Page 41 of Bear's Rejected Love

Roan continued, “You have no right to trust me, but I’m giving my word. I will do everything I can to be better because I know that will make your mother happy. It will make everyone happy. I’m trying very hard to let go of the past and start fresh. I want to learn more control when it comes to the animals inside of me. I want to learn how to appreciate them too. They were put in me and given life and I- should be more grateful for them instead of wishing them away constantly. That’s never going to create harmony. I want to be better all around. For you and for the girls and for Honor. The girls chose me, but Honor is just a baby. You didn’t get to choose who your father was either. I want to be the kind of man and the kind of father you can be proud of. I hope one day I can get there.”

Corbin tilted his chin a little higher. His skepticism was clear, but he’d dropped the animosity. “You know you’re really weird, Roan, right? You think you’re alone, but there are so many people here who could help. Silver is a panther, and you guys are already friends. Sebastian is a wolf and Silver and Domhnall are raising two wolves. Anyone else might be a bear, but they’d help in any way they could. I thought this place was corny when I came here and the community spirit was really… overwhelming, but that was just me having a bad attitude.” His son looked at him, Roan realized how much the boy had changed in the short time he’d been here. From the angry, disenchanted youth he’d been on their first meeting to this smart young man, who seemed wiser than his years. Corbin continued, “It’s nice to have so many people wanting to help each other. It makes me feel like I’m not alone anymore. In the city, I was. Mom too. But here? We’re not alone. We might be different, but that’s okay too. We’re still treated as part of the clan, not as outsiders. Take the help. Reach out. You don’t have to be so proud. I was when I came here, and I learned fast that it’s okay to just ask what you want to know. You might not be normal, but what’s normal? Just be there for my mom. Treat her well. If you can do that, then we’ll work on the father son thing sometime soon.”

Roan’s throat was completely constricted. His heartstrings were plucked and strummed all the chords. The music clashed inside of him, the notes coming together to make a deafening noise. All he could do was nod.

Corbin nodded too. He turned to the door, but then turned back. “Mom looked happy today. Really happy. Actually, she’s been happier than she’s been in a long time since we got here. It’s nice to see that. I know it’s because she’s relieved that I’m safe out here and that she is too and that we can thrive and have friends and be ourselves, but it’s because of you too.”

He had to take Corbin’s word for it. He wanted it to be because of him going forward. He’d work hard and work on himself and ensure that he was right with his animals and the others in the clan. He’d reach out for help, even though he’d never done that in his life. He’d fill in some of the many holes left gaping inside of himself. He had four kids depending on him. He’d made a resolve to get it right before, and then the fire happened, but he couldn’t let that change what and who he wanted to be.

Someone who thought and acted with his heart and his head instead of listening to the demons and walking straight into the blackness that always promised so much and never delivered on any of it.

What he wanted was to be a mate. He wanted to be a father. And he wanted to be a good one.

Instead of listening to all the thoughts that told him he was too broken, too damaged, too out of control, too dangerous, too much of anything and everything wrong, he wanted to listen to Tabitha. To Corbin. To Silver. To the girls. To all the people in the clan who had ever given him a kind look and a kind word and made him feel like there was nothing that wasn’t worth fixing and nothing that couldn’t be fixed.

“Thanks, Corbin, for coming out here and talking to me straight. I appreciate the courage that took.”

“No courage,” his son corrected. “It just needed to be said.” He hesitated. “Are you coming inside?”

“In a few minutes. I just like to watch the stars. They’re… calming.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He shifted awkwardly, from one foot to the other.

Roan wasn’t sure he would come, but he could swallow down the rejection if he chose to go back inside. That would be completely understandable. He shifted over on the step, making room. Corbin did hesitate, but after a few minutes of unsure silence, he came and sat down, folding his long, coltish limbs underneath himself.

Roan said nothing.

Corbin said nothing.

They just looked up at the same sky, at the stars spread across the black, and were comforted by the silence.

Chapter 17

Tabitha

“Denver!” Tabitha was so shocked to see her brother literally darkening the diner’s doorway that she dropped a whole tray piled up with plates and four glasses of soda. There was actually a small lunch rush going on at the moment, with several families and a few tables of singles having meals. “Crap.” She held up a hand to her brother, who followed every movement with the most stoic, unsurprised expression.

He understood her wait there silent gesture, and then after grabbing a rag, he read her head tilt perfectly and slid into a booth near the door.

Her heart always seemed to be kicking like a wild horse in her chest lately. Having her brother just up and appear across the country from where she’d last known him to be, giving her zero-warning, told her that something was wrong and it must be bad.

She couldn’t just drop all her waitressing duties and she’d just ruined an entire table’s meal. She had to go to the back and make sure she got that taken care of first.

She explained everything, and everyone waved her off with a smile. Elowen was doing the cooking. “It’s not a big deal, Tabitha. Take a short break. Talk to your brother. We’ll make sure everyone gets served.”

“I can’t do that. And I’m so sorry about the food.”

Elowen rolled her eyes. “No harm done. Trays get dropped. It won’t take me more than a few minutes to replace everything. You go ahead. Talk to him. In my experience, when someone is distracted and bursting at the seams like that, more trays will bite it.”

“Are you sure? At least let me help-”

“I’m sure, Tabitha. Your brother just walked in the door. Your brother from all the way across the country, if I’m correct?”

“You are. They’re over on the East Coast.”

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