Hansel's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tale) (18 page)

“
Where is your family?”
She came around him and blocked his vision of everything but her.
“Why didn’t you go back to them when you finally got
away?”

“
The vicious trio killed
them the day they took me.” She embraced him.

There wasn’t anything sexual about her
hold, it was one of comfort and support, as if she were trying to
absorb his pain of loss. Leaning back, she gazed into his face.
“How did it happen?”

Pulling her arms down, he took hold of
one of her hands and began to walk with her toward the warehouse as
he spoke. “My father was always strong, protective and enjoyed
giving in to my stepmother and me. My birth mother died when I was
two winters. However, I was really close to my stepmother. She was
sweet, kind and had the best smile.” It had been so long since he’d
talked about his family, it felt as if he were telling someone
else’s story. He recalled more about his stepmother than he did his
real mother. He recalled Mindy, a beautiful dark-skinned black
were-female had a way of squatting down before him when she talked
to him and would curl her finger beneath his chin. It always
tickled and made him laugh.

Greta remained silent as if she were
allowing him time to gather his thoughts and talk at his own
pace.

“
My stepmother was
pregnant. In the final stages if I recall correctly. She wanted to
go hiking one last time before the baby came and she began her
confinement.” He linked his fingers through hers and stopped at the
edge of the woods. “So, we drove out to the woods not too far from
Yosemite National Park. I recall my father wanted to keep away from
the campers out there so we hiked around the more secluded areas.
We all shifted and were running through the woods one second and
the next thing I know there were these three men in our path.” His
chest was tight and it was hard for him to take in large amounts of
air.

Squeezing his hand, she urged him on.
“I know it’s painful to talk about, but it helped me when I shared
my story with you at the cabin.”

She was right, but it didn’t stop him
from wanting to keep it all buried inside. He pulled away from her
and lowered himself to his haunches and picked up a fallen
pinecone, pressing the pointed edges into his thumb. He wanted to
focus on something other than the pain in his heart.

“
My father saw them first.
He let out a roar to scare them off. For most humans that was
enough to get them away. Not these guys. Two of them had guns while
the other held a trap they must have been getting ready to set.
When they advanced toward us, my father growled and ran toward
them.” He closed his fist and the dry brown pinecone crumbled under
the pressure.

“
One shot. It was load. I
didn’t even know what it was since I’d never heard anything like it
before. But my father dropped to the ground almost instantly.
Mindy, my stepmom and I rushed to him and I saw the blood pouring
out of his head. It was like being in a nightmare.” Opening his
fingers he allowed the fragments to fall from his hand to the
forest floor.

“
My stepmother whimpered
and roared, she moved her body before mine in an attempt to shield
me. That fucking blast happened two more times. It was like
everything happened in slow motion. Mindy slumped over my father’s
body. Her breathing was raspy and she was shaking.”

“
Were you hit?” Her voice
was soft, as if she was didn’t want to intrude on his
memories.

“
No. My stepmother took
both bullets. They grabbed me from her under her paw were she was
still trying to protect me.” The ache in his heart was so intense
at the loss of his family he dropped to one knee. He couldn’t
breathe and for a moment everything around him vanished into
whiteness.

Soothing warmth surrounded him.
Glancing over he saw Greta kneeling beside him her face soaked from
her tears. “I’m so sorry about your family.”

Cupping her face, he swiped away the
wetness with his thumb. No one had ever cried for him or shared in
his pain. “I not only lost my parents but my unborn sister as
well.”

She pulled him into her
embrace.

He held her tight against him and
buried his face in her neck. He used her scent to help him center
himself.

“
I’m glad you are
okay.”

“
Evidently, my family
walked into their trap even before they had it set. I was what they
wanted. Being with them I learned it was easier for them to train
young animals to perform. I put up a fight in honor of my parents
for some time. Damian had a poker and a whip he was fond of using.
He used it on me so many times in the day my wounds never were able
to heal fully.” Moving back, he stared down at his hands and
thought about the moment that he would be able to place them around
Damian’s neck. “Months into my captivity I asked myself what I was
fighting for. They were hurting me just enough to keep me in line,
but not to kill me. With my family gone I had no one. Then I just
gave up hope and gave in.”

“
Your sleuth didn’t come
looking for you?”

He shrugged. “We weren’t really part
of one. Not one like Den. I recall other shifters being in our
neighborhood but we were integrated into human society.”

“
That seems so odd to
me.”

Standing up, he helped her to her
feet. “I’m sure. Besides my family there wasn’t really anyone else
in my life.”

“
What did you do after you
got away?”

“
Odd jobs and travelled
from place to place.”

“
Aren’t you tired of it?
Haven’t you ever wanted something more permanent?” She folded her
arms beneath her breasts and met his gaze.

If there was anyone he wanted to
promise forever, it was Greta. However, he had lived his adult life
in pursuit of the men who had killed his family and he wasn’t sure
if he could let that go. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“
I’m not trying to make
you do something you don’t want to do. But, we still have a problem
between us.”

She was right. “How do you want to
handle this?”

“
Not sure. There has to be
some solution to this.”

He led her back out of the woods to
her vehicle parked at the side of the warehouse. “I’ll be around
until Rorke’s orders are stable. How about dinner tonight? Maybe we
can figure something out?”

Her hand fiddled with the handle of
the driver side door of her truck, unsure. “Okay. I’ll radio you
when I get off.”

Nodding, he watched her get behind the
wheel. She gave him a small smile as she backed out.

Things had not turned out at all as he
had planned, but he couldn’t find it within himself to feel
disappointed in the situation he was caught in. No matter how it
turned out, he wasn’t in it alone. Greta was in it too.

Chapter Eight

“
Papa-bear, glad I caught
you.” Greta got off work early so she could get home and talk to
her parents.

Her father was just sitting in his
after-work lounger, in a few minutes he would have been settled
into his before-dinner nap.

“
Hi, Greta. You’re home
early.”

She set her purse onto an end table
and took up a center spot on the couch. “I wanted to talk to you
and mama.”

“
That sounds serious.” He
leaned his big chair back but he didn’t pop the footrest
up.

“
It’s more important than
serious.” She knew she was downplaying a major issue between her
and Hansel, but until they came to terms with what all of this
meant and a way out of it, she wanted to keep that close to her
chest.

“
So, what is
it?”

“
I want to talk to you
both together.”

“
Rita dear, can you come
in here please?” Her father shouted over the back of his
chair.

“
What is it, Manni? I
thought you were going to take you daily na—” Her mother came in
drying her hands on a towel and smiled when she saw her. “Hello,
honeybear, when did you get home?”

“
Just now.” Greta got up
and hugged her mother.

Her mother’s brows were pinched. “Is
something wrong?”

“
Things are fine. I just
wanted to talk to you and papa about something.” She led her mother
to the couch.

They both sat, her mother at the end
closer to her father, and Greta reclaiming her seat in the
center.

“
You got our attention,
let’s hear what’s on your mind.” Her father folded his hands in his
lap.

Her mother stared at her.

“
I want to ask a favor of
you both and I really need your support in something, papa-bear.”
Greta had never spoken to her parents about a male before, not even
when she was a teenager, she felt a little out of her league and
nervous.

“
Whatever it is, Greta,
you can talk to us.” Her mother placed her hand on top of hers then
squeezed before she removed it.

“
The first thing is I
would like to invite someone over to the house for
dinner.”

Rita and Manni looked at each other,
then back at her.

Her father’s gaze was filled with
light and wonder. “That’s no problem. Can I assume it is a
male?”

“
Yes.” Greta
answered.

“
When? I want to make sure
I have the things to make my special salmon casserole.” Her
mother’s face was practically beaming.

She swallowed. “Tonight.”

“
Tonight?” Her mother’s
voice rose as she pressed a hand to her chest, shocked. “I’ve
already started dinner. I don’t have time to run into town to the
Berrystand Market.”

“
I know it is short notice
and all, but this is really important to me.”

“
Who is it?” Her father’s
brows were pinched, she knew he was running through all of the
available males in town.

Licking her lips, Greta took a breath
and let it out quickly. “Hansel.”

“
What!” The chair her
father was in sprang forward as her father stabbed at the control
button. “I thought that scoundrel had taken himself across the
county line days ago.” He stood up, grumbling under his
breath.

“
Papa-bear…”

“
Manni dear, let’s not get
all worked up before we hear her out.” Her mother was relatively
calm, appearing like the complete opposite of her
father.

Greta assumed that it was because
unlike her father, her mother knew a little more about Hansel’s
remaining in town then even she did. She didn’t put much past her
mother and her friends. The older women of the community just
allowed the males to think they were running things. What Greta
really wanted to know was if her mother knew about Hansel working
with Rorke why she hadn’t said something to her.

“
Darling, is there
something going on between you and this drifter?” Her mother
offered her a kind, supportive smile.

She glanced from her mother to her
father, who still sported a scowl, and back to her mother.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not even sure if anything more than
what was between us in the past is possible. We are on two very
different plains of life.” The words she shared were true. The rest
of the day at work when she wasn’t thinking about the hot,
passionate sex they shared in the woods then she was mulling over
the ways they were different in their personal goals.

How could two people who were so
different have anything special together? She asked herself for the
umpteenth time.

“
So, what’s this past you
keep hinting at? You ready to share that with us yet?” Her father’s
arms were folded over his chest, still as broad and wide as she
recalled it being when she was a child and would lean against while
he held her in his arms.

“
Not really, but…” Her
words drifted away as she stared down at her hands linked on her
knees.

“
Oh, sweetheart.” Her
mother’s voice was low, but heavy with hurt. “I’ve never wanted to
push you. Respecting your desire not to have to relive the apparent
nightmare you went through.” She sighed. “However, I just
wished—n”

“
You trusted us enough to
let us in.” Her father returned to his seat and placed a hand on
her shoulder. When she looked over at him he continued, his
features more relaxed than they were moments before. “That you
would allow us to share in your pain. Now that this Hansel fellow
is here and connected to that nightmare I think it is important we
know. Especially if you want us to open up our home to
him.”

“
You’re right, papa-bear.”
She leaned against the back cushion and rested her head as she
stared up at the ceiling, then just started talking. She didn’t
analyze any of the words that came out of her mouth, just allowed
them to spill, one after another, occasionally tumbling over each
other.

When she was done the room echoed with
grim silence. She was afraid to look at her parents, unsure of
whether she would see pity on their faces. That was what she had
wanted to avoid since she had returned and people started asking
questions about what happened to her, where she was, how she got
captured. There wasn’t anything she left out from the trap outside
the cabin to Hansel distracting them while she got away. She knew
that if she shared the horror of her incarceration at the circus,
people who look at her with pity in their eyes because she was some
unfortunate soul.