Page 52 of On Tap for the Bear
QUINN
Ican't sleep.
The ley lines pulse beneath the Inn, steady and insistent, calling to something deep inside me. I've been lying here for hours, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything that happened at the tavern tonight.
Eli defending me. His fury barely controlled, protective and fierce. The way he looked at that drunk tourist like he was deciding whether violence was worth it.
The way he looked at me after. Like I was worth fighting for.
My phone sits on the nightstand, dark and silent. It's past midnight. Too late to text. Too late to show up at someone's door and say the words that have been building in my chest since I left the Bear Claw.
I'm staying. I choose this. I choose him.
The ley lines pulse again, stronger this time. Not painful, but impossible to ignore. Like the land itself is reaching for me, pulling me deeper into Redwood Rise's magic.
I sit up, pushing back the covers. Sleep isn't coming. Not with this restless energy thrumming through me, not with my mind spinning through every reason I should run and every reason I want to stay.
Vanessa took my work. Took my credibility. Made me doubt everything I'd built.
But Eli believes me. Defended me to a stranger without hesitation. Looks at me like I'm whole, not broken. Like I'm exactly who I'm supposed to be.
I've been running my whole life. From my parents' impossible standards. From relationships that wanted to reshape me. From a mentor who saw my talent as something to steal rather than nurture.
Here, in this impossible town full of shapeshifters and magic, I finally want to stop running.
I want to stay. Build something new. Reclaim my voice on my own terms.
I pull on jeans and a sweater, grab my keys. The Inn is quiet as I slip downstairs and out into the night. The air is cold, crisp, carrying the scent of pine and earth and that green, alive smell that means the ley lines are active.
They pulse beneath my feet as I walk, guiding me. Not toward the tavern—toward the edge of town. Toward the compound where Eli went to talk to his brothers about whatever's happening with the magic.
I follow the pull of the ley lines, trusting them to lead me where I need to go. The forest closes around me, familiar now after my walk with Eli this morning. Has it only been one day since I watched him transform? Since I learned the truth about this town?
It feels like a lifetime. Like I've been two different people—the Quinn who arrived broken and lost, and the Quinn walking through these woods with purpose.
Light spills from the windows of the compound ahead. Whatever's happening, it's big enough to get the whole family out of bed.
I hesitate at the edge of the clearing. This is their space. Their family. Am I intruding?
Then a front door opens, and Eli steps out onto the porch. He sees me immediately, like he was waiting. Like some part of him knew I'd come.
"Quinn." Just my name, but the relief in his voice makes my chest tight.
I cross the clearing toward him. "I couldn't sleep. The ley lines...”
"I know. We've been monitoring them all night." He pulls me into his arms, and I lean into his warmth. "They're accelerating. Calder thinks it's because the bond is incomplete. You're tied to this land now, but without the ceremony, the connection is unstable."
"What ceremony?"
He pulls back to look at me. "The bonding ceremony. It's how shifters formalize mate bonds. We exchange blood—a mutual claiming that binds us together permanently."
My heart pounds faster. "Blood exchange?"
"When we complete the ceremony, my bear DNA will overwrite your human genetics." His thumb traces circles on my back, the touch grounding even as his words shake my world. "You'll become a bear shifter. The transformation takes a few days, but it's permanent. Irreversible."
I pull back enough to meet his eyes. "You're saying I'd stop being human?"
"You'd become something more." His gaze holds mine, serious and unflinching. "Stronger, faster, longer-lived. Connected to the magic in ways humans can't access. But yes—your human DNA would be gone, replaced by mine."
