Page 6 of Renaissance Bear

"Yeah, well, I was watching him fight—he's really good, I don't know if youwouldhave kicked his ass?—"

"Dude! Whose side are you on here?"

"—bro will youlistento me!" Jon sat up, suddenly bubbling with frustration and anger, and Laurie blinked across the darkness in surprise.

"Yeah. Yeah, Jon, sorry. What's wrong?"

"He's my mate too!"

Laurie's jaw dropped. He pulled it back up, worked it a couple of times, and emitted a small inquisitive squeak.

Jon slumped. "Yeah, I don't know, that's how I feel about it too. But my bear is super sure."

"Oh, so you meant…you might bebi," Laurie said, stunned.

"That's what I said!"

"I know but I thought you meant like beside something! Dude! Holy shit, dude! Have you ever gone for a guy before?"

"No! I mean…no! I mean, you know, David Bowie, but…"

Laurie waved a hand. "Everybody would've gone for David Bowie, he doesn't count. Holy shit, dude. Two mates? I mean…holy shit!"

Jon collapsed backward into the dirt again. "Does that even happen? I don't see why itwouldn't, but I don't know, don't I have to move to a hippie community in California for that kind of thing?"

"Nah. There's tons of hippie communities here in Colorado." Laurie grinned at him, but the expression fell away into amazement again, and then concern. "Are you okay with this?"

"I don't know? Yes? I guess? I just thought, you know, I guess I thought if I was bi I'd have known by now? But also I guess maybe it's meeting the right guy? Although God, that's a lot, like… that's a wholething, isn't it? Like, can it be fated mates if you're not sure you want to bang somebody?"

"Yeah, sure, of course, it's not like ace shifters don't find mates," Laurie said with another wave of his hand.

Relief sluiced through Jon. "Yeah, good point. I mean, I'm not saying I wouldn't, I just don't know if I would? And does this mean Lord Edward and the green-eyed woman are also mates? What would have happened if they'd seen each other before I saw either of them?"

"I think you need to drink that beer instead of just lying there next to it," Laurie said firmly. "And I guess if you're all mates then if they'd seen each other first they'd be just as confused as you are about seeing somebodyelsethat fate says 'yes' to. Unless they're true humans." He squinted thoughtfully as Jon sat up to drain half his beer. "In which case I guess they'd just be like 'ooh, he's hot, ooh, he's hot too, lookit me hooking up with the two hottest dudes here, go me,' or something. Or, y'know, maybe Lord Edward's not into guys either and the two of you are just meant to totally worship…what's her name?"

"I don't know! I got chopped in half at the end of the sword fight and was trying not to puke while she disappeared into the crowd! I didn't get her name!"

Laurie laughed. "Excellent first impression, dude."

"Oh, shut up." Jon threatened to throw the beer bottle at his brother, but he hadn't finished it yet, so he didn't. Laurie still pretended to fend off the projectile, then scooted around on his stump, trying to make his hurt knee more comfortable as Jon had another drink. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. It hurts, but a couple of shifts and it'll be fine. I just wish half the fair hadn't seen it so I couldnotbe stuck with the brace all summer."

"Maybe it was fate," Jon said. "If you didn't get hurt I wouldn't have been at the lists and I never would have seen my mate. Mates…."

Laurie's eyebrows quirked. "Oh. Yeah, well, okay, that makes sense. Fine, I'll stop sulking. I wouldn't want you to miss out on your mates. But you didn't talk to either of them? Not even Lord Edward?"

"I couldn't get through the crowd. He's got a huge fanbase. I knew that, obviously. We've been hearing about him for years. It's just knowing it andseeingit are totally different. And honestly I was kind of stunned, so overall I haven't made a great impression on either of them today, I guess."

"Fortunately you've got the entire faire to make up for it."

"Assuming Lord Edward even stays around," Jon said dolefully. "He's been invited to every faire on this side of the Rockies and will probably just head out to another one soon."

"Well, that's not going to happen. Not without you two getting a chance to connect, anyway," Laurie said firmly. "Fate wouldn't jerk you around like that."

"It did Penny and Ashley!"

"Ashley," Laurie pointed out, "had likethree weeksto talk to Penny when she was first here and just couldn't get up the nerve! You're just gonna have to grab the bull by the horns, dude!"

---