Page 1 of Destined Bear
CHAPTER 1
VIVIENNE
Afull shudder quivers my body, stopping me halfway up the cobblestone pathway, between the front door of my mother’s home and my SUV.
The strong physical reaction takes me aback, and I wiggle my hands as if to shake off the creepy sensation that just plagued me out of nowhere.
If I were more superstitious, like my mom, or one of the healers I’ve worked with over the years, I’d believe someone was putting a hex on me as I make my way toward the stone-faced cottage house on the outskirts of Willow Grove territory.
But I don’t believe in hexes.
I take a second to appreciate just how much this house resembles the one in Nottery I had just packed up and left behind. My mom and I lived together for five years out in no man’s land.
And now, all of my worldly possessions are in the back of my SUV.
The move back to the Willow Grove territory had clearly done her some good for at least a short amount of time. She had been sick for years, but she regained her health after moving back home with our pack.
But she relapsed, and that’s why I’m back.
I really don’t want to be here, though, in the territory I left so many years ago. Coming back home is bound to cause some problems. I haven’t been back since everything went to shit.
My fox instincts heighten, my vision sharpening to look around the ill-manicured lawn for signs of trouble. Nothing but my mother’s hideous garden gnomes peek out from behind the overgrown weeds and grass, the property in desperate need of upkeep.
This place is a mess, but at least no one is lurking or watching.
But why would anybody from the pack be watching me? I’m not in exile.
Leaving the territory had been my own choice. But that doesn’t stop me from feeling like there have been eyes on me since the day I left.
Or maybe that’s just my ego talking.
The front door of the cottage creaks open, and I look to see Millie’s wide green eyes peering back at me from the doorway. A sigh falls from the live-in nurse’s lips, her shoulders sinking as recognition touches her face.
“Miss Vivienne!” Millie breathes, stepping onto the broken cement patio. “You’re really here!”
Annoyance flares through me at the greeting, followed by a twist of guilt. Had I done the wrong thing by not returning to Willow Grove when Mom insisted on coming back? It’s not the first time I’ve wrestled with this guilt.
“Of course I’m here. How is she?” I adjust the duffle bag on my shoulder and resume my stride up the walkway.
“It’s been challenging,” Millie admits, wringing her hands. “I know it’s only been two months since I started, but?—”
“Two months is plenty of time to assess her condition,” I cut her off, though guilt immediately follows.
It wasn’t Millie’s fault that Nadia had quit so abruptly. However, with all the glowing recommendations from the agency, I had hoped for a nurse who'd pick up the phone more than once a week.
But she takes decent care of my mother, and that’s all that matters.
And of course, she has been here when I haven’t. I can’t forget that.
If not for Millie, I don’t know where we’d be.
I wait for her response, and Millie lowers her head. “I’m afraid Miss Circe is not doing well.” She scuffs a white sneaker against the porch and bites on her lower lip, causing my heart to freeze. “That’s why I called you to come so urgently.”
“What does that mean? Has she gotten any worse since we last spoke?”
“She’s…” Her vague responses aren’t getting us anywhere, only serving to fray my nerves more. “These past two days have been really rough.”
I push past the nurse and enter my mother’s too-cluttered house. How my mom managed to cram so much crap into the space in such a short span is beyond me, but another sliver of hope shoots through me. She had been well enough to accomplish all this. She had shown signs of recovering upon returning from no man’s land. And if she improved once, she will improve again.
