Melissa and the bears went to separate showers to get cleaned up and changed. They could announce they were mates after the Friday show, at the after party. Melissa had a spare change of clothes in her car. As a theater manager, she was used to getting messy. She’d had makeup artists accidentally spill glitter gel all over her shirt, but this was the first time she’d had to change for more ‘passionate’ reasons.

Melissa found Renee backstage, where her assistant was looking over the props.

“There you are,” said Renee. “Enjoy your ‘break’?”

“It was fine,” said Melissa.

“Uh-huh,” said Renee with a smile. “Sure, it was. That’s why you’re glowing.”

“I just got a bit of sun today,” said Melissa. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s no secret you broke in that icy dessert room,” said Renee. “We’re calling the cocktail rooms ‘dessert rooms’ now, right?”

“We are, and okay, fine, maybe I did check it out,” said Melissa. “I am the theater manager, after all. I should know what the ideal club experience is like.”

“So, you did get claimed,” Renee stated loudly. “I frikkin’ knew it.”

“Okay, if I admit that something happened, will you lower your voice?” hissed Melissa. “Neil and Hudson said that I’m definitely their fated mate. We’re going to announce it after Friday’s show, so please, don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“I won’t tell anyone, but given how you’re glowing and given their marks changed…” started Renee.

“How did you know…oh, wait,” said Melissa. “That’s permanent, isn’t it? Their marks are totally different. Everyone’s gonna know they claimed a mate already.”

“Well, not everyone,” said Renee. “We intentionally remove the mate marks in our marketing materials. It leaves an air of mystery and mystique. After all, why would someone come to the show if they could see the goods for free?”

“The mate marks are the goods?” asked Melissa.

“Of course, they are,” said Renee. “Hot shirtless men are crawling all over Denver, but mate marks? Those’re usually kept secret, or at the very least, hidden, everywhere but clubs like Bear Buns.”

“You mean like Bear Buns Seattle?” asked Melissa.

“And…other clubs,” admitted Renee. “Ever heard of ‘Cat Tails,’ the cat shifter strip club in Las Vegas?”

“Can’t say I have,” said Melissa. “I thought Bear Buns was the only shifter strip club out there.”

“It’s the most famous, but it wasn’t the first, and it won’t be the last,” said Melissa. “There are rumors that Cat Tails is sending corporate spies to check out Bear Buns.”

“You think we have to worry about Cat Tails sending spies to the show?” asked Melissa.

“No way,” said Renee. “If they want to pay for a ticket and watch a show, it’s a free country. That’s fine.”

“Is the club worried that they’ll have their spies apply for jobs here?” asked Melissa.

“A little,” admitted Renee. “Remember, Cat Tails is a Las Vegas strip club. They’re not dumb or anything, but…they’re showmen. I don’t think flashy Las Vegas strippers and subtle corporate espionage go together.”

Melissa went outside to check on how the promo booth outside the club was doing. Although they’d already sold out their Friday show, there were tickets left for Saturday afternoon and Saturday night.

Melissa saw that a fan was giggling while talking to two shirtless dancers. She smiled to herself. Good. The dancers were bringing in business from the street. A happy woman was a woman that’d spread the word about the show, maybe even bring her friends to see it.

Then, she realized the men talking to the woman had icy blonde, gray, and blue hair. She recognized their muscular silhouettes, the icy blue sequin hotpants that glittered under the sizzling summer sun.

Were Neil and Hudson really flirting with another woman, hours after they’d claimed her?

Melissa went outside to ‘check on the dancers.’

“Hey, do you guys need some waters or something?” Melissa asked the crowd of bear strippers.

“I think we’re good out here,” said one of the spirit bears.

“Scratch that,” said his partner. “We could use some cups of water…for a wet t-shirt contest.”

“But you aren’t wearing shirts,” said Melissa, crossing her arms.

“Then I guess we’ll need some of those, too,” said one of the moon bears.

Melissa looked at the glacier bears, who were still chatting with the girl on the street. Melissa compared herself to the girl. What did this stranger have that she didn’t? They were both pretty, in different ways, but why were they flirting with a girl they barely knew when they’d just claimed their mate?

“Hello?” asked one of the sun bears.

“On it,” said Melissa.

Melissa went inside and paged Renee with her headset.

“Hey, Renee, I’m going to need you to go grab some waters and some shirts for the dancers,” said Melissa. “Use plastic cups, so if there’s an accident, we don’t have to worry about cleaning up glass.”

“Got it, boss,” said Renee.

Melissa avoided going back outside. She didn’t need to see her so-called ‘mates’ flirt with another woman. It was practically cheating, wasn’t it?

Melissa tried to keep a cool head. After all, she’d come to the club because it was a job, right? She hadn’t gone there expecting to find true love in a week. Maybe she hadn’t really found true love. Maybe what she had with the glacier bears was just a fling, but if it was, why did it feel like the real thing?

Melissa asked Renee to save her a plate from the dinner buffet, and instead of going to dinner, Melissa drove a block away and sat in her car. She thought about what she was going to do about the glacier bears.

She didn’t want to share. She wouldn’t share. Of that, she was sure.

That meant that either the glacier bears were going to have to agree to commit to her, or she was going to have to walk. There was no compromise when it came to commitment.

Was Melissa going to have to find a new job if she broke up with the glacier bears? Would the club ask her to leave? Would she want to leave, given the inevitably awkward atmosphere?

Melissa was tempted to drive straight home, get under the covers, and never come out again. Instead, she took a breath of fresh Denver air, air that wasn’t scented like a dream boudoir, and went back to the club to do her last rounds.

Melissa parked her car back in the lot. She went into the club and went to the kitchen. Renee had put aside two plates of food for her—one plate of dinner, one plate of dessert. Melissa poured herself a glass of orange soda and took her dishes to an empty table in the central stage area.

Melissa had barely gotten in three bites before two bears bounded toward her. She was facing the stage, so she saw them get off the stage, in the middle of practicing moves for the revue’s finale. How come, even when she was mad at them, the glacier bears had to look so frikkin’ sexy? They had toned muscles, which were covered in a sheen of sweat that Melissa couldn’t help but want to lick off their bodies. It looked like it’d be even more hydrating than the juice in her glass. Their thick cocks pressed against the thin fabric of their hotpants and managed to look more appealing than the noodles of lo mein on her plate. All Melissa wanted was to dislike the bears, but she couldn’t deny that they still had sex appeal and made her heart race.

“Hey!” said Neil.

Melissa didn’t turn. She just kept eating her sesame chicken and vegetable lo mein.

“Babe,” said Hudson. “Earth to Melissa. Where were you?”

“We got worried when we didn’t see you here for dinner,” said Neil. “Renee said you asked her to make you a plate, but you didn’t tell her where you were going. What happened? Are you okay?”

“Obviously I’m fine. I was just getting some fresh air,” said Melissa.

“At this time of night?” asked Neil, taking a seat across from Melissa as Hudson took the other seat. “Honey, if you wanted to take a walk or something, you should’ve come and got us. We would’ve taken a break to take a walk with you.”

“It’s fine,” said Melissa. “I just needed some space.”

“The club can get a little claustrophobic,” said Hudson.

Great, thought Melissa. They think the club’s too small. I wonder if they got claustrophobic about the small size of this ménage.

“I agree,” said Melissa, eating furiously.

“Is something wrong?” asked Neil.

“Everything…is just…fine,” said Melissa, talking between bites of sweet and salty chicken and finishing up her plate of food. She’d put the desserts back in the fridge to eat later. She got up from her chair and carried her dirty dishes to the kitchen’s dishwashing area and put her plate of desserts back in the employee fridge.

“We can help you relax, and trust me, our methods are much more effective than a little walk,” said Hudson, standing with Neil and following Melissa into the kitchen.

“You want us to take you home tonight?” asked Neil.

“No, it’s fine,” said Melissa.

“You sure you don’t want to have yourself a little pre-show party?” asked Hudson.

“I said I’m fine,” said Melissa. “I mean, it’s fine. Look. I need to rest up for tomorrow, and so do you two. No time for shenanigans. It’s a big day, okay?”

“Oh, bossy,” said Neil. “Me likey.”

“Uh-huh,” said Melissa. “Cool. Well, I gotta go. Bye.”

Melissa headed out toward the parking lot. Neil started to walk after her, but Hudson stopped him.

“Don’t,” said Hudson.

Neil turned and pushed his ménage partner away.

“What the fuck, dude?” asked Neil. “You’re going to let our fated mate walk away, without figuring out what’s wrong with her?”

“We’ve seen her like this before,” said Hudson.

“We’ve never seen her skip dessert before,” said Neil. “She’s a BBW. That’s just not right. You know that woman has an appetite for all things sweet.”

“All the more reason to let her cool off. Be chill. I know that even though we’re glacier bears, we can run lava hot,” admitted Hudson. “But you won’t get her to calm down if you go up to her all upset. It’s selfish to expect her to make you feel better when obviously, we both did something to annoy her.”

“What the heck could we have done?” asked Neil. “We’ve been working our tight bare buns off to make this show a success. Isn’t that what she wanted?”

“Melissa’s not just a stage manager,” said Hudson. “She’s a woman. You and I know that better than anyone else. She’s got an emotional side, too, just like you and me. She just shoves it away. If what she needs is to bottle shit up until the show’s over, we need to let her do that…but we also need to be there in case she wants to vent.”

“Fine,” said Neil. “I’ll meet you halfway. I’m not going after her tonight, but tomorrow, before the show, I want this worked out. I can’t dance knowing my fated mate’s upset with me.”

“You know what? I’ll take it,” said Hudson. “Come on. Let’s get some sports drink in you. You’re a glacier bear. You have to chill the F out.”

Melissa got into her car and drove home. She had half-hoped that the bears would run after her and figure out what they’d done wrong and apologize so they could put this all behind them. Instead, she’d gotten just what she wanted: the bears had left her alone, so she could go home and rest up before tomorrow night’s show.

As Melissa lay in bed, unable to fall in sleep, in a bed too small and empty for her, she wondered if she’d really gotten what she wanted.