Page 7 of Hexy Bear
"The binding," Nico said, his expression grave. "The original founders didn't just create a prison for the entity they contained. They created a lock that could only be opened by their combined bloodlines working together. But they also created a key that could strengthen that prison permanently, if the right descendants ever found each other and chose to complete the work their ancestors began."
Mara interrupted, “But I’m not the only one that has the Whitaker bloodline, right?” She asked, confused. “Why specifically me?”
Nico looked at her with a knowing glint his eyes. “Why do you think you’re here in this particular time? Only time will reveal the connection. It’s best if you move in and stay with the Cooper family, Mara. Not only for safety, but to figure out what’s going on.”
Leo's radio crackled to life, cutting through the heavy silence that followed Nico's revelation. "Sheriff Maddox, we need you at the preserve immediately. The disturbance has reached the parking area, and Dr. Thorne says the magical readings are unlike anything she's ever seen."
"We'll be right there," Leo said into the radio, then looked around the room at the assembled group. "It seems our supernatural crisis just became a lot more complicated."
"Not complicated," Nico corrected, gathering his books with renewed energy. "Inevitable. The entity that's been contained beneath this town for centuries has finally realized that the descendants it needs to complete its escape are all in one place. It's going to make its move soon, and when it does, we need to be ready."
The shadow figures suddenly let out what could only be described as a collective shriek of warning, their forms flickering between visibility and nothingness as if something was actively trying to disperse them.
"It knows," Tilly whispered, her amber eyes full of terror. "The pretty lady knows we're all talking about her. She's coming, and she's bringing all her shadow pets with her."
Outside, the afternoon light seemed to dim despite the clear sky, and in the distance, a laughter echoed through the streets of Mistwhisper Falls.
The seven months of peace were officially over, and the real battle for the town's survival was about to begin.
FOUR
GRIFF
The Cooper house felt different with Mara's belongings scattered through it, as if her presence had somehow expanded the walls and filled the rooms with warmth that had been missing since Sarah's death. Griff tried not to think about how right it felt to come home from another emergency meeting at the preserve and find her humming in his kitchen, her honey-blonde hair escaping from its messy bun as she prepared what smelled like the first home-cooked meal his house had seen in months.
"How did the meeting go?" Mara asked without turning around, her hands busy chopping vegetables with the kind of efficient grace that spoke of years spent preparing healing remedies. She'd moved in that morning after Nico's revelation about the bloodlines, bringing two duffel bags of clothes and enough magical herbs to transform his spare bedroom into an apothecary that made the air smell like summer gardens and ancient wisdom.
"About as well as expected when you're trying to explain to a room full of supernatural community leaders that their town is sitting on top of a cosmic horror story," Griff said, hanging his jacket on the back of a kitchen chair and trying not to noticehow Mara's presence made even that simple domestic action feel significant. "Dr. Thorne thinks we have maybe forty-eight hours before whatever's been terrorizing the town finds another way to manifest."
"And Sheriff Maddox?"
"Leo thinks we should evacuate the entire town and let the Regional Supernatural Authority handle it with their specialized containment teams." Griff rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture that was becoming habitual as the stress of the situation mounted. "Problem is, according to Nico's research, running away isn't going to solve anything. This entity has been specifically hunting the bloodlines it needs, and it'll just follow us wherever we go."
Mara finally turned to face him, her green eyes soft with understanding and something deeper that made his chest tighten with emotions he wasn't ready to name. "And you're caught in the middle, trying to protect Tilly while knowing that protecting her might mean putting her in more danger."
"Story of my life as a single parent," Griff said, attempting humor to deflect from the way she seemed to see straight through his carefully constructed defenses. "Just usually the dangers are things like playground bullies and homework deadlines, not ancient cosmic entities with a grudge against my ancestors."
"Where is Tilly now?"
"Upstairs, practicing the grounding exercises you taught her this morning." Griff's expression softened as he thought about his daughter's progress. "It's working, Mara. Since her magic started manifesting, she's not afraid of it. She actually fell asleep for her nap without any of her usual anxiety about nightmares."
"She's a remarkable child," Mara said, returning to her cooking with movements that were unconsciously graceful. "Her power is incredibly complex, but she has the kind of instinctivecontrol that usually takes years to develop. It's like she was born knowing how to harmonize different types of magic instead of fighting them."
"Is that normal for someone with multiple bloodline influences?"
"Nothing about Tilly's magical signature is normal," Mara said honestly. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes the most powerful gifts come from combinations that shouldn't work but do anyway."
She was wearing one of her vintage floral dresses, this one in shades of green that complemented her eyes and made her look like she'd stepped out of a painting of idealized domesticity. The sight of her moving around his kitchen, making it feel like a home instead of just a place where he and Tilly ate meals and avoided difficult conversations, did things to his heart that he'd thought were safely buried with his mate.
"You don't have to do this, you know," he said, the words emerging rougher than he'd intended. "Cook for us, I mean. You're here to help with Tilly's training, not to play house."
Mara's hands stilled on the wooden spoon she'd been using to stir something that smelled like heaven and probably had magical properties he didn't want to think about too closely. When she looked at him, her expression held a mix of hurt and determination that made him immediately regret his choice of words.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?" she asked quietly. "Playing house?"
"I didn't mean it like that," Griff said, but even as the words left his mouth, he knew he was making things worse. The truth was that having her in his space, seeing her care for his daughter with the kind of natural maternal instinct that made Tilly bloom like a flower in sunlight, was breaking down walls he'd built to protect himself from exactly this kind of vulnerability. They hadknown each other for a short time, but he already viewed her differently. It was like something was pushing them together, and his bear liked her.
"Yes, you did," Mara said, but her tone held understanding rather than anger. "You meant it exactly like that, because acknowledging that I'm here because I want to be here, because taking care of you and Tilly feels right in ways I can't explain, is dangerous."
