Chapter One – Elise

Elise perched on the cliff edge and looked down over the town of Bear Creek below. The town was her home now, although she still wasn’t certain moving here was the right thing.

Her life was elsewhere. She’d built a career, matching sick shifters in need of transplants to the available organs they desperately needed.

And you can do the same here, her bear reminded her.

She was right, of course, the prospect of setting up a new department in the hospital in Bear Bluff was exciting and fulfilling. So why did the pull of her old job, and her old house, make her heart ache?

Memories, her bear told her. And Elise knew just which memories her bear meant. Memories of growing up with her sister, Delia. Memories of Delia and Terence. Memories of their deaths.

Living in Bear Creek didn’t mean giving up those memories, but it did mean moving on. Time had passed by and softened the pain, she should be ready. But she wasn’t. The loss of a twin would never go away. Yes, it faded, but the ache in her heart was still there. Although two small babies, newborn twins named after Elise and Delia, eased the ache a little more each day.

Shifting into her bear, Elise made her way down the trail leading to Bear Creek. The cool breeze on her face and the warm sun on her back lightened her mood. Perhaps it was time to move on, time to put the past behind her. But she didn’t want to forget. Couldn’t forget the twin she’d been connected to on a deep level. As deep as the mating bond, Delia had once told her. It was shortly after that Delia met Terence and Elise had been so incredibly happy for her sister, but also scared. Scared she would lose the person who had always been by her side.

A tear trickled down her bear’s cheek. Delia had told her not to worry, their bond was strong enough to defeat even death. Neither of them expected that statement to be tested so literally.

But they had cheated death, in a small way. Delia’s heart beat in another woman’s chest.

The circle is complete, her bear said.

Maybe her bear was right. A fresh town, a fresh job, a fresh start.

With a sense of excitement thrumming through her body, she picked up speed. Racing down the steep trail, dirt puffed up where her large bear paws hit the ground. Delia wouldn’t want Elise to live in the shadow of her death, she’d want Elise to go out there and live her life. To hunt for her mate and settle down, enjoying her own happiness, instead of mourning the loss of her sister.

With a promise whispered on the air, Elise reached the top of the trail before it narrowed and dropped down onto the lower slopes of the mountain range. She would walk from here. Shifters were not common knowledge and with the height of the tourist season on them, she didn’t want anyone to see her bear, let alone see a bear shift into a woman.

Walking down the trail on two feet was a lot slower than four paws, but she wasn’t in a rush. Elise had a couple of hours to spare before she was due at Frankie and Adam’s cabin in the woods. She had promised to babysit their twin girls, so the couple could go out on their first date night since the birth of their daughters. Elise couldn’t wait. The two babies had woken up the maternal side of her nature, and she took every opportunity to spend time with them.

As she walked, her thoughts were lost on the first small smiles from two beautiful babies, and the way they hugged each other when asleep, sharing the same connection as Elise and her sister. Then a sound pulled her back to the present. The sound of a strummed guitar reached her and awoke a new memory, long since buried under all the others. Elise frowned, she recognized the tune, it was half-hidden in her past. She lifted it out and cleaned it off.

Elise and Delia had been fourteen, it was the year before they learned to shift, and the song was on the radio all the time. The summer was hot, and Elise would lie on her bed and fan herself with the latest edition of her favorite pop magazine while dreaming of being the woman Hank Rivera fell in love with. They had a connection, she could feel it in each agonizing refrain of his first hit single “Loving You Forever.”

Each line Hank sang was for her. Every hitch in his voice a pining for a love he was yet to meet. He knew she was out there. Elise knew it was her.

Elise wasn’t stupid or naïve. Every female listening to the song thought the same thing. But for Elise it was different. He was hers, she knew it from the bottom of her heart. And Delia teased her mercilessly. A smile crossed her face. Whatever happened to Hank Rivera?

As the strum of the guitar grew louder, Elise left the well-worn trail and ducked under a low hanging tree branch. Small twigs cracked beneath her feet as she made her way toward the music, as if played by the Pied Piper himself. The strumming stopped suddenly and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She’d invaded someone’s privacy, she shouldn’t be here.

But she couldn’t turn back, couldn’t walk away until she knew who was playing her song.

“Who’s there?” His voice, deep, filled with suspicion, reached her through the trees. Elise stopped, her breath caught in her chest as she figured out if she should turn right around and leave.

“Dammit.” She took another step and then another, the sensations in her body almost too much as she moved forward to face the man who belonged to the voice.

She reached up, brushed the low branch out of her way and broke out from under the trees to stand in the open, gazing across the large clearing at a man she recognized. Hank Rivera. In the flesh. And it was that flesh she was interested in. That flesh and the heart that beat inside it. Beat for her and her alone.

“Who are you?” Hank took a step closer, standing on the edge of his porch, holding the neck of his guitar in his hand. Suspicion clouded his face. “This is private property. If you’re a reporter.”

“I’m not.” Elise held up her hands and stepped closer. “I heard you playing...”

He lifted the guitar and said, “It’s one of my favorites. Or used to be, I haven’t played it for a long, long time.” There was sadness in his voice, and she longed to reach out and touch him, to soothe away his worries.

That would surely make him call the cops, her bear’s amusement was plain.

Good point. Elise had to act like an adult, and push the teenage fan, who would once have raced forward and dragged the shirt off his back, out of the way.

“Mine, too. I remember hearing it on the radio. A long time ago.” Elise didn’t approach, she stood in awe of the man she had daydreamed over for months. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

Hank laughed, a deep belly laugh. “I’ve changed a lot.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I have silver in my hair, and it’s a constant battle to stop the extra pounds creeping on to my waistline.”

She laughed a coquettish tone that belonged to a young, starry-eyed girl. “You look just fine from where I’m standing.” Elise put her hand to her throat, her voice was breathy, and light. “Sorry. I just...”

Feel so hot, her bear supplied with a good-humored grunt.

“No problem. Not many folks around here know who I was.” He stared at her, his eyes caressing her body, and she knew he felt the same way she did. Which meant only one thing...

Mates, her bear said longingly.

After all this time, her dream had come true.

A wave of guilt swept over her. Was it fair that she should get her happy ending when her sister was no longer here? They should have grown older together, shared stories of mates, and children. But it wasn’t to be, and Elise needed to stop living in the shadow of her sorrow.

“Would you like some tea?” Hank asked, leaning his guitar against the side of the cabin and stepping down off the porch. He approached slowly, as if she were a deer who might run off if startled, but she wasn’t running anywhere. She couldn’t, her legs wouldn’t move even if she wanted them to.

Elise looked back the way she came. She had time. Frankie wasn’t expecting her for an hour or two. “Yes, please.”

Hank closed the space between them. He stood before her, tall, handsome, just like she remembered. Her heart fluttered in her chest and the years melted away. He smiled, and the sun shone more brightly, the birds sang more sweetly, and her legs turned more to jelly. Oh, something like that... He was the songwriter, not her.

“Are you okay?” Hank asked gently.

“Uh huh. I’m just basking in your glow.” She tilted her chin upward and stared into his face. Then she lifted her hand and stroked his cheek. “Just checking that you are real.”

He chuckled. “It’s been a long while since anyone knew my name.”

“Oh, I know your name and the words to every song you ever wrote.” Her eyes widened, and she licked her lips. “How I long for a taste of bittersweet honey.”

His lips tugged up at the corners. “Tell me you’re my number one fan.”

Her eyelashes fluttered, and she smiled coyly. “I’m your number one fan.”

He sighed, his fingers entwined in her hair. “I could write a million love songs about you.”

“Please do.” Elise leaned forward, feeling the heat of his body emanating from him as his heart beat hard and strong in his chest.

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” He inclined his head, his lips barely an inch from hers. “But I don’t want to stop.”

“Then don’t. Let’s dance the midnight tango beneath the stars, because no other love could be as deep as ours.” As their lips met, her world exploded, and in amongst the shower of shooting stars and thunderous seas of longing, her bear was shouting something. What was it? What important message was her bear trying to convey?

Stop quoting lines from his damn songs!