Page 61 of Bear Facts

Shane didn’t look surprised. “You’re right—I’d be seriously unfocussed. Then you’d get in my face, Mom would get into yours, and all hell would break loose. Let’s keep it simple.”

Nothing was simple at all, but Freya didn’t comment.

She hadn’t meant to go to Shane, yet for some reason, she ended up next to him, close enough to touch. To her dismay, she watched her own hand reach for his, but fortunately, Shane’s phone buzzed at that instant, and she dropped her arm to her side.

Shane’s face tightened when he read the message on his illegal too-tech-for-Shifters phone. “Zander’s here,” he announced.

Chapter Eighteen

Zander proved to be a massive man who emerged from a comically small taxi in front of Eric’s house. He exchanged jovial words with the driver, the two of them joking like best friends, then he reached into the car to help a young woman emerge.

She had a dark braid of hair down her back and storm-gray eyes. A Lupine, Freya knew immediately. The young woman smiled a greeting at those who’d gathered in Eric’s front yard before she withdrew a long, leather-wrapped bundle from the taxi’s backseat. She cradled it carefully and went to join Zander.

They were mates. Their body language and the tender glance Zander gave her shouted that fact. Freya felt a faint shimmer of magic coming from the bundle, and she stiffened in shock.

“Sword,” Shane whispered to her. “Yep, she’s a Guardian.”

Well, well, well. Times had changed indeed if a woman had made it through the Choosing for a Guardian. Guardians had always been men, despite the fact that a female Fae had been responsible for all the magic in the original Sword.

The taxi driver gave Zander and the woman a final wave, and then turned the car around to head out of Shiftertown.

“Are humans in this city happy to give Shifters rides?” Freya asked. Rolf had told her that many taxi and ride-share drivers would refuse Shifter fares and sometimes report them to Shifter Bureau.

“Not usually,” Shane answered. “But Zander can talk anyone into doing anything. Anyone except Eric,” he added in a murmur. “Watch.”

Zander, who wore a long black duster coat and had two pure white braids strung with beads framing his face, spread his arms. “Greetings, Vegans.”

“Zander,” Eric answered in a neutral tone, then ignored the big man and turned to the woman. “Rae Lyall. Welcome to my home.” He took Rae’s hands in his and pulled her into a careful hug. Zander hovered like a thundercloud, but Eric continued the embrace one Shifter gave to another to show they wouldn’t attack. “Please greet your father for me.”

“He sends his love.” Rae spoke in a smooth alto as Eric released her. “Are we in time?”

“He’s still alive.” Eric stepped back, somber. “But in a bad way. His injuries are extensive, I must warn you.”

“If they weren’t, Shane wouldn’t have summoned me,” Zander said. He turned to Shane and did the arm-spreading thing again. “Shane! How are you, my second-favorite grizzly?”

“Doing well, my least favorite polar bear.”

Zander laughed. The two men slammed together in a Shifter embrace, hugging as though they were the closest friends in the world.

“Who is your first-favorite grizzly?” Freya asked Zander when they parted. Polar bear Shifters were rare, but that explained his white-blond braids and very black eyes.

Zander gazed down at Freya from his great height, and the wolf inside her stilled. For all his ebullience, Freya saw in him a vast mixture of sorrow and compassion. It was as though he’d looked upon too much suffering in the world. If he was a healer, then he had.

Freya sensed all this in the instant before Zander’s eyes shuttered. “My favorite grizzly is Nell, of course,” he boomed. “How are you, you beautiful thing?”

“Too old and wise to fall for your flattery, Moncrieff.” Nell sent him a severe frown but couldn’t hide her amusement.

Next to her, Cormac openly grinned. “She’s my favorite grizzly too, Healer.”

“As it should be.” Zander returned his attention to Shane and Freya. “Who is your mate, Shane? You should have told me. I would have brought a mating ceremony gift.”

“I haven’t accepted his claim,” Freya said quickly. She wondered how Zander knew about it. She doubted Shane would have mentioned the mate-claim in texts asking him to come help Leo. “I’m Freya McHugh, by the way. I’m only visiting.”

“Of course, you are.” Zander gave her a knowing nod.

Freya saw Zander note her lack of Collar. He didn’t wear a Collar either.

Zander touched his neck, as though she’d asked a question about it. “I have a fake one, for special occasions. But fishing at Tahoe isn’t where I need it. If you’re wondering how we got here so fast, Marlo was fishing with me and flew us here. He’s not so skilled a fisherman, but he knows how to keep the beer stocked.”

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