Page 48 of Dawn Unearthed

I bit my lip, hoping he was right. I needed him to be right. “That’s still new to me, and I’m trying not to break everything.”

“You’re doing a fantastic job, Sage.”

“Thank you,” I said, giving him a shy smile. “Do you want to see some of it?”

His eyes widened. “See some of what?” he asked, and I blushed.

“My magic. Not, uh, anything else.”

He laughed then, low and deep, and it did things to me that I didn’t want to think about. Not that I didn’t want what those feelings meant, more that I needed to focus on something else, or I would end up embarrassing myself.

“Show me some of the magic you’ve learned. If you can and feel safe enough.”

“I can show you some. Rowen wants me to practice. Though I’m not sure I can do everything without her here.”

He nodded, running his hands over his beard and looking far too attractive for his own good. “When we were first learning to shift as cubs, our parents were always around. And then when we snuck off to try to do it on our own, I swear our parents always knew. They didn’t want us to hurt ourselves or lose energy because we did too much.”

“Those baby bears are adorable.” I smiled as we made our way to the back, remembering the little triplets. His yard was situated amidst a copse of large trees, creating a sanctuary.

“Those baby bears are trouble with a capital T, but considering I was pretty much the same way when I was younger, I can’t say anything.”

The thought of Rome as a baby bear made me smile, and I shook my head.

“You were in a gang of triplets like them, then?”

“Yes, for most of it. Alden was always a bit quieter than Trace and me, so we didn’t get into as much mischief.”

There was something hewasn’tsaying there, but I didn’t want to steer the conversation to something that made him sad, so I moved on.

“You have a little pond here,” I said, looking down at the waterscape.

“The stream is here, as well. Enough water for you to play with.”

“Or severely mess up.”

He shook his head. “Rowen wouldn’t have you practicing on your own if that was the case.”

“Sometimes, I feel like you have far more confidence in my abilities than I do. But, sure, we can practice.”

“What did you do before you were here?” he asked suddenly, and I frowned.

“You mean, how did I handle the bakery before I came? I did all of the baking and set up everything for Sabrina to close. Or did you mean before I moved to Ravenwood?”

He tilted his head, studying my face, somehow reminding me of his bear form, though I’d only seen his brother as one. “The latter.”

I blushed. “I baked. I worked at a bakery run by a friend, actually, and did all of the baking for her. I pretty much ran the place because she has six kids, and while she was still the owner and made the tough decisions, I did the rest.”

“You have a lot of experience. Ravenwood is lucky to have you.”

I blushed again. “I hope so. It’s scary but thrilling at the same time. I love my shop. Ravenwood Sweets is everything I thought it could be.”

“I love the honey buns. And the honey bread. Pretty much anything that you make that has honey in it.”

I shook my head, my lips twitching. “Could you be more of a bear stereotype?”

“I could, but you haven’t seen me rub my back against a tree yet.”

I snorted, imagining it. “Wait, in bear form or human form?”

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