Page 21 of Bearly Yours
He was quiet for another minute, and I could practically hear the leaps his brain was making. Without the need for any other clarifying questions he said, “I would move for you, Emrie. But Riggs might not want a dragon shifter on his property. It would create problems for his bear.”
“Because you’re more alpha?”
“Yes.”
For the millionth time I wished Roarke and I were mates. If we were mates, Riggs’ bear would consider Roarke Clan, and if Roarke submitted to Riggs being the Clan leader, then everything would be okay and there would be zero issues.
Roarke spoke my silent thoughts out loud. “It would be different if we were mates,” he said gently.
But we weren’t.
Roarke was too kind to me to say that out loud. Still, it felt like a punch to my chest, and my eyes teared up, the tears spilling over and blurring my vision.
I cleared my throat, but it still felt incredibly tight. “Yeah,” I agreed.
We said our goodbyes and suddenly all I wanted was to be around my Clan. I didn’t want to go back to my lonely house with its silent, empty rooms. I wanted laughter and craziness and my brothers and their mates, if they were around. I wanted to watch a hockey game and eat game-day food. I wanted to cuddle Kona, wherever he was. Also, I should probably talk to my alpha atsome point about the commission offer from King Draven and Consort Mia.
I pulled my SUV into the parking lot to the side of the main lodge, and locked it up tight, even though it would be safe from thieves on Clan property. Still, you never knew when Taco would get some hair-brained idea, so having it locked was safer. There were a dozen other trucks and SUVs parked around mine, and a few compact cars the size of little itty bitty clown cars. Those were probably mate cars. Bears drove larger vehicles.
I entered the lodge and just about cried, and then scoffed at myself. I was being a very emotional bear. The first thing that hit me was the smell of food cooking in the kitchen, and the second thing was my Clan, including Kona, scattered all over the couches and recliners in the living room, arguing about the game. They all cheered when I came in, and it was a huge wall of noise.
“Emrie!”
I laughed, wiping away the tears. My brothers were awesome.
I waved them down and went to see what was cooking. It smelled like Mexican food, and Mexican food was pure comfort food for me.
Sullivan was moving around the kitchen purposefully, plating what looked like steak quesadillas.
“Oh my gosh, Sullivan, those smell divine.”
He nodded, thanking me in his quiet way. It looked like he’d made chicken tostadas, steak quesadillas, a seven-layer dip, gargantuan, restaurant-sized bags of chips, tacos, and warm horchata: an amazing drink that tasted like smooth and creamy cinnamon. It was one of the only non-water drinks I liked. I picked up a few trays to take out to the banquet table that was in the living room, beside the couches, and found several of my Clan poking their heads into the kitchen.
Gah, I should have known they’d notice the tears when I came in. Because I was an expert avoider, I said, “Who wants game-day food?” Taco cheered and came to help grab some of the food trays, while Mathan and Alpha Riggs gave me looks that told me we would be discussing why I’d been crying later. So, I hadthatto look forward to. Lovely. Alpha gently took one of my trays, and Mathan grabbed the other.
“Guys, I can carry stuff,” I protested.
They ignored me.
I laughed and shook my head, turning back to the counter to find Sullivan adding cream cheese, shredded cheese, jalapeno slices, and a dry Ranch mix packet into a large bowl. “They can sense your sadness, Emrie,” he said in his gravelly voice. “Even without being able to smell it.”
I sighed as my chin sank to my chest, and I closed my eyes. I needed to get it together before I went back out there. Taco came back in, his grey eyes sparkling mischievously. He gave me a one-armed hug as he attempted to load up on as many goodies as he could, then tugged me out with him to the couch.
The guys made space for me right on the middle-ish seat of the couch. Taco gently nudged me down onto the cushion while the rest of them piled onto the seats all around me. We had one of those huge L-shaped couches that was supposed to seat a whole football team, but barely sat five bear shifters. The other three in the room just used the La-Z-Boy chairs. Riggs handed me Kona, who settled around my shoulders in a koala bear hug.
Even though I felt scrunched in on all sides by large males, I never once wished I was sitting by myself in a recliner. I was finally able to take a deep breath. My chest felt loose, and despite the loud squawking of the massive TV on the wall, I completely relaxed. I hummed and took a sip of my horchata. It was still warm and delicious.
No one asked me anything about why I was sad. I knew I’d likely have that conversation later because my Clan was nosy, but they were giving me time without the twenty questions, and I was grateful.
It looked like we were watching the Penguins vs. Blue Jackets game that had aired last Sunday. None of us had watched it yet; we always tended to get together on Monday afternoons and make a Clan event out of it. At least, those Clan members in this little group I loved so much did.
Mateo’s warm hazel eyes held questions for me, but I just shook my head. He nodded like he understood my need to just veg right then and passed me two warm steak quesadillas on a plate loaded with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole to dip it in.
“Thank you,” I whispered. He smiled his typical half-smile and nodded.
The rest of the game, the guys didn’t mention a thing. They even kept their victory shouting a little quieter so they didn’t blast out my ear drums. Food kept getting passed to me by every single person in the room. By the time the Penguins won the game 5 to 2 at the end of the third period, and we all celebrated—most of us were Penguins fans—I was so full I felt like I was going to burst, but my sadness had lifted a bit.
Eating comfort food and hanging out with your bear Clan to alleviate sadness? Ten out of ten, would recommend.
