“She’s going to be okay,” Heath said. “She’s a strong girl. Like her sister.”
Chapter 15
The next morning, Heath woke up and prepared the girls a breakfast and waited for them at the table until they emerged from their rooms. He intended to facilitate the family agreement that they all needed to come to.
It was important for everyone’s future that they figure it out now. He didn’t want to wait a moment longer. The night before, Maria had come through many of the deep emotions she bore from the trauma she had suffered at the hands of her kidnappers. He knew that it would take much longer for her to fully heal, but he also knew that with all of them working together for her healing they had done something important last night.
Rosa was the first to sit down, grabbing a cup of coffee and taking a long sip before she set it back on the table. Maria came out later, her hair still wet from the shower. She sat down in her chair with a huff and grabbed a piece of toast, lathering it with jelly.
“Nice spread,” Maria said to Heath.
“I thought it was important for us to have a family meeting now,” he started.
“I guess if you want to call this a family,” Maria said.
“I thought we got somewhere last night,” Rosa said, disappointment in her tone.
“Well, I cried a lot,” Maria said, rolling her eyes.
“Maria, you need to understand that we are here to help you. Neither of us is trying to hurt you. We’re both on your side.”
“I should be grateful that you saved me from my kidnappers. And I am. But I just met you, Heath. I don’t even know you, and now you are somehow in my family.”
“Can’t you understand that Heath is part of me now?” Rosa pleaded.
“It’s kind of like someone just came in and stole my sister and replaced her with someone else.”
“I can’t believe you just said that, Maria,” Rosa said. Heath could feel Rosa’s pain.
“I think we can both understand why you would say that. I’m sure it’s shocking to find your sister suddenly deeply in love with a man you never met.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Maria said.
“Aren’t you happy for me?” Rosa asked. “I’ve just met the love of my life. I’m very happy. Don’t you want that for me?”
Maria let out a long sigh, a tear forming in the corner of her red rimmed eyes. It dropped down her cheek. She wiped it away, her expression still defiant. She sighed and her face fell.
“Of course I’m happy for you, Rosa. I just don’t know what to think about anything anymore. I don’t even know who I am. When they took me, it’s like they erased me from the face of the Earth. And now I’m back and everything is different.”
“We want to help you adjust to all these changes,” Heath said.
“I guess I could get used to living on Fate Mountain.” Maria said. “It’s not that bad.”
Chapter 16
Maria slid her fingers into the straps of her backpack and looked up at the glass walls of the Bright Institute for shifters and sighed. Heath watched Rosa pat Maria’s shoulder, smiling down at her little sister.
“Are you ready?” Rosa asked.
“Yeah.”
“You’ve got everything you need?” Heath asked her.
Heath knew that Maria would get an excellent education at the Bright Institute, having gone there himself just a year ago. Heath knew Maria would get everything she needed from the school.
“I’m ready, guys, you don’t have to worry about me,” Maria said, turning to look up the stairs.
Maria took a step up the stairs and turned to give Rosa one more hug.
“Bye,” Maria said.
“I’ll be here to pick you up after school,” Rosa said.
“Okay.”
Maria trotted up the stairs and through the front door of the institute. She disappeared inside and Rosa turned to throw her arms around Heath’s waist. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. Her soft hair brushed over his lips and cheek, making his bear purr softly inside his mind.
Ever since they’d brought Maria home and figured out what would be best for everyone, Heath had entered one of the sweetest periods of his life. Now that Maria had started school, there was something important that had to be done. Today was the day Rosa would let her bear come out for the first time.
They walked to the parking lot hand-in-hand and drove out onto the highway. They headed east into the mountain and parked at a secluded trailhead deep in the forest. When they got out, Heath grabbed Rosa’s hand and walked with her into the forest. They came to a spot near a creek and veered off the trail, following the water.
Once they were in the dense cover of the underbrush, Heath started to take off his clothes. Rosa looked up at him, biting her lip, her eyes wide and wondering.
“It’s going to be all right,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “It will only hurt for a minute and then you will be introduced to a whole new world of possibilities.”
“I trust you to guide me through this,” Rosa said.
She pulled off her shirt and dropped out of her pants and shoes. She was standing on the damp ground in her bare feet in her bra and panties. Heath couldn’t help becoming aroused at the sight of her as she slid out of her panties and then dropped her bra into the pile of her clothes on the ground.
Her petite, curvy body was so beautiful in the dappled sunlight against her golden skin. He looked her in the eye and slid his hands down her arms until they were holding each other’s hands.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“I guess this is it,” she said.
“There’s no turning back now, babe,” he said. “I’m here for you.”
“I just focus on the bear inside me?” she asked.
“That’s right.”
“Ever since you bit me and injected the venom into my blood, I’ve been feeling her awakening. She comes closer every day. I hear her voice and feel her desires deep inside me. They mingle with my own more and more as time goes by. Sometimes, I don’t know the difference between her thoughts and my own.”
“That’s exactly as it should be. I’ve awakened another part of you. It was always buried deep inside but the venom allowed it to awaken. Now the animal inside is coming forth. All of your instincts. All of your primal power. You now have access to it all.”
“That sounds pretty good,” Rosa said, closing her eyes.
Heath could feel her focusing on the presence of her bear inside her mind. He could feel it coming closer and closer. Rosa withdrew her hands and stepped backwards one pace.
She gasped and then all of a sudden the sound of her groan mingled with the sound of her bear growling. Heath stood in strong support of his mate as her body reformed itself in front of him. She screamed but the sound was transformed into an animalistic roar.
She grew in height and fur emerged from her skin as her limbs transformed. She fell onto her massive paws in front of him, a strangled roar coming from her throat as she stood in the underbrush, a fully formed grizzly bear.
He stepped forward and ran his hand over the top of her head and petted her cheeks affectionately. He held his mate’s face in his hands and touched his forehead to hers, sending the signal of love from his heart and his mind into hers.
He could feel it radiating back to him. The momentary pain of shifting for the first time had passed and now Rosa was experiencing the transformative quality of living inside the skin of a shifter.
He kissed her forehead and stepped back several paces, starting his own transformation process. He roared as his body grew and shifted into the massive grizzly that had been in him since before he was born.
He paced toward her, sniffing the air before he nuzzled her cheek. Rose’s grizzly growled and rubbed him back. He could feel her excitement in his heart. His bear’s mind wanted nothing more than to frolic in the fresh clean forest with his mate.
Rosa turned quickly away and headed into th
e clearing beyond the creek. He followed her, feeling the joy and enthusiasm pouring off his mate as she trotted through the sorrel and ferns.
As they ran under the tall trees of the old-growth forest, Heath felt his heart doubling and tripling with the immensity of joy he now experienced being with his mate in his animal form. All the bear had ever wanted was his mate and a home.
He could smell and sense the growing child within her. He’d known since the day he’d turned her, but now that they were together and in bear form, he could truly sense it. The scent of her body and the sound of the tiny heartbeat were there for him to sense.
He knew that Rosa knew it too. Their connection to each other was beyond space and beyond time. Being in the forest in the morning sunlight felt as if they were walking into a brand-new world. It was a world where anything was possible. They could live their lives any way they wanted.
Heath had dedicated his life to helping others, to protecting those who were not as strong as he was. And now he was doing the job of protecting other people every day. He and his bear crew helped people like Maria. They saved lives and brought families back together. It was his sacred duty to serve and protect his people, those he loved, and even strangers. All of the good hearted people who needed him, he would always be there to help them.
Rosa sent him messages through their connection, emanating gratitude for his love, honor, and strength. She was his strength and he knew it. She had given him a whole new chance at life, to be a complete man with a wife and a cub. They were a family, he, Rosa, their baby, and Maria.
Rosa would be the best mother anyone could ever ask for. Heath couldn’t wait to shower her with love and affection and watch her blossom and glow in her birthright as a mother and as his mate.
They ran up the hill to the crest of a ridge and looked out over the view of the green treetops sprawled out below them. The blue sky stretched out overhead, dotted with white clouds. A hawk flew through the expanse and swooped toward the forest, the circle of life ever evolving in its perfection.
It all played out before them in a perfect rhythm. And together with the bears inside them, guiding them ever closer to the Earth’s rhythms, they could be a part of it too.
Rosa nuzzled against Heath’s cheek, growling softly and affectionately beside him. Deep inside the mind of the man, he wanted nothing more than to take her home and make love to her. He sent the image through their link and received a giggling chorus in return. He knew she wanted him just as much.
But now the bears were in control and their desire was not for mating. Instead, they wished to be together, body to body, their heat intermingling and growing ever stronger. The two grizzlies turned towards the forest and found a shaded grove of tall grass where they laid down together. They spent the day in quiet, affectionate rest, their bears reveling in their closeness.
After several hours, Heath roused from his sleepiness and Rosa rose as well. He felt a surge of energy in his core and sent an image to Rosa of running full force through the forest. She sent back her agreement through their link and within a split second the two grizzlies were barreling through the forest at full speed. Grouse flew up into the air as they charged past bushes. By the time they made it back to their piles of clothing, they were both breathless and blissfully happy.
Heath was the first to shift back into his human form. Rosa took quite a bit longer, not quite sure how to get back to human form. For a split second, she began to panic, deep behind the mind of the bear. But all at once, she shifted back into the naked skin of her human form. Heath stepped forward and kissed her beautiful face, and she wrapped her arms around him.
“I didn’t think I could get back for a minute there,” she said.
“You did so good,” he said, holding her close.
“Everything is different now,” she said in amazement.
“It is,” he said. “But I have one more thing I want to ask you.”
He knelt down and pulled a little box out of his back pocket. He reached up for Rosa’s hand, staying down on one knee as he showed her what was inside the tiny velvet box. Rosa’s eyes filled with delight as she looked down at the diamond ring. She gasped and covered her mouth.
“Rosa? Will you do me the great honor of being my wife?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly.
He pulled the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger. It fit her perfectly. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she lifted her hand to stare at the diamond on her finger. The ring was the only thing she was wearing. Heath couldn’t help but notice how much he liked this look on her.
“You should only wear diamonds all the time,” he said. “I’m going to cover you in diamonds.”
He stood and she fell into his arms, laughing and crying all at the same time. She looked up at him and he kissed her wet mouth. Their tongues danced hungrily and he held her wet face in his hands.
“I don’t need to be covered in diamonds,” she said. “All I need is you.
Chapter 17
Rosa stood in the entry hall of the atrium at Fate Mountain Lodge, her lacy wedding gown cascading behind her. The deep scoop back and mermaid cut skirt accentuated her curves as she looked at herself in the mirror. She could barely believe what she saw looking back at her.
Never before had she seen herself glow like this. Her stomach had grown round in the last few months. The leaves had turned orange and had fallen to the ground. Now the branches had gone bare and the first snow had fallen on the mountain. Flakes where swirling gently above the dome.
Maria stood beside her in a lavender colored dress of lace and satin. It looked beautiful on her and lit up her face and shining eyes. Rosa was so happy to be with her sister on this day, the day she would officially become Heath’s wife.
“Are you ready?” Maria asked, holding Rosa’s white lily and red rose bouquet.
“I’m so ready,” Rosa said.
Rosa had made friends with all the bears on Fate Mountain. The Bear Patrol and the Rescue Bears formed a family that she and Maria were now a part of. She’d asked several of the women from the crew to be in her wedding party. Zoe Morris, Rollo’s wife, and Lola Jackson, Gauge’s wife, had both agreed to be her bridesmaids.
Zoe and Lola were both wearing the same pretty lavender dress as Maria and the three women all had smaller bouquets that matched Rosa’s. Zoe stepped forward and let her know it was time. Rosa smiled up at the tall, raven haired woman.
“Rollo is waiting,” Zoe said.
Rollo had offered to give Rosa away at the wedding, and Rosa couldn’t help being so grateful to him for adopting her as an honorary sister. Rosa gave Maria one last hug and took her bouquet. Zoe escorted her to the hallway at the entrance of the atrium where Rollo was waiting, wearing a tuxedo.
She wrapped her arm through Rollo’s. Her bridesmaids lined up with Gauge, Damien and Knox. Knox and Maria walked out first, followed by Gauge and Lola. Zoe walked with Damien last and then the wedding march started.
Rosa let out a long breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and stepped out into the atrium. Heath stood at the podium in his smart tux, looking as gorgeous as could be. She felt weak in the knees as she swooned at the sight of him.
She and Rollo stepped down the aisle to the rhythm of the string quartet that played beside the podium. Rose petals were scattered across the aisle and the hem of her white dress brushed over them. Her heart pounded in her chest as she approached her mate. When she and Rollo came to the edge of the stage, he helped her step up. Heath took her hand and she stood before him. Maria took her bouquet and she and Heath held hands, facing each other.
Time stood still and Rosa felt her heart bursting with adoration for her mate. His love radiated back toward her, creating a glowing ball of love around them.
The snowflakes fell gently outside the domed atrium. The palm trees rose up around them, high into the dome. The warm air of the tropical greenhouse, felt balmy and buttery around her arms and on her cheeks. It was the per
fect moment.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.
“Heath Reynolds, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” Heath said, beaming down at her with his sea green eyes.
“Rosa Reyes, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” Rosa said, squeezing his hands.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Heath leaned in and hugged her in his arms, kissing her full on the mouth. All of the guests, the bears and humans of the Fate Mountain community, stood on their feet and cheered for the happy couple.
Rosa and Heath turned, smiling, and walked back down the aisle, the guests throwing rose petals over their heads. Rosa gasped and giggled as they trotted toward the exit. The atrium’s two resident parrots flew up into the air.
“Beautiful.”
“Love and Fate,” the parrots squawked as they flew overhead.
Heath and Rosa walked to the banquet hall around the corner from the atrium in Fate Mountain Lodge. The band started to play as they entered the hall. Tables were set for the feast and the dance floor was cleared for dancing.
Heath pulled Rosa out onto the dance floor as the guests filtered into the room. Some found their seats, others stood around the dance floor, watching the couple take their first dance. Heath wrapped his arm around Rosa’s waist and led her in a slow two-step.
He held her like she was a beautiful goddess and she could feel it coming into her from his hands. The look in his eyes, as he smiled down at her, stole her heart and melted into his. She could feel his heart beating against her chest as they danced. Camera flashes flickered around them and the band played their song.