or being traced, but they were careful.

Not this careful.

It was so good seeing her brother face to face that Tabitha didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. She didn’t do either, compliments of being in a public place.

“What do you mean get it back together? So many people have… they’ve passed on.”

“There are still lots of us left. Lots of us who would give anything for the old days.”

“But that’s impossible, the clan fractured because it wasn’t safe for us anymore.”

“We might have to do things differently and they might not look the same, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done.”

How many times had she thought that hope was a painful thing? That it made people drunk on it and that made them silly. It made them naïve and trusting. It made them think that the impossible was within reach and when it fell short, it inevitably hurt.

She didn’t want to say that, because it sounded like straight up doubt and discouraging Denver after he’d driven all the way here wasn’t right. He filled the silence for her, in low tones that no one else would hear.

“I kept thinking that I would give anything to go back to when the clan was all together and mom and dad were alive and we were just kids, back before we knew that life could be so hard and that everyone gets old and dies. Or before that really hit hard. It doesn’t feel the same way when you’re young. Youth give so much definition to blissful ignorance. I thought, what wouldn’t I trade, even for a single day, but that day, like all days, would evaporate and all the pain would still be there. All the same longing.”

She understood where her brother was coming from, she’d felt it herself.

“We broke up to keep ourselves safe, and because no one truly wanted to take up the alpha position when ours passed. It’s been tough on people, not having their clan, hiding who and what they are. I’ve been talking to people. People who want to put the clan back together. If we combined our wealth we couldn’t buy back the same lands, but there are other places we could find and start afresh. It might not be Maine, but we could go anywhere. There are about twenty of us now. Not twenty people, but twenty families. We want to make a go of it. I came here to ask you to come back with me. I’m not sure where yet, or when exactly, but hopefully soon, and hopefully somewhere as beautiful as this place.”

“I…” She’d never dreamed that she’d say no. “Roan is here. I found him. You know that. I called you right after we got here.”

“I know, Tab.” Denver’s light green eyes pierced right through her. “I came to ask him to come back as well.”

“I- I can’t go without him. I wouldn’t. He’s Corbin’s dad. It’s been a rough adjustment. There are things you don’t know about him now.”

“Yeah. People grow up. Life happens. It’s been hard for all of us.”

She nodded, not trusting herself to say more without bursting into tears right there at the table. Roan’s secrets weren’t hers to give away. “Roan has a baby. He has two girls.”

Denver’s brows went right up to his hairline. “A baby? He took a new mate.”

---