Page 23 of Sasquatch's Claiming

She was willing to give it a try with him.

6

They settled into such a cozy existence.

Before her phone died, Bernadette quit her job and she made sure everything was taken care of at her apartment. She and Ben went back to her place one night and gathered up things she needed, like clothes and her sewing machine. She wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to her home in Thunder Bay, but she set everything up so that she could stay in the woods with Ben. She kept the apartment as a safety net.

Though she didn’t know why, Ben agreed it was a good idea on the off chance she was forced to return to this side of the veil.

When they got to her place, the fur on the back of Ben’s neck had stood on end. Like it did that day in the alley.

Whatever was still after her had been there, waiting for her. Even she felt it. It was something rotting in the air. It was thick and cloying.

Sickeningly sweet.

Once she knew this was forever, she’d sell off what she didn’t need and disappear into the woods around Marathon to live happily ever after. She contacted her friend and had her mailforwarded to the Marathon post office, that way she didn’t have to wander too far from Ben and the safety he provided.

The best times were when they were alone together at night, snuggled up under the blankets she brought back with her. And in two weeks of living in domestic bliss, she made him a quilt that covered his feet.

She’d never been so happy.

It was like Ben was giving her back everything she had to give up because she was trying to protect herself from her uncle. And there was a part of her that felt like this was becoming home. Ben would spend time out in the woods working with his brothers while logging, but he would always come home at night and she would make a dinner out of the items he brought back with him. He had a huge cold storage and pantry full of canned and preserved items. Farther back into the cave, there was a small room where there were lights and he had fresh vegetables growing.

It was kind of ingenious. He invented and built so much to make her life comfortable.

It like was he was prepping for his life with someone and she was just glad it was her.

There was a calmness about having a routine, to fall asleep in the big protective arms of Ben and know that she was safe. Knowing that she was loved.

It was two weeks of this honeymoon bliss, until the afternoon she felt unsettled. It felt like there was a dark presence looming through the forest. It sort of felt like that moment in the basement of the hospital, when she met Cillian, but it also didn’t feel like that.

Those dark red eyes flitted in her mind.

“Mine,” her uncle hissed. “I will kill your mate.”

She gasped and had this nagging sensation that Ben was in trouble.

Something wasn’t right and she needed to find him and be with him.

As she stepped outside, there were storm clouds brewing off the lake. The hill was steep and usually Ben carried her. She also had no idea where Ben was today, but she had to get to him. Panic was rising in her. She climbed off the porch and turned herself sideways so she could do the descent. Before she got far, there was a rustle in the bushes and she froze.

Her pulse thundered between her ears as another hulking Sasquatch materialized from the brush. He looked just like Ben, except he didn’t wear his mane of fur long and he had a shorter beard. His brow wasn’t as prominent and instead of golden eyes, his were blue.

“My mate will be back soon,” Bernadette said, hoping her voice didn’t shake.

The Sasquatch’s expression softened. “I’m Ben’s brother. My name is Caleb and no, your mate will not be home soon. He has been injured. I’ve come to bring you to him.”

Bernadette didn’t even have to question him further. She knew that Ben had other brothers and he’d mentioned their names. There was a familial resemblance and when he said that Ben had been hurt, she really lost any kind of logical reasoning and had to get to him as quickly as she could.

Caleb scooped her up in his arms. His hands were larger, as were his feet. He carried her like she weighed nothing, just like Ben did.

“Hold on,” Caleb said. “I run faster than Ben does.”

Bernadette nodded and curled up against his furry chest as Caleb took off through the trees and down the steep slope of the mountain, until they were running east through the thick boreal forest.

There was a heaviness in the air. A foreboding, and as she glanced up at the canopy of the trees, she could almost see ashimmering of something. It looked sort of like the northern lights, but also wasn’t. It was bending and arcing violently.

And she had a sense of déjà vu, like she’d seen it before, when she was young.

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