Page 2 of Goldie and Her Bears (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 3)

Jasper stalked through the woods, keeping his eyes peeled for traps. Every few steps, he sniffed the air for any scent that didn’t belong. Kai moved through the trees to his left. Chase moved to his right.

The past few months they had to be extra careful when hunting. Especially when hunting alone, which is what he normally had done in the past. He only joined in this hunt because he had crossed paths with his two roommates on the way back from an errand he had to run in the city. They insisted he joined them. And he figured a small hunt was exactly what he needed to take his mind off of things.

Especiallyher.

Once they arrived at the river, Kai cornered Jasper, who suspected Kai had a hidden agenda behind his part of the insistence that he tagged along.

“What gives?” he asked in his normally gruff way. “You’re gone. No word. Then you show up and you act differently for months. And you have nothing to say for yourself?”

Jasper shrugged. “I didn’t realize I had to check-in, Dad. I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to do that next time.”

Chase sighed. “Lighten up, Kai. He has a point.”

Jasper nodded at the man in thanks. He was the gentler of the two. The most understanding anyway.

“Kai also has a good point though,” Chase added. “We were worried you were hurt… or killed. And you have been acting strange the past few months. We only want to help.”

“Awe. I didn’t know you cared so much,” Jasper said.

“This isn’t funny,” Kai snapped.

“Look,” Jasper said through a frustrated sigh. “I went to Haremland to help a friend.”

“You have friends?” Kai asked with a tone barely masking the sarcasm in his jibe.

“Believe it or not,” Jasper said, “I do. From my life before all of this.” Jasper thrust his arms out to his sides.

“Everything okay?” Chase asked with a level of concern in his voice that always made Jasper feel better about this whole roommate arrangement.

“Now it is,” Jasper said. He withdrew into his thoughts for a moment. He wondered if he should open up a little to them. After all, they had gone out of their way to help him through his transition. Without them, he would be lost. Maybe even dead. But there was something to be said about keeping situations like this to himself. Then again, they always had a way of pushing him to open up to them.

Jasper ran his hand through his hair and frowned. “I met someone.”

“Oh good. Now we get to recover the ‘keeping this a secret’ thing again,” Kai said.

“It wasn’t like I went looking for her,” Jasper snapped. “It just happened.”

“And…” Chase said, pushing to know more.

Jasper shrugged again. “And nothing. I went to help an old friend from my life before this. I owed him. I went simply to satisfy my debt and nothing more. But I escorted them back to this side and was talked into meeting his girlfriend’s sister.”

“And sister is the someone you unexpectedly met?” Chase asked with a wistful tone to his voice. He was also the hopeless romantic of the three shifters.

Jasper nodded.

“That’s all?” Kai asked.

“For the most part, yes,” Jasper said.

Kai shook his head. “What are you not telling us?”

Jasper sighed. He was aware of the fact that once he got started, he would have to divulge everything. Including the mistake that would’ve caused him more trouble than he could handle. He considered shrugging off the rest of the inquisition, but he also knew Kai and Chase better than that. Sooner or later, he would be forced to tell them, and at their relentless prompting.

In the end, Jasper saved himself from the headache of fighting the inevitable.

“I almost shifted in front of her,” he said, almost hesitantly. “I got out of there as fast as I could.”

Kai nodded. “What possessed you to go around those people?”

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