Page 67 of My Unbearable Mate

A massive wall of bear stepped in front of me. Bellamy rumbled softly as he put his hands on my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“Nana’s gonna die if we don’t find that locket.”

Every bear in the room gasped.

I shook my head. I needed to think straight. “I didn’t mean to be so dramatic. But she said with the locket missing, she’s losing power. She’s aging fast.”

I repeated our conversation. “But there’s stuff that makes even less sense now. How did the ghost bears know there was a problem, before there was an actual problem?”

Bellamy nodded. “It’s a good question. And there’s got to be a logical answer. You’re in shock, Clover.”

“Totally expected, considering the circumstances,” Barrett added with a nod.

“Maybe the ghost bears have a way to read minds? A spell that they could forecast what your nana planned to do?” Bellamy suggested. “Or it could be a coincidence. Shirley could have already been sick. They could’ve picked up on that energy.”

All eyes turned to me.

“Did you feel a change in your nana’s energy?” Barrett asked.

“The magic is so new to me, unfamiliar.” I shook my head as I replayed the last couple of weeks. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure.”

“Think back to your last visit. The one where this guy got that.” Barrett motioned to Bellamy’s cast. “What did you feel?”

I shrugged. “It was a total shit show.”

“Think about the emotions,” Bellamy said. “Go back and feel those feelings again.”

It was the last thing I wanted to do. I’d felt betrayed, disappointed…

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Anger. Jealousy. Competition.”

A growl slipped from Bellamy’s lips. “There’s a chance this could’ve been an inside job.”

“No. No one in the clan wants Nana dead.” My gaze locked with his. “Unless I’m wrong about absolutely everything.”

“It makes sense,” Barrett said softly. “Whoever did this knew enough to use those names?—”

“And to plant that ring in Coeur d’Alene,” Bellamy added. “It’s too much of a coincidence.”

They made valid points, but… “It doesn’t explain why those bears ambushed me on the way out of Granger Falls, and that village that they brought me to that supposedly doesn’t exist. Was that my magic, or theirs?”

“Good question,” Bellamy said. “Did your nana give you any information about the Lynwoods?”

“Sort of, but after she told me she was gonna die, I got a little sidetracked.” I hated the sinking feeling. Minutes ago, we thought she was the problem, and now I might have screwed up the only chance to save her life.

“We stick with the original plan.” Bellamy’s energy changed, and it didn’t matter if he was second-in-command, or that he’d never be alpha—he was totally in control, and it was hot as hell. “We use what we know to get answers from the Lynwoods.”

The bears outfitted me with surveillance equipment. There were microphones on my earrings, and a camera on my pendant. I had an earpiece so we could stay in communication with the rest of the security team.

Bellamy punched something into his GPS. “I dropped a pin last time we were there, looking for you, in case we didn’t find you on our first trip.”

“Smart.” I studied his profile as he drove. The bear was serious, clutching the steering wheel while he scanned the road. Butterflies fluttered in my belly. “What did you feel when we were in clan land?”

He let out a breath and shook his head slightly. “It was surreal being back after all these years. I can’t lie, I’ve dreamed about it so many times, but they always welcomed me back.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was my delusion, not yours.” He chuckled grimly. “But to answer your question, I didn’t feel anything, at least not until your magic blossomed. Until that, I was numb.”

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