“Here I am,” Daisy said, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders.
“Come on in,” he said, stepping back for her to walk through the door. “Dana is taking a nap so you can just leave everything with me.”
Daisy walked in the room and set the clothes over the back of the couch. She gave him one of her enthusiastic smiles and began explaining to him what she had brought over. All of the terms and definitions of women’s clothing went right over his head. But from what he saw, the dresses were pretty and would suit Dana well.
“Thank you for bringing these over, Daisy.”
“Anything for my brother-in-law. I just can’t believe that you found your mate so quickly. And after all these years of teasing you and pressuring you to sign up for Mate.com, the minute you sign up, you find your mate. And then you find a dead body in the back of her car!”
“I know.”
“If she didn’t do it and you didn’t do it, who do you think to do it?” Daisy whispered, pulling several pairs of shoes out of a bag.
“One of the humans or shifters they’ve ripped off. Some other mob boss. Another hyena. It could be anybody.”
“Well I have to be going. I left the baby with Cyrus, and he is itching to go hunting. I need to get back to the cabin.”
“Thanks again, sis,” Jessie said.
Daisy gave Jessie a kiss on the cheek before leaving. Daisy wasn’t the kind of girl you usually found on Fate Mountain. She’d spent most of her formative years in the city, living in a mansion and getting pretty much anything she wanted out of life. But she had proven to be a good mate for his brother Cyrus. Nobody had been able to bring Cyrus down from the mountain before Daisy. As opposite as the two of them were, they suited each other somehow.
He was glad that Cyrus and Daisy were so happy together. Now, he only hoped for the same for him and his own mate.
Chapter 7
Dana woke up feeling groggy but better than she had before she’d gone to sleep. It took her a minute to remember where she was. The last two years that she’d been living in the Updikes’ mansion, she’d slept in what was basically a utility closet off the kitchen. Waking up in Jessie’s spare bedroom in his big comfortable bed was initially alarming until she remembered what had happened. She let out a deep sigh and sat up, looking around and taking in the space.
Silent tears slid down her cheek at how lucky she was to have found Jessie at this point in her life. She only hoped the Bear Patrol would find whoever had killed Chuck Updike so that she and Jessie could get on with their lives. She wanted to believe that she could have all the love she so desperately desired and that her terrible luck wouldn’t destroy her chance for happiness. As much as she wanted to put aside her fears, she knew that life had never handed her anything less than challenging before.
Dana was a survivor. She knew she had to use the tools she’d learned over the last decade to persevere once again. The light in Jessie’s eyes promised something better, something that she had longed for since she’d lost her parents. Love and belonging.
She climbed out of bed and slipped on her shoes before making her way out into the hallway. She looked around the living room and found the prettiest outfits lined up on the couch. Dana put her fingertips to her lips and gasped as she walked toward the clothing.
She picked up the first dress, it was made from white silk, and covered in an intricate floral design. It had a belted waist and flared out in a wide skirt that hit just above the knee. She giggled at the thought of wearing such a beautiful outfit. She set it down and went to the next dress. It was a formfitting red number with black leather strips that went up the sides. The red fabric that made up most of the body was ruched and it dipped into a scooped neckline. She’d never worn anything so mature and alluring. The third dress on the couch was pale blue with a white belt. It had a higher neckline than the red dress but had a similar form-fitting shape.
All three outfits were accompanied by matching shoes. Jessie had said he would have his sister-in-law bring some clothes over, but Dana wasn’t expecting anything like this. Everything was her size or close. Even the shoes looked like they would fit. As she stood over the outfits, trying to decide what to wear, Jessie walked through the front door with grease on his shirt and a smear on his face.
Something about the grease on his tanned skin looked so sexy as his blue eyes sparkled at her. She grinned and looked back at the clothing.
“I didn’t expect such nice things.”
“Daisy has good taste. She’s studying to be an interior designer and even has clients already.”
“I can’t decide which to wear. They’re all so lovely.”
“I’m going to hop in the shower while you decide. Daisy also brought over a bag of makeup and hair supplies if you need them.”
“I’m going to have to thank her for helping me so much.”
“I’m sure you’ll like Daisy. She’s my brother Cyrus’s mate. Daisy and my brother Buck’s mate, Maria, have become great friends. They both went to the Bright Institute for Shifters. Maria already graduated and now she’s giving lectures at the Institute and all over the state. She really has a talent for gardening.”
“I can’t wait to meet everyone in your family. They sound wonderful. I’ve missed having a family so much, I barely remember what it’s like.”
“Now that you’re part of the Kincaid clan, you’ll be drowning in family,” Jessie said with a laugh.
“I’m counting on it,” Dana said softly as she picked the white printed dress with the flared skirt.
She hadn’t worn anything so feminine in a long time. The white floral dress seemed perfect for a summer dinner date at Fate Mountain Lodge. She picked up the matching shoes, a pair of pumps that matched that pink in the flowers, and made her way back to the guestroom while Jessie went to use the shower.
She heard the water turn on and all she could think about was Jessie stripping out of his clothes in the room across the hall. She bit her lip as her inner fox whined to go and join him. As much as she wanted to hop in the shower and wash Jessie’s hot body, that’s not how her mother had raised her. She’d have to wait, at least until they’d known each other for longer than one day.
A little while later there was a knock at her door and she opened it to find Jessie wrapped in a towel, his hair dripping wet. She gulped hard, unable to tear her eyes from his perfect chest. Her fox howled and she felt her feral claws extending from her fingernails.
“The shower is free if you want to take one,” Jessie said.
“Yes. Absolutely,” she stammered.
“I hope I’m not being inappropriate,” Jessie said, gripping the towel around his waist.
“No, not at all,” she said, her eyes bulging at his overpowering manliness.
After two years with the hyenas, she wasn’t prepared to see such a big, hunky bear shifter in the buff. She bit her lip, wishing that he would drop his towel and let her see what she was missing. Dana shook her head, dispelling the desire growing in her belly. She’d never been kissed, let alone anything else.
“Just let me know if you need anything,” he said. “There’s shampoo and conditioner in the shower. They aren’t fancy but they should work.”
“Great. Sounds perfect.”
She’d been using the dregs from the shampoo bottles she collected from the showers in the mansion for the last two years. She was sure that Jessie’s man products were superior to that. In fact, she loved the idea of smelling like him.
Daisy crossed the hall and went into the bathroom to start her shower. She peeled out of her clothes and stepped under the warm stream. As she washed her hair and body, she contemplated the events of the last twenty-four hours. She’d left the Updikes for good, but her plans had been completely altered.
She couldn’t be happier that she’d found Jessie, but that didn’t change the fact that she’d been on her way to Portland that very morning. Now she was standing in the shower getting ready to go on a date with
a man she just met. As a fox shifter, Dana was prepared to fall in love with her fated mate at first sight. Most shifters were. But as it was happening to her, she couldn’t help but consider how strange it all really was.
She’d waited all her life for someone to love, and now he was here, offering her everything he had. It was better than she ever could have imagined or expected. But she still didn’t know if she was ready for it. The hand of fate had dealt her many blows, and now it was dangling Jessie in front of her. The fear that she would lose him overpowered her other emotions. And she knew it would be hard for her to let go and connect to him the way she wanted.
She finished the shower and climbed out to wrap fluffy towels around her body and hair. She dried off quickly and hurried across the hall to her bedroom where she laid the dress across the bed. She was glad that Jessie didn’t see her in her towel with wet hair and looking a mess. Her fated mate should accept her no matter what, but she still felt a rush of insecurity when it came to presenting herself to her mate. She wanted to blow him away. She wanted him to see her as the most beautiful girl in the world. From what she understood, Jessie had had plenty of other girlfriends in the past. She just didn’t know how she was going to stack up.
Dana dried her hair and body and slipped into some of her own underthings before climbing into Daisy’s dress. She looked at herself in the mirror and could barely believe her eyes.
In the last two years, her body had filled out and matured into something she barely recognized. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen herself in the mirror over the last two years, but in that time, she’d been wearing that ridiculous French maid uniform. It did accentuate her curves but in a slutty and humiliating way. This dress made her look beautiful and dignified, mature and worthy of the love of a man like Jessie Kincaid.
She ran her fingers through her hair and dug into the makeup bag that Daisy had brought her. She found her skin was a shade darker than Daisy’s but most of her things would work anyway. The bronzer in Daisy’s makeup bag brought a warm glow to the pale makeup.
Dana had learned how to put on makeup a long time ago in high school. The Updikes had forced her to wear it, but they’d insisted on fake eyelashes, blue eyeshadow, and bright red lipstick. Daisy had the kinds of things that women liked to wear. Makeup that brought out natural beauty.
Dana went about putting her face together with Daisy’s high quality cosmetics and looked at herself in the mirror as if she was seeing a whole new woman. She blew out her hair and curled it up so that it hung in thick ringlets down her back.
When she was done, she inspected herself for long moments in the full-length mirror on the sliding closet door. When she was satisfied, she tentatively walked to the door of the bedroom and stepped into the hall. She could hear a baseball game from the television in the living room. She walked in the pumps down the wood-floored hallway and stepped into the living room.
Jessie was sitting on the couch with his elbows on his thighs, watching a baseball game. When he looked up at her, he dropped the remote on the floor with a loud clank. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened with amazement. He shot upright and crossed the space between them, taking her hand in his.
“You look amazing,” he said.
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she said, taking in his breathtaking form.
Jessie was wearing black slacks, black dress shoes, and a blue button-up shirt that brought out the color of his eyes. It’s was snug around the arms and shoulders, showing off his muscular build. He had his shirt tucked in at his narrow waist and the whole package made her weak in the knees.
“Are you ready? Do you need anything else?” he asked, squeezing her hand.
“I’m all ready,” she said, clutching a small bag to her hip. It had been her mother’s and was one of the few nice things she still had.
“Let’s go. Our reservation is for fifteen minutes from now. We should make it to the restaurant just in time.”
“I can’t wait,” she said, feeling flushed and excited as the smell of Jessie’s cologne and pheromones wafted through the air.
Chapter 8
Jessie held Dana’s hand as the two of them walked up the front walkway into the Fate Mountain Lodge. The feeling of her warm palm in his as the last of the summer sun tipped toward the western horizon sent a thrill of desire and longing through his chest.
He wanted Dana more than he’d wanted any woman. More than he’d ever wanted anything. It had only taken a moment to change his entire perspective on mating and love. It still blew his mind that he could change so quickly. All his adult life, he’d been a confirmed bachelor. He’d never wanted it any other way.
After seeing the way his father had fallen apart in front of him and his brothers after their mother’s death, it had made him want to swear off love forever. One flash from Dana’s hazel eyes had changed all of that. The swish of her curves and the flush of her cheeks when she looked up at him, it made his inner bear roar with need.
In all the time he’d spent dating human females, his inner bear had never shown much interest. Yes, he had his needs, like any man. Most shifters avoided entanglements with women who were not their fated mates. But Jessie had jumped in with both feet. Human males didn’t bother themselves with fated mates. Why should he? It had always seemed like a weakness in his race. It was the thing that kept shifters from taking over the world. Mating took huge amounts of energy and in the past, Jessie considered it a waste of time.
His entire world view had shifted in just a few hours and the change was startling and exciting in so many ways. He was just glad he hadn’t been confronted by the entire Kincaid clan. He wouldn’t hear the end of the teasing now that he’d found and fallen for Dana.
They walked through the lobby, finding Kelly Green at the front counter. She smiled at Jessie and he nodded in her direction as he pressed his hand to the small of Dana’s back. They turned to the entrance of the restaurant and met the hostess who greeted them.
“I have a reservation for Kincaid,” he told the pretty young bear shifter.
“Right this way,” the girl said, pulling two menus from the stack and leading them to a table on the patio overlooking the lake.
The sun was moving toward the horizon over the mountains, and the yellow and orange colors streamed across the sky, reflecting in the silver waters of Lake Fate. Jessie smiled as Dana let out a contented sigh. He helped her into her chair and sat across from her under the shade of the umbrella over their table.
The hostess returned with a bottle of champagne on ice, a basket of crusty French bread, and a dish of butter. She poured their glasses and left them to enjoy the beautiful view. The summer evening was warm and a cool breeze blew up from the lake, cooling the air pleasantly.
“This is so lovely,” Dana said, taking in the view and the surroundings.
“You’ve never been here?”
“No. I haven’t seen much of Fate Mountain. Even though I’ve lived here for over two years. I barely left the estate.”
“The Updikes have to pay for what they did to you.”
“They already have,” Dana said under her breath.
“What do you mean?”
“Chuck is already dead.”
“We don’t have to talk about this,” Jessie said, seeing the strained expression on her face.
“It’s okay. It’s what’s happening. It’s normal that we would talk about it.”
“Why don’t you tell me about your parents. What were they like?”
“My parents were wonderful. They never missed a chance to remind me how important I was to them. We had an ideal family, until the car accident. Living with my great uncle and aunt was much worse. She wasn’t his fated mate. Their relationship was… strange. Not like a shifter couple. At least, not the ones I’d known until then. They both drank a lot. It was a good introduction to what it would be like with the hyenas.”
“Did the hyenas ever touch you?” Jessie growled, his inner grizzly sudde
nly rearing up on his hind legs.
Dana took a long swig of champagne and set her glass on the table.
“Not really. I mean, many of them tried, but the Updikes never expected me to… serve them like that. I was never punished for fighting them off. I might be a fox, but I have claws and fangs of my own. I took care of myself.”
“Good,” Jessie said, his grizzly only slightly less agitated.
“I would have run sooner if they’d expected that. My uncle be damned. I wouldn’t let anyone do that to me. As it was, I just cleaned, served drinks, and answered the door. I had to wear that dumb costume, but I never had to put out. I survived.”
“I can’t say how sorry I am, Dana,” Jessie said, grasping her hand. “If I hadn’t been so convinced that mating was a waste of time, I could have helped you a lot sooner.”
“It’s not your fault, Jessie. I don’t blame you for anything. I appreciate that you feel that way, but it’s not your problem. You had your life, and I had mine. You couldn’t protect me for every second of it. There’s no reason to beat yourself up over things beyond your control. Besides, I wouldn’t have wanted you to come into the Updikes' estate, guns blazing, trying to save me. They would have retaliated. They probably still will. It’s just that I no longer care what they have over me. I’m done with them.”
“You saved yourself,” he said, in a low growl. He couldn’t believe how sexy her strength was.
In all this years of dating countless women, he’d never met someone so humble, so strong, so capable of doing what needed to be done, so willing to sacrifice for those she loved. And ready to turn around and walk away when she’d had enough. Dana didn’t blame anyone. She didn’t let anyone have that power over her.
Jessie had to tell himself to calm down as his cock twitched between his legs and his grizzly growled with need. Dana had just been through a lot of trauma, and he had to give her space, no matter how hard it was to keep his hands off her in that dress.