Page 7 of The Omega's Beary Merry Christmas

Bothersome creatures. Pests.

Oh, who was I kidding? I’d give anything to have some cubs of my own.

“They do too. They frolic and dance and do this…” She whirled around with her fingers bent at the knuckles portraying claws. Natalie even let out a small roar. Impressive.

“Where’s your father?” I asked, not wanting to discuss bears and frolicking.

“He’s inside.”

The father was inside while his young was out here, in the snow. Anything could happen to her while she was alone. It took only seconds for something to go wrong.

“His boot broke. He’s inside trying to fix it.”

“I see.”

He should really keep better watch over his young.

My thoughts must’ve stirred the man because the front door of Bert’s cabin flew open. “Natalie, are you okay? Who are you talking to?”

He turned to me, and I sucked in a breath. My bear stirred. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He had wavy brown hair and bold green eyes. He was lean and had a bit of scruff on his face.

His brow furrowed as he did a double take. “You must be Rudy’s brother Bert. I’m Conrad.”

I didn’t confirm or deny. I didn’t know this human. “Did you fix your boot?” I asked, tipping my chin to the right boot that had been duct-taped back together. A smart temporary fix, but it wouldn’t last long around here. Plus, humans got colder than we did. Those wouldn’t do. I immediately tried to size him up, wondering if I had some boots that would fit him. Or if my brother did. It would serve him right to lose one of his pairs.

My bear wanted to do more than fix his footwear though.

He wanted to warm this human in all kinds of ways.

“Kind of. This is my daughter, Natalie.”

The little girl did a bit of a curtsy making me chuckle. “We’ve been introduced.”

“Daddy, tell Mr. Bert that bears do frolic and dance in the forest. I tried to tell him.”

Not this again.

Conrad chuckled and my bear reared up inside me, loving the sound as much as the singsonging of the young female.

Chapter Five

Conrad

The drive was gorgeous, something I hadn’t expected. The change of scenery as we left the city and eventually turned down an old highway was something to behold. Natalie loved it too, talking about all the animals she was going to meet while we were there, especially the bears. I wasn’t sure what had her so hyperfocused on bear dancing lately—my guess was that it was in a book or a movie.

By the time we were on our last stretch, she was sound asleep. I was honestly surprised she made it that long. It was not an easy thing to do—sitting in a car for hours on end. Sure, we stopped for gas and food, but I didn’t love the idea of getting there too late in the day.

When we arrived, the key was exactly where the owner said it would be—on the windowsill. What a different world this was. There was absolutely no way I would leave my key anywhere outside—not in one of those little fake rocks in the garden, not under a flowerpot, and definitely not just sitting there on the windowsill where anyone could see it.

For my swap, the person had to go to my neighbor’s house, show ID, and pick up the key. I owed Ruth for taking on that responsibility at the last minute. She said it was fair because I let her dog out one time, and I did—five years ago.

Natalie and I had already decided that we were going to find her something as a thank-you present during our trip. Of course, at the time, I thought we would be nearer a village. We weren’t. We were in the middle of nowhere. Good thing we brought our own food. The only thing we passed even close to “nearby” was a motel that might as well have awe’re hauntedsign up. Thereprobably weren’t any ghosts, but there weren’t any upgrades either.

As much as I loved the convenience of living in the city, I could see why it would be relaxing to be out here—not having to worry about neighbors having loud parties, someone wandering off the street and into your house, people knocking on your door trying to sell you internet.

Although, based on the lack of housing around here, they probably had to worry about critters. Natalie talked about bears nonstop the last half hour of the drive. She loved them. But bears weren’t the only things around here. There were probably foxes, wolves, and who knew what else. A shiver ran through me.Please don’t let there be snakes.

I wasn’t scared of most wildlife, snakes and alligators the most notable exceptions, but I didn’t love Natalie’s lack of trepidation when it came to them. She would walk up to any creature she thought was cute.

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