Page 47 of On Tap for the Bear
The question hangs between us. This isn't just about accepting that shapeshifters exist. This is about choosing a life here. A future in this strange, magical town with this impossible man.
"I don't have much to go back to," I admit. "A job I'm on leave from. An apartment that never felt like home. A career built on someone else stealing my work."
"That's not why I want you to stay."
"I know." And I do. I see it in his eyes, feel it in the way he holds me. This isn't about convenience or circumstance. This is about something bigger. "But it makes the choice easier. I'm not giving up a life in the city. I'm choosing a new life here."
"With me."
"With you," I agree. "And your bear. And your brothers and your clan and the ley lines and apparently the whole shapeshifter town."
"It's a lot."
"It is." I rest my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Strong and steady and real. "But I think I'm ready for a lot. I think I've been ready for a long time. I just didn't know it until I got here."
"Come on," Eli says eventually, taking my hand. "Let's head back. You must be starving."
"I could eat," I admit. Then pause. "Wait. Can I ask—when you're a bear, do you still think like a human? Or is it more...”
"That's question number one of a thousand, isn't it?"
"Maybe." I grin up at him. "You did say I could ask anything."
"I did." He starts leading me back toward the path, our fingers laced together. "And yeah, I still think like me. The bear has instincts, drives, but I'm always in control. Always aware. It's hard to explain to someone who's never experienced it."
"So when you were a bear just now, you understood everything I said?"
"Every word." His thumb traces circles on the back of my hand. "Including the part where you called my bear cute."
Heat rises in my cheeks. "I was in shock. I didn't mean...”
"My bear's very pleased, actually. Thinks you have excellent taste."
I shake my head, but I'm smiling. "This is going to take some getting used to."
"I know. But Quinn...” He stops, turning to face me. "I meant what I said. You get to decide how much of this life you want. How involved you want to be with the clan, with the shifter community. No pressure. No expectations. Just—whatever feels right to you."
I look at this man who's offering me freedom even as everything in him clearly wants to bind me to him forever. Who's trusting me with his deepest secret. Who's letting me choose.
"What if what feels right," I say slowly, "is all of it? The clan, the community, the magic—all of it?"
His eyes darken. "Then I'd say welcome home."
"Home," I repeat, testing the word. It fits better than I expected. "Yeah. That sounds right."
We walk back through the forest hand in hand. The ley lines pulse beneath my feet with every step—steady, welcoming. His hand is warm in mine.
I've chosen this. Chosen him. Chosen a town full of shapeshifters and magic I barely understand.
But as we emerge from the trees and the tavern comes into view, one question keeps circling through my mind: if everyone in Redwood Rise is a shifter, what does that make me?
CHAPTER 13
ELI
She could change her mind.
The thought circles through my head all afternoon as I prep for the dinner rush, chopping vegetables with more force than necessary. Quinn walked out of the woods with me this morning, her hand in mine, saying she chose this. Chose us.
