Page 27 of Dawn Unearthed

Rowen met my gaze, her gray eyes pulsing. “Laurel has a brother. Ash. He doesn’t live in town. He travels all over the world. He left us long ago. He’s cursed like she is, only differently. It doesn’t matter. He isn’t part of the coven and never will be.” She shook her head and pulled her hair back from her face, flipping it up quickly in a practiced move. “Read the first book and then come back so we can practice. You’re not going to be good at it. You’re going to have too much power, too much raw potential within you to tame. But we’re going to protect this town. And I don’t care what I have to do, but we will protect our people.”

I nodded, letting out a breath. “Okay.”

“Read, practice with me, bake your goods, become part of this town. Because the more you are settled, the more you become connected to the earth, to the people, to the new world around you, the better it will be for all of us. And the better for you.”

As a customer walked into the building, the bell above the door ringing into the silence, she walked away, breaking whatever odd spell had connected us. It hadn’t been magical but had held us together anyway.

I swallowed hard, looked at the books in front of me, and wondered once again how I had gotten here. In the time since I had lost my husband, I had been trying to find a new path, determine the way I needed to be. But I had been wrong.

If I had known who I needed to be, I didn’t think I would’ve come here. Or maybe I was always meant to be here. I didn’t know. I traced my fingers over the edge of one book, and my gaze caught on another on the shelf, one with a bear claw etched onto the spine.

There was so much history here. So much I didn’t know. But I didn’t think the witches would be the ones to tell me everything, not when I knew they were keeping secrets.

There was someone I could ask, though. Someone who might make sense.

Not that I knew why. Rome had been the first person I had seen, the first one to try and tell me the truth. I would speak to my aunt first, though she had been keeping secrets for my entire life. If she didn’t talk to me, I would speak with Rome. Hopefully, he would help make sense of things.

At the moment, nothing did, and I knew if I wasn’t quick about it, if I weren’t careful, I wouldn’t learn everything in time.

Even I could feel it. Something was coming. Something beyond what had crawled over the bridge today. Something beyond that which burned in my veins.

The water in the glass next to me started to spill out, and I cursed before I picked up the books, cleaning up the mess.

I was already three steps behind, and everybody else was running at full tilt. I needed to catch up. I needed to keep up. Or I was afraid all would be lost once again.

And I didn’t even know what all of it was.

Chapter Eight

Rome

My paws pounded the soft ground, the stream having turned the dirt into mud on the banks after Sage had practiced with Rowen the night before. It squished between my claws, but I kept going, knowing my fur would likely end up covered in mats and muck. When I shifted back, the dirt would remain, but hopefully, the mats would go away. I could feel my bear laugh inside me, even though the human part of me was in charge as I ran. The magic of shifting wasn’t like in the movies or any book. I was part of my bear, the spirit within me living as part of me.

I was born this way, and like the cubs who lived within our den, I could shift the moment I was born—though most waited at least a year or so. I had turned for the first time when I was two days old. Trace didn’t change until a month later. Alden had waited until he was a year old. And while some might say it was because he had less control and power, for me, I always assumed it was because Alden wanted to do things his way and didn’t want to be part of the three of us. It was odd to be a triplet and not be connected, not like most of the other bear shifters around us were anyway. There were many twins, quads, and triplets within the shifter culture, especially with bears. We tended to take a while to have children, but we usually did it in multiples when we did.

Multiples within dens were usually far more connected than any other siblings or interactions, except those of mated pairs or triads. It was as if they each had a soul yet were connected upon conception and split, though still with part of the others remaining as if forever bonded.

Trace and I had an enduring bond, but the one we shared with Alden seemed tattered, though not beyond repair. I couldn’t believe that. Not when I needed my pack, my den, and my people. It was hard to understand why my brother was like this when no one else in our family was.

I grumbled, a low, deep sound that radiated through my chest as the call of a hawk floated on the air. I looked up to see Jaxton winging above me, his broad wingspan so immense, it nearly blocked out the sun. Jaxton’s mother had once called him Icarus, afraid that her son would fly too high and lose his touch and freedoms—not to mention his wings. Jaxton was probably the safest of us all, at least those who had grown up in Ravenwood.

My brothers and I had been born in Ravenwood, not in Canada like some might have thought. Our father and mother had moved outside Montreal to run and rule the pack of both continents after my grandfather had passed. Most didn’t know that our grandfather had been Alpha. We’d hidden that information to keep our pack and our grandfather safe. He had passed away in his sleep, making my father Alpha of us all. And I had taken the mantle of alpha of the Ravenwood pack. My bear had risen to the occasion, and the bonds within the den had understood what was needed.

Trace had quickly become beta, second in strength and command. And Alden had been relegated to third, his least favorite position, an opinion he made known to all.

I grumbled again, holding back a growl so as not to scare any innocent bystanders or bunnies that might be in my wake. I strode through the shallow part of the stream, contemplating fishing or maybe at least washing off the rest of the mud, relaxing, doingsomething. Running out my frustrations wasn’t working.

My bear nudged at me, wanting to see Sage, but I knew I couldn’t. I needed to hold myself back so she could become accustomed to her new life. If I went to her now, I’d be a growly bear who wanted to throw her over my shoulder like some Viking. I wasn’t sure I could control myself around her, so I stayed away.

The longer I did, the harder it would be for her to get to know me and fall passionately and deeply in love, but I never said I was a smart bear.

I looked up to see Trace standing at the edge of the stream in his human form, his messenger bag hanging at his side—probably with clothes for me. He likely wanted to talk, though I didn’t particularly feel like doing that at the moment. We had enough to deal with, and I honestly didn’t want to focus on any of it right now. I wanted to growl, let my bear lead, and just be. But that wasn’t an option currently, so I would have to be an adult, the alpha, and face my issues.

I sighed, shook out the water from my fur, and shifted. It was a painful mix of agony, bliss, and torment all rolled into one as I went from bear to human. Energy radiated off my body, and I shook off the pain, the pleasure, as I stood naked in the stream, glaring at my brother.

“Put on some clothes. I don’t need to see that.” Trace waved at my crotch.

I refrained from mentioning that he had the same as I did and saw himself daily in the mirror. “You’re not supposed to notice that. Shifters don’t.”

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